Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.
Summary: Post AtS and BtVS, Faith and Xander are approached by a secret government agency. Surprises all around.
Rating: PG-13
Chapter 12: Does anybody ever explain
Faith glanced to Xander, who glared back at her, nonplussed. "Can I ask a few questions?" he asked.
Connor glanced from the Slayers to the Watcher. "Uh, maybe I should answer the questions," he offered. "Dad's still a little drugged, and Spike's...incoherent."
"I can be bloody coherent," snarled Spike.
"And evil," replied Xander. "Can we talk about that for a minute? I mean, not too long back you were telling me he was evil, Buff. So don't give me that look! I mean, he's evil, he's not evil—I'm just asking for a little clarity here!"
Spike gave a long-suffering sigh, and Angel carefully pushed himself away from Spike. "Buffy...before we go on any further, I need to say some things," he said quietly.
"No, you don't!" snarled Spike, grabbing Angel and pulling him back. "I get to go first, you bloody pillock!"
"Spike!" snapped Angel. "This isn't about—!"
Spike punched Angel, rocking him back, then turned to Buffy. "Listen, Slayer, I think you ought to know that—!" Faith darted forward, punching Spike.
"Don't punch Angel!" she snapped as he rocked backward.
Xander rolled his eye. "I thought it was my turn to ask questions?" he complained.
Buffy shook her head. "Guys! It was Xander's turn."
Spike and Angel stepped back, both holding their noses with an aggrieved look on their faces.
"It's obvious the dead squad isn't going to answer my questions," groused Xander, turning to Connor.
"Spike's not dead," said Faith.
"What? Of course he is. He's a vampire," said Xander.
Connor shook his head. "He used to be a vampire," he said quickly. "Now he's human. Ask your questions, I don't like it here. There are bigger armies of demons out there."
"Bigger armies...?" asked Xander. "Whatever. You got Angel's soul back?" Connor nodded. "And that was your plan all along?"
"Ever since the spell to put it back didn't work," corrected Connor.
"Right," said Xander. "So, try this one on for size; wasn't Angel a bad guy? Didn't he end the chance for world peace?"
Connor grimaced. "Actually, I did that one," he confessed. "And she was my daughter. And it was evil peace."
Xander stared at him. "Your...daughter. Evil peace," he repeated dubiously, blinking his single eye several times.
Connor shrugged. "Listen, Spike and I...I can't really speak for dad, but Spike and I are really good guys. White hats. Some of what we do, like threatening Lorne and destroying whole dimensions, may seem bad. But it's all for a good cause." He glanced at Spike, who took a deep breath, dropping his hand.
"All right, let's just get the hard part over with, then," he said, spreading his arms wide. "I stole Angel's shanshu and turned human. I destroyed a hell dimension. I'll go to your little prison, let you lock me in a cage, if that's what you want, because I won the battle I was fighting." He moved closer, glaring at Xander. "You hearing me, whelp? War's over. I won."
Xander licked his lips, glancing to Faith. "What's your verdict?" he asked.
"You're asking me?" she asked, glaring at him. "You know how I feel about Angel!"
"I wasn't asking about Angel. I was asking about Spike," he replied calmly. "You think he's buggering nuts, or what? Come on, Faith, I'm drowning here!"
She took half a step back, uncomfortable with the position he'd put her in. "He's saner than I thought," she finally allowed.
Xander nodded. "Okay, that's what I needed to hear. Thanks." He turned around and started to walk away.
"That's it?" asked Buffy.
Xander whirled back around. "What else do you want?" he snapped. "I don't understand why you're okay with this, I don't understand why any of this is all right, I don't understand why Angel and Spike are good now when a minute ago they were bad—but you get, you always get it! So just do what you have to."
He turned to walk away again, and Faith growled low in her throat. "Don't you dare!" she whispered fiercely.
He turned back, glaring at her with his good eye. "Don't I dare? Don't I dare?" he demanded. "Go back to your vampires. I'll be busy being a good little Watcher."
He stalked away.
Buffy shifted uneasily. "Okay, um...Giles made a list up. Of all the evil things you've done."
