"He didn't give you any idea?"

"No," Michael said for what seemed like the hundredth time. "He didn't. Isabel knows I think, but she's not saying either and I haven't had a chance to talk to Liz." Tess huffed and Michael suppressed a sigh. Liz' determination to give Max space for his 'destiny' had lasted exactly one week. Both were miserable and Maria and Isabel had finally threatened to lock them in the same room together until they worked it out.

That hadn't been necessary though, and Tess had been quietly fuming over Max's choice. There wasn't time to fume now though. Sounds from the room ahead drew their attention.

"Ow!" Michael came up short.

"That was Liz." He broke into a run, rounding the corner into a large interior room. Liz was there, as was a stranger in long black coat. They were fighting. Liz was fighting back and giving a good accounting of herself, but it was clear the stranger was playing with her. Michael ran forward, tackling him.

"Huh?" The stranger grunted as he hit the ground. Michael straddled the stranger and hit him hard in the face. "Bloody hell!" Spike could smell the difference in the stranger and lashed out before realizing there was human scent as well. "Aarrgh!" Even as the stranger fell away someone drove a stake through Spike's head. At least that was what it felt like. "Can't even hit friggin' half-breeds," he muttered.

"Michael!" Liz ran forward and helped him up. He rubbed his jaw and prepared to jump at the stranger again. "No. It's all right. He's a friend."

"Friend? He hit you!"

"No. He didn't. He just moved too fast. I hit the wall." She held up her right hand and showed him the bloody knuckles. He stared at her.

"What the hell is going on?" Michael demanded. Liz looked down at the ground, not sure where to begin.

"Long story. When the others arrive, I'll tell you." The stranger had clambered to his feet and was eyeing the newcomers with annoyance.

"Two more? Really pet, how many of these things are there?"

"What? He knows-" Michael broke off in alarm.

"He can smell the difference Michael. He's not human."

"Not human?" Tess walked forward slowly, looking at the stranger who regarded her warily. "Alien? Nasedo?" The stranger laughed.

"Not bloody likely. I should be insulted."

"Or complimented." They turned to see Max leading the rest of their group into the room. "At least Nasedo had a mission, a purpose of sorts. What do you have Spike?"

"Oh don't get all moral on me. I got me a mission now, and I'm gonna see the job gets done right, better than that ponce Wesley could've done."

"I'm sure you'll make a fine role model," Isabel said coolly as she followed her brother into the room. The others, the entire group now present, could only look at each other in confusion. They knew her well enough to hear the heavy sarcasm in Isabel's voice, but it went right over Spike's head.

"I'm sure I'll do fine. Considerin' her predecessor is rottin' in prison, how much worse could I do?" He looked at the others and sniffed the air delicately, which only confused the others more. "I guess its time to make with the explanations." Max nodded and sighed. This was not going to be easy.

***********************************************************************

This was not going to be easy. Wesley sighed and added the last few lines to his report, the laptop resting precariously on the food tray before him, a tight fit in the economy class seat. He had never been much of a storyteller and had taken the opportunity to organize his narrative of events in Roswell. The only thing he regretted was the necessity of returning to Los Angeles to deliver it.

Max had vetoed the idea of sending the thing by email or fax though, and he wanted none of what happened spoken of over an open phone line. A rational part of his mind found the precautions excessive and extremely paranoid, but he agreed nonetheless. As had Angel who unfortunately couldn't make the trip at the moment. Wesley had managed to communicate enough of it with vague language that Angel had told him to wait until he was home to give a full report. After all, between the Initiative hunting demons, the FBI hunting the group in Roswell, the Council hunting Faith, and Wofram and Hart stirring up trouble for Angel literally for the hell of it, a little paranoia was justified.

When did my life get so complicated? Wesley wondered. If anything though, it reinforced Buffy's assertion that the Council was out of touch. The three operatives who had gone after Faith had been completely unaware of the Initiative's existence, and Wesley doubted that the Council's upper levels had any idea how complicated the world had become.

Shoving aside this depressing line of thought, he returned to something more manageable. Angel's going to have a fit when he hears about Spike.

***********************************************************************

Sheriff James Valenti pulled up to the warehouse and got out, putting on his hat as he approached the building. The call had been a little vague as to what the problem was, but there was a dead body involved, that much he knew. Violent crime was rare in Roswell, or at least it had been until just recently. He sighed. Why couldn't that damn ship have crashed in Europe or Africa? Or at least Los Angeles where no one would have noticed?

