As he walked through the cemetery, Alex couldn't help but think about Wil, the man seemed so shy and sweet, it was refreshing actually. Alex remembered the feel of his soft lips as he kissed him the night before. He wanted to see him again. Badly. He was planning on stopping by Wil's store after he was done poking around Spike's old place.

Alex stopped briefly at his friends’ graves. He noticed the flowers from last night were still there. He wondered once again who had left them, perhaps Angel came by regularly. Alex had never contacted anyone in the L A group other than to write them a letter warning them about Willow's demon status and to not make any wishes around her should she show up there. He didn't want to watch as Cordy grew old and lost her looks, he didn't want to be around deadboy period, and he barely knew Wesley and had never met that Gunn fellow or Fred.

Alex said a brief prayer for the group of people whose graves he was standing over and then headed on toward Spike's crypt. Wil was right about one thing, it was much safer doing this during the day.

As he entered the old crypt, Alex noticed that the door was stuck, like it hadn't been opened in some time. He peered into the dark gloomy tomb and then entered. The place hadn't changed much. There was a lot more dust and the TV was gone, but other than that it looked the same as the last time he had seen it. He went down into the cavern underneath. It still looked a mess from when Buffy and Riley had blown the place up. The old bed was still in the far corner, sagged and rotting with age, there were a few CD's scattered about, and an old unopened package of cigarettes. Alex pocketed these items as mementoes of his former life.

Deciding that Spike must not have come back to Sunnydale at all or if he had he hadn't gone back to the crypt, Alex left. He figured he'd check by the mansion and Angel’s old apartment before going to see Wil. He didn't want to look desperate after all, and he had come to Sunnydale to find Spike.

The mansion was a bust. It was condemned and was in worse shape than the crypt. The apartment hadn't turned out any better, it was occupied but not by anyone he wanted to know. The thing that answered the door was truly horrific. It was purple, big white teeth, long tail and a funny voice. It was Barney on speed, Alex was almost positive. When it started to sing, Alex....ran!

Wil had gotten up and opened the shop like he did everyday. Only today wasn't like the last twenty-eight years in this town. Today he had a.... date? Meeting? Rendezvous? With Alex. The handsome young man who had kissed him last night. He was still in shock over that fact, after spending so long alone, he finally found someone who he was interested in. The fact that it was a man was a surprise, he personally had never been with a man before. But Alex was so great, he knew about vampires, they had spent the evening talking and then he'd called him his savior. And the kiss while not passionate was.....genuine.

Wil had been alone for as long as he could remember. As a man he had fallen in love with a girl who had spurned his affections, belittled his writing, and broken his heart. If not for her, Wil would have likely led a long full life, eventually marrying and perhaps having a family. As it was, he had run out into the night and met his fate at the teeth of a dark-haired woman. He died that night, only to be brought back to life over a century later in the demon-possessed body of the man he once was. He spent a couple of years of wandering alone, living a horrid existence while reacclimated to the world. He had the memories of the demon to help with this, and while useful they were far from comforting. Spike, as the demon called himself, had been a horrible monster for all but the last few years of his existence. In the end he had fallen deeply in love with a beautiful young woman, a slayer of all things, who spurned his affections.

Wil had been lucky in the fact that Cecily had never given him cause to hope she would love him in return. Spike had not been so lucky, Buffy had not only lain with the demon, but she entrusted him with her secrets, her friendship, and the life of her friends and family. When she broke up with him he was devastated and acted rashly, he tried to force her to see that they were good together. It went too far. He scared himself as much as he had scared her. So he left, went to Africa to have his chip removed. Figured if he couldn't be the man she wanted and have her love, then he would be the demon she accused him of being and have her hatred. Anything was better than her pity.

Wil woke up on the damp floor of a cave with a horrible looking demon standing over him. He remembered the last minutes of his human life, being bitten, having his blood drawn from his body and then a coppery taste in his mouth as he died. He screamed. The demon laughed. When Wil had screamed himself out he heard the demon speak. 'The slayer shall receive what she deserves.' The demon then left and Wil sat huddled, scared and alone in the cave.

