"I don't have a soul." Spike said. "That's the poof's gig."
"He doesn't have a soul. There's no curse on him." Buffy met the woman's steady gaze. "And, he doesn't need one."
"I didn't say that he needed a soul. I said he has one. It's part of the mating. Did the act burn you, Dear?" The woman stared pointedly at Buffy. "It was reported to be quite painful in the Etruscan translation."
"It was excruciating." Buffy nodded. "Wonderful, but, wow, I thought I was going to dust."
"Your soul expanded and tore itself apart. I imagine it must have been quite painful." The woman's green eyes flicked between them. "You quite literally made him your soul mate. I don't suppose you would describe the event in detail?"
"Why did it hurt for so long?" Buffy squeezed Spike's hand. "It didn't get any better until he returned the claim."
"He had to accept the gift, Dear." The woman smiled. "It was his choice. When he claimed you, he accepted the new soul you made for him."
"There's no soul. I'm not eating rats and flogging myself." Spike glared at Angel. "I haven't abandoned my family. I'm not some poofter. I'm not going to leave her and I'm not gonna hurt her. Plus, I have never been so happy."
Buffy smiled at him and he kissed her. The world fell away. None of this mattered. None of it. Spike pulled back from her lips and rested his forehead against hers.
"Only you." He stroked her hair. "I'm yours always, forever. Promise. I'll never leave."
"No, you wouldn't. Slayers have picked mates from your kind before. Though it has been far too long. Our girls haven't lived long enough." The woman smiled at both of them. "It really is quite remarkable. She shared her soul with you, her immortality, as you have gifted her with yours."
"The evidence of such pairings is anecdotal at best and apocryphal at worst." Giles said. "You can't know that's what happened here. There's no way of predicting what this will do."
"It does not matter, Rupert." His father looked at him steadily. "She is your slayer. Nothing there has changed. You will help her come what may."
"So, Spike's cursed with a soul?" Willow stared at them with wide eyes. While the others stared at him with varying amounts of disbelief. Buffy stroked his arm and leaned against him.
"No. He's been blessed with one, and that makes all the difference." The feminine Giles smiled.
"No, it's just some game he's playing." Angel snarled and moved toward the woman. "You don't know him. None of you know him."
"I do." Buffy stepped between the two vampires. "He loved me before the soul. He loves me now. If he loses his soul, I will still be able to trust him at my back. You did a good job on us, Angelus. Made us hurt. It's always pain and suffering with you. Yours, mine, theirs."
"I am not Angelus."
"Yes, you bloody well are. If the soul made you a good man, you'd be caring for Dru. She'd bag it if you asked her. You're always running away from your past. Never learned to stand for something. Never learned to really care. Obsession is your game. Ought to try devotion. See how it feels." Spike flipped two fingers at Angel.
Angel opened his mouth to argue and found his voice gone.
"Lorraine, is that necessary?" The elder Giles watched as Angel rubbed his throat.
"If he has anything constructive to offer, his voice will return. I am not unnecessarily cruel, Father."
"So, are any other members of the Giles family dropping by?" Buffy looked at her watcher and smiled.
"There are no others, Ms. Summers-Pratt. My children seem loathe to reproduce." He sighed. "I did long to dandle grandchildren from my knees in my old age."
"Well, I can be your grand slayer, I suppose." Buffy laughed as all three of the Giles made similarly discomfited expressions. "No dandling though."
"Annexing, family everywhere, aren't you?" Spike kissed her temple. "Do I really have a soul?"
"If young Willow would care to actually study magic, I could teach her a spell that would allow all of you to see it." Lorraine Giles looked at Willow with interest. "You have a great deal of power. Rupert should have taken you in hand some time ago."
Willow was up next to Lorraine at near vamp speed. The spell was simple, and Willow performed it with ease. Even Xander moved closer to watch.
Spike sat in their chair, the one they had cuddled in during Willow's spell, and grinned as Willow scattered some sort of dust over him. He took a deep breath as his body seemed to throw off rainbows.
"He has a soul, a true and anchored soul." Giles watched in awe as the light danced around Spike.
"Can I touch him?" Buffy rubbed her hands together.
"Yes, there's no danger." Lorraine waved her hand as she watched the colors swirl intently.
Buffy jumped toward him, giggling. She curled into Spike's arms and gazed at the aurora of colors, bright and vibrant, that swirled around him. It was beautiful.
Spike took a deep breath as the spell faded.
"It's Buffy's soul, not mine. That's why it's so pretty."
"No, when you claimed her you accepted the gift. It's yours. You gifted her as well. She's nearly impossible to kill now." Lorraine smiled gently. "It should be interesting to observe what traits you two will share."
"If the tales are true." Giles assessed Spike. "This will require research. We have no idea what this has done to her. We should examine her soul. What if it's been harmed? And Angel's soul, we need to look at it for comparison."
"Now we're in for it." Buffy groaned and rolled her eyes As her watcher rambled on.
"Never wanted a soul." Spike relaxed and stroked Buffy's back. They could all blather on about his soul, if he really had one. Buffy sighed and melted into his arms. "I didn't do this for a soul. I only wanted you."
"I know that, Spike." She kissed his cheek gently. "I didn't know about the soul thing. I wouldn't have taken the risk if I had. I would have been to afraid of hurting you."
"Why don't I feel any different?" He raised one eyebrow and looked over at Angel. "Why don't I feel the guilt?"
"Does it matter?" Buffy stroked his cheek. "It doesn't change anything. We belong to each other. I love you."
"I love you, too." He wrapped his arms around her. Soul or no soul he was hers.