He liked Max and the others, but they were turning out to be very high maintenance. This business of vampires and Slayers was, as far as he was concerned, an extension of the same problem. After quite a lot of soul searching he had decided that it didn't matter where they came from or what they were. It was his job as sheriff to protect them, although, he might make an exception for Spike. The vampire made him nervous, despite Liz' reassurances that he was harmless. Corpses, Valenti firmly believed, should not get up and walk around killing people. Speaking of corpses…

"What happened here?"

"Still working on that sheriff. This is a weird one." Uh-oh. Valenti nodded, and his deputy led the way into a cold storage section of the warehouse. They ducked under the yellow crime scene tape. "This section is used for food storage, ice cream, meat that sort of thing."

"Who's the victim?" Valenti asked, resisting the urge to hug himself. The part of the warehouse they had entered was essentially a giant freezer.

"Night security guard. He was found in here, near an open crate, big enough to hold an entire side of beef. The only thing in the crate though, was ice. There are three others like it, all just containing ice."

"Where's the body?" He followed the deputy around the side of the crate and stopped, staring in disbelief. The body was blackened, burned almost beyond recognition. It would likely take dental records to make a positive ID. The face was the worst part of it. The eyes had burst at some point and the skin was practically charcoal. Valenti had never seen anything exactly like it. Not exactly like it. "Find out where these crates came from. I want to know who has been in here. Talk to all of the employees, night shift workers first priority. Talk to anyone who had anything to do with these crates. Where's the person who found the body?"

"That's him," the deputy gestured to an overweight man wearing a padded suit for protection against the cold. "The shift supervisor. His name is Cruz."

"Okay. Let's start there."

***********************************************************************

"You can't be serious." Tess stared at Max in disbelief. "You just let him get carted away? Max we have to get the stones and get him back."

"No."

"What do you mean no?! Without Nasedo-" Max rounded on her angrily.

"With Nasedo at least four people have died who wouldn't have if we hadn't helped him. He's a conscienceless killer and I won't have any more blood on my hands. If we hadn't brought him back before those people would still be alive."

"What about the FBI?" Michael interrupted. "What's to keep them from coming after us again?"

"Nassedo said that the other agents thought he was in Denver. No one knew he was here."

"That might buy us a little time, but-"

"Yer friend killed a couple of people in Tucson too. If their just lookin' for one person it won't take 'em long to find out that you were here when it happened." Max considered Spike's words carefully and then nodded.

"You're right, but they had me in their hands once before and they ran enough tests to know I'm not Nasedo."

"Which is another argument for bringing him back," Tess insisted.

"Waste o' time girl." Tess looked at the stranger Max had called Spike, confused.

"Why?"

"Because, if you bring him back I'll kill him myself next time." Tess opened and closed her mouth silently for a moment. "He'd be a threat to Liz, which I won't allow. Plus, he's a cold-blooded killer. Since I'm all being one of the good guys these days I really think I should object to such things." Tess' mouth stayed open this time, as she digested this. She wasn't the only one staring either. Spike noticed this. "What?"

The blonde alien's jaw snapped shut and she began to concentrate on the offensive human. Liz looked back and forth between them nervously. She knew what Tess was trying to do, but Spike only looked at her curiously. Finally, he turned to Liz.

"What's this a starin' contest?"

"Tess can make people see things that aren't there," Liz explained.

"Oh." Spike laughed and turned back to Tess. "Won't work on me. Have a look." He gestured towards the window of what had once been the factory manager's office. It was dark enough in the room that what light they had turned the window into a mirror. "What do you see?" The entire group looked at the window, not understanding. Spike rolled his eyes. "All right. What don't you see?"

"He doesn't have a reflection," Liz told them, when no one else got it after a moment. "Although," she admitted, "I'm not sure what that has to do with Tess' power not working on you."

"Same reason." He gave Tess a cocky smile. "The thoughts are there, but they don't create a reflection in you. So you have nothing to work with."

"I don't understand," Tess murmured looking back and forth between Spike and his lack of reflection. "What kind of person doesn't have a reflection?"

"A vampire. What page are you on?" Spike turned back to Liz. "You still have some training to do Liz. You ready to get on with it?" Liz looked at her hand.

"Yeah. My hand is better now." Spike ignored the others and began instructing her in the next exercise. Max stopped Michael's objection with a raised hand and motioned them to just stand back and watch. The next exercise was a test of control. At Liz' insistence, Spike was focusing on such exercises. He had taught a number of new vampires to fight and this wasn't all that different. He had especially enjoyed sparring with Dru.

The distraction that thought caused would have earned him a vicious kick in the head if the Slayer hadn't been deliberately pulling her punches and kicks to stop an inch shy of their target.

