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Future Sins Past by DreamsofSpike
 
Explanations
 
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A/N: Thanks to my wonderful beta, Eowyn315!!! :)



“Okay, Giles, do *not* freak out,” Buffy ordered as she threw open the door of her Watcher’s apartment and led the odd little procession inside. “The evil vampires are completely under control.”

“Good Lord!”

Giles gasped at the sight of a rather subdued Angel, who had a firm grip on Willow’s arm and was pulling her along beside him into the apartment. Spike followed them, keeping a watchful eye on both wayward vampires as he closed the door quietly behind them.

“Just for the record, Giles…you might wanna ditch the ‘Welcome’ mat,” Buffy dryly advised her Watcher, though she was privately relieved that he had it, just this once.

She did not want to even imagine trying to convince him to invite Willow inside.

“Buffy, what’s happened?” Jenny asked, surprise and alarm in her dark eyes as Buffy flounced to the couch and threw herself down with overdramatic weariness.

As they all gathered in the Watcher’s living room, Xander came out of Giles’ bedroom, drawn from his extended pout by the sound of the commotion outside.

The Slayer gave her teacher and Giles each a dark look in turn before giving her attention back to Spike and declaring, “That’s what I’d like to know. But…I think it’s gonna be kind of confusing, so I wanted you to hear it, too, Giles. That way you might be able to help me figure it out.”

“It’s not really all that complicated,” Spike insisted with a shrug, turning away from Buffy’s glare to face the Watcher. “What do you know about vampire bonding rituals? Relationship between sire and childe and all that?”

“I know a fair bit,” Giles confessed with a modest nod. “But I’d like to know a fair bit more about what these two are doing in my living room!” He gestured vaguely toward Angel and Willow, his expectant gaze passing back and forth between the Slayer and the blond vampire.

“Well…it’s like this,” Spike began, drawing in a deep breath. “I went to try and take Red out. You know…so the Slayer wouldn’t have to, and…the thing of it is…she’s got a lot more power than I’d thought…*magic* power…and she nearly bloody killed me! I was lucky to get me and the poufter out of there alive…”

“Some visions,” Xander sneered, one eyebrow raised in doubtful contempt. “Would have thought you’d have seen an important thing like that, Spike.”

“Why exactly was saving Angel necessary?” Giles interrupted, frowning suspiciously as he turned his eyes on Angel, ignoring Xander’s comment for the moment. “He’s a murderer, even with the dubious benefit of his rather unstable soul. Why on earth did you see fit to rescue him from Willow?”

“Because he’s the only one who can soddin’ well control her right now,” Spike explained. “That’s where the claims and bonds and such come in. She was preparing to do this ritual…she was going to resire him, claim the sire’s rights to control him, and then use him against us.”

“Okay, wait…*resire* him?” Buffy echoed uncertainly. “That’s possible? How can she make him a vampire again if he’s already a vampire?”

“Oh, wait…I believe I came across something about that in a text I was reading…just a moment…”

Giles hastily excused himself, crossing the room to the large bookshelf that housed the items from his collection that he had deemed most valuable; the greater part of his library was in storage, as the tiny apartment would hardly begin to hold it. The Watcher kept part of his attention on the conversation still going on in the living room as he searched for the book he needed.

“It’s not exactly making him a vampire again,” Spike patiently answered Buffy’s question. “It’s…well, it’s giving him life again…of a sort. In order for the ritual to work, she had to drain him to the edge of dusting…”

“A vampire can dust from being drained?”

Spike nodded. “Completely, totally drained, yes. Now, a vamp can’t starve to death, ‘cause there’s always a trace of blood left in our bodies, no matter how long it’s been since we’ve eaten. We don’t…don’t use it up, exactly, like humans do with their food. It’s an entirely different process. But if another vampire drains one…takes *all* their blood…then it would dust him, see?”

“Okay,” Buffy acknowledged slowly, though her brow was still wrinkled with confusion.

“So, if she drains him almost completely…just like in turning a human…then saves his life by giving him her own blood…just like turning a human…it’s a resiring. She’s responsible for the fact that he’s dyin’, and she’s responsible for the fact that he’s even soddin’ existing again, so she takes on the sire’s rights. Understand?” Spike paused, searching Buffy’s expression to make sure she was following him.

Buffy nodded again, silent, watching him closely and waiting for him to go on.

