The Covenant

by jamies_lady

Summary: After the fight with the senior partners the scoobies gather in rome for a well earned break but an unexpected meeting leads to adventure

Chapter 2

Buffy and Spike were enjoying some well-earned privacy, the apartment was completely empty as Andrew was off doing watchery stuff, Dawn was at school; and Willow, Rachael and Xander had gone shopping.
Xander was the biggest shock of all for this new and improved world. Still a joker but no longer vicious. He had developed into what Giles called ‘a very nice young man.’ But the shouts and moans from his room at night rivalled even the noise coming from Buffy and Spike’s. They were all just so glad that the new Slayer School had such a huge, private and sound proofed apartment attached to it. They all needed the space.

Having spent most of the morning in bed Buffy and Spike were enjoying a cup of coffee before heading off to help train the new slayers when Willow, Rachael and Xander burst into the kitchen. They were flustered and Willow looked very shaken.
‘What’s up? Asked Buffy
‘Vampire, outside the café, in broad daylight!!’ Xander answered
‘Day walker, but I thought they were bloody stories’ blurted out Spike
‘Well it seems someone decided to walk around like normal folks do, in daylight pretending to be a happy meal one legs. Xander said adding ‘He gave Willow a message to pass onto you two.’ Willow handed Spike a paper napkin: it had an address, a date, and time, with a list of names and two drops of blood on it. The Vampire sniffed the blood and then gently tasted it.
‘Eww gross’ Said Xander, ‘back to bad habits, Dead Boy junior?’
‘Shut up whelp’
The old names broke the tension a little and allowed the humans to take a deep breath.
Spike looked at him as Buffy laid her hand on Xander’s ‘He can tell whose blood it is from that Xander,’
‘I know, I’m not stupid, just thought if we’re back to fighting the bad guys we’d better get back into practise’
‘I can tell you who’s blood it is: its mine and Charles Richards, least that was the name he gave me’ Willow said, speaking up for the first time since the group had arrived.
‘Tell us exactly what happened, Red’ instructed Spike, looking up from the piece of paper in his hand.

‘ I was sitting having coffee while Xander and Rachael were shopping when this man came up to my table and sat down. He was very polite and asked if he could join me.’ Willow smiled nervously towards the blond vampire, who still looking at the napkin in his hand. Buffy patted her on the shoulder
‘Go on’
‘He said his boss wanted to meet you and Buffy, and that was all’
‘Then what?
He went all fang face, in daylight, he’s not supposed to be able to do that. Then he bit the inside of his wrist and dropped blood onto two napkins.’
Willow stopped talking and tried to remember exactly what had happened next.
‘He said that his boss would need proof that we’d spoken, so would I mind bleeding onto both napkins. I was scared but he held my hand and very gently pricked my little finger and just dropped two drops of blood out: one onto each napkin. Then he wrote on one napkin and took the other himself. He said that safety was guaranteed, on his honour or some such, no, parley and truce that’s what he said. Parley and Truce.’
Buffy took the paper and looked at the names:-

Lord and Lady Carrington
Miss Willow Rosenberg
Miss Dawn Summers
Mr Alexander Harris
Miss Rachel Hunter
Mr Rupert Giles

‘Spike, who are Lord and Lady Carrington?’ asked Buffy
‘That’s us love, I’m Lord Carrington, at least I was when I was alive’
‘Seems they want the whole gang. At least if there is any trouble we will be able to defend ourselves,’ commented Xander.
Buffy then re-read the paper. And looked towards Spike.
Spike had the good grace to look a little embarrassed and ran his hand through his bleached hair. ‘Seems I can’t keep any bloody secrets round here. Not that I wanted to keep it from you,’ he added hastily, seeing the storm start to cloud the green eyes looking at him, ‘just haven’t thought about it in over a century, but suppose the title is still mine.’
‘You’re just lucky, Mister, that we have more important stuff to discuss right now, but don’t think I’ll forget.’
‘Never expected you to.’ He smirked.

