Chapter 3

“Escape me?/Never—/Beloved!/While I am I, and you are you,/So long as the world contains us both,/Me the loving and you the loth,/While the other one eludes, must the other pursue./My life is a fault at last, I fear—/It seems too much like a fate, indeed!/Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed—/But what if I fail of my purpose here?...” ~Robert Browning, “Life in a Love”

Wesley scribbled down a few more notes as he read through the manuscript once again. He was certain that it was incomplete, but he didn’t know whether the Council had intentionally left out some of the pieces of the puzzle, or if they were unaware of the problem.

The phone rang, and he sighed. The last caller had been his mother, who had informed him that she wouldn’t be able to see him while he was in town because she was going to visit his aunt in Edinburgh. While his father was unlikely to call, Wesley wouldn’t be surprised if he attempted more emotional blackmail. For some reason, Roger Wyndam-Pryce wanted his son well away from William the Bloody, even though he hadn’t seemed to care much in the last year.

And that worried Wesley.

Picking up the phone on the third ring, he gave a cautious, “Hello?”

“Wes?”

“Buffy? What’s wrong?” He knew that tone of voice; she was upset and trying hard to hide it.

“Nothing. At least, it’s probably nothing.” He could hear her take a deep breath. “Have you seen Spike? I’ve been trying to reach him.”

“I haven’t seen him since we arrived at Council headquarters this morning,” he admitted. “Spike left a note for me at the front desk to say that he’d gone out to blow off steam.” Wesley glanced at the clock and realized that nearly twelve hours had passed; he’d been so caught up in his work he hadn’t noticed the passage of time.

“Okay.” Buffy did not sound reassured. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Do you want me to go check his room?” Wesley asked. “I don’t know that it will do much good, but—”

“Would you? I’d appreciate it.”

“Let me call you back.” Wesley hung up quickly and walked the long hallway to Spike’s room. He knocked, and when there was no answer, Wesley pulled out the spare key card that Spike had convinced the front desk to give him.

“Spike?” The room was empty, although it appeared as though it was undisturbed. At least, Wesley didn’t think that anything had been moved.

He used his mobile to call Buffy back. “He’s not here. I’d offer to go look for him, but—”

“There’s no telling where he is.” She finished his sentence, sounding very unhappy. “I’m sure he’s fine, Wes. Could you just tell him to call me when he gets back in?”

“Of course, Buffy. If—” There was a sound at the door, and Wes turned, wishing that he’d thought to bring a weapon. “Hold on.”

Spike walked through the door, looking a little disheveled and out of sorts. “Wes? What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. Here.” Wesley held the phone out to him, and Spike took it with a distracted expression.

“Hello?”

Wesley couldn’t hear Buffy’s side of the conversation, but he watched Spike’s face, and he thought that something was off. Wesley couldn’t say exactly what it might be, but something strange was going on.

“We’re flying back immediately,” Spike said into the phone. “Don’t think there’s any reason for us to stay.”

Wesley frowned. Spike had been very intent on paying their debt; he wondered what had changed.

Spike ended the call. “Get packed, Wes. We’re getting out of here.”

“What about the Council?” Wesley asked. “Don’t we owe them?”

“Not anymore. We listened, and you’ve got a copy of the prophecy. The rest of our business can take place at a distance.”

Wesley wasn’t quite convinced that all was well, and he had to ask, “Spike? Where were you all day?”

“Around.” That was all he said, and Wesley knew from past experience that was all Spike would say.

And although Wesley was just as happy to be heading home, he couldn’t help but be just a little concerned.

~~~~~

Giles stood next to Buffy, waiting for Wesley and Spike to arrive at the baggage claim. Willow had gone to check on the flight again since they were just a little late.

“Are you alright?” Giles asked quietly. Buffy had been quiet and rather distant, and he wondered what was bothering her.

She nodded. “I’m fine.”

The words rang hollow, and he bent his head to come a little closer. “Buffy—”

“Their flight should be on time,” Willow announced as she rejoined them. “At least, that’s what the board says.”

Buffy didn’t respond, so Giles nodded. “I’m sure they’ll be here shortly.”

As though his words had summoned them, Wesley and Spike emerged from the crowd. Wesley waved and increased his pace, greeting Willow with a hug and enthusiastic kiss. Spike moved a little more slowly, but he did the same with Buffy.

Giles noted that the Slayer pulled back and gave him a searching look when she broke their embrace, however. He realized that her concern and disquiet was centered on the vampire, but he couldn’t see a reason for it.

“How did your visit go?” Giles asked.

“It was less than fruitful,” Spike responded. “The head wanker seems to think I’m involved in some kind of prophecy. He wanted to know about a key.”

“What key?” Buffy asked.

“That’s what I asked. Told him I didn’t know about a key, but that I’d have Wes look at the text and we’d get back to him. He’ll have to be satisfied with that.”

Giles didn’t like the sound of that. In his experience, Travers wasn’t the sort of man to be content to wait on another’s conclusions. “I see.”

Spike shrugged. “Wes looked at their manuscript. He thinks they left something out.”

“I have no proof of that,” Wesley inserted. “And I’ll need more time to be sure.”

“What about the text that Robert sent?” Buffy asked. “He seemed to think that it might be urgent.”

Spike glanced at Wes. “You might want to look at that one first, then.”

“I’ll do that.”

“After we eat,” Giles said. “Joyce wanted me to let you know that she expects you for dinner tonight.”

Wesley brightened considerably. “Great.”

Spike’s face was expressionless. “Fine.”

Giles’ eyes met Buffy’s, and he saw his own concern reflected there.

