Disclaimer: Joss owns all of the characters.
Spoilers: Everything from School Hard to Chosen is fair game.
A/N: To all B/S fans please keep in mind, this is written from Giles' perspective and he would not overlook Spike's faults, he would consider them typical of a vampire.
Chapter 5: The Nature of The Beast
Giles stayed in his study for just over a week, typing and polishing his manuscript. He finished his manuscript and e-mailed it to a non-human friend overseas who ran a small publishing house specializing in the occult.
Just over a month later a package arrived addressed to Giles. Inside were two dozen copies of his manuscript: The Nature of the Beast: An Addendum to the History of William the Bloody. The next morning, Giles called Buffy into his study and handed her a copy of the text. He then left her alone to read it and gave everyone else instructions to leave her alone until she was finished. The book was not terribly long, so he had no doubt that she would be able to finish it in short order.
Buffy settled herself into a comfortable chair with a Diet Coke, opened the book and began to read.
Prologue
Vampires are violent, aggressive demons completely devoid of human emotion.
Vampires are incapable of love.
Vampires do not feel guilt or shame.
Vampires do not experience remorse.
Vampires are single-minded in their pursuit of the satisfaction of their basest needs.
Vampires crave only blood, destruction, and sexual gratification.
Such is the nature of the beast. This is a well-established fact. It has been the rule since the beginning of recorded history. Of course, as with every rule, there is always an exception.
In this case, the exception is William the Bloody, known to many as Spike. The exploits of William the Bloody are well documented in the annals of Slayer/vampire history, but his story was far from complete.
But now the final chapters of William the Bloody's story can be written. He met his fate in an extraordinary manner, thwarting an apocalypse.
The purpose of the text is to serve not only as an addendum to the history of William the Bloody, but also as an account of how the Master Vampire, Scourge of Europe, and Slayer of Slayers defied his nature and died fighting alongside Slayers instead of against them.
Chapter 1: Arriving on the Hellmouth
Following the mob attack in Prague which left his sire and mistress, Drusilla in a severely weakened state, William (henceforth referred to as Spike) maintained a very low profile until his arrival in Sunnydale in the fall of nineteen hundred and ninety-seven. His purpose in coming to Sunnydale was twofold. For one thing, he wished to kill the Slayer and add a third to his list of Slayers killed. He also hoped that being on the Hellmouth would restore Drusilla's strength and decided to take over as Master of Sunnydale.
Although an attack against Ms. Summers (henceforth referred to as Buffy or the Slayer) had been planned for the night of the Feast of St. Vigious, Spike, in keeping with his impulsive nature, attacked several days early, on Parent's Night at the local high school. He fought the Slayer and managed to overpower her, but did not kill her due to the intervention of her mother, Joyce Summers, who hit the Master Vampire over the head with an axe.
Although stunned by this unorthodox turn of events, Spike nonetheless refused to give up. He destroyed the then Master of Sunnydale, known as the Anointed One, and took over as Master.
He continued to attempt to kill the Slayer. On Halloween night, he took advantage of a chaos spell to go against tradition and go out on Halloween. The spell turned revelers into the characters whose costumes they inhabited. Unfortunately, the Slayer chose the costume of an eighteenth-century noblewoman. Once Spike located her, he was easily able to subdue her and would have killed her had the spell not been broken. However, Buffy recovered as soon as the spell was broken and overpowered Spike, but he managed to escape before she was able to slay him.
Shortly thereafter, Spike hired an infamous group of assassins known as The Order of Taraka to kill the Slayer. It was also during this time that two more very important pieces of information came to light. The first, extraordinary, bit of information was that during Buffy's brief expiration the previous year, at the hands of the Master, another Slayer had been called. The second, more disturbing piece of information was that the cure for Drusilla's malady had been discovered. These three events would soon collide in a calamity which would have long term, and ultimately, devastating consequences.
Kendra the Vampire Slayer was sent to Sunnydale when her Watcher sensed the presence of a great evil. She arrived in time to witness an altercation between Buffy and a Tarakan assassin. Angel was with Buffy at the time and apparently shifted into his demon's visage during the fight. Kendra later captured Angel and locked him in a cage to await sunrise while she left to find Buffy whom she mistakenly believed to be a vampire as well.
At the same time, Spike discovered that the cure to Drusilla's ailment was a ritual involving the blood of the sire, Angel. Naturally, Spike began searching for Angel in order to utilize his blood for the ritual. Angel's imprisonment by Kendra allowed Spike to capture Angel for the ritual.
Although Kendra and Buffy were able to work together to release Angel and defeat Spike, they were unable to stop the ritual in time, or to slay Spike and Drusilla. As a result, Drusilla was restored to full strength while Spike was severely burned and paralyzed, confined to a wheelchair.
Chapter 2: The Return of Angelus
During Spike's early convalescence, he and Drusilla again maintained a low profile, but several weeks later, Drusilla embarked on an ambitious plot to restore the dismembered body of the destroyer known as The Judge. Buffy discovered this plot on the evening of her seventeenth birthday. That night following an unsuccessful attempt to dispose of some of The Judge's appendages, and a more successful escape from Spike and Drusilla and their minions, Buffy and Angel consummated their relationship. This most unfortunately resulted in the loss of Angel's soul and the return of the Master Vampire, Angelus.
Angelus immediately returned to his "family" and was able to fully usurp Spike's role as Master of Sunnydale, partly due to his own status as Master and partly due to Spike's incapacitation. He took control of Spike's minions and resumed his former physical relationship with Drusilla. He also, in keeping with his typical behavior, and despite Spike's apparent protests, began a campaign of psychological warfare against the Slayer.
The result was, as Spike apparently predicted, a very angry Slayer. But not, as Angelus apparently hoped, a careless one. Angelus' torment of both Buffy and Spike and his ultimate decision to arrange for the demon, Acathla, to suck the world into Hell inspired a resolve and determination in both the Slayer and the vampire to defeat him.
Spike's decades of experience with both Angelus and Drusilla gave him the practical knowledge that allowed him to go against his very nature and seek out his mortal enemy, the Slayer, in order to form an alliance. They formed an uneasy truce in which Spike offered to help defeat Angelus and save the world from destruction in exchange for the opportunity to leave Sunnydale forever with Drusilla. Buffy agreed under the condition that her Watcher, who had been captured and tortured for information by Angelus and Drusilla, be spared. Spike agreed and prevented Angelus from killing the man after extracting the necessary information. Then when the time came, he aided Buffy in the fight, first by striking the first blow against Angelus, then by keeping Drusilla out of the fight. In the end Buffy was able to defeat Angelus and avert the apocalypse. Meanwhile, Spike left town with Drusilla as promised.
Chapter 3: A Promise Broken
The pair returned to their traditional behavior while in South America, but their relationship had been irretrievably damaged by the truce between the Slayer and vampire. Drusilla ultimately rejected Spike and he briefly returned to Sunnydale, a shell of his former self, with the apparent intention of killing the Slayer as promised and restoring himself in Drusilla's eyes.
