Looking For Answers

Disclaimer: Not mine, just messing with them.

Summary: Hmmmm. Nope don't think I want to tell, read it and find out.

Reviews: Yes, please. Love reviews, adore reviewers. Readers Rock but Reviewers RULE!

A/N: Wasn't going to post again for a couple of days but they demanded I continue on with the story so housework be damned and here's the next chap.

Thanks to Wayward Childe for letting me bounce plot points off his head.

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It had been several days since the encounter in the Bronze. Faith hadn't yet made contact with the Scoobies. She'd come back to town to make amends. Wesley and Angel had intervened for her with the parole board and she'd gotten a huge break for good behavior. An early parole and a fresh start had done wonders for her attitude and morale. Unaccustomed fear kept her from approaching the other slayer so she watched and waited. She patrolled later at night than the blonde did so they wouldn't run into each other. For reasons she refused to explore, she centered her routes around the area she'd seen the blond vampire killing other vampires. She buried the thought that she was watching for him but kept her eyes open for a glimpse of the handsome demon.

There. A flash of platinum caught her attention. Silently and swiftly she crossed the distance to where she could see him fighting with another vampire. She took a moment to admire his graceful fighting style. She knew the minute he realized she was there. He stiffened and abruptly brought the fight to an end by staking his opponent. He spun to face her, anger clouding his features. He stared at her as she sauntered up to stand several feet away from him. He watched her warily. The memory of his attitude at their last encounter angered her and she moved forward in an attack. He jumped out of the way and backed up out of range.

Faith snarled at Spike. "Why won't you fight me?" She demanded. "Why won't you talk?"

Spike watched her carefully, his sapphire eyes wide and glittering. She spun and lashed out with her foot, connecting with his jaw. He flew back a few feet and landed on his side. He rose up on one elbow as she advanced. He scrambled to his feet when it looked as if she were about to kick him in the ribs.

"Fight back vampire." The dark haired slayer hissed. It infuriated her when he just continued to watch her. He held his hands up in a placating gesture. She stopped in shock at the expression on his handsome face. It was a mixture of fear, pain, anger and, most surprising, despair. A pang shot through her heart. What could be affecting this vampire so much? He was no fledgling. If her senses were still accurate the blond standing in front of her was a master vampire no less than a century old. They should be fighting to the death but there was something…

Spike stood where he was, fighting the urge to tremble. He knew his face was reflecting all his mixed emotions. He was tired. Tired of hiding, tired of the chip and bloody well tired of being unable to speak. Suddenly the urge to let her finish it swept over him. He sank to his knees in front of her and stretched out his arms slightly away from his body, offering her a perfect opportunity to slide the stake into his heart. He raised his head and looked her in the eyes, his deep blue gaze holding her dark chocolate one steadily.

Faith stood frozen in shock. He reached out slowly and grasped the hand holding the stake in a tight grip. He placed the tip of it directly over his heart. The slayer gasped at the sensation of his cool fingers gliding over her hand. He let his hand drop and continued to gaze at her steadily, sad acceptance and pleading in his dark eyes. Her hand shook. She looked at it, almost surprised to see the wooden tip pressed against the hard chest. With conscious effort, she forced her fingers to release the stake. It clattered to the ground. Spike watched it fall in disbelief. Anger flashed through him and he got up. He backed away from her shaking his head.

"I can't. Not that way. It would be wrong." Faith tried to explain. "Tell me. Talk to me. I want to know why!"

Irrational fury choked Spike. He lashed out at her with his fist, landing a glancing blow to her cheek as she ducked at the last second. The sting of the hit made her gasp but the shock of seeing him fall back to his knees clutching his head in obvious pain stilled her breath. His mouth was open in a soundless scream of agony. The ice that had surrounded her heart for years cracked at the sight.

