Author’s Notes: Well this is it. Despite the long wait for some, I hope you all enjoy. This one’s for Ragnarok. One story note – This chapter takes into account the revelation that Wesley doesn’t remember the true past before the memory wipe that changed Conner’s past, even if a previous chapter might’ve made that plot point vague.

 

Summary: Previously – Spike got caught trying on lingerie. Fred got caught watching. Angel got caught thinking the lingerie should’ve been for Cordelia. Uh oh. An annoyed Angel threatened Spike with an ultimate horror involving Harmony. Lilah showed up and gloated – while looking stylish. Buffy vowed they were going to beat Lilah at her game.

 

Chapter 7: The Horrors of a Happy Ending

 

Spike listened to Fred’s explanation of what the group had found so far. He had to admit that he was a bit lost. Watching his reaction, Spike doubted that Angel understood half of Fred’s exposition either, yet he nodded and pretended like he did. Wanker. Why couldn’t he just ask the girl to explain it in plain English? But no, that would mean he’d have to admit he didn’t know something. Well, Spike wanted to know. It was his and Buffy’s neck on the line after all. Maybe Willow could explain it instead and in less scientific terms without all the particle forces and transmogrifying matter, or was it transmogrifying forces and particle matter? Hell, he didn’t have a clue, but he wasn’t going to sit there and pretend he did. ‘Course he wasn’t gonna ask all nice either, because well, that would mean he was a goody-goody and all that rot, so he waited for one of those rare pauses in Fred’s explanation. See, he wasn’t entirely rude and… “Couldn’t we just find a spell to bring Dead Bitch Walking back to life? Then I could torture her slowly to death until she agrees to tell us exactly what to do to fix this?” He hazarded a glance out of the corner of his eye at Buffy’s face. Heh. There was a smirk. That’s my Girl.

 

“Well, that would actually be more difficult because… oh.” Fred paused, a blush forming on her cheeks. “You were joking.”

 

“Don’t tempt me, pet. That bint isn’t exactly on my favorite persons list at present.” Piece of Buffy’s soul or no, he could easily imagine various messy tortures for Lilah.

 

“Spike, we’re trying to solve your problem here. Let Fred finish,” Angel said impatiently.

 

Heh, Spike thought, nope he doesn’t understand a word. He snorted. “As if you wouldn’t like to wring her neck too.” He smiled at Fred. “Sorry, love. Go ahead, but could you dumb it down a bit for those of us without a science degree?”

 

Willow tilted her head in sympathy towards Fred and gave her an amused look. “They tend to like the ‘insert sword A into demon heart B’ type explanation.”

 

“If only it were that easy,” Buffy lamented in a mumble.

 

Wesley nodded in confirmation when Fred looked his way. “A Slayer and Vampire thing I’m afraid. Their first comment after all your hard research is usually ‘just tell me how to kill it.’”

 

Fred pushed her glasses up onto her nose and wrinkled her lip in an adorable expression of concern. “I’m not sure I can do that with this theory.”

 

“That’s okay. I think I can,” Willow offered. She turned to face Buffy and Spike.  “We’re going to need a conduit, because the piece of soul is in a being and won’t just ‘hop’ out and into another. And we’ll have to recreate some of the circumstances of the first time, so basically we’ll need ugly necklace A and two bodies Buffy B and Spike C, and…

 

“No, no, no,” Spike objected. “I’m not wearing that Liz Taylor collection nightmare again. Was bad enough the first time.” He crossed his arms indignantly.

 

“And if you remember,” Buffy added. “Big boom. Sunnydale go bye bye in a giant crater last time he wore that thing. L.A. is kinda populated. Big boom would mean lots of dead people.”

 

Willow scrunched her face up. “I didn’t say it was necessarily going to be easy…”

 

“And I don’t have an entire soul. Isn’t that necessary to get it started?” Spike asked.

 

“Well hopefully the piece will do it,” Fred said. “And theoretically that should hopefully mean you won’t burn up, well too much, and should mean a smaller boom,” she added hopefully.

 

“Smaller boom could still take out a bunch of people,” Buffy said grimly. “You didn’t see how big this crater was.”

 

Willow held up her hand. “I think we can factor that in and compensate for it if we’re careful. But we still need the necklace. We’re sure of that much.”

 

Spike growled a bit.