"I don't believe this," Maria said quietly as he watched. "I've never seen Liz do anything like this."

"She never could before," Spike answered, having heard her perfectly. "Being called has enhanced all of her physical abilities." They slid into a new exercise involving balance and speed.

The workout lasted another hour before Spike called a halt. Liz was beginning to tire by that point and amazed that she hadn't already collapsed. "Tomorrow?" Spike nodded.

"Yeh, I got some things to do tonight. Find a place to stay, get a demon's eye view of Roswell, that sort o' thing. Meet me here tomorrow after your shift." The vampire left the factory and the seven teens continued their aborted conversation. The events of the previous night were retold and reexamined, and the consequences were discussed well into the night.

***********************************************************************

Spike wandered for some time, just following his nose. There wasn't much besides the humans in Roswell, which Spike found curious. Eventually though, he did catch another scent. Following it, he came upon a human looking woman carrying a small sack of groceries down the street. There was nothing about the woman that would have attracted the attention of someone who lacked a vampire's keen sense of smell.

He followed her for a time. Eventually she turned into a poorly lighted side street, not much more than an alley. Spike stopped and quickly backtracked around the building. He found her there, waiting. Surprising her from behind, he seized and shoved her against a wall. A subtly altered face stared at him in alarm.

"Why do you follow me vampire? I'm not edible, or are you too young to know the difference between human and demon?"

"I know the difference," Spike said, amused by her bravado despite the fact that he had her pinned to the wall. "You tend to stand out in this town, at least to someone with my sense of smell." The Anamovic demon waited for an answer to her first question. "I was curious. I seem to be the only vampire in town." She snorted.

"You are. Demons tend to avoid Roswell. Anything even vaguely strange here winds up in the papers. Your kind usually don't like that kind of attention. A bloodless corpse would land on the front page." Spike nodded thoughtfully. That made sense. "Which means I really wouldn't appreciate you drawing attention by feeding here."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said dryly. Her tone rankled him, and he wasn't about to tell her he was on an imposed diet. "I'm not hungry for anything but information right now anyway. Tell me about the demon community around here."

"You're looking at it." Spike snorted.

"Not likely. Anamovic demons don't usually live alone. They're very into family."

"My two brothers also live here, but that's it. All we want is to be left alone." Spike shrugged.

"Suits me. Seems like a pretty dull town though."

"Exactly. So why don't you move on?" Spike growled and shoved her away.

"I'll do as I please." He turned his back on her and walked away.

The next thing that caught Spike's attention was the flashing lights of a police car, several actually, and a coroner's van. Curious, he started to make his way across the parking lot, but was diverted by the sound of something moving in one of the cars. As he got closer, he made out a thumping sound coming from the trunk of a late model Ford.

"Well," he said loud enough to be overheard by the person he could smell inside, "either this is a rear engine car in dire need of a tune-up, or there's someone in the boot." He knocked twice and the person inside knocked twice in response. Spike knocked out shave-and-a-haircut. The person inside responded with several angry kicks to the trunk lid.

Spike pouted. "Oh all right, I'll go get somebody to let you out. Don't go anywhere." There was another furious series of kicks.

***********************************************************************

Everything was finally wrapped up. It was late, and Valenti had had to call Amy and cancel yet another dinner date. Consequently, he was rather short tempered by the time the forensics people were done and the body was removed.

"Evening Sheriff," Spike said in his best cowboy drawl. Valenti turned from where he was talking to Dodd, one of his deputies.

"What do you want?" Spike gave him cocky grin and nodded toward the body being loaded into the coroner's wagon.

"Someone havin' a barbecue?" Dodd stiffened, looking at the stranger angrily. He was about to tell the stranger to move on, but the sheriff spoke first, surprising him.

"Do you know something about this or are you just trying to annoy me?" Dodd gave the Sheriff a curious look.

"Nothing specific, but that body may not be what you think."

"Meaning?" Spike tapped his nose.

"Guess you'll find out about that. At any rate I may not be a great detective like me sire, but I don't think it's a coincidence that someone is locked up in the back of their own car out in the parkin' lot." With that he turned and walked around the corner of the building.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Dodd rounded the corner and stopped, baffled. "He's gone." The sheriff nodded, not surprised. Probably turned into a bat or something.

"Don't worry. I know where to find him."

"Who is he?"

"His name's William something, but he prefers to go by Spike. I know enough to know I don't like him, but I doubt he has anything to do with this."

"What did he mean about the body?" Valenti shook his head as he headed for the employee's parking lot.

"Let's find out."

