Chapter 3

*****
 

Spike prowled around his crypt like a caged tiger.  He could tell that he still had an hour until sunset - an hour until he could go and kill something.  And he *really* needed to kill something.  He felt edgy - off balance.  'Christ!  It was only a fucking dream - get a grip!' he told himself, fiercely.

But that was the problem.  It wasn't a dream.  His gut reaction was telling him something was going on.  Mojo of some sort, maybe?  He hated all that witchy crap.  'Maybe Red could try and find out... nah,' he dismissed the thought almost as soon as it occurred to him.  The less the Slayer and her minions knew about what was going on the better.  They'd find some way to blame it on him, he knew that.  It had to have something to do with what happened the other night.

Spike shook his head, slowly.  He hadn't felt anything 'off' about any of it.  But now Harris was in a coma - no, he *appeared* to be in a coma, and when Spike slept... well, wherever the hell Harris was, Spike was going along for the ride.  It was bloody unnerving.  And then, of course, there was the way Harris had behaved.  Spike was a hundred and - he couldn't quite remember years old - and you don't live that long without trying a few things.  And doing construction work did wonders for toning up bodies, even if their owners hid them under hideous Hawaiian shirts.  But Harris hated him, and the feeling was mutual, wasn't it?  Spike sighed, this was getting him nowhere.

Almost dark now.  Kill something on the way to the Slayer's place, and then - what?  He just hoped that they turned up something useful in one of those bloody books the Watcher loved so much.

*****

Spike arrived at Buffy's house just in time to see Riley storm out.  Spike hung back until he drove off, and then knocked on the door.  The door was flung open, and Buffy yelled, "I thought you..." stopping suddenly when she realised it was Spike.  "Oh, I thought..."

"...it was Soldier boy - yeah, I saw him take off.  Path of true love got potholes in it, eh, Slayer?"

"Shut up, Spike.  You're only here 'cos we need help with this Xander thing.  Don't push your luck - I have a stake with your name on it."

"Sorree... Christ, no sense of humour, some people."   Spike walked inside.  "Where's everyone else?"

"On their way here.  Giles left some books for you to make a start on.  There's blood in the fridge  -  you can have it later."  Buffy walked into the living room.  Spike followed, and picked up one of the books from the pile that Buffy pointed out to him.  

Spike had just picked up his third book when everyone else arrived.  He took the opportunity to nip out the back for a smoke, and when he came back in again, Willow,Tara and Giles were arguing.

"...well, I think it's worth a try, Giles.  We're getting nowhere with the books, and the doctors have no idea why Xander is still unconscious.  It's a very simple spell - Tara and I can cast it easily."

"I'm not questioning your ability, Willow.  I'm simply not sure why you think there might be magic involved."

"I don't - well, not for certain, anyway.  That's why I - we, want to do the spell."

"What spell?" asked Buffy, as she walked in from the kitchen and began handing out drinks, including a mug of blood for Spike.

"It's a simple ritual that will indicate whether Xander is under the influence of a spell or enchantment of some sort,"  explained Giles.  "Willow and Tara think that could be a possible reason for his condition." 

'Bingo!',  thought Spike, as he sipped his blood and tried to look as disinterested as possible.  Get Red to check out whether there's any mojo involved without having to suggest it himself.

"Can't hurt, can it, Watcher?  Like Red said, we're not having a whole lot of luck with the books now, are we?" Spike said, indicating the piles of books already read, that had yielded nothing useful at all.  Giles took off his glasses and started polishing them absently.

"I suppose it can't hurt.  And at least this way we can rule out magic.  Or not, as the case may be,"  he added, as Willow started to protest.  "However, it's too late to do it now.  We'll gather the supplies and do it tomorrow."

"That's settled then,"  said Buffy.  "Giles, I'm not much help with the research-doing anyway, so I think I'll go and patrol - I feel the need to do something right now."  Buffy got her jacket and gathered some stakes.  Spike quickly drained his mug then got up and walked over to her.

"Hang on a minute, Slayer, I'll come with you.  I feel like killing something myself."

Buffy sighed.  "If you have to.  But don't get in my way, OK?"

*****

It was a very tired but exhilarated Spike that stumbled through the crypt door many hours later.  He hadn't patrolled with Buffy -- he had hunted with the Slayer.  There was no other way of putting it.  He'd only just avoided being staked by her himself at one point.  Anything that had crossed her path tonight hadn't lived long enough to regret it.  He hadn't had such a good time in, God knows how long.  Not since he got this fucking chip, anyway.  He grabbed a bottle of whiskey and flung himself into the chair.  Right, time to think.

