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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'm so proud of ya'll who've been following this enough to guess a few of the clues manings. Hopefully I haven't made it all completely predictable and in fact I'm quite sure there are going to be a few surprises coming up in just a few chapters.
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Spike lead Buffy back through the maze of streets and people to the alley they had entered Westminster from. An outline of a door quickly lit up on the brick wall when the two touched the surface.

Buffy gripped the glowing orb that acted as a knob and entered the halls of the Council with Spike following. They headed back towards the living quarters and were met by a uniformed guard in green. "Miss Summers," the Guard greeted her.

"Yes?" She stood with Spike slightly behind her.

"I was told to be sure you had this." He handed her a card similar to the one they had seen Randall use. The guard demonstrated its use to the girl then handed the card to Buffy as the door slid open. "Randall apologizes for not getting this to you earlier." Then the guard turned and headed down the corridor.

The couple walked through the door just as it started to close. "I guess we get a free pass from now on," she said as she slid the card into her inside jacket pocket.

Spike watcher her and entered the lift after her. "I think it means YOU have a free pass," he said as he pressed the button for their floor. The lift headed up.

Buffy stood closely to Spike and turned to him. "Thanks for...well, tonight."

Spike eyed her. "My pleasure, luv." He moved slightly to brush the back of her hand with his. It was getting more difficult to be near each other now that they knew they could very well be watched anywhere. "You suppose Red would set up that video for us one night?"

Buffy looked up at him. "You're kidding?" She stepped back and looked pointedly at him.

"Twice in the cemetery, once in the alley, and that Turtleneck Square?"

"Trafalgar Square." Spike was smiling at her rant. They had defiled Westminster from one side to the other, that much was sure, and had nearly been caught at Trafalgar Square.

"But we might like to at least TRY a bed. For the novelty." He shrugged at his comment.

The lift's doors opened and they headed towards their rooms. "I can ask, but I don't think there is a way to make it work. It would take two different cameras."

Spike hadn't thought of that. His room and hers. "Damn!"

"Then there's the noise factor," she continued, cocking her head up at him as they reached her door.

Spike stopped with her at her door. "I'll gag you," he teased.

"ME!!" she shouted, then heard her voice reverberate off the walls. She looked back at him, embarrassed. "Point taken."

She unlocked the door and smiled back at him as she shut it.

Spike watched the door close then went into his apartment, where a cold shower always awaited him.

Mr. Randall Thornton came from behind a couch in the commons area. A very undignified position he had gotten himself into. No Watcher was to ever 'fall for' a Slayer. It was strictly forbidden and any Watcher found staying in his position of authority, regardless of its distinction, while working with a Slayer in spite of these feelings, could be severely reprimanded, even drummed out of the Council.

Mr. Giles was known to be one such Watcher. He was now doomed to research demons and update texts until he officially left the Council. Caring for one’s charge as a daughter was no less looked down upon.

No one had been told it was Rupert’s choice to catalogue his experiences. Instead they were led to believe it was punishment demanded of Mr. Giles for 'caring' too much.

Randall, in his own right, was from one of the oldest and most distinct lines of Watchers. He now found himself following and spying on the Slayer just to be close to her.

The young man gathered his notes on the couple's return. He noted that, other than her screaming the word 'me' at a very unnecessarily loud volume, there was nothing out of the ordinary about the Slayer and Vampire's relationship. The fact that Spike was alive and a friend to the group in general not withstanding.

The unknown spy made his way to the lift and exited as it came to his floor. A good night's rest was all he needed. 'Once the Slayer leaves, the problem will be solved,' he thought to himself.

~~`~~

The morning's bell resounded all around her. Then the second bell. With a sigh of relief, Buffy rolled over and went back to sleep.

An hour later, Dawn was knocking on the door to tell her Randall was there. Buffy moaned and sat up. "One minute, I'm almost dressed." She said as she looked around her room for something to wear. She quickly changed into black jeans and a black tank, something she was wearing more often lately. She mumbled about Vampires and their bad influences as she emerged from her room.

"Ready!" The practiced Doublemeat smile on her face.

Randall was staring again, but caught himself just before Buffy looked up at him.

Spike came from behind the young man, still standing outside the open door to the balcony. "What's it today, mate?"

Randall leapt and grabbed his chest. It took him a second to compose himself, and Spike took that moment to chuckle while winking at Buffy. She stifled her laughter and tried to give Spike a scolding look. She didn't quite manage it.

Looking over his shoulders, Randall noted how similarly dressed the two were. All black, head to toe. "Strength training." he answered and led the two to the lift.

