Harmony paused before she placed her hand on one of the doors to Angel’s office and turned toward William. He wasn’t sure why the girl seemed so attentive to him, but he leaned far away from her when she came closer.
“Look, Spikey, I don’t think I should be around you again, since you know, the whole human thing and I’m really trying to be good.” She tossed her hair behind her, “‘cause I think if I bite you Angel would be really mad and I don’t want to lose this job.”
William stared at her, wide eyed and confounded. “Right, then. I must agree with you, I will do-do my part to stay away.” He didn’t miss the contemptuous look that Buffy was giving the cheery odd blonde woman and tried to force himself not to smile.
“Great! I’ll miss you though.” She winked at him and he felt himself shudder, who or what this girl was he had no idea and he did not like the thought of finding out. She turned back and placed her hand on one of the doors knobs and pushed.
The doors opened and William saw a tall dark figure standing a few feet from them. He was broad of shoulder and looked, or at least he thought he looked, happy to see them, or at least Buffy.
“Buffy!” The figure spoke with relief and joy, breathless and heady.
“Angel.” Buffy sounded tired, and William relaxed. He would be spared a reunion that seemed too much like a lover’s reunion than he liked.
Angel came up to Buffy and hugged her possessively. She returned the hug but reluctantly and William was given a moment to study the vampire. He seemed to have nice features, nothing suspicious at first glance. Though William caught something that was off about him, something he couldn’t place. His spiked hair, his large forehead and his hulking countenance put William in a foul mood, and somehow William knew he didn’t like the vampire.
William almost sighed in relief when Buffy broke the hug. “We won,” Buffy’s voice was small, like she meant the opposite.
“I noticed. Are you OK Buffy?”
“I’m fine. As frog’s hair – if frogs actually had hair.”
“I was worried when I didn’t hear from you yesterday. I was about to head out tonight.” Angel kept his eyes on Buffy, “I heard what happened to Sunnydale.”
Buffy drew in a deep breath and William knew what she was thinking about, he could feel it. She was thinking about…him. “I kind of figured you would have by now. A town turning into a crater would be hard to miss. And probably good ratings for the news.”
“Survivors?”
“The gang all made it.” Buffy gestured to the people right behind her, which included William, “But a lot of the girls didn’t make it…and…”
Angel looked through everyone and greeted those he knew best, smiling at Dawn and Willow. Mr. Giles simply nodded and Xander barely concealed his obvious distaste for the vampire. His eyes passed through the girls. William was a bit shy with the other slayers, so he understood how Angel must have felt at that moment. When he said hello to everyone his eyes finally rested on William.
Angel stepped closer and William understood that the vampire was in a state of disbelief. Unease grabbed him in a tight embrace and he wanted to run from the room. But he stood his ground as he was scrutinized by the large vampire.
Buffy stepped to Angel’s side, “Angel, that is…”
“William.” Angel’s whispered reply was hardly heard by anyone other than the two closest to him.
A cold chill crept up William’s spine and he was overcome with ominous emotions. He was almost swept up in the calamity of his feelings as memories of what was to him only two nights ago came to him in a rush. He had hardly noticed, but when that strange and crazy woman had approached him during that night, there were two others behind her. A blonde woman, haughty in appearance, stood vigil next to a tall, dark man with wide shoulders, as the female vampire bit his neck. William gasped.
“You! You were there! I remember seeing you.” He turned toward Buffy, panic clear on his face. “Buffy, this – this creature…”
“I know William.” Buffy tried to sound reassuring but it didn’t seem to help.
“I was there William. You don’t remember anything after that?” Angel almost looked apologetic if it wasn’t for the slight frown in his brow that told William that the vampire was irritated.
William kept his eyes on Buffy, not wanting to address the vampire, panicked and desperate to be removed from the creature’s presence. He did not like the idea that one of the things that turned him into a demon was so close to him now. That he could remember him from before his journey to the future and know that it was many years since unnerved him. It validated that he was a vampire himself until yesterday, that William had been evil for more than a hundred years! How deplorable was it that he, even though it wasn’t fully him, could do such horrors as that which a vampire would do!