The memories didn't come right away, Wil left the cave that night and wandered off into the night. He came across a lone man walking and before he knew what he was doing he had bitten him. He pushed the man away from him and ran as fast as he could. When he was sure he was alone, he stopped. That's when the memories of the demon hit him. Vampire. Undead. Killer. The pain washed through him as he realized what he now was. He was undead, a vampire. But he would not be a killer! He knew he could survive on the blood of animals, the demon-Spike, had done so for years now. He made up his mind to stay away from people, to survive on his own.

The demon kept him constant company in his head. Pushing him to go home, to go back to Sunnydale. With the chip out of order it wanted to make good on it's threats. Eventually Wil did go back, he didn't want to leave Dawn worried about Spike. She had always been kind to the demon and it had loved her as well. She was the only one it planned to spare. Wil would never let Spike out to play, he was the stronger of the two and he made the decisions.

It had been almost two years since the night Spike had left that Wil had returned. The town looked the same as the demon remembered it, only perhaps a little darker? More dangerous? He went by the crypt that the demon had called home. There was nothing there that he wanted, so he left. That first night he did nothing but wander the town, getting himself familiar with things. He stayed in an abandoned building that night, he refused to stay in a crypt.

The next night Wil went in search of the tomb where the demon had found the ring of Amara. It was easy enough to find with Spike's memories, and the treasure was still there. He loaded it up into sacks and trunks and transported it to the old building he had spent the night in. After that he went in search of Buffy and her friends. He wanted to explain what had happened to Spike. He wanted to make sure that the demon hadn't hurt any of them by disappearing that way. Even though they had parted on bad terms, Wil was sure that Buffy was at least a bit concerned for the demon, and Dawn would have most likely been beside herself with worry.

The magic shop had been the first place he visited. Perhaps Anyanka would be there if not the rest of them, it was closed however so he started toward Revello Drive. He noticed more than one vampire wandering the streets on his way over, but no slayer. Curious, he walked a little faster. When he reached the slayers house it was different. The house had been remodeled and painted, flowers adorned the front lawn and a name plate was hung on the front door. It read: The Winter Residence. Wil knocked on the door and when an older woman answered he had asked about the previous owner. Unfortunately, the old woman couldn't tell him anything.

Wil could feel the demons trepidation, something was wrong here. He stopped the next vampire he saw and questioned him about the slayer. That was when he found out she was dead, buried in the same cemetery as his demons crypt. He went there immediately to verify the allegation. What he saw made his demon howl. Not only was Buffy dead, but the girl - Dawn - was gone as well. He saw the headstone for the watcher, the dates were separate by a few days, he pieced together what he could. Dawn had gone first, Buffy in her grief had gotten herself killed most likely and with no slayer to protect the town it was only a matter of time before the watcher would become a target. He didn't see any graves for the witches or Xander, he figured they probably fled town after the slayers death. They were brave but they weren't stupid.

Wil hadn't heard from his demon after that night. It was as if it were broken by the death of the slayer and her sister. Wil went on about his business, he sold the treasure, bought a small book store with an apartment overhead and set up shop. He specialized in the occult - books on witchcraft, demonology, pagan ritual, etc. He made a life for himself here in Sunnydale, he worked, he patrolled to keep the streets safer, he conversed with his customers, but he'd never made any friends, never took any lovers. He wasn't human, and anyone he became involved with would not only learn of what he was, they would eventually die even if they did accept him.

Wil would leave flowers on the graves on a weekly basis. He never knew if the demon took any solace in his actions but it seemed the proper thing to do. He eventually decided that he was never going to be happy all by himself, and that if he ever did find someone he wanted to share his life with, be they friend or lover, he would allow himself to take whatever happiness they offered to him for as long as he could. He hadn't actively pursued anyone. He had almost given up on ever finding someone who he could love, then by a twist of fate he met Alex.

It was early in the evening by the time Alex got to Wil's shop. It had taken him longer to scout around town for signs of Spike then he thought it would. He was looking forward to seeing Wil, in fact he had thought of little else all day. He noticed from Wil's business card that he ran an occult shop, Alex was curious to find out if Wil was a practitioner of magic or if he just knew a good business to be in, in this town.