The witches were going to cast their spell tomorrow.  Well, later today, he thought as he caught a glimpse of the time.  If anything weird was going on, they'd find out.  So Spike figured he'd better ask some questions of his own when he got sucked into "Xander-world" again.  He took a long swig out of the bottle, and lit a cigarette.  He still had a couple of hours to kill before dawn.

*****

When Spike opened his eyes, he was standing in the middle of the living room.  But this time it was early evening, and the sun was just setting.  The television was on, but there was no sign of Xander.  Spike called his name, but there was no answer.  'OK,' thought Spike, 'this is different.'  Xander wasn't in the kitchen, so Spike headed down the hallway.  

He pushed open the bedroom door, to find Xander fast asleep in bed.  The duvet had slipped halfway off the bed, and he was only covered from his hips down.  Spike's eyes travelled down the broad chest, coming to rest on the nest of curls just peeking over the top of the duvet.  He swallowed - his mouth felt dry, his stomach tightened and he felt himself growing hard.   'Fuck. Me,'  thought Spike - he'd never expected this sort of reaction from seeing Harris half naked.

Lust he could cope with.  Nothing unusual for a vampire.  What unsettled Spike was the odd fluttering in the pit of his stomach - he'd felt it before, when the kid had wrapped his arms around him.  He'd felt like that with Dru too, when...  'Oh no.  Nonono - not going to start getting mushy over the kid.'  Falling for one of the Slayer's minions would not be the smartest move he'd ever made.  Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he walked over and shook Xander gently by the shoulder.  "Xander, you awake?"

Xander's eyes fluttered open.  "Oh, hey, Will.  Just had a nap - was feeling a little tired, you know.  What time is it?"

Spike looked around, then caught sight of the bedside clock.  "Quarter to 7 - time to get up and have dinner, eh?"

"I suppose.  Hey, Will, come here, I wanna ask you something," said Xander, grinning shyly.   As Spike leaned forward, Xander reached up and pulled him down on top of him.  "Will you kiss me, please?"  Xander wrapped his arms around Spike, grinding himself against him.

'Christ on a crutch,' thought Spike. 'If the boy remembers this in the real world, he'll stake me so fast...  But on the other hand...'  The arousal Spike had felt as he stood in the doorway now went into overdrive, and feeling the body underneath undulate against him was melting braincells at an incredible pace.

"Please, Will,"  Xander whispered, his lips soft against Spike's cheek.  Xander was hard - Spike could feel him pressing against his thigh.  Spike brought his lips to Xander's, and gave him a soft kiss.  Xander groaned and bucked against Spike.  Drawing on reserves of strength that Spike didn't even know he had, he rolled away from Xander and stood up next to the bed.  Xander started to protest, but Spike silenced him with a look.

"Xander.  We've got to talk.  Something is going on here, and I need to know if you know what that is."

Xander sighed.  "Yeah, I kinda figured something weird was going on.  You - one minute you're here and the next you're not, and time seems to jump around.  And I keep hearing things - voices - but there's no-one else here."

"OK.  Look, you get dressed, and I'll see what I can find to eat.  I think we both need to be fully clothed for this conversation,"  said Spike, as he headed off to the kitchen.

*****

Spike heated up a pizza, opened a couple of beers, and brought them into the living room.  He'd just put everything on the coffee table when Xander walked in.  They ate the pizza in silence, and then Xander turned to face Spike.

"Right, Will.  You brought up the subject of the general ooginess that is my life at the moment, so maybe you should start."

"Xander, do you know who you are?" At Xander's raised eyebrows, Spike huffed impatiently.  "I know you know your name, idiot.  I mean do you remember Who. You. Are?"  Xander's brow wrinkled as he considered the question.

"I know my name is Xander Harris, but I don't *remember* that - I just somehow *know* it.  Like I *know* that you're Will, and that I've wanted you for like, forever.  But I don't remember you.  In fact I don't remember anything.  I found myself sitting on this couch watching TV, not sure how long ago - it's like my life began then."  Xander seemed very calm as he spoke.  "But you knew me when you first appeared in the living room, didn't you?  So I'm pretty sure that you know a lot more than I do about what's going on."  Spike took a couple of seconds to digest this information.  The boy had wanted him for a long time?  OK, shelve that tidbit and think about it later.   Got to find out what's going on first.

