Noon, the next day

Rupert Giles stands in front of a very tired and hung over Roger Ashford, who is slumped over the aluminum table set up in Giles' suite. Giles slams a hand on the table to get the other man's attention. "Answer me! What were you doing out that late at night without your Slayer?"

Ashford grimaces and reaches for a flask that isn't at his hip. He snaps his fingers in disappointment and looks up at Giles with bleary eyes. "I needed to get some air. It's getting bloody stifling around here. Miss Summers was conducting interviews with Mr. Wells."

Giles shakes his head and walks over to stand above Ashford. "There are rules for a reason, Mr. Ashford, and I'm getting tired of explaining them to you. I don't care how your brother ran the old Council; I'm the one in charge here. If you don't like it, you can bloody well leave and keep quiet about it!"

Ashford looks weakly up at Giles. "I won't be leaving the compound anytime soon, Mr. Giles, I can assure you. That vampire gave me a nasty fright. And the demon that you allowed in here--"

"Is not open for discussion," Giles interrupts. "From now on, you report to Buffy or me if you plan to gallivant across the London countryside, you understand?"

Ashford nods once, a sour look on his face. He reaches once more for the nonexistent flask and sighs. "May I be excused now, sir? I do believe I'm rather ill."

"Dismissed," Giles says in exasperation. He watches Ashford leave, shaking his head. He is about to sink into the now empty chair when he hears a knock on the door. "Come in," he calls, hoping it's nothing too urgent.

Dawn Summers enters the room reluctantly, looking down at her feet ad wringing her hands. Giles stands quickly. It's rare to see the ordinarily chipper girl in such a state. "Dawn, are you all right?"

"I'm okay," Dawn says. "But I think there's stuff we need to talk about. A lot of stuff."

"So, when did you get in?" Buffy asks the man standing in front of her in the hotel's basement. It has been used as the training center for the Slayers but its empty now, as most tend to work out closer to dusk. She puts her hands on her hips. "Spike, when did you get to London?"

Spike, the vampire who has recently attained a soul and hero status with the Slayer crowd, scuffs his feet, obviously reluctant to talk. Buffy steps closer but the vampire backs away. "Don't…"

"What's your damage now, Spike?" Buffy asks irritably. Having thought he was dead followed by working for Angel, her opinion on Spike remains constantly evolving. She doesn't know whether it's hate, love, respect, or pity but she can't seem to shake him from her mind or heart. Not yet. "Why are you here?"

Spike sighs. "We… uh, well, Angel and I, we dug up some dirt on what's going on down here. You know, with your new Council and whatnot."

"Oh goodie," Buffy says snidely. "What about it? Don't like it because we'll be doing some serious work on the vampire community?"

"No, because if we know what we do, we know that there's information being leaked from here," Spike snaps. Buffy looks surprised. "Don't act like that. You know Jack the Ripper got his info from the inside."

Buffy shakes her head. "No, how can this be happening? We've safeguarded--"

"You've done nothing, Buffy!" Spike says. "You've opened your ruddy doors to anyone with knowledge on the supernatural. Everyone here that you don't know is suspect! Hell, maybe even the ones you do know. You're still hanging with that Andrew git, aren't you?"

Buffy doesn't talk. She paces slowly, shaking her head. Spike steps nearer to her and hold outs a hand. Buffy pauses, looking at it. Spike frowns. "That coffee boy really got your knickers in a twist already?"

"No, I just met him," Buffy says softly. She just looks at Spike. "You were dead. That amulet kept you here but you died for us."

"For you, Buffy," Spike says. "And I'd do it again. As many times as it took to make everything up to you."

"There's nothing to make up, Spike," Buffy takes Spike's hand. "You weren't yourself. You were evil… and in love. Which always makes for a bad combination."

Spike shrugs. "And that's why you're a good guy. So, want to fill me in on all that we haven't been able to discern?"

"All this paperwork mumbo-jumbo is giving me a headache," Kennedy says while rifling through a stack of papers on her lap. She is still in the hospital bed that has been brought in to make a pseudo-infirmary in the hotel. She looks up at Willow, who seems distracted. "Honey?"

Willow looks at Kennedy. "Yeah, it's great," she says quickly. She sees Kennedy's admonishing frown. "Not an appropriate response?"

"Nope," Kennedy says. "Are you okay?"

Willow shrugs and sits on the edge of the bed. "I don't know. Just a little out of sorts."

"That's because I've been in this stupid bed forever," Kennedy makes a face. "But tomorrow I'm free to go so we can snuggle and put you back in sorts, okay?"

"That'll be nice," Willow replies. She sighs. "Xander and I are heading down into the old Council's ruins and underground to find hidden treasure. I don't think I'll be back before you're up and around."

"You can't wait till I'm better so I can go with you?" Kennedy asks, folding her arms across her chest.

Willow shakes her head. "Our financial backer left the fold. We need income soon and no one has the funds to do so. Everyone here is either part of the early college crowd or formerly stuffy librarians. The sooner we leave the better."

Kennedy puts her hands over her ears. "I'm still tired of anything that doesn't involve pointy sticks and a pile of dust."

Willow chuckles and kisses Kennedy on the forehead. "I'll be back as soon as I can, baby. Get well till then, okay?"

"Yes, dear," Kennedy rolls her eyes playfully at Willow as the other girl leaves the room. Kennedy sighs and gets back to shuffling through the papers that were still unorganized across her bed.