 

Willow gave him a smirk. “Well, bright side: maybe you can still hurt Lilah in the name of getting the necklace back.” She nodded and smiled, trying to sell it.

 

He pouted. “You lot just want to see me humiliated by having to wear that thing again.”

 

Wesley gave him a wry smile. “Well, you can’t say that in my case, Spike. For me it will actually be the first time to see you humiliated by having to wear it.”

 

“Kinda sad I missed it myself,” Angel added with his own smirk.

 

“Hardy har har. When this is over, I’m biting you two first.” He’d meant it as a joke, but of course in light of what would happen, it actually wasn’t, and his face fell as soon as he saw Willow’s reaction. “Didn’t mean that like it sounded,” he mumbled.

 

“Spike,” Buffy said in that voice that drew his attention to her without fail: a good thing, because his thought process was leading down blackout lane. She continued quickly, as if she had come to the same conclusion. “I know that you’re worried, and I know what could happen, but we’re going to try to find a way out of this for you.”

 

He shook his head, knowing how hard it would be, remembering a night not so long ago when he’d thought that his chip no longer worked. It hadn’t taken much before he tried to return to his old ways. How long before the memory of his soul, of Buffy’s soul, wore off?

 

“Spike!” she repeated rather forcefully, causing his gaze to snap back to hers. “You remember what I said that night in my basement just before The Bringers took you?” He could only nod mutely, the movement barely noticeable. She moved closer to him, holding his gaze, and his focus narrowed to just her as she continued more softly. “I meant it, and I still do. You can do this. I believe in you.”

 

His lips twisted as he tried to keep his emotions in check. How could he let her down? But he couldn’t see how he could stop it. Suddenly she was shaking him and saying “Don’t you dare! I’ll hit you if I have to.” Oh right. He probably came close to blacking out again.

 

“I’m okay,” he assured her. And for the moment he was. If Buffy was on his side, then that was all he needed as far as he was concerned. He’d done more with far less.

 

“Good, because I’m not sure I want to see another one of your interpretations of me. It’s rather scary actually.” She smiled a bit.

 

“Hey, it’s your soul, Slayer.”

 

Wesley cleared his throat. “And let’s see if we can’t put it back where it belongs without destroying half of L.A., shall we? Before things get any more complicated.”

 

“But from what Willow says, we need the necklace. Where is it?” Buffy asked.

 

“That’s a good question,” Wesley said.

 

“Does this mean I still get to torture Lilah?” Spike asked.

 

“I’ll take care of it,” Wesley said. His expression was grim, but confident. He turned to Spike. “I’ll make sure you get your amulet.”

*********

 

Wesley didn’t know exactly what it was, but being around Lilah caused him to have a wash of emotions he couldn’t quite place. Something was very wrong there, almost as if because she was dead, her existence wouldn’t quite mesh with his reality.  Other times it seemed even more than that, like he was missing something very important. The feeling was disconcerting to say the least.

 

He couldn’t contemplate all that right now, though. He had to think up a strategy, think of how to get Lilah to hand over the amulet so they could transfer Buffy’s piece of soul back into her body. Lilah was wily and smart. She would likely see through most tricks he could use to get her to slip up and reveal the amulet’s location. She was proud of her abilities, but likely flattery wouldn’t work as a strategy either. Guilt was definitely out. He could try to threaten her, but that probably wouldn’t have much impact either. Presumably she’d been in a hell dimension before being brought back here. Any torture he could devise or threaten her with wouldn’t be able to compete with that. Could he seduce her for it? Good Lord, what had made him consider that as a strategy?

 

No time now. He was just going to have to go in there, call for her, and wait for his intuition to kick in and tell him what to do. He’d be tested, but he was certain that he could do this. At the last moment, his watcher instincts would kick in, and he’d know just what to do. Squaring his shoulders as he reached the door to his office, he tugged on his shirt, straightening it. He took a deep breath and plunged in, his brain primed and ready to do mental battle, his body strong and prepared to take the challenge, his confidence overflowing… his face contorting in confusion as Lilah swiveled around in his desk chair and threw the ugly necklace at him.

 

“Here’s the amulet. Now would you guys hurry this up already. How long do I have to wait until I get my soulless vampire? Geesh,” she commented as she propped her feet up on his desk.

