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CHAPTER 2


On Monday, Dawn managed to trick Buffy into going back to the library for her. But the young woman didn’t mind too much since she wanted to get some books for herself. She had much more time to read now, and from time to time liked to plunge herself into some sappy romance novels.

Buffy smiled at the young woman behind the reception desk and went straight to the row that interested her.

William arrived, holding a stack of books. “These were just donated. It’s mostly English History, so I’ll take care of it.”

“As you wish,” Meg said. “What are you doing?” she asked, seeing him disappear under the counter.

“I left two books by Alfred Tennyson here on Friday. Where the bloody hell are they now?” he muttered under his breath.

Meg laughed at his colourful language. He had been working here for more than one year now, and she still wasn’t used to those weird British expressions he uttered. The accent was cute, though.

The young blond woman who handed her two books distracted her.

“Hi! What’s your name?”

“Buffy Summers.”

Meg quickly scanned the book before giving them back. “Here you are, Miss Summers. Have a nice day.”

“Aha!” A triumphant shout came from underneath the desk. Buffy jumped, slightly surprised.

Meg smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s just my colleague. William, you’re scaring the customers.”

“Sorry,” a muffled voice said.

He finally stood up. “Who did I scare?”

“She’s gone now. So, did you find your books?”

“Yep.” He put the two poem books above the stack. Meg took one. “So, Alfred Tennyson. An English guy who writes poems. Hey! Maybe you’re him,” she joked. “You’re English and you like poetry.”

William chuckled. “Well, since the bloke died 112 years ago, I’m thinking no.”

He didn’t mind when his colleague joked about his memory loss. Better laugh about it than feel depressed and frustrated all the time. That’s probably what would have happened to him if he hadn’t had Jim and Anna’s presence with him.

Meg checked her watch. “I need my dose of caffeine. Can you cover for me a few minutes? You want some coffee?”

“Sure. And no, thanks.”

With Meg gone, he went through the stack of books, sorting them out in smaller piles.

“Excuse me, I forgot to ask…”

He raised his head, smiling at the young woman in front of him. She stopped speaking. “Yes?” he encouraged her, frowning when her pretty face turned a ghostly white. “Miss? Are you alright?”

She was looking at him with a mix of confusion, hope and disbelief. She put her hand on her mouth, breathing in short gasps. Just for the record, William looked behind him. But no, the pretty blonde was looking at him. And he seemed to have a pretty intense effect on her.

Like she * recognized * him.

Oh God.

“Miss,” he pressed her, “Do you know who I am? I know it may sound like a weird question, but…”

He didn’t finish his sentence. She had fainted.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Buffy regained consciousness. She had had another dream about Spike. He looked different – sandy blond hair and glasses – but it was him. She would recognize those blue eyes anywhere.

Sighing, she opened her eyes, and met those very same blue orbs she had dreamt about.

Only it wasn’t a dream.

“Are you ok?”

Same voice. Same accent.

“Who are you?” she asked him in a croaked voice. Her heart was beating furiously.

He seemed disappointed by her question. “To be honest, I was hoping you would tell me.”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“Well, considering your reaction when you saw me…I would love to blame it on my manly charms, but I’m too modest for that. So I assumed you recognized me.”

Buffy sat down. He helped her, and the contact of his hand on her skin made her shiver.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “You bear an extraordinary resemblance to a close friend of mine, but…he died two years ago.”

The disappointment was clearly evident on his face, now. “Oh. I see. It’s just that, well, I don’t remember who I am. You’ve’ heard about amnesia, right? And you’re the first person who seemed to recognize me since…it happened.”

“I’m terribly sorry,” she said.

“I’m sorry to ask you this, but…you’re sure that friend of yours is…dead?”

“I…well, yes, he…”

She hesitated. Truth be told, she hadn’t exactly seen Spike die. But considering the tremendous amount of sunlight coming from the amulet, and the collapse of the town, they had all assumed he had been dusted. Besides, if he had made it, he would have come after them, right? He would have come after her. Unless…

Unless he didn’t remember who he was.

Her mind in a frenzy, Buffy closed her eyes. No. It just couldn’t be. That was impossible. Then again, after living on the Hellmouth for seven years, Buffy knew first hand that when it came to matters of life and death, nothing was impossible.

“My name is Buffy Summers. Does it remind you of anything?”

He shook his head sadly. “No. But I have…a weird feeling when I look at you. But that’s maybe just because I find you attractive.”

She blushed slightly. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, sorry. I forget all about my manners. It’s William. What?” he asked, seeing her eyes grow wide.

“Who called you that way?”

“Myself. I had to pick a name, since I had no identity papers on me. William was the first one that came to mind. Sounded fitting,” he shrugged, before adding, “Don’t tell me I chose the right name?”

Buffy’s eyes swelled with unshed tears. The voice of reason kept telling her it was impossible, but she wouldn’t listen to it anymore. This was too much of a coincidence – and she didn’t believe in coincidence.

Impulsively, she put her hand on his face and he closed his eyes at the contact. He put his hand on hers. “That feels good…familiar,” he whispered.

She was still looking at him and now there was awe on her face. She took a deep breath. “What happened to you?”

