Disclaimer: Stargate: SG-1 and all related concepts are the property of MGM, while the character of Spike belongs to Joss Whedon and James Marsters, among other people (Also, the original idea for this story came from Jedi Buttercup's 'An Unexpected Gift', so I don't own it either, although I have put my own spin on things, and have been given his full permission to use his idea)

Feedback: I'd appreciate it, of course

AN: A brief chapter, but it felt like a good place to break it off when I reached the end, and it still lays the foundation for some interesting future developments...

The Ghost in the Team

"...And it was Morgan who finally led us to you," Daniel said, looking solemnly at Merlin as he sat on the table alongside Vala, Merlin sitting contemplatively in the nearby chair while Spike stood at the other end of the table out of a lack of anything else to do. "Of course, she couldn't come right out and tell us; she had to be annoyingly cryptic about the whole thing."

"You have an unusual understanding of the way of Ascended Beings," Merlin noted, looking thoughtfully at the archaeologist.

"Yes, that's partly because I used to be one myself," Daniel replied, his tone sounding slightly embarrassed at the admission.

"Hold on; you were what?" Spike said, looking at Daniel incredulously. "You never mentioned that!"

"It was a long time ago, and I had a little help to get that far anyway," Daniel replied, looking between Merlin and Spike. "Her name was Oma Desala."

"Of course..." Merlin said, shaking his head in a manner of familiar resignation that put Spike briefly in mind of Angelus's reaction whenever Drusilla did some crazy stunt (Spike just made a mental note to ask about what had actually happened to get Daniel that far later; as much as he was curious to know how and why the other guy had become what sounded to him a lot like one of those 'Powers That Be' that the cheerleader got visions from these days, they had more obvious issues to tackle right now).

"And what happened?" the Ancient continued, his fingertips placed together once again as he redirected his gaze back at Daniel.

"Well," Daniel responded, looking briefly awkward before he continued. "I... I guess I didn't see eye-to-eye with the Others."

"The who?" Spike asked.

"It's the name we gave the other Ancients who don't agree with the more lenient philosophy of the Ancient who helped me Ascend," Daniel clarified, looking over at Spike after an apologetic glance at Merlin (Spike wondered if Merlin's acquiescing nod was because he was just patient or if he was using some of his freaky mind-powers to determine whether it was necessary for Daniel to tell Spike this). "They basically operate on a policy of total non-intervention no matter how bad things get, while the Ancients who worked with Oma were more willing to at least occasionally make contact with us so long as they didn't give us any significant help or information; one Ancient actually gave himself brain damage when he tried to help us by returning to human form while retaining his Ancient knowledge..."

"Who was this?" Merlin asked.

"Orlin," Daniel replied (Spike wondered at the slight edge to his friend's voice at the name, but figured that it wasn't worth mentioning; like the issue with that 'Oma' bird, he'd ask about that later).

"Ah," Merlin said, smiling slightly. "I should have known; he was one of the few who agreed with my actions at the time I began my work..."

For a moment, Merlin sat in silent contemplation of the past, before he turned his attention back to Daniel. "But you say that you 'guess' you did not agree with them; you do not know for certain what took place?"

"Well, I got the impression that things didn't go well, but I don't really remember it," Daniel explained, a bitter tone to his voice as he spoke. "In order to protect me after I tried to use my powers to help my friends, Oma erased it all from my mind and sent me back."

"Oh..." Merlin said, sighing in exasperation as he stood up from his chair, rubbing his hands together as he spoke. "I'm surprised she still hasn't learned her lesson."

"She's not the only one who broke some of the rules," Vala pointed out, a pointed tone to her voice even if she didn't look directly at Merlin as she spoke.

"The Ori gain their power from the lower planes, so much so that one day they shall be strong enough to wipe The Others out," Merlin said, looking firmly at Vala. "In the face of such a threat, the strict policy of non-interference is absurd."

"I'm sure Oma would agree with you," Daniel noted (Another thing Spike would have to ask about later; if Oma was one of these Ascended, why did Daniel act like she wasn't here any more?).

"Oma concerns herself with the individual," Merlin responded slightly dismissively. "She may have the best intentions, but then, so did the Ori when they first began."

As though realising who he was addressing, Merlin paused in his speech as he looked somberly at Daniel.

"Still," he said, a solemn tone in his voice as he studied the archaeologist, "she must have seen something in you, to believe you to be worthy."

For a moment, the two men looked at each other in silence, a unique moment of understanding passing between them in 'recollection' of their mutual decision to forsake knowledge and power to help others, before Merlin broke it off as he turned to look at Spike.

"And... what is your history...?" he began, raising a prompting eyebrow at the vampire.

"Call me Spike; everyone does," Spike replied, hoping he could pull off the 'nonchalant' thing as well as he usually could; it wasn't exactly every day you met Merlin, after all. "As for what I am, I'm..."

He paused for a moment, before he finally shrugged and allowed his face to transform into its vampiric visage. "I'm a-"

"A vampire?" Merlin finished, sitting up to stare incredulously at Spike.

"Well, I'm a bit more complicated-" Spike tried to say.

"You know what he is?" Merlin said, glaring over at Daniel, obvious rage on his face. "You willingly consort with this parasite-?"

"Hey, just because I drink blood-!" Spike countered (He got that his diet wasn't exactly conventional, but it wasn't like he wasn't trying to be more socially acceptable; people didn't seem to appreciate how much of a shift it was to go from human to animal...).

