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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'd like to thank my wonderful beta's DreamsofSpike and Vampsgirly for the wonderful job they have done on his chapter and the fact that they are willing to read my work at it's worst. ^_^
Family Matters


Chapter Three

Again...Huh?




Cara watched out of the corner of her eye as Spike walked out of the Bronze, his duster moving in a way that would have any caped hero green with envy.

'Right,William needs a little *me* time -- let's just hope the slayer doesn't keep me here too long, or there will be no talking to the man.'


Cara watched as Buffy's frowned at what she had just heard.

"Well Buffy? Do you still believe that it is a soul that defines good and evil?" Cara asked again.

Buffy opened her mouth to answer, but Riley cut her off.

"Of course!*One* evil man does not change the fact that *all* demons are evil."

"Oh, you poor boy...gender issues are so hard to get over...my ‘eart bleeds for you...you think you're Buffy 'ere...it's such a shame, it's always the big ones that are slightly touched in the 'ead." Cara's face was filled with mocking sincerity.

Xander tried not to laugh, he really did, but the woman just was too much. The thing that made the situation hilarious wasn't what she said but the fact that she sounded so sincere when she said it.

He had his arms around a trembling Anya; he didn't know what she hadn't told them, but whatever it was it was enough to have the woman who had gladly granted all form of vengeful wishes in the most vicious of ways a nervous wreck, and it had obviously stayed with her for a hundred plus years. He also couldn't deny Spike's reaction; he wasn't stupid or as blind to the obvious as the rest thought he was. The vampire was clearly shaken and guilt ridden about what happened to the young girl.

'Now that's nothing I ever thought I would have put together -- Spike and guilt in one sentence. What's next, I'm going to start buying drinks for the guy?'

Tara watched with bated breath as Cara once again asked Buffy the question. A part of her prayed that the watcher would be able to get through to the group now, in the hope that it might make it possible for them to accept her when her own heritage came into play.

"Listen, *Bessie*, I don't ‘ave all night...I've place to be and calls to make so out with it already," Cara said, her irritation visible in both her stance and voice.

"I don't know," Buffy said meekly, her earlier pride having disappeared in light of the tale Anya had just told.

"Yes you do know...I'm not your watcher...I don't care a fig about you either ruddy way...so just answer the bloody question," Cara said, clearly irritated. A part of her felt compassion for the young woman in front of her, having gone through a similar experience herself, though she had no desire to show it at the moment.


'Try to calm down, it's not easy when your world get thrown off its axis. Take a deep breath and give the chit a chance.'

"Yes, the soul makes a difference -- we'd all be evil without it," Buffy said finally, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin in defiance.

Willow, who had said nothing until now, frowned at her friend's reply. She too had been thinking during the telling of Anya's tale, and the questions asked afterwards, and couldn't help but wonder if their view of morality and right and wrong was just as misguided as the belief others held that life in Sunnydale was normal.

"I...I don't thinks that's true," Willow said in a quiet voice. She ducked her head down, having caught Buffy's look of betrayal and Cara's smile. It embarrassed her, the way the watcher had looked at her; it almost felt as if she was on reading her every thought.

"Wills," Buffy hissed, but Cara cut her off, raising her hand.

"Let her speak, Slayer...go on, explain yourself, there no one 'ere that bites," Cara said, her voice once again taking on a calming quality. Paired with her encouraging smile, it helped to encourage Willow, who took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"It's...it's just what Anya said...I mean, the man did things to that poor girl and threw her out like she was garbage! A vampire kills, it's what they do--they need blood to survive so they kill--and in a way it kinda makes it okay--I mean when a lion eats a baby gazelle we don't say, ‘Oh evil lion!' We say ‘survival of the fittest.' This doesn't mean I like vampires; I just get it. But, what he did...he was human, which means he had a *soul* and knew right from wrong -- yet he still did it anyway. If he wanted to sleep with her, he could have tried to seduce her or *marry her*, but he didn't have to *rape her* and turn her into a party favor! And soul or no soul, that is evil. I don't think the soul makes us good or bad...come to think of it, what is a soul?" Willow asked.

Her face was scrunched up in confusion. In all the years she had been living on the Hellmouth, and their encounter with Angel and Angelus, Willow had always wondered what a soul was that it made such an obvious difference between the two.

"The soul is the breath of God. It's what gives us life...that spark in someone's eyes, that's the soul--that's why when you look into the eyes of a dead person their eyes are dull. That spark leaves the body after death," Cara said, trying to answer Willow's question.

"Huh?" Xander asked, confused.

Cara smiled kindly at him. "People don't read holy script any more," she remarked with a disappointed shake of her head.

"Okay, broken record much...but again...huh? And what does the Bible have to do with anything?" Xander asked, his confusion marring his eyebrows.

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul...Genesis 2:7...King James Bible ...it's in all religions, the creation of the first man is always the same...life is breathed into the human form by a divine bein' and hey, presto! Alive and kickin'. That is what makes up the soul," Cara said. As she had been speaking, she didn't realize that she had stopped using the cockney accent she had adopted many years ago but was back to using her more comfortable tone, making her sound more like a heroine from a Jane Austen novel.