 

Wesley somehow managed to catch the amulet as it bounced off his chest. “Er, thank you?” He hoped he didn’t look anywhere near as foolish as he felt. “But don’t touch anything,” he added sternly, trying to get some dignity back by pretending that she’d actually listen to him. As he pocketed the necklace and turned to leave, Wesley wondered how long he could safely stall before returning to the gang. How long should it have taken to talk an evil woman out of an amulet anyway? Leaving his office behind and heading for the break room, he supposed maybe the time it took to have a cup of tea and a pastry should probably be sufficient.

*********

 

Buffy was patrolling with herself. Okay not really with herself, but with Spike who was doing a pretty good imitation of her… self. After spending the past couple of days at Wolfram & Hart waiting for Willow, Fred, and Wesley to get the potential kinks out of the soul-returning process, she was beginning to see why Angel would get creeped out by Buffy-Spike. She was getting creeped out by Buffy-Spike. It was more than weird. At present he was gloating as he fought a vampire, but not in his usual Spike way.

 

“You really shouldn’t try to fight me on a full stomach, you know,” he said in what she now thought of as his “Buffy-voice” as he delivered a flying kick that sent the vamp stumbling back a few steps. He positioned the stake as the vamp lunged forward again. “You might get heart burn,” he finished as he plunged the stake into the vampire’s heart. “Get it, heart burn?”

 

Buffy groaned, imagining her own face must reflect the pained look of the vamp just before it poofed. And she thought the lingerie was bad. Okay, note to self: do not pun while staking vamps anymore. Well, unless it’s a really good one, she conceded in her head. She watched as Spike came bouncing back to her, and yes, he was actually bouncing: not a swagger or a strut, but an honest to goodness, almost skipping in glee bounce. I do not look like that, she assured herself in her head. Spike is doing some messed up, evil demon interpretation of me. That has to be it.

 

“That’s two,” he announced happily.

 

“Yes, um, good job,” she encouraged.

 

He was all jazzed up and hyper, not unlike herself in times past on some patrols, but he also looked slightly confused. From what she knew of Spike, and if her own experience was any indication, he was also potentially… well a little turned on, but considering he was in Buffy-mode… That likely explained the look of confusion. He shook his head as if trying to clear it and looked around restlessly. “You okay?” he asked her, probably just for something to say, or maybe because she likely had a strange expression on her face.

 

“Um, fine.”

 

“Don’t worry, there’ll be more. Lots of vamps tonight. You’ll get a turn.”

 

And then, magically, there was another. “Thank, God,” she muttered before looking at him. “Tag team this time?”

 

“Sure.”

 

They went at it. Good thing it wasn’t a very smart vamp, because Buffy saw the shift about half-way through the brawl. Strange, because that had never happened before. All of a sudden Spike was confused, and Buffy almost had a heart attack as the vamp grabbed him in that state and prepared to bash his head into the nearest tombstone. She staked it just in time. Spike fell to the ground amidst a cloud of ashes.

 

“Bloody hell,” he said, looking around and trying to get his bearings. “Thanks,” he told her.

 

“Yeah, well, don’t scare me like that.” She reached down to help him up.

 

“I don’t usually snap out of it in the middle like that,” he said with some concern as he clasped her hand, and she helped pull him up.

 

“That’s enough patrolling for tonight, I think.”

 

He smirked at her. “I don’t know. I could go a little longer. It’s been a while. Just you and me, killing the nasties.”

 

Yeah, Buffy thought. And I also remember what usually came after killing the nasties. There had been no innuendo though, so that boded well, because there was hardly ever a lack of innuendo in the past. She saw his hopeful look and caved. “Okay, maybe one more, then we better check on the gang’s progress.”

 

“Okay,” he conceded. “Let’s go find a good one.” He waited for her to take the lead, causing her a rush of bittersweet nostalgia. For not the first time in the past few days, she worried about what was to come when it was time for the spell.

 

*********

 

Angel was trying to enjoy a little quiet time while Buffy took Spike on patrol, but all he ended up doing was thinking about the progress they’d made so far on trying to return Buffy’s piece of soul. They’d accounted for all they could, his gang had assured him, but Angel knew it wasn’t enough. Yes, they thought they’d be able to keep L.A. from experiencing a rather large sink hole, but they hadn’t been able to come up with any way to restore Spike’s soul to him once Buffy’s piece was returned. They didn’t even know if it was still available. Lilah kept insisting it was gone, no matter how he’d threatened her.

