"Spike, may I speak to you in the kitchen, alone?"

"Sure, Watcher," Spike said, trying to ignore all the confused looks they were getting from everyone, especially Buffy. When they got into the kitchen he looked at Giles expectantly.

"Before you spoke about all the research you did on Slayers, you said you knew where they came from. Where's that? From what we just learned about the scythe, it seems like an important thing to know now."

"Do I really need to spell it out for you? I'm pretty sure you already know. There's a reason she's called the Vampire Slayer and not the Demon Slayer. There's a reason she gets a warning when there are vamps around, and there's a reason she finds herself attracted to our kind specifically," he said with a raised brow.

"I don't know if that last one is true. She was attracted to one vampire and he had a soul." Spike wanted to argue that point but he wasn't going to go against Buffy's wishes and tell the Watcher about them.

"Fine, let's agree to disagree on that point. Either way, it doesn't change where a Slayer's powers come from. That first Slayer was tied down by the men who became watchers and was forcefully, magically injected with the essence of a vampire."

"You… you're serious?"

"Completely."

"So, are you saying she's a demon?" he asked, sounding a little angry.

"No, but she has some in her. From what I've read, that first Slayer was a lot closer to a demon than the Slayers we know today are. She was stronger too, more animalistic, but after she died, that changed, lessened. Buffy is mostly human but it's still there in her. It's a part of her just like it's a part of me. Think about it, you saw her yourself when she was healing after I brought her back. She was antsy, she needed to get out there and hunt. It's the demon in her, or the Slayer if that makes you feel better. It needs violence just like mine does; hers is just aimed at evil. She's the same girl she's always been but that 'otherness' in her came originally from the essence of a vampire."

Giles had taken his glasses off about halfway through Spike's words and he'd been cleaning them vigorously ever since. Spike stayed quiet and let Giles think through what he'd just been told. Spike knew it was a lot to take in, he also knew he'd have to tell this to Buffy sooner rather than later. The only problem was his girl liked living in denial and she was just getting back to herself after all that Angelus had done to her. So Spike had to find the right time to break it to her, and he had to do it gently. He had never been good at gentle, though, so he was right nervous about the whole situation. This got Spike irrationally angry because he was not the type to get nervous, but ever since joining this tribe of white hats, his whole world had changed.

"That is quite a lot to take in."

"Not so much. It's not like you didn't already know that her abilities came from something supernatural in nature."

"Yes, but she's meant to kill your kind."

"Exactly, what better way to beat it than to know it intimately." Spike realized he'd chosen the wrong word when he saw the sharp look the watcher gave him, but he shrugged it off. Didn't matter to Spike what Rupes thought about him and Buffy; then again, it would probably matter to Buffy. With an internal sigh of resignation, Spike decided he was going to have to play this carefully. "Listen Watcher, it's what she's made of, but it's not who she is. What we have to worry about is, she'll probably come up with the same questions you did. So we're going to have to find an easy way to break this to her. It was clear that she didn't want to talk about it when I brought it up earlier."

"That's true enough, but we might not have to tell her at all. What does that really change about the scythe?"

"Nothing really, as far as I can tell. What more research do we need? We already know it's a weapon for her… or the dark Slayer, I s'pose. Now she just has to try it out, see how it works."

"Don't know how I feel about that. We don't want to give Angelus the chance to take it from her. He clearly wants it for his own reasons."

"She's a big girl, she can handle herself. Plus, she's got me and Lawson to back her up. I'm thinkin' we should go at him full force to get him out of the picture now."

"What are you guys talking about in here, all alone," Buffy asked suspiciously. Spike was upset because he was so focused on the conversation that he hadn't heard her coming.

He sighed and realized he wasn't going to lie to her. Giles must have seen the decision in Spike's eye because he gave Spike an angry look before answering first.

"I had to ask Spike some questions about the research. We're done, though. Let's head back to the living room."

He walked out of the room but not before grabbing Buffy's arm to lead her with him. Spike followed but knew he was going to tell her the truth the next time they were alone. When they walked back into the room, all the others were all sitting and talking quietly among themselves.

"Right then, I think it's time for you to decide what you want me to do about the minions, Slayer. We got the weapon, we got three fighters to go against their three, and we got the surprise on 'em because they don't know Lawson is here. The only thing they have over us is the minions."

"We also have two people adept at magic, and I think I might have found us an Orb of Thesulah. I'll know more on that tomorrow though," said Giles.

Giles hadn't wanted to tell Buffy about the Orb because he didn't want her to postpone the attack in case Angel might get his soul back. But he had to, because he knew her trust in him was still healing since the Cruciamentum affair, and he had just decided to keep another secret from her about her origins. He couldn't handle the guilt of keeping any more from her.

Buffy's eyes lit up in what Spike could only call hope and he felt his undead heart break. Was she just planning on going back to Angel after everything? He couldn't take it if she did. He thought she actually cared about him, but maybe he was wrong. He looked away—he couldn't see that longing for someone else on her face. Where would that leave him if Peaches did get his soul back? It's not like he'd go back to Dru after falling for Buffy, but it's not like he could stay and watch another woman he loved, love Angelus.

