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Spike already checked Giles pantry and found little he could use for this dinner he offered to make, so there was choice but to make a list and ask Watcher Boy to take him to market. He looked around for a good wool blanket and was relieved to find one. It was an unusually pleasant day in what at least today was sunny old England; lovely for the English, not so for him.

He was rummaging around looking for a notepad when the doorbell rang. It was one of those twisty ones that sound like a bicycle bell. It reminded him of home…his first home…when he was a boy. Funny how little things like that can trigger instant memories? Trigger! Ah, yes, he remembered that word too. Eight more bodies to add to the list of regrets. He shook his head and pushed the thought to the back of his mind where it belonged and went to the door.

Standing in the doorway stood another memory: the boy, looking perhaps two stone less than the last time he saw him. The term boy no longer suited him either. There was an immediate air about him that spoke of someone who saw hell and survived. Spike fought the urge to pull him into a hug. He remembered there was no love lost where Xander was concerned, but he made it through the night without Giles staking him and he tried to kill him once but at least Xander never tried to follow through on his threats.

Xander’s face showed a look of pure astonishment as he said, “Jesus! I mean, Holy Resurrection Batman, it IS you! You.. You..” He gave in and wrapped his arms around a totally stunned Spike, “you’re.. back.. damn you! “ He pushed him away and looked long and hard at him and then pulled him again into another hug. This time his voice was barely a whisper, “You’re back.” Xander’s mind raced through years of hating Spike, really hating him and here he was pulling him into a manly hug. He guessed it must have been something about him having been gone. Forever gone. Dead. Eternally dead and now here he is. Miracles gave a person a different perspective on things.

Spike was overwhelmed. He thought he knew what kind of emotional roller coaster the evening might bring and now he was certain he no longer had the strength to handle a whole day of it. He was going to have to gather himself into a semblance of Big Bad for now otherwise he’d never make it and they’d all see what a poltroon he really is.

He pulled out of the hug and said, “Yeah man, I’m back! Ol’ Spike is back, just connecting with some old fr.. um, associates. He crossed the room, gathered his duster, and checked his pockets to make sure he had his cigarettes and lighter as he continued, “Can’t believe I’m gonna say this but you look damn good for a loser! At least you’re dressin’ a little better. Finally gave up the sweat pants and flowery shirts, eh? Traded them in for tweed. I guess there’s no accounting for the taste of some folks.

Xander shrugged and answered, “Yeah, there’s a dress code over here. It’s Giles’ school and he insisted on a dress code.” He went on as they exited the cottage, “something about(he affected a terribly exaggerated British accent) setting a good exahmple for the stewdents.”

Spike checked to make sure there were no lights on or anything plugged in and locked the door on his way out. There was an overhang above the door and Xander parked close enough so Spike had no problem getting to the car when he remembered the blanket. “Sod it all, I’ve forgotten the blanket. I’ll go back and get it.” Xander waited in the car.

Spike went to open the door and realized he locked it. “Fuck! It’s locked.”

Xander hollered in his most sarcastic tone, “Of course it’s locked Doctor Death, you locked it!”

“I know, I know…..no need to point out the obvious!” Spike yelled in return. “Well, make your bloody self useful for once. Open it!”

“Open it? Hah! Whaddya think I am?” Xander said, “You’re the criminal here!”

“A key, you twit. I.. thought.. you.. MIGHT have a fucking key!” He paused, and feigned a breath in frustration. “Shit! I can’t go anywhere without a blanket!” He turned to the car and took out a cigarette and lit it. “I’ll have to give you a list and put off the tour ‘til another time.” Taking a deep drag on the cigarette, he went on, ”I’ll just have to wait it out here!”

“Oh no you don’t,” said Xander, “I’ve been sent on a mission and a mission I will complete if I have to tie you to the bottom of the car to get you around town.”

“That sounds like a grand plan.. don’t mind if I decline, do you?” he said as he settled himself cross-legged in front of the door.

“No way, man. This is not happening.” Xander got out of the car and slammed the door. He shoved Spike out of the way as he started running his hands around the doorframe.

“Oi! Watch the leather! You do realize me and this coat been to hell and back and don’t fancy being pushed around?” Spike said as he dusted himself off.

“I’m searching for a key, genius. I would of thought a great criminal mind such as yours might have thought of that yourself!” Xander said.

