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Summary: During the Halloween spell during Season 2, Spike and Buffy discover that Buffy Summers is the reincarnation of Lizzie Addams, the younger stepsister of Cecily Underwood, the woman who rejected William and sent him into the arms of Drusilla.

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Chapter 7

“Should I call you Mother?” Buffy asked.

“No, my dear, Joyce is your mother now.” Ceridwyn gave Buffy another indulgent smile. “Of all your mothers, she loves you the very most.”

“So, is Buffy’s theory right?” Willow asked. She was a bit nervous talking to the demoness, but she swallowed her fears. “About the supernatural stuff, I mean?”

“Yes, very much so,” Ceridwyn answered. She went to sit down near Buffy. “You see, it was my anger and need for revenge that set you all on this path.” She turned to the Slayer. “Cilla and her father made you disappear, as I’m sure you found out during your regression session. I was so mad that I cursed them to living their lives over and over until you and your William found each other again.”

Buffy nodded, but she didn’t say anything. Having seen her past lives, she saw many times over a version of the original Cilla had tried to keep her and William apart. Most times, Liam went along with Cilla’s desires, even if he didn’t tamper with them directly.

“D’Hoffryn, the leader of the vengeance demons, thought my revenge was quite excellent, and he recruited me.” Ceridwyn looked around the room. “Once I realized what I had done, I tried very hard to correct it.”

“I don’t think it worked,” Spike drawled. “It’s been quite a few centuries since this little party started.”

“You’re right, William.” Ceridwyn nodded. “To break the cycle there must be a bonding of the souls that humans cannot do without some magical force in their lives.”

“Something we didn’t have before.” Buffy gave Spike a shy glance. “That doesn’t explain the gap between Lizzie and myself, or why Spike hasn’t been reborn.”

“I have an easy explanation for that,” Ceridwyn commented. When Lizzie and William died that last time at the hands of Angelus and Drusilla, their souls intertwined together. The Powers to Be finally gave up on separating them, and I was able to intervene.”

“So Buffy’s got two souls?” Willow’s eyes opened wide. “Is that even possible?”

Ceridwyn turned to the red haired girl. “Not normally. Most reincarnated souls, such as your friend Ford, do not have lives that continually interact with the same reincarnated souls over many life times.”

“How did that happen by the way?” Brenna was busy taking notes.

“William, of course.” Ceridwyn nodded at Spike. “He made one last wish as he left Carl Pendergrass’ body after he used the spike on it.”

“That explains how the spell to find potentials did not locate Buffy,” Giles said in a slow, thoughtful voice. “I have always wondered about that.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Ceridwyn turned towards the Watcher. “The same has actually happened to Cilla and Liam’s souls, although not to the same degree as William and Elizabeth’s. The difference is that Cilla’s soul has been reborn in a different body.

“Do we have to do the bonding right away?” Spike asked. In a way he hoped that the vengeance demon would say yes, but the William part of him told him that Buffy was too young for such a commitment. “I don’t mind claimin’ the Slayer, mind you. I’m just not sure if she’s ready to be claimed in such a manner.”

“Normally I’d say no, but I do worry about Angel and Drusilla.” Ceridwyn rose to her feet. “Your Sire is the one that called Ford to Sunnydale. She does not want the two of you to be together ever.”

Giles studied Spike as the others spoke. He turned to Brenna, and he queried, “What do you think, Ms. Hassib?”

Brenna looked up from her notebook. “I know of several soul binding ceremonies that do not require a mating commitment. I think Buffy and Spike need some more time to deal with ongoing issues before they commit to each other.”

“Yeah, Angelus and his Buffy obsession is one of those issues,” Spike muttered. He didn’t like how the older vampire was sniffing around Buffy, despite her apparent lack of interest. Not that lack of interest had bothered Angel before. He was just as likely to pursue an indifferent quarry.

“Drusilla will be another,” Buffy replied. “If she’s the reason Ford is here, then they might be working together.”

