Disclaimer: They're not mine.
"I don't believe it." Said Xander. He could feel a pulsing headache building up, most of the pain centered around his missing eye, which was the worst kind of pain, since if he started rubbing or poking it, he knew from experience that it would just get worse.
"Believe." Said Angel.
"Hey, back off, dead-boy!" Snarled Xander. "I'm the zeppo, okay? I'm used to being the normal one. All this about visions and seeing the future and the present, it's all new to me. And this bond with Spike I'm supposed to have, that's even worse. I can't stand him! I can't stand you! I can't stand vampires in general, and now I'm stuck with three of them!"
"No."
"No?"
"Just two. I'm heading back to LA. I have to check up on things. My Seer's in a coma. And. . .yeah, there's a lot of stuff I need to check on."
"Well. Go." Said Xander. "Your presence isn't filling me with joy."
--
"Giles, PLEASE untie me!" Wailed Buffy.
"No." Said Giles firmly. "Not till we can be sure all traces of the thrall you were under are now gone."
"Giles, I'm fine!" Pled Buffy.
"No, you're not." He insisted. "If the Master placed you under thrall, then you could be yourself but laboring under some sort of post-hypnotic suggestion."
"Ah!" Said Spike. "Good point, Rupes!"
"Don't call me Rupes." Said Giles.
"Sure." Said Spike. "So, now what?"
"Research!" Said Giles. "We've got to find some way to make sure she isn't under some sort of thrall."
"Well, on the bright side." Said Buffy cheerfully. "I can't research, cause I'm tied up."
"I need to talk to the Bit first." Said Spike.
"Yes." Said Giles absently. "Where's Anya? She's good at research."
"Andrew took her shopping for more blood." Said Spike. "Captain Cardboard took off, and the Great Forehead took the Carpenter somewhere to talk him into believing in Seers."
"I don't even want to know what you call me." Said Giles with a sigh.
--
Dawn glared at Spike as he entered the living room. He glared back. "I thought you hated me." He said shortly.
"Hah!" She said, turning.
"Hey, I'm not the one who stopped coming to see me, now am I?" Asked Spike. "You got big sis back, and you forgot all about me!"
"Hey!" Said Dawn. "That's not fair! I got big sis back, and you forgot all about me! You were only after her anyway!"
"Not true." Said Spike. "Whaddaya think, I was welcome at Casa Summers? You two shut me right out, you did. And did you come looking to see me? Not once!"
"I did too!" Snapped Dawn. "Well, I didn't, but I would have! I mean, she had me all locked up at home!"
"But you had time to steal?" Asked Spike. "Come on, bit."
"Stop calling me bit!" Snarled Dawn.
"Okay, Dawn." Said Spike calmly. "What? You want an apology? Fine. I was selfish. You want contrition? Can't help you, don't have a soul. You want a friendship?" He leaned closer. "I'm a monster, Dawn. The kind of thing your parents warn you about. I kill to live. That's what I am. The fact that I'm on some redemption trip won't stop that, not now. Not ever. By nature I'm evil. I have no soul. Better for you to just forget about me."
--
Xander considered the sky above him as it lightened, the sun coming up.
It had been a wild night. He'd even staked a master vampire, Drusilla—something he'd be telling everybody about for years to come. Oh, yes. The Zeppo had finished off Spike's Sire.
Never mind that Spike had all but finished her first. That bit of information was strictly extraneous.
Spike was back, without a soul, and with a mystical connection to Xander. Talk about life kicking you when you were already down.
Bad enough that Spike and Anya had come back from hell as vampires. Bad enough both had come back soulless.
No, they just had tighten the screws.
What was he supposed to feel? He was pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to be this mix of sadness and desperate longing. Just seeing Anya again was pretty bad. Yeah, sure, they'd settled matters—but that had only taken the edge off. It hadn't taken away any of the love he felt for her.
And she didn't have a soul. He was pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to love her any more now. Wasn't this the exact thing he'd been trying to tell Buffy to avoid? Loving a soulless thing?
He really didn't want to follow this line of thought to its logical conclusion.
Now Spike was back too. And that was just salt on the wound, really. He hated Spike, but that hatred paled next to everything he felt towards Anya.
Spike's Seer. What a horrible job that sounded like.
But here he was.
The worst part was the niggling little part of him that enjoyed it. That was the worst. He'd gotten Anya killed, gotten her sent to hell. And for that he got—what?
