Overcoming Denial

Disclaimer: Still don't own any of these people, except Gerald of course.

Summary: Denial, thy name is Xander.

Reviews: Yes, please. Readers Rock but Reviewer RULE!

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Xander and Anya stomped into the Magic Box, intent on their discussion. "There's something seriously wrong with Willow. I can't believe you're refusing to acknowledge it. That's not normal magic she's using." Anya was saying.

"Ahn, there's nothing wrong with Wills. Why can't the two of you get along? You have no reason to be jealous of her. We've been best friends forever." Xander closed the door behind them and paused when he noticed the meeting being held.

"Hey, what's going on here? Research party we weren't told about?" His dark eyes took in the sight of Faith kneeling next to Spike, Buffy standing off to the side, the stranger sitting opposite of the Bleached Menace and Giles sitting next to Spike with his fingers on some papers spilling out of a vaguely familiar looking folder. The carpenter frowned. "Is there a problem?" He asked.

Giles shook his head. "No, Xander. Not here, but there is a problem with Willow. I've asked Tara to investigate the spell that brought Buffy back. Spike thinks there were more repercussions than we realized."

"Other than that demon that hitched a ride back with the Buffster?" Xander asked incredulously. "No, there's no problem with Wills and…. wait… did you say Spike thinks there are repercussions?" He shot a hate-filled glare at the blond vampire, who was ignoring him in favor of reading more of the documents in the file.

"So he would be the resident expert on identifying something that may or may not be wrong with my best friend?" The male Scooby snarled.

"No, that would be me and I agree with Spike." Giles stated mildly as he accepted a paper handed to him by the vampire in question. He nodded as Spike pointed out a particular paragraph on the page.

The apparent lack of concern over Willow incensed Xander. "What do you mean 'You agree with Spike'? Have you lost your mind? There's nothing wrong with Willow!"

Spike slammed the folder shut and stood up. He sent an apologetic glance toward the blonde slayer and turned to face Xander. "Yes, there is. And if you'd get your head out of your ass you'd see it." He snapped, proving he had been paying attention all along. "If you and your mates hadn't followed that misguided witch in her bid for the 'Stupid Stunt of the Year' award, you wouldn't have this problem. I could have told you that bringing the slayer back was a colossally bad idea but no, you couldn't tell me. I've lived longer than all you sodding Scoobies put together and have run into more than one instance of magic gone wrong." Stunned silence followed his diatribe. Spike held Xander's gaze for long moments.

"Red was tested, wasn't she?" Spike asked suddenly.

"Tested?" Xander's eyes dropped. "I don't know what you mean."

Anya gave her fiancé a disbelieving glare. "Yes, she was." The blonde ex-demon admitted.

Spike nodded, he turned toward Giles. "Thought so. Glenda should be able to tell us more but I think Red's possessed."

Xander charged toward Spike, hatred sparking in his eyes. "Take that back! She's not possessed. Possessed is head spinning around in circles, green slime spewing from the mouth. Willow can't be possessed."

Spike raised his arm in defense, accidentally knocking the brunette to the floor. The vampire dropped to his knees with his hands clamped around his head in agony.

Gerald jumped to his feet. "Oh my God! Lord William, are you all right? What's wrong?"

Faith knelt next to her lover as he panted and growled softly, waiting for the electricity to stop shooting into his brain. Xander got up to launch another attack but Anya rushed over and grabbed his arm. Faith glared up at him, warning him with a snarl. "Don't try it."

"Xander, stop. He's right. I've seen things like this before. There's a serious problem here and we need to get it fixed, get Willow fixed." The blonde ex-demon spoke urgently into her fiancé's ear.

"Serves you right, Fangless." The male Scooby grumbled as he dusted himself off. "Wait a minute. What did you call him?" He turned toward the tall skinny stranger hovering over the gasping vampire.

"Oh Bloody Hell." Spike growled irritably. "Stop calling me that. My name is Spike." He sat back down in his chair not bothering to turn it around so his back was toward the table. He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and buried his aching head in his hands. A shiver went down his back as he realized his chip's reactions were getting a little too severe.

"But…but I only called you by your given name." Gerald sputtered.

"Who are you?" Xander asked.

"Gerald Whitestone from London and you are?" the detective introduced himself, drawing up to his full height and extended his hand toward the younger man.

"Xander Harris." Xander shook the Brit's hand. "What connection do you have to Fangless here?"

Spike growled a warning. Faith murmured soothingly in his ear, running her fingers through his short platinum hair. "It's ok, Baby. They had to find out sooner or later. Whatever it is they're finding out." She chided gently.

"Sorry, Luv. Didn't know it was gonna play out like this." Spike muttered, drawing her hand to his mouth and kissing her fingers.

"I represent the law firm of…" Gerald began.

"Rupert, can we please get back to Red?" Spike raised his voice to drown out the detective.