"Okay now that makes a little sense but not much...but why are demons evil and humans generally not so much?" Xander asked, still confused.

"Now you ask the right question, Xander my boy...simple. Two things -- one, that little Jiminy cricket in us all...and two, social expectations...humans are basically pack animals; we do as the alpha male and female do...they do good... we do good...lead by example and all that rot," Cara said smiling fondly at the young carpenter. She suddenly realized that she was turning into her former self and thought,

'Bugger it...I feel more like me like this. Though I do prefer the swearing from the other much better.'

"Okay, that's not true! Humans are good, demons are evil!" Riley stressed the word evil, as you would do for a young child wanting to know the spelling of a word.

Cara let out a sigh. "I can see why you were in the army; you can't bloody well think...this is how it is, *mate*...humans aren't good or evil...they're in between... they swing both ways...depends on them and the people around them...humans have one thing demons don't -- free will. Which you seem to have a shortage of," she said, her frustration with the man evident in both her voice and the scowl now marring her beautiful face. "Listen, Slayer, I've got to go...think about what I said yeah? Right -- Anya, ‘twas a pleasure...Xander...witches...I'll be seeing ya." Cara nodded in the direction of each mentioned person.

"Wait! What about Angel, why was he so different?" Xander asked, wanting the answers that Cara seemed to have.

"How about we open that box tomorrow, Pandora," Cara said with a wink. She grabbed her coat and purse and was out the door. If they had been watching they would have seen the brunette waitress follow her out, but as it was they were all too lost in thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~`~`~~

"Cara! Where do you think your going?" The waitress shouted from behind the fleeing watcher.
Cara stopped in the ally behind the Bronze, her back rigid as she heard the woman‘s voice, and the command in it.

"I don't have time for this." Frustration was clear in the watcher's voice.

"Yes you do--remember who you work for." The woman's voice held a note of smug superiority.

"Like I could forget, mate--I'm doing my job," Cara spat back as she turned around to face the woman.

"Really? Because it looked to me like you were walking out on your job." The woman sneered at the watcher, but there was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. She knew how much taking on her current tone would anger the young watcher.

'And she's a vision when she's livid.'

Cara glared at the brunette. "No I'm not; I'm doing my job--you forgot to mention that I would be working with a group of closed minded pillocks barely out of their nappies," she replied through gritted teeth.

"I never said it would be easy," the brunette said, smirking.

"No you didn't, and I didn't think it would be...but to do what I've been asked to do will take time." Cara was now ready to hit her. It wouldn't matter if she couldn't inflict any serious pain. Anything would do.

"Time is the one thing you don't have." The brunette was now invading the blonde watcher's personal space; they were nose to nose.

"Listen, this isn't the time. I have someone I have to stop from getting pissed out of his mind," Cara replied as she took a step back. She had fought many times with the beauty in front of her, and knew that she was trying to get a rise out of her.

'Yeah, and that's not all that happens.'

"The vampire isn't that important in the big picture, Cara-- try and remember that, no matter what you find, and know they would never stand for it. I personally couldn't give a fuck either way, but the others aren't so forgiving." The brunette said, reminding Cara once again that the people she worked for weren't known for their understanding.

"Well then it looks like I have my work cut out for me." Cara said, lifting her head in defiance.

"That you do." With a laugh that held no mirth, the brunette disappeared from view.

"I hate it when you do that...bloody pillock," Cara muttered under her breath.

Shaking her head, Cara went on her way to Willie's Alibi Club.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cara approached the demon bar. Standing outside the doors, she took a breath, steeling herself for what she was about to do. Walking in shoulders squared and head held high, Cara easily spotted Spike sitting on a stool, knocking back a drink and setting it down, adding it to a long line of empty glasses.

As she walked up to him and sat down on the stool next to him, she signaled to Willy to get her what Spike was having.

"Why...tell me that Cara... why did you do it?" Spike asked, his voice slightly slurred, though there was nothing that could mask the obvious pain in his voice.

"Because it's time you remembered who you were, William," Cara replied quietly, giving him a sympathetic smile.

"A lot of bloody good its doin' me," Spike retorted, knocking back yet another drink.

"I'm sorry...but I need your help." There was no mistaking the guilt she felt; it was plain to see and hear.

"Why?" Spike asked, curious as to what could have changed so much. A hundred plus years ago, the woman sitting next to him had felt it necessary to strip him of his memories, and replace them with falsified memories of situations and people he didn't know.

'Like I would ever fall in love with that bloody bitch Cecily.'

"Prophesy," Cara stated simply; there was no need to go any further.

"Apocalyptic?"

"Maybe."

"Language?"

"Multiple."

Spike nodded his head. "Don't know if I'm going to be much help," he replied quietly. It had been a while, but he found it interesting and comfortable that they were able to fall into their one worded conversations again so easily.

"‘Twas what you did best, William Teddington," she said as she gave him a warm smile and drank her drink.

"You are too kind, Cara Morgan-Giles. You're too kind," he replied, his accent seeming to take on the aristocratic airs of hers, as he finished his drink.

Together the two old friends sat in silence, dreading what was to come.

TBC





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