"Oh, dear! Well, we'll get you cleaned up when we get home. Good, now come with us," William said as forcefully as he could manage. Both Spike and the slayer looked at him. He seemed so small. Well, points for effort, Buffy thought.

"First off, that was pathetic. Grow a bloody spine. Second, did you say home? No one invited you to stay," Spike returned to his human counterpart.

"One fight at a time, Spike," Buffy said. "And you. We want to send you back to where you came from. You can be their problem again. Now move!"

"I don't think so. You see, I'm quite happy where I am. The blood is always fresher on the other side." He simply grinned at them in refusal.

"No it's not, actually. I've tasted them all and it's better back then. Not so much starch in the blood. Everything is salty these days. Bloody potato chips. They ruined everything. So let's go." Seeing his request really wasn't making one bit of difference, he got frustrated. "I really don't have the patience for this. Buffy, just stake him," Spike pleaded. He was beginning to get tired of this nonsense and wanted a nice warm blood packet. They always calmed his nerves.

"Can't do that. We have to return him," Buffy argued. "It messes up the space time continum. Or something. I don't know. Ask Giles." When they turned back he was gone. Wonderful, Buffy thought.

"Now--. Where did that bloody fellow go?" William asked. This whole thing was new to him, but he assumed this wan't good. There was a vampire roaming around. He had no idea how many others there were. If he did, he would have been n quite a state of shock.

"Great, Spike. If you could work with us for one moment instead of complaining we could get this done. Next time, just stay out of the way," Buffy ordered.

"Next time? Oh, no. No more of this. I am not the Slayer. I do not kill my kind. Especially not me. That is me, in case you didn't notice. It's suicide."

"Well, what do you suggest we keep them both around?" They both glanced back at William, who was looking tired and a bit hurt from Spike's previous critism. There was no way Spike could stand another day with him.

"Of coarse not, but I don't know where else to go," Spike said.

"Well, think. You know yourself better than anyone. What would you have wanted?"

"Let's go back," was his only answer.

"Back? We don't have time. He could be killing people."

"Exactly," Spike answered and headed past Buffy and William back to the house. By the time they got the porch they realized they were just in time. There was the sound of breaking glass as they opened the door.

"Ha! Take that!" Anya shouted as she hit William the Bloody over the head with the peach lamp that had been sitting on the table beside her. It was one of Buffy's personally favorites and she wished they she had used the green one. It had been gift from Buffy's aunt Mildred and didn't match the rest of the pastel room.

"Oh, nice one, Love. Next time, don't be so gentle," William mocked.

"You like it rough, huh? Bring it," Buffy challenged.

William turned to his opponent and grinned evilly. They began the battle. William throwing empty punches at Buffy as she dodged them easily. She thought he'd be better and he thought she'd be less prepared. Slayers had certainly improved from his time. She threw a couple of kicks that caught him in the waist. Everyone watched as the fight continued. They didn't bother to help. They knew the slayer could take him.

"Willow, can I stake him?" Buffy asked as she delivered a sidekick from the right.

"I don't think it would be a good idea. Xander get that net from the basemet. We'll keep him until we get the spell," the witch answered. Xander ran downstairs, shuffled with a couple of boxes, dug around, and bounded back up the stairs with the old fishing net. Buffy kicked him back into the baby blue armchair and he threw the net over him.

"What? No, that's cheating! Bloody Hell."

"That's what you get for ruining my favorite lamp. Would someone get the broom?" Buffy requested.

As Dawn swept up the broken glass, Willow went through her tattered spell book for the reversal spell. She poured over the book for hours to no avail. The rest questioned William about his time. What did they wear? Clothes. What did they eat? Food. No surprises.

"You know, I could have easily answered these questions," Spike interrupted.

"But we always got the same answer. 'We're living in the now'," Dawn told him.

"I don't like to rehash my past. Terrible memories," Spike said in mock rememberence. It was a poor attempt at attention that no one seemed to catch.

"What about the boys? Are they all like you?" Dawn asked.

"Hardly. I had some unusual passtimes. For example, poetry was not the most popular hobby among young men my age."

"Can we hear some?" Dawn requested. It was obvious she was quite taken with the young man. It bothered Buffy because she knew he would have to leave, but what could she do. Aferall, even she found him attractive. He was sweet in that old fashioned way. Polite.

"No! I mean, it's no good," Spike answered.

"I didn't ask you," Dawn retorted.

"It's mushy stuff. No one would want to hear it. About the birds, bees, flowers, trees," Spike told her.

"I see you've kept some of that rhyming up," Buffy noted.

"Most of it is about love. Girls I know," William informed them.

"See? Mushy stuff," Spike said. If he reads it, I'll never live it down.

"I'm hungry," William the Bloody interrupted.

"Get over it," Buffy told him.

"Oh, give the boy a packet," Anya said.

"Oh, no. Not my packets. Those are my packets. I stole them fair and square," Spike rebutted. He'd spent many nights sneaking into hospitals to get that blood and was not about to give it up.

"Oh, help a mate out," William the Bloody pleaded. Everyone looked at Spike. Oh, Bloody Hell. First we're trying to kill him then we're-I'm- feeding him.

"One. And that's it. No more generous Spike," he answered.

"Oh, I think I found it!" Willow exclaimed.

"Oh thank you, Willow. I am forever it your debt," Spike promised.

"Sorry, that was clam chowder," she apologized.