Ch.33

I ended up opening a portal into the viewing room of the mortuary where Buffy staked a newly turned vamp while Xander and Dawn tagged along just before the weekends could truly end. We portaled home and Xander left while I held Buffy in bed. She started worrying about screwing up so I rolled her on her back and went below the sheets until she couldn't think straight to worry about anything.

It was a trick I picked up from Max and it worked like a charm. She had hunger in her eyes when I came up and my animal side met her thrust for bounce. By morning her head was clear after a restful night. I went around town hunting loose magical artifacts and buying them from humans in the case of a certain chick magnet letterman jacket.

I sat in meditation by the time Buffy and Dawn came home through a portal I made when they called. I'd barely paid it a thought while I meditated after so long and managed to fully merge the man and animal instincts inside me. It was rough on the mind and soul, the memories of all that time as a rabid feral animal, but it was the baser instincts of who I am and no amount of apologizing could change what I'd done under the thrall of my baser instincts. It was still me and my responsibility I had to come to terms with.

My mind scape became less crowded and clustered once I'd organized the memories and thoughts before filing them away in a mental hard drive that was my core self, my soul for lack of a better word. I understood demonic vampires and even magical ones now fully. The magical ones were more primal but human at their core of immortal and assholes when they eventually stop caring about the body count. The demons ones were more complicated.

Their soul or core human part goes off to heaven or hell, whichever one of many depending on whatever rules make up the basics of this reality as the demons, gods and other beings are capable of influencing said decisions. Then a demon sets up shop in their body, changing it as they gain access to the memories and impressions left behind. From there how the evil said newborn vampire takes shape, is dependent on the memories and experience it can interpret from it's new host mind which is essentially a backup hard drive for the soul without a conscience.

Spike not having changed much from his demon self outright was because he'd already changed so much to get close to Buffy and gain her affections which he failed to do because I entered the scene and flummoxed his goal. Add to that his chip and he'd already been so far from normal vampires that he was drinking animal blood and killing demons while protecting the scoobies for whatever his reasons. So in the end his soul wasn't a big change outwardly, but internally, even if his soul isn't his own which I can tell is true, he was still burdened by the guilt that came with remembering the horrible things he'd done. Whoever's soul was inside him forced him to reflect and judge himself based on a truly emotional standpoint with a conscience.

It's true that evil can't feel love, but it can feel obsession and possessiveness which is why Spike never ratted Dawn out to Glory. Obsession to a certain degree is as unreasonable as love is which is why it makes things hard to determine one from the other between those with souls. Internally I wondered if he had affections for her now or when the soul finishes acclimating at least if he'd love her or be obsessed since the soul in him wasn't his and the demon's experiences weren't him.

I stopped thinking analytically and shook my head as Buffy asked what was wrong. Seeing they were both there and through, I shook my head. "Nothing. I was just contemplating on what it means to have a soul and what it will mean for Spike since Angel and Angelous are so different from what I've heard and seen."

Dawn said I told them the soul wasn't his and I nodded. "That's true, but it's still a soul and souls are very durable and adaptable."

I compared the soul to a hard drive and the body to a computer, showing them what I meant including comparing the demon to malware influenced by the remaining copied data. It was difficult as Buffy wasn't a tech person, but Dawn understood and helped a bit. I went so far as to tell them how the new soul would adapt and make up for the old one by suppressing the demon inside him.

Buffy said Spike wouldn't change and I pointed out. "He already has. Over the years I kept an eye on him and Angelous as well as Angel thanks to my jaunt through time. He killed because it was a sport to him and he liked to kill those he felt were a challenge, but in the end he killed innocents as well as warriors alike because he was an evil demon and it was his nature."

I waved a hand. "However it's true that having a soul doesn't make one automatically good either. Look at Angel. In the fifties a demon at the hotel he stayed in the last time I met him had driven a mob into a frenzy and they hung him for it while under the demons thrall. It didn't kill him because it couldn't, but he'd had the power to stop and kill the demon. Instead he walked away and told the demon to take them all. It devoured and fed off not just their fears and hysteria, but their sanity. Driving them to do unthinkable things before their souls were no doubt sent to a hell realm when it fed so much they died."

Both of them paled and I shrugged. "Only two survived long enough to make it out. One was accused of murder and died in prison while the other died shortly after Angel returned to LA from leaving here. She'd been the one to point the finger his way back then and she died shortly after Angel killed the demon. She'd spent her entire life stuck in terror in the hotel being fed upon by the demon because he simply didn't care enough to save them."

I sat back and sighed while Buffy paled. "Then there was a store clerk in the seventies Angel fed off of because he couldn't resist after feeding on rats for so long. Gotta say, he wasn't the brightest vampire I'd ever seen, that title goes to Spike. Still, he did wicked deeds. Despite his soul and yet I wonder how Spike will turn out because he did good deeds as a demon despite their basis in selfish motivations."

Dawn asked what about before nodding. "Oh, yeah, cause he wanted Buffy."

I nodded. "Evil can't feel love. It simply doesn't understand such things and has no use for it. It can however become obsessed and possessive to the point of madness without reason, similar to how love is without reason or morals. Love simply is and that's why it's hard for people to tell one from the other. What I thought before you distracted me was that now that he can feel love, I wondered if he could tell the difference since the soul in him could adapt to being his and suppressing the demon. I wondered if he'd love you or be obsessed with you because it wasn't the soul but the demon that experienced those things, even if the soul remembered them."

