See No Evil

A/N: Chapter sixty four of the series.

Disclaimer: All belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in airing the shows.

Feedback: Sure, as you wish.

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Outskirts of London, England

December 2017

Spike smiled and a strange laughter erupted from his mouth.

There he was, a master vampire, about to kill a slayer when a man, a glorified bricklayer, stood on his way.

"Xander Harris." Spike finally spoke. "Got to say, never thought you'd know how to use a daisho."

"Live in Japan." Xander replied. "And it's no longer Harris. It's Giles."

"What?"

"I'm Giles' son now."

"The old git adopted you?"

"Don't call him that."

Spike chuckled and shook his head.

"God, this reality keeps getting weirder and weirder. Swell, now, could you get out of the way? I've got to kill a slayer."

"No. You won't kill another slayer." Xander replied. "You'll have to get through me first."

Spike laughed, a full, deep laughter that made Xander's pulse jump.

"How do you propose you'll do that?" Spike asked. "And I'm not an idiot, Harris, you haven't looked me in the eye. Something wrong wit' 'em?
"Guess we couldn't ever hide something from you." Xander sighed. "I'm blind."

"Really?"

"As a bat."

"Man, this just keeps getting better and better." Spike chuckled. "And you think you'll be able to stop me?"

"Maybe not." Xander replied. "But I won't let you kill any more of my girls."

"You sound like Giles now." Spike noted. "But you lack the years of experience. Now, please give us a second."

Spike turned around, grabbed the nearest demon running madly on the battle field and growled at it. The demon seemed to understand to some extent, and one of its large hands grabbed the hilt of the sword embedded in Spike's body, and pulled it out.

Spike growled and Xander grimaced when he heard the muscle and bone rip as the blade exited the vampire's body. Spike shook and grabbed the sword out of the demon's hand, who ran away and tackled a group of soldiers.

"Ok, now that we got that out of the soddin' way, where were we?"

"I smell blood." Xander said. "You are injured."

"Yup. Slayer girl here used me as a pin cushion. Hurt like hell. Now I'm ready."

"Get out of here, Vi." Xander said. "Go back to base camp. Ask a medic to check you."

"Xander, you won't be able to fight him, he..."

"Victoria! Do as I tell you!" Xander shouted. Vi lowered her head, and noticed the small puddle of blood formed at her feet. She knew she wouldn't help much in the battlefield, and she'd just probably bleed to death there.

"Take care, Xander." She whispered as she scampered away. Spike saw her move in obvious pain and smirked.
"Don't go too far, sweetie." The vampire said. "Couldn't taste you. You smell delicious."

"Spike! I'm your enemy now!"

Xander did not wait, and knew he would only get the element of surprise for a split second, so he closed his useless eyes, wished he could have seen Willow's face one more time, and struck with his katana.

Spike barely ducked in time and rolled. But Xander fixed on the vampire's smell and followed his every movement, wielding his wakisashi upside down, bringing it down in a stabbing motion, hoping to catch the vampire unaware.

Spike twisted on the floor and kicked in a whirlwind motion before standing up. Spike's face had turned into a huge smile, not believing what the bricklayer was doing.

"I'm impressed, Harris, you do know how to wield that weapon."

"I trained, Spike." Xander replied. "Had too much time."

"No longer a construction worker, I see."

"I am a watcher."

"Kinda ironic, don't you think?" Spike chuckled. "A blind watcher? That's just cruel."

"What's cruel is this war." Xander spread his arms. "What will it accomplish?"

"Every thing happens for a reason." Spike replied and swung the sword against Xander. The blind watcher countered with is blade, and both danced to the sound of metal clashing against metal.

"Not bad, Harris, not bad."

"I told you." Xander grunted as he shook from the impact of the swords. "The name is Giles."

"Right. 'Cause the name Harris wasn't good enough for you?" Spike asked as he struck again. "What's the matter, Harris? Didn't want the name? Was too ashamed of it? Thought you were better?"

"Giles was more of a father than..."

"Than the drunk that beat you and the mother who didn't give a rat's ass about you? Is that it, Harris? You thought that changing your name you could make up for the pathetic excuse that you and your family were?"

"I was a kid back then, Spike." Xander said, not wanting to let his temper flare. "My parents didn't give a rat's ass for me, like you said, but then again, they weren't my family."

"Oh, no, all your fuck ups are only yours, Harris." Spike chuckled. "You may change your name, you may change were you live, you may even change what you believe in, but you'll always be that same stupid kid who wanted to live through someone else."

"Right, and what about you, Spike?" Xander asked. "Or should I call you William? Mr. William Pratt, a scholar who excelled in literature? That's how I should refer to you?"

