Willow Rosenberg, having gleaned what she can from Spike’s memories, is addressing the Scooby Gang: Xander, Dawn, Giles, Buffy and Spike are all present and Willow’s tone is deadly serious.

“Here’s what we know: Spike isn’t the one killing people. Right now, that’s about all we know for sure. But we can guess there’s some sort of link between Spike and the killer, because Spike’s seeing his crimes as they happen.”

Spike perks up, relieved at his lack of physical involvement. “And seeing myself doing them. Which is not conducive to keen observation of clues.”

“We don’t expect you to,” Giles tells him, still feeling bad for the testing earlier. “There’s a better way to use the link against the killer. We’ll magically send someone’s astral form into your mind while you sleep. They’ll be able to go far deeper than our surface scans. Gather intelligence even you may not be aware of.”

Spike nods and then turns to Xander in haste. “I hate to ask mate, but do you think…”

But Willow interrupts him. “Here’s the thing: the person’s astral form is detected and killed, they die in real  life. It needs to be someone powerful, someone who can fight. Giles and I are both needed here, to guide the spell. So our best bet is…”

The whole room, just as Willow finishes speaking, is staring at Buffy.

Spike still has Xander in mind however. “No offence, but could it be anyone else? Xander’s a dab hand with the stake these days. I’ve seen it.”

Xander looks at him, confused. “Okay, I don’t know what that means, but I doubt I’m as ‘dab’ a hand as a Slayer.”

Buffy folds her arms and looks at Spike. Scowling, she speaks. “Something wrong with me?”

“Of course, not. I just…” Spike puts his hand to his head, worried. “My head’s a bit of a mess. Lots of things in there I wouldn’t want you to see.”

“Spike, I know what you did before you had a soul.”

Spike smiles, but still is hesitant. “One thing to know, actually seeing it’s quite another.”

“I’ll have my eyes on the prize,” Buffy tells him, moving closer to him. “I won’t go poking around in your memories any more than I have to.”

“Yeah. That’s the thing, innit? What if you see who I am now, who I really am inside,” He looks down at the ground now. “… and you don’t like it?”

“Spike, I get it,” Buffy says, coming toward him. She puts her hands to either side of his face, and smiles. “I’d feel the same way. But people have died and more of them are gonna die if we don’t do this. The guy you are now isn’t going to let that happen.”

He smiles at her, acceptance in his eyes. “Well, when you put it that way…” He turns to the group, mainly looking at Willow and Giles. “Right, let’s do this. And let the chips fall where they may.”

“Spike,” Buffy says, stopping as the gang all start to move, selecting what they need from Giles’s shelf. She kisses him, straight on the lips passionately. “For luck,” she whispers.

Xander finds the humour, turning to no one in particular to quip. “That’s what Princess Leia said to Luke, and it turned out they were…”

Dawn slaps him comically on the side of his head, and he smiles at her. “I’m not helping am I?”

Giles turns to Spike, all serious, business at hand. For a moment, he seems to forget he’s twelve years old. “Spike, I’m going to cast a sleep spell on you. It won’t work if you’re resisting me.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Spike sighs. “I’m on bloody board. So if you have trouble, don’t blame me for your lack of magic…” And then, in seconds, to Buffy’s surprise, Spike is snoring loudly.

Buffy turns to Giles with a smile. “Is it me, or are you better at this than you used to be?”

“In my old life, I repressed my natural magical talent,” the former Watcher says, blushing slightly at the compliment. “The one silver lining of being this age is that I have a second chance to develop it.”

Willow comes behind Buffy now, places her hand on her shoulder. “Okay, your turn. I’ll be in contact, so I can guide you to a point, but I won’t see what you’re seeing. I’ll just get emotional impressions. So tell me anything you think could help us. Locations, names…”

Buffy’s voice is gentle and hesitant and she whispers to her friend. “What if he’s right?”

Willow sighs and then smiles, placing her hand on Buffy’s head. “This may drip with the bitterness of the recently single, but if truly seeing what’s inside the person you’re with makes you not want to be with them, maybe you shouldn’t be with them.”

“Great pep talk, coach. Colour me reassured.” Willow shares her grin and begins. “All right,” Buffy says. “Let’s get this over with.”

She’s asleep in minutes.

Something’s wrong. I’m just in Spike’s bedroom… Oh!

Buffy? Can you hear me. What are you seeing?

Um… Last night, from a whole new perspective.

Here we find the benefits in my not being able to directly see what you do. And don’t worry, I’m only hearing your thoughts, and vice versa. It makes sense though. That’s the most recent, most intense memory in Spike’s mind. You’d naturally be drawn there. Now it’s time for you to take control of the journey. Try to be directed by your thoughts, not his.

Easy for you to say. I don’t know what that’s supposed to feel like. Do I just wish it, or… Hold on, something’s happening. Think I’m… Oh.

Oh, wow.

What do you see?

Kind of everything, I mean, recent stuff, but things I wasn’t there for… and I… I’m getting impressions of how he feels.

Are you..? Is it okay?

