Sunnydale, December 2002
There was a moment during the holiday season when Buffy realized she was, for the first time in recent memory, really and truly happy. The realization hit her quite unexpectedly during the Sunnydale High faculty Christmas party, where Principal Wood had opened his home to the staff with food, wine and the surprise gift of a photographer to take pictures of the guests.
She glanced across the room to find Spike engaged in conversation with Mr. Rothstein, one of the English teachers. He looked good tonight, better than she had anticipated in a suit and tie, surprisingly at ease in this company. Yes, he appeared pale next to the others, but so far no one had commented on that; in fact, they seemed quite delighted to meet him.
As if he knew she was watching, Spike looked up and smiled at her. That was the moment it hit, the sudden realization she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. In that instant, it didn't matter what Xander or Willow or Angel or Giles thought; she knew this was what would make her happy. The power of the emotion was overwhelming and she felt an almost desperate urge to somehow freeze time so she would know this feeling forever.
The portrait of them taken that evening showed two people in love with one another. When Wood handed her the print later in the week, Buffy thought it would make the perfect Christmas card for next year.
The papers arrived a week before Christmas, a thick envelope that Spike opened at the dining table while Buffy watched. Neither spoke as he sorted through the various documents: driver's license, green card, a United Kingdom passport, birth certificate and other pieces of papers that established his existence. There was also a checkbook and savings passbook in the name of William Ashbury-Smythe. Spike flipped both open, lifted an eyebrow at the balances and handed both to Buffy.
Her eyes widened. "Spike?"
"Hopefully, old Rupert included an explanation...ah, there it is."
The sheet of paper was covered with Giles' fruit-fly like writing that had Spike squinting as he tried to read it. Dear Spike, it began. As we discussed, here are the papers you asked for. There are a few more which will not be ready for a day or two; those I will bring with me when I arrive for Christmas.
I have taken the liberty of arranging accounts for you at the local branch of Bank of America and made sure each was modestly funded. You may consider it a loan, as well as a hedge against those emergencies which we discussed. How much of this you reveal to Buffy is, of course, up to you, though I have found honesty is best within a relationship whenever possible.
I have spoken with Anya and she will be officially hiring you on as an employee of the shop. This will help further establish you within the system. Ignore her complaints on the subject; she has a good heart and is more than willing to help, even if she feels compelled to voice discontent.
I know you said you wanted something with more earning potential to help with household finances. To that end, I have arranged something of a trial. The photocopied pages are from a recently uncovered book which purports to be a transcription of certain prophecies. It is in Latin, though the originals, which are in the possession of the Council, are in Sumerian. I'd like you to do a translation into English which we can discuss when I arrive. You indicated you had done such work before and there is a continual need within the Council for those who are skilled in this area. Believe it or not, not every watcher is possessed with a facility for ancient languages. Since you have given me reason to believe you understand languages other than human (Fyarl, for example), if you prove an able translator, there may be a steady stream of work which will pay considerably more than anything you might earn helping Anya.
While I am visiting, we can also continue our other discussion. I have been compiling a list of questions my colleagues would like answered and it's been suggested that I video-tape the sessions for study. I think they would prefer it if you were physically here in London, but I do not believe that is in your best interests at this time. Know, however, that a trip may be required at some point in the future or else you might be in receipt of visitors. That should not be a matter of concern now.
For the moment, I hope preparations for the holiday season are going well and Buffy has found some relief from her disagreements with Xander and Willow. You may tell Dawn that I have not forgotten her presents, which I will bring when I arrive on the twenty-third. My flight from LAX is Southwest 346 and gets into Sunnydale at 8:45 PM.
I look forward to seeing all of you then,
Sincerely,
Giles
Spike handed the letter over once he was done and sat silently while Buffy read it. "You asked Giles to get you papers?"
"Had to get them somewhere, luv. There are certain niceties that need to be observed if I'm living here and not in a crypt; I don't want you to have trouble because I don't have the proper paperwork, especially where the school's concerned."
She read further, a frown on her features that worried him somewhat. He wondered if perhaps he should have spoken with her about this before talking to Giles, let her know what he was doing and why. Of course, that would have been somewhat difficult given how the conversation had happened; with Angel lurking about the house, they'd barely been speaking to each other.
But Angel had returned to Los Angeles and Buffy had shown little regret at his departure. Things had continued on smoothly after the Thanksgiving debacle; to be sure, there were a few bumps and bobbles, but Spike knew from experience that happened in any relationship and nothing had happened which he would truly call serious. Certainly nothing on the scale of some of the things he and Dru had been through.