Spike's answer was laughter again, which caused blood to sputter out of his injuries.

"Good one. The Spike you know? Don't know how he behaves, but I? I am nothing like that. I've had centuries to change what I used to be. You? You suck, Xander Harris, plain and simple."

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Spike asked, genuinely shocked. "Sorry for what? Existing?"

"For what we did to you." Xander replied. "We grew up, Spike. Those days, we were just kids. We were frightened and had dealt with things most adults don't even realize. We lashed out at the clearest scapegoat, and that was you. We feared and hated your kind, and you had been one of the worst. We seized the opportunity to mock you when you couldn't fight back, and we never thanked you for what you did for us. You saved us a lot that summer, Spike, and I wanted to say thank you, and sorry."

"What, do they put lead in the water in Japan or what?" Spike asked. "I don't even remember what you're talking about, Harris. I've seen versions of you, you know? Countless of them, and you have always been the weak link. You want to say you're sorry? Fine. But you're doing it to ease your guilt, boy. You do it because you think there's some sort of redemption if you repent. Because you've been a joke in all the multiverse, and thinks this makes you a better man."

Xander frowned.

"Me? I've done a lot of things, Harris. I've enjoyed them and I took the full brunt of it. I knew the consequences and I did it. You apologizing? It's because you know what I can do. Because you still fear me. Because you want to die with a clean slate. But guess what? I don't accept your apologies. I don't even care about them. I don't care about you. What I tell you? It's my job, Harris. I don't care if you were an unhappy kid. All I have to do is kill you to get to the slayers, and then I'll be on my way, so..."

Spike swung the sword again, and Xander's arm felt numb from blocking the strong attack. He was honestly sorry for how he'd been as a young man, but it seemed his enemy didn't want to hear about it. He focused again on the fight and knew he wouldn't be able to fend off the vampire for long.

Xander saw something in Spike's eyes, before something as hard as a hammer slammed into his side. The watcher choked and wondered over the pain why he hadn't heard or smelt the attack coming.

As he doubled over, a feeling of fire spreading over his body, Xander guessed the different scents and sounds on the field had confused him, and fending off Spike was no small feature at all.

When he fell to the ground, he gripped his swords harder, ready to strike as soon as he found enough leverage, but a sharp pain in his left leg broke all concentration and the ability to lean on it for balance.

He struggled not to howl, and instinctively let go of the wakizashi in order to check his leg. He found a sharp metal blade lodged in it, blood flowing freely.

"Spike, you tricky bastard." He spat out, but he couldn't see the look of confusion on Spike's face, nor he could see the look of utter joy on Angelus' face, his hand gripping the sword now embedded on his leg.

"You were playing with your food, Spike." Angelus chuckled. "Looks like something I'd do, but the game isn't all that cracked up when the mouse is blind."

"The mouse put up a better fight than most." Spike noted, having the time to check the still bleeding injury on his chest.

"What happened?" Angelus asked, and he twisted the sword on Xander's leg, causing the blind man to finally howl in pain.

"The bloke's still got a sword in one hand." Spike noted, and Angelus wasted no time before kicking Xander's right hand, causing the bone to break and the katana to fly away.

"Fixed." Angelus growled. "Now, what are we going to do with him?"

"He's already down." Spike said. "Just knock the wanker out and let's get going."

"What's the rush, William?" Angelus asked. Spike growled. "We can have our fun with him. I seem to remember rather demeaning nicknames, don't you? What were they, monkey boy?"

"I won't give you the satisfaction." Xander muttered. Angelus laughed and drove the sword deeper and twisted it even more, enjoying the sudden scream.

"You have never been fun, Xander." Angelus chuckled. "You sure are a waste of space."

"Either let him go or kill him." Spike muttered. "We can't waste our time here."

"You know, I'm getting tired of this follow the Spike shit." Angelus growled as he removed the sword from Xander's leg. "Maybe I don't want to listen to you."

"Fine." Spike said, shrugging. "Don't."

"And what's with Dusilla's actions? She seems a bit...weird."

"You made her insane." Spike replied.

"Not like that, you asshole! I mean she sounds all sane and stuff." Angelus shot back.

"She's always been like this." Spike answered. "You just had to spend enough time with her."

Spike looked down and kicked Xander's head, knocking the man out. Angelus frowned and lifted his sword, ready to jam it in Xander's body. Spike's hand once again stopped him.

"I swear to God, William, if you don't remove the hand you'll lose it!" Angelus growled. Spike chuckled and was about to reply when a female's voice stopped them.

"Arguing already, boys?"

Spike and Angelus turned to stare at Buffy's frame, smiling at them both.