~~`~~

The day went quickly, and after several evaluations of the strength of their arms, legs, force of punches, and kicks, they were once again evenly matched.

Most of the day passed before either noticed they had yet to eat.

~~`~~

Willow entered Giles apartment with Tara in tow. Both were weighed down by several books. "I could spend a year here and never read everything I wanted to," Willow continued a conversation the ladies had been having. "I never knew there were that many demonology books," she said as she dropped the leather-bound texts on the coffee table that matched exactly, the ones in all of their living rooms.

"And the Spell Caster's Library was huge." Tara set her burden on the kitchen table.

Giles watched as the two settled into today's 'Scoobie Central.' The missing pages had plagued him all day. They had to be the missing key, at least to Spike's dreams.

Xander and Anya walked in a few minutes later, having had a swim in the pool which was located out of the commons area for the safely of the smaller children. They were changed and dressed, and ready to research. "So, what have we got today?"

Anya sat on the couch next to Willow, who was researching all she could find on the origins of Vampires. Many of the texts contradicted each other, so they were looking for facts that fit in with Spike's dreams, and the Last of the Pure Vampires.

Time passed slowly for the group. Most discussions were debates on what version of which story to believe. Some texts believed that the first Vampire created was a demon that had been killed, and as punishment was made to be a hybrid. This did not fit in with their information, and was discounted.

Another told of a Vampire who wreaked havoc after her mate was killed. This one fit, and was put to the side for further deliberation. Yet another told of a Pure Vampire sent to a hell dimension as punishment. Also one to be deliberated.

Dawn came in just after 6 P.M. She had made a friend of Michelle easily and was slowly accepted by many of the teens there. She sat on the other side of Willow, who handed her a book and outlined the research criteria for the girl. Dawn was still elated with being included more and more on the many research parties.

~~`~~

Spike stumbled in after the group had dinner. He waved to them without looking and headed straight for the shower. The moment the hot water hit his aching muscles, a relieved purr emanated from the restroom and made the floor vibrate. The girls giggled at the familiar earthquakiness of it.

He came out again with slicked back wet hair, clean black jeans and a tee. After taking a seat at the table he asked the popular question of the day, "What do we have?"

Giles took off his glasses and set them on the table. "Not much, I'm afraid. Some vague references, some tales, but nothing substantial." He pulled a book off the table and handed it to Spike.

The Vampire read it aloud. "The demon will search for the crucial element, but to no avail. Only that which could call him to return would release the beast. If the Pure called, the element would be revealed. In its form, the Pure could never call upon the demon."

"Sounds like a twisted fairytale if you ask me." Spike handed the book to the patriarch. "What's it mean?"

Giles placed his glasses back onto his face. "As far as I can tell, this demon was cursed, and sent to a hell dimension as punishment. The demon is trapped there still apparently."

He closed the book. "Unfortunately, a trapped demon isn't the problem we have here." Giles picked up another book, one that had been thought more relevant. "This one tells of a Vampire who killed at random after her mate was killed. It could refer to the Vampire in your dream."

Giles was still explaining when Buffy came in. "Was there an earthquake?"

~~`~~

Spike lead Buffy through the docks of London. He remembered the tales from his home and had been sharing them with her between Vampire attacks. The stories he related included both the times before and after his being turned. "Oh, and Jack the Ripper roamed these parts. 'Course that was a few years after I was turned, but still...historical."

Buffy had listened to the stories of prostitution, robberies and murders that plagued the area. Now it simply looked like undeveloped property.

They had walked from yet another alley that evening, and entered the night of what was now called The Docklands. Spike took pride in describing the markets that opened on Petticoat Lane from his memories. The immigrants that lined the streets peddling wares. They walked along Middlesex, which still was an area centered around apparel.

"I remember when mum came out here-" He was cut off by an attack from behind.

Buffy watched her love fall to the ground. She pulled the stake from inside her sleeve and was about to attack when a voice from behind called. "Slayer!" the English accent crooned.

The Vampire was covered in black, all but the red shirt under a leather jacket. Somehow he seemed familiar, but he stood in the shadows enough so that she could not see his face clearly. "It has been too long since I have tasted the blood of a Slayer." Buffy raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

Spike worked his way out of the fledgling's hold. He reached into his boot and pulled out a stake, hitting his mark easily. The peroxide blonde stood up and dusted himself off.

After assuring himself that Buffy was in no immediate danger, he sat back and listened to the voice coming from the shadows. His eyes yellowed as he looked closely at the Vampire's features.