“Hey, we have a lot to talk about; maybe most of the girls and William could wait in another room.” Buffy saved him from answering the question and he felt relief wash over him.
Angel looked back to Buffy and slowly nodded. “Yeah, sure. I would like Fred to look at William though; do you know how he got here?”
Buffy gave William a small smile and glanced back at Angel, her body relaxed. William sighed brokenly; he didn’t trust the vampire but he would trust Buffy. “That’s fine. The sooner the better, it seems things have gotten complicated again in a really short time. And for how William got here, we think it has to do with the amulet you gave us.” Buffy looked angry then, but said nothing to betray her new emotion.
“Do you still have it? If you do maybe Fred can look at it too.”
“I have it in my pocket.” Buffy’s slumped features made her seem smaller than normal.
“Did Spike turn into William or did something else happen to him?”
Pain was clearly written on Buffy’s face, though she quickly covered it. “I saw him burn…Spike is…he probably…turned into William.”
Silence hung in the air for a few minutes until Mr. Giles cleared his throat.
“Angel, I must insist that we speak as soon as possible on the matters at hand.” Mr. Giles’ voice was heavy, grave.
“Sure, I’ll call Harmony back to take everyone else to one of the conference rooms. And I’ll ask Fred to come get William.”
“I’d like to go with, if you don’t mind. It would be nice to see Fred since I’m here and I know I might be able to help.” Willow’s voice startled William as his thoughts were a torrent of despondent images of the crimes he might have committed as a vampire.
“Lunch would be a good idea too.” Xander and Andrew exchanged a glance. It had been awhile since everyone last ate.
“I’ll get someone to order everyone some food.” Angel’s smile did nothing to placate William.
With that Angel retreated to the large desk near the far side of the room and picked up the phone. Andrew had explained this morning about the telephones and communication devices that were common in this age, but William was not distracted from the revelation of what he could really no longer deny. He had been evil.
Buffy silently walked up to him, her arms crossed. The frown on her face let William know she knew he was upset. She placed her hand lightly on his forearm and immediately he calmed. She cared, he had been evil, she knew that and yet, she still cared.
It was long before the odd blonde woman was back directing everyone out of the office except Buffy, William, Mr. Giles, and Willow. Angel had come closer to Buffy again and they began to talk, all faces seemed grim.
“I have reports of a few demons that have started rumors.” Angel spoke as if this were common business.
“What kind of rumor?”
“Some type of summoning is going to take place soon.”
“Do you know if these rumors are baseless?” Mr. Giles voice belittled the worry in his eyes. Buffy and Mr. Giles glanced knowingly to each other.
“For the time being I think we should focus on William and why he is here.” Angel’s voice betrayed his displeasure of the situation.
“I guess that’s my call to announce my presence.” The new voice was full of energy and everyone turned to look at the newcomer.
William saw that she was a quaint young woman with dark features. She wore what looked like a doctor’s robe. Immediately Willow smiled and took a few steps closer.
“Fred!”
“Hey Willow!”
They embraced and began to talk but their discussion was lost on William. The girls were talking in another language even though they were speaking English and he felt immediately overcome with foreboding. These women were extremely intelligent. And he was going to be put in their hands.
“You gonna stand around talking shop all day or what?” Buffy tried to sound irritated, though her lack of conviction didn’t fool anyone.
“Oh, sorry! We just got caught in the moment.” Fred looked at William, took a few steps closer to him and extended her arm. “You must be William, am I right?”
He took her hand and instead of shaking it he bent and placed a small kiss on her knuckles, “Yes, indeed I am.”
Buffy’s surprised and jealous expression was enough for William to drop Fred’s hand immediately. “I’m Fred, but I guess you figured that out.”