“And, with a newly sired vamp like that, the sire’s got a lot of power, love. There’s a certain…well, a *tone*…she can use, that leaves him no bloody *choice* but to obey her…”

“The sire’s voice.”

Buffy turned her attention toward Giles, as he crossed the room to join them again, his finger pressed against a spot on the open book he held in his other hand. “The what’s that again?”

“The sire’s voice,” Giles repeated, reading from the page. “‘A vampire sire may exercise virtually complete control over its fledgling childe by making use of the sire’s voice. This is a method whereby the elder vampire places the whole of its authority as sire behind its words and tone, and thereby compels the younger to obedience.’”

Spike stared at him for a moment, before nodding in his direction and shrugging at Buffy.

“What he said.”

Buffy considered for a moment before deciding, “I like what you said better.”

“I don’t like any of it,” Xander put in. “I mean…if that’s true, and that’s what she was doing, then…then why don’t vampires just do that all the time?”

“Because it’s bloody dangerous.” Spike directed his answer to the Slayer, not even acknowledging the surly boy who had spoken. “If the vamp attempting the resiring’s not strong enough…hasn’t got enough power to handle the role of sire, the power and rights he’s takin’ on…the ritual can end up dusting ‘em both.”

“But…Willow’s magical power…made her able to handle it without the risk?” Buffy guessed cautiously, frowning in the direction of her sullen, glaring, but silent former friend.

“No…Willow’s insane thirst for *more* power made her willing to *take* the risk,” Spike amended, eyeing the redheaded witch-vampire with mingled suspicion and disgust. “No telling how it would have come out, because she only got as far as draining him. I got us both the bloody hell out of Dodge before she could finish.”

“I’m still not comprehending why they’re both *here*,” Giles reminded him, one eyebrow raised in an impatient challenge.

“To keep her from doing the ritual…I did it myself,” Spike finally explained. “So, I’m the pouf’s sire now…and he’s *Red’s* sire…which means that she’s under his control, and he’s under mine.”

Xander’s contempt for the blond vampire was clear in his tone as he asked, “And this is preferable to just staking them because…?”

Spike did not answer for a moment, heavily feeling the weight of every eye in the room on him, as they all waited to hear what he would say. When he did speak, his voice was low and subdued, his eyes downcast as he addressed his words to Buffy.

“Thought…thought there might still be a chance. Maybe get her bloody soul back or somethin’. So the Slayer doesn’t have to lose her friend.”

No one spoke for a long moment. Buffy stared at Spike with wide, solemn eyes, feeling a suspicious lump in her throat and a strange prickling behind her eyes, as she realized the tremendous risk he had gone to, simply to spare her additional pain. She thought again of what Miss Calendar had said about Spike, and what she believed he felt for her…and wondered.

“There’s just one problem with that sweet little sentiment, Spike,” Xander’s caustic words shattered the moment. “She’s already lost her. Our friend is *dead*. All that’s left is the demon who took her place.”

“That’s not true,” Spike said resentfully, raising his eyes to glare in the boy’s direction. “She’s still who she always was, just…with a few parts added, and a few taken away. She’s still Willow. Give her back her bloody soul…or conscience…or whatever you lot want to call it…and she’ll do just fine.”

“Yeah,” Xander agreed sarcastically. “’Cause the soul did Angel so much good, didn’t it? He’s still the same selfish bastard he was without it…”

“No, he’s still the same selfish bastard he’s always been!” Spike corrected him, his voice rising, trembling with emotion. “The human he was before was just as worthless as he is now, that’s the bloody problem! Not the soul or lack of it. You lot don’t have the first soddin’ clue…!”

“You guys just *stop*!” Buffy commanded, rising to her feet and moving to stand between the two, who were now facing each other in a tense standoff. “Stop it! This isn’t helping anything, okay? Xander…just back off.”

The young man’s eyes widened in shock when he found himself singled out for her rebuke, but Buffy did not notice as she turned back toward Spike, a serious but hopeful expression in her wide emerald eyes.

“Spike…is there really a chance? I mean…in the future…what did you see?”

Spike shook his head, frowning regretfully. “Sorry, love. Haven’t seen this. It’s just based on what I know. In the future I saw…Willow never got her soul back, so…”

“In the future you saw, she didn’t have magical powers, either,” Xander pointed out with a petty triumph in his voice. “So I’m thinking that your phony visions aren’t worth shit, Spike! I’m thinking you’ve made all this crap up just so we won’t stake your stupid, worthless ass! I’m thinking…”

“I’m thinking if I was bloody well making this up, you’d be soddin’ *dead* by now!” Spike whirled around and snarled in the boy’s face, his eyes flashing golden as he struggled to rein in his rising fury. “I haven’t got a bloody chip anymore, boy, and it’d do you well to remember that!”