"Yes, we do need to address that problem before we get immersed in Spike's affairs." The Watcher stated diplomatically.

"There isn't a problem with Willow. I want to know why a law firm is interested in Spike." Xander denied with a vicious smile.

"Damn it, Harris! You stupid, sodding git." Spike shot up from his chair furiously. "Willow is bloody possessed! If we don't do something very soon you will lose her! Is that what you want?"

Xander noticed two things during Spike's rant. First, the despised vampire called Willow by name and second, his accent had refined until he sounded freakishly like Giles. For some reason both those observations scared him.

Buffy spoke up for the first time since the engaged couple had entered the shop. "That's why I came to talk to Giles. There is something wrong and we need to figure out what it is and get it fixed." She said in the quiet moment that had fallen over the group in the wake of Spike's fury.

"Right. Now, did Glenda check out that spell?" Spike glanced at the elder Brit.

"I asked her to but I don't know what she found out." Giles answered.

"We need to get her here." Buffy said.

Summers house….

"Dawnie! I'm going to the library want to go with?" Tara called up the stairs. She jumped when Willow's voice sounded over her shoulder.

"Hey Sweetie, got homework needs doing?" The redhead asked.

"Um… hey… yup, lots of homework. Thought I'd give Dawn a hand with that report she was talking about at dinner last night. If she thinks it's my idea, she'll go peacefully." Tara forced her voice to be calm and unperturbed as she leaned over to kiss her girlfriend on the lips.

Willow frowned slightly. "Want me to come with?" She asked.

"No, Baby, you said you wanted to finish your laundry." Tara smiled seductively as she leaned in for another kiss. "I wouldn't mind you going around nude, you'd never be able to leave the house again and you'd miss classes. But if that's what you want..." She licked her lips and treated her girlfriend to a hot slow look up and down.

The redhead smiled. "Can't miss class, it would ruin my rep." She pouted. "Okay, it's the dreaded laundry for me. But don't think I'm going to be happy about it."

Tara giggled. "I'll make it up to you. Want me to bring you anything?"

Willow shook her head. "No, but thanks for asking."

Dawn hopped down the stairs. "Ready. Let's go get this stupid report done." She swung her backpack back and forth.

Tara gave Willow another kiss before leading the teenager out to the car.

Willow watched them from the doorway, leaning against the frame. As she watched the car disappear down the street, her pretty features melted from the smile to a scowl. "Why are you lying to me?" The question rumbled out in a voice several notes deeper than her usual tone and dark lightening flashed through her eyes.

The Magic Box…

The tinkle of the bell above the door drew everyone's attention away from the latest round of Xander versus Spike. The vampire and the carpenter had squared off again and only their respective girlfriends had kept them from tearing into each other.

Giles and Faith were huddled around Spike at the research table while Buffy and Anya kept Xander company on the step leading into the shop. Giles had finally succeeded in distracting the blond with some forms that need to be completed. Xander had continued baiting the vampire from where he sat.

Gerald had retreated to his chair and was watching in bemused silence, wondering what he'd stumbled into. The people in this town were not like any one else he'd ever met. He'd never dreamed that such people existed. He'd doubted the existence of vampires, thinking that Lord Colin had been delusional at best. Now he was facing the very real world that included not only vampires but witches, demons and everything that went bump in the night he thought he'd outgrown. His life certainly would never be the same again and he was determined to seek Mr. Giles' advice on how to protect himself before he went home.

Spike's mind was racing, he had more than one problem he was attempting to sort out and he was uncertain as to the best course of action. He was stunned at the unbelievable size of the estate his descendants had amassed. He happily filled out the necessary forms to establish his identity, something he never thought he'd want to do. He'd left William Wordsworth far behind and had never, ever wanted to go back to that identity. He'd been happy as Spike, at least until the Initiative had shoved the abomination into his brain that had effectively neutered him as a vampire. He'd formed the alliance with the slayer and her mates strictly for survival, never wanting or needing to make friends with any of them. More than once he'd cursed the bit of William that had remained after his turning. As far as he knew he was unique as a vampire in that a large portion of his mortal humanity had stubbornly remained in residence. He'd subjugated William in a century of blood-soaked mayhem and violence. But the chip had let those bits of William to start surfacing, letting him feel more than he wanted to. It began making him want more than a demon's life. Spike shoved his thoughts about William and his chip to the back of his mind and forced himself to concentrate on the problem with Willow. The jangling of the shop bell brought him out of his ruminations.

He stood up with relief. "Glenda. Thank God. Little Bit, are you all right? Does Red know you're here?" He asked in relief as he moved forward to hug the teenager.

Both girls shook their heads. "No, she doesn't. She thinks we're at the library. At least I hope so. I did the research." She reached in to her bag and pulled some papers out, handing them to Giles. "There's the spell and an account of everything she had to do to cast it."

The Watcher scanned the report and paled. "Oh Dear Lord."