“We might have to eliminate her,” Spike said softly. There was no way he was going to let Carl Pendergrass and Drusilla hurt his girl, not when he had just found Buffy. His hand tightened around the Slayer’s.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Giles said. “However, dusting Drusilla won’t eliminate either this Ford person’s interest in Buffy or Angel’s, I’m afraid to say.”

“Too bad we couldn’t find Cilla’s soul. It’s obviously not in Drusilla now. Then, we could bind Angel and the new person together,” Spike observed. “It would get him out of our hair.”

“I will attempt to find out who this person is,” Ceridwyn commented. “I think she is someone particularly close to Angel right now.”

Buffy had a thoughtful look on her face. “I need to tell my mom first that I’m the Slayer and everything. I want her to be there.”

“I need to research the different ceremonies before we decide on which one to use,” Brenna said. “It’s very important that we choose the right one.”

“Well, I guess that’s it then,” Buffy said. She had a determined look on her face. “I’ll be telling my Mom about the whole vampire slayer thing again. Hopefully this time I won’t end up in the loony bin.”

“Maybe you should take a visual along this time, my dear,” Ceridwyn replied. “I’m sure Spike would be happy to help you demonstrate the existence of vampires.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Buffy chewed her lip. She turned to Spike. “Will you help me with my mom, Spike?”

“Only for you, Babette.” Spike gave the young Slayer a wink and a hand squeeze. He liked how she blushed under his gaze. He wondered how she still had that innocent quality that had clung to Lizzie.

“D-do you need any help, Ms. Hassib?” Willow asked in a shy voice. “I think it’s fascinating.”

Brenna looked at the young redhead, seeing her with eyes that went beyond the physical. It was one of the many talents that went along with her species. Penhuibin demons were actually closer to being angels than demons. While they took over a human body much like a vampire demon did, it was a symbiotic relationship rather than a parasitical one. “I would be happy to have you help, Willow.”

Willow’s smile brightened to sunny proportions. “I have some time after school tomorrow since Buffy doesn’t need French lessons anymore.”

“Oh you!” Buffy stuck her tongue out at her friend as Willow giggled behind one hand. The Slayer held her arm out to her red-haired girlfriend. “Escort my vamp and me home, Lady Rosenberg?”

“It’d be my pleasure.” Willow moved to hook her arm with Buffy’s. “I’ll come along to tell your mom if you like.” She flashed Spike a grin. “Just to be back up to the back up.”

“Why are you smiling at him like that, Willow?” Xander finally spoke up. “He’s an evil, bloodsucking fiend.”

Buffy and Willow were surprised by Xander’s outburst. He hadn’t been happy about Spike’s presence, but he hadn’t been so down on it before.

Brenna stepped towards the young man, and she put her hand on his shoulder. “I believe we have some issues we need to discuss.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Xander protested. There was no way he was going to spill his guts to a therapist. She was sure to call the authorities if she knew what his parents were like.

Brenna turned to the other Scoobies. “I think I need to talk to Xander alone for a few minutes. I’ll send him right out, if that’s okay?”

Buffy, Spike, Willow, and Giles went out into the outer office. The girls and vampire said their good byes to the Watcher, and they left the therapist’s workplace. Giles sat down to wait for Xander.

Inside Brenna Hassib’s office, Xander was anxiously awaiting to hear what the therapist had to say. He was almost frightened that she might be attracted to him. Not that Brenna wasn’t as beautiful as the fake Ms. French or Impata the Mummy woman, because she certainly was.

“I’m not interested in you, if that’s your worry,” Brenna said, inadvertently setting the young man’s mind at rest. “From your friend’s session I believe there are a few issues that we can talk about. I wish to see you once a week.”

“I don’t think my parents will pay for this.” Xander looked at everything in the room except Brenna Hassib. “They don’t believe in psychology or things like that.”

“I understand.” Brenna pulled out a business card, and she wrote down a time on the back. “You don’t know how many times I’ve run into that in my line of work.” She handed Xander the card.

Xander looked down at the time on the card. “I guess this will be okay.”