“Okay, okay…” Buffy moved to stand between them again, rolling her eyes in frustration.

“Yes, Buffy’s quite right,” Giles put in, his impatience showing in his voice. “This is accomplishing nothing.” He hesitated for a moment before turning toward the young man. “Xander…I believe it’d be best if you’d return to my room for the moment, as you don’t seem to be capable of controlling your emotions at the moment. Not that I can blame you, truth be told…but it’s simply complicating the matter. You understand.”

Xander stared at him in stunned disbelief, slowly turning his eyes on the Slayer, who was now facing him with a firm expression on her face…clearly taking her Watcher’s side on the issue.

Taking *Spike’s* side.

Against him.

“Oh, I *understand*!” Xander practically spat the words out. “I *understand* that you’ve all lost your minds! I can’t believe this! I can’t believe you’re willing to listen to this lying murderer over me! I can’t believe…”

“Xander. Go.”

Buffy’s voice was soft, but her tearful eyes were filled with determination, and Xander knew that she was on the verge of enforcing her request, if he did not comply with it. He nodded slowly, a bitter smile forming on his lips.

“Okay,” he said in a soft voice, nearly a whisper. “Okay…I’ll go.” Without another word, he turned and headed toward the door.

“Xander, wait! It’s not…” The door slammed hard enough to make Buffy flinch, and her voice dropped as she finished, “…safe.”

Spike placed a hand on her shoulder, and she turned troubled, questioning eyes on him as he shrugged and pointed out reassuringly, “Safe as it ever is, love. The greatest danger’s in here with us, and not really a danger at all at the moment. Might not be the worst idea to give the little wanker his space.” He paused before muttering, “Know *I* won’t be complaining…”

“All right, then,” Giles cleared his throat, and drew both Spike’s and Buffy’s attention back to him. “Let me be sure I’ve got this straight. You now have control over Angel, and he has control over Willow…but you don’t have direct control over Willow?”

“Right. Only the immediate sire.”

“So, that explains Angel’s continued existence.” The Watcher’s ice blue eyes narrowed on the eldest vampire, and there was enough menace in his gaze to send a shiver down Spike’s spine, despite the rather relieving fact that it was not aimed at him. “So it’d be possible to resire Willow…and thus eliminate the need for the third party Angel presents?”

Spike shook his head with an apologetic grimace. “Much as I’d like that option…no. Doesn’t work that way, mate. See…the vamp being resired’s gotta willingly take the blood…same as a human victim. ’S part of the process, they’ve got to accept it. And Red’s not gonna do that. Can’t do the ritual with any sort of binding on her, anyway. Wouldn’t work. And the second we take the bonds off her and let her move or speak at all, she’s gonna start working her mojo again and bloody well kill us all.”

Giles was quiet for a long moment, taking in the seriousness of their situation.

“I understand that you hope to find a way to spare her. To…to restore her.”

“I think we can. I…I *believe* we can,” Spike nodded slowly, his jaw setting with determination.

“Spike…why *didn’t* you see what Willow was going to do? With the resiring and all?” Buffy asked, a puzzled frown on her face.

“Because, in the future I saw, this all didn’t happen ‘til much later, love. It was years in the future, and Red had developed her magic to a point that was bloody scary. And that was when Angelus turned her. So…I just naturally assumed, since she hadn’t learned all the soddin’ mojo yet, it wouldn’t happen that way. Thought I’d be able to take her, since she was turned before she became a full-fledged witch, yeah?”

Buffy nodded, taking that in. “Makes sense. Guess there’s more to the way magic works than we realized.” Her voice was grim and troubled as she turned her eyes once more on her friend.

Willow just glared at her with breathtaking malice in her eyes.

Buffy suppressed a shudder as she looked to Miss Calendar. “You know some magic…so…do you think it’s possible? To restore Willow’s soul, and bring her back to us?”

The gypsy teacher looked between the two girls, nodding slowly. “I think it’s worth a try…don’t you?”

A tear slipped down Buffy’s face as she glanced once more at the hate-filled face of her former friend, and then quickly away. “Yes,” she replied softly. “I do.”
 
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