***********************************************************************

Liz wiped down the last table and straightened. The café was empty and her father was just beginning the process of closing down for the night. It was a simple, routine task that gave her plenty of time to think.

The others hadn't taken the news well, especially Tess. She didn't believe a word of the Slayer business and she didn't care that Nasedo had killed people. They were only humans after all. Max had stood firm though and wouldn't tell anyone where the body was. Michael hadn't been as upset as Liz had expected. She remembered a time when he had been almost frantic to find the shape-shifter. Apparently the time they spent alone at the Eagle Rock base had shown him what Nasedo was, and cured him of any desire to be closer to the alien.

Maria and Alex' concerns were more practical. Now that Nasedo was dead, and Liz could have sworn their relief over that was tangible, what was to keep the FBI from coming back to stir up trouble?

The answer was nothing. No one knew he was coming to Roswell though, and hopefully the Special Unit would begin its search elsewhere. If the Unit came, Max said with finality, they would deal with it on their own terms, without any bloodshed.

Everyone except Tess was satisfied with that, and the one dissenter wasn't going to cause Liz to lose any sleep. She had returned to the café and helped her parents work till closing. Liz looked up startled when the bell on the door rang.

"I'm sorry," her father said to the man in the dark coat, "we're closing now."

"I'm not here to eat," Spike assured him. "I wanted a word with Liz actually." Jeff Parker blinked in surprise and looked over at his daughter.

"Liz?"

"It's all right Dad. I know him." They stepped outside. "What's going on Spike? I'd rather keep this from my parents if I can."

"You may have work to do in a day or two. Slayer stuff." Liz' brow creased with worry.

"What happened?" Spike quickly filled her in on the corpse in the warehouse freezer and on what Valenti hadn't discovered yet, the fact that the victim wasn't human.

"What was he?" Spike shook his head.

"Didn't recognize the smell, at least not over the smell of burned flesh. There's something familiar about it though." A thoughtful expression crossed his face. "I think I may have heard of something like this. I'll do some nosing around, see what else I can turn up. Be ready though in case whatever did that decides to start frying humans next." She looked frightened Spike thought, but she nodded gamely.

"Let me know what you find out." She turned and went back inside.

Spike headed for a Kinko's he'd seen earlier that evening. Once there he racked his brains for a few moments before coming up with an answer. It wasn't the smell that was familiar.

Using the computer there, he tapped into newspaper files in Los Angeles and began looking for burned bodies. It took almost an hour, but he found it. A private investigator burned to death in an ice factory. Spike remembered part of an overheard phone call while he was staying with Giles. Wesley had called about it. He had wanted to know if Giles had any references about something called…. Vigaries, that was it, the Vigaries of Oden-Tahl.

With that memory recovered, Spike went to an online demon database and began searching for information about them.

***********************************************************************

The girls had finally adjusted completely to their new home. They no longer needed the frozen water to keep them alive. At least, they did not need to be packed in it. Even the princess found it comforting though.

Sedar, one of the first refugees the princess had rescued, fretted over the latest close call. Such an incident was bound to draw the attention of the slavers. The man that had been masquerading as a security guard at the warehouse might just be the beginning of their problems. When he failed to check in with Tay there would be trouble. The slavers would come, and they would come in force. She had sent word to the princess, but as yet there had been no response. The slavers' primary focus was on her and it was possible that she was too busy staying ahead of them to respond safely.

Sedar currently had five young women with her. Shipped to the town in crates by various routes to avoid detection, the plan had been to wait here undetected. With luck, they might even be able to blend in and settle. Sedar hoped so. She was discovering that she was not really up to the task of evading slavers and hiding escapees. Although she would never publicly question the princess' orders, privately she wondered what the woman had been thinking.

Burning the slaver had attracted the attention of the local authorities, something else that they didn't need, and she hoped it wouldn't be necessary to move too soon. The town was quiet and had the potential to be just the kind of place they could hide unnoticed. Unfortunately, it was entirely out of her hands.

***********************************************************************

"Whoever he is, he's not from around here." Valenti took a moment to glance at the particulars of the autopsy report the medical examiner had brought him. He frowned thoughtfully.

"No match on prints."

"That's right, but that's not all. There are… abnormalities." He flipped to the next page and pointed to the section of the report in question. Valenti was puzzled by what he saw there. His knowledge of medicine was limited, but he had seen enough coroners' reports to realize that what he was seeing wasn't normal.

"What do blood chemistry results like this mean?" Dr. Kelso shook his head.