A chance to be Spike's spiritual guide?
--
"Any headway, Rupes?" Asked Spike, rejoining the Watcher and Slayer.
Giles glanced up. Buffy just looked away.
"No, nothing." Said Giles.
"Could you give us a minute?" Asked Spike.
Giles looked at them both uneasily. "I'll be right outside." He said finally, moving out the door.
Buffy turned her head, watching Spike. "What?" She asked, annoyed.
"I just thought we should talk." Said Spike, sitting down opposite her. "Clear some things up."
"You don't have a soul." Said Buffy firmly. "This conversation is an exercise in selfishness."
"It is." He admitted. "I do want you, but I know that's not possible any more—you didn't even accept me with a soul. There's no way you'll accept me without one. No, I just don't want to get hurt—hurt like I was when you kissed me while under thrall."
Buffy flushed. "I'm sorry." She said.
"I know." Said Spike. "And I know there's no chance at all—I know. I'll be taking off soon, going wherever I can fight the good fight." He snorted, shaking his head. "You hear me? Fighting the good fight. Since when am I the hero?"
"Since you got a soul." Said Buffy.
Spike snorted. "The soul had nothing to do with it!" He snapped.
"No." Said Buffy. "But going to get one—trying to do what you thought was necessary—that means something." She sighed. "And I really wish it had been enough, because without a soul—I can accept that Spike, the Spike I knew, can try to change—but you're a vampire. It isn't even like Angel. I could pretend it was all normal, because of his soul. This is different, and there's no pretending."
Spike smiled. "Good." He said. "I'd hate to be like him in any way."
Buffy nodded. "So we're agreed." She said wistfully.
"Yeah." Said Spike. "I'll be getting out of here as soon as we take care of the Master."
--
Xander found Spike sleeping on the floor. "Hey." He said, nudging the vampire with his foot. "Up and at em."
"It's the middle of the day!" Groaned Spike. "Just let me rest in peace!"
"I wanna talk." Said Xander, sitting next to the vampire.
Spike opened his eyes, glaring at the human he hated so much. "What about?"
Xander shrugged. "Hell. Anya. You. Seers. The Master. Little bit of everything."
Spike rolled over. "And there's nobody else to talk to?"
"Talked to Angel. No joy. I hate you so bad you would not believe it."
"I hate you worse." Muttered Spike.
--
Giles turned and faced Buffy. "All right, I've found an interesting one."
"Surprise me." She moaned.
"We'll need a goat, some chalk, and a bowl." Said Giles.
"GILES!" Screamed Buffy. "I want to be untied NOW!"
"Now, do stop that." Reproved Giles. "This is a simple exorcism. It will free you from outside influence. If you aren't possessed, there'll be no ill effects."
There was a knocking at the door. "Come in!" Said Giles, picking up a chain.
"Hello!" Said Willow cheerfully. "Aagh! What on earth?!"
"Oh, uh," stuttered the Watcher, turning to face the witch. She took in the sight slowly.
Buffy, tied to a chair. Very firmly tied, with ropes and chains. The Watcher standing there with a book in his hands.
"Tell me, please, that this is not some bondage thing." Said Willow.
"Wills! Agh!" Screamed Buffy. She blushed, something she hadn't done a lot of since taking up with Spike years ago. She'd thought that after Spike there was nothing left to blush about. Leave it to Willow to prove her wrong.
"Er, uh, Buffy was under thrall." Said Giles. "And we need some help determining just how much—"
Willow's eyes flared red, and she pointed at Buffy's head. A black cloud shot from her finger, striking Buffy between the eyes. Buffy made a muffled gagging sound, then the cloud came back, dissipating on Willow's finger.
"I don't see anything." Said Willow with a frown.
"Of course!" Said Giles, frantically setting to work on the knots.
Buffy sighed. "Bored now." She said, flexed, and the chains and rope exploded.
"Buffy!" Said Giles.
"What, you think I was going to tell you I was all but free? You do know there are soulless vampires in the house, right?" Asked Buffy.
–-
"I wonder if there's a way out." Mused Xander.
"A way out of being my Seer, you mean." Said Spike.
"Yeah."
Spike sneered at the other man, a flash of hatred crossing his face. The angular shadows shifted with his sneer, creating a nightmarish face, even though he hadn't gone into his demon face yet. "Angel told me there wasn't a way out."
