Family Ties
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfic
Disclaimer: The big corporations own it all, dammit!
A/N No I haven’t disappeared off the planet I just needed to take a break. I got a case of keyboard fatigue - or keyboarditus; either way despite the spirit and the muse being willing the flesh was a right wuss and needed to recuperate.
A/N 2 This chapter features Dracula. He’s not a major character in this but I have portrayed him a little differently from the norm in Buffy fan fiction. I know that he was a bit of a pillock in the episode but I’m of the Old School. If it weren’t for Bram Stoker and his creation we wouldn’t have the likes of Spike or Lestat or Edwa….okay that’s a bad example. Let’s just say we wouldn’t have erotic, sexy vamps, just a bunch of werewolves and mummys. So my Dracula is a little more likeable (I hope!) and a little less evil…that’s Angel’s role - speaking of which he may get a little darker as the story goes on but will remain hopelessly incompetent. Just in case you thought I would redeem him.
.
Well I never!’ thought Wesley bemusedly as he none too gently hauled a still shocked, though thankfully now conscious, Xander to his feet. He didn’t understand fully why the whelp… er that is to say the young man, he chided himself - it really was far too easy to pick up Spike’s idiosyncratic speech patterns - no, he didn’t have a clue as to why Xander had fainted but from the sniggers and chuckles he suspected that his last meeting with the legendary Count had been quite humiliating in some way.
A pang of longing hit him suddenly, here surrounded by not just a group of people with a common cause but by a family, albeit a highly unusual and dysfunctional one. He had hoped to find that sort of family himself with Angel and his colleagues but the souled vampire didn’t seem to ‘do’ family very well. For all his soul’s input he still, essentially, thought like a vampire. If you were ‘his’ then you not only belonged at his side in loyalty and comradeship, you simply ‘belonged’ - to HIM. It was as though he and the others were some sort of pet or vassals. Not like Giles’ collection of misfits. Half the time they spent arguing and the other half defending each other against all comers, just like he had always imagined a real family would do.
He gave a brief chuckle and received a glare from Xander who had obviously presumed that it was directed at him. But it wasn’t. It had suddenly occurred to him that his own father was much more like Angel than Giles. A man who had dedicated his life to the Council and who despised vampires with a passion had more in common with vampires than he did with humanity. Wesley wasn’t so sure that he was prepared to be ‘owned’ by Angel since he had left home to avoid the same happening with his father.
And then there was Spike.
Spike - who as a vampire without a soul seemed to possess more humanity than Angel and Wyndham-Price Senior put together; yet who still was kept on the periphery of this oddball but normally accepting family like a child looking in a shop window at the delights within yet not being allowed to enter. Instead the occasional scraps of affection were thrown to him at the whim of the humans. And he could not deny that the teachings of his own profession were partly to blame for that attitude; teachings that he was beginning to doubt the truth of and had no doubt that Giles had already found his own learning less than comprehensive.
As Andrew and Dawn checked on an embarrassed Xander and Giles explained his reaction to the other adults… Oh! Renfield!, no wonder he’d reacted badly, poor sod! thought Wesley briefly before returning to his contemplation of the vampire who was now being fussed over by his own newly met family. He had heard some of what the Scoobies and Spike had been through during Buffy’s temporary demise and had seen for himself how the Aurelian had been cast out as soon as Angel had insinuated himself into their midst. If he was honest with himse he had to admit that the tales of Spike’s caring for the gang, especially Dawn, had struck him as romanticized exaggeration. Patrolling, yes; Spike was a vampire and any excuse to kill would have been snapped up with alacrity - but cooking, cleaning and helping with homework he had brushed off as utter piffle. Until seeing with his own eyes Spike’s willingness to risk his own life for Tara and hearing the revelations of decades of protection of his biological family from his vampiric one. Now he had to wonder why Buffy couldn’t see what he could. Why she still insisted that Spike was wholly evil and unable to love. Yes that was what the Council taught it’s Watchers and therefore what Giles would have taught Buffy but since when did Buffy Summers take the Council’s word on anything.
Of course the answer didn’t take much figuring out.
Angel.
Spike’s relationship with the others had been, if not a warm one, then at least a tolerable one until Angel had arrived on his PTB sanctioned mission to protect and guide HIS Slayer. ‘Bloody pillock’ thought Wesley, not caring that he was channelling his ‘inner Spike’ once again. He had too many questions running around inside his head and nowhere near enough answers, either about Angel’s motives or his part in this mysterious Trinity and the potential apocalypse, nor about what exactly had happened in the old Crawford mansion the night that Tara was cured and the strange effects it was still having - vampires, despite their supernatural origins, were not in the habit of glowing with silvery light - No, as much as he hated the thought he would have to grovel to Giles for some answers. He had a feeling that the older Watcher wasn’t anywhere as near to being out of the loop as Angel wanted him to be.