"I was referring to your nature, not your diet!" Merlin interjected, still glaring at Spike. "You use the body of a dead man because you are unable to exist in this world on your own-!"

"Uh... if it makes any difference," Daniel said, looking awkwardly at the wizard in the face of his glare, "Spike did say that his... soul was restored to him about a year ago; he's not exactly a conventional vampire..."

"What?" Merlin said, looking over at him in surprise, his rage forgotten in the face of this new information. "He... he retains his human essence?"

"Asked for it back over a year ago," Spike replied with a slight smile, before his face became more solemn as he looked at Merlin. "Don't deny that... what I remember 'bout getting it back is a bit hazy... and I screwed up once or twice afterwards anyway- a century of acting on instinct to kill people doesn't go away just because you don't want to think like that any more-, but what I do know is that I'm not what I was before I got it; even if I could, I won't kill people for my own food."

"'Even if I could'...?" Merlin repeated in confusion, only for his eyes to widen in understanding as Spike waved his hand through a nearby table. "Ah, I see; you have been a victim of an unusual phase-shifting incident?"

"More like an unusual resurrection incident; some freaky amulet I was wearing to set off... a sort of explosion... ended up bringing me back like this after it burned me to bits, but-" Spike began.

"Yes, yes, a fascinating piece of work, I am sure- you were most likely drawn into the 'amulet' you were using when it set off that 'explosion' and were recorporealised when the conditions were right to do so-, but I wish to be clear on this," Merlin interjected, walking over to look at Spike with a contemplative smile. "You possess the physical strengths and weaknesses of your kind... but who you were before your transformation remains in control?"

"Best that I can tell, I've been merged with the demon that set up shop in my body after I became what I am- don't really think of myself as being any different personality-wise apart from the conscience thing, which could just be the result of the memory of what I did without it-, but that's basically it, yeah," Spike confirmed with a nod.

"Remarkable..." Merlin said, studying Spike with a smile. "Your kind found a way to do what we could not..."

"Actually, we did it twice; Spike's mentioned that a vampire relative of his also has a soul-" Vala began with a smile.

"Uh, sorry, could we... go back a few paces here?" Daniel asked, looking apologetically at Spike for a moment before he returned his attention to Merlin. "Are you saying that you... know about vampires?"

"If that is what you call this man's race, than yes," Merlin replied, a grim expression on his face as he looked back at Daniel. "Are you also aware of a similar race where their presence causes the host to become a mindless animal at a certain times-"

"Of the moon's passage over Earth, right?" Spike finished, nodding briefly at Merlin. "Yeah, we've got werewolves, zombies, demons, warlocks, all that stuff; stays underground most of the time, but it's still there."

"Ah," Merlin said, his head bowing briefly in silent contemplation even as he continued to address Spike. "And yet... even with the dangers of your kind... the world continues to endure..."

"Well... yeah, I guess," Spike said, looking awkwardly around the room for a moment, stuck for anything further to say about that particular topic, before Sam, Mitchell and Ba'al walked back through the cave entrance.

"This cave is a bust," Mitchell said. "There's nothing else here so far; Teal'c's keeping an eye out in case something else comes up."

He paused briefly as he noted Merlin's currently meditative pose, the white-bearded Ancient standing silently a short distance from his chair, showing no sign that he was aware of the presence of the new arrivals.

"Ah... how's it going?" Mitchell asked, awkwardly indicating the Ancient.

"I'm... not exactly sure," Daniel replied.

As though his comment was a signal, Merlin opened his eyes, a new resolution in his gaze as he took in the group around him.

"Before I agree to join with you," he said solemnly, "I need to know that you are willing to do whatever must be done to see it through."

"We've not exactly been for a walk in the park to get here, Merlin m-" Spike began, before he changed his mind virtually mid-sentence- he would not refer to the most powerful and famous wizard of all time as 'boy'!- and tried to continue like nothing had happened. "I think it's safe to say that we're not going to quit now."

"What you experienced so far is as nothing compared to what is to come," Merlin responded, a slightly bitter laugh to his tone as he looked at Spike.

As he exchanged glances with the rest of his new team- ignoring Ba'al for obvious reasons; that git's opinion didn't count even if he could voice it-, Spike wasn't sure if he should feel proud or exasperated at the resolution they all showed; how did a vampire end up with these kind of heroes for friends?

"Don't worry about us," Mitchell said at last. "We're on board."

"In that case," Merlin said, nodding in approval, "there's much work to be done."

With that, Merlin turned around and walked over to the knowledge download device that Vala had activated earlier and placed his hands below it, causing two lighted handle-like devices to extend to his hands. The portion that had previously tried to 'grab' Vala's head also extended outwards to settle into position around Merlin's head and face, the device emitting a turquoise-coloured light as the circular metal table Spike had noticed earlier lit up, holograms of various small patterns appearing above it as SG-1 watched.

"So..." Spike asked after a few moments had passed and Merlin showed no sign of doing anything else, looking uncertainly over at his teammates. "What now?"

"Now?" Mitchell said, shrugging slightly as he sat down in a nearby chair. "Wait, I guess; I get the impression that we're not going to get much more out of him if we try talking to him right now..."

"Right then," Vala said, smiling slightly as she sat down near to where Spike was currently standing. "So, as long as we're not doing anything, who wants to start off the story-telling?"