Title: Sire

Author: Lilithangel

Email: abchainey@xtra.co.nz

Website:   www.livejournal.com/users/lilithbint/

Fandom(s): AtS

Genre (general, hetero or slash) will eventually be slash cause I'm a Spangel girl.

Pairings/Characters: Spike/Angel and the rest of the AtS gang.

Rating: will include boy on boy stuff so pay attention.

Warnings: see above.

Notes: This will start from AtS series 5 'Destiny' episode and carry on from there so there will be spoilers for various episodes. However this is going to go AU from the beginning.

Inspired by a challenge but totally deviating from the original suggestion.

Summary: Drusilla renounces her claim as sire to Spike. Master vampires from all over the country arrive to vie for the right to claim him. The AtS gang and Wolfram & Hart have to deal with the fallout and Angel has to deal with his conflicting feelings. Spike has to come to terms with himself, his relationship with Drusilla and what he wants to do with his future.

A/N Many thanks to everyone who took the time to review my work I am truly blessed.

Excerpts from episodes will be paraphrased for expediency and dialogue may be changed to fit my storyline, thoughts are in italics and flashbacks should be obvious.

Spike stopped outside Angel's office suddenly at a loss about where to go. He had his body back he could fight, feed and fuck again but all he wanted to do was crawl into a bottle and forget everything.

Fighting with Angel had taken the edge off his grief but it was still there threatening to consume him. If Spike didn't know better he would have thought Angel had allowed the fight to help ease Spike's grief. But Spike did know better so he simply figured that the poof had been waiting to have a go at him since he returned.

Looking up Spike saw Wesley hovering next to Harmony's empty desk.

"Curiosity got too much for ya did it Watcher?" Spike slipped back into the Big Bad automatically.

"Well yes" Wesley confessed, "a lot was said in Angel's office that does not fit with what I have been taught by the Watchers Council."

Spike laughed "that doesn't surprise me mate, your precious council is better at keeping secrets than the Kremlin. Come on then you better have something decent in your office 'cause I need something stronger than tea right now." Spike headed towards Wesley's office. "Where's Harmony shouldn't she be guarding the threshold to the ogre's den?" Spike tossed over his shoulder.

"Harmony has fallen prey a mystical attack which appears to have coincided with you becoming corporeal. She started to bleed out of her eyes and tried to bite the courier man." Wesley replied.

Spike stopped and looked back over his shoulder at Wesley "Your curiosity is stronger than I thought if you are passing up a mystical bug just to question me."

"Fred and Knox are working on it and they have the codex" Wesley replied defensively. "If they need me they will contact me, I feel I need to understand the ramifications of what happened in Angel's office, they may even relate to these events."

Spike snorted with laughter and carried on into Wesley's office where he threw himself into a chair.

Wesley headed for his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses pouring as he sat.

"So shoot Percy, what do you want to know?" Spike tossed back the first glass of whiskey and held it out for more.

Wesley sighed and poured another liberal shot into Spike's glass.

"How can a claim be relinquished doesn't it occur during siring?"

Spike snorted and rolled his eyes "most vamps are never claimed it's something the old bloodlines do."

"Old bloodlines?" Wesley's confusion is evident.

"Bloody hell your council haven't told you anything have they? What sort of vampires do you think the slayer dusts?" Spike's change of tack left Wesley even more confused.

"What do you mean Spike?"

"How many master vampires has Buffy faced?"

"Angel, you, Dracula and the Master?" Wesley replied.

"And she only managed to destroy one of them completely and then cause she had help from his own family."

"The Master. What about Dracula? And she defeated you and Angel several times."

"Defeat not destroys that's the key. Sure she dusted Dracula but that isn't enough to finish off a master vampire. Pretty sure he only let that happen to welch on his debt to me the pouncy show-off" Spike grumbled under his breath.

"Slayer only picks off fledglings, minions and lower order feral vamps. The elders let it happen 'cause it keeps the population under control and weeds out the weaklings."

"You have elders," Wesley repeated weakly knocking back his whiskey in one mouthful.

"Well duh... and a council made up of the heads of most of the strongest families. They control vampire society more or less. Master vampires belong to one of them to keep the blood strong. Dru got into trouble for claiming me before I proved myself to the order, nearly got us all dusted lucky thing Darla was such a good whore and kept the Master happy."

