~Somewhere between dimensions~
The demon Spike stood in the center of the great room with numerous doorways
that lead to hallways that seemed to have no end. He was in his pure form: all
horns and fangs and claws. He tried to speak, but the only sounds that emanated
from his mouth were growls and roars. He could hear disembodied voices coming
from all directions. He tried to concentrate on what they were saying, but
there were so many talking over each other. Some of them were masculine and
some were feminine. Some were shouts and some were whispers. His confusion
grew. A hand touched his shoulder and a clear, human sounding voice belonging
to a tall, armor covered demon spoke to him.
"Just remain calm." the Demon cheerfully encouraged him. "Pretty
soon something will start to make sense."
"Grrr rowl nnn gorrnn?"
"Oh, excuse me, I should have introduced myself." He extended a hand
"I'm Skip." Seeing that his outstretched hand was being ignored, he
continued. "I'm here to guide you."
"Runger rwwwer?"
"Nah, you're OK. Vampire demons don't have lips. Just big teeth. Makes it
hard to talk." Skip reassured him. "You're fortunate I'm fluent in
snarling."
"Awrgrrn gererer. Ennrrrer oohrn?"
"Them? They are The Powers. They are debating your fate. If you try tuning
in on their thoughts instead of their voices, you will begin to
understand."
Spike tried to tune out the physical sound of the voices. Eventually he was
able to pick up on stray thoughts.
"We have no place for him. He has killed too many of our kind."
"Evil." "Helped avert the last two apocalypses." "Good
choices." "There is no place in the heavenly realms for a
demon." "Can anything good come from the Hellmouth?" "What
vampire realm will have him?" "No." "A noble death."
"A wasted life."
"This has been going on for hours." Skip leaned over to tell him
"The arguments don't really change."
"Eeenngen arrnerah-ah-ah."
Yes, it's quite the conundrum. It seems you're an evil demon who performed a
lot of human good: saving the world, dying for humans. They don't know what to
do with you. This could go on for days.
A very loud booming voice interrupted. The other voices were immediately
silenced.
"It's the Big Guy." Skip whispered. "This almost never
happens."
Spike tried to absorb what the new voice was saying, but it was too huge and
overwhelming. Soon all was silent. Skip nodded and took Spike by the arm.
"You can come with me now. The Big Guy has decided on a new option for
you."
*****
Giles walked up to the door of the nondescript Brownstone just off Haymarket in
London. The title "Travers and Associates" was stenciled on the door.
A quiet buzzer sounded as he opened it and entered the hall. A receptionist sat
at an imposing desk at the end. She glanced up Giles approached her.
"Good morning Mr. Giles. Mr. Travers asked that you report to his office
directly upon arrival."
Giles nodded "Yes, thank you."
He climbed a staircase to the right and walked to the office located at the end
of the hall. He stopped for a moment to knock at the door of Quentin Travers'
office before opening the door. He heard the voice of the head of the Watcher's
Council. "Come in Rupert. Close the door behind you. Please."
Giles did as instructed and approached Travers' desk. "You said you had a
special project for me." He was impatient. There was no love lost between
he and his superior on the Council.
"You might want to sit down for this." Travers motioned to one of the
leather wing chairs.
Giles sat and sighed. "Please, do go on."
"Yes, well then, we have been approached with a very intriguing
opportunity which I feel you are uniquely qualified to oversee."
"Can we cut through all the pompous rhetoric and find the point?"
Now Travers sighed "Very well then." He depressed a button on his
desk. "Mr. Browning, will you come in please?"
Giles glanced up to see a slender young man in a suit enter the room. Giles
stood to greet him, then almost fell to the floor as his knees went weak. There
were some differences, but..."
"Oh lord." Giles walked over to him to get a closer look. He was
astonished "It is you. How...?"
Travers rose also. "It is quite extraordinary, actually. Please gentlemen
have a seat and I will try to explain.