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a/n-this chapter is un-beta'd, so be warned. I am also taking liberties with history, so feel free to ignore! Anything else, let's just call it creative license and say I meant to do that. :)


Chapter 7
Spike and Buffy walked in silence along the deserted streets of Sunnydale, arms still entwined, both deep in thought. Buffy was trying to puzzle things out in her head, something that was proving more than she felt like dealing with at the moment. Her mind kept coming back to one thing, and one thing only. The fact that it was pretty high up there on the wiggy scale didn't help matters. Sneaking a peek over at Spike, she noted that he seemed a bit somber. Well, for him anyway. If there was one thing Spike was not, was a somber dead guy. But she had to admit, he was a damn sexy, somber dead guy.

"Spike, what was the deal with you and Angel?"

She heard Spike sigh deeply. "Bit complicated, pet. Think we should suss this whole thing later."

Buffy whipped around to face him. "No, Spike, now. We suss now."

"Fine." He moved to throw himself down with easy grace on the curbside, pulling her to sit beside him. Spike looked into her expectant face, taking another deep sigh, finding himself uncommonly nervous. "You said you've been feeling residual stuff from that soddin' Halloween spell, yeah?" At Buffy's nod, he continued, finding his gripping reluctance not dissipating. "Yeah, well, sometime between then and now, things became a bit more intense for me. Took me a while to figure out just what the hell was going on inside this here melon of mine."

"Spike, could you just spit it out already?"

He threw her a irritated look. "Getting there, pet, don't rush me. Seems that spell did more than turn us into our costumes."

"Well, I know that, but WHAT? Stop making with the cryptic, and spill."

"What do you know about reincarnation, pet?"

Buffy gave a startled look. "No way! That's what's you think happened?"

Spike nodded, watching carefully for her reaction. The moon was thinly veiled by a smattering of clouds, but with his enhanced vision, her face was easily accessible to his unwavering gaze. He found her to be a study of seriousness, something at odds with the Slayer he usually knew.

"How do you know this?"

He smiled wryly. "Now that's the very question, isn't it?" Spike shrugged with casual nonchalance. "Wasn't hard to figure out when my demon started going ape shit after the spell. It seems the presence of the good sheriff disturbed the evil balance."

"How do you know it's not just something of a possessionage persuasion? All Exocist-y or something?"

Another wry grin was sent her way, this one with a tinge of embarrassment. "I just do, pet. Demon here, remember? Think I could sniff out a demon possession."

"Sooo... you're saying you're the reincarnation of Wallopin Willie Lyndon?"

"Yeah, William was."

Buffy tucked her head in her hands in mental agony. "Ok, this is stressing some major brain cells here. William is... who? Oh wait, duh. William the Bloody. How stupid of me."

Spike gave her hand a gentle squeeze, finding the next part difficult to admit, afraid of painting a clear picture of just exactly what he was. "That's not it. William was my human self, bit of a poncy buggar. Not sure what I think about reincarnation and past lives, but I'm pretty sure about this"

"Ok, this is way wiggy talking about you as different people, when it's just YOU I'm sitting here, seeing and touching. Not so much with the liking here."

"Yeah, figured you wouldn't."

"So... who is in there now? What exactly are you? Well, besides a vampire."

Spike looked pensive at that question, and a ghost of a smile shadowed his face. He refrained from making a crude comment, figuring Buffy needed honesty. "I think before the spell, I was pretty much pure demon with a side of William thrown in for good measure. Now, I think it's an even toss up."

She felt relieved at that, because she didn't want him to be evil, dammit! And this conversation was WAY too strangely freaky and serious. But, she had to admit, it made a weird kind of sense to her. Only on the Hellmouth. "So, do you remember things as wee Willie, then?"

"Oh, I think I'll be showing you just how wee I am NOT, little Slayer." Buffy watched as Spike did that thing where he suddenly oozed sex appeal, his body coiling as he leaned into her, smirking that damned smirk when he caught sight of the hopelessly dazed look on her face.