However, upon his arrival in Sunnydale he discovered that Willow Rosenberg, a friend of the Slayer's had become an accomplished Wicca. He kidnapped her, along with an acquaintance of hers in order to force her to perform a love spell on Drusilla. Before the spell could be performed, Spike was forced into a confrontation with the minions of the current Master of Sunnydale Mr. Trick. He once again fought alongside the Slayer, only this time he also fought alongside Angel, who had returned a few weeks earlier with his soul intact. Following the fight, Spike decided to release his hostages and return to South America and prove to Drusilla that he was still as much a demon as ever.
Chapter 4: Returning Yet Again to Sunnydale
Apparently Spike's efforts were not entirely successful for he returned to Sunnydale less than a year later, without Drusilla, seeking the legendary Gem of Amarra. His determination paid off and he was able to locate the gem. But once again, his impulsive nature was his downfall. He immediately sought out the Slayer in yet another attempt to kill her. However, during the fight, she was able to remove the ring from his finger, leaving him vulnerable once again. He managed to escape and attempted, unsuccessfully, to retrieve it from Angel, who had received it from Buffy.
Following the loss of the Gem of Amarra, Spike once again retuned to Sunnydale, seeking revenge against Buffy. He was unable to follow through with his plans due to the efforts of a covert military operation known as the Initiative. Spike was stunned by a taser gun and taken to a large underground facility where he was imprisoned and fed blood injected with sedatives. He was able to escape from the facility and quickly found his way to Buffy's dorm room where he encountered and attacked her roommate, Ms. Rosenberg. He was unable to follow through on his attack because he suffered excruciating pain every time he attempted to bite her. He escaped from the room during an attempt by the Initiative to recover him.
Once he realized that he was unable to cause any kind of injury to anyone he approached the Slayer and her friends seeking assistance in exchange for information about the military group, which Buffy had also been fighting. He had very little information at the time, and was kept restrained most of the time. Although, a subsequent escape attempt proved that he did have a vague idea where the underground facility was located. During another near-apocalypse he discovered that he was able to cause harm to demons. Following this discovery, he chose to help the Slayer and her friends fight other demons for the opportunity to participate in any violent act and in exchange for monetary compensation. Pursuant to his decision, he was released and allowed to find his own residence.
At approximately the same time, Buffy became romantically involved with a member of the Initiative, named Riley Finn, and discovered that the pain which Spike suffered anytime he inflicted pain on anyone else was caused by a behavioral modification chip imbedded in his cerebral cortex. It emitted sharp electrical pulses to the pain centers of his brain whenever he attempted to harm a human. Unfortunately, the behavior modification software was only one of the experiments being performed within the walls of the underground laboratories of the Initiative. A much more sinister experiment was underway in the most heavily secured area of the facility. Maggie Walsh, the doctor in charge of the Initiative, had developed an extremely dangerous, completely amoral demon/human/robot hybrid soldier, optimistically named Adam. Dr. Walsh failed to foresee her creation's desire to be independent and his complete lack of attachment to anyone, even to his "mother". This lack of foresight resulted in Dr. Walsh's demise at the hands of her own creation and his subsequent escape from the facility.
With access to all of the facilities records, Adam was aware of Spike's modifications and identity as Hostile 17. It was not difficult for him to ascertain Spike's relationship to the Slayer. He sought Spike out, requested his assistance and proposed an alliance. He would arrange for the removal of Spike's behavior modification chip in exchange for help with his new demon/human hybrid army. Spike agreed and attempted to drive a wedge between the Slayer and her friends, believing that if she were isolated she would be easier to defeat. He used his knowledge of their weaknesses, insecurities, and past differences to sow seeds of dissidence, and very nearly succeeded. In the end, however, the Slayer and her friends were able to work together to defeat Adam. Meanwhile Adam turned against Spike for his failure to render the Slayer useless. Spike managed to escape his final death, yet again, and found his way to the room where the Slayer's friends were engaged in the ritual that allowed her to defeat Adam. He arrived in time to prevent an escaped demon's attack on the group, thus earning himself a reprieve from the consequences of his earlier actions.
Chapter 5: Becoming Allies
Over the next few months, Spike again settled into an uneasy truce with the Slayer and her friends. He occasionally provided information and assistance in exchange for financial compensation. Relations again became strained when he attempted to force a former Initiative doctor to remove the modification chip imbedded in his brain. However, following this incident, Spike began to exhibit a markedly noticeable change in his behavior. The first time an unusual behavior was noted was following an unfortunate demon-veiling spell performed by a friend of the Slayer's. The young woman mistakenly believed herself to be part demon and was attempting to hide that aspect of herself. Unfortunately, she also hid all other demons from sight, just prior to an attack on the Magic Box (an establishment owned by Rupert Giles, Buffy's former Watcher, and used as a training and research facility by the Slayer and her friends) by Lei-ach demons. Spike assisted in dispatching the demons and then used his behavior modification chip to prove that the young woman was fully human by hitting her. The pain he suffered proved that she was in no way demon.
Spike provided assistance more frequently, although his requests for financial compensation, especially from Buffy, decreased. Following a rather emotional confrontation with the Slayer, he allowed his impulsive nature to lead him to make yet another attempt on her life. However, upon his arrival at her home, he found her distraught over the discovery that her mother was seriously ill. In yet another display of his ability to defy the nature of the beast, he put aside his original intentions and displayed the very human emotion of sympathy, even attempting to provide a small measure of comfort to the young woman. This behavior continued for several months. Spike frequently showed up to provide assistance when needed. While he occasionally asked for compensation and continued to trade jibes with the Slayer, he never refused to help when asked, especially by Buffy, or on her behalf. He was even on hand to assist Buffy with a space-borne Queller demon. Soon after the Queller incident, Spike discovered that the Slayer's suitor had become enamored with certain aspects of the darker side of Sunnydale and demon fighting, and was paying female vampires to feed from him. He brought the young man's new past time to Buffy's attention and Riley subsequently left town and rejoined the military.
Spike extended his protective tendencies toward Buffy to her family, as well. He watched over her mother and sister at a time when Buffy felt that they were threatened and she was unable to be with them herself. He did request some compensation, but did not put up even token resistance to the request. Another attempt to supervise Buffy's sister ended rather badly when Dawn snuck out of the house and Spike followed her in order to protect her from demons and other vampires. Unfortunately, he agreed to help her break into the Magic Box where they discovered information explaining Dawn's role as the Key. This led to Dawn's decision to run away and her subsequent capture by the Hellgod, Glorificus. Spike did, however, agree to help locate the girl and fought, although unsuccessfully, against the Hellgod.
It was shortly after this event that Spike's true intentions were revealed. Apparently Spike had developed feelings of an affectionate nature for Buffy which he classified as love. His initial revelation of his feelings was met with rejection and he responded in typical vampiric fashion. With the aid of his recently returned sire, he knocked Buffy unconscious, chained her to a wall and confessed his true feelings for her. He then offered to kill Drusilla, whom he had also tied up, as proof of the depth of his feelings. He then threatened to free Drusilla and allow her to kill Buffy unless Buffy returned his feelings. Yet, once again he defied his nature and fought with the Slayer rather than against her when Drusilla managed to slip her bonds while Spike was distracted. She immediately attempted to attack Buffy who was still in chains and unable to fight effectively. Spike subdued his own attacker, stopped Drusilla, and released Buffy. He had damaged the fragile alliance that he had built with Buffy and she rejected him once more, this time revoking his invitation to her home as well. But, also against his nature, rather than seeking revenge against her or her friends, he accepted her decision. He made a few brief attempts to contact her in public and through her friends, but quickly gave up and once again maintained a low profile. Even following the death of her mother, whom he also considered a friend, he visited Mrs. Summers' grave, but stayed away from Buffy and her home.
