Standard disclaimers apply.

"So Xander, what's so important that it couldn't wait for Tuesday? And apparently made you turn research man?"

Marking his place and putting the book aside, he looked around the shop. The Scoobies, sans Spike who hadn't been invited and Anya who had a date, looked back, unused to him asking for a meeting. He steeled himself for possible tears and recriminations and decided to jump right in.

"First off, I need to ask a hypothetical question and get a simple factual answer without you all screaming at me and checking for possession, can we do that?" He glanced around to take in the extremely grudging nods. "Willow, can you take Spike's chip out?"

The screaming started immediately, though to be fair none of the magic users in the room cast any revealing spells.

"Hypothetically! Can, not will? I want to broach a topic here and there's no point if nothing can be done."

The others quieted down, with Buffy pulling Riley off to the side a bit as he continued muttering under his breath. Xander looked expectantly at Willow.

"Um... If I was able to see exactly what the chip really looked like, you know like an Initiative schematic or even better holding one of the same make, then I definitely could. There's a few options I could explore otherwise, but they deal with the flesh rather than the chip, and those spells are made to work with living human flesh, not demonically animated dead flesh. So I'll give it a solid 'probably' without further research."

Everyone absorbed this for a moment then Giles cleared his throat. "In this purely hypothetical vein, I'm familiar with the spells Willow is discussing as backup options and can upgrade her response to a 'almost certainly, but with great effort and probably significant pain to Spike.'"

"Well, much as I enjoy significant pain to Spike..." Buffy trailed off under the weight of an angry Dawn glare and quietly disappointed Tara gaze. "Sorry, habit. But you can't be seriously wanting to discuss whether keeping him de-clawed is a good thing or not. He's a killer."

Xander nodded. "He is. But the chip doesn't just keep him from attacking innocent people."

"That's exactly what it does!" Riley looked like he was explaining something very simple to a six year old. "If he tries to cause a human being harm, it punishes him, usually fast enough to prevent the attack from being carried out."

"No, Ri, not harm. Pain." There was a round of blank looks. "Okay, Buffy, why doesn't Spike try to block you when you feel the need to punch him in the face?"

The Slayer avoided eye contact with her sister as she mumbled, "I don't do it that much anymore..." Xander just waited. "Fine, he doesn't try to block because as hard as I hit and as hard as he has to swing to deflect me, there's a good chance the contact will sting a little on my side and, you know, brain attack."

"Right. It's not as bad with regular humans, but the chip seriously limits what he can do defensively, not just offensively. Hell, if a normal human just grabs his arm tight enough, he can't wrench away without causing them a little temporary pain and setting off the chip." He looked at Riley, daring him to argue. "That's not preventing harm. That's making him helpless against any human who wants to harm him for any reason."

The former soldier scowled but finally nodded. "Fine, yes, the chip not only prevents him from harming humans, it ensures that a human will be able to overcome him if necessary."

"Or even if it isn't." Dawn muttered. She scowled right back at Riley. "We all know being a human doesn't make anyone a good guy. And Spike can only be out after dark and can't exactly go to the police for help."

Xander patted the younger girl's shoulder. "I know Dawnie, and I know you worry about him sometimes, but Ri didn't design the chip or anything, so you can't blame him for it. It's not as if it was even meant to be used on a free vampire to begin with."

"Huh?" Buffy glanced up. "I know they didn't mean for Spike to get loose when he did, but what makes you think they never meant to release vamps or other demons with the chip? Why else would they make them harmless to humans if they were going to keep them locked up?"

Giles coughed quietly and removed his glasses for a good cleaning. "Given the work on ADAM and behavioural modification performed on their own men, it seems likely that the long term plan was to use the chipped demons as a weapon, either against other demons, or, with more fine tuned devices, against foreign nations."

"Or just as slaves," Xander put in bitterly. He'd spent more time than he liked thinking about this since he'd fully realized just what the chip did and didn't do. "They can go into toxic environments, work without breathable air, and they're strong and tough. And disposable, cause hey, just monsters, right? Maybe if the world woke up to the Hellmouth side of life they could have moved into the private sector as pets."

"That's disgusting!" Willow's outburst made him feel ashamed of his bluntness, but he refused to apologize.

"It is." Buffy agreed quietly. "But he's right. I had the closest view of the Initiative outside of Riley, I shouldn't have needed to ask."

"Fine." Riley got up and paced. "Yes, the chip was designed to use hostiles in a military setting, not as some sort of 'catch and release'. And I'll give you that without the military providing blood and a layer of protection from violent humans it makes Se- Spike more helpless than harmless. But right now, as things stand, it's the only thing stopping him from killing, and would it really be better to take it out just to stake him?"

"I'm not suggesting just taking it out and hoping Spike's turned over a new leaf," Xander said firmly. "In fact, the other concern I have is that the chip doesn't do enough."

Willow blinked a few times. "It does too much and it doesn't do enough? How does that work?"

"The chip punishes pain inflicted on a human and aiming a weapon at a human. But that's not the end all and be all of hurting people, and Spike's been around long enough to know. Poison, arson, bribing or threatening another demon, hell he called in out of town assassins once already when Buffy became a real problem rather than a fun challenge." Various shocked looks met his gaze. "He hasn't done any of that, for the same reason he came to us in the first place, because with the chip he needs us... and because he's not like Angelus with the serial killer mentality."

"No," Buffy said quietly. "He's more like some sort of giant cat - he kills for food and he enjoys a fight, but when he offered to side with me against Angelus, I knew I could trust him not to give in to random bloodlust while we were working together. And there's been enough times he could have killed one of us just by walking away and didn't."