“Oh,” said Spike, only slightly embarrassed. True to form though, he bounced up and said, “ah, breaking and entering, now that’s something I’m good at.”

~~~

The building used for the Kitchen and Dining Hall was surrounded by rich, full shade trees so exiting the car to the building was no trouble at all for Spike. Not so the trip to the market which turned into a stuttering, muttering fiasco with Xander explaining why the young gentleman was wrapped in wool on such a fine day. Spike kept insisting it was none of anyone’s fucking business and glaring at the other patrons threatening to go into game face concluding that then there would be no one cluttering up the aisles and they could finish the job in no time at all. Xander whined that he had to live in this town and the school had enough trouble with rumors about it and they didn’t need that kind of.. incident! The single most irritating thing was that after all that fuss, Spike turned on the charm at the checkout and had all the ladies fawning over him. He said he didn’t use thrall……Bullshit!

~~~

Spike and Xander entered the dining hall and all eyes turned. Partly because it was a closed campus and partly because Xander was still ranting about the shopping trip and came in gesturing and yelling but mostly because he threw open the door with such gusto that it slammed against the wall and then slammed again as it shut. He stopped. The room had gone quiet and all eyes were on him.

Sheepishly, he said, “H-hi guys.. Um, remind me to have maintenance check the spring on that door. It opens way too easily.” The secretaries who witnessed his earlier outburst continued eating, sharing mutual knowing glances. This one was definitely off his nutter.

Giles stood and motioned for them to join him at his table. As they made their way, he called for everyone’s attention. He cleared his throat, “Ahem.. May I have your attention please?”

All present put down their utensils and looked to Giles. He continued, “I’d like to introduce our lunch guest.. Um.. he’s an old fr.. Um.. acquaintance whom we knew in California, America. He’s an informal sort of gentleman and likes to be called Spike. Let’s all finish our meals now so he and Mr. Harris can get something to eat and we’ll tell you more afterward.. thank you.” He took his seat.

Spike sat between Giles and Xander and mouthed, “Mr. Harris.” Xander shot him a look as he settled in for his lunch. Meals were family style here. No standing in line with trays unless you were late, then you had to beg at the kitchen door.

Instantly, the room was buzzing. The girls were aflutter speculating the newcomers story. Sotto voce comments drifted over to the Headmasters table.

“God, he’s hot. Who is he?”

“What kind of a name is Spike?”

“His hair is tipped, how cool is that?”

“Did you see the color of his eyes?”

“Did you see how he looked right at me?” Followed by giggles all round.