Smugly satisfied and figuring her well and truly punished for daring to call him 'wee', he continued, "After the spell, things were going wonky for me. William was more dominant, and that's when I realized Willie was still there from the spell, lending a hand. They pretty much ganged up on the demon and beat it into submission. As you can imagine, it wasn't happy. But, a status quo of sorts was established, and here we are. A tamed vamp for m'lady. Did you know we knew each other before, luv?" he sprung at her.

"Huh? Willie and Elizabeth?" Spike nodded. "How did that work?"

Spike shrugged. "Not privy to the details. Not sure I want to know. Just know we had feelings for each other before."

"But... isn't Angel older than you?" At his nod, Buffy face grew confused. "I thought that dress was supposed to be from the 1700's."

He pinned a disbelieving stare on her, one that had her fidgeting beneath its weight. "Who bloody told you that load of crap?"

Buffy immediately went on the defensive. "The guy at the shop!"

"Oh, you mean the same guy that turned half the kids in town into little demons? Sure. He's a reliable bloke, that one." Spike didn't even bother to veil his sarcasm. "Bet there are a lot of folks wondering just why their little Johnny suddenly is acting like a monster. Wouldn't do 'em good to know the truth, now would it?" He laughed at his own mental image of a town full of unruly kids, the lingering affects from the spell making them a parent's worst nightmare. "Nah, that dress you had on was from the 1800's. Saw enough of them in my day to know."

"Oh." Buffy immediately felt lame that her attempts to woo Angel had been totally off. Then a random thought struck her and she narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

"How come you're all Mr. Information Guy? Are you channeling the Psychic Network or something?"

He smirked in response, an infuriating grin that left little doubt that he knew exactly what he was talking about. Of course he did. He was Spike. "Just do. Come on, admit it. The first time you laid eyes on me, don't tell me there wasn't some spark of recognition, some flash of something that wasn't all about me being a vampire."

Her face was thoughtful. "And here I just thought that was me and my teenage hormones." At Spike's widening smirk, she added, "I just said that out loud, didn't I?"

His satisfied grin was the only response she needed, sparking her back on tracking. "How come I'm not all knowledge having? That is so not fair!"

"I suspect it's because your slayer self has beaten Elizabeth down to submission. Plus, it's possible you've had a few lives between Elizabeth and now, which might be distorting things. Just take my word for it. Willie and Elizabeth knew each other before."

"How come your demon didn't do that to Willie?"

"Told ya. William and Willie tag teamed the demon."

"So couldn't you have had another life or two since Willie? And why is that like making perfect sense right now?" She shook her head in wry amusement.

"Nah, not possible."

"How come?" Buffy asked petulantly.

"Because, pet. William may be dead, but he's not all gone."

"OH MY GOD. Can we just call Shirley McClaine now, and get this over with?"

Spike jumped to his feet suddenly, extending his hand down to Buffy. She accepted it warily, allowing him to pull her to her feet. He leaned in close, his intoxicating scent brushing past her. "Left one thing thing out, pet."

"Huh?" Dammit, he had to stop doing that to her! Get her all lusty, then expect her to carry on a conversation. Her mind only seemed to have one track where Spike was concerned, and it was well entrenched in that one race.

"Elizabeth and Willie knew each other, they definitely wanted each other, but here's a secret. They never had each other." Bending to her neck, he allowed his tongue to jut out, tracing a moist line up her jugular, breathing in the scent of her slightly salty skin.

"Oh," she squeaked, her arms sliding up to entwine around his neck. "Too bad for them."

"We're not going to have that little problem, are we?"

"What problem?" she asked in a dazed whisper.

"The having." The words were spoken in a smooth whisper into her ear, and Buffy could feel the tingles turning into shimmering shiver that rocked her body. Spike continued to lay down a trail of moist kisses down her neck, Buffy closed her eyes in pleasure, tipping her head to the side to allow him further skin to worship. "Or rather, the not having," Spike whispered.