 

In the past hour of contemplation - and no, he was not brooding, he told himself - Angel had come up with his own idea. It was risky and stupid, but he also knew that he had to do it. His reasoning was fairly simple. Despite the potential consequences, if he didn’t try it, he’d have yet one more thing to feel guilty about. He’d likely be able to stake Spike if need be, or at least he thought he could, but he’d hate to see what it would do to Buffy if he did. Letting a soulless Spike go wasn’t something he could do either. They’d discussed all these things at their last group meeting.

 

As they’d left it, the current plan was to imprison Spike until they could find a way to get him a soul, or even, if possible, another chip. Spike hadn’t been too happy about the idea of a chip again, but agreed he’d do it as long as “Captain Cardboard” had nothing to do with the implantation and if there was no other alternative. On the whole though, Spike had been pretty miserable about his situation and no one had been surprised when he reverted once again to Buffy-mode and they’d sent him off to eat ice cream in the break room. No one seemed to be surprised, either, when Buffy pouted and obviously wished that she could be eating ice cream, too, but stubbornly refused to admit it.

 

Once Spike had gone, things had taken a turn for the worse, because that’s when the more drastic measures that no one wanted to mention in front of him had inevitably surfaced. Angel hadn’t been at all surprised that Gunn and Wesley had been the ones on the side for staking him, while Buffy and Fred hadn’t wanted to consider that option. As for himself, Angel had been torn between not hurting Buffy and wondering if it would be more humane to stake Spike rather than keep him locked up. Being imprisoned was not a happy state for a vampire. That was likely where the seeds for his present idea had started to take root. Now it was a full-fledged, albeit totally insane, plan.

 

No sense stalling. It was time to go talk to Willow, Wesley, and Fred to see if they could actually do it. Part of him almost hoped that they couldn’t.

*********

 

“You do realize that this is insane, right?” Wesley asked Angel.

 

“No, no we can do this,” Willow insisted. “I can make it work.” She had that look in her eyes, like a pit bull that’d gotten hold of a meat bone and refused to let go.

 

“And if we don’t?” Wesley countered. “If something goes terribly wrong and we end up with Angelus running around again?” He had on his stubborn face, the one he usually wore when he was determined to play devil’s advocate.

 

“Well, we already know that I can fix that. No problem.” Willow waved her hand in dismissal.

 

“The problem is stopping it in time. It can’t be too much and it can’t be too little,” Fred added.

 

“But what if Spike continues to have the same problems he’s having now?” Wesley asked, still sticking to his role.

 

Willow frowned. “I might be able to fix that part, make it more… meshable.”

 

Fred grinned at Willow. “I’m not sure that’s a real word.”

 

Willow pouted back with mock affront. “Well it should be.”

 

Leaning back in his chair, Wesley crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, mangling of the English language aside, I’m not sure I like the risk.  Maybe we should just…”

 

“No,” Willow said. “I know you don’t know him like we do, but he really has changed, and okay there was much messing up, but then he got his soul, and he was still Spike but different. Well not including the crazy part, because that did finally go away. And if it weren’t for him… well besides bringing Buffy back to us when things got rough, he did burn up to save us all and everything…”

 

“I get it,” Wesley interrupted her. ”But that doesn’t change the fact that he won’t have a soul when this is done, and he won’t have a chip either. He won’t be the Spike you know anymore. The Senior Partners are going to want to use him for evil, so even if we do manage to keep him locked away with powerful spells protecting his prison, who’s to say they won’t eventually figure out a way to free him.”

 

Everyone was quiet for a moment while Wesley’s words hit home. That was one aspect they hadn’t really gotten to in their last discussion, and unfortunately it was very true. Lilah might have failed so far, but she was tenacious, and she had little to lose.

 

Angel raised his head. “I think that makes even more of an argument for my plan. If it works, he’ll be much less attractive to the Senior Partners. If we dust him, yes, he’ll be gone, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to bring him back.” Angel knew they likely wouldn’t, but…

 

“They’d probably rather resurrect a more cooperative subject,” Wesley pointed out. Sometimes Angel wished he wasn’t so insightful.

 

“I want to try this,” Angel finally stated. He stared the group down, waiting to see if there were any more objections.

 

Wesley raised his chin, but took a short breath through his nose and nodded. “Okay. We’ll make precautions in case things go wrong.” He titled his head. “Besides, we can always stake Spike later if it doesn’t work.”

