The next morning, Spike had once again found himself eying the various items on the shelves in the magic shop. He was now sitting at the table in the small room behind the shop with Buffy and Giles, waiting for the rest of the gang to show up. Anya had already arrived, of course, insisting that she had to take care of the customers, so they would want to buy things and give her money.
He was still in a state of shock from last night’s events, not to mention from the bombshell Giles had dropped about William. A part of him still refused to believe that it was real - not about the vampires; he couldn’t deny their existence, even to himself, no matter how much he may have wanted to - but the part about him being the Slayer. It was ridiculous, really, yet Giles insisted that it was true, and so did Buffy. Now he wondered if the other people he had met last night – what had Xander called them, scoobies? - knew as well. It sure would explain their weird behavior if that was the case.
It didn’t take long before Xander entered the room, followed by Willow and Tara. Xander was carrying a large box of donuts, which he placed carefully on the table with a goofy grin. “I come bringing sugary goodness for everyone! However, the one with chocolate is mine, anyone dare touching that, and I can’t guarantee your survival… hey, put it down!” He glared at Willow, who had already reached for the pastry in question, and was now happily munching on it with an innocent look on her face. Muttering to himself, he sat down and reached for a glazed one instead.
Giles cleared his throat, giving Xander an annoyed look. “Are you done, Xander? We have important things to discuss, that’s why I called for a meeting this morning.”
Willow nodded in understanding, glancing at Spike. “Of course, the… um, the work-thing.” She smiled at Spike. “First day at your new job, bet you’re excited, huh?”
Spike rolled his eyes. “Oh, excited doesn’t cover it.”
Giles looked at the others, making sure he had their total attention. “All right. Last night, I explained the situation to Spike, and…” He hesitated. “He is now aware of what is going on here.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Willow interrupted him. “Oh, thank God, so we don’t need to keep up this ‘job’ charade. Good, ‘cause…”
“Hold on!” Spike glared at Giles, crossing his arms over his chest. “There’s no bloody job?! What else have you been lying about, Rupert?”
“Wait, I didn’t mean…” Willow casted a nervous look at Giles, who held up his hand to stop her.
“I can assure you, Spike, the job is real. You will be working here in the shop with Anya, and I will tell you everything you’ll need to know about it in a while. However, that is not the main reason you are here, as I explained to you last night.” Giving Spike a patient look, Giles went on, now turning to the others as well; “Since Spike is going to need some training before he can start slaying for real, you lot will have to do the patrolling without me for the next couple of nights.”
The rest of the gang just nodded, but Spike stared at him in disbelief. “Training? Patrolling? What the bloody hell are you on about? I agreed to come here today, but that’s all.” He let out a frustrated sigh. “I never said I’d accept being the soddin’ Slayer, you can’t just assume…” He stopped as he noticed the confused expressions on the other’s faces. “What?!”
Xander looked at Giles. “I thought you said you’d explained?”
Giles got a guilty look on his face. “Yes, well…”
Spike interrupted him, his face a mixture of confusion and irritation. “Explained what?”
Buffy spoke up, for the first time since they had arrived at the store. “Being the Slayer is not something you can choose whether or not to be, Spike. It’s who you are. That will only change when you…” She stopped, looking down at her hands, unable to finish the sentence.
Raising his eyebrows, Spike waited for her to go on, but she didn’t. He swallowed, looking at the others. “When I… what? When I die?” An awkward silence was all the response he got, and he let out a bitter laugh. “So, that’s it? I’m destined to kill vampires for the rest of my bloody life?! Then what?”
Giles gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”
Glaring at him, Spike spoke between clenched teeth. “Then. What? After I die?”
Opening his mouth, then closing it again, Giles seemed unsure of what to say. Finally he spoke. “Well, I suppose another Slayer will be called. He will…” His voice trailed off.
“… just pick it up where I left off? Like I never even existed?” Spike snorted and got up, his voice trembling when he spoke again; “Forget it, I’m not doing it.” Seeing that Giles was about to object, he hurriedly went on; “I don’t care if it’s my fucking destiny, never believed in that shit, anyway. If you’re all so eager to fight the bloody vampires, then go ahead. But you’ll have to do it without me; I have better things to do with my life than just sit around and wait to get killed.”
“Oh, I see. Like all the good things you have accomplished in your life so far? You must be very proud of yourself.” Giles immediately regretted his words, but it was too late to take them back. “I apologize, that was not fair of me. I didn’t mean…”
“Sure you did.” Spike gave him a cold look. “Meant every bloody word. Nice to know how you really feel about me.” Giles opened his mouth to say something, but Spike ignored him and headed for the door, slamming it shut behind him as he left the room.
No one said anything for almost a minute. Then Xander let out a nervous little laugh. “All right, that went well! Way to go, G-man!” Giles just glared at him, and he hurried to add; “And I’ll never call you that again.”
TBC
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