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Chapter 5

Xander stared at the phone in his hand. Giles or Buffy, Buffy or Giles. He couldn't decide. On the one hand, Buffy had obviously grieved for Spike and while he might have hated their relationship, he wasn’t blind. Well, okay, maybe he was partially blind, but that wasn’t the point. Buffy would be so happy to find out that he was alive, not to mention the violent reaction she would have if he and Giles kept this from her. But on the other hand, it was Spike. The vampire who’d hurt Buffy, the vampire that had tried to kill him, the vampire that took advantage of upset women who had been left at the alter. He knew he should be above that, but he was still bitter. Xander closed his eyes and tried to come to terms with his feelings toward the vampire. He tried to think positive thoughts. Spike had saved the world. Spike had averted the apocalypse. Unfortunately, it was always easier to feel the Spike love when said vampire was dead. Now he wasn’t. He groaned. This was a lot easier when Spike was a vampire, and not a vulnerable human-type guy. Making his decision, he picked up the phone and dialed. After several rings, a familiar voice answered.

"Giles...I have some news."

"You do realize you’ve just woken me up from a profoundly good dream."

For once, Xander didn’t take the bait. "Giles, you’re not going to believe this. Are you sitting down? You need to be sitting down. While you’re at it, grab some alcohol or something.”

"Xander, can you please just spit it out already? I want to go back to bed."

"So. . .you remember our friend Captain Peroxide, right? Well, um, he's back."

There was a pregnant pause. "Giles? Did you hear what I said? Spike is back."

Giles cleared his throat. "I know, Xander. He was working with Angel for most of last year, but he died in Los Angeles during the battle with Wolfram and Hart. I don't know how you found out, but please don't tell Buffy. I don’t think she would take it well.”

Xander gripped the phone a little harder. "Okay, I don’t know what you’re talking about and I don’t have time to go over it.”

He could hear Giles’ release of breath over the phone. Before Giles could go on about whatever he was going on about, Xander interrupted.

“Giles, I know you’re all head Watcher guy and all, but really do I need to spell it out? Spike. Is. Back. He just left my office."

"He was there in your office? But how? Why? Isn't it late in the afternoon there?"

Xander could here the bedsprings creek. If he were to guess, Giles had started to pace the floor.

"Xander, are you sure it was him? Are you sure? How do you know?”

Rubbing his hand over his face, Xander continued, “How many people do you know that look like Spike, talk with a British accent, and go by William?”

“Right, right.” Giles groaned, “Good Lord.”

"And, that’s not even the craziest thing! One, his memory is gone. . .he doesn't know who he is, and two, he's human."

Xander heard a thud, followed by a string of British curse words. "Giles! Giles? You still there?"

After what sounded like Giles fumbling with the phone, he came back on. "Its okay, I just dropped my glass of water. I think I might need to switch it for some Scotch, like you suggested. Do you mind repeating the part about Spike being human? Be more specific. How do you know it was him? Could it just be a coincidence?" Giles sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. Xander decided to butt in.

"I wouldn't have called if I thought it was just that, Giles. He looks like Spike, talks like Spike, can't remember a thing from before a year ago, which considering what you just told me-would be a pretty big coincidence, wouldn’t you say? Plus, I saw his passport. The picture on it is Spike. Black leather, bleached hair, annoying smirk, and white-hasn’t-seen-the-sun-in-a-few-hundr ed-years skin. I'm a huge fan of coincidences too, but add those together and you’ll find you come out with one giant, Spike-shaped conclusion.”

While Giles started sputtering over that bit of news, Xander picked up the picture of him with Buffy and Willow. When did they get so old? He sure didn't feel like he was 24, and this thing with Spike? Just one more thing adding to the premature grey hairs on his head.

"Xander? Are you listening to me?" Giles interrupted.

Focusing his attention back on Giles he quickly answered "Um, yeah, I’m listening. What should I do?"

"You need to keep an eye on him. Just watch him, nothing else. Don't tell anyone, especially not Buffy."

"Don't you think we should tell her, though?"

"Yes, but not until we know for sure. I already regret not letting her know that Spike was back the first time, so I don't want to get her hopes up over this news, just to dash them later."

Xander shook his head, "Giles, I need you to come here and help me. If you want to make this decision about leaving Buffy in the dark or not, then you need to be here to decide if it's Spike. It's too important for you not to be here. Besides, I don’t think I can do this myself."

With a sigh, Giles agreed. "You’re right. You will have to wait about a week, though, so that I can get my affairs in order over here. I'll have to delegate some of the more pressing matters to other watchers. But Willow will be here, so everything should be alright."

"So I’ll see you in a week then?"

"Yes" Then with a sigh, Giles added, "Isn’t there anything involving this bloody man that doesn't result in chaos and frustration?"

"I'd have to answer with a giant no for that one. If it wasn't for the fact that this guy doesn't know who he is, I'd be wondering."

With a groan, Giles continued, "Just keep an eye on him. Make sure he stays around. I'll be there in a week."

“Okay, will do, see you then. You still have the keys to the apartment, right?”

“Yes, I do. Goodbye, Xander.”

Xander hung up the phone, and let his head fall onto the desk. Why did these things continue to happen to him? Why couldn’t there be a nice surprise for a change, like a hot super-model turning up on his doorstep instead? Life just wasn’t fair.





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