Angel shifted, leaning against the wall. "I live in shadows," he said. Everybody turned to look at him. "Was it wrong to let Darla and Dru eat all those humans? Maybe. But they were more evil than Darla and Dru. Was it wrong to kill Jasmine? Maybe. But she was eating humans, Buffy! Eating them! Was it wrong to try to help my son? Maybe. But he's my son. It's all shades of grey, and I've done things I knew was wrong...but things I'd do again. Was it wrong to rewrite all my friends' memories? Yes, but ... he's my son, Buffy. And I'd do it again."
Buffy swallowed, glancing to Spike. "And, and, you worked for Wolfram and Hart," she said quietly.
"We destroyed Wolfram and Hart," sneered Spike. "Step by step, piece by piece, and they'll never clean the mess up! Never!"
Connor nodded. "It was for good. I know it looked back, but it was for good!" he insisted.
Faith sighed. "Can we...can we have this argument later?" she asked.
Angel was staring at Spike and Connor, disbelief in his eyes. "You two...you two teamed up to destroy Wolfram and Hart?" he asked, his voice trembling a little. Buffy looked at him sharply, and was surprised to see tears glimmering in his eyes. "You two...oh, god, now I'm going to cry!" He pressed his hands to his face.
"You're such a girl," teased Connor. "Yeah, family legacy, you might say. Besides, we're champions. That's what we do."
"Gah!" said Spike, making a face. "Champions, nothing. Heroes, that's what we are."
"No, you're a champion!" said Connor.
"Hero!" snapped Spike.
Riley reentered the room. "Um, are you ready to leave? Giles and Dawn are getting anxious," he said, raising his voice to be heard.
"I guess we are," said Buffy. "They're going to have a lot to ask."
--
Spike, Angel and Connor shared the couch, sitting in the middle of the room. The walls were lined with Slayers, all staring at them with weapons at the ready.
It was tense, but Spike kept breaking into little giggle fits.
Giles frowned down at him, going down through the notebook he had in front of him. "And then you worked with Illyria, after she had consumed one of your companions?" he asked.
Spike giggled, leaning forward. "Illyria didn't mean to kill Fred," he said unsteadily. "Knox did. And we killed Knox. Well, Wesley did."
"Wesley killed a man?" asked Buffy, surprised.
"Many men," said Angel darkly. "He turned into quite a warrior of goodness...he shouldn't have died the way he did."
Giles stared at him, frankly not believing that the incompetent Watcher he'd known had been any sort of warrior for goodness. "And then Angel killed the guardian of the well of souls," he said flatly.
"Drogyn was already as good as dead," said Angel. "The Circle of the Black Thorn had him. They wanted me to kill him to prove that I would join them willingly, and the only way I could destroy them was to kill him."
"Er, yes, you mentioned this before, this so-called secret organization...which I have never heard of," said Giles, glaring at the vampire.
"What good's a secret if everybody knows it?" asked Spike, giggling again.
Giles sighed, examining his list. "I don't think I have any more questions..." he sighed.
"So what's the verdict?" asked Connor tensely, glancing around at all the Slayers.
Giles gazed down at him, his face softening slightly. "I really don't know," he replied. "I mean, there's a lot to digest, and, er, I need to check some of these facts."
Angel closed his eyes, leaning back. "I'm really, really hungry," he said softly. "I don't suppose you have any blood here?"
All the Slayers around them immediately took battle stances, their faces hardening. Riley, who was watching him closely, nodded. "We have some we keep for Drusilla," he said.
Angel's eyes popped open and his head swung up, and he started choking.
"Oh, how'd you think we knew how to break into hell, how to find you, and how to destroy the place?" asked Spike, patting Angel on the back with unnecessary force. "Of course we needed her!"
Angel shook his head. "Yes, please," he said to Riley, standing up.
The assembled Slayers took a step forward, and he froze. "Or, maybe I could stay here," he offered, sitting down very slowly.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" yelled Spike, jumping up. "He's harmless as a bloody chicken, folks!" He grabbed Angel by the throat, picking him up. "We filled him full of all kinds of drugs—!"
Angel shook Spike's grip off, pushing him back with a growl. "Which all seem to have worn off!" he snapped, his voice a threat.
The Slayers stepped forward again, and Connor stood.
"Dad, Spike, cool it. It's fine," he said. He turned to Riley. "Bring the blood up, huh?"
Riley picked up his radio. "Hartley, heat some blood up for our new guest and bring it up, please." He put the radio down, watching the three sitting there.
