FAMILY

AUTHOR: Little Mouse (elf_night@hotmail.com)

DISCLAIMER: Once again, Joss', not mine. Still a lucky man.

WARNINGS: For explicit m/m stuff, and violence, and remembered abuse, and language, and lots of other stuff.

ARCHIVE: Please ask first.

SUMMARY: AU! Spike isn't in 'love' with Buffy, but has told Giles' the story of Drusilla turning him. He has the chip, but no soul. Angel's in LA. Anya doesn't exist. I moved forward the 'meltdown' of Spike's chip a bit.

STORY: Spike's little story of his turning isn't the exact truth... Angel loses his soul - or does he? and starts gathering his scattered family. Spike insists that isn't going to include him. He's so very, very wrong...

A/N: This chapter has the first small departure from Spike’s POV.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“What do ya mean, ya ‘was set the task of watching over us’?”  Spike finally asked, after staring at the laughing spirit for a long moment.

“Exactly what I said.  All the different races have someone to watch over them - vampires are a race, too, you know.  Sort of.  You’re a child race.”

“A what, now?”

“A child race.  The offspring of two separate races, one demon and one human.  Do you know what the first vampire is called?”

“The First Evil.  Heard a Watcher say so once.”

Ariel rolled her eyes.  “Oh, please.  Those pompous humans cause more trouble than they solve.  The first evil vampire is the ‘First Evil.’  The very first vampire is called Protector.”

“Protector of what?”  Spike had to ask, curious in spite of himself.

“Of the humans who surrounded him.”

“Oh, that’s a laugh, luv.  Vamps eat humans.  They don’t protect them.”

“Do you know how many vampire clans there are?”  Ariel asked, apparently changing the subject.

Spike frowned thoughtfully.  He used to know that - it was one of the many useless facts Tomas had drilled into his head.  “I think... uh, forty some?  Forty-eight?”

“Forty-six.  There were forty-eight when you were younger, but the Yval clan was wiped out by a Slayer in 1934, and the Brunus order was taken over by the Aalen in 1961.  Do you know how many of them feed by killing humans and drinking all their blood?”

“Uh, all of ‘em?  Nah, wait, those Natria’s don’t do that.”

“Right.  Nor do the Hectates, actually - and for that matter, nor do the Aurelians.  Not any more.”

Spike blinked.  “What, none of ‘em?  Can’t see Lucy an’ Dru ever given up human blood... have a hard time imaginin’ any of the others.”

“Ah, but they listen to their Sire, don’t they?”

“Yer sayin’ Angelus ain’t lettin’ ‘em feed?!  Bloody hell, did he lose that soul or not?!”

“Oh, he lost it - sort of.”

“Sort of?” Spike gave her a ‘Tell Me Already, Bint!’ look.

“Yes, sort of.  He lost the cursed part.”

“Now you’ve lost me.”

She smiled.  “Silly child - do you think those gypsies could curse Angelus with his soul after only one night?  When they had none of his belongings, none of his blood or even a hair from his head?  They had no Orbs - not that those things work like the Watchers and Wiccans think they do - so they had to improvise.  What they cursed your poor Sire with was basically a severe guilt complex.”

Spike was getting kind of used to his chin hanging down around his knees.

“Of course,” Ariel went on, pretending he wasn’t staring at her like a brain-dead puppy, “they had to call it something fancier than that.  Humans are always trying to make things seem bigger than what they are.  So they added to their little spell the impression - for Angelus and any vampires who came in contact with him - that they could sense his ‘soul’.  Ridiculous, really.”

“But something was different.”

“Yes, the spell was intended to alienate him from his own kind.  If Darla had smelled his ‘soul’, she wouldn’t have called it that.  She wouldn’t have sensed or smelled anything different at all, since Angelus had never lost his soul in the first place.”

“Vampires don’t have souls,” Spike said calmly, repeating a fact that he’d had pounded into him - by his Sire and by humans alike - since his rebirth.

“Ah, if I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that...” Ariel trailed off, looking thoughtful, “well, I’d have a big collection of useless metal, since I don’t need money.”

Spike groaned.


*


“Is he waking up?” Drusilla asked breathlessly, leaning forward as Spike made a tiny sound.