Apparently the forced separation was too much for him though, and he made a rather unwise decision. He contacted a local robotics genius and commissioned him to create a robot in Buffy's likeness with specific Slayer-related programming. As a direct result, minions of the Hellgod, Glorificus, who had been observing the Slayer's friends, mistook Spike for the Key and captured him. Glory recognized Spike as a vampire, but correctly assumed that he must have knowledge of the Key and it's whereabouts. He withstood several hours of rigorous torture, but steadfastly refused to reveal any information about the Key. He finally managed to escape at the same time that Buffy, her Watcher, her friends, and the robot arrived at the Hellgod's lair. The severity of Spike's injuries initially prevented coherent speech, although Buffy was eventually able to ascertain, in the guise of the robot, that he had indeed, refused to reveal any information about the Key to the Hellgod. As a result, a truce, this one stronger than before, was again established between the Slayer and the vampire.
Shortly afterward the battle with Glory began in earnest. The Hellgod attacked a friend of the Slayer's. Buffy took Dawn to Spike for safekeeping while she provided emotional support to her friends. Spike managed to convince the Slayer that her friend, Willow Rosenberg, would attempt to attack the Hellgod in revenge for attacking Ms Rosenberg's girlfriend, Tara Maclay. Buffy was able to stop Ms. Rosenberg before she was seriously injured or killed, but her attack angered Glory, and ultimately, her attack resulted in Glory learning the identity of the Key. Buffy resolved to take Dawn and her friends and attempt to escape from Glory. To accomplish this, she enlisted Spike's help, as much for his strength and skills, as for his determination to protect both her and Dawn.
During the unsuccessful escape attempt, several members of the party, including Buffy's Watcher, were wounded, by the Knights of Byzantium who were seeking to destroy the Key. Buffy summoned a young intern she had met during her mother's illness to provide medical assistance. However, she was unaware that the intern whom she had summoned was in fact Glory's human host. This event resulted in Glory's abduction of Dawn and Buffy's incapacitating catatonia. The remaining members of the party were rendered unaware of the intern's metamorphosis into Glory. Everyone, except Spike who was able to remember and to remind everyone as frequently as necessary.
He returned to the Hellgod's lair to ascertain whether she, or her human host, had left behind any clues to their whereabouts, but found nothing. Then he escorted Alexander Harris, a friend of the Slayer's, to the home of a demon to request information about Glory. While there, they were able to secure a box containing information pertaining to the ritual Glory was required to perform in order to return to her own dimension. After fighting with, and stabbing, the demon, they returned to the Magic Box with the information. Upon their return they discovered that Willow had managed to revive Buffy and the Slayer and her friends held a council of war to formulate a battle plan.
As it turned out, Spike's decision to commission a robot designed to resemble the Slayer was actually quite fortuitous. Willow was able to repair the damage the robot had sustained during the earlier skirmish with Glory's minions. Thus the Slayer was able to utilize the robot as a diversionary tactic during the final battle.
The battle with Glory was horrific and hard fought to the end. Buffy was able to drive Glory back into her human host who was summarily dispatched by her Watcher. Unfortunately, the demon, believed vanquished by Spike and Xander, was still alive and managed to make his way to Dawn. Spike managed, with the assistance of Willow and Tara, to reach Dawn's side and attempted to render aid. However, he was overcome by the demon and thrown from the tower on which the ritual was to be performed. Afterward, the ritual was completed and the Slayer was forced to sacrifice herself in order to reseal the dimensional portals.
Chapter 6: The Slayer Resurrected
Following Buffy's death, Spike was devastated, virtually inconsolable. However, prior to the final battle, Spike had promised Buffy that he would protect Dawn. So, after her death he stayed to watch over Dawn and help Buffy's Watcher and friends continue patrolling the Hellmouth. His robot was once again repaired and put to use, this time as the Slayer. Spike, however, showed nothing but distaste for the object.
Then, unbeknownst to Spike, Dawn, or Rupert Giles, Buffy's other friends took it upon themselves to resurrect her, mistakenly believing that she had been banished to a Hell dimension. Upon her return she confided in Spike that she had in actuality been in Heaven. She requested, and received, his secrecy on the matter.
In an attempt to help her adjust to her new status, and in light of her unwillingness to inform the others, Spike chose to support her as surreptitiously as possible. Whereas before her return he had been an ever present member of the group, going on patrol, staying with Dawn, helping out as needed, he quickly vanished into the woodwork, appearing only if, and when Buffy needed his support or company. He generally sought her out when she was alone or waited for her to seek him out at his residence. He maintained his distance from the Slayer's friends unless they sought him out, until her sister was kidnapped by a demon who wished to make her his bride. This demon also forced the citizens of Sunnydale, demons included, to reveal their true feelings through song. As a result of this demon's interference a number of secrets were revealed, including the truth about Buffy's whereabouts during her death, and Spike's continued desire to pursue a physical relationship with Buffy.
The fallout from this incident proved both dramatic and far-reaching for everyone involved. For Spike however, it resulted in a serious quandary. His services were no longer required as Dawn's guardian, so he no longer needed to be heroic. His position as Buffy's confidante now eradicated by her confession, he no longer needed to be discreet and polite. His company and help were no longer sought by the Slayer or any of her friends. He no longer had the ability, or even the desire, to wreak the sort of havoc that he had reveled in before, but he also realized that no one believed that he had actually become one of the "good guys". Not a "real" demon, yet not a man, he was caught between two worlds, but not really part of either. He had acquaintances in both the demon and human populations, but again was not truly close to anyone. He attempted to be a part of both worlds, but only succeeded in isolating himself further from both.
His love for Buffy and his desire for a connection led him to a misguided attempt to bring Buffy into his world. He saw them as the same, for the Slayer, though human, does not belong fully to the human world, and is usually alone. After realizing that he would never be fully accepted by those dwelling in the light, Spike attempted to draw Buffy further into the dark with him. Buffy, for her part felt isolated from her friends by their decision to pull her from Heaven and allowed herself to be pulled into the shadows. They entered into an ill-advised, secret, and highly dysfunctional physical relationship that satisfied certain needs for both parties, but ultimately left both unfulfilled and unhappy.
Spike for his part, did attempt to provide an outlet for Buffy's anger and aggression, allowing her to unleash her anger and frustration on him, both verbally and physically. He even allowed her to beat him nearly as severely as Glorificus on one occasion when she was extraordinarily angry with herself and her circumstances. Nor was she the only person he tried to help during this dark time. He also identified with her friend Willow and her struggles against the dark pull of magic and often supported and defended her during difficult times.
But these attempts at helping the Slayer and her friends were tempered by his inability to completely deny his demon's nature. He continued to associate with rather unseemly members of the demon population and on at least one occasion, for undetermined reasons, he boarded the eggs of an extremely dangerous demon in his bedroom. The eggs were discovered by the Slayer and her former Initiative suitor, who was in Sunnydale in pursuit of the demon and its spawn. The eggs were summarily destroyed and Buffy terminated the physical relationship following this incident, although neither completely severed ties.