“It is an honor to meet you.” William smiled and hoped that his cordial manner was enough to spare him of unneeded experiments. He had enough to deal with at the moment; he didn’t need another thing to add to his torturous mind.
“Likewise. Let’s go to my lab, we can look you over once we’re there.”
“I’m coming too!” Willow looked pleased at the thought and glanced back to Buffy, “You have the amulet right?”
“Oh, yeah, let me get it.” She dug into her trousers, which clung to her legs and William looked away, embarrassed where his thoughts were leading.
Once she pulled the amulet out of her pocket and handed it to Willow, the three of them headed out of Angel’s office. As William was closing the door he heard Buffy speak, the conversation was beginning again and he wasn’t happy to be left out of what was probably an important discussion.
“Do you think it was more than just the amulet that could have brought William here?”
Angel’s voice brought another chilling shock through his body, “I don’t know Buffy. The fact that Spike is human again though has me thinking of a prophecy.”
“What prophecy?”
William didn’t hear the rest as he shut the door and walked after Fred and Willow. It shouldn’t have surprised him that prophecies were something normal in this new world he had arrived in. Magic was everywhere now and he wondered if the green folk were also running about.
When they arrived at Fred’s lab, the machinery, and the objects that surrounded him had all thought running from his mind. The colorless expanse of the room, the sounds and the lights from the different contraptions had him stop dead at the entrance. He turned white and hoped that whatever they would do to him wouldn’t be too painful.
:::::::::::::::::
It was odd, nothing they had done besides sticking a few needles into him, hurt. After what seemed like a few hours the girls were discussing him right outside the door to Fred’s office, where he was currently seated, wearing a new pair of glasses and feeling extremely well. He felt healthier than he ever felt before. Not entirely wishing to eavesdrop but intensely curious he strained to hear what the girls were talking about.
“I’m amazed really; it seems that the amulet did something really complex and almost unheard of.”
“I know, when I did the spell last night on the amulet I sensed Spike but I had no idea that it was really all of Spike.”
“Soul, memory, everything, all stuck in the amulet. It sucked in everything of Spike and left only the human part, but it wasn’t enough. It called to William from the past and brought him here, like a copy.”
“What do you think would happen if Spike got out of the amulet?” Worry was clear in every tone of Willow’s voice.
“If he was released without William wearing the amulet I would think Spike would die, or literally go into nonexistence. If William wore the amulet when the essence was released, Spike would come back, whole, vampire and all.”
That thought had fear freeze his body. He didn’t want to be a vampire again. He would have to steer clear of the amulet at all cost.
“Would Spike remember everything he did here as William?”
“Not sure, this is really complicated.” Fred sighed, “But in the mean time, William is going to be one happy camper. It seems he had the beginning symptoms of tuberculosis; it was early, so I gave him some advanced treatment, a few more pills and he’ll be clear of it. I also had to give him a lot of immunization shots.”
“I noticed the glasses.” Willow’s voice betrayed a smile on her face.
“Yeah, his eyes aren’t that bad, but he needs them. He’s cute with them. I was going to suggest contacts but thought against it.”
“Spike will never live this down once we find a way to get him back.”
William didn’t like the sound of that at all; he was appalled at the idea that they were even thinking about finding a way to return him to such an evil state.
“Do you think that’s a good idea? William seems happy enough and…”
“Oh, I know what you mean! I feel the same. Just Buffy, and well, what Spike did. I’m not sure what the right thing is, but I feel like we should get Spike back.”
There was silence after that and when the discussion began again it was too low for him to hear. William hoped that they would never find a way to release the vampire within the amulet. He didn’t understand why he was here and he didn’t care. He wanted this time, this second chance. And he wasn’t going to let them take it away from him. He hoped that Buffy would agree, he would plead his case with her if he had to. He knew she cared for the vampire, but he was the same being almost, just without the years of evil endeavors. He grew anxious, it was getting late. Hunger, fear and nerves were sapping his energy. He wanted to get back to Buffy. She had told him to stay close, and now he knew it was time to go back to her side.
