An Offer He Can't Refuse

Dawn let out a loud scream as she turned around to find that the werewolf was just about to make his move. As it leaped into the air it was tackled to the ground before it could reach Dawn. "Don't let it bite you!" a voice yelled to the man who tackled the werewolf.

When Buffy finally caught up she learned that the man who tackled Connor was Gunn and Xander was the voice who warned him. Gunn had the wolf pinned by the neck but not for long. It quickly managed to turn the tables and put Gunn on his back. As it was about to sink it's teeth in Buffy kicked it off of Gunn.

He got up and, along with Buffy and Xander, trapped the beast in a corner. The problem now was what to do next. They wouldn't be able to beat it back much longer but they couldn't kill him and no one had a tranquilizer gun. The only thing Angel had in his hotel were chains and Wesley had taken those. Since he had known the city the best and was at one point a rouge demon hunter they all figured that if anyone would find Connor it would be him.

"What do we do now?" Xander asked with a very scared look on his face.

"I guess we just try and knock him unconscious," Buffy suggested with a shrug.

"Great…that sounds…easy enough," Gunn said sarcastically.

"You have a better idea?" Buffy asked.

"I do," a voice from behind them said.

All three of them turned around to see Willow standing there with a tranquilizer gun in her hands. Before they could ask any questions Willow shot the werewolf just as it was about to attack a very unprepared Xander. Xander turned around quickly with a shocked look on his face. "Oh my God…my life just flashed before my eyes," he said with fear in his voice. "It was a lot of stuff for a guy my age. Can we go into early retirement?"

Buffy ran to her very frightened looking sister. "Dawn, are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Dawn responded.

"Is everyone alright?" Angel asked. He was with Willow along with Tara and Spike.

"Yeah I think we're all ok," Gunn responded.

"Where'd you get the nice toy Wil?" Xander asked his friend.

"When the sun started to go down and we started to realize that we weren't going to find Connor in time Tara and I went out and bought one," Willow answered.

"Smart thinking," Xander said. "Looks like that whole dating a werewolf thing paid off."

"We knew we wouldn't be able to find the werewolf alone so we went back to the hotel to get Angel and Spike," Tara continued. "We knew that they'd be able to track him and hopefully we would get to him before he hurt anyone."

"Well I'd just like to say you guys have excellent timing," Xander said with relief.

"What do we do with him now?" Gunn asked.

"I'll give Wesley a call, tell him to bring the chains here just in case," Angel responded. "Buffy can you call Giles and ask him to go back and grab one of the vans?"

"Way ahead of you," Buffy said as she already had the phone to her ear.

"Good," Angel said, "We should get Connor out of here as soon as possible."

XXXXXX

When they got back to the hotel they chained Connor up in the basement. He hadn't woken up yet but they decided to take shifts of being down there with the tranquilizer gun to watch him. Gunn took the first shift.

When they got Connor and Gunn settled the others went up into the lobby and tried to figure out what they were going to do next. "Alright guys we need to figure out what we're going to do here," Angel started. "When the sun comes back up that kid is going to be very scared and confused and we need to figure out what we're going to tell him."

"I'll handle it," Spike said.

"What?" Angel asked with disbelief in his voice.

"I found the boy in the first place," Spike responded. "He's my responsibility. I'll handle it."

"Spike you came to us for help and we're going to help," Angel responded sternly. "You can't do this alone."

"Look I wasn't even going to come to you guys for help ok," Spike refuted. "I didn't want to and if he hadn't run off I wouldn't have."

Spike and Angel started looking at each other as if they were going to fight. "Just because you have a soul now doesn't mean that you can just help this kid by yourself," Angel tried to reason.

"What the hell do you know mate," Spike said angrily. "I can take care of this without your help. I can…"

"Spike, shut up!" Buffy interrupted. She stood in between the two vampires with a very angry expression on her face. "We are all going to help this boy…TOGETHER." Spike was about to say something but Buffy wouldn't have it. "There will be no discussion about it," she snapped.

She looked into Spike's eyes with extreme anger and he realized that he wasn't going to win. Both vampires stood down. "Good," Buffy said as she too calmed down. "Now let's discuss this…together."

There was a moment of silence while everyone thought about what should be done. Finally Wesley spoke up and gave a suggestion. After that the whole lobby was buzzing with ideas and discussion. Everyone was giving ideas and participating in the conversation. Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. She hated it when the people she loved fought.

After some time of discussing and despite Spike's protests they decided that they were going to ask Connor to stay with them at the hotel. They had plenty of rooms and could use an extra hand around. It was a huge gesture to ask but it was the best thing they could think of. He was homeless and a werewolf. If he stayed with them that would solve the homeless problem and they decided they could have a cage built in the basement for the three nights out of the month that Connor would turn into the wolf.

"Right…that's a brilliant plan," Spike said sarcastically. "First he finds out he's a werewolf and then he's going to get to live with a demon fighting organization with eight pregnant women with no fathers and a vampire. I'm sure that will go over well."

