A/N: Once again, thanks to the wonderful people who've reviewed me:
BebeluvSpikey, Emmylou, Cecilia All BloodyMMM, carl, and Michelle. I feel
all special! Yay! Anyway, back to the story.
Chapter 4:
Buffy left Spike in the bathroom after a few minutes to make faces at himself and get over the novelty of actually being able to see what he looked like. She smiled to herself as she walked to the table where Giles had books spread out all over. Who would have thought that such a self- proclaimed evil, Big Bad vampire-or rather, ex-vampire-would find looking at himself in the mirror so amusing? Maybe she wouldn't tell Giles about Lamarassa just yet. Spike seemed to be enjoying himself so much. He had never seemed truly happy in all the time she'd known him. Of course, the only time he had probably been so happy was when he was out killing innocents, and thankfully she hadn't really known him then.
As she walked up to the table where Giles was once again hard at work, Buffy made her decision; she wasn't going to tell anyone about her wish. Although she hadn't *exactly* thought things through before making the wish, it wasn't as if the world was ending because of it. Smiling brightly at Giles, Buffy sat down at the table.
"Finding anything?" she asked.
"Well, no, I'm afraid not. I've never heard of anything like this happening before. There is simply no precedent for a vampire being turned into a human, combined with the other changes that Spike has reported. We were looking into it before you came back, but not having any luck." Giles looked up at Buffy for the first time since she sat back down. "Um, where exactly is Spike right now?"
Rolling her eyes, Buffy replied, "He's making faces at himself in the mirror. He's just like a little kid."
"Well, I must say that you seem to like Spike more as a human than you did before. Your reaction is considerably different than that from the training room earlier. And I must say, I seem to be getting along better with Spike as well. I wonder if that was one of the side effects of whatever happened to him." With that, Giles dove back into full-fledged research mode, barely sparing a glance when Spike returned to researching with a large smile on his face.
Almost an hour later, Buffy stretched and yawned. Looking down at her watch, she gave a start. "Oh, my god! I was supposed to be back over an hour ago! Dawn's going to freak! Not to mention Willow and Tara! I've got to go. I'll see you guys in the morning?" Buffy barely paused to wait for Giles's nod before she took off toward her home.
After Buffy had gone, Spike noticed how Giles was still deeply engrossed in his reading. "Hey, Giles. Time to go home, mate. How 'bout I walk you there before I turn in? The books'll still be here tomorrow," Spike offered.
Giles looked up at Spike, surprised. The ex-vampire had been surprisingly nice to him all evening. But now, he wondered. Spike could simply be looking for a chance to get him alone on the streets to see if the chip had stopped working. Giles almost panicked for a moment at the thought of Spike returning to his previous lifestyle. Reality reasserted itself; Spike was a human now, and even if he wanted to continue killing, vampires could simply kill him. Or turn him again. Taking a deep breath, Giles realized that he could talk to Spike on the way home and hope that the other man had no intention of harming him. After all, he could have done so at any time this evening, and he hadn't.
"Oh, um, sorry, I just was thinking of something for a moment. If you don't mind, I probably should be going back. You're free to come with me if you'd like," Giles offered when he suddenly realized that he had been silent for too long. "We can talk on the way, if you don't mind."
"No, 's fine with me. Let's go before it gets any later. 'S gonna be strange to go out with the sun up tomorrow." Spike rose from the table along with Giles and the two men walked out the door together, Giles taking a moment to close the store before heading toward his home.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 4:
Buffy left Spike in the bathroom after a few minutes to make faces at himself and get over the novelty of actually being able to see what he looked like. She smiled to herself as she walked to the table where Giles had books spread out all over. Who would have thought that such a self- proclaimed evil, Big Bad vampire-or rather, ex-vampire-would find looking at himself in the mirror so amusing? Maybe she wouldn't tell Giles about Lamarassa just yet. Spike seemed to be enjoying himself so much. He had never seemed truly happy in all the time she'd known him. Of course, the only time he had probably been so happy was when he was out killing innocents, and thankfully she hadn't really known him then.
As she walked up to the table where Giles was once again hard at work, Buffy made her decision; she wasn't going to tell anyone about her wish. Although she hadn't *exactly* thought things through before making the wish, it wasn't as if the world was ending because of it. Smiling brightly at Giles, Buffy sat down at the table.
"Finding anything?" she asked.
"Well, no, I'm afraid not. I've never heard of anything like this happening before. There is simply no precedent for a vampire being turned into a human, combined with the other changes that Spike has reported. We were looking into it before you came back, but not having any luck." Giles looked up at Buffy for the first time since she sat back down. "Um, where exactly is Spike right now?"
Rolling her eyes, Buffy replied, "He's making faces at himself in the mirror. He's just like a little kid."
"Well, I must say that you seem to like Spike more as a human than you did before. Your reaction is considerably different than that from the training room earlier. And I must say, I seem to be getting along better with Spike as well. I wonder if that was one of the side effects of whatever happened to him." With that, Giles dove back into full-fledged research mode, barely sparing a glance when Spike returned to researching with a large smile on his face.
Almost an hour later, Buffy stretched and yawned. Looking down at her watch, she gave a start. "Oh, my god! I was supposed to be back over an hour ago! Dawn's going to freak! Not to mention Willow and Tara! I've got to go. I'll see you guys in the morning?" Buffy barely paused to wait for Giles's nod before she took off toward her home.
After Buffy had gone, Spike noticed how Giles was still deeply engrossed in his reading. "Hey, Giles. Time to go home, mate. How 'bout I walk you there before I turn in? The books'll still be here tomorrow," Spike offered.
Giles looked up at Spike, surprised. The ex-vampire had been surprisingly nice to him all evening. But now, he wondered. Spike could simply be looking for a chance to get him alone on the streets to see if the chip had stopped working. Giles almost panicked for a moment at the thought of Spike returning to his previous lifestyle. Reality reasserted itself; Spike was a human now, and even if he wanted to continue killing, vampires could simply kill him. Or turn him again. Taking a deep breath, Giles realized that he could talk to Spike on the way home and hope that the other man had no intention of harming him. After all, he could have done so at any time this evening, and he hadn't.
"Oh, um, sorry, I just was thinking of something for a moment. If you don't mind, I probably should be going back. You're free to come with me if you'd like," Giles offered when he suddenly realized that he had been silent for too long. "We can talk on the way, if you don't mind."
"No, 's fine with me. Let's go before it gets any later. 'S gonna be strange to go out with the sun up tomorrow." Spike rose from the table along with Giles and the two men walked out the door together, Giles taking a moment to close the store before heading toward his home.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