As a result, Spike never completely gave up hope of reconciliation. His hopes suffered a severe blow, however, when Buffy accused him of spying on her. He ended up seeking solace with another former member of the Slayer's inner circle, a vengeance demon. The fallout from this indiscretion led to a confrontation between Buffy and Spike in which emotions ran high on both sides and eventually ended with Spike attempting to force himself on Buffy. While she was able to stop him, both were utterly horrified at what had occurred.
Spike immediately set out upon a quest to ensure that he would never again attempt anything of that nature. He traveled around the world to seek out a legend, a demon that would grant his request. He endured untold trials, pain and suffering in order to prove himself worthy of his request. At the end of his trials he received his reward, his soul
.
Chapter 7: The Price of a Soul
As Spike's soul was a reward, as he was deemed a worthy recipient, rather than a curse cast upon the unwilling, it came with no loopholes or clauses which would place him in danger of losing it through his own actions. However, he was not immune to the shame, guilt, and self-loathing that comes with receiving a soul after more than a century of bloodshed. He also became the target of a sinister force known as the First Evil. The First took great pleasure in assuming the form of deceased persons and taunting Spike with his perceived inadequacies. This coupled with the guilt and shame his soul brought him served to drive him quite insane upon his return to Sunnydale where he immediately took up residence directly upon the Hellmouth. Even in his altered state, he did manage to provide some assistance to Buffy and her friends soon after the opening of the new high school. Fortunately, Buffy was able to move him from the Hellmouth and into a friend's apartment. Soon afterward they discovered that Spike was apparently feeding, and siring vampires, again, although no one had realized that his behavior modification chip had stopped functioning. Once Spike was able to piece together enough memories of what had happened, they were able to determine that the First Evil had planted a trigger in Spike's mind to circumvent the chip and subdue his soul to allow the demon to kill and sire his victims.
Shortly after this discovery, Spike was captured by the harbingers of the First. His blood was used to open the Seal of Danzathar and release the first Turok-Han. Afterward, he was held captive by the First under the supervision of the harbingers and the Turok-Han and tortured by them until Buffy was able to locate and release him.
Once he recovered, Spike began helping Buffy train potential Slayers. Between them, they were able to provide the potentials with an invaluable training method no other Slayer in training had ever had; an opportunity to train with both a living Slayer and a real vampire, who were not only able to demonstrate proper fighting techniques, but against whom they could test themselves. More often than not the girls failed in their skirmishes with Spike, but since their failures never resulted in death, they were able to learn from their mistakes and correct them.
During this time Spike's behavior modification chip malfunctioned, leading to intense pain and severe nosebleeds. Buffy was alone with him at the time and had to choose which course of action to take. She contacted her former companion who sent military personnel to deal with the situation. He gave them orders to replace or remove the chip per the Slayer's wishes. Buffy chose to have the chip removed. She believed that Spike had proven himself trustworthy and that his soul would keep the demon at bay. She and Spike also believed that Buffy would be able to subdue Spike should the First attempt to trigger him again.
However, following the removal of the behavior modification chip, Spike's trigger remained inactive until Buffy's Watcher attempted to discover the source of the trigger using the Prokaryote Stone. Giles insisted that Spike, Buffy, and her inner circle, including her current employer, and son of a deceased Slayer, Robin Wood, be present at the ritual. They discovered that the source of the trigger had been a favorite song of William's mother, before he was sired. Pursuant to their discovery, Robin Wood and Rupert Giles agreed that Spike was still an instrument of evil and a danger to everyone as long as the trigger was still active. They further agreed that since Buffy was allowing her emotions to cloud her judgment that they would have to make the necessary difficult choice for her. They formulated a plan in which Giles would distract Buffy and keep her occupied while Robin subdued and destroyed Spike.
They followed the plan, Giles took Buffy on patrol and kept her distracted while Wood insisted that Spike accompany him to what turned out to be a cross-filled garage. Wood explained that he was the son of the second Slayer Spike had killed and then used his computer to play the song that triggered Spike's demon. However, during the fight, Spike's memory of his own mother and the choices he made returned to him. Apparently, once he became a vampire he chose to sire his mother out of a rather misguided sense of love and loyalty. But in doing so he released a demon that hurt him terribly in his mother's guise, setting up the painful memories that left him vulnerable to the First's trigger. Following the epiphany in Wood's garage, Spike remembered the truth about his relationship with his mother and managed to free himself from the effects of the trigger. He walked away from the fight leaving both himself and Wood injured, but neither mortally wounded.
After this unfortunate incident, neither Spike nor Buffy felt very comfortable, or trusting, around anyone but each other for quite some time. This was further compounded by an incident following a severe defeat that left everyone feeling downtrodden and exhausted, which led to a severe backlash against Buffy when she suggested returning to the same place for another mission. Spike was away on another mission and the other members of the group refused to support Buffy's choices and removed her as leader, then asked her to leave the house. Upon his return, Spike took great exception to this and also left in search of Buffy. But his encouragement of her gave her the will to follow through with her plans and she found a weapon forged in secret for only a Slayer to wield.
The trust and comfort that they found in each other gave them both the fortitude to face the coming battle. While Buffy formed an army of Slayers, Spike took on the role of champion. Buffy had received a powerful and mysterious amulet from Angel that was to be worn only by a champion, someone with a soul, but more than human. Angel proposed to wear it, but Buffy asked him to set up a second front in Los Angeles. She then gave the amulet to Spike making certain he understood that she believed him to be a champion.
During the final battle with the First Evil, Spike became a channel for the light, his soul giving him the ability to focus the light against the forces of darkness, turning the Turok-Han to dust and causing the Hellmouth to collapse in upon itself. The surviving Slayers were able to escape before the Hellmouth completely collapsed. Spike refused to abandon his post. After the Slayers and Buffy's inner circle managed to escape the destruction of the Hellmouth, all that was left of Sunnydale was an enormous crater. Spike had ensured that the Hellmouth was permanently and irrevocably sealed.
Chapter 8: Epilogue
Spike always considered himself a rebel. He was certainly always the exception to the rule. But in the end, he was a true champion. He was a demon who sacrificed himself unselfishly to save the world. He went against his nature so many times that he became a vampire who died a hero in the eyes of a Slayer.
Buffy closed the book and set it down. She leaned her head back and let the tears fall silently. She was very touched by Giles' book. He hadn't softened Spike's history. But neither had he filled it with the anger she had seen in him last year. He had written a fair history, but she could see where he had slanted it somewhat in Spike's favor, probably as a consideration to her, but possibly because he too had finally realized that Spike had changed, become a better man. She hoped that was the case.
She wiped her eyes and left the study. As she passed Willow in the hallway, she smiled a watery smile and told her she was going for a walk as she headed out the front door.
Willow watched Buffy leave with mild concern, but she hadn't seemed terribly upset, just a little bit sad. She walked into the study and saw the book lying on the table. She picked it up and looked at the title.
"Ah, well, let's see what Giles wrote."
She took the book to her room and began to read.