"What difference does claiming make?" Wesley is practically drooling at the information Spike is giving him.

"Most vamps are nothing; turned by unclaimed vampires they are no stronger than Harmony, strong enough to munch on a human but no match for the slayer. I earned my claiming and my master status when I defeated my first slayer in China." Spike spoke proudly.

"Claiming makes you stronger than normal childer it's a real power boost especially if the claimer is from a strong bloodline."

"How many bloodlines are there?" Wesley's fingers were twitching yearning for a pen and paper.

"Now there are only a handful left of pure lines, one less if the council was serious about ending Aurelius." Spike sounded almost regretful.

"You almost sound sorry about that Spike, I thought you didn't care about your family line?"

"Still family innit. The name ended with me just like Darla said it would." Spike replied bitterly. "Aurelius was not your typical order, The Master only claimed master vamps until Darla. He claimed her early and she continued the trend. The Master was a real purist insisting only on the strongest childer.

Darla claimed Angelus early to try and tame him, didn't really work cause he was always an arrogant bastard. He never claimed Drusilla just broke her so she wouldn't leave."

"Why aren't more vampires claimed if it creates such strength?"

"Vamps are predators in the end mate, we don't like too much competition. The families are constantly trying to expand their spheres of influence master vamps tend to leave the nest and find their own territory. Families use this to increase their power. Claimed vamps tend to stay together which makes them even more powerful.

Don't rightly know if Dru knew what she was doing when she claimed me" Spike mused "Darla was pissed but Angelus didn't care except to remind me that he could take Dru from me whenever he wanted."

Flashback London 1880

"There is no belonging or destiny anymore. You can take what you want, have what you want but nothing is yours not even her."

"You're wrong, we're forever Dru and me."

"Are we?"

End Flashback

"So was the claim the reason you loved Drusilla?" Wesley asked curiously.

Spike's eyes flashed and a flash of fang showed before he knocked back his drink and replied.

"I was made to love her, whether that was the claiming or something that Dru saw in me I don't know. But I still love her even now and the claim has gone."

Wesley had fallen silent; Spike looked up from his drink and noticed something. "Hey mate the eye bleeding thing is it catching?"

"Why would you care you evil bloodsucking leech? Playing with peoples lives trying to control them!" Eyes dripping blood Wesley reached for a crossbow behind his desk.

Spike leapt over the desk and punched Wesley in the jaw catching him before he hit the floor.

"Bloody hell" Spike placed Wesley back in his chair before heading for the door.

Spike opened the door and walked straight into Angel and Eve.

"What ever that eye thing is I think it's contagious, bleeding watcher tried to kill me." Spike complained.

"Wesley?" Angel asked.

"If only there was some way of telling which one of you the prophecy is about... Wesley may be incapacitated but his department is still here..."

"Do you really want it or is it just that you want to take something from me?"

"Bit of both. Wasn't that my first lesson? You can take what you want, have what you want but nothing is yours. Sounds like you need to take your own advice. The Shanshu may not be yours mate."

"He beat me Gunn he beat me to the cup... in the end he... Spike was stronger he wanted it more... what if it means I'm not the one?"

Eve walked into her apartment and shed her clothes as she talked to someone out of sight.

"Team Angel is on red alert... Spike didn't kill Angel but they did beat each other to a bloody pulp..."

She climbs into bed with Lindsay who is covered in mystical tattoos.

"Well it's a start."

"Spike was right I don't know the real him, I didn't even realise how strong he had gotten. I took his destiny maybe it's right that he takes mine, maybe I don't deserve it. I have so much to atone for and no little for what I did to Dru and Spike. He makes it so easy to hate him even when I want to respect him he just makes me so angry."

Spike's POV

"The bleeding pounce still doesn't get it, still trying to pretend what he does matters, that he is the only real champion but I heard that Eve chick, we are both champions both in line for the brass ring. But Angel was right I did want to take it from him. I got my soul so I would be loved and that was a bust, what chance is there that being human would help any? Except... what the hell! I am brooding, I don't brood I am nothing like the poof dammit!"

TBC...

Next time: Harms Way, Dru's letters and the negotiations begin for the claiming of Spike.