Chapter Seven

The next morning I was awoken by the sound of clinking chains. Spike had reclaimed the manacles and cot along the basement wall and I was in a sleeping bag on the floor. I got up and went over to the sink to splash some water on my face. I had spent a good portion of my life in less comfortable conditions, but that didn't mean I liked it. I looked at Spike and marveled that his hair looked perfect after a night on the cot. One of the benefits of being undead I guess.

He saw me looking at him and said, "So you were hired to nab me because of that Chinese Slayer? I thought her family had given up after Dru and I killed those ninja chaps at that World's Fair in the 30's."

"Well the Chinese have a long memory," I replied. " I'm sure at least a few people over there still know about my part in the Boxer Rebellion."

"Get out, I didn't see you anywhere. Off course I wasn't really there that long. Didn't have much reason to stay after I killed the Slayer and Angel went back to being a good little nancy boy. It wasn't as much fun when you couldn't understand the pleading of your victims."

"May I ask a question, Spike?"

"Go ahead."

"Now that you've gotten your soul back, are you sorry for all the people you killed?"

"I didn't sulk for 100 years like that brooding poof Angel, but the shock of getting my soul back and remembering all my victims nearly drove me mad. That's probably what allowed the First to take control of me. The can't-hurt-humans-chip in my head forced me to take control of my feelings before I got my soul back-well all my feelings except for one notable exception. That's probably the only thing that's keeping me from screaming my head off twenty four hours a day now."

"I know how is to remember the people you've killed," I said. "And I don't have the excuse of not having a soul."

There was an uncomfortable stretch of silence that I broke by saying, "So there's another vampire with a soul out there?"

"Yeah Angel. He sired Drusilla who in turn sired me. Got cursed by gypsies. He didn't want his soul back, but I did. It was my choice."

"Look," I said, "What I did to you wasn't personal, it was just a job. If I knew seven weeks ago what I know now, I wouldn't have taken that commission."

"Think nothing of it. Anyone would want to punish the person I used to be. At least I didn't bite you."

"Good thing you didn't. My blood is poisonous to any living thing. Found that out when I tried to give a transfusion to someone I really cared about it and it killed them."

"Ok," he said. "Look, I'm sorry about tripping your mate and getting him killed."

"He would have died anyway," I said climbing the stairs and not looking forward to the long wait outside the bathroom. "You just prevented us from killing more of the black robes."

Outside the bathroom Anya and I waited in silence. Finally she said, "You are the only available and attractive man in the house I haven't had a previous relationship with. I am open to the idea of having organisms with you." She saw the harried look on my face and continued, "That is if you are open to the idea of sharing consensual sexual activity with me."

"I'm not looking for a relationship right now and I don't want to step on Xander's toes," I told her, "but I'll certainly keep it in mind." At that moment Kennedy finally came out of the bathroom. I saw my chance for escape and bolted in there. Anya was an attractive woman, but she had way too much baggage, even for a two-thousand year old guy like me.

A couple of days later I was helping Dawn with a Hebrew translation and talking about my experiences in the killhouse when I saw Buffy come back home from work at the high school.

"So your body healed the knife wounds and you woke up, but you were buried and didn't have any air, so you died again?" Dawn asked. "Major league freakout time."

"Yeah its no picnic. About a thousand years ago I got trapped in a miles long underground river. I lost track of how many times I would float up to an air bubble, revive, and then drown again as the current swept me back under the water."

"Too bad scuba tanks hadn't been invented then," she said. "Anyway, what happened to the bodies of all those Bringers you and your men killed?

"I'm not sure. The First must have some way of disposing of them. If they had simply carried the bodies out the house, then they would have moved the bodies of me and my team too. Excuse me for a minute," I said getting up from the study table, " I need to talk with your sister."

"No problemo. I'll be right here doing my mystic homework and if I'm real lucky, my actual school homework too."

I walked into the kitchen where Buffy was shaking the crumbs out of a cookie box.

"I need to talk with you about something, Buffy."

"Talk on, McDuff," she said.

"I'm supposed to report to my employer at least once a week. Right now he's probably getting worried, but soon he may start trying to find out what happened to me and my team. He might even send another team to finish the job."

"What can we do about it?"

"If I send him a box of vampire dust and a note saying that Spike killed my team and wounded and left me with no choice but to stake him, it might satisfy my principal. Or at least buy us some time. I won't ask for the rest of my commission."

"Sounds like a plan-I'll get some fresh dust for you tonight," she said while opening a box of macaroni and cheese. "Will they be able to do that CSI DNA thing with the dust and tell if its Spike or not?"

"Probably not conclusively unless they somehow got a sample of Spike's DNA. I'll ask Willow about the scientific and magical angles to this, but to be on the safe side try to stake a male vamp of European extraction."

"Hey that's racial profiling-oh darn--I forgot Dawn slayed the microwave," she said while pouring water into a pot. "Guess I'll have to use the stove."

"There's another thing," I said. I know you can't completely trust me, but I want to help you fight the First Evil."

"Why do you want to do that?"

"The First has pissed me off. And its not often I encounter people and causes I believe in. Its hard to be passionate about anything after two thousand years of living, but I'm passionate about this."

"I can accept that," she replied while pouring the macaroni in the pot. "Continue to help with the translations and research and maybe you could start helping train the Potentials too. A guy like you is bound to have a few old school moves you can show us."

"Good. Hopefully I'll see you take down the First before I meet my maker again."