~~~~~

Tara entered the Summers’ residence without knocking. She’d become comfortable enough to do that, to call these people friends; it was something she’d never thought to have when she’d left home, although she had hoped for as much.

“Hey, Tara.” Willow smiled. “I hope you’re hungry. Joyce made enough snacks to feed an army.”

“No, just to feed Xander,” Buffy quipped from the living room.

Tara followed Willow into the living room, noting that everyone had taken their usual positions when holding a Scooby meeting. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Spike, however, because there was something seriously wrong with his aura.

Although Spike was leaning up against the mantle looking completely relaxed, there was a battle going on from within. She thought it looked as though something was choking him, drawing on his life force to power a spell of some kind.

Tara focused, trying not to appear as though she was staring at Spike as she attempted to discover what kind of spell it was, and whether it was benign or malicious. In a moment, she had her answer, and Tara came out of her light trance to find Wesley and Willow both looking at her.

She gave a quick shake of her head to let them know not to ask right then, and they both nodded. After working magic together as much as they had, the three of them could communicate without words.

No one else had appeared to notice anything, and the conversation flowed around her without Tara taking much in.

Spike described his meeting with Travers, giving it his own colorful spin. Wesley said only that the meeting with his father had not gone well, that Roger had said he would be sorry if he continued working with Spike, and that he had refused to go back to the Council.

“I don’t like it.” Buffy had her arms crossed in front of her. “They want something from you. Travers pushed Spike pretty hard for information about this key.”

“I didn’t know anything, and he had to accept that.” Spike sounded curiously detached. “It’s not a big deal.”

Wesley cleared his throat. “I beg to differ, Spike. Something my father said keeps bothering me. He made it very clear that any continued association with you could get me killed, and he never cared in the past.”

“There’s nothing they can do to me.”

“You aren’t invulnerable, Spike, even with the ring. I think you know that.” Buffy sounded incredibly frustrated, and Tara didn’t blame her. It was most unlike Spike to ignore a potential threat. He was much more likely to face it down with guns blazing.

Tara cleared her throat to get the others’ attention. “Maybe we can just leave it alone for now? Even if the Council does have a problem with Spike, they’ll probably wait for Wesley to read over the manuscript. We have a little time.”

All eyes focused on her, and when Buffy opened her mouth to argue, Tara saw Willow step hard on the Slayer’s foot.

“Fine, we’ll let it go for now.” Buffy sighed. “I guess that’s it, then. There really isn’t much else.”

“I still need to unpack,” Spike announced. “And I’m a bit jetlagged. If you lot will excuse me—”

Buffy followed him out, and Xander and Anya made their excuses soon after.

Tara stayed quiet until Wesley looked over at her. “What did you see, Tara?”

“Spike’s under a geas.”

“What?” Giles looked alarmed. “Are you certain?”

Wesley, in contrast, nodded in agreement, as though she had just confirmed something. “I had wondered.”

“You think that Travers did it?” Willow asked.

Wesley nodded. “It would explain a number of things.”

Giles rose from his spot on the couch next to Joyce. “This is not good.”

“Excuse me, but what is a geas?” Joyce asked, stumbling a little over the unfamiliar word.

“It’s a spell to make someone do what you want them to do, a compulsion.” Giles rubbed his eyes wearily. “In this case, my guess would be that Spike is under a compulsion to inform Travers when he’s discovered the key that the prophecy talks about.”

“Can you get rid of it?” Joyce asked.

Wesley and Tara looked at Willow. “I don’t know. They’re hard to break without hurting someone, though, or letting the magician know what happened.”

“But it can be done.” Giles sighed. “I’ve done it before, and I can probably take care of the geas on Spike without too much trouble.”