Watching Buffy read the letter, Spike wondered if perhaps he'd grown a little too complacent. Perhaps there hadn't been the chance to tell her the night the conversation had happened, but there had been other opportunities since then. When she'd come back from shopping the day after Thanksgiving, for example, to find him and Giles deep in conversation. But he hadn't, choosing instead to wait until the deed was done and the papers were in his hands.
At length, she handed the letter back. "Well, that explains the bank balance. Is there anything else you and Giles have arranged that I should know about?"
He reached across the table for her hand. "Buffy..."
"Don't 'Buffy' me!" She was on her feet, the scrape of her chair across the floor making him wince. "You went behind my back and made some type of deal with Giles. Anya needed to know, but not me."
"I needed to get papers and Giles was the best one to ask. I knew he wouldn't cost me a fortune and he'd do it because it'd help you."
"Is it so important that you get papers that you have to make a deal with the Council? Because that's what I'm reading in that letter."
Her voice was rising and Spike did his best not to match it. "I'm not living in a crypt anymore, luv. If I'm going to be here and with you, I need some type of identification. If nothing else, I can't get a better paying job without that. Your job pays fine, but you know we could use some extra. If we're in this together, I want to contribute."
"But you didn't have to do this! We could have talked, figured something out. Instead, you go behind my back."
He didn't understand what had set her off so badly and wasn't sure how to figure it out. Unsure of what else to do, he reached for her, hoping a cuddle would help her calm a bit so they could discuss this rationally. The moment he laid his hand on her arm, though, she jerked it away and he pulled back as if burned. "That's not going to solve this," she spat at him. "I'm going on patrol."
She stomped into the living room and pulled an axe from the weapons chest. Willow and Dawn had appeared on the stairs, watching silently as the scene played out. Buffy stomped back to the hall, grabbing her coat from the coat rack and wrapping it around her. "Can we talk?" Spike said, trying to salvage something out of the situation.
Her response was to glare at him. "I'll be back late. Don't wait up."
The door slammed behind her, the glass rattling in its frames. "Want to tell me what that was about?" Dawn said.
"Big sis and I had an argument." He headed back into the dining room. Might as well put things away.
"And a big 'duh' on that one. We heard the yelling upstairs. Were you fighting about whatever it was in that envelope?"
He considered telling Dawn to mind her own business, but knew she'd figure it out or Buffy would tell her. "That's precisely what we were arguing about. I did something behind her back and she took exception."
As he reached for the papers, he realized his hand was trembling. This wasn't good. He knew what had caused it, too. All she had to do was pull away from his touch and every nerve in his body started screaming alarms. They were going to have to deal with that night in the bathroom at some point...and in a deeper way than "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you."
Dawn must have noticed it as well because she came forward and caught his hand in hers. "Buffy can be a real bitch when she gets going. She'll be better once she blows off steam."
"Or she can get herself hurt or killed because she's so pissed at me she's not thinking straight." Spike sighed. "I should go after her."
"Not a good idea," Willow said, coming off the stairs and into the dining room. "Buffy needs some space at this point; you should probably give it to her." Her eyes dropped to the table. "Is that Latin?"
He retrieved the photocopies before Willow could take them. "Giles wants me to do a translation, a bit of a freelance job. If I work out, he thinks he can throw some more work my way."
"You know Latin?" Willow asked.
"You're doing a job for the Council?" Dawn said. "No wonder she went off on you."
"It's just translation work," Spike replied defensively. "The pay's good and I thought that'd be useful."
"Council of Watchers and Buffy? Not mixy things."
"Like I didn't know that already." He shuffled the rest of papers together, pausing to slide the driver's license into his pocket. "Might as well do it, though, get paid for this at least even if I don't do the rest. Use the money to take her away for the weekend or something. You have a Latin dictionary, don't you, Red?"
As Willow headed upstairs to fetch the book, Dawn said, "You need to work this out with her, Spike."
"I think I know that, Bit."
"I'm talking about tonight. You know Willow's going to tell Xander about this and he'll try to use it to convince Buffy she's made a mistake."
That was enough to make him frown. "I thought he'd stopped hammering at her about that."
Dawn shook her head, dropping her voice as she spoke. "He's being a bit more subtle, that's all. If there's something he can say bad about you, he will. The last time he was over here, I walked into the kitchen and he was telling Buffy there was a big crackdown going on for undocumented aliens and since you didn't have any ID, there was always the possibility they might catch you since you work at the shop. He then said that if the school district found out she was living with someone who wasn't in the country legally, it could cost her job."