“Good. Good. Mr. Giles is waiting for you.”

“Yeah, I gotta go.” Xander shot to his feet, and he hurried out of the office. Even though Brenna said she wasn’t interested in him, he wasn’t completely sure about her reassurances. His luck just wasn’t that good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angel and Cordelia stood in the deserted principal’s office. Angel was riffling through the papers on the secretary’s desk.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Cordelia complained. “If we get caught, I’ll be in so much trouble.”

“There’s nothing here about that boy transferring here to Sunnydale High,” Angel muttered to himself. He glanced at the computer, and again he wished he understood modern technology better.

“You do know that Buffy can take care of herself, don’t you?” Cordelia took a compact out of her small purse, and she checked her make up. “I mean really, can she be any more of a freak?”

“This is a dead end,” Angel growled. He looked around the office, his mind racing to figure out a way to find out some information. Normally he would have gone to Willow, but ever since the whole Halloween fiasco the Scoobies weren’t talking to him.

“You could always go to Los Angeles,” Cordelia said in a bored voice. She closed the compact with a sharp click. “He knew Buffy from before she moved to Sunnydale.”

Angel turned to look at Cordelia. “I agree. Let’s go.” He grabbed the young woman by the arm.

“Hey, watch the hands, Mister.” Cordelia gave the vampire a dirty look, but she followed him out of the office anyway. She followed him out of the school to where he had parked his car. Cordelia had no desire to go to L.A., but she knew if she wanted to get Angel’s attention away from Buffy she was going to have to get tough. She climbed in beside the vampire, buckled herself in, and grimly stared out the windshield.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ford stood outside Buffy’s house waiting for her to come home. His head was starting to hurt, but when he patted his pockets he realized that he had forgotten his migraine medicine. He glanced up when a car rolled slowly up the street to stop in front of the Summers’ house. Ford practically growled when he saw William hop out of the driver’s side.

“Fucking poet-boy,” Ford grumbled. He watched as Spike opened the passenger door to let Buffy and her little red-haired friend out. “Great. Just fucking great. How am I supposed to grab her now?”

Spike escorted the two girls up to the front door, and much to Ford’s chagrin the vampire did a big show of making sure they both got into the house. Then, the vampire strolled back to his car where he paused to pull out a cigarette to light up.

“I know you’re out there, Carl,” Spike said in a loud voice. “If Buffy doesn’t kick your arse, you can be sure I will.” Then the bleached blond got into his car.

Ford hissed in anger. William was not going to let him lose his prey this time. He was going to get a hold of Buffy, and he was going to give her to the female vampire. She would turn him, and he would live forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike headed back to the high school, hoping to catch Giles. After he parked, he walked towards the building where the library was located. He noticed a man in a suit and a briefcase walking towards the same building. Spike followed a few feet behind the man, who suddenly stopped.

“Oh God.” The man peered into the darkness. “Diedre?”

Spike caught up with the man just in time to see the dead woman lurch out of the darkness.

“Phillip,” the dead woman hissed.

Phillip backed up, but he fell over a curb. He glanced up at Spike, and he cried out, “Please help me!”

Spike sighed. He didn’t know this guy from Jack, but he knew Buffy wouldn’t like it if he let someone get hurt. He stepped in front of the dead woman. “Can’t let you kill the human.”

Spike slipped into game face, and he launched himself at the person who used to be Diedre. It was a short fight. As soon as Spike twisted her head from her body, she turned into a pile of slime. Spike turned towards the fallen man.

“Don’t kill me,” Phillip cried out.

“Come on, mate, if I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t have saved you from the zombie bint.” Spike shook off his vampiric visage. “Let’s get you inside. I’m sure Rupes has a glass of booze you can have.”

“You know Rupert?” Phillip looked skeptical, but he rose to his feet. He kept an eye on the vampire as he followed the bleached blond into the building.

The janitor shuffled up. He looked down at the slime. “Now what,” he sighed. As he turned to get his mop and bucket, the slime oozed over to encompass the janitor’s foot.