 

Angel couldn’t help the quirk that came to his lips. Wesley would back down momentarily and would do as he asked, but that didn’t mean he would entirely give up on his ideas. Maybe that’s why, even despite the betrayal Wesley no longer remembered, Angel trusted him to do what was necessary. “Yes, I guess we can.” He shifted his gaze to include everyone again. “Okay, guys, get to work, and not a word of this to Spike,” he added in warning.

 

“Why not?” Fred asked.

 

“Do you want to be the one to try to explain this to him and get him to agree?”

 

Fred opened her mouth to answer, but closed it when Willow put a hand on her shoulder. Willow shook her head and gave a small eye roll as she explained, “trust me. You don’t.”

 

Tuning out the conversation of the group going back to work, Angel let his previous thoughts return to him. This could potentially be dangerous. It could end in disaster.  But it was also the right thing to do. Angel let that thought bolster him as he squared his shoulders and closed the door behind him.

*********

 

Spike was nervous. Most people probably wouldn’t be able to tell, but Buffy could see it. He fidgeted casually with his lighter and moved just a little too exaggeratedly, trying to look nonchalant. When he looked at her though, he let his guard slip a bit, his mouth turning and his eyes showing a flash of concern.  “Is it time to get this show on the road yet?” he asked for about the third time.

 

“Almost,” Willow answered him, just as she had the last two times. “I’ve got to get the wards just right.”

 

“That and about a million other things we have to keep track of to make sure L.A. doesn’t have an earthquake, Spike doesn’t incinerate, and Angel doesn’t…” Fred cut off suddenly, but soon continued with, “…have a big mess to clean up.”

 

Buffy knew that their preparation was very complicated. They were trying to do something to the amulet. She kind of missed the technicalities of that part, but the basic idea was that they were trying to keep the conduit properties working while buffering the stuff that used up the soul and made Spike burn up from the inside and go poof. The burning up part likely wouldn’t be totally blocked, but hopefully there wouldn’t be a poof this time. That was likely part of Spike’s concern; burning up from the inside couldn’t be very comfortable. But she also knew there was more. Stopping him from tossing his lighter again, Buffy put her hand on his. “It’s okay, Spike.” He raised his eyebrows at her, his meaning clear. She smiled wryly. “Okay no, it isn’t, but we’ll get through.”

 

He nodded solemnly with an expression that hinted at deep thought. “Pain that it is, I think I’m gonna miss it. Your soul,” he added with an expression she couldn’t quite read. “I wish I could’ve remembered it more.”

 

“Even the wearing lingerie part?”

 

“Well, okay, maybe not that part specifically, but the rest. It would’ve been nice.”

 

She wrinkled her forehead. “Nice?”

 

“Yeah.” He shrugged a little and looked at her from beneath his lashes. “Feeling part of you in here.” He thumped his chest lightly.

 

Her mouth opened a little despite herself. God, he could be such a sap. Sometimes she couldn’t reconcile this aspect of him with the other, the one she knew was a brutal killer. “You’ve never met the real me,” he’d told her once. She wasn’t sure about that. She’d met his predecessor, but she also knew Angelus wasn’t capable of the same emotion she was seeing here. “Shh,” she told him. “We’re going to find a way out for you. I won’t leave you locked up forever, I promise.”

 

Her words making them remember it, they both glanced at the large taser gun on one of the small tables. Once the transfer took place, he’d be tasered into submission if necessary.

 

“You won’t need that,” he said. “I’ll go willingly. It’ll still be me.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as her.

 

“I know.” She squeezed his hand and planted a small peck on his lips. As she drew back, the look on his face mirrored the last time she’d given him such a kiss, except without all the bruises. He hadn’t had a soul then, yet she’d meant it just the same.

 

When she looked up, Angel was glowering at them. Oh great, here comes the show of testosterone. Looking at Spike’s smirk, she decided she was going to nip this in the bud right now. She put her hand on Angel’s arm. “Angel, is the locked room ready, and is it safe?”

 

Angel tore his glaring eyes away from Spike and looked at her. “Yes.” He turned away a bit as he said it, and Buffy had the feeling he was being a little evasive.

 

She tightened her grip on his arm. “You’re not planning on doing anything like staking him are you?”

 

“No,” he assured her, this time keeping eye contact.