Spike sat back down with a sigh, and Angel followed after a moment, an unhappy look on his face. "Can I ask something?" asked Angel.
Giles met his gaze. "Yes, of course," he said politely.
Angel glanced at Buffy and Faith, who were flanking the Watcher, then back at the Watcher. "I don't...Andrew was spying, right? And he told you...he told you Spike and I were in Italy." Giles nodded. "Why didn't...okay, why was..." Angel trailed off, frowning.
"What the git means is, why not just confront us, beat the truth out of us?" asked Spike, giggling again.
Buffy tensed. "We weren't sure why you were there...and l'Eterno knew something, but he wouldn't tell me..."
"Dear god..." muttered Angel, closing his eyes. "Spike, make her stop talking about the Immortal. I'm not just going to sit here. She starts that, I'm turning evil, I swear to god!"
The Slayers assembled shifted nervously. Faith guffawed. "Hey, B, somebody sounds jealous!" she said, laughing.
"Immortal, Immortal, bloody Immortal ponce!" spat Spike. "Mention his name again, I'll go find him and...and...probably not be chained up, blown up, or thrown in jail for tax fraud!"
"No, it'll be something new this time," sniped Angel.
Buffy gaped at them both. "You...know him?" she asked, astounded by how lame that sounded in her own ears.
Both the man and the vampire glared at her. "You could say that," said Spike snippily.
"Met a long time back," growled Angel.
A soldier opened the door, entering the room with a bag of blood. "I've got the blood for our guest," he said gruffly, handing it to Riley.
Riley moved forward, handing it to Angel. Angel stared at the blood, glancing at everybody watching him. "Uh, thanks," he said, placing it in his lap carefully.
Spike glowered at his companion, but didn't say anything, his eyes darting over the assembled Slayers in a calculating way. As his gaze slid over each one they suddenly felt very vulnerable, remembering Giles' warnings that the two vampires were the two most powerful they would ever see.
Spike stood up. "Can I go see Dru?" he asked. "She gets lonely, you know," he added as Faith gave him an odd look.
Giles stared at him, surprised by the request. "Lonely? Um, of course. Uh, if you wouldn't mind an escort...?"
Spike glared around the room at the Slayers. "Thanks, but no thanks," he said harshly. Giles' face hardened, and Spike shook his head, sighing. "If you insist...Faith? You want to come?"
Buffy gave a start at his choice, but Faith just glowered and gave a short nod.
Spike marched out of there, Faith following him.
Connor and Angel exchanged a look. "Is Spike always like that?" asked Connor.
"Well, aside from the side order of crazy, pretty much," said Angel. "Hey, I'm really proud of you, you know," he added, smiling.
"Yeah?" asked Connor. "Well, it was mostly Spike's idea...of course, without me for muscle, he'd never have gotten away with it."
"I'm also proud of you for not staking Spike," noted Angel. "That was really good of you."
Connor shrugged. "Not staking Spike was easy, given that he was human."
"Oh, yeah, right," said Angel. He blinked. "I keep forgetting that."
"Maybe because you haven't stopped to think about it," suggested Connor.
"Brood, you mean," said Angel.
"Oh, come on," said Connor, rolling his eyes. "You're okay with it, aren't you?"
"It hurts," admitted Angel. "But I guess I am okay with it."
Buffy stared at them, wondering just when Angel had learned to talk so much...and surprised at how easily he and his son talked. She felt a bit like a peeping tom, watching them talk like this.
Giles shifted, also embarrassed. "I need to...go look into these things," he said, holding up his notebook. "Er, I should be back shortly."
--
Faith watched Spike as he tried to talk to Drusilla. There was something almost touching about the way he carefully put up with her childish rants, the way he patiently explained and re-explained and explained all over again until she understood, and the way he reached out to her without fear and just touched her.
On another level it was quite, quite disturbing.
Finally Spike moved away from the soulless vampire, who watched as he left the room. He stood in the hall a moment, facing Faith, scowling at her.
"What?" she asked.
"You're giving me a look," he told her, disgust in his voice.
"Well, excuse me for not getting your big thing with the soulless wonder," she snapped. "Why'd you ask me to come with you?"
He tilted his head obnoxiously. "Because any of the other Slayers might've really freaked out when I started talking to Dru, and I'm not exactly ready to talk to Buffy yet." His scowl deepened. "Assuming that I ever am," he added quietly.