Elsewhere

Nickleby nervously enters the mansion's sitting room. A fire is roaring in the fireplace and a tall-backed chair is facing it, keeping its occupant from view. Nickleby kneels in the doorway anyway, knowing that his presence is known. "I've arrived, my lord."

"Precisely on time, Nickleby," a smooth male voice says. The speaker doesn't turn to address him. "I expect no less from my most trusted minion."

Nickleby stands and approaches. "I bring unfortunate news, my lord."

"Stop right there," the voice snaps. Nickleby freezes in his tracks. "What news?"

"A Slayer saw me talking to Ashford," Nickleby shakes his head. He begins to pace, not going further ahead from where he's stopped. "Not the original, though her kid sister was with her. And a demon. Didn't notice what kind it was…"

"It doesn't matter," the voice replies. "I just want the original Slayers. Jack failed at luring them out. You'd better do better or else you'll be faring less than he did."

Nickleby swallows uneasily. "Yes, lord. So… were you able to find out what happened to the third Slayer?"

Dawn stands next to Giles, her arms crossed angrily as she looks accusingly at Buffy and Spike. Clem is standing nearby, looking embarrassed. The dining room, a grandly large room, suddenly feels very small to its occupants.

"Dawn would like an explanation on why we didn't let her know Spike was alive," Giles explains quietly to Buffy. He looks at Spike. "And I'd like to know how you managed to get in. We've put up various protection spells to make sure a vampire is unwelcome here as though it were a private residence."

Spike smirks. "You think a few spells can keep this vampire out? I've got connections."

"Andrew let him in," Buffy says simply, glaring at Spike's arrogant attitude with Giles. She looks at Dawn. "And Spike was working with Angel. We had no idea what was going on there. If you'd gone looking for him--"

"Who are you to tell me where I can and can't go?" Dawn hisses spitefully. "I'm not a kid anymore, Buffy. After all I've done here, what I can do now, as a potential Watcher; I'm bigger than you want to think I am!"

Spike looks at Giles. "You're turning little bit into a mini-you?" he asks, flabbergasted. "What kind of operation are you running here?"

"That's enough out of you," Buffy snaps at Spike. "And, Dawn, I'm not trying to run your life, I'm trying to protect you."

"Stop it!" Dawn cries. "Just stop trying to protect me! Let me make my own mistakes, my own decisions! You can't control what happens to me."

"Exactly! So I have to control you to make sure what happens doesn't kill you!" Buffy shouts back.

Clem leans over to Spike. "This isn't about you anymore, is it?"

Spike shakes his head. "It never is."

Giles holds up his hands. "Hold it, both of you. Arguing like this won't solve anything."

Buffy and Dawn both whirl on Giles. "You stay out of it!" Giles holds up a hand in surrender and lets them fight.

"Look, maybe Giles is right," Buffy suddenly concedes. She sighs heavily. "But please understand my point of view for a second. You're all I have left. Dad's gone and Mom's dead. How can I just let my only family run headlong into danger if there's anything I can do about it?"

Dawn opens her mouth to snap back but stops. She relaxes her aggressive stance slightly and shrugs. "Maybe everything seems dangerous to you but there's so much I have to experience for myself. Let me be an adult. If I prove you wrong, then we'll change things. But it's been a long time since I've snuck from my window to spite you. Give me a chance to screw up before you punish me for it."

Buffy holds out a hand. "Deal."

Dawn hugs Buffy instead. She then looks at Spike and punches him in the arm. "And way to go, not letting me know you were all right, you jerk!"

Spike watches Dawn leave with an incredulous look on his face. He looks at the others. "What just happened?"

"When the Summers' girls debate, there's no telling what's really being said," Giles actually smiles. His expression sours when he looks at Spike, as though realizing he was there for the first time. "And now you."

"Hold on, he's here in peace, Giles," Buffy says. She explains Spike's suspicions while Giles listens, worry lines forming deeply in his forehead. "So he came to help us snoop out the rat."

Giles crosses his arms. "This confirms our suspicions about a traitor in our midst, yes, but I don't think that having him here is wise. You know what the others Slayers think of him already."

"They think of him as the man that saved them from being wiped out by the First!" Buffy explodes. "He's got a soul, he's redeemed himself! What more do you want, Giles?"

"I want to be sure he's not here because Angel made him come," Giles snaps angrily. He removes his glasses and rubs his tired eyes. "I don't trust his motives."

"I don't think this is about you again," Clem whispers to Spike, who just shrugs.

Buffy looks at Spike and Clem. "Could you excuse us for a second, please?"

The pair leaves Giles and Buffy alone. Buffy takes a deep breath and approaches Giles carefully. "The old pain never goes away, does it?"

"I never truly forgave him after Jenny," Giles says softly, turning to look out the window at the sunny London day. "And then the Wolfram & Hart thing… I just can't be sure of him. Ever."

"I understand that," Buffy says compassionately. "I truly do. But if you don't give people the benefit of the doubt, how will you ever know anything? Look at me and Dawn. I've been shutting her down for so long. I have to let her grow up, learn from her own mistakes."

Giles snorts in irritation. "This is hardly the same thing."

"It is, though," Buffy continues. "Spike hasn't really gone good to bad to good again. He was a vampire. He's now got a soul. He hasn't done anything since to un-earn our trust. Dawn was an irresponsible kid and now she's an adult. She hasn't done anything, either. Let's give them both a chance."

"And if they falter?" Giles asks.

Buffy smiles and pats Giles on the shoulder. "Then we can kick ourselves after we kick their butts."