 

“Good.”

 

“I think we’re ready,” Fred announced from over near the circle they’d drawn on the floor, and Buffy was glad for the distraction if not for what it meant would soon be happening.

 

“’Bout time,” Spike grumbled. “Let’s do this then.”

 

*********

 

Spike was trying to stay calm, but that was becoming difficult to do with the magic energy growing around him. He supposed a little nervous energy had its advantages though. The repetitive, rhythmic chanting might’ve put him to sleep otherwise. Buffy stood in front of him within the protective circle, smiling at him. He took a quick breath and closed his eyes as he felt the first stinging sensations coming from the ugly amulet he wore around his neck.

 

“Spike?”

 

He opened his eyes again and looked at her. “This is it.”

 

Buffy opened her palm, spreading her fingers and he folded his hand into it. She squeezed it a little tight, but he didn’t mind at all. He grunted a little as his body began to sting and burn. “How much longer?”

 

“Shouldn’t be too long.”

 

It was Angel that answered, because everyone else was busy with various spell incantations, so Spike wasn’t sure how reliable the answer was. He gritted his teeth behind his smile just in case he had to endure for a while. “Buffy,” he managed to get out.

 

“I’ve got you.”

 

The flames came then, surrounding their hands and surprising Fred, who took in a quick breath. “This is it, Angel,” she said. Spike had only a moment to wonder why Fred was saying this before he felt something deep within him and knew Buffy’s piece of soul was leaving him. Buffy seemed to feel it, too, because she let out a little gasp.

 

“Now, Angel,” Fred said.

 

Then several things happened at once. Willow shouted a command, breaking the barrier of the circle, Wesley picked up the taser gun, pointing it in their direction, and Angel crossed the place where the barrier had been just a second before, taking Buffy from his grasp.

 

“What?” Buffy asked

 

“You don’t have to do that,” Spike objected, holding his hands up in Wesley’s direction. “I’ll go willingly.”

 

“It’s not for you,” Angel said as he entered the circle, replacing Buffy. Another shouted command from Willow brought the energy back up around the circle, catching them inside. Then Angel was grabbing his hand.

 

“What’re you doing?” he asked, trying to get his hand out of Angel’s grasp. Then the answer hit him harder than the return of the burning in his chest. “Bloody hell!” His eyes widened comically, and he renewed his efforts to retrieve his hand. “There’s no bleeding way, you overgrown do-gooder wanna be. I’m not gonna have you in here.”

 

Angel just smirked at him, not letting go. “Sorry, Spike. It’s the only answer for now.”

 

Angel’s grip was too strong, and the burning inside his body made him too weak to break the connection. He only had time to look at the smirking Angel in horror. Then it was too late, as the flames came up again, this time engulfing his and Angel’s hands, and Spike knew that one of his worst nightmares was about to become reality. He really was gonna be like his big poof of a grandsire. He panted a bit as Willow barked out the command to bring down the barrier again, and Wesley hauled Angel out of his grasp. Smoking slightly, he stumbled backwards, and Buffy steadied him, keeping him from falling completely.

 

He looked at Willow and Fred, his mouth agape. Wesley was busy with a now tasered Angel. “You all knew, didn’t you?”

 

Fred titled her head and scrunched her mouth apologetically. “Well, they told me not to say anything, cuz you might be…”

 

“Horrified?” Spike finished for her. “Did you know about this?” he asked Buffy.

 

Buffy looked startled. “Me? Nooo. I know what you would’ve thought of this.”

 

Spike nodded at her, though he had the sneaking suspicion that she was trying desperately not to smile. “I need to sit down,” he moaned. He found the nearest chair and sunk onto it before looking pitifully at Willow. “You couldn’t have gotten me another chip instead?”

 

“It might not be that bad,” Fred said. “Willow tweaked the spell a bit so the piece would mesh better. You might not show any Angel behavior at all.” Willow nodded emphatically in agreement.

 

“Might not?” Spike asked.

 

“Probably not.” Ignoring his grumbled reply, she turned to Wesley. “How’s Angel?”

 

“He’s subdued for now. We’ll get him chained up until we can be positive he’s still got some of his soul in there, but I’m fairly certain we stopped the process in time.” He looked at Buffy. “Would you mind helping me with him?”

 

Spike felt a twinge of emotion when Buffy turned to him and asked, “You going to be okay for a moment?” She was making sure before she went to help Angel.