TBC
Spoilers: Everything from School Hard to Chosen is fair game.
A/N: To all B/S fans please keep in mind, this is written from Giles' perspective and he would not overlook Spike's faults, he would consider them typical of a vampire.
Chapter 5: The Nature of The Beast
Giles stayed in his study for just over a week, typing and polishing his manuscript. He finished his manuscript and e-mailed it to a non-human friend overseas who ran a small publishing house specializing in the occult.
Just over a month later a package arrived addressed to Giles. Inside were two dozen copies of his manuscript: The Nature of the Beast: An Addendum to the History of William the Bloody. The next morning, Giles called Buffy into his study and handed her a copy of the text. He then left her alone to read it and gave everyone else instructions to leave her alone until she was finished. The book was not terribly long, so he had no doubt that she would be able to finish it in short order.
Buffy settled herself into a comfortable chair with a Diet Coke, opened the book and began to read.
Prologue
Vampires are violent, aggressive demons completely devoid of human emotion.
Vampires are incapable of love.
Vampires do not feel guilt or shame.
Vampires do not experience remorse.
Vampires are single-minded in their pursuit of the satisfaction of their basest needs.
Vampires crave only blood, destruction, and sexual gratification.
Such is the nature of the beast. This is a well-established fact. It has been the rule since the beginning of recorded history. Of course, as with every rule, there is always an exception.
In this case, the exception is William the Bloody, known to many as Spike. The exploits of William the Bloody are well documented in the annals of Slayer/vampire history, but his story was far from complete.
But now the final chapters of William the Bloody's story can be written. He met his fate in an extraordinary manner, thwarting an apocalypse.
The purpose of the text is to serve not only as an addendum to the history of William the Bloody, but also as an account of how the Master Vampire, Scourge of Europe, and Slayer of Slayers defied his nature and died fighting alongside Slayers instead of against them.
Chapter 1: Arriving on the Hellmouth
Following the mob attack in Prague which left his sire and mistress, Drusilla in a severely weakened state, William (henceforth referred to as Spike) maintained a very low profile until his arrival in Sunnydale in the fall of nineteen hundred and ninety-seven. His purpose in coming to Sunnydale was twofold. For one thing, he wished to kill the Slayer and add a third to his list of Slayers killed. He also hoped that being on the Hellmouth would restore Drusilla's strength and decided to take over as Master of Sunnydale.
Although an attack against Ms. Summers (henceforth referred to as Buffy or the Slayer) had been planned for the night of the Feast of St. Vigious, Spike, in keeping with his impulsive nature, attacked several days early, on Parent's Night at the local high school. He fought the Slayer and managed to overpower her, but did not kill her due to the intervention of her mother, Joyce Summers, who hit the Master Vampire over the head with an axe.
Although stunned by this unorthodox turn of events, Spike nonetheless refused to give up. He destroyed the then Master of Sunnydale, known as the Anointed One, and took over as Master.
He continued to attempt to kill the Slayer. On Halloween night, he took advantage of a chaos spell to go against tradition and go out on Halloween. The spell turned revelers into the characters whose costumes they inhabited. Unfortunately, the Slayer chose the costume of an eighteenth-century noblewoman. Once Spike located her, he was easily able to subdue her and would have killed her had the spell not been broken. However, Buffy recovered as soon as the spell was broken and overpowered Spike, but he managed to escape before she was able to slay him.
Shortly thereafter, Spike hired an infamous group of assassins known as The Order of Taraka to kill the Slayer. It was also during this time that two more very important pieces of information came to light. The first, extraordinary, bit of information was that during Buffy's brief expiration the previous year, at the hands of the Master, another Slayer had been called. The second, more disturbing piece of information was that the cure for Drusilla's malady had been discovered. These three events would soon collide in a calamity which would have long term, and ultimately, devastating consequences.
Kendra the Vampire Slayer was sent to Sunnydale when her Watcher sensed the presence of a great evil. She arrived in time to witness an altercation between Buffy and a Tarakan assassin. Angel was with Buffy at the time and apparently shifted into his demon's visage during the fight. Kendra later captured Angel and locked him in a cage to await sunrise while she left to find Buffy whom she mistakenly believed to be a vampire as well.
At the same time, Spike discovered that the cure to Drusilla's ailment was a ritual involving the blood of the sire, Angel. Naturally, Spike began searching for Angel in order to utilize his blood for the ritual. Angel's imprisonment by Kendra allowed Spike to capture Angel for the ritual.
Although Kendra and Buffy were able to work together to release Angel and defeat Spike, they were unable to stop the ritual in time, or to slay Spike and Drusilla. As a result, Drusilla was restored to full strength while Spike was severely burned and paralyzed, confined to a wheelchair.
Chapter 2: The Return of Angelus
During Spike's early convalescence, he and Drusilla again maintained a low profile, but several weeks later, Drusilla embarked on an ambitious plot to restore the dismembered body of the destroyer known as The Judge. Buffy discovered this plot on the evening of her seventeenth birthday. That night following an unsuccessful attempt to dispose of some of The Judge's appendages, and a more successful escape from Spike and Drusilla and their minions, Buffy and Angel consummated their relationship. This most unfortunately resulted in the loss of Angel's soul and the return of the Master Vampire, Angelus.
Angelus immediately returned to his "family" and was able to fully usurp Spike's role as Master of Sunnydale, partly due to his own status as Master and partly due to Spike's incapacitation. He took control of Spike's minions and resumed his former physical relationship with Drusilla. He also, in keeping with his typical behavior, and despite Spike's apparent protests, began a campaign of psychological warfare against the Slayer.
The result was, as Spike apparently predicted, a very angry Slayer. But not, as Angelus apparently hoped, a careless one. Angelus' torment of both Buffy and Spike and his ultimate decision to arrange for the demon, Acathla, to suck the world into Hell inspired a resolve and determination in both the Slayer and the vampire to defeat him.
Spike's decades of experience with both Angelus and Drusilla gave him the practical knowledge that allowed him to go against his very nature and seek out his mortal enemy, the Slayer, in order to form an alliance. They formed an uneasy truce in which Spike offered to help defeat Angelus and save the world from destruction in exchange for the opportunity to leave Sunnydale forever with Drusilla. Buffy agreed under the condition that her Watcher, who had been captured and tortured for information by Angelus and Drusilla, be spared. Spike agreed and prevented Angelus from killing the man after extracting the necessary information. Then when the time came, he aided Buffy in the fight, first by striking the first blow against Angelus, then by keeping Drusilla out of the fight. In the end Buffy was able to defeat Angelus and avert the apocalypse. Meanwhile, Spike left town with Drusilla as promised.
Chapter 3: A Promise Broken
The pair returned to their traditional behavior while in South America, but their relationship had been irretrievably damaged by the truce between the Slayer and vampire. Drusilla ultimately rejected Spike and he briefly returned to Sunnydale, a shell of his former self, with the apparent intention of killing the Slayer as promised and restoring himself in Drusilla's eyes.
