Previously on Grey Lines:

Everyone is stunned Spike has a soul! The vampire however seems not to care much about its loss after the ritual. Seeing the tension in the group, Giles tells everyone to go home and rest. The next time there is a calling, they will all solve this, before that they can't do anything. Willow and Buffy talk, and she questions why Angel wasn't able to love her without a soul and Spike can. Buffy goes to Spike, she can't understand why he wants to help Anya so much he is willing to lose his soul for her. Buffy thinks he loves Anya, they fight and eventually she stops the discussion by kissing him.

Spike exhaled sharply as she pulled away from him, looking at him wide-eyed. Instinctively, he reached out, pulling her small body against his and bringing his mouth to hers. He could feel her heart frenetically pang against his chest, as if trying to break away. Arms collided and spared with the urgency of enveloping each other's bodies, eventually his settled around her waist and hers around his neck. Buffy's slender fingers dug long trenches through his thick, bleached hair as the need to deepen the kiss took over her.

The intensity grew, becoming overwhelming and she found herself gasping for air. Noticing Buffy's erratic breathing, the vampire reluctantly pulled away and her nails dug into his scalp, refusing to back away. Spike forced his eyelids open and to his surprise he saw Clem from the corner of his eyes. Immediately, he gently pushed the Slayer to the side. Seeing the deep frown over her forehead and the obvious pout on her mouth, he titled his head, signalling the spaced out demon moving towards the door.

"We have to call Giles." Buffy whispered.

"You go and let him know, I'll follow him." He replied moving away from her and catching up with the demon.

"What do you mean: I'll follow him? I'm the Slayer, remember?" she hissed falling into step with him.

"Exactly! And like the good little Slayer that you are, you'll report to your Watcher. Now go!" he ordered.

"But-"

"Buffy!"

The sound of her name sent a small wave of relief over her, but in the pint of her stomach something wormed around, making her Slayer instincts scream.

"Go." He said in a low tone, running his finger over her flushed cheek.

She nodded, looking at him under heavy eyelids. Seeing the worry in her gaze made his heart turn into mush and for a second he let his emotions get the best of him, leaning in and placing a soft kiss over her forehead. When he pulled away he was startled as she wrapped her arms, pulling him into a desperate hung.

"Be careful." She whispered in his ear, clinging onto him for a moment before pulling away and taking off running toward Giles' as fast as her legs would allow her.

Spike was left there, staring at her fleeting figure being swallowed up by the darkness of the graveyard. He snapped out of his daze to look for the demon who was now a few feet away engulfed in his own trance.

They walked around for a long time before they reached the clearing. The vampire sighed as the same spectacle that had been displayed just two days before repeated itself now in front of him. Quickly, he grabbed Clem by his floppy arm, forcing him to the ground amongst the bushes. The demon remained still, glassy eyes staring into infinity, a strange humming sound coming from his parted lips. They sat on the ground watching as the various demons in front of them lined up to meet their fate.

"Spike!" Someone whispered from behind the vampire. He turned to see Giles' flushed face.

"Watcher? How d'you get here so fast? Where's the Slayer?" before the librarian was able to answer, a blond head popped up from behind the old man's shoulder.

"Buffy decided we should drive my car into through the bushes." Giles said in a grumpy tone.

"Come on. A little paint job and it will be as good as new." Buffy tried to seem as convincing as possible, but the way her eyes jumped around, obviously avoiding Giles' annoyed look.

"A little paint job? We drove 2 miles with two flat tires and a giant tree branch sticking through my back window. I think it'll need more than a paint job." The older man grumbled, rolling his eyes.

The discussion was cut short by an increase in the chanting coming from the clearing. All three looked at the large pulsating circle of light and the dark figure that stood in front of it, with its back turned to the lurking group.

"So, when do we do this? The beef's all lining up to get barbequed." Spike tried to joke, but failed terribly as he saw the look on both Buffy and Giles' faces.

"We need to make sure it's open. We need to wait for the first demon to be destroyed, only then will we be certain." Giles explained, staring at the man in the clearing. There was something strange about him. The shiver running down his spine told him this wasn't this simple.

"Yeah, well, what do we do when we're sure?" Spike asked anxiously rubbing his hands together.

"You'll blend into the crowd of demons and pretend you're in a trance. Then all you have to do is wait in line." Giles spoke clearly, but it was like his mind wasn't there, his gaze was glassy and intensely focused on the figure a few feet away.

"Giles? Are you ok?" Buffy finally asked, seeing the librarian's space out look.

"Yes, it's just..." he trailed off, suddenly snapping out of his daze. "Wait here. I'll be back."

"But..." before she could finish her sentence the ex-watcher had disappeared between the thick foliage. She turned to face the vampire with a questioning look on her face.

"Don't look at me, he's your Watcher." Spike shrugged, refusing to speak anymore.

They sat in silence for long time, as the man continued to wave his arms and chant loudly.

"What is taking him so long? It didn't take this much last time." Buffy protested as she began getting anxious. She looked at Spike in the hope of getting a word out of him, but his lips remained tightly closed and his gaze focused on the white circle of light. "Are you sure you wanna do this?" she finally spoke in a low voice.

He continued silent, the only evidence that he had heard her was a slight nod of his head.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to." She desperately tried to sound cool and calm about it as she felt her insides turn upside down.

He finally looked at her with a ghost of a smirk over his pale lips.