"Hah!" Snorted Xander. "What does Angel know?"
"Good point." Ceded Spike.
–-
Buffy knocked on Dawn's door. "Dawnie? Are you in there?"
"Yeah." Sniffed Dawn.
"Dinner's ready, and there's gonna be a big Scooby meeting afterward." Said Buffy.
"Great." Sniffled Dawn.
"Can I come in?"
"Whatever."
Buffy let herself in. Dawn was sitting at the head of her bed, her back against the wall and her knees drawn up to her chest. Her face was pressed against her knees, with her hair down over her legs.
Buffy sat down at the end of the bed. "Spike talked to you, huh?"
"Yeah."
"He's really bad at that sort of thing." Confided Buffy.
"He was right." Said Dawn. "I was a terrible friend."
"So was he, Dawnie. He was evil." Said Buffy.
"But he got a soul! He did good!" Said Dawn.
"That was later." Said Buffy. "People change, Dawn. Its just a fact. He made some good choices, and he's a better person now. Even without the soul."
Dawn hiccuped. "It still hurts." She muttered.
"It'll be okay, Dawnie." Said Buffy. "He's back. You have time to make up for it now. You can do better this time."
"And you?" Asked Dawn, lowering her knees. "Are you going to do better?"
Buffy thought about it. "I never loved him." She said flatly. "You know that, Dawn. I never loved him. Not for a minute. He knew that, right to the end. In a way, he made up for that, loving me so much that it didn't matter. But I never loved him, Dawnie."
Dawn nodded. "I know." She said. She raised her head, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "So, now what?"
Buffy sighed. "We go on fighting demons, I guess. And whatever happens, happens."
--
"As official holder of Buffy's old sneaker, I call this Scooby meeting to order." Said Willow seriously. Anya's hand shot up. "Yes?" Said Willow.
"What's with the sneaker?" Asked Anya.
"Oh, it's uh, sort of a mallet. The person with the sneaker keeps the meeting in order." Said Willow, flustered.
Anya thought for a second. "So, you had a wild meeting and she started pounding the table with her shoe, and it became a tradition?"
"Moving on to business!" Said Willow quickly, looking around the room. "We only have a half-force of Slayer's today. Faith's Slayers aren't back yet. And please welcome the Watcher, Giles."
"One Watcher, three hundred and forty-two Slayer's on roster. You do the math." Whisper Giles to Anya.
"And," said Willow, in a slightly louder voice, "please call your attention to item one on the agenda. Spike the vampire and Anya the vampire. Two more good vampires on the do-not-stake list, which now consists of three vampires." There were groans around the large amphitheater. "Item two! Xander is now a Seer of some sort, linked to Spike. So he'll no longer be training Slayer's in the fine art of combat."
"Punching bag?" Mouthed Anya. Giles nodded emphatically. There was another series of groans around the room.
"Item three..." Willow trailed off.
Some of the Slayers had met Spike while they were Potentials, hiding out in Buffy's basement. Everybody had met Xander, and learned to fear the entirely powerless man who wore the long leather duster.
Not many had realized that it was Spike's duster.
Even without the duster, Xander carried himself with the aura of somebody none of the Slayers wanted to mess with. Even if they could all break him in half with their bare hands.
It wasn't so much a dangerous aura as simply a chaotic one, something Giles and Andrew had noticed. He hadn't been drinking so much these days, but everyone knew that he was skating close to the edge. Hanging out with demons.
It wasn't the fear you felt in the presence of something dangerous. It was the nervous fear that came when you saw a friend falling apart and dying in front of you and didn't know what to do about it. The kind of fear that came from seeing somebody tearing themselves to pieces in front of you.
Now he entered the large room shoulder to shoulder with Spike. Spike wore the duster, and the way he walked alone was enough to put the Slayers on edge. Some instinct told them all that this vampire was dangerous.
The look he gave them all, a flat, appraising look, told them that he was very dangerous.
Xander's face, usually a study in dark emotions, despair and grief, seemed today to have a hint of mischief in it, something that threw the few Slayers who had come back off their stride.
They sat down in the back, alone. "I could get used to that." Xander admitted, trying not to look at Anya.
"Item three!" Said Willow forcefully. "We now have reason to believe that a dangerous vampire, the Master, of the Aurelius line, has returned from the dead."