"I'm sure it will take some getting used to and it will be quite a shock but what other choice would he have?" Wesley said. "He has no place to go but back on the streets. He has no idea what's happening to him. We have hot food and a warm place to stay and the answers he'll need. Weather he likes it or not he's a part of our world now. We just have to hope he accepts it."

"Well good luck with that," Spike said as he started to walk to the door.

"Where are you going?" Angel asked with frustration.

Spike turned around to face them all as he was about to walk out the door. "It seems to me that you folks have everything under control here so I'm getting the bloody hell out. I don't know how much more of you all I can take." And just like that he was gone.

"Are you sure he has a soul?" Cordelia asked sarcastically.

Ignoring Cordy's remark, Buffy shook her head in disappointment and then walked towards the door. "Where are you going?" Angel asked.

"He's not getting away that easy," Buffy said with fiery in her voice as she continued to walk out the door.

After she left Angel's heart sank. He could tell from the moment Spike walked through the door that there had been something going on between him and Buffy. He didn't really know exactly what it was but he could see it in both of their faces that something was there. Now she was going after him and just the thought of the two of them having even a possibility of being together made him feel more upset then he had in a long time.

XXXXXX

"Spike!" Buffy yelled as she walked out the door.

Spike rolled his eyes and stopped walking. He let out a deep sigh and turned around. "What?" he asked with fake frustration in his voice.

Buffy crossed her arms and approached the vampire looking very pissed off. "You can't do this," she said angrily. "You can't just show up here with a soul after disappearing for months, ask for help and then just disappear again. I mean were you even going to tell me that you were in town? How long have you even been here? And how did you even get a soul anyway?"

Spike just frowned at her, "Do I really have to…"

"Yes!" Buffy answered sternly before he could even finish his question. Then almost instantly her face softened and it almost looked as if she was about to cry. "Please," she added softly.

Spike's heart melted. He hated seeing her upset so he took in a deep breath and began. "I…I went to a cave somewhere in Africa and went through some trials to get my soul back. I've been in LA for about a month or so." Then he paused for a moment before answering the last question. "And yes…I was going to tell you. That's why I came here…for you. I just…I'm just not sure when I was going to tell you is all."

Buffy took a moment to process this information. She looked to the ground with confusion. When she looked back up at him she asked, "Why?"

She didn't have to specify what she was talking about, Spike knew. He smiled at her softly. "Don't you get it pet? I did it for you. I did it all for you. I couldn't stand being the man that you would never want. I couldn't stand being the man that you couldn't care less if he existed or not." He moved closer to her so that his face was only inches away from hers. "I did it so I could prove myself to you. So I could prove to you that I really am a good man. That I am a man worth loving."

For a moment they both just stared at each other. She looked at him trying to fight back the tears in her confused eyes. He looked at her and searched her eyes for any sign of possible love he could find. She looked as if she wanted to say something but she either couldn't find the words or just couldn't get it out.

Spike finally broke the gaze and continued. "After getting my soul back I went through a period of insanity." His face turned even sadder. "The faces of all the people I killed came rushing back to me. I was a horrible man Buffy. After I finally felt I was ok enough to even talk to you I found out that you moved to LA with Angel. I thought about just moving on and leaving you be, but…I couldn't. I came to LA to tell you everything that happened and to tell you how I felt about you and lay things strait out on the table. I wanted to just lay it all out and find out how you felt. 'Do you love me or not?' I was going to ask. If you said yes…good…great. If you said no…I'd just leave…not bother you anymore."

Buffy looked down to the ground. "What changed?"

Spike looked at her sadly. "I came here…looked through the window…saw you sitting there with everyone having a nice time and I…I just couldn't."

"Why not?" Buffy asked curiously.

Spike looked to the ground to compose himself and then he looked back at her. "Because I knew what your answer would be. I finally knew...that you could never love me. At least…not like you love him."

Buffy looked down to the ground again. She knew that what he was saying was true and that she couldn't deny it. She wanted so badly to comfort him though, to say something, anything. "Spike I…" but she couldn't think of anything to say.

After getting that out he turned away from her and started to just walk around aimlessly trying to find the words to continue. "I was going to just leave but…I didn't really have any other place to go. So…I got a place here." Then he paused for a moment and an actual smile appeared on his face. "It's weird actually…I was umm…I was watching you all the other night when I heard screams and found the boy. It was the first time I had ever done some good with my life."

"Spike you've done a lot of good," Buffy pleaded with him.

Spike just smiled. "You didn't let me finish love. It was the first time I had ever done some good with my life…that I wasn't doing for you. I know I played it off as if I was just helping because I had a chip and demons were the only things I could hurt but…I really did it for you. Because I knew that was what you wanted me to do."

This, again, rendered Buffy speechless. "Anyway I kind of liked that feeling," Spike continued. "It felt nice to…help someone just to help them. Not to get anything out of it…just…to help."

"Spike…I don't know what to say," Buffy finally spoke.

"It's alright love," Spike said with a small smile. "I think I've accepted it…I just need some time." He started to walk away and then stopped, turned and smiled. "I'll see you around pet."

Buffy, still not really knowing what to say, just stood there and watched him walk away.