Spike looked down at the papers in his hands. Xander had visited just two days ago. Spike hadn't told her about his agreement with Giles; she hadn't told him that Xander was still worrying her. "Soul or no soul, chip or no chip, I'm going to kill Harris."
Before Dawn could comment, Willow reappeared with the dictionary. Spike thanked her for it. "I'm going to get started on this while I wait for her. You two don't worry; she'll be fine."
Willow looked as if she might disagree, but Dawn hustled her out of the room before she could say anything, leaving Spike to settle down to work. He was still there two hours later when the front door opened again. The rest of the house was dark and Buffy did her best to be quiet as she hung her coat back on the rack.
He didn't speak, waiting to see what she'd do. She had to know he was there; if nothing else, her slayer sense would alert her to the fact there was a vampire in the vicinity, just as his own senses announced her presence. So he waited, pen resting idly against the pad he'd been writing on as shuffling noises came from the hall, followed by her moving into the living room and the sound of the weapons chest opening. It was an effort not to move and he was about to go after her when she reappeared in the doorway to the dining room.
She didn't speak until after she'd sat in the chair she'd vacated earlier. "The Council never approved of the fact I was dating Angel. When Wesley was my watcher, to say that he freaked when he learned Angel was a vampire is putting it mildly. When Faith poisoned him, the response from the Council was that they didn't help vampires. Didn't matter that he had a soul or I needed his help to fight the Mayor; they apparently saw it as a way to rid themselves of a problem."
Buffy looked up at him and he was surprised to see how much worry there was in her eyes. "I was just dating Angel; I'm living with you. How do you thing they're going to react to that?"
This time, she didn't pull her hand away when he reached for it. "I know they're not going to be happy, but you know we're going to deal with it sooner or later."
"I know. I'd just rather it be later than sooner. It's not the fact you got papers that upset me; it's the idea of you having to deal with those creeps. I don't trust them."
"I don't trust them either, and I can assure you I have no intention of wandering lightly into their clutches. I don't think they're interested in dusting me at this point; according to Giles there's a lot of interest in how and why I went for the soul. I don't see why I shouldn't leverage that into papers that will make certain the INS doesn't pick me up in their sweeps for illegals."
Her eyes grew big with surprise and Spike knew Dawn had not underestimated Buffy's distress at Xander's suggestion. "It's not just that," he continued, intent on exploiting whatever advantage it might give him. "There's not a lot I'm good at besides blood and mayhem. What Giles' asked me to do --that's something I'm good at. This may come as a surprise to you, luv, but when I told you about life before I was turned, I was lying."
There was the first hint of a smile on her face. "I kinda suspected you were building yourself up."
"Yeah, well, you don't know that half of it. I was a complete prat; bookish, academic, a miniature Giles in the making...only Giles had a backbone. Lived in a dream world of books and poetry for all the good it did me. The point is that I'm good at languages and translating and research. I've got Greek and Latin along with some others that might be helpful to these wankers; why not earn a decent living with them?"
She was still worried; he could see it in the way she chewed on her lower lip. "You're really good at research?"
"How do you think I uncovered the Gem of Amarra which was lost for centuries and most people thought was just a legend?"
Buffy sighed and pulled her hand free from his, reaching up to massage her temples as if she had a headache. "It might have been useful to know that before know."
"Either I wouldn't have wanted to help you or you wouldn't have believed me. It's been a rocky road, Buffy."
Another sigh. "I still don't like it and you'd better believe I'm going to talk to Giles about it when he gets here." She paused, looking down at the photocopies spread before him and the pad covered with his scribbling. "They'd better be paying well for this."
Spike had to smile at that, knowing they'd reached a truce of some kind. "You should know from experience that I don't come cheap."
When he thought about it later, he realized they hadn't actually settled a thing or dealt with the issues that had caused the argument. At the moment, though, a kiss and a few murmured words seemed to make things better.
Giles was certain Buffy must be feeling as frustrated with the subject as he was. They'd been going round for half an hour while Spike kept the rest of the household away and were no closer in their positions than they had been when they started. One thing had been achieved, though; for the first time, he truly understood what a distaste Buffy held for the Council...or perhaps she'd merely managed to put it into cogent words. "I know it's not the most ideal of situations..."
"That is the understatement to end all understatements." Buffy was pacing the length of the living room, arms folded across her chest. "How do I know the Council isn't going to suddenly decide they've gotten everything they need and he can be dusted?"