"A couple more questions first, Xander, then I'll tell you what I know.  Do you know where we are, or why we're here?  I know you don't remember anything, but you said you just seemed to know some things."

"I know that this is supposed to be my apartment, but it's not, is it?  It's some sort of waiting room.  And no, before you ask, I don't know what I'm waiting for.  There's no way out of here, I've looked.  And somewhere inside, I know I should be totally freaked by all this, but I'm not.  I just have to wait here until..."  Xander's voice trailed off.

"Until what?" asked Spike.

"I don't know.  Just until, I guess.  Time jumps around  - I'm not sure how long I've been here.  It seems to be whatever time of day I want it to be.  Just like the TV always shows my favourite programs, and the fridge is full of whatever I want to eat at the time."

"Have you seen anyone but me here?"  asked Spike.

"No.  I wondered if that was because you were the only one I wanted to see, but I don't think that's what it is, exactly.  You're here because you're part of the waiting - you're part of what I'm here for."  Xander finished the last of his beer and motioned to Spike, "you want another one?"  When Spike nodded, Xander got up and went to the kitchen.

'Okaay...'  thought Spike. 'We're living in the middle of the soddin' "Twilight Zone".'  He half expected to hear Rod Serling's voice introducing this week's episode.  He looked up from his contemplation of the coffee table to find Xander watching him, holding out his beer.

"I hear strange sounds and voices sometimes.  There's this beeping noise - I thought it was an alarm clock, but it's not that.  And I hear voices, calling my name.  Sometimes there's a woman... It sounds like she's crying."  He looked sharply at Spike.  "You know who she is, don't you?  I've answered all your questions, Will.  Time for you to tell me a few things."

*****

The afternoon saw Giles, Tara and Willow in Xander's hospital room, trying to explain exactly what the spell would do, to a very agitated Anya.

"Anya," Willow said, "please calm down.  This is really only a very small ritual.  It will just tell us if Xander's had a spell cast on him.  All that will happen is that the crystal might change colour.  Nothing can go wrong -"  Anya snorted in disbelief, cutting off Willow's explanation.

"Spells are always going wrong, especially if you have anything to do with them.  And Xander has enough problems already."

This argument had been going on for some time when Giles finally intervened.  "All right you two, that's enough.  Willow, if Anya doesn't want the spell to be cast, then we have to respect her wishes.  And if Xander is under an enchantment, I'm sure we'll find out eventually."  That should do it, thought Giles.  Sure enough, Anya started to protest that, of course, she wanted to find out if someone had done something magical to Xander.  It was finally decided that Tara and Willow would do the ritual together, with Giles supervising.

They had prepared all the spell ingredients earlier.  It only took a few moments for the herbs to be placed into the bowls, which were placed at Xander's feet and over his heart.  A clear crystal was then placed over his 'third eye' in the centre of his forehead.  Tara lit the candles, and a prayer of purification was said.

"OK," said Willow, "Giles and Anya, can you stand at the foot of the bed, and Tara and I will stand on either side."  Willow poured a little liquid from a blue bottle she had brought with her into each of the bowls, and then she and Tara joined hands over Xander and began to chant.  A golden haze rose from each bowl.  It swirled around, curling in and out of Xander's body.  As their chanting reached its peak, the haze gathered around the crystal on Xander's forehead.  The crystal began to glow with a bright golden light that pulsed as they watched it.  As they said the last few words, the crystal grew brighter and brighter until the whole room was filled with a blinding light.  Then with a flash it was gone.  They all blinked, the room seeming suddenly very dark with only the candles lighting it.

"Oh wow," said Tara, "look at the crystal!"  The crystal was glowing with a clear blue light that pulsed gently.

"Well?"  said Anya, impatiently.  "What does it mean?"

"I don't know," said Willow, slowly.  "It wasn't supposed to do that."

"What do you mean, 'it wasn't supposed to do that'?  What *was* it supposed to do?  Giles, you were supposed to make sure that nothing went wrong.  What did they do wrong?"

"I don't believe that they did anything wrong, Anya.  We just didn't get the expected result.  If no magic had been detected, the crystal would have remained clear.  If Xander was under some form of enchantment, the crystal should have turned pink. Obviously we have detected something else; we just don't know exactly what that is - yet."

"Don't tell me," said Willow with a sigh, "back to the books?"

"I don't know that that will help this time," said Giles, to everyone's surprise.  "I think I may have to make a phone call or two."
 

*****

End of Chapter 3 

Chapter 4