Title: The First Seconded

Author: Falcon-Rider falcon_rider@hotmail.com

Rating: PG-13 for Agnst and ect. (Spike will have guilt and feels remorse, more on that will be touched on in later chaps)

Disclaimer: I own nothing 'cept the plot and Nich.

Authors note: Thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews! I love getting reviews… I love to review! ^_^ Anyway I'm brining the council in and basically for the beginning their the bad guys… and for Willow fans she will appear in part 10. Also for those wondering Spike WILL deal with guilt but his character by the time we get to LA and Sunnydale will not be brooding over it… he will have bad dreams and stuff but I'm not turning him into a Mini-Angel. ALSO I am aware that Joss has said spike really did want the soul… and I believe that sub consciously he did. So please don't yell at me about it. ^_^ I was watching the ep Nightmares and began to think to myself… who in their right mind would build a high school across from a graveyard? Then I remembered what high school I go to… so I guess I'd have to say my public school system.

ON TO THE STORY!

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Part Seven

Stories of Pain, Heartbreak and anvils

85 days

Spike thought that Giles was going to faint, the look of shock on the watchers face made him twist awkwardly in his chair. Giles made it to the sofa and sunk heavily into the cushions.

"My God," he whispered staring at the ex-vampire. Spike flinched and looked around the small room uncomfortable with being stared at. "You're a slayer?"

"That'd be right mate, The Slayer of Slayers a slayer… I'm going to pass on suicide I think," Spike replied trying to joke.

"Are you sure, that you are," Giles stuttered. The watcher stood once more and began to pace around the room. "I mean did they come out and say-."

"That I was a Slayer? Yeah, basically." Spike nodded. "Had a nice chat with the first slayer then woke up in a hut with pixie and my very own, very annoying person seer. 'parently the Powers decided I'd need help on my 'journey.'"

Giles removed his glasses and spike chuckled slightly, "You know Dawn once told me you clean those just so you won't have to see what… what everyone's doing." Spike trailed off his face darkened sadly as he finished.

"Well yes, things tend to be some what … pixie? Isn't that what you called Tara?"

"It- she- Pixie is Tara," Spike finally managed. Giles dropped his glasses and they fell to the floor unnoticed.

"How-" Giles' voice had caught in his throat.

"The Powers that Be of course. 'Parently she's still needed in this plain of existence for some reason… she told me, what happened up to the point when she," Spike to a deep breathe. "When she died. She's worried, how's Red?"

Giles blinked at the sudden onslaught of information. "T-tara's alive?"

"Yah, alive. She'll be wanting to talk t you as well," Spike sighed and stood stiffly. "Giles, I have to know. What happened in Sunnydale? What happened that got Tara killed?"

"It was Warren." Giles walked across his room to stand in front of one of the windows. Spike watched him surprised. The Slayer kept his mouth shut though waiting for the ex-watcher to explain. "He walked into Buffy's back yard and shot her, a stray bullet went through the window and through Tara's heart. She died instantly from what Willow said."

Spike slowly walked toward Giles to stand next to him and stared out the windows at London. The sky was gray and it looked as though it would rain soon. Spike glanced down at his feet suddenly finding them interesting. "I should have stayed. I could have-"

"No," Giles shook his head. "There was nothing you could have done. It was daylight and you would have gotten yourself killed if you had tried to stop him."

"I-is Buffy alright?" Spike asked after a few minutes of silence.

Giles turned toward him and took in his appearance. Spike was dressed in his normal black but his hair had been left unbleached and was shorter than usual. The ex-vampire had also acquired a tan and a slight hunch that was caused by his hands being placed into his pockets as he found the ground surprisingly interesting.

 "She's fine." Giles assured him quietly. "She was taken to hospital immediately."

"So the doctors patched 'er up then." Spike stated rater than spoke as he glanced up. He met Giles eyes for a split second before turning his head to stare out the window.

"No. It was Willow." Giles followed Spikes movements and returned his gaze to the window and the world outside as well. "She, in the aftermath of Tara's death she tried to resurrect her." Spike glanced up surprised. "Osirus told her she could not. After that she went crazy with rage and vengeance. She killed Warren and tried to kill Dawn, Buffy and everyone else. She tried to end the world."

"But she didn't."  Spike said quietly.

"No Xander stopped her."

Spikes head snapped up. "The whelp? He stopped her? How, did he hand her a anvil and walk her off a cliff?" He asked sarcastically.

"No, he told her he loved her."

Spike shrugged forcing himself not to laugh. "He told her he loved her." Spike bit his lip and calmed his composure. He took a deep breath before he continued, "Where's Red now?"

"Actually I was about to see her. The coven that helped in defeating her took her in. They've been helping her deal with her loss and learn to control… they've also bound her powers in a way that she will have to relearn everything to come back into full power once more."

Spike nodded, "For the greater good?"

"Yes, with any luck she'll travel down a better path this time around." Giles stepped back from the window. "Tara needed to speak with me?"

"Uh yes," Spike replied quietly. "I'll show you to the apartment if you want. I don't think they know the way here."

"Of course," Giles walked toward the door and Spike followed slowly. "If you don't mind sometime in the next day or so I'd like to gage your abilities."

"I don't." At the ex-watchers look Spike continued hastily. "Mind that is. Tara's been putting me through training for the last month or two, so you can check over her notes as well."

"She's been keeping a diary?"

"I think, yes." Spike nodded as they left Giles flat. "She felt the need to being my temporary watcher and all."

*

Quentin Travers stood in front of a long oak table in the Council of Watchers meeting room. The seats around it were filled with the senior members of the council. In front of them were copies of the pictures and several eyewitness accounts of the man, William, who claimed to be a slayer.

"The Slayer of Slayers is a slayer?" A young woman barked laughing. Her graying hair showed her old age, and her eyes were cold and ice blue in color.

"Apparently he has some way of making himself impervious to sunlight, crosses and holy water." Travers replied shortly. "But as to him actually being a Male slayer, that is highly unlikely."

"Well we do know it isn't the Amara ring seeing how the Vampire with a soul managed to destroy that." A woman with a French accent announced dryly. She had been among a group who had wanted to find out more about the mystical object when they had heard of it whereabouts

"Say he is a Slayer, shouldn't we set up a web to search for young men who may become the next slayer in this line?" A young man asked over various conversations that had been started.

"That would imply we're going to get rid of him," a watcher from the far side of the room stated. His voice was hoarse with age and his hair a gray black.

"That is the idea," Travers cut in crossing the room. "If he is a Slayer we will be able to find the next in his line, if this is a hoax it could jeopardize everything."

"Is that always the solution, Kill the rogue? Kill anyone who doesn't follow you're orders?" The man asked calmly. Quentin made a mental note to have a 'retirement' party planned for the man.

"This 'slayer' was once a vampire, wasn't he? Why would a Vampire be made into a Slayer?" another asked cutting off further discussion into the topic of murdering another Slayer.

"That is a good question. Another question is how." Quentin replied smiling as he walked back to the front of the table to where his brief case and papers were located/

"He was in Africa correct? So it must be something located there." Someone said as they made notes in a spiral notebook.

"If we can find out what this is, and assuming he is actually a Slayer we may be able to create more slayers." A murmur of voices and conversations started up once more and Quentin Travers realized he wasn't going to be able to calm them this time. The council would need time to relax and think about what was going on.

Travers nodded as the council called an intermission. If he could figure out how to make more Slayers…

To be continued in: Starving for Miracle jobs

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