Wil looked up from the register when Alex entered. He was in the process of ringing up a sale so he merely smiled at him and went back to work. Alex took the opportunity to browse around the store a bit. There were no other customers in the store at the moment so Wil went over to se his new friend as soon the last patron left the shop.

"Hello."

"Hey. Nice store, you have a great selection of demonology texts. I haven't seen such a broad selection in years."

"Thank you. Do you practice magicks?"

"Not much. An old friend used to, she got hooked. It ended badly."

"I'm sorry. Did you find who you were looking for?"

"Nope. No clues in any of his old haunts. Ran into the scariest demon you'd ever want to meet though."

"Really? How so?"

"It looked like Barney. You know that big purple dinosaur from the children's show thirty or so years ago?"

" I remember that show, repeats and all that. I never actually watched it."

"Hey, never thought you did. No need to get offensive."

Alex and Wil shared a smile.

"You do know that the character on that show was actually a demon don't you? Their species feeds on the annoyance of adults, what better way to do that than star in a children’s television show?"

"Ha! I knew it! I told them all he was evil. But did they believe me? Nooooo."

"Told who Alex?"

"Oh, just some old friends. They're all dead. Tragic incident."

"Aren't they all, here on the hellmouth?"

"True."

"If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been away from Sunnydale? It's just that I've been here quite a few years myself and I feel like I should know you from somewhere. Like we've met before."

"A long time. It's a long story, and not a happy one. I'd rather we not discuss it if you don't mind."

"Certainly. I wasn't tying to pry. I hope you understand."

Wil felt rather bad that he had brought up such painful memories for Alex. He only hoped that he wouldn't fault him for being curious. Alex smiled at Wil and looked at his watch.

"What time do you close?"

"About ten more minutes."

"Join me for dinner? My treat."

"Sounds lovely Alex. Thank you."

Alex and Wil had decided on Chinese food for dinner and had walked to the 'Jade Dragon', Wil swore it was the best Chinese food restaurant in Sunnydale. They were seated at a small table in the far corner, it was somewhat of a romantic set-up. After they had ordered, Wil had asked Alex about his life, did he enjoy traveling? What were his favorite places? That sort of thing.

Throughout dinner they continued to discuss world travel, various things that they had in common, and were getting into conversation that was a bit more personal.

"Alex, I don't mean to pry but would you tell me what happened to you to make you leave Sunnydale? It's just that I feel that I've gotten to know you, and I'd like to know a lot more about you. I ah, I like you."

"Okay. It's not a nice story though. How about we take a walk and I'll tell you all about it."

"Alright.

The bill was paid and the two men walked out into the night. They were walking toward the park when Alex began his tale.

"As I said before, I grew up here in Sunnydale. Born and raised on the hellmouth and didn't have a clue. I was in high school when my best bud Jesse was turned into a vampire. By a sheer twist of fate I accidentally staked him one night at the local club. My life was irrevocably changed from then on. I knew what really went on in this town and I helped to fight against it. My other best friend, she began practicing magic. She got very powerful, like scary powerful, and she got addicted to it. She rehabbed, got better for a while. I fell in love with the strangest girl, we were going to get married but at the last minute I chickened out and ran. She didn't take it well. Then again they never do, do they?

A good friend of ours, my high school crush, was shot in her backyard. I was there when it happened. The guy who did it took off, I waited for the ambulance and then drove to the hospital. I didn't know that my best friend had been upstairs with her girlfriend, and that she had been standing at the window. A stray bullet had hit Tara and it killed her."

Wil was beginning to get a strange tingly feeling in the pit of his stomached. This all seemed familiar to him, not the shooting but the rest of it. He motioned for Alex to continue as they sat on a bench in the park.

"That's when everything changed. While I was at the hospital, Wills was turning to the dark arts. She sucked all the magic out of the books at the magic shop. She wanted revenge on the guy who killed Tara. Long story short....she killed him. Skinned him alive and then incinerated him. She tried to kill our friends and destroy the world. I stopped her, or at least slowed her down enough to let a counter spell bind her.

We really thought she was getting better after that. Then she disappeared, came back as a vengeance demon. She destroyed us all. My friends all died, and I was cursed. I left after that, I never came back once, not until a couple nights ago. And I've never told this story to anyone."