"I don't believe it." Said Xander. He could feel a pulsing headache building up, most of the pain centered around his missing eye, which was the worst kind of pain, since if he started rubbing or poking it, he knew from experience that it would just get worse.
"Believe." Said Angel.
"Hey, back off, dead-boy!" Snarled Xander. "I'm the zeppo, okay? I'm used to being the normal one. All this about visions and seeing the future and the present, it's all new to me. And this bond with Spike I'm supposed to have, that's even worse. I can't stand him! I can't stand you! I can't stand vampires in general, and now I'm stuck with three of them!"
"No."
"No?"
"Just two. I'm heading back to LA. I have to check up on things. My Seer's in a coma. And. . .yeah, there's a lot of stuff I need to check on."
"Well. Go." Said Xander. "Your presence isn't filling me with joy."
--
"Giles, PLEASE untie me!" Wailed Buffy.
"No." Said Giles firmly. "Not till we can be sure all traces of the thrall you were under are now gone."
"Giles, I'm fine!" Pled Buffy.
"No, you're not." He insisted. "If the Master placed you under thrall, then you could be yourself but laboring under some sort of post-hypnotic suggestion."
"Ah!" Said Spike. "Good point, Rupes!"
"Don't call me Rupes." Said Giles.
"Sure." Said Spike. "So, now what?"
"Research!" Said Giles. "We've got to find some way to make sure she isn't under some sort of thrall."
"Well, on the bright side." Said Buffy cheerfully. "I can't research, cause I'm tied up."
"I need to talk to the Bit first." Said Spike.
"Yes." Said Giles absently. "Where's Anya? She's good at research."
"Andrew took her shopping for more blood." Said Spike. "Captain Cardboard took off, and the Great Forehead took the Carpenter somewhere to talk him into believing in Seers."
"I don't even want to know what you call me." Said Giles with a sigh.
--
Dawn glared at Spike as he entered the living room. He glared back. "I thought you hated me." He said shortly.
"Hah!" She said, turning.
"Hey, I'm not the one who stopped coming to see me, now am I?" Asked Spike. "You got big sis back, and you forgot all about me!"
"Hey!" Said Dawn. "That's not fair! I got big sis back, and you forgot all about me! You were only after her anyway!"
"Not true." Said Spike. "Whaddaya think, I was welcome at Casa Summers? You two shut me right out, you did. And did you come looking to see me? Not once!"
"I did too!" Snapped Dawn. "Well, I didn't, but I would have! I mean, she had me all locked up at home!"
"But you had time to steal?" Asked Spike. "Come on, bit."
"Stop calling me bit!" Snarled Dawn.
"Okay, Dawn." Said Spike calmly. "What? You want an apology? Fine. I was selfish. You want contrition? Can't help you, don't have a soul. You want a friendship?" He leaned closer. "I'm a monster, Dawn. The kind of thing your parents warn you about. I kill to live. That's what I am. The fact that I'm on some redemption trip won't stop that, not now. Not ever. By nature I'm evil. I have no soul. Better for you to just forget about me."
--
Xander considered the sky above him as it lightened, the sun coming up.
It had been a wild night. He'd even staked a master vampire, Drusilla—something he'd be telling everybody about for years to come. Oh, yes. The Zeppo had finished off Spike's Sire.
Never mind that Spike had all but finished her first. That bit of information was strictly extraneous.
Spike was back, without a soul, and with a mystical connection to Xander. Talk about life kicking you when you were already down.
Bad enough that Spike and Anya had come back from hell as vampires. Bad enough both had come back soulless.
No, they just had tighten the screws.
What was he supposed to feel? He was pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to be this mix of sadness and desperate longing. Just seeing Anya again was pretty bad. Yeah, sure, they'd settled matters—but that had only taken the edge off. It hadn't taken away any of the love he felt for her.
And she didn't have a soul. He was pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to love her any more now. Wasn't this the exact thing he'd been trying to tell Buffy to avoid? Loving a soulless thing?
He really didn't want to follow this line of thought to its logical conclusion.
Now Spike was back too. And that was just salt on the wound, really. He hated Spike, but that hatred paled next to everything he felt towards Anya.
Spike's Seer. What a horrible job that sounded like.
But here he was.
The worst part was the niggling little part of him that enjoyed it. That was the worst. He'd gotten Anya killed, gotten her sent to hell. And for that he got—what?