"In part, by making him valuable to them; that's why I suggested the translations. If he can prove useful, it's another tally in his favor...and don't discount the distance factor. If he is useful, not feeding on humans and far away, they're more inclined to let him be. Why do you think they've let Angel survive for so long?"
"They did come after Angel once."
"And may I remind you that was tied in with Faith, who is a constant source of embarrassment to any number of people. Roger Wyndham-Price was forced to retire because of Wesley's involvement. If they hadn't been coming after Faith and Angel hadn't been involved in trying to stop them, they would have let him be."
"And my living with him won't make a difference?"
"Will you please stop pacing? It'd difficult to talk when you do that and it's making me tired." Giles sighed as Buffy a bit sullenly came to sit on the opposite end of the couch. "Are there people who are upset by this? Yes. Are they considering sending a wetwork team after him? No. For one thing, all but the most imbecilic realize they'd have to go through you first. For another, the fact that Spike went to fetch a soul rather than being curse has aroused a considerable amount of interest. I should tell you there are prophecies that might be affected by this...and I saw you roll your eyes, young lady."
Buffy did her best to compose her face into an appropriate expression, but the worry won out. "So there are prophecies. When are there not prophecies?"
"These are a little different. The Council only has fragments of a translation since the originals disappeared at some point in our history, but there is a prophecy that speaks of a vampire with a soul who will be of great importance in an apocalyptic battle. Actually, it says "the" apocalyptic battle, but you and I both know those come with more frequency than we'd like to admit."
He had her full attention now. "Angel's had a soul for years; why has this never come up before now?"
Now things were at a delicate state. He hadn't missed the hint of strain between Buffy and Spike the morning after Thanksgiving, residue from Angel's surprise visit. In London, it'd been frankly discussed why one vampire was preferable to another, but he doubted that frankness would play well here. "Angel was cursed with his soul; he had no choice in the matter. After he left China in 1900, there is little reference to him save for occasional sightings and what makes him of note is that he was not known to feed, which was a marked change from his behavior. It wasn't until he appeared in Sunnydale that we were aware what was behind that change or that he was willing to help us. There was no record of when he'd actually received the soul until Spike told me the date the last time I was here. In marked contrast, Spike made the choice to gain his soul, consciously made a decision to change his nature. One of the fragments says that the vampire will make the choice which side he will fight on. There are those who see the very choice to get a soul as a fulfillment of at least part of the prophecy."
Buffy was quiet for a very long moment. There was a burst of laughter from the kitchen, teasing accusations from both Spike and Dawn as they worked on whatever they were doing to keep themselves and Willow occupied. She looked in that direction with an expression Giles first thought was longing but then appeared to be something far more conflicted. "Do you know what drove Spike to get his soul?" she asked quietly.
"Only what Xander has told me," he said with equal quiet. "Since you and Spike are together, I assumed he was either exaggerating or misread the situation. You didn't want to speak of the matter when it happened and there wasn't time to press the point because of Willow."
She turned back to him. "Don't stake him when you talk about it, okay? We're trying to work through it."
"Buffy..."
"He crossed a line. I stopped him. He realized he was wrong and that's when he made the decision to get the soul. If Spike wants to tell you more, that's his decision. I'm sick of talking about it because Xander just wouldn't let it rest. He kept nagging at me, telling me I should go see a counselor or call the rape crisis center. I know he meant well, but he wouldn't let it rest."
Buffy's voice was growing tight, a sign of the stress she was under; the stress she kept hidden most of the time. "He finally backed off a bit, but then Spike came back and Xander started up again, kept telling me I should stake Spike for what he did or run him out of town at the very least. He hasn't forgiven me for forgiving Spike, if that makes any sense."
Giles shifted his position on couch to sit next to Buffy, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I wish I'd been here."
She shook her head, dragging the back of her hand across her eyes to wipe away any tears that might be appearing. "Willow needed help and wasn't I supposed to be learning to stand on my own?"
"Standing on your own doesn't mean alone. You could have called if you needed to talk."
"We did talk over the summer, remember? Remember how you had me start submitting the phone bills for reimbursement? With Spike gone, I wanted to put it behind me. When he came back...well, I wanted to deal with him on this."
She shook her head. "Boy, have we strayed. So the Council thinks Spike might be the vampire in this prophecy?"
He recognized a deliberate change of subject and chose not to press the point. "Which is why they have no interest in staking him. In fact, they'd like him to have closer ties, so they were more than happy to go along with my suggestion that we give him a trial as a translator and researcher."
"And if he doesn't prove to be the vampire in the prophecy? What if they find some more fragments or something?"