However, upon his arrival in Sunnydale he discovered that Willow Rosenberg, a friend of the Slayer's had become an accomplished Wicca. He kidnapped her, along with an acquaintance of hers in order to force her to perform a love spell on Drusilla. Before the spell could be performed, Spike was forced into a confrontation with the minions of the current Master of Sunnydale Mr. Trick. He once again fought alongside the Slayer, only this time he also fought alongside Angel, who had returned a few weeks earlier with his soul intact. Following the fight, Spike decided to release his hostages and return to South America and prove to Drusilla that he was still as much a demon as ever.
Chapter 4: Returning Yet Again to Sunnydale
Apparently Spike's efforts were not entirely successful for he returned to Sunnydale less than a year later, without Drusilla, seeking the legendary Gem of Amarra. His determination paid off and he was able to locate the gem. But once again, his impulsive nature was his downfall. He immediately sought out the Slayer in yet another attempt to kill her. However, during the fight, she was able to remove the ring from his finger, leaving him vulnerable once again. He managed to escape and attempted, unsuccessfully, to retrieve it from Angel, who had received it from Buffy.
Following the loss of the Gem of Amarra, Spike once again retuned to Sunnydale, seeking revenge against Buffy. He was unable to follow through with his plans due to the efforts of a covert military operation known as the Initiative. Spike was stunned by a taser gun and taken to a large underground facility where he was imprisoned and fed blood injected with sedatives. He was able to escape from the facility and quickly found his way to Buffy's dorm room where he encountered and attacked her roommate, Ms. Rosenberg. He was unable to follow through on his attack because he suffered excruciating pain every time he attempted to bite her. He escaped from the room during an attempt by the Initiative to recover him.
Once he realized that he was unable to cause any kind of injury to anyone he approached the Slayer and her friends seeking assistance in exchange for information about the military group, which Buffy had also been fighting. He had very little information at the time, and was kept restrained most of the time. Although, a subsequent escape attempt proved that he did have a vague idea where the underground facility was located. During another near-apocalypse he discovered that he was able to cause harm to demons. Following this discovery, he chose to help the Slayer and her friends fight other demons for the opportunity to participate in any violent act and in exchange for monetary compensation. Pursuant to his decision, he was released and allowed to find his own residence.
At approximately the same time, Buffy became romantically involved with a member of the Initiative, named Riley Finn, and discovered that the pain which Spike suffered anytime he inflicted pain on anyone else was caused by a behavioral modification chip imbedded in his cerebral cortex. It emitted sharp electrical pulses to the pain centers of his brain whenever he attempted to harm a human. Unfortunately, the behavior modification software was only one of the experiments being performed within the walls of the underground laboratories of the Initiative. A much more sinister experiment was underway in the most heavily secured area of the facility. Maggie Walsh, the doctor in charge of the Initiative, had developed an extremely dangerous, completely amoral demon/human/robot hybrid soldier, optimistically named Adam. Dr. Walsh failed to foresee her creation's desire to be independent and his complete lack of attachment to anyone, even to his "mother". This lack of foresight resulted in Dr. Walsh's demise at the hands of her own creation and his subsequent escape from the facility.
With access to all of the facilities records, Adam was aware of Spike's modifications and identity as Hostile 17. It was not difficult for him to ascertain Spike's relationship to the Slayer. He sought Spike out, requested his assistance and proposed an alliance. He would arrange for the removal of Spike's behavior modification chip in exchange for help with his new demon/human hybrid army. Spike agreed and attempted to drive a wedge between the Slayer and her friends, believing that if she were isolated she would be easier to defeat. He used his knowledge of their weaknesses, insecurities, and past differences to sow seeds of dissidence, and very nearly succeeded. In the end, however, the Slayer and her friends were able to work together to defeat Adam. Meanwhile Adam turned against Spike for his failure to render the Slayer useless. Spike managed to escape his final death, yet again, and found his way to the room where the Slayer's friends were engaged in the ritual that allowed her to defeat Adam. He arrived in time to prevent an escaped demon's attack on the group, thus earning himself a reprieve from the consequences of his earlier actions.
Chapter 5: Becoming Allies
Over the next few months, Spike again settled into an uneasy truce with the Slayer and her friends. He occasionally provided information and assistance in exchange for financial compensation. Relations again became strained when he attempted to force a former Initiative doctor to remove the modification chip imbedded in his brain. However, following this incident, Spike began to exhibit a markedly noticeable change in his behavior. The first time an unusual behavior was noted was following an unfortunate demon-veiling spell performed by a friend of the Slayer's. The young woman mistakenly believed herself to be part demon and was attempting to hide that aspect of herself. Unfortunately, she also hid all other demons from sight, just prior to an attack on the Magic Box (an establishment owned by Rupert Giles, Buffy's former Watcher, and used as a training and research facility by the Slayer and her friends) by Lei-ach demons. Spike assisted in dispatching the demons and then used his behavior modification chip to prove that the young woman was fully human by hitting her. The pain he suffered proved that she was in no way demon.
Spike provided assistance more frequently, although his requests for financial compensation, especially from Buffy, decreased. Following a rather emotional confrontation with the Slayer, he allowed his impulsive nature to lead him to make yet another attempt on her life. However, upon his arrival at her home, he found her distraught over the discovery that her mother was seriously ill. In yet another display of his ability to defy the nature of the beast, he put aside his original intentions and displayed the very human emotion of sympathy, even attempting to provide a small measure of comfort to the young woman. This behavior continued for several months. Spike frequently showed up to provide assistance when needed. While he occasionally asked for compensation and continued to trade jibes with the Slayer, he never refused to help when asked, especially by Buffy, or on her behalf. He was even on hand to assist Buffy with a space-borne Queller demon. Soon after the Queller incident, Spike discovered that the Slayer's suitor had become enamored with certain aspects of the darker side of Sunnydale and demon fighting, and was paying female vampires to feed from him. He brought the young man's new past time to Buffy's attention and Riley subsequently left town and rejoined the military.
Spike extended his protective tendencies toward Buffy to her family, as well. He watched over her mother and sister at a time when Buffy felt that they were threatened and she was unable to be with them herself. He did request some compensation, but did not put up even token resistance to the request. Another attempt to supervise Buffy's sister ended rather badly when Dawn snuck out of the house and Spike followed her in order to protect her from demons and other vampires. Unfortunately, he agreed to help her break into the Magic Box where they discovered information explaining Dawn's role as the Key. This led to Dawn's decision to run away and her subsequent capture by the Hellgod, Glorificus. Spike did, however, agree to help locate the girl and fought, although unsuccessfully, against the Hellgod.
It was shortly after this event that Spike's true intentions were revealed. Apparently Spike had developed feelings of an affectionate nature for Buffy which he classified as love. His initial revelation of his feelings was met with rejection and he responded in typical vampiric fashion. With the aid of his recently returned sire, he knocked Buffy unconscious, chained her to a wall and confessed his true feelings for her. He then offered to kill Drusilla, whom he had also tied up, as proof of the depth of his feelings. He then threatened to free Drusilla and allow her to kill Buffy unless Buffy returned his feelings. Yet, once again he defied his nature and fought with the Slayer rather than against her when Drusilla managed to slip her bonds while Spike was distracted. She immediately attempted to attack Buffy who was still in chains and unable to fight effectively. Spike subdued his own attacker, stopped Drusilla, and released Buffy. He had damaged the fragile alliance that he had built with Buffy and she rejected him once more, this time revoking his invitation to her home as well. But, also against his nature, rather than seeking revenge against her or her friends, he accepted her decision. He made a few brief attempts to contact her in public and through her friends, but quickly gave up and once again maintained a low profile. Even following the death of her mother, whom he also considered a friend, he visited Mrs. Summers' grave, but stayed away from Buffy and her home.