Buffy felt a moment of profound happiness at the thought of having Angel back, then remembered everything that had happened over the past weeks, and the happiness ended. She'd already decided that she couldn't go back to him, and she realized she didn't want to. She was happy with Spike, and she wanted to see where that would go. She looked at him and noticed he was looking away from her and looked really sad; she wondered why.

"It doesn't matter, we can't wait on a maybe," she finally said.

"Spike, getting the minions on your side is a good idea, but we'd have to work out the logistics of it. We have to have somewhere they could stay. It's not like I'd trust them to stay at my house, and it's not like they'd want to stay on your side if they knew you were working with the Slayer," Giles decided.

"Good point, that. Right then, tonight Lawson and I can go out and find a suitable place to stash them before the battle."

"Then what? I can't just let these vampires kill innocents while we figure out when to take them out," Buffy said.

No one really had an answer for that, so they stayed quiet and lost in thought. Buffy was getting upset because Spike wouldn't look at her no matter how hard she tried to get his attention.

Lawson spoke up after a while. "Okay, Spike and I can round up the minions and put them in some old abandoned building. There's a surprising amount of them around here for some reason, and when the sun comes up, you guys can take them out because they'll have nowhere to go. We'll take Angelus down that same night so he won't have time to build his army up again," he finished and waited for everyone to judge his plan.

Spike thought it was a good idea. Then again, he'd think it was a good idea to just walk into the mansion right now and attack. These white hats overthought things, too much for his liking. He had to admit, if only to himself, they had had a tendency to make his own plans go to shit, though, so why change what works for them?

Giles thought that was the best option they had. He didn't want any of his charges getting hurt so he had to make the plan where the least amount of possible damage could be caused to them. "Yes, I think that is what we shall do. As long as you agree, Buffy."

She shrugged. "Works for me. They'll all be dusty and won't be able to help Angelus so we'll have an easier time taking them out. I haven't seen Sam in action yet. How are your fighting skills?" she asked, turning to Lawson

"Pretty good if I do say so myself, ma'am. I mostly protect humans from their own kind but there have been many times over the decades that I've taken on all sorts of demons that were planning to hurt humans. I even averted an apocalypse all by myself in the eighties," he finished proudly.

Buffy saw Giles get up and reach for his notebook and decided to say something first so Giles wouldn't be able to derail the conversation by asking for more information. "Good, then we can probably take them with little to no problems, but maybe, just to be safe, our witchy friends can figure out some spells to tip the scales more in our favor?"

Giles let out a sigh of resignation, seeing the smarts in not letting them get distracted. "Sam, I'd like to talk to you about that apocalypse when this is all over if you don't mind." After Lawson's nod, Giles continued, "Yes, of course, Buffy. We'll get on that tonight while you three are out."

"Thanks, Giles. Before we go, Spike, can I talk to you real quick?"

"Sure, Slayer," Spike replied, feeling unsure.

He was wondering if she was going to preemptively end it because of the chance her precious Angel could be coming back. He'd felt some hope when she was just talking about dusting him a few seconds ago, but he knew better than to let himself actually believe in that hope. He'd dealt with the rejection too much to think this would be anything different.

She led them out the front door, and when she closed it, she looked at him. He took a few steps away from her and lit a cigarette for himself. He took a few drags and then looked at her expectantly. She looked at him with a question in her eyes because she had no idea what was wrong. When it became clear he wasn't going to talk first, she sighed.

"What's wrong, Spike?"

"What do you mean? You're the one who called me out here. I thought you had something to tell me."

She sighed again then tentatively walked closer to him. When he didn't pull away, she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. He was tense for a minute before she felt him melt into her. She still had no idea why he was so upset but she knew instinctively, it was about her.

"Spike, what's wrong? Why are you so upset? Did I do something wrong?" She asked self-consciously.

She might have loved Angel with all her heart but she was self-aware enough to know that that relationship had given her some issues, both with intimacy and her self-image. Well, her dad's abandoning her might have helped things along too. She knew if she wanted to get better she had to do something about it, though, so she was going to be all Mature Buffy and try to talk their problems out instead of running away, because she cared about Spike.

"No luv, you didn't do anything wrong." He said, pulling back just enough so he could cup her cheeks with his hands and lift her head up so they were looking eye to eye. "You can feel however you want, Buffy. I'm just being a ponce. I saw how happy you were at the thought of getting Angel back and it just made me wonder where I'd fit in once he came back into your life. Can't be in a relationship like that again, me watching while the girl I lo—care about is wishing she was with him."

"Spike, even if you weren't in the picture I couldn't go back to him if he got his soul back. I don't want him with or without his soul, not after what he did while Faith and he had me chained up." She shivered.

Spike pulled her closer and wished he could just hide her from the world, keep her safe, and make her happy. He, more than anyone, knew that was just not in the cards for a Slayer, unfortunately. He loved the girl, though, so he'd do whatever he could to help make life easier for her.

"Sorry sweetheart, didn't mean to upset you."

"We're okay, right?"

"Yeah pet, we're good." He just enjoyed the hug for a few seconds. He was about to let go when he remembered that he promised himself he was going to tell her the truth about her origins as soon as they were alone. Now that they were, he wasn't looking forward to it. "Buffy, luv? There's something we have to talk about."

Buffy pulled back and looked at him cautiously; she could tell by his tone that she might not like what she was about to hear.