"If he's a quick and clever translator, as I suspect he will be, I doubt the Council will lightly throw that resource away. There are also those who see this as a way to help bring you more closely into the fold."
That brought a smile. "They don't know me very well, do they?"
"No, and we should use that to our advantage." He gave her a final squeeze. "Shall we go see what's causing so much amusement?"
Christmas was far less tense than Thanksgiving had been. For one thing, Willow seemed to have accepted Spike's presence in the house and was even speaking with him in a relatively relaxed manner. She still didn't seem terribly happy about Anya's presence, but that was an old tension and easily ignored. Anya was still ignoring Xander, so if he'd mentioned meeting a new woman in hopes of making her jealous, that hope was dashed.
What truly captured Giles attention, though, was watching the interplay between Buffy, Spike and Dawn. If he'd had any doubts the bonds between the three were growing stronger each day, here was enough to settle it. It wasn't simply the casual teasing or the way Spike turned his head toward Buffy when her hand sought his; it was the smiles the three shared, the silent acknowledgements of things between them.
Once dinner was done, they retired to the living room and a tree surrounded by presents. As he settled into a chair, Giles couldn't help remembering the last Christmas he'd enjoyed in this house, the last where Joyce had been with them. It'd been much like this in many ways: presents and laughter as Xander took control of handing the gifts out as usual. Idly, he noted that Joyce's star held the pride of place atop the tree this year rather than Buffy's angel.
Dawn did get the leather jacket she'd been hoping for, the tag signed from Buffy and Spike. Most of the gifts from Buffy were signed that way, though the gift to Xander was simply signed, "From Buffy." Treaties and truces and finding their way, including Spike in the circle.
To his surprise, the box Xander handed him that declared itself to be from Buffy and Spike was heavier than the usual sweater would indicate. Curious, he ripped into the wrapping and found to his delight a book: Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the Who 1958-1978.
"It's supposed to be the comprehensive guide," Buffy said. "Concerts, tours, recordings, everything. Do you like it?"
He didn't miss the nervousness in her voice and looked up from the enticing pages of photographs to find her watching him as if she were afraid he'd reject her gift. "It's wonderful, Buffy. Thank you, both of you."
She relaxed, leaning back against Spike. Somehow, Giles could guess which one of the two had picked this gift out. Spike didn't speak, just smiled and nodded in his direction.
It wasn't until much later that evening that Giles was able to ask Spike about the translation, the two of them slipping off to the dining room as Buffy put in A Christmas Story. "This is quite good," Giles said as he glanced over the pages. "How long to finish it, do you think?"
"By New Year's, providing Demon-Girl doesn't work me to death with the after-holiday crowd. And there's the other discussions we need to do while we're here."
Discussions Giles would prefer took place when Buffy wasn't around. "I'll speak to Anya and we might be able to use the training room for them. It will give us some privacy and you'll be able to help her if she needs it. Do you have any objection to being videotaped?"
"I've got my hair freshly done and those new shirts Buffy and Dawn bought me to show off. I think we'll pass muster."
"Yes, I noticed you were the designated recipient of clothes this year. By the way, thank you again for the book. It was thoughtful."
Spike shrugged. "Figured you'd prefer it to another sweater. Buffy loves you like a father, but she has no idea how to shop for you."
"So it's going well?" He wasn't certain he should actually tread on this ground, but Giles found his curiosity got the better of him.
"Well enough. Buffy and I...well, we're getting used to one another. It's a bit different living together from trying to kill each other or me chasing her or..."
A hint of a shadow flitted across Spike's face, though why Giles did not know. "We've got the usual ups and downs," Spike continued. "Then there's this talisman thing Wesley's got us chasing after. That's been keeping us busy at night; that and shopping. Now that the holidays are over, I'm hoping we'll be to track that down, ship it off to LA and be done with it. Hopefully that'll give us some breathing room before the next nefarious plan shows up on the horizon."
It all sounded good and Giles tried to tell himself there was nothing to worry about. Then Buffy appeared in the doorway. "You two finished? Dad's just about to receive his Major Prize."
Spike instantly perked up. "That idiot leg lamp? Can't miss that, Rupert. If you haven't seen this one, it's a classic."
They dutifully trooped back into the living and Spike and Buffy settled on the couch together to watch the adventures of Ralphie and his quest for the Red Ryder BB Gun. Dawn made room for Giles, settling gracefully on the floor in front of the chair she'd just vacated and offering him the bag of chips she held. He took a few and settled back, glad that at least this Christmas had passed without major incident.