Chapter 2

A Second Meeting

"Well, you check out all right. The only thing that may be of concern is that your blood pressure is a bit elevated. But that should pass soon," the doctor told him.

'Yours would be to if you just became human again,' William thought to himself. He grabbed his shirt off the chair next to him and slipped his arms through the sleeves, not bothering to button it up yet.

"So you have a clean bill of health. Would you like me to fax this paperwork to a doctor of yours in the States?"

"No thanks. I'm not goin' to the states just yet, and I don't have a doctor there anyway. It's been so long since I was last there...." William trailed off. "May I see that?" he asked, gesturing at her stethoscope. She hesitated for a bit and then handed it to him. He gently placed the hearing ends in both ears, and lightly touched the other end over his chest. He stood for a few moments, listening to his heart beat. He knew it was beating but had not heard it since becoming human again. He caught the doctor's questioning gaze and then handed the stethoscope back to her. "It's been a habit since childhood. Every time I visit the doctor I always listen to my own heart. S'pose I want to make sure it's still there," he lied to her, laughing. His laugh was a fakery.

"Some habits we just cannot rid ourselves of," the doctor chuckled. She turned and wrote a few things on her clipboard and then set it on the counter. William buttoned his shirt and put his coat and hat back on, brushing his light brown hair out of his face.

"Thanks doc," he said, leaving the room. One the way out he stopped once more at the circulation desk and made sure that the nurse had the right insurance information and billing address. The Watchers Council would love him for that.

Back on the street, William walked to a bus stop and waited for about five minutes before the bus showed up. He stepped on, after an older woman, and took his seat. Staring out the window, he noted the street sign they passed and figured they were no more than five or ten minutes away from his apartment.

Since becoming human again last year, William had changed his name and look. No longer did he go by Spike. Those days were in the past. Everything was William now. He contemplated changing his name completely, but in the end decided to stick with the name his mother had given him. Giles had called him a young man, but he was now closing in on the two century mark. He was not a young man, though he looked young.

William had grown his hair out and had lost his trademark peroxide Billy Idol look. His hair was now it's original color, and nearly the same length it had been when Drusilla had first turned him. It was parted in the middle and brushed towards the back of his head, giving his hair a wavy look. He was still muscular, though he had not worked out in quite some time. His face was a bit more wrinkled now, showing some of the wear and tear of his arduous, two hundred year life. All in all, he looked much like a man of 27 should look. Aged, but not really.

As the bus came to a stop, William stood and found his chance to step out into the aisle and step off the bus. Stepping onto the sidewalk, he walked twenty feet before stopping and stepping onto a stoop and taking his keys out. He let himself into the building and took the elevator up to his apartment, number 56. After entering, he shut the door and locked it, hoping that the council would not bother him.

William turned on a lamp, revealing a sparse living area. A few pieces of furniture, including a couch, inn table, television stand equipped with a television and a VCR, and finally a coffee table, sat in the small living room. A small, round dining table in the kitchen and a bed and dresser in the small bedroom made up the rest of his furniture. There was no need to out do himself, as he never stayed in once place long enough to put down roots.

Plopping down on the couch, he turned on the television and flipped through a couple channels. He had always wanted to be normal, to live a regular life just like everybody else. Now he had that and he was bored out of his mind. Every now and then he would get the itch to go out and hunt some demon, take it out. But then his mind would get in the way, throwing questions at him. Would he be able to do it? No. Would he live through it? Possibly. There were just to many chances to take, and after everything he had to give up to finally become human, he was not going to risk it. Her death would not be in vain.

A suitcase, plump with clothes, sat beside his dresser. He had unpacked and put things away, but it was a waste of time because he soon packed them back up. All the curtains in the tiny apartment were drawn, and stayed that way. He had not gotten used to not catching fire during the daytime. He most likely would never get used to that. Picking up his suitcase and glancing around the bedroom for anything he may have left, William exited the room and turned the light off. Passing through the kitchen he grabbed the last beer out of the otherwise empty fridge and opened it, taking a large first gulp. Finally entering the living room, he grabbed his keys off the coffee table and worked the apartment key off of his key ring, leaving it on the top of the television before existing the apartment and locking the door.

Stepping onto the street, William turned and looked up to his apartment window. He had spent many happy days in that apartment. To think, William the Bloody finally being able to be happy! That was something to laugh about. And she had made it worthwhile. Before he became human they had lived there together, fighting evil together whenever it sprang up. After he became human he lived there alone, hoping the helpless would escape somehow. Still staring at the window, he saw an outline of a woman appear. He knew instantly who it was. He shoulder-length brownish-blonde hair shimmering as always. Her face was filled with sadness, as if she wanted him to stay there even after she was gone. William closed his eyes and then reopened them, the visage of the woman he had once loved no longer there.

Catching a cab, he threw his suitcase in the back and got in himself. He told the driver to take him to the airport, and to step on it. He was running late, again. The cab driver nodded, started the meter, and pounded the gas pedal to the floor.

William ran through the airport, arriving at a screeching halt in front of the ticket desk. "I haven't missed the flight, have I?" he asked the clerk.

"No, you just made it," she replied. He handed her his ticket and she performed her duties, handing part of it back to him.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" came a slightly femalish though still male voice. William turned.

"What is this? A double team? I already told you Giles that I wasn't going to take you up on your offer, ever. And what did you think you would accomplish by bringing Andrew with you? Pissing me off?"

"I just wanted to make sure before you left, Spike, that you were sincere with your decision."

"Don't call me that."

"Why not? It's your name isn't it? You remind me of Darth Vader. Formally Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader. Except in your case now your Anakin again. And I suppose that Vader became Anakin again for a breif moment before he-"

"Andrew, shut up," both Giles and William shouted. "I'm going Giles. Maybe I'll send you a post card. And if I'm not mistaken, you already have some mail waiting for you," William told him. He turned and entered the corridor leading to the plane.

Author Notes: Next chapter will begin the flashback. It will definitely get interesting then. You'll get to see how Spike became William all over again. And believe me, it'll be a bumpy ride.