Apparently the forced separation was too much for him though, and he made a rather unwise decision. He contacted a local robotics genius and commissioned him to create a robot in Buffy's likeness with specific Slayer-related programming. As a direct result, minions of the Hellgod, Glorificus, who had been observing the Slayer's friends, mistook Spike for the Key and captured him. Glory recognized Spike as a vampire, but correctly assumed that he must have knowledge of the Key and it's whereabouts. He withstood several hours of rigorous torture, but steadfastly refused to reveal any information about the Key. He finally managed to escape at the same time that Buffy, her Watcher, her friends, and the robot arrived at the Hellgod's lair. The severity of Spike's injuries initially prevented coherent speech, although Buffy was eventually able to ascertain, in the guise of the robot, that he had indeed, refused to reveal any information about the Key to the Hellgod. As a result, a truce, this one stronger than before, was again established between the Slayer and the vampire.
Shortly afterward the battle with Glory began in earnest. The Hellgod attacked a friend of the Slayer's. Buffy took Dawn to Spike for safekeeping while she provided emotional support to her friends. Spike managed to convince the Slayer that her friend, Willow Rosenberg, would attempt to attack the Hellgod in revenge for attacking Ms Rosenberg's girlfriend, Tara Maclay. Buffy was able to stop Ms. Rosenberg before she was seriously injured or killed, but her attack angered Glory, and ultimately, her attack resulted in Glory learning the identity of the Key. Buffy resolved to take Dawn and her friends and attempt to escape from Glory. To accomplish this, she enlisted Spike's help, as much for his strength and skills, as for his determination to protect both her and Dawn.
During the unsuccessful escape attempt, several members of the party, including Buffy's Watcher, were wounded, by the Knights of Byzantium who were seeking to destroy the Key. Buffy summoned a young intern she had met during her mother's illness to provide medical assistance. However, she was unaware that the intern whom she had summoned was in fact Glory's human host. This event resulted in Glory's abduction of Dawn and Buffy's incapacitating catatonia. The remaining members of the party were rendered unaware of the intern's metamorphosis into Glory. Everyone, except Spike who was able to remember and to remind everyone as frequently as necessary.
He returned to the Hellgod's lair to ascertain whether she, or her human host, had left behind any clues to their whereabouts, but found nothing. Then he escorted Alexander Harris, a friend of the Slayer's, to the home of a demon to request information about Glory. While there, they were able to secure a box containing information pertaining to the ritual Glory was required to perform in order to return to her own dimension. After fighting with, and stabbing, the demon, they returned to the Magic Box with the information. Upon their return they discovered that Willow had managed to revive Buffy and the Slayer and her friends held a council of war to formulate a battle plan.
As it turned out, Spike's decision to commission a robot designed to resemble the Slayer was actually quite fortuitous. Willow was able to repair the damage the robot had sustained during the earlier skirmish with Glory's minions. Thus the Slayer was able to utilize the robot as a diversionary tactic during the final battle.
The battle with Glory was horrific and hard fought to the end. Buffy was able to drive Glory back into her human host who was summarily dispatched by her Watcher. Unfortunately, the demon, believed vanquished by Spike and Xander, was still alive and managed to make his way to Dawn. Spike managed, with the assistance of Willow and Tara, to reach Dawn's side and attempted to render aid. However, he was overcome by the demon and thrown from the tower on which the ritual was to be performed. Afterward, the ritual was completed and the Slayer was forced to sacrifice herself in order to reseal the dimensional portals.
Chapter 6: The Slayer Resurrected
Following Buffy's death, Spike was devastated, virtually inconsolable. However, prior to the final battle, Spike had promised Buffy that he would protect Dawn. So, after her death he stayed to watch over Dawn and help Buffy's Watcher and friends continue patrolling the Hellmouth. His robot was once again repaired and put to use, this time as the Slayer. Spike, however, showed nothing but distaste for the object.
Then, unbeknownst to Spike, Dawn, or Rupert Giles, Buffy's other friends took it upon themselves to resurrect her, mistakenly believing that she had been banished to a Hell dimension. Upon her return she confided in Spike that she had in actuality been in Heaven. She requested, and received, his secrecy on the matter.
In an attempt to help her adjust to her new status, and in light of her unwillingness to inform the others, Spike chose to support her as surreptitiously as possible. Whereas before her return he had been an ever present member of the group, going on patrol, staying with Dawn, helping out as needed, he quickly vanished into the woodwork, appearing only if, and when Buffy needed his support or company. He generally sought her out when she was alone or waited for her to seek him out at his residence. He maintained his distance from the Slayer's friends unless they sought him out, until her sister was kidnapped by a demon who wished to make her his bride. This demon also forced the citizens of Sunnydale, demons included, to reveal their true feelings through song. As a result of this demon's interference a number of secrets were revealed, including the truth about Buffy's whereabouts during her death, and Spike's continued desire to pursue a physical relationship with Buffy.
The fallout from this incident proved both dramatic and far-reaching for everyone involved. For Spike however, it resulted in a serious quandary. His services were no longer required as Dawn's guardian, so he no longer needed to be heroic. His position as Buffy's confidante now eradicated by her confession, he no longer needed to be discreet and polite. His company and help were no longer sought by the Slayer or any of her friends. He no longer had the ability, or even the desire, to wreak the sort of havoc that he had reveled in before, but he also realized that no one believed that he had actually become one of the "good guys". Not a "real" demon, yet not a man, he was caught between two worlds, but not really part of either. He had acquaintances in both the demon and human populations, but again was not truly close to anyone. He attempted to be a part of both worlds, but only succeeded in isolating himself further from both.
His love for Buffy and his desire for a connection led him to a misguided attempt to bring Buffy into his world. He saw them as the same, for the Slayer, though human, does not belong fully to the human world, and is usually alone. After realizing that he would never be fully accepted by those dwelling in the light, Spike attempted to draw Buffy further into the dark with him. Buffy, for her part felt isolated from her friends by their decision to pull her from Heaven and allowed herself to be pulled into the shadows. They entered into an ill-advised, secret, and highly dysfunctional physical relationship that satisfied certain needs for both parties, but ultimately left both unfulfilled and unhappy.
Spike for his part, did attempt to provide an outlet for Buffy's anger and aggression, allowing her to unleash her anger and frustration on him, both verbally and physically. He even allowed her to beat him nearly as severely as Glorificus on one occasion when she was extraordinarily angry with herself and her circumstances. Nor was she the only person he tried to help during this dark time. He also identified with her friend Willow and her struggles against the dark pull of magic and often supported and defended her during difficult times.
But these attempts at helping the Slayer and her friends were tempered by his inability to completely deny his demon's nature. He continued to associate with rather unseemly members of the demon population and on at least one occasion, for undetermined reasons, he boarded the eggs of an extremely dangerous demon in his bedroom. The eggs were discovered by the Slayer and her former Initiative suitor, who was in Sunnydale in pursuit of the demon and its spawn. The eggs were summarily destroyed and Buffy terminated the physical relationship following this incident, although neither completely severed ties.