"Huh?" God, she REALLY hated when he did that.

"That's what I thought." He drew back and trailed a finger gently down her cheek, tracing the contours and sampling the softness of her skin. "Come on, pet. Let's get off this street." Spike grabbed her hand, marveling at the complete trust she placed in him. And he knew just where he was going to take her.

++++

Giles had just started on delightful new bottle of scotch when his doorbell rang. Grumbling about late night visitors, he opened his door to Xander, Angel and Willow, all wearing identical looks of apprehension. Cordelia wore her usual bored expression, one that had barely wavered throughout the night.

"G-man, there is something of monumental wigginess going on." Xander didn't bother with a greeting as he brushed past the Watcher and threw himself down on the couch. He picked up the bowl of pretzels Giles was snacking on earlier, helping himself.

"Good evening Xander, why don't you come in," Giles commented dryly, as the others walked in. He looked at Angel, expecting him to get to the bottom of things. "Perhaps you could enlighten me on this midnight visit?"

"It's about Spike."

"And shockingly, this does not surprise me." Giles crossed the room and resumed his vigil with his bottle of scotch, tossing his first tumbler full back easily. "Is Buffy in danger?"

"She's with an evil killer Giles, you do the math." Xander's face was disdainful.

"No, she's not," Angel admitted, shooting Xander a cold look.

Giles sighed heavily. He turned to Willow. "Perhaps you have something to add to this?"

"Uh... I have to admit, I've got a wicked case of suspicious about all of this. But Angel and Spike had a major vampire moment, so well, I don't know. Just figured we should fill you. What, with you being Buffy's Watcher and all."

Twenty minutes and half a bottle of Scotch later, Giles felt better prepared to accept what Angel was telling him.

"Reincarnated, you shay?"

"Hey, Boozo the Clown, maybe you should trying laying off the sauce a little, don't you think?" Cordelia commented. "He's only said it, oh, twenty times since we've been here. Yes, re-in-car-na-ted."

"Cordelia!" Willow gasped, although personally agreeing that Giles had more than enough to drink.

Rather than the reprimand that they expected to follow, Giles surprised them with an eruption of giggles. Then he giggled once more, until he was almost incapacitated with laughter. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he wiped at them with the heel of his palm. He was splayed weakly against back cushion of the couch, too weak from laughter to move. "Re-reincarnated," he managed to finally spit out, before succumbing to a whole new fit of hysteria.

All they could do was stare. This was not like any Giles they had ever seen. This was scary. "What's his damage?" Cordelia finally asked.

"Uh... I'm not quite sure." Willow was beyond wigged now, looking at Angel for guidance.

Angel stared at the Watcher and felt a stab of pity for the man. He knew how it felt, having things happen beyond your control. "Let's just go," he finally said, heaving himself stoically to his feet.

"We're just going to leave him like this?" Xander asked, gesturing to the hiccuping Watcher.

"He'll be fine."

"What about if he does a Jimi Hendrix or something?"

"He'll be fine."

"Ooo-kay," Xander replied, looking doubtful. "But if we find him dead tomorrow because he choked on his own puke, I'm so going to kick your ass."

"Whatever."

As they got up to leave, Giles called out , "What? Leaving so shoon?"

Willow turned back. "Uh, yeah. We'll do the talking thing when you're not quite so, uh, happy."

"Quite right. I'll be back to my dour self on the morrow, never fear. Cheerio." Giles raised his recently refilled glass of Scotch in their direction, then downed it in another quick gulp.

Fleeing quickly, Willow let out a quick sigh of relief when the door slammed shut behind them, separating her from the spectacle behind it. "Ok, was it just me, or was that oogy creepier than seeing Spike and Buffy together at the Bronze?"

"Way creepier. And I can't believe I just admitted that," Xander commented dryly.

"So... back to the Bronze?"

tbc...

Ok, next chapter should be THE chapter! UST will be resolved. Thank you everyone for all of your support!! You guys are the BEST!!


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