:::::::::::::::::
Buffy watched as Angel left his office to speak with a client. They had spoken at length about William, the Shanshu prophecy, and the growing threat that was building in just a day since the fall of the Sunnydale Hellmouth. Her patience with both her old watcher and lover were wearing her out and she wanted to call it quits for the day. But there were still things to speak about. She turned to Giles and would try to trust him with this information she had held back during the talk with Angel, which she had spoken to Giles about in the car. She would try to look at him and forget his actions since last year.
“That really didn’t go anywhere.”
“True, I have a feeling that William’s appearance has little to do with that prophecy.”
“Add to that I recently had a nice, scary Slayer Dream that involved William and we have another mystery on our hands.”
Giles looked even more worried at the new information. “A Slayer Dream?”
“Yup. I don’t even remember it fully either. Like something has been draining my memory. I know there was an orange, or was it yellow, demon that I’ve never seen before trying to suck up a well of something and I couldn’t move. I was stuck, in chains, watching. There was a light and everyone around me turned into vampires, including me. I remember at the end William went up to the demon and spoke to him, like they were drinking buddies. He then held up a little girl who devoured the demon.”
“A young girl devouring the demon?” Giles furrowed his brows and stared at Buffy, trying to unravel her dream puzzle.
“Yeah, and it seemed like her mother didn’t teach her dinner manners either.”
“That could have many different meanings. I remember you dreamt of a young girl before?”
“During the time we all lost our voice, she was singing.”
“Did this girl sing?”
“No, she was just, I dunno, cute, with curly hair, rosy cheeks. She didn’t say anything, she just began eating. Innocent little girl eating away at a demon. Wiggy.” Buffy shuddered, clearly disturbed by the image.
“Innocence? Perhaps it means that innocence has something to do with defeating this forth coming enemy?”
“Maybe, but it could also mean we need to find a cute little demon eating girl.”
Giles looked down at the floor, clearly agitated. “Once Angel has made all the preparations for our departure we should leave immediately. We need to find a safe house to set up a new Watcher’s Council and organize the Slayers. I have ideas, but we cannot take on a new enemy so soon while scattered about.”
Buffy nodded, “We’ll be fine. We always are. I guess we didn’t get a break this time around. I was really looking forward to some mall shopping, especially since I don’t have any clothes.”
“We all are deprived Buffy. Once we get out of the country perhaps you could take William shopping?”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Buffy looked around, “Speaking of, where is he? I didn’t want him to be gone this long from my side.”
Angel came back into the room at that moment and looked at them both. “I can take care of the papers for William without any issues. The bad news is that you’ll have to wait for transport until tomorrow.”
Giles nodded solemnly. “We’ll leave and procure a few hotel rooms for tonight then.”
“You can stay at the old Hyperion hotel free of charge.”
Buffy glanced at Giles and crossed her arms, “Fine, we’ll do that, but we’re leaving as soon as possible. The longer I stay here the more I feel the evilness rub off on me. Where’s William?”
Angel looked hurt by her tone, but just shook his head. “He and Willow are with the others now. Fred found some information on why and how he was brought here.”
“Oh? And?”
“It probably has nothing to do with that Prophecy. I’m sure Willow will fill you in on all the details.” Angel’s relaxed expression told Buffy he was happy at that revelation.
“Let’s go, I want food and a nice bed all to myself tonight.” Buffy swallowed at the thought of being alone. She had spent the last few nights sleeping next to Spike and oddly enough last night mostly with William. Maybe she could convince William to share a room with her, even if it did shock his Victorian sensibilities. Or maybe she wouldn’t ask him, she didn’t want to scare him. She didn’t know what she wanted, but Buffy knew she had to see William as soon as possible.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Beta'd by Sharon/Havena! Many, many thanks to her!