"Wow," Adam commented. "He seems upset."
Buffy gave him one of her "no DUH!" glares. "Well, think about it, Angel; you took his last girlfriend away from him, too!"
He looked down. "Oh. That's true." He looked up again. "Buffy, can you ever forgive me for... the things I did after we... for the uh - "
She cut him off. "Hey - no problem. It wasn't really you, after all. I mean, you're really a whole different person now, aren't you? Got a whole new name and everything. Guess I should start calling you Adam now, huh?"
He smiled, and reached out to gently touch her cheek. For a moment, she closed her eyes and submitted to the caress, then suddenly backed away. "Listen, Ange - uh, Adam, I really don't want to rush into anything here." He started to speak, but she kept talking over him. "Or maybe I should be more specific and say I don't want to rush away from anything here." She emphasized the last word and looked at him meaningfully. She sighed. "Please understand, I just need some time to think." She stood up. "I'm going out for an hour. You stay here. Please? And when Spike comes back, try not to kill each other. If you do, I'll have a special stake for the survivor, and I don't care if he has a heartbeat or not!" She turned on her heel and left.
She found Spike pacing moodily in the entranceway, glaring out at the sunlight. "I thought you'd gone," she said.
"Yeah, luv, I'm just going to strut right out this door and go for a walk!" He glared at her, then back at the sunlight outside.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry," she offered. Getting to business, she said, "I left him downstairs and asked him not to kill you. If you go back down, please refrain from killing him as well. I'm going out for a while."
"Yeah, better order those airline tickets before they run out of seats and then you'd have to stay another day!" he sneered. "Fine, I won't kill your precious lover. After all, isn't that your job?"
She slapped him across the face as hard as she could, and marched out the door into the sunlight before he could react. Brooding, he watched her walk across the street away from the library and out of sight.
Spike went back down to the basement lounge and sat down across the table from Adam, who hadn't moved. He reflected that he was getting pretty good at these awkward silences.
"Spike, I'm sorry about Drusilla," said Adam. The icebreaking comment intrigued Spike, who raised a quizzical eyebrow. Adam continued, "It's just that - well, I was a soul-less monster, and I was just doing what soul-less monsters do."
"Monsters like me, you mean," Spike stated.
Adam had the grace to flush. "I didn't mean that," he said uncomfortably. "You're right. The way I treated you was unconscionable. Of course, the fact that I didn't have a conscience might have had something to do with it but doesn't excuse it." He looked up again with a pained expression.
Spike wasn't sure what to say. "Right, well. Dru's dead now, so it hardly matters, does it?"
"I guess not. What does matter is Buffy."
"Yeah, what of her?"
"I want to take her home." Adam told him evenly.
"Yeah, well, I want to keep her here. Guess it's up to her, isn't it?" Spike shifted his weight in the chair. "Might be different if that bleedin' ritual works, but as it is I think we both know which she'll choose." He was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "Damn."
"What ritual is this?" Adam said suspiciously.
"The Romany re-soulling curse, what else?" Spike told him. "Didn't you know? She called her Watcher last night to ask him about it. I thought he would've told you."
"I haven't contacted him yet," Adam told him. He leaned forward. "Tell me."
Spike rolled his eyes. He still felt a bit silly even talking about it, but, "Things have been, uh, tense between us for a couple of weeks, so yesterday, she threatened to leave. I told her how I felt and asked her to stay; even offered to do that restoration thingie if she wanted me to. So she called Giles last night to ask if it were possible, because she knew it happened before. With you."
Adam looked away. "Yeah, it did work. Willow did it, with a couple of others. But Spike, you're three thousand miles away! How could it work here?"
"That's what the Watcher was supposed to find out for us."
Adam rose to his feet. "I was supposed to call him this morning anyway. Let's do it now, and see if there's any new information for you about the restoration ritual. But let me tell you something, my friend: it HURTS!"
"I can live with that." Spike recalled his first few days in the wheelchair and shuddered. He leveled his gaze at Adam. "Why do you want to help me with this?"
Adam's eyes took on a faraway look. "Living with the soul and the demon constantly striving against each other was the hardest thing I've ever done. But it sure beat living without the soul! The gypsies meant it as a curse, and it was, but it also turned out to be a blessing. If I could do that for you, I would. Might make up for how I treated you." His voice lowered.
Spike glanced at him. "Thought we agreed Dru didn't matter now."
"I wasn't talking about Dru this time," Adam said. "I meant you. I'm your sire, the one who took away your soul in the first place. I'd like to try and give it back."
"Much obliged," Spike muttered, embarrassed. "Fine, let's go call Giles."
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