“When have you done it?” Wesley asked curiously.

Giles looked grim. “The Council isn’t the only organization that can hex people. There was a Watcher who was under a compulsion to kill a Council member a few years before I came to Sunnydale, and I was asked to help.”

Tara cleared her throat. “There may be another way,” she pointed out. “Once Spike knows about the geas, he can try to fight it.”

“There’s no guarantee that he would be able to overcome it,” Giles said dubiously.

Wesley was quick to add, “And there’s every reason to suspect that Travers would have put a compulsion in place to fight anyone who would try to remove the spell.”

“We’ll have to talk to Buffy.” Giles didn’t sound thrilled by the prospect. “There is no way that we’ll be able to catch Spike unawares otherwise, and if you’re correct, Wesley, we shouldn’t attempt to remove the geas until we have him well under control.”

~~~~~

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Buffy demanded as soon as they had arrived back at Spike’s house—well, their house now.

“There’s nothing going on, Buffy.”

“Don’t pull that shit on me, Spike.” Buffy knew that she had made a concerted effort over the last few months to make sure that she didn’t make big decisions without including Spike. They weren’t keeping secrets from each other anymore, no matter what, but she knew when Spike wasn’t telling her everything.

“I’m fine, Buffy.”

She strode forward, putting herself in his path as he headed towards their bedroom. “Don’t give me that. What happened?”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” He wasn’t meeting her eyes, and she could see pain in the lines on his face. “Spike—”

“Forget it.” Spike pushed past her, shoving her harder than she was expecting, catching her off balance and sending her to the floor.

When he didn’t even apologize, or pause, Buffy pushed herself up off the floor slowly. She had no idea what to do, or how she should respond. This was not the Spike she knew, the man who had been wracked with guilt over drinking her blood, even though that had been the only way to save his life.

Buffy was torn between following him into the bedroom and kicking his ass, or leaving until he came to his senses. She was prevented from having to make a decision when her cell phone rang, and since it was from her mom’s number, she picked it up. “Hello?”

“Buffy, it’s Giles. Just answer yes or no, please. Is Spike there?”

Giles’ tone scared her into following his instructions without argument. “Yes.”

“Do you believe that he can hear my side of the conversation?”

Buffy paused. She heard the shower running and decided that it was unlikely. “No.”

“Good. We believe that Travers cast some sort of hex on him, and I think I can take it off, but we’re going to need to catch him unaware. Can you incapacitate him?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. I’m going to gather what I’ll need to reverse the spell, and I’ll be at Spike’s house within the hour.”

“Okay.” Buffy hung up the phone and looked towards their bedroom. She knew that his hearing was good, but she didn’t think it was good enough to hear Giles’ side of the conversation.

The water was still running, and Buffy decided that she’d be better off waiting for him to get out and get dressed. She was fairly certain that Giles would appreciate not having to deal with a naked Spike.

Buffy was sitting on the couch, reading a magazine, when she heard a knock at the front door. Although Spike was out of the shower, he had yet to emerge from their bedroom.

“Hey, Wes,” she said, as soon as she opened the door. “I thought you were going to go home and get some sleep.”

“I had something that I wanted to ask Spike.” Wesley moved his jacket aside, revealing the tranq pistol in the holster under his jacket. “How are you?”

“I’m okay.”

He squeezed her shoulder in wordless sympathy. “Do you need any help?”

“I can get it.” Buffy wanted to do this herself. She entered the bedroom without seeing Spike immediately. “Spike?”

“Buffy.”

She turned and found him watching her, his face expressionless. For a long moment, Buffy searched his face for clues as to why he would be acting this way. Unless the Council’s hex had turned him into an asshole, she didn’t understand.

For a moment, Buffy caught a glimpse of emotion in his eyes, and she could read the desperation there. Then it was gone, and he turned his back to her. It made Buffy’s job easier, and for a moment she wondered if that was his intent.

She hit him across the back of the neck with a forearm, and he went down like a ton of bricks. When he tried to push himself up, she hit him again, in the temple this time, and Spike didn’t move again.

With an aching heart, Buffy pulled the Gem of Amara off of Spike’s finger, knowing that would slow his recovery and make it easier for them to restrain him.

“Wes!” When he came into the room, Buffy said, “There are chains in the hall closet. Would you get them for me?”

“Of course.”

Between the two of them, they had Spike secured in a few minutes. Buffy found herself avoiding Wesley’s eyes, shame weighing her down. “It’s not your fault.” His words were quiet, his tone reassuring. “It had to be this way, Buffy. We don’t know what the results would be if we didn’t remove the geas.”

“I know.”

And God help her, she did.