"I won't back out, if that's what you think." He said in a frozen tone.

"That's not what I mean."

"Oh, right. I guess the whole 'you don't have to do it if you don't what to' speech was just to make me feel better?"

The words spilled out of his mouth drenched in sarcasm.

"It wasn't a speech." She snapped.

"Whatever." He hissed turning his attention back to the clearing.

She sighed in frustration at the vampire's arrogance, she was about to speak when finally one of the demons stepped in the Foris Caliga's direction. It was a vampire. Slowly it out stretched its arm, reaching for the light.

Gradually, it increased its pulsation as it completely engulfed the creature. Eventually, the result was the same as it had been two nights before - a large pile of dust on the ground.

Buffy found herself holding her breath and pressing her lips tightly shut as she watched the spectacle. Her stomach turned inside of her as the urge to vomit crept up her throat.

"Well, I guess that's my queue." The bleached vampire said with a forced grin as he began to stand up. A strong hand over his arm stopped him, when he turned around he found two watery, bloodshot, green eyes staring at him.

"I'll come with you." She said with a faltering voice.

"You can't. Giles isn't here. You have to look after Clem." Spike explained tilting his head towards the dazed demon sitting on the ground.

"I'll tie him up." She tried to figure out a way out.

"With what?" the vampire exhaled.

She paused, desperately looking around. When she failed to find something that might help her, she gazed back at the bleached vampire who's arm she was still clinging to.

"Luv, I have to go." He said, his hand coming to rest over hers, his fingers working to release himself from her strong grip, but his efforts only resulted in a her wrapping her other hand around his trapped arm. "Slayer..."

"Don't go." Her eyes begged him.

"I have to. Anya, remember..."

"We'll find another way." Desperation took over her now and she spoke in quick and erratic sentences. "Another... there's always another way. We always... And, Giles... we-we'll research. And-and..." she gasped for air; her heart slamming against her chest, her palms becoming sweaty and the brackish tears making her sight fuzzy and unclear. "We'll fight it another way... We'll save Anya... But... just please don't do this. Please."

The desperation in her voice, her face, her trembling chin and hands made his heart want to scream. Falling to his knees, he ran his hand over her golden locks, his thumb brushing over her flushed cheek. Slowly, his arms enveloped her small figure, bringing her face to rest over his chest. She spoke a frantic myriad of gibberish that was muffled by the fabric of his black shirt, which was now dapped as a result of her tears.

Buffy pushed away in order at look him, his arms still rested at her sides as her pleading eyes stared into his for a second before falling to his chest. She rested her palm there, for some reason surprised at the lack of a heartbeat.

"Your soul..." she began in a whisper.

Those two simple words sent a current of rage though his veins. His reaction to it was to simply push her away, stand up and walk away.

Buffy stood there, motionless, frozen by his unexpected reaction, watching him disappear into the darkness. Second latter she saw him between the demon crowd - a dazed look on his face trying to hide the pain in his chest, the part inside of him that wanted to scream.

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Gilles circled the clearing, trying to position himself in a way he could see the mysterious man's face. That voice... he thought to himself as he struggled with the foliage.

"Bugger!" he cursed under his breath as a twig hit him in the eye.

Rubbing his injured eye, he continued moving through the bushes. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be able to find a spot where he was facing the man while remaining at a safe enough distance from the demons. So, he made his choice and he proceeded walking towards the large crowd of horned, one eyed, tailed creatures. Eventually, he stood only a few feet form the nearest creature, but at least he was sure that, from there he would be able to see the man.

To Giles' frustrations the mysterious figure had moved around the white circle. Apparently, one of the creatures had caught his attention. Now, he stood next to the small group which had distanced itself from the main mass to reach the Foris Caliga. Giles cursed once more as the figure continued to have his back turned to him. Patiently, the ex-watcher remained knelt between the tick bushes waiting for the man to turn around and go back to his chanting spot. Eventually he moved, and Giles was able to see who was the object of the figure's attention.

"Spike?" the librarian whispered to himself.

The vampire stood with a dazed look on his face, just like they had planed. The figure seemed to be speaking to the apparently space out creature as it moved around, eventually it turned so that Giles could see his face. The old man felt his heart skip a beat at the revelation of the man's identity.

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Spike could feel his blood boil inside him and he slowly moved through the small group of demons. His eyes looked into infinity as he chanted along with the rest of them. Suddenly, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed the man who was chanting on the other side of the circle had stopped and moved in the group's direction. After a few seconds he realised that *he* was the reason the figure had moved.

The man circled him twice and then stopped to face him. Spike continued to stare into nothingness.

"I know you..." the man spoke, rubbing his chin. "You're that vampire... The master vampire who was here a few years before...what was your name?" he paused for a while as he searched his mind. "Spike!" he finally said. "I really thought you were a tough one. Oh well, it will be nice to have the demon of such a notorious vampire such as yourself." Then he turned around back to the spot where he had been before.

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She was still a little startled, and her heart refused to control itself, anxiously pounding inside of her, but she continued to watch as the man moved towards Spike.

"What is he doing?" the Slayer asked herself. "Does he know him?"

She waited for a while and eventually she had her answer as the man turned in a way that his face was now illuminated by the circle of light and faced her. She had to bring her hand to her mouth in order to prevent the escape of a surprised scream.

"Ethan Rayne...?" she whispered.