As a result, Spike never completely gave up hope of reconciliation. His hopes suffered a severe blow, however, when Buffy accused him of spying on her. He ended up seeking solace with another former member of the Slayer's inner circle, a vengeance demon. The fallout from this indiscretion led to a confrontation between Buffy and Spike in which emotions ran high on both sides and eventually ended with Spike attempting to force himself on Buffy. While she was able to stop him, both were utterly horrified at what had occurred.
Spike immediately set out upon a quest to ensure that he would never again attempt anything of that nature. He traveled around the world to seek out a legend, a demon that would grant his request. He endured untold trials, pain and suffering in order to prove himself worthy of his request. At the end of his trials he received his reward, his soul
.
Chapter 7: The Price of a Soul
As Spike's soul was a reward, as he was deemed a worthy recipient, rather than a curse cast upon the unwilling, it came with no loopholes or clauses which would place him in danger of losing it through his own actions. However, he was not immune to the shame, guilt, and self-loathing that comes with receiving a soul after more than a century of bloodshed. He also became the target of a sinister force known as the First Evil. The First took great pleasure in assuming the form of deceased persons and taunting Spike with his perceived inadequacies. This coupled with the guilt and shame his soul brought him served to drive him quite insane upon his return to Sunnydale where he immediately took up residence directly upon the Hellmouth. Even in his altered state, he did manage to provide some assistance to Buffy and her friends soon after the opening of the new high school. Fortunately, Buffy was able to move him from the Hellmouth and into a friend's apartment. Soon afterward they discovered that Spike was apparently feeding, and siring vampires, again, although no one had realized that his behavior modification chip had stopped functioning. Once Spike was able to piece together enough memories of what had happened, they were able to determine that the First Evil had planted a trigger in Spike's mind to circumvent the chip and subdue his soul to allow the demon to kill and sire his victims.
Shortly after this discovery, Spike was captured by the harbingers of the First. His blood was used to open the Seal of Danzathar and release the first Turok-Han. Afterward, he was held captive by the First under the supervision of the harbingers and the Turok-Han and tortured by them until Buffy was able to locate and release him.
Once he recovered, Spike began helping Buffy train potential Slayers. Between them, they were able to provide the potentials with an invaluable training method no other Slayer in training had ever had; an opportunity to train with both a living Slayer and a real vampire, who were not only able to demonstrate proper fighting techniques, but against whom they could test themselves. More often than not the girls failed in their skirmishes with Spike, but since their failures never resulted in death, they were able to learn from their mistakes and correct them.
During this time Spike's behavior modification chip malfunctioned, leading to intense pain and severe nosebleeds. Buffy was alone with him at the time and had to choose which course of action to take. She contacted her former companion who sent military personnel to deal with the situation. He gave them orders to replace or remove the chip per the Slayer's wishes. Buffy chose to have the chip removed. She believed that Spike had proven himself trustworthy and that his soul would keep the demon at bay. She and Spike also believed that Buffy would be able to subdue Spike should the First attempt to trigger him again.
However, following the removal of the behavior modification chip, Spike's trigger remained inactive until Buffy's Watcher attempted to discover the source of the trigger using the Prokaryote Stone. Giles insisted that Spike, Buffy, and her inner circle, including her current employer, and son of a deceased Slayer, Robin Wood, be present at the ritual. They discovered that the source of the trigger had been a favorite song of William's mother, before he was sired. Pursuant to their discovery, Robin Wood and Rupert Giles agreed that Spike was still an instrument of evil and a danger to everyone as long as the trigger was still active. They further agreed that since Buffy was allowing her emotions to cloud her judgment that they would have to make the necessary difficult choice for her. They formulated a plan in which Giles would distract Buffy and keep her occupied while Robin subdued and destroyed Spike.
They followed the plan, Giles took Buffy on patrol and kept her distracted while Wood insisted that Spike accompany him to what turned out to be a cross-filled garage. Wood explained that he was the son of the second Slayer Spike had killed and then used his computer to play the song that triggered Spike's demon. However, during the fight, Spike's memory of his own mother and the choices he made returned to him. Apparently, once he became a vampire he chose to sire his mother out of a rather misguided sense of love and loyalty. But in doing so he released a demon that hurt him terribly in his mother's guise, setting up the painful memories that left him vulnerable to the First's trigger. Following the epiphany in Wood's garage, Spike remembered the truth about his relationship with his mother and managed to free himself from the effects of the trigger. He walked away from the fight leaving both himself and Wood injured, but neither mortally wounded.
After this unfortunate incident, neither Spike nor Buffy felt very comfortable, or trusting, around anyone but each other for quite some time. This was further compounded by an incident following a severe defeat that left everyone feeling downtrodden and exhausted, which led to a severe backlash against Buffy when she suggested returning to the same place for another mission. Spike was away on another mission and the other members of the group refused to support Buffy's choices and removed her as leader, then asked her to leave the house. Upon his return, Spike took great exception to this and also left in search of Buffy. But his encouragement of her gave her the will to follow through with her plans and she found a weapon forged in secret for only a Slayer to wield.
The trust and comfort that they found in each other gave them both the fortitude to face the coming battle. While Buffy formed an army of Slayers, Spike took on the role of champion. Buffy had received a powerful and mysterious amulet from Angel that was to be worn only by a champion, someone with a soul, but more than human. Angel proposed to wear it, but Buffy asked him to set up a second front in Los Angeles. She then gave the amulet to Spike making certain he understood that she believed him to be a champion.
During the final battle with the First Evil, Spike became a channel for the light, his soul giving him the ability to focus the light against the forces of darkness, turning the Turok-Han to dust and causing the Hellmouth to collapse in upon itself. The surviving Slayers were able to escape before the Hellmouth completely collapsed. Spike refused to abandon his post. After the Slayers and Buffy's inner circle managed to escape the destruction of the Hellmouth, all that was left of Sunnydale was an enormous crater. Spike had ensured that the Hellmouth was permanently and irrevocably sealed.
Chapter 8: Epilogue
Spike always considered himself a rebel. He was certainly always the exception to the rule. But in the end, he was a true champion. He was a demon who sacrificed himself unselfishly to save the world. He went against his nature so many times that he became a vampire who died a hero in the eyes of a Slayer.
Buffy closed the book and set it down. She leaned her head back and let the tears fall silently. She was very touched by Giles' book. He hadn't softened Spike's history. But neither had he filled it with the anger she had seen in him last year. He had written a fair history, but she could see where he had slanted it somewhat in Spike's favor, probably as a consideration to her, but possibly because he too had finally realized that Spike had changed, become a better man. She hoped that was the case.
She wiped her eyes and left the study. As she passed Willow in the hallway, she smiled a watery smile and told her she was going for a walk as she headed out the front door.
Willow watched Buffy leave with mild concern, but she hadn't seemed terribly upset, just a little bit sad. She walked into the study and saw the book lying on the table. She picked it up and looked at the title.
"Ah, well, let's see what Giles wrote."
She took the book to her room and began to read.
TBC