"Oh," said Faith, disappointed.
"Tired of being a second-rate Buffy substitute?" asked Spike. "Don't blame ya."
"And what do you know about it?" snapped Faith.
"Hello?" said Spike, surprised she even had to ask. "The second vampire in Buffy's pants? The second vampire with the a soul? The second vampire in Dru's pants? The never-quite-measuring up vamp who treated Buffy worse than Angel did? The vampire that makes even Xander long for the days of Angel? I know a bit about not quite measuring up, ya know."
She scowled at him. "Okay, I'll grant you've seen some of that," she finally said. She fished around in her pockets for a cigarette. "Got a light?" she asked.
He scowled. "Bloody women," he said shortly. He tossed her his lighter, and she caught it, finally finding a cigarette and lighting it, taking a deep drag.
Spike took the lighter back from her with a lightning quick move, stuffing it back in his pocket. "I could use a drink," he muttered.
"Good to see you haven't gone all soft," she mocked.
He glared at her. "Don't give me that. In a battle of the wits, I would totally trash you," he said.
She shrugged, following him as he stalked towards a functional kitchen, searching for liquor. "You guys really blew Xander's mind," she noted.
Spike sighed, rubbing his face. "You're well and truly stuck on him," he said shortly.
She shrugged, taking the glass he offered her and holding it while he poured in a sweet-smelling watery wine he'd managed to find. "I don't know," she admitted. "I've been kind of stuck on him a long time, since I tried to kill him at least. I wanted him too much then, I liked him enough that I had to do something...and the place I was in, killing him seemed like the best solution."
Spike jumped up onto the counter, sitting there and drinking the wine, making a face at the taste. "And now he's your Watcher," he noted. "Whose idea was that?"
"Giles' idea," admitted Faith. "He came and twisted my arm till I said yes."
Spike nodded. "Sounds like him," he noted, gulping down more wine. "Ugh, this stuff is awful!" he snarled.
Faith shrugged, taking a mouthful out of her cup, swallowing as quickly as she could. "I doubt there's even enough here to get us drunk," she complained.
"Just as well," said Spike darkly. "Get too drunk around here, someone's liable to forget I'm human now and try to stake me."
"I ever tell you about the time I staked a human?" asked Faith.
Spike chuckled. "You staked a human? I guess we do have more in common than I thought. Although I used a railroad spike, and it was through the head...but, hey, you know how it is. Get turned, unleash mayhem on the small-minded idiots who've mocked you..."
"I do know," said Faith soberly. "That's what I did when I found out I was a Slayer."
Spike peered at her from beneath scowling brows. "Makes sense," he muttered. "Wrong, but it makes sense."
"Oh, now you're a guiding moral compass?" asked Faith, mocking him.
He scowled at her. "I'll have you know I was Angel's guiding moral compass, as you put it, for a good while," he said. "Ol' broody was off the straight and narrow when I showed up in LA, needed a good kick in the pants to get going."
"And...you gave it to him," said Faith, her tone ranging from dubious to incredulous.
"I gave him several!" said Spike with a grin. "But he did need at least one of them. And then his dead bint showed up once, helped out...that was good, we were double-teaming him, one of us for each cheek, pow, pow!" He made punching motions with his hands. "And we got him all turned around straight again."
"Uh-huh," said Faith, cracking a smile at the thought. "So you're Jiminy Cricket, huh?"
"In the flesh," said Spike with a grin, taking a swig of the cheap wine straight out of the bottle. "Hey, you remember when we first fought?"
"You mean when B was doing her whole gone routine, and the sit's wanted me to lead them?" asked Faith.
"Yeah," said Spike, smirking. "That was a good scene. I was there all white-knight-y, coming in on the side of my girl... and you can definitely dish it out."
"Yeah? I so totally won that fight," said Faith, nodding.
"Nuh-uh," said Spike. "I was far and away the winner."
"You lost!" said Faith, surprised to hear his version.
"No way, luv," said Spike, wrinkling his nose.
Xander walked in the kitchen and stopped short, seeing the two of them. "Oh, great," he said, crossing the refrigerator and grabbing a sandwich out of the back.
Spike glared at him, standing up. "Right, then, I need to go find Buffy. Tell her a thing or two. I'm off." He stalked away, leaving Faith and Xander alone.