They all waited, absolutely still and silent, but Spike didn’t stir or make any other noises.  Eventually, Tomas reached out, and once more used his thumb to gently slide up an eyelid.  “No, he’s still in a very deep trance.”

“Strange,” Penn murmured, “no one else has ever made a sound.”

“Always unique, our Will is,” Daniel grinned.


*


“So, you’re trying to tell me that vampires do have souls?” Spike really wanted something to bang his head against, but there wasn’t even a floor here, as far as he could tell.  Just this weird white mist twining around his ankles.

“Of course they do, poppet!” Ariel looked insulted.  “Do you think I would be set as a Guardian for a soulless race?”

“How should I know?”

Once again, Ariel changed the subject on him.  “Who told you that vampires don’t have souls?”

“My Si... uh, Peaches did.”

“Angelus,” she corrected, but grinned at the nickname.  “And who told your Sire?”

“His Sire, I guess.”

“And who told your GrandSire?”

“Her Sire.”

“And who told him?”

“His Sire...” Spike growled, losing patience fast.

“Exactly!  So Sires told Childer, who told their Childer, who told their Childer... tell me, dear one, when you first woke in your rebirth - did you believe everything your Sire told you?”

“Uh... yeah, pretty much.”

“And did anything he wanted?”

“Yeah,” Spike knew that she knew he had - there was no use in lying, even if he didn’t like admitting that his entire existence had once revolved around Angelus.

“So, if your Sire told you that vampires were actually poodles in human form, you would have believed him?”

“Er...” Spike tried to fight off a grin.  “Poodles?”

“Just go with me on this,” Ariel gave him a look, “if he’d told you that you had died and were now in a limbo where you drank blood to survive until Judgement Day?  Would you have believed him?”

“I guess so,” Spike admitted reluctantly.

“So it was easy to believe what he told you - what he believed, himself - that you no longer had a soul?”

“Wait now,” Spike protested, “maybe I just took his word, yeah, but before I was turned, I wouldn’t have killed anybody - not for anything!  And after, I drained them like they didn’t matter at all!  It didn’t bother me!”

“Do you think it would bother a newborn baby, if they knew that drinking their bottle was causing the bottle to die?”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Spike scowled.

“I don’t mean the bottles are alive, you ninny,” she laughed, “just that if they were alive, and drinking milk was ‘killing’ them - do you think it would bother the baby?”

“Well, no - ‘cause they don’t know any better.  They’re - well, they’re innocent.  They don’t know right from wrong.”

“Exactly!  All they know is that they’re hungry, and this is food!  Being turned is like being reborn; the only difference between a new vampire and a newborn baby is that you don’t loose your motor skills - you can still walk, talk, and reason to a certain extent.  But your knowledge from before is mostly forgotten, except for the parts that help you blend in and survive.  That’s why you have Sires, like babies have parents, to teach you and train you.  Do you think a baby raised by psychopathic parents, who taught it that murder and torture was normal, right, even fun, would grow up to be another psychopath?”

“I guess so,” Spike said uneasily.  He could see where she was heading with this, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

“So you can see where my vampire babies, left with their brainwashed Sires, ended up brainwashed, as well?  Except for the few rare, exceptional ones - like you.”

“There’s nothing special about me,” Spike protested, “I like the killin’ just as much as the next vamp, ya know?”

“Do you?  Is that why you feed on babies and children?”

“Hey, I don’t...”  Spike protested, then stopped.

“That’s right, you don’t.  You like food that can give you a good chase, or that will fight back, don’t you?  You’ve even let some of them go - like that girl who tricked you in London that time, who told you she had bathed in holy water to cleanse herself for church that morning?”

Spike scowled.  “She was lying?”

Ariel grinned.  “You knew she was - you didn’t burn when you grabbed her arm, did you?  But you’d never heard that lie before, and it amused you.  You let her go.”

“Well, she was smart,” Spike nearly whined, “why would I wanna kill a smart human?  There ain’t enough of ‘em, as is.  Doesn’t mean anything!”

“Sure it doesn’t,” Ariel said teasingly, “and why didn’t you go ahead and eat Xander Harris, when Angel offered him to you?”