Wil was sure he knew why it seemed familiar, his demon had memories of similar experiences. It wasn't possible that Alex and his demon knew of each other. It had been too long ago. But still....

"Alex? What were your friends names?"

"Well, the witch turned demon was Wills, Willow. Tara, her girlfriend was also a witch, G-man or Giles as the others called him was the owner of the magic shop, Anya - that was the girl I was to marry, and then Buffy and Dawn. Buffy was..."

"The slayer, and Dawn was the key. It's not possible. It can't be."

Wil got up and started to pace. Alex watched him with shock and bewilderment. How did Wil know about Buffy and Dawn? No one knew about Dawn.

"How? Wil how do you know about Buffy and Dawn?"

Wil stopped pacing. He looked at Alex.

"Is Alex your real name?"

"No. I changed it. I was going to change it to Heywood Jablowme but strangely enough it was already taken. So I went with Alex La Velle. Why? And what does this have to do with Buffy and Dawn?"

"Alex La Velle? Oh my...Alexander lavelle Harris. Xander Harris. It is you! How? It can't be, you should be old."

"Wil, you're starting to freak me out here. How do you know me? I haven't gone by Xander Harris in thirty years."

"It's a long story, you won't like it and when I finish telling you....well, you'll probably hate me. But first let me show you something that you might recognize."

With that said, Wil took off his glasses, lifted his hair off his forehead and showed Alex his scarred eyebrow. Alex paled and reached out to touch it.

"Spike?"

"William. I haven’t been Spike in thirty years, the demon has receded completely, he doesn't even talk to me anymore. I'm sorry Alex, I didn't recognize you from it's memories, you look so different and you're still young."

"How? How did this happen, did Spike get cursed with a soul? Oh God! Willow! She did this to him didn't she!"

"No, actually he did it to himself. As I said it's a long story. I understand if you wish to leave, to not see me anymore. I know how you feel about vampires and the one that inhabited this body in particular."

"No, I'd like to hear what happened. I came here looking for Spike actually, I'd like to know what happened to him."

Wil told Alex about the last night Spike spent in Sunnydale, how he had attacked Buffy and then ran scared. How he went to Africa to have his chip removed. About being gifted with a soul, not cursed. He told Alex how he had woken scared and alone in a dank cave with a demon looking down on him. He told him of his years wandering, hunting animals for survival. About how he came back here to find Buffy and Dawn, to explain to them about his demon.

"And when I saw the graves, it was like something broke inside of me. The demon - Spike - howled in rage and loss, it went on for hours. I went home just before dawn and slept. When I awoke that evening Spike was silent. I haven’t heard from the demon since. He is broken, damaged. It-he truly did love the slayer, it just didn't know how to love her the way she needed."

Alex sat in silence for a long time. He had come here to find Spike and he had....sort of. He really liked Wil, he was seriously thinking of staying in town for some time just to be with him. But now, it was strange, different. Wil was William, before 'the bloody' he was a gentle soul residing in Spikes' body. Or was it his body? He had it first after all. It was confusing.

"Can you still....grrr?"

"Grrr? Oh you mean change faces. Yes I can."

"Would you? I mean...I'd like to see."

Wil removed his glasses once again and bowed his head, when he looked back up at Alex it was with the demons face. Alex reached out and ran his fingertips gently across the brow ridges and down to the sharp fangs protruding from Wils' mouth.

Wil held perfectly still while Alex touched his demon face. It was a strange sensation. He had never had anyone touch him like this, it was...nice. He felt slight vibrations rumbling through his chest, then he began to hear a sound. Alex must have heard it too for he withdrew his hand and smiled.

"I made you purr. Wow!"

Wil ducked his head in embarrassment and shifted back to his human face. Alex put a finger under Wils' chin and lifted his face to meet him.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. I'm flattered. I always wanted to make a vampire purr."

"You what? But you hate vampires!"

"Nah, not all of them. I like some, I've met a few since leaving Sunnydale that I haven't wanted to stake. Never kissed one before though. You were my first."

Wil spluttered and blushed, Alex chuckled at him and smiled.