"I haven't had a Slayer in more than two decades, and I feel peckish." The Vamp took a step out of the shadows and revealed his face. He slowly brought up a railroad spike from his pocket. "I think I'll enjoy this."

"Jeremy?" Spike stepped in front of Buffy and strode to his childe. "Are you still trying to impersonate me?" Spike walked up to the brunette, and took the spike easily from him.

"For one, these went out before the turn of the century...and I don't mean the latest one." Spike twirled the metal between his fingers with practiced ease.

Jeremy the impersonator stood still, eyeing Spike as though he were a ghost. "I thought you were dead. We all heard the Slayer got hold of you."

Spike looked over his shoulder to Buffy. "Still does, mate."

The younger of the Vampires followed his sire's gaze to the blonde woman standing by what used to be his minion. "You...you brought her here?" The Vampire looked at Spike, then inhaled deeply. "I don't smell a soul." He took a step back, "Are you like Angelus?" Jeremy was obvious about his discomfort.

The sire watched the childe's fear grow. He felt sorrow for leaving the newly turned childe to go to Prague with Drusilla what felt like so many years ago. The young Vamp had always taken such an interest in the stories of his sire's past, and had enjoyed impersonating him, but he had always been a little too theatrical for Spike's taste.

"No soul, just changed." Spike slipped the spike into his duster's pocket and held up the wooden stake in its place.

The young Vampire's eyes grew wide. "B-but...you made me."

"Seems fittin' somehow then, doesn't it?" And with the gift of practiced preternatural speed, Spike struck and his childe was blowing in the wind.

The Vampire watched the dust flow away and there it was again. Guilt. Something he should definitely not be feeling under the circumstances.

Buffy walked up to him and saw the clear liquid running tracks down his face. "Spike?"

Spike shook his head slowly, then looked down at the Slayer. Crying, even from killing your own childer, was not normal. Love was an ability some Vampires had, but mourning the undead was not acceptable.

"Luv?" Suddenly Spike's Big Bad image dissipated fully as he clung to the girl. "I don't know what the 'ell is happenin' to me!"

She led him back to the alley, only needing to ask him for directions once.

After they returned to the Council's halls, she took him through the corridors, past the metal door, to the lift, and into his apartment. She settled him into bed, and he fell asleep almost instantly.

Buffy made her way back to Giles who was asleep face down on the table.

The books and notes were still strewn on the kitchen and coffee table. She sat down and leafed through the books that Giles had shown her before patrol, still not sure what to make of them.

Something was happening to Spike, and none of it made sense. First he had a definite reaction to the portrait of the Slayer he had killed in China, now the death of one of his childer?

She reread a few passages about the pure female vampire and her lost love. This Vampire was calling to him. That much was sure. And Spike had been more than a little 'off' lately.

The Scoobies, as a whole, had decided to forget the anger and sorrow for Spike's past. It was one defined rule the group had agreed to the night Spike returned. Buffy's lover had gone so far to say he 'couldn't' feel bad or regret it, and yet...

She looked from one book to the papers filled with notes. There was a connection and they couldn't find it. "Maybe it's something we don't want to see?" She shuffled the papers as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb the man she considered a father.

The more she looked through them the more confused she became. The book describing The Pure was opened to a page describing how different dimensions affected different demons. "But once upon a time, the sun didn't affect them here. They were the way Angel was in Pylea...not the same." She rehashed the information in her head.

She read on, not paying attention to the time as the hours passed. She compared the notes of Spike's dream with pieces of information until a connection was made. "The Last of the Pure raged over her mate," Buffy said to herself. "She felt the pain and loss, regret."

Buffy skimmed more pages. "In his dream, she was calling for him, wanting to bring him back to her."

Her eyes widened when the connection fit. "Spike's demon...he was her mate...Oh God!"

She pulled up yet another book. The one that described the demon's escape. "Only that which could call him to return would release the beast. If the Pure called, the key would be revealed. In its form, the Pure could never call upon the demon."

"So then it can't be Spike. Unless she went to his dimension...but it said that in her form she could not call." She slumped, put her elbow on the table, and leaned into her hand. "I hate these things. They all sound like fortune cookies."

She tried to read through the papers once more, but none of it made enough sense to keep her awake. Shortly after 4:30 A.M., Buffy was asleep with her retired Watcher, head down on the table.


Chapter End Notes:
As always, Thanks so much for the reviews. I try to answer all of them even if I repeat myself with thank yous. I wuvs my readers!!



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