 

“Go ahead. Chain him up really tight for me okay, pet?”

 

Buffy stifled a smile. “Now be nice. You two do have a bond now.” Spike growled at her playfully, well mostly anyway, as she went to help Wesley.

*********

 

Buffy and Willow had waited another day to make sure that he and Spike were okay, but now Angel had to watch her leave again. The worst part was knowing that Spike would gladly go with her if he could and that Buffy similarly wished the same thing. The two of them were saying goodbye now. And they were kissing. Okay he hadn’t expected that, but it was just a small kiss, so… Okay that was enough now. Then they had their heads together, and Angel wished he knew what they were saying. Strike that; no he didn’t. It looked totally mushy, and knowing Spike it likely was. Angel grumbled to himself until Buffy finally came over to see him.

 

“Be nice to him,” Buffy told him as she embraced him.

 

“You’re asking a lot there, you know.” He returned the hug, enjoying the feel of his arms being around her.

 

She gave him a sheepish look. “I know he can be a pain in the ass, but he really is trying.”

 

“Trying to be a pain in the ass?” he joked.

 

Buffy snorted a small laugh. “No, I think he comes by that part naturally. Promise me you’ll try.”

 

“I’ll try, but only for you.”

 

She nodded. “Thank you.” Then she gave him a small kiss and pulled away. “Take care of yourself, Angel.” He could only nod and watch her go over to wait by her luggage.

 

Willow was saying goodbye to Fred and Wesley. “Let me know if you find out anything more about Spike’s soul. I’m really good at putting souls back in vamps,” she said with a smile.

 

“We’ll let you know if we find anything,” Wesley promised.

 

“Have a safe trip,” Fred added. “And don’t forget to e-mail.”

 

Then the two of them were heading for the elevators with their luggage. They waved as the doors closed. He sighed. “Well, I guess it’s back to work.”

 

Spike sauntered up. “Guess so.”

 

Angel wondered what he was going to do with himself now that everything was back to normal. Then he wished he hadn’t as the sound of Harmony’s voice came from a little way across the lobby. “Angel, Mr. Brighton is here. I told him to wait in your office.”

*********

 

So far, so good, Spike thought. It seemed Willow had been a miracle worker in the magic department. He hadn’t had any blackouts in the past couple of weeks, and his shiny new piece of soul was firmly in place. He tried not to think too much about where it came from. Lilah still showed up from time to time, but the visits were much less frequent. Angel actually gave him helpful things to do. And Fred and Wesley still looked into the possibility of retrieving his own soul every now and then. Now, if he could only figure out how to break the Senior Partners hold on him, he might eventually be able to leave this place and go join Buffy wherever she ended up. He wondered how Dawn was doing. He bet that she was getting all tall and grown up by now.

 

He stretched as he waited in the elevator then picked up his briefcase. Might as well look professional. It didn’t matter that there was only a couple token papers, a nice set of pens, and a good British beer in there. He looked the part anyway. Exiting the elevator, he wondered what the meeting was going to be about today but mostly hoped it would be a short one. He never had been good at sitting still and listening to other people talk. How he’d managed to hang out at the few Scooby meetings he had attended, he’d never know. As he came through the door, he noticed almost everyone was there, except for Lorne, but the green demon actually hadn’t been hanging around the building much lately anyway.

 

“Hey guys,” he said as he walked into the small conference room.

 

They were all staring at him. Fred had actually done a double take.

 

“What? I can’t be late.”

 

“No, man, you’re not late. It’s just..” he snickered a little. “Your hair, dude.” He turned to Fred. “I thought you told me you guys did some mojo to fix that.”

 

Fred looked apologetic around the smile she was trying hard not to show. “I thought we did.”

 

Wesley, too, was smiling. “Evidently it didn’t entirely work.”

 

“What?” Angel asked, but after a moment he scrunched his face up. “Does mine really look like that?”

 

Spike felt panic rising in him. What were they talking about? “What’s wrong with my…” He dropped his briefcase and reached his hand up to gingerly touch his hair. The side of his head seemed fine. The hair wasn’t as flat as he usually liked it, but… With growing horror he moved his hand to touch the front of his head. His hand stopped at least an inch higher than he expected, encountering bangs that were sticking straight up.

 

“Oh, bloody hell.”

 

 

The End