She pulled her hand back and he almost protested at the loss of contact. “I was found two years ago by a couple, Jim and Anna Clarke. Apparently, I survived some sort of giant earthquake. The entire town had collapsed. They found me a few feet away from the crater. But I have no bleedin’ idea how I got there, if I was living in this town or just passing by at the wrong moment. The town’s name was…”

“Sunnydale,” she finished with him, tears running freely down her cheeks now. “Oh my God,” she said, panting again, feeling on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Hey, don’t pass out on me again. Buffy, am I that guy? Am I your friend?”

She nodded, unable to speak.

“And William is my real name?” he asked, joy written all over his face. Finally! Finally he would get some answers, he was going to know who he was.

“Yes, you picked the right name,” she confirmed.

“Then maybe I’ll start to remember other things! Buffy…God, I have to get back to work. I guess you have things to do too. Can I see you tonight? Please?”

She laughed. She had just gotten him back. The words ‘second chance’ were printed in her mind. There was no way she was letting him out of her sight again. “Can’t you take the afternoon off?”

“No,” he said, regretfully. “There’s two people out sick, and it’s just Meg and me. I can’t leave her by herself.”

She nodded. “I understand. Do you have a pen and paper?”

He wrote down her address. “I can be there by 7. Is that ok?”

“Sure. I…I’ll be waiting,” she said.

He pressed a quick kiss on her cheek. “You’ve just make me the happiest man on earth,” he laughed, echoing words from what seemed to be another lifetime.

Well apparently, it was for him.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
On her way back home, Buffy couldn’t help but have a huge smile plastered on her face. Spike was back. There was of course tons of how’s, why’s and what’s, but for the moment all that mattered was that she had found him again.

He was alive. Really alive.

He had no idea who he was.

Her smile vanished, the full implication of what it meant hitting her.

How was she supposed to tell him he had been a vampire? That he had killed people remorselessly for about 120 years? That they had shared a self-destructive relationship that had ended in a very ugly way? That just when they had started to feel connected and build what promised to be the beginning of something beautiful, he had had to die to save the world.

And to top it all, with his memory was probably gone the knowledge of all things evil and demon-y.

She let herself fall on a bench, feeling defeated. They – whoever they were - couldn’t have brought back Spike ‘normal’ and ready to rekindle their burgeoning relationship. No, it had to happen the hard way, of course. With a big chance that he would never believe her and see her as a loony. Or that she would scar him for life with her horrible vampire tales.

That second chance she just had a glimpse at was doomed before it even started.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§


Dawn checked her watch. The professor for her last class had called in sick, and she didn’t have to work today, so she had the rest of the afternoon for herself. She felt a little bit guilty for having Buffy going for her to the library again, since she would now have had plenty of time to go herself. Then again, she couldn’t have known.

“Dawn! Wait!”

She turned around and smiled at Connor, jogging towards her.

“Hey,” she greeted him, her heart racing a little faster. She had been attracted to him immediately and fortunately, it seemed to be reciprocated.

“I had planned on calling you today, and hey, here you are,” he said. “Do you have class?”

“No, the professor’s sick. I was about to go home.”

“Would you like for us to get coffee or something? We didn’t get the chance to talk much the other day.”

Her smile widened. “Sure! I mean, that would be nice.”

They walked to a Starbucks mostly frequented by students, and found a table for two. They discussed about their classes, although if Dawn told him what she was studying, she didn’t mention what she destined herself to be – a Watcher. He wouldn’t know what it meant anyway. Connor, on the other hand, talked excitedly about his desire to become a lawyer.

To Dawn, the word ‘lawyer’ was a little bit too related to the horror stories she had heard about Wolfram & Hart before Angel and his gang took charge. And she knew Buffy still had doubts about the fact they were supposedly doing only good things now.

But when she listened to Connor, it was obvious his own ideas of a lawyer were based on the ‘helping people’ kind, and not driven by anything evil or monetary.

So, bringing him right into the belly of ex-Evil Incorporated was probably not the best idea, but… “Angel, the CEO of Wolfram & Hart, is a friend of mine,” she casually mentioned.

His eyes became saucers. “Wolfram & Hart as in the law firm? You know the CEO?”

She nodded. Thank you Angel, she thought. Sorry for using you to attract young handsome males… “He dated my sister a few years ago. They remained friends…sort of. I know some people working there.”

She had gotten to know Fred through Willow, and liked her a lot. Too bad the young scientist didn’t prefer girls, because they would really make a cute couple. And she was often in touch with Wesley concerning watcher’ stuff.

“I could take you there, if you want. Show you around, meet Angel. He’s nice.”

“That would be so cool!” He frowned. “I remember hearing some stories about Wolfram & Hart, but it was too weird to be true, I guess.”

“What kind of stories?” Dawn asked nonchalantly.

“Something about some serial killer annihilating all the employees. Remember when we had that big eclipse that lasted several days a couple of years ago? Well, there were some students doing their internships there. Apparently they were killed too. But it’s mostly talks. And since some people even mentioned some kind of zombie things, it’s probably one of those urban legends, you know.”

She smiled. “I’m sure it was. And Angel will fill you in with everything you want to know.”

He laughed. “Oh I hope. The poor guy, I intend to drown him in questions!”





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