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Chapter 27

When Spike heard Buffy's muffled thanks, he tightened his grip on her fractionally. Keeping her securely within his embrace, he looked over at the red headed giant. “You were gonna tell us about the effects of the ritual, mate?”

“Of course,” Wolfie replied with a courteous nod of agreement. Sadly, he was of the opinion that this little Slayer had a lot to learn. He only hoped he could help her. “You asked to be able to retake your place as a protector of the realm, William. You’ve been returned to your original form,” Wolfie began to tell the vampire, but an unexpected eruption of laughter from the seated vampire interrupted him.

“Will you bloody well shut up, you gormless twit!” William growled in frustration at the amused blond.

“Oi!” Spike offered an indignant response as he stood and faced off against his older self. “It’s bloody funny, and watch who you’re callin’ names, you fairy.”

Buffy gently extricated herself from William’s arms. At his questioning look she gave him a shrug and the ghost of a smirk as she answered his unvoiced question, “Hey, I had to deal with him for the last four years. Now it’s your turn!”

William turned his vexation toward the blond pain in his arse that had just bollixed up his moment with his Slayer. There he was enjoying a nice snuggle, of which he’d had far too few of not to be well and truly brassed off at being interrupted. Wait a minute…what had the little pillock called him?

Spike was momentarily startled at the flashing gold eyes that turned on him in fury. Who knew the ponce could look so scary?

“What did you call me?” William snarled, incensed.

“What? A fairy?” Spike grinned smugly at the object of his humour. Crossing his arms across his chest and lifting an eyebrow sardonically as he bounced on his toes, he continued, “It’s what you are, innit?”

“I am NOT a bloody fairy,” William bellowed his indignation.

“You’ve got bloody wings,” Spike countered just as loudly.

“Boys,” Joyce gently reminded the two antagonists that they were not alone.

Instantly contrite, the two arguing blonds mumbled very similar sounding apologies. Giles eyed the Slayer’s mother with a look of impressed awe. ‘How on earth did she manage to do that?

William was suddenly struck by a horrifying thought, turning panic stricken eyes to the Sasquatch, he practically begged to be wrong, “I’m not a fairy, am I?”

Chuckling quietly, the red headed giant answered the blonde’s desperate plea, “No. You’re not a fairy.”

William’s relief was palpable. But, his expression soon changed to one of confusion and he was forced to ask for clarification, “Then what am I?”

“You’re still a vampire,” Wolfie quickly assured him. “But you’re the kind of vampire that hasn’t been seen in this realm for thousands of years; a pure vampire.” The large red head paused momentarily before making a hesitant admission. “The last pure vampire in this realm was used to make the First Slayer.”

“Huh? Wait…Okay, there is so much there that I need clarification on, but, gotta ask, he seems the same to me. I mean, he’s still my Spike, er William, right?” Buffy inched her way back into William’s arms. A wave of insecurity and possessiveness almost overwhelmed her. The need to stake her claim on the vampire under discussion caused her to mould her back more firmly into his chest and pull at his arms in an effort to tighten his hold on her. A soft kiss on the back of her head did much to calm the emotional girl.

“Only the nature of his demon was changed, Slayer. His personality, his humanity, and his experiences haven’t changed. All of these things make up who he is. The demon was only a small, albeit important part of it. He is no longer exactly what he was, but he is still who he was,” Wolfie gently reassured her.

Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them, his questioning mind forming his query as he did so. “You said William was now a ‘pure vampire’. How does that differentiate from the type of vampire that we have more experience with? I’ve never considered Spike to be a typical vampire.”

“You’re absolutely correct in making that distinction, Mr. Giles. Spike- or in this case, William- is not like other vampires. He is unique.” Wolfie acknowledged the watchers words. “Most vampires exist for blood, sex and violence. Some are more vicious than others and like to include chaos and domination. Others are less interested in violence, finding more than enough pleasure in blood and sex, but one thing they all have in common is the absence of a soul.

“Without a soul, or conscience if you will, a vampire is freed from the burden of guilt. He or she can act as selfishly as they like. They don’t feel the need to follow rules and they don’t have to care about how their actions may or may not affect others. All they care about is their own pleasure.

“While all vampires are capable of the full range of human emotions, they are usually too selfish to be capable of emotions such as love. This is where William is different. He loves selflessly.” Wolfie paused for a moment, allowing everyone a moment to fully comprehend what he was saying.

“Pure vampires are different again,” the giant continued. “A vampire itself is a combination of a human that has released its soul and a soulless demon. In the pure vampire, the demon has a soul.”

The researcher in Giles demanded more information. “How will this affect William mentally and physically?”

“Mentally he has been renewed,” Wolfie informed the watcher. Turning to William, the giant addressed him directly. “You’ve been forgiven for your past and have started again with a clean slate. The only mental anguish you’ll face is for your actions from now on and I believe that your decision making process will be easier. Physically, you are a protector of the realm; a champion. Your patron is the Goddess of Earth and Nature. Sunlight and religious items will no longer harm you. You will have an affinity with nature and animals that you should work at developing. You are stronger than you were, so time should be spent honing your fighting skills to allow for that and to learn how to use your wings in combat.”

“Can he fly too?” Spike asked sarcastically. He was quite willing to admit to being more than a little jealous.

“For short distances, but it’s mainly hovering,” Wolfie blandly replied with a lifted eyebrow and a challenging smirk.

“Bloody hell,” the two vampires responded in unison. The one that rolled his eyes in feigned disgust was not the one that had just learned he could fly.

Joyce cast a mother’s eye over the group that she considered family. Her two daughters had clearly had enough for the day and her two…vampires looked like they needed some processing time. Taking charge as only a mother can do, Joyce stood and clapped her hands together. Facing her eldest daughter, she said “I know that you probably still want to know about the origins of that other Slayer, honey, but maybe that should wait until tomorrow night’s meeting so that we don’t need to repeat it for my other Buffy.”

“I agree, Joyce. Everybody is tired and some of us may need some time to think about what we’ve learned,” Giles added his own parental concerns.

It wasn’t until Buffy, Giles, William, and Spike were alone that Spike realised he hadn’t asked his own question. “So…can any of you lot explain to me why I’ve got a bloody reflection?”





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