‘Right, back to business. Why don’t we just go over and dust ‘em all? Why should we keep an appointment we didn’t make?’ Asked Buffy.
‘It’s the Truce and Parley bit, Pet. Its sort of Master Vampire speak for “I really want us to meet and talk and not kill each other when we do”. The group who are doing the asking are very powerful, this blood is from a master and he was just the messenger, so who ever wants to talk, is big. I feel we should go if only to find out what they want.’
‘Willow, with a name and a drop of blood you can control someone can’t you?’ asked Rachael, the first time the quietly- spoken girl had said anything since they had all arrived.
Willow nodded. ‘It’s a simple spell, but I don’t like doing them; magic nearly killed the world once. That way leads to dark roots and dark Willow.’
‘Can you tell if someone was telling the truth? If they had evil intent or anything?’
‘I felt him as he was speaking. He felt like he was telling the truth. He really wanted me to believe him, but then there’s the whole daylight thing. It was freaking me out.’ Willow added.

Spike looked wistful: his dream was to walk in the sun again. He’d not been able to see a sunrise since he’d had the Gem of Amara, and there were times he would have loved to walk Buffy along an avenue, simply enjoying the sunshine. But he was a vampire, and Daywalkers were supposed to be a myth. Supposed to be; but with what Willow was saying, perhaps there was a chance.
‘How much do you trust this parley and truce thing, Spike?’ asked Xander, ‘ I know you won’t bite but I don’t want to go around trusting vampires who just say that they’ll be good. Evil is what they do; no offence, but I’m not taking my ladies somewhere they might just be the first course of dinner, for all that they’re a nummy snack sometimes’ he added with a smile. Willow blushed and Rachael punched his arm, but gently. She was after all, a slayer, and didn’t want to hurt him.
‘Watch it, Mister’ said Willow.

‘Truce and parley is an ancient ritual. It means that they won’t attack us, but will defend themselves, and we promise not to attack, but again, can defend ourselves if needed. They will expect us to be armed and will expect more people than those mentioned on the list. That’s sort of a ‘minimum number’ type thing. They will expect us to go, then will discuss what they need the truce for, we leave after making arrangements to contact them again when we’ve talked about what ever it was they’ve told us. They really won’t hurt us. The truce and parley is too important to break. They’d have every demon and vampire in this world, and any other, after them.’ Spike explained.

‘Well, I suggest that Spike and I do some reconnaissance, then we call Giles and let him know what’s happening.’ Buffy said.
‘Ooh, goody, a research party,’ squealed Willow.
Xander started towards the door.
‘Just where do you think you’re going, mister?’ enquired Buffy far too quietly for any answer to be safe.
‘Well, if we’re, correction, you’re doing research, that leaves Spike to play the Watcher and me to do my old job of fetching the goodies. Doughnuts anyone?’ Xander said with a smile.
Buffy just burst out laughing; that was definitely a safe answer.
‘Doughnuts sound great. Thanks Xander’
‘I am not bleeding well playing Giles’ grinned Spike, ‘don’t look good in tweed,’ he mumbled. ‘Proved that when we went all Randy and Joan.’
The gloom that had been trying to settle over the group completely dissipated with all the laughter and frivolity.
Willow opened up her laptop and stated to search through the Internet, looking for the estate mentioned in the note. Buffy and Spike helped Rachael get out the books and started trawling through them. They needed to find out what ever they could about the situation they were heading into.
‘What clan are we looking for, Love? You did the taste test. Is it Coke or Pepsi?’ joked Buffy.
‘Marcasian, they are an old clan, nearly as old as the Aurlieus. Grew up in Europe around thirteenth century, haven’t heard much about them since the middle of the nineteenth. Angel would know, think he ran into them at some point; in France I think. I wasn’t around then, pet.’
Dawn arrived at the same time as Xander returned and the whole of the Scooby gang settled down to a true, old fashioned, research party.