"Oh my God. What have they done to you?" She whispered. Horror darkened her eyes to nearly black. She scooped up her stake and slipped it into her pocket. She watched as he pulled his hands down from his head. He knelt there with his gleaming head bowed. A forgotten memory clicked into place. This was Spike, William the Bloody, and he had a chip in his head to prevent him from hurting humans. She'd known about it in theory but hadn't seen its affects. She remembered taunting him at the Bronze during the body switch. She had seen the bitterness and anger in his gaze that night but had been having so much fun at his expense she hadn't given it another thought. And now for some reason he was mute as well. Nothing in her experience prepared her for a situation like this. She couldn't kill him, he was helpless. No. She changed her wording. Not helpless, never helpless. He was impaired and suddenly she wanted to help him, to make it better. She knew it was time to contact Giles and Buffy. She needed to know what they had done to him.

Spike remained motionless for long minutes. He waited for her to decide what she would do next. He could only hope she would change her mind and put him out of his misery. With each passing second his hopes of a dusty end diminished. His unbeating heart sank. Where was the vicious killer Clem had told him about? Wasn't she the 'stake first, ask questions later' slayer? He blinked away the tears of pain before looking up through his dark eyelashes. He flinched at the expression on her face. He wondered if she realized that she was showing pity for the enemy. Pity. It was more than he could take and he jumped to his feet and ran. He tapped into his preternatural speed to outdistance her.

Faith watched Spike disappear. Contrary to what he thought, she made no move to follow him. She knew Buffy would know where to find him and she turned away thoughtfully. She went back to her motel room and spent the rest of the night sleepless and angry. The memory of that flinch making her sick.

At Spike's crypt…

Clem knew he should have been prepared to hear the door slam open but jumped anyway when it did. He'd spent days convincing Spike to go out again after the last time. He turned to ask what happened but was silenced by the bleak expression on the vampire's face. He watched his best friend walk over to the trap door. Spike gave no sign that he saw him. The floppy skinned demon didn't even reach to pick up the paper and pen. There was no force on earth that would make him ask Spike why there were tears rolling down his face. Spike dropped out of sight and minutes later Clem's sharp hearing picked up the sound of flesh hitting stone as Spike began pummeling the wall of his bedroom. He quickly locked the crypt door and went home before his emotions got the better of him. Once at his own home, Clem sat down and, for the first time since the whole ordeal had begun, allowed himself to weep for his friend.

The next day, Magic Box…

Giles shuffled through the pages once more. It didn't matter how many times he read the information it stayed the same. He couldn't believe how easy it had been to find all the statistics he'd needed. The sheer volume of information contained in the websites had amazed him. He looked up as Willow and Tara came into the shop. He stuffed his work into a folder and placed it securely in his desk drawer, locking it before he moved into the main part of the store.

"Hello. How was school today?" He greeted the witches distractedly. His thoughts were still buzzing from his surprising discovery. He smiled slightly when the girls started telling him about their day. He listened with half his attention as they chattered.

Willow joined in the after school babbles with a little less enthusiasm than she normally showed. She was still figuring out the bit with the sweater and to add to her confusion, when she'd thanked Tara for the water, her lover had denied the thoughtful gesture. Other instances of unexplained occurrences had happened that had her a little scared.

Willow was getting lost in thought when Buffy bounced into the shop. Attention turned to the slayer and allowed the redhead to dwell on the strangeness that was developing in her life.

Giles smiled absently at Buffy when she came in. She was still on the 'Spike's gone, life's good' wagon. That thought brought his mind back to the file in the drawer and the surprising discoveries he'd made.

'I can't not say anything.' The Watcher thought. 'But how do I broach the subject? I can't just demand an explanation. I can't believe none of this is in the Watchers archives. They merely included whatever rumors and hearsay were told at the time and no one ever bothered to find out the truth.'

He wandered back to his desk hidden in the back alcove of the shop. He sat down in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. 'Maybe the truth was hidden at the time. There were some changes made. Drastic changes.' He mused. 'He doesn't owe me any explanations but it would have made me treat him a bit differently.'

An evil little Spike-sounding voice niggled at the back of his mind. 'But would you have believed him?'

His musing was interrupted when the shop bell jangled. Buffy, Willow and Tara exclaimed in surprise. They were overridden by a loud demand.

"What the Hell have you people done to Spike?"