Dawn nodded slowly. "Deep thoughts. You know, I have them sometimes as well. Like why is the sky blue or what happens if you swim to deep in the ocean because, you know, it can't kill you not to breath."

I grimaced. "The sky is blue because of gasses and particulates in the ozone surrounding the magnetic barrier created by the molting iron in the earths core which makes said barrier the hemisphere and layers like it. Basically we're in. A magnetic bubble and so long as the earth's core remains hot the barrier and gravity effects us. If it cools then the barrier would lose polarity and we'd simultaneously lose that protection and gravity but we'd be long dead from cosmic radiation or you all would be."

They grimaced and I waved a hand. "I can in fact die temporarily, I just come back over and over again so eventually is swim to the surface, but the experience would be unpleasant. I died plenty in space once though before I fell to a planet where an inhuman nearly controlled me. I had to kill him quickly and leave because he could become a swarm of gnat like creatures that eat humans and infect Inhumans to control them."

Buffy shook her head. "Not important and not really my interest at the moment. As for Spike, I don't care how it turns out. I'm with you and while you may be a man slut with…needs, I'm not the type to stray. Soul or no soul, Spike really isn't a priority right now. I have other concerns."

She told me about Cassie and I raised an eyebrow before asking if she'd like me to tail her while cloaked and make sure no one kills her. She asked seriously. "Would you please? It'd take worry off my mind while we figure out why she thinks she's going to die."

I nodded. "As creepy as I know it'll sound, I'll take a whiff and see if she has any diseases like cancer or something my nose can detect. Just call when you want an update. My suit can transfer the call and silence the area around me so noise doesn't go out. Useful in assassinating demons or anything really."

Dawn said that really was creepy and I shrugged. "You try having heightened senses against your will. Most of the time I'm trying not to think about the things I can smell, hear or feel. If I had OCD this place would be a cleaning nightmare with how many demons and creatures come to this house."

Buffy grimaced kissed me before saying Xander and Willow were headed over. I told her to text me the girl's address before my suit came on and I headed to the school cloaked. Later that night I was outside the girl's house and two houses down on a r stone fence while cloaked when Buffy called. I answered. "World famous stalker-I mean detective, how may I take your call?"

I heard Xander laugh and Buffy asked how she was doing. I grunted. "I'm two houses down because peering into a teenagers bedroom is beyond what I'm willing to do on a hunch. She's eating dinner with her mother at the moment. From her scent all I can say is she's clean, but there's something about her heartbeat you may want to check with her doctor on. I think she may have a bad heart valve or something. It sounds off."

Buffy sighed and said they'd look into it before asking if there were any kinds of demonic or human threats and I huffed. "If there were they'd be dealt with by now. It's quiet in this neighborhood and for several miles. If someone's out to get her they're not planning on taking her from here. I'm gonna call it and head back to the school to follow the scents connected to hers to see if any of the teenie bops are planning something."

Buffy agreed and Dawn told me to check out Mike Helgenburg so I told her I'd give him a look after I check out the school. I found a cult gathering in the school library chanting and preparing to raise a demon while burning an image of Cassie. I knocked them all unconscious and broke all their legs before breaking the ritual which summoned a demonic soldier of fortune. I killed it quite thoroughly and told Buffy as I called her what happened.

She asked why I broke their legs and I grunted, telling her they wouldn't be sacrificing Cassie while in the hospital with their demon dead and when they get out to find said demon dead, they'll think twice about summoning another. I called an ambulance for them anonymously and left while they were in robes around an alter. I checked out Mike and found he was just a horny teen looking to take a girl to the dance which he seemed to have set his sights on Dawn from the way he was scrolling through her online presence.

I returned home and told Dawn that Mike was clean but he was looking to score big after the dance if the condoms by his computer and his online search of her were anything to go by. She grew flustered and I turned to Buffy. "The group are in the hospital and the cops have questions for them thanks to the alter and the half burnt picture of Cassie they found them unconscious around. The demon they tried to summon and sacrifice her to was called Avilas. It's dead and gone, but the meat cleaver they had wasn't a joke."

Buffy nodded before saying she and Xander spoke with Cassie's father and Cassie about her heart condition. I took off my suit and handed it in watch form to Buffy. "If they can't get her to the doctors before Friday to fix it, put that on her and it will send nano molecular robots with chi into her body to keep her alive temporarily. It won't be a permanent fix if her heart gives out because the nanites aren't programmed to cure diseases, even congenital birth defects I'm afraid. Too many types and one wrong move kills with microscopic robots."

Buffy nodded and I told her that the watch will flash blue and red and call an EMT response immediately if her body fails before she gets to a hospital. I shrugged saying I didn't know what else I could do, but I'd be at the school listening in case something happened. Buffy nodded and thanked me before asking me to get Spike out of the basement of the school since the First may be messing with his head and she didn't like that at all.

I told her I can chain him in our basement but it might just be easier to have him move in with Xander in the spare room Anya offered me before. Xander complained and I told him I could put a spell on his room to prevent Spike from entering the room so he'd be safe asleep. He reluctantly agreed but all our work to save Cassie went down the drain when Peter's, the cult leader, father shot and killed Cassie because of retaliation for his son going to jail because someone saved her and hurt him.