Riley leaned his head into his hands. "Again with the 'not meant for catch and release'. That, and when the program was implemented, we all pretty much thought of demons as animals. The scientists would see the vamps' human faces and hear them talk and just go on about mimicry and prey luring behaviors. Even if indirect strategy to harm humans could have been programmed against, it wouldn't have occurred to them."

"S-so we know the chip is.. is a problem..." Tara spoke for the first time. "Do you have a- a solution?"

"Bearing in mind that just removing the chip isn't a solution," Buffy put in firmly.

"I don't want to just remove the chip." Xander took the book he had been examining when the others entered onto the table and flipped it open to a marked page. "I want to offer him a deal."

Giles gasped in recognition and then a look of simple respect came into his eyes as he slowly smiled at the young man. An excited brainstorming session began between the witches and watcher almost immediately, with Buffy and Riley adding suggestions as they caught on. Xander just sat back, pleased with himself and reread the chapter heading.

Control of Demons :
Vampiric Oaths and Bindings.

Spike paced back and forth in front of the TV, and Xander held back on the desire to ask him to stop disrupting the basketball game he was trying to watch. He'd really only put it on as turnabout for the vamp multitasking their last big talk with soccer.

"So let me see if I understand this particularly insane Scooby plan... Red can take the bleeding chip out of my head, and you and the Niblet have somehow got them all feeling sorry enough for me to do it, but only if I first bind myself, by use of a blood oath spell master vampires have only ever submitted to with each other to end clan wars, to a policy of human friendliness that is in some ways stronger than what the chip forces. Not to mention that instead of deciding when it's worth taking a hit from the chip, I won't even be able to try to take any forbidden actions."

"That would be the glass half empty take on it, yes." He tried for an optimistic smile and got a scowl for his efforts.

"And by the voluntary nature of the spell, it's almost impossible to break without the cooperation of the others in the binding, which will be the entire bloody gang of you."

"On the other hand, it would gradually and naturally fade once all of us are dead, which by the way, is the reason for the Three Laws Compliant language in the specific case of dealing with us." Xander gestured to the third page of the detailed document the group had hashed out.

"At least you didn't include that for all the happy meals out there..." Spike picked up the papers and growled his way through the differing restrictions on defensive actions, offensive actions for self defense or defense of another, preemptive attacks and lethal force. "And what's this about not stealing? That's just silly, I'm surprised there isn't a clause against cursing and smoking!"

"Well, Giles suggested... Sorry, seriously, I think there's room for negotiation there. I mean, there's room for negotiation just about everywhere except the whole not using lethal force on innocent victims bit."

"This could last 70 years or more, and that's assuming none of you end up with superhuman lifespans. The chip might burn out in less than a decade."

"Or it might last for centuries. Or it might break down but instead of stopping working, it could start zapping you just for touching people, or scaring them, or just at random." He stepped in front of the blond and grabbed his arms to temporarily stop the pacing. "Look, I know you don't like the idea of trading one leash for another, but no matter how much we agree that the chip sucks, we don't want you bathing in our blood. Or even just Riley's. For it to come out, we need some assurances, and this is the best way short of Willow trying the soul curse on you, and Dawnie and I vetoed that idea right quick."

"Damn straight you better have! I'd rather stick with the chip, thank you!" Spike threw himself onto the couch and stared up at the other man for a moment. Then he smirked. "So, don't want to say that I'm not complimented, but this is the most trouble anyone's ever gone through to get into my pants."

Xander wondered briefly if it was possible to blush hard enough to set off the fire alarm. "That's not! I mean, it's... It might have, you know, started the thought process, but-" He spluttered helplessly for a bit until the vampire reached out and drew him down to sit beside him. "I only ever thought about you not being able to kill, talking the other night made me realize just how much the chip does to you. If this makes you secure enough in your demon-inity to catch a movie with me, great, but that's sort of faded into the background as far as motivations go."

"It's okay, mate, was mostly teasing... mostly. I'll have to think about this a bit and maybe talk some options over with Rupert." Spike stood and started for the door, papers in hand, but he paused before he opened it. "Thank you, Xander. For thinking this hard about it and selling the others on the idea. Means a lot to me, no matter what got you started on the question."

When the last words of the contract had been spoken, transmuted into smoky runes in the air that seemed to soak into the skins of the participants, and an indescribable air of completion made all involved aware that their various given words were not merely binding, but unthinkable to break, Willow stepped forward. A few simple phrases and a grasping gesture as she looked from the schematic in her hand to Spike's head and a small piece of government hardware was held in her hand.

A few minutes later, the chalk and candles on the floor had been joined by crushed silicon, and Dawn and Spike were happily attempting to reduce it to dust. Or taking up line dancing - Xander wasn't sure which. He was tempted to join in, but the heavy atmosphere that lingered in the wake of such a powerful ritual left him feeling happy but somehow detached. He slipped into the alley behind the Magic Box and breathed the relatively fresh air.

"Too much incense for you, Harris?" He jumped.

"Bell. Should have held out for that in the contract - 'Spike must wear a little silver bell'. Everyone else had a suggestion..." He snickered at the highly skeptical look on the vamp's face. "So what are you going to do first? Pick a fight with some frat boys? Spar with the Buff-ster? Flick Riley in the forehead on general principles?"

A lighter flared and the smell of smoke drifted across the alley before the quiet reply. "Probably do all of those eventually, but for now just knowing I can is actually enough... Right now?" He gave a sidelong glance and took a few more puffs. "Haven't seen the latest Jackie Chan yet... You wanna catch a movie?"

Xander felt the sense of detachment lifting from him and didn't fight a tremendously goofy grin. "Dinner at my place after?" A cautious nod in response. "Sure, lemme grab my jacket."

A/N : Thanks for reading, and thanks again to Skuzzy for the bunny!