He… He really loves me, Will. I can feel it. It’s not some storybook, pure love. There’s fear and lust… doubt about himself, that he doesn’t deserve it… an instinct to run… That getting hurt now is better than later.

Sometimes I annoy the Hell out of him. Sometimes he thinks he’d be better off with someone else, or no one. All the things I feel sometimes too. And would never say.

But that’s all temporary. Fleeting. What stays… what’s always there is love.

That’s great, sweetie. And I know you want to linger there, but I need you to go further.

Okay. Hang on. I think I’m at the part where he left town last year…

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!

He slept with HARMONY?

Well, you weren’t together then, so…

You don’t see what I do! I mean, HARMONY! Much more Harmony than I ever needed to see!

Buffy, listen to me. I think I’m figuring this out… You’re not traveling through time, You’re in Spike’s memories. Look at Harmony…

I’d rather not!

…And then look at yourself. See if there’s a difference.

He… I, I don’t actually look like that. I mean, maybe on my best day. Am I glowing?

You’re seeing yourself as Spike sees you. I’m guessing he doesn’t quite view anyone else in quite the same light, does he?

Okay. Thanks. Sorry. I freaked. This is all kind of intense…

It’s going to get more so. I need you to look for something specific.

And here it is.

Remember, it’s not real. We know for a fact he didn’t do that.

Sure, yeah.

Look for any sign of who that really is. It might not be obvious. You mentioned seeing a glow. An aura around yourself. Maybe…

There it is. Almost a trail of shadow darkness. I can follow it.

Great. That’s exactly what we need. Even if you can’t follow it to the source, a general idea of where it’s going…

I know where it’s going. Into the past. Spike’s past.

Okay. That actually makes sense. We know there’s a link between Spike and the killer. It could go back a ways. Be careful, Buffy.  The Deeper you go, the more dangerous it’s likely to get.

Oh my God. This is him getting his soul back. I never knew the pain… And he chose it, Willow. Even without a soul, he made this choice to go through this… for me.

So his connection to our target extends to before that. I was starting to figure as much. Keep going, Buffy. If I’m right about how this works, the trail should get stronger from here. But honey, it’s also going to get harder.

Oh. Will… He’s… he’s killing them… And enjoying it.

You knew this was coming. It’s not him. Not the way he is now.

I know… I know.

I’m fine, Willow. Laser focused on the target. Just ignoring everything else.

Think we might’ve hit a dead end. I’m getting to the moment where Drusilla sired him, and the trail seems to…

Willow! What’s happening? All I can see now is Drusilla!

The shadow you’ve been following… it’s got to be linked to Spike through her. Can you still see it?

Yes! But I can’t stop… It’s like I’m on a roller coaster!

Then you’re not in charge of the journey anymore. It is.

Oh, God… Angelus…

Darla…

The Master…

Willow, I can’t take any more of this. When is it going to… WHUFF!

Okay. I thought the whole point of astral forms is that they’re not solid.

Buffy? Losing…. You…

SLAYER. SO KIND OF YOU TO VISIT. I AM ARCHAEUS.

Ah, crap.

WELCOME TO MY HUMBLE HELL.

Willow! Get me out of here!

Willow?

Willow!

In the apartment, Dawn is frantically trying to wake Buffy and is screaming her name. “Buffy? Buffy!”

Willow looks up at her in panic. “I can’t wake her up!” She immediately turns to Giles, trying to break the link between the sleeping pair. “Giles! Wake Spike up!”

“Yes. Of course.” Giles calls, reacting quickly. However, he discovers he’s having similar issues. “I can’t,” he yells.

“We have to do something!” Xander yells. “Something is killing Buffy!”

“No!” Spike and Buffy both wake up in a start, both looking nervous. There’s a tinge of fear on Buffy’s face.

Spike turns to the Slayer before he checks anything else. “Buffy! Are you?”

She nods at him, smiling. Although her head is pounding. “I’m okay. I’ll be fine.” She shakes herself more awake and looks straight at Willow. “It was a Hell dimension. The demon didn’t want to let me go. So I pushed the other way. Broke through the illusion and figured out where he is now – just before you pulled me out.”

She then turns, makes sure she addresses all her friends in their eyes. “He’s here. On our world. In our city. He called himself Archaeus.”

Giles is perturbed, turning to his volumes and flicking through the Codex. “Literally, ‘the Old One.’ I’ve run across the name before, while researching the Master. Archaeus sired him, directly.”

“Right,” Xander nods, But then he raises his hand, a question to ask. “A vampire’s made when part of a demon’s essence enters a human body. But does that mean when that vampire sires someone, the same demon..?”

Giles nods, closing the book. “That is the leading theory among Watchers. If true, it means offshoots of Archaeus’s essence then entered Darla, Angelus, Drusilla and Spike. That would explain why you had the dreams and saw yourself in the place of Archaeus.”

Buffy is stunned at this. How has this never come up before? “Angel and Spike? I literally fell in love with the same guy, twice?”