Spike and Giles pretended not to hear and Xander found himself fuming. He was getting a dose of what he thought was ancient history. He choked on Buffy’s tears and constant reminders that Spike had really come through in the end. They all had to thank Spike for their lives and of course, that they were all wrong about him, for once he sucked it up and kept his mouth shut. No use causing bad blood with Buffy. Spike was history and eventually the crying would stop and the hero would be forgotten, but NO! Like the proverbial bad penny, here he was mucking up his life again! “What is it with my life? He thought, nobody stays dead!”
~~~

The meal finished and the table cleared, Giles once again took the floor. “All right then, let’s get started. Girls, I’m interrupting your schedule today to introduce you to the person seated on my right. It’s a very unusual set of circumstances and some of you may already have an inkling of what I’m about to tell you, especially those of you who have particularly acute slayer senses.” A tittering of voices could be heard. Spike looked at Giles as though he grew two heads.

“Where are you going with this, Rupes?” He whispered, furrowing his brow. Some of the girls heard the nickname and giggled. Such blasphemy was endearing this Spike to them even more.

“I’m doing my job, Spike,” making the familiar gesture of removing his glasses and polishing them as he spoke, “like it or not, these girls need to know who and more importantly, what you are.”

“Oh, that’s a brilliant plan indeed. Giles, am I to be attacked by,” he quickly looked around and did an approximate head count, “thirty odd pubescent and pre-pubescent females? Don’t think I haven’t noticed they all have a leg pocket with a wooden stake in it at the ready? And lord knows about the staff.. I thought we were passed all that!”

Xander was enjoying this little drama at his table. Once the girls found out about Spike, he was confident that he would once again be “Cock of the Walk!” The girls had been all googly-eyes over Mr. Harris…young Mr. Harris since the school opened.. He was young! He was funny! And by Jesus, he was COOL! He considered for a moment, what was he supposed to do if they tried to stake Spike? They could…heck, they should. He’s a vampire, right?

The girls listened in rapt attention as Giles considered his words carefully and continued, he decided to jump in with both feet. “Spike is a vampire.” Unexpectedly, the girls laughed.

A relieved Spike smiled, leaning back in his chair. Oh yeah, he was the Big Bad. He assumed his most charming, alluring smile, tilted his head and sought to make eye contact with every one of the girls. He saw this before. They melted.

“See? Thrall! I just knew it!” Xander said. Spike glanced at him and laughed.

Giles raised his voice slightly to bring the gathering back to order and continued; “He is over 150 years old…”

“Not quite that,” Spike puffed.

“Oh…please!” Giles shrugged, annoyed, “whatever!”

“…and is a member of the Order of Aurelius.” An audible gasp was heard. Giles raised his voice as though he were speaking to a much larger forum and assumed a very formal tone. Unfortunately, it did little to support his stance and he came off looking and sounding pompous. “You may have already learned something of the family orders in your classes. This family is known to be the most powerful and vicious of all the orders of vampires. Spike was formerly known as William the Bloody, and then took the name Spike for himself, allegedly because he enjoyed using railroad spikes in his tortures.”

“Um.. no, that’s not true,” whispered Spike, leaning over to correct Giles again.

“What are you going on about?” Giles asked obviously annoyed at another interruption.

Spike whispered, “Actually, there was a little dog that Dru and I killed. The name was on the collar… Spike. Dru had me wear the collar when we shagged. She liked it and called me her Bad Doggie.” He looked wistful for a moment and said, “One of our favorite games, that was.”

Giles looked at him with absolutely no expression on his face whatever and said, clearing his throat again, “As I said, he enjoyed using railroad spikes in his tortures….

“Now, I’m going to ask Spike to do something for us. I know you’ve all been here for a bit now and are still not comfortable with what we’re telling you in your Demonology classes. You have never seen a vampire and you believe that they are only a myth. Spike, if you would, please.. show the girls your true face.”

Gob-smacked, there was no other word for it. He worked so hard to be what they wanted, he denied himself everything that he was to get along in this human world. He kills his own, for Christ’s sake! Spike was insulted. Ironic really, he didn’t think he would have any trouble at all going into game face as the anger was rapidly rising to a boil and it would take all his strength to keep his demon from taking hold.

Suddenly, before anyone else could comprehend what was happening, Spike rose from his chair, swung around and turned towards an attacker. Behind him Kennedy rushed wielding a sharpened stake in her right hand . She wasn’t at the luncheon and her absence went unnoticed. Her highly tuned slayer senses recognized the presence of a vampire and she jumped into action first, there would be time to ask questions later. Spike did morph into game face, but hardly on request. It was evident to all that she meant to dust him. He roared a feral roar and kicked the stake from her hand. She parried with a kick to his chest that didn’t stop him. He’d fought bigger battles in the very recent past and was at the top of his game. She had been “training” with baby slayers and was inflated about herself and her skills and no match for him. He moved forward and in one move dropped her to the floor and with a four-point pin and allowed his fangs to loom over her face.

“I thought you were dust already!” she spat in his face. “I knew it was all a lie.” Her voice was loud and coarse and filled with hatred. “You never were a hero,” she declared. “What did your honey do?” her voice snarling. “Let you run out the back way…or did you just go straight through hell, have a chat with your pals and then leave out the side door?” Adding with the ultimate bravado, “Hey, anyone know if there is a side door to hell?”

Pandemonium had broken out in the customarily quiet hall. Stunned staff, screaming students, and a horrified Headmaster were all shouting at the same time. Chairs were tipped over and beverages spilled as everyone either ran to, or away from, the scene in front of them.

The shrill sound of a whistle caused all movement to cease.

Giles blew the whistle bringing the action in the hall to a halt in time to hear the sharp sound of Spike’s hand slapping Kennedy’s face echo in the otherwise silent room. Spike had long returned to his human visage. It was the Spike, the man, who was devastated by the venom of Kennedy’s words.

He could have killed her then. The new Spike, the souled Spike, the good Spike, the.. hero wanted more than anything to kill this vicious little bitch. Never.. never in all his human life had he ever known such righteous indignation. He withstood many an insult over the years. William took more than his share of abuse as a pampered favorite son with a poet’s heart and sensibility. Spike suffered through every sort of degradation at the hands of Angelus but never in his whole existence had any words burned so into his soul.

Spike released his captive, stood and left the building.

For a moment, there was nothing but stunned silence. When the girls began speaking to each other, it was in hushed tones, the general feeling that no one really understood what had happened, but were sure of one thing. They saw a vampire.. and vampires were real.

Xander reached to help Kennedy stand. Giles stayed his hand.

She got to her feet and sneered at Giles, “What the hell is your problem anyway?”

Xander had never seen Giles face look so hard. His voice was quiet, firm and deadly. “Kennedy, be in my office in fifteen minutes.” He then addressed the students and staff. “I regret this disturbance. Please proceed with your regular schedule. I will be in contact with you shortly with regard as to how to proceed for the remainder of the day. Thank you for your understanding. Mr. Harris, please come with me.” Giles and Xander left the building to find Spike.





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