"I don't know yet, but there are also abnormalities in the internal organs. They're all there, but they're a little different. I'm not sure what it means yet. Was the guard able to tell you anything about his attacker?"

"No." The sheriff shook his head. "He was hit from behind and woke up in his trunk." He considered the problem of the dead end, but had already concluded that that was what it was. He dismissed it and moved on. "I'd like to sit on this doctor. Don't share your findings with anyone."

"Sheriff-"

"This is Roswell. Any hint of anything strange will get into the paper. I'd rather not have the town besieged by UFO nuts." Kelso thought to object on behalf of his staff, but decided against it. The sheriff had a point, and it was his call.

"Okay. I'll keep it quiet. I can put this guy on ice for a time, but I'll need to know what to do with him before too long." Valenti nodded.

"I'll come up with something." I hope.

After Kelso left, Valenti headed for the Crash Down to meet Liz. He had some questions for her. It was a short drive from the coroner's office to the café and soon Valenti was walking through the door with his thermos, just as he did every morning.

"Morning Miss Parker." He put the thermos on the counter and she smiled and started to fill it for him.

"Good morning sheriff. How are you today?" Valenti looked around to see that no one was close.

"Not so good actually. A corpse turned up at the warehouse over on Moore, in the freezer section. Whoever it is was burned to death. Pretty ugly." Liz looked steadily at the sheriff, while she gathered her wits.

"And you're telling me this because?"

"I just found out that the body isn't human." Liz sighed. "Spike showed up as we were finishing up there. I think he smelled the difference. He also found the security guard the guy had stolen the uniform from, knocked out and locked in his trunk."

"He told me last night. He's looking into it. I'll let you know what he finds." Liz switched back to a normal tone and asked if he wanted anything else.

"No thanks." Again sotto voice, "I would like to know where Spike is though." Liz shrugged.

"Hasn't found a place yet. Even I don't know where he is, and he keeps telling me I should be able to sense a vampire." She shrugged and shook her head. Valenti nodded, resigned for the moment, and left.

"What was that about?" Her father asked curiously, coming to join her.

"Nothing dad. Just catching up on Kyle. He's visiting some relatives in Austin."

"Kyle? I thought you and Max were-. Um, never mind. Not prying." Liz almost laughed.

"It's okay dad. Kyle and I aren't seeing each other, but we're not bitter ex-es either."

"That's good," Jeff Parker smiled, glad he wasn't intruding in something his daughter considered personal. He looked up as the door opened. Speaking of personal…

"Hi Liz." Max smiled as he came toward her, intent on a kiss. Her father turned away, trying to look busy wiping the counter. Max hesitated when he caught sight of him, but Liz was having none of it. She reached across the counter and pulled him in for a kiss. Max was taken by surprise and it took him a second to respond, but when he did, he did so whole-heartedly. Liz smiled when she broke off.

"Good to see you. Cherry cola?" Max nodded, and Liz went to fetch it.

"As I recall, you saw me last night."

"It's always good to see you." She handed him the drink and kissed him again. Her father cleared her throat. Smirking, she pulled back and shot a half-amused-half-nervous glance at her father. "So. Anything else?"

"Can you take a break for a few minutes?" Liz nodded. She looked at her father and he waved her on. They went outside and headed down the street a short distance.

"How are they taking it?" Liz asked. "Not much was resolved."

"Nothing was resolved. They're nervous. Tess is furious."

"That's new." Max didn't laugh. After a moment Liz sighed. "Sorry. I kno-"

"There's nothing there for me Liz. You know you're all I want." He paused, thinking. "This is not a joking matter. Liz, none of us understands what's happened. This Slayer business is weird even by our standards and it seems, judging by what Spike said, we're not as unique as we thought. I mean, demons of all shapes and sizes… wow."

"I don't understand it either, but it will work out. We've dealt with everything else that's been thrown at us. We can handle this."

"Spike said that a Slayer draws trouble like a magnet. How long do you suppose till something bizarre happens? Demon related?"

"How long till something alien related happens? That message said that your enemies were here." Max shrugged conceding the point.

"Actually, Spike told me that a body turned up in the freezer section of a food warehouse. A burned body. A non-human body." Max didn't respond for a time. "He's not sure what it is, but it is close to human so no alarms went off immediately. No front-page stories. The coroner will find out though."

"Will Valenti keep quiet about it?"

"I hope so," Liz sighed. "I think he likes it peaceful in Roswell." Max nodded thoughtfully. Valenti's behavior since he had decided that he had been wrong about Max had indicated that that was indeed the case.

"So what next? Wait until Spike, where did he get a name like that anyway, finds out what it was and what it was doing here?"