Spike is just as surprised. “Wait, Dru too? I was with myself?” Then he turns to Buffy, noticing her wording. “Did you say ‘love?’”

“Uh.” Sheepishly, the Slayer blushes and looks away. Thankfully for her, Giles has more to say.

“It’s not quite that simple. A vampire isn’t just the demon. It’s a combination of the demon’s essence and the human host’s persona, often it’s darkest aspects. But, yes, it now appears that with very powerful demons like Archaeus there is a common thread, and that, to a degree, they can exert influence on their ‘descendants.’”

Willow is visibly concerned. “If this Archaeus is here, we need to stop him. He’s only going to get stronger. Did you see where he is in the city.”

“The waterfront,” Buffy shrugs. “Sorry. I wish I could get more specific. I should know the area when I see it though.”

“Okay, we need to go now,” Willow says, grabbing her coat. “Before he can relocate.”

As the gang load up and head for the door, Spike calls Buffy back. It’s not a question, it’s more of a command. “Slayer. A minute of your time.”

He turns to her, head lowered. “What you saw in there…”

“Spike,” she stops him, holding his hand. “You were right.” She looks away from him from a moment, choosing her words carefully. She smiles when she speaks again. “There was a lot of bad.” And then she has tears in her eyes. “And some things so beautiful, they’re worth a hundred years of bad.”

He smiles back at her as she moves off towards her room. “I’ll be honest – it’s a lot to process. And it’ll take time before I really know how I feel about it all. When I do, I’ll tell you. But in the meantime…” She comes back into the room, ornate sword in her hand, one of her favourites. She hands the hilt towards him. “We’ve got work.”

Almost forty minutes later, the Scooby Gang walks into a warehouse at the dock front, fully armed and ready. As they enter the large space, Giles notes that there is no sound. “You hear that? No sea lion. No birds. Nothing.”

Buffy looks around, trying to recognise the place from her dream walk. “This feels like the place. But there was a definite underground component.”

“Lots of huge storm drains in the city,” Xander says, looking around at the sewage systems. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few under here.”

“Spread out,” Buffy says, and each of the group take a sector of the warehouse. “Be ready for anything. He may know we’re coming. See if you can find a trapdoor, or hatch or…”

A yell from Willow gets their attention as several vampires come snarling down from the rafters.

“Incoming!”

Spike grunts in annoyance. “Ah, Hell. He’s got minions.” As he swings his sword at one vampire, the ground beneath them starts to quake. Spike yells loudly. “They’ve caught us in an ambush!”

Suddenly, a large monstrous demon comes from the ground beneath them, cracking through solid concrete like it’s paper. When he rises to his full height, the demon stands as tall as the building. As it unfurls the bone like spines from his back, like a spider in it’s web, Xander whispers at Spike. “That needs minions?”

Willow yells in frustration as one of her spells backfires, causing a small spark to shock her hand. “Great. Mystic shield. He’s a spell-caster too.”

The demon, turns to Willow, its jagged, bone covered face snarling at her personally, enraged, but calm. “OH YES. NOT ON YOUR LEVEL, LITTLE WITCH! BUT I HAVE OTHER ASSETS.“

Archaeus moves one of his spines from his back and impales Willow with it. She shrieks out, and Buffy races to her side, screaming her name, and slicing through one of the spines with the Scythe. The creature screams in pain and moves to get away from the Slayer, despite its size.

“THIS WON’T DO. TOO MANY DISTRACTIONS.” He turns, grunting in pain and looks directly into Spike’s eyes.

“SPIKE. BE A GOOD BOY AND KILL YOUR PLAYMATE.“

But Spike isn’t affected by the demon’s hypnotism. He slashes at the demon with his sword, ranting at him loudly. “I ain’t your boy, you old bastard. May have part of you in me – which is disgusting enough – but I also got my soul. That’ll trump you every time.”

The demon seems to smile, unnerving Spike. “EVERY TIME? LET’S PUT THAT TO THE TEST, SHALL WE?” Archaeus moves with one fluid motion, slicing Buffy’s back with one of his claws, causing Buffy to yell in pain.

Archaeus ignores Buffy and moves, skittering towards Spike, getting straight into his face.

“SMELL THAT. SLAYER BLOOD. NOTHING QUITE LIKE IT IN THE WORLD, IS THERE?“

Buffy yells at her lover in anguish. “Spike, you can fight this! I know you can!”

Spike turns to Archaeus, sword still slashing. “I won’t. You can’t.”

Buffy watches, calls to Spike to reassure him. “You’ve been through worse than this. He can’t make you do something you don’t want to.” She smiles at him, convinced of their connection, hoping she’s right. “And I know the last thing you want to do is hurt me.”

As Buffy turns, Spike has his head in his hands. He’s shaking now, not looking at her. Archaeus stands over him, triumphant glint in his eyes. Spike looks up at the Slayer, face in full vampire mode, his eyes bright yellow. “Buffy…” he says, looking at the Slayer.

“Run.”

And then, without warning, with Archaeus cackling behind him, Spike grabs Buffy by the throat and squeezes, hard.