“He was usin’ him for a trick, not really offerin’ him ta me,” Spike grumbled.

“So?  Most vampires would have eaten him, anyway.”

“Yeah, but he was talkin’ back ta Peaches even though he thought he was gonna die,” Spike said, grinning a little at the memory.

“You see?  He amused you, and you let him go.  You didn’t have to - he was incredibly vulnerable to you.”
“Yeah, so the amusing food lives.  Makes me sound like a soddin’ spoiled brat, not noble, if that’s what yer tryin’ for.”

“Well, William dear, you must admit that your ‘spoiled brat’ mind set is a lot further than most vampires ever get.  Almost any other vampire would have eaten that girl for her impertinence in lying to them, and they would have killed Alexander for daring to talk back to a Master like Angelus.”

“Not all of them - Dru woulda thought it was funny.”

“Would she?” Ariel arched a silvery brow.  “As much as she adores her ‘Daddy’?”

“Well...”  Spike hesitated a bit.  Drusilla would have thought it was funny if her brain was working right, except that it never did work right as far as Angelus was concerned.  Which reminded him of something, and he didn’t mind changing the subject on Ariel.  She’d done it enough to him already.

“What did you do to Dru, anyway?  Was it you?  She said she’d been ‘mended.’”

“It was me,” Ariel nodded.  “She told me what happened before her turning - I don’t automatically know everything like some Guardians, drat my luck - and I was able to help her.”

“Oh, yeah?” Spike’s interest suddenly went up a notch.  Or six.  “Can you fix physical problems, too?”                   

She frowned at him.  “Who has a physical problem?”  Her eyes went over him, almost critically.  “You look lovely to me.”

“Thanks...” Spike said slowly, not quite sure how to take that from her.  “But it’s more this thing that’s in me head.”

“There’s something in your head?” She stared.

Spike took a deep breath, and began explaining to her about the Initiative and their behavioral control experiments.


*


Angelus’ Family had been sitting around the game room, talking in low voices or listening to the soft CD that Tomas had put in the player, waiting for their Little One to wake up.  They knew it could take a while - Daniel’s ‘turn’ had taken almost seven hours - but they were hoping William would accept Ariel’s message more easily than most of them had.

Their hopes were beginning to dwindle, though.  William was on his fourth hour and showed no signs of stirring.  He was so utterly still, compared to the hyperactive fledgling that was all most of them remembered, that it was eerie.

So when he suddenly convulsed, all of them jumped.

“What’s going on?!” Angelus dropped the book he’d been reading and pulled his Childe fully onto his lap, trying to still his suddenly-flailing limbs.  Spike jerked and shuddered in his arms, flickering in and out of game face, his back arching like he was having a seizure.  “Deborah?  Tomas?!  What is it?”

“I don’t know,” Tomas said quickly, reaching out to help hold his Brother still.  “I’ve never heard of this happening before!”

“Is Ariel doing it?” Drusilla asked, her dark eyes huge as she cowered behind Penn, afraid to touch William for fear of making it worse.

“She wouldn’t!” Tomas protested the idea, grabbing the metal spoon Daniel had found somewhere and quickly placing it in William’s mouth before he could bite his tongue.  “She’d never hurt him!”

“Bring me the book!” Angelus shouted over the noise, “I’ll go in and find out!  Penn!”

“Sire?” Penn thrust Drusilla, who he’d been comforting, into Lucinda’s arms and rushed over, just in time to take the wildly shaking vampire Angelus pushed at him.

“Hold him!  Don’t let him hurt himself!” Angelus ordered, and Penn wrapped both arms around William, pulling him to the floor and winding his legs around the younger vampire’s legs, as well.  Angelus took the book that Deborah held out, opened it -

- and Tomas caught him as he went still, laying him gently down on the couch.

“What do we do?” Deborah was near tears, watching as William continued to jerk and tremble in Penn’s tight embrace.

“We wait,” her oldest Brother replied tensely, willing the youngest to stop moving.  Bloody tears were beginning to leak from William’s eyes, and his fangs grated shrilly on the metal in his mouth.

They all huddled around him, pulling the couch with their Sire close, and were forced to do nothing more than that.

Wait.