A chance to be Spike's spiritual guide?
--
"Any headway, Rupes?" Asked Spike, rejoining the Watcher and Slayer.
Giles glanced up. Buffy just looked away.
"No, nothing." Said Giles.
"Could you give us a minute?" Asked Spike.
Giles looked at them both uneasily. "I'll be right outside." He said finally, moving out the door.
Buffy turned her head, watching Spike. "What?" She asked, annoyed.
"I just thought we should talk." Said Spike, sitting down opposite her. "Clear some things up."
"You don't have a soul." Said Buffy firmly. "This conversation is an exercise in selfishness."
"It is." He admitted. "I do want you, but I know that's not possible any more—you didn't even accept me with a soul. There's no way you'll accept me without one. No, I just don't want to get hurt—hurt like I was when you kissed me while under thrall."
Buffy flushed. "I'm sorry." She said.
"I know." Said Spike. "And I know there's no chance at all—I know. I'll be taking off soon, going wherever I can fight the good fight." He snorted, shaking his head. "You hear me? Fighting the good fight. Since when am I the hero?"
"Since you got a soul." Said Buffy.
Spike snorted. "The soul had nothing to do with it!" He snapped.
"No." Said Buffy. "But going to get one—trying to do what you thought was necessary—that means something." She sighed. "And I really wish it had been enough, because without a soul—I can accept that Spike, the Spike I knew, can try to change—but you're a vampire. It isn't even like Angel. I could pretend it was all normal, because of his soul. This is different, and there's no pretending."
Spike smiled. "Good." He said. "I'd hate to be like him in any way."
Buffy nodded. "So we're agreed." She said wistfully.
"Yeah." Said Spike. "I'll be getting out of here as soon as we take care of the Master."
--
Xander found Spike sleeping on the floor. "Hey." He said, nudging the vampire with his foot. "Up and at em."
"It's the middle of the day!" Groaned Spike. "Just let me rest in peace!"
"I wanna talk." Said Xander, sitting next to the vampire.
Spike opened his eyes, glaring at the human he hated so much. "What about?"
Xander shrugged. "Hell. Anya. You. Seers. The Master. Little bit of everything."
Spike rolled over. "And there's nobody else to talk to?"
"Talked to Angel. No joy. I hate you so bad you would not believe it."
"I hate you worse." Muttered Spike.
--
Giles turned and faced Buffy. "All right, I've found an interesting one."
"Surprise me." She moaned.
"We'll need a goat, some chalk, and a bowl." Said Giles.
"GILES!" Screamed Buffy. "I want to be untied NOW!"
"Now, do stop that." Reproved Giles. "This is a simple exorcism. It will free you from outside influence. If you aren't possessed, there'll be no ill effects."
There was a knocking at the door. "Come in!" Said Giles, picking up a chain.
"Hello!" Said Willow cheerfully. "Aagh! What on earth?!"
"Oh, uh," stuttered the Watcher, turning to face the witch. She took in the sight slowly.
Buffy, tied to a chair. Very firmly tied, with ropes and chains. The Watcher standing there with a book in his hands.
"Tell me, please, that this is not some bondage thing." Said Willow.
"Wills! Agh!" Screamed Buffy. She blushed, something she hadn't done a lot of since taking up with Spike years ago. She'd thought that after Spike there was nothing left to blush about. Leave it to Willow to prove her wrong.
"Er, uh, Buffy was under thrall." Said Giles. "And we need some help determining just how much—"
Willow's eyes flared red, and she pointed at Buffy's head. A black cloud shot from her finger, striking Buffy between the eyes. Buffy made a muffled gagging sound, then the cloud came back, dissipating on Willow's finger.
"I don't see anything." Said Willow with a frown.
"Of course!" Said Giles, frantically setting to work on the knots.
Buffy sighed. "Bored now." She said, flexed, and the chains and rope exploded.
"Buffy!" Said Giles.
"What, you think I was going to tell you I was all but free? You do know there are soulless vampires in the house, right?" Asked Buffy.
–-
"I wonder if there's a way out." Mused Xander.
"A way out of being my Seer, you mean." Said Spike.
"Yeah."
Spike sneered at the other man, a flash of hatred crossing his face. The angular shadows shifted with his sneer, creating a nightmarish face, even though he hadn't gone into his demon face yet. "Angel told me there wasn't a way out."
"Hah!" Snorted Xander. "What does Angel know?"
"Good point." Ceded Spike.
–-
Buffy knocked on Dawn's door. "Dawnie? Are you in there?"
"Yeah." Sniffed Dawn.
"Dinner's ready, and there's gonna be a big Scooby meeting afterward." Said Buffy.
"Great." Sniffled Dawn.
"Can I come in?"
"Whatever."
Buffy let herself in. Dawn was sitting at the head of her bed, her back against the wall and her knees drawn up to her chest. Her face was pressed against her knees, with her hair down over her legs.
Buffy sat down at the end of the bed. "Spike talked to you, huh?"
"Yeah."
"He's really bad at that sort of thing." Confided Buffy.
"He was right." Said Dawn. "I was a terrible friend."
"So was he, Dawnie. He was evil." Said Buffy.
"But he got a soul! He did good!" Said Dawn.
"That was later." Said Buffy. "People change, Dawn. Its just a fact. He made some good choices, and he's a better person now. Even without the soul."
Dawn hiccuped. "It still hurts." She muttered.
"It'll be okay, Dawnie." Said Buffy. "He's back. You have time to make up for it now. You can do better this time."
"And you?" Asked Dawn, lowering her knees. "Are you going to do better?"
Buffy thought about it. "I never loved him." She said flatly. "You know that, Dawn. I never loved him. Not for a minute. He knew that, right to the end. In a way, he made up for that, loving me so much that it didn't matter. But I never loved him, Dawnie."
Dawn nodded. "I know." She said. She raised her head, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "So, now what?"
Buffy sighed. "We go on fighting demons, I guess. And whatever happens, happens."
--
"As official holder of Buffy's old sneaker, I call this Scooby meeting to order." Said Willow seriously. Anya's hand shot up. "Yes?" Said Willow.
"What's with the sneaker?" Asked Anya.
"Oh, it's uh, sort of a mallet. The person with the sneaker keeps the meeting in order." Said Willow, flustered.
Anya thought for a second. "So, you had a wild meeting and she started pounding the table with her shoe, and it became a tradition?"
"Moving on to business!" Said Willow quickly, looking around the room. "We only have a half-force of Slayer's today. Faith's Slayers aren't back yet. And please welcome the Watcher, Giles."
"One Watcher, three hundred and forty-two Slayer's on roster. You do the math." Whisper Giles to Anya.
"And," said Willow, in a slightly louder voice, "please call your attention to item one on the agenda. Spike the vampire and Anya the vampire. Two more good vampires on the do-not-stake list, which now consists of three vampires." There were groans around the large amphitheater. "Item two! Xander is now a Seer of some sort, linked to Spike. So he'll no longer be training Slayer's in the fine art of combat."
"Punching bag?" Mouthed Anya. Giles nodded emphatically. There was another series of groans around the room.
"Item three..." Willow trailed off.
Some of the Slayers had met Spike while they were Potentials, hiding out in Buffy's basement. Everybody had met Xander, and learned to fear the entirely powerless man who wore the long leather duster.
Not many had realized that it was Spike's duster.
Even without the duster, Xander carried himself with the aura of somebody none of the Slayers wanted to mess with. Even if they could all break him in half with their bare hands.
It wasn't so much a dangerous aura as simply a chaotic one, something Giles and Andrew had noticed. He hadn't been drinking so much these days, but everyone knew that he was skating close to the edge. Hanging out with demons.
It wasn't the fear you felt in the presence of something dangerous. It was the nervous fear that came when you saw a friend falling apart and dying in front of you and didn't know what to do about it. The kind of fear that came from seeing somebody tearing themselves to pieces in front of you.
Now he entered the large room shoulder to shoulder with Spike. Spike wore the duster, and the way he walked alone was enough to put the Slayers on edge. Some instinct told them all that this vampire was dangerous.
The look he gave them all, a flat, appraising look, told them that he was very dangerous.
Xander's face, usually a study in dark emotions, despair and grief, seemed today to have a hint of mischief in it, something that threw the few Slayers who had come back off their stride.
They sat down in the back, alone. "I could get used to that." Xander admitted, trying not to look at Anya.
"Item three!" Said Willow forcefully. "We now have reason to believe that a dangerous vampire, the Master, of the Aurelius line, has returned from the dead."