Wesley tried to put his whirling thoughts to the back of his mind as he dialled Angel’s number to get him back in time for their rendezvous with Dracula. He felt a frisson of excitement at the thought of meeting the archetypal Vampire and wondered if it would be too gauche to ask for his autograph.
B*T*V*S
Unlike Wesley who had spent the majority of the time after the phone call to set up the meeting coming up with questions and endeavouring to find some answers, Buffy sat on the edge of her bed desperately trying to will herself not to come up with any questions at all. It was something that she had managed to do without too much trouble so far but the events of the past few days, being in a foreign country, the revelations that undermined everything she had been taught about vampires and the unlocking of her emotions had made living in that quiet, grey and empty place almost impossible.
She had gone, with startling rapidity, from drifting in an Angel spun cocoon of … no, not a cocoon, a web. She shivered at the thought that had popped into her head. Butterflies created cocoons but creepy spiders spun webs. She couldn’t see Spike spinning webs - he would only get confused and impatient and end up with some sort of demonic crocheted doily. Buffy giggled at the mental picture. No, Spike was more your silk moth sort of bug….
“Well that’s a welcome sound. We haven’t heard much of that lately…which is understandable! I didn’t mean that you should be all cheerful Buffy because you so shouldn’t, well not unless you want to because there…there’s nothing wrong with that too. I didn’t mean to…”
“Breathe Willow!” Buffy smiled indulgently as her best friend dithered and bumbled… ‘yes, despite everything still my best friend’ she realised with relief.
“S…sorry Buffy…um, can I come in? “
Buffy’s smile faded momentarily; there was a time when neither of them would feel so distanced from the other that they felt the need to ask. Well, she brightened and sent Willow a genuine grin, that’s one thing that’s easy to solve.
“You never need to ask Will, you know that.” Buffy patted the mattress she sat on and Willow sat down next to her each half turned to face the other, her green eyes suspiciously bright.
“Do I?” she asked timidly. “I mean I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me, I did a terrible thing and I don’t know how to make it right…. No, no, I don’t want to make it right” she admitted, not daring to meet the Slayer’s judgemental eyes. “Because to make it right would mean that I’d lose you again, and…and it hurt so much when you were gone. But I didn’t think and I’m so sorry…”
Willow felt a small and warm hand cup her chin and turn her head up to meet that dreaded look. To her surprise there was no emotion in the Slayer’s hazel orbs other than affection, maybe even love.
“It’s over Will, and I know you’re sorry and I forgive you if you think you need that but you don’t really…need that I mean.” Buffy sighed; one thing about this ennui thing was that no-one expected you to talk let alone make any sense when you did. Seeing that Willow was desperately hanging on her every garbled word she tried again.
“I can’t deny that I didn’t want to come back and that I was angry with you for bringing me here” she placed a finger on her friend’s lips before yet another ‘I’m sorry’ could escape. “But I didn’t think how difficult it must have been for you, for all of you, to carry on without me…I know how hard it was when Mom died and I’m not sure that if I could have had her back as she was instead of a zombie that I would have had the courage to leave her be. You are a very talented witch and, maybe except for Giles…and shoot me for saying it but possibly Spike…” she surprised herself with the thought let alone saying it out loud “…you are the smartest person I know, but you are still human and humans make mistakes… and maybe, just maybe this being alive thing isn’t as bad as I thought it would be” she admitted as much to herself as to Willow.
For a few moments neither girl said anything, content to sit in an atmosphere of companionship that neither had felt for some time, even before Buffy had jumped from the tower. Finally, feeling herself in danger of worrying the red headed witch with her silence Buffy spoke. With all the hustle and bustle she hadn’t really managed to get a grip on Willow and Tara’s strange experience with the Goddess.
“So, Will….um…what’s the what with the glowy?” Seeing her friend duck her head and blush she suddenly hoped that the silver glow surrounding the unusual threesome wasn’t, well, a threesome! Because that would be so wrong… ‘especially with Willow and Tara being gay, and Spike being mine’ she thought and immediately clamped down on her sudden possessive feelings for her former mortal enemy. There were some things she was still not prepared to face!
Willow blushed at Buffy’s interest and wondered why the Slayer’s own face had colored a similar shade. As realization hit her that Buffy must have misinterpreted her and Spike’s relationship her blush deepened and she hastened to explain how their link had been formed.
“So you and Spike can’t actually read each other’s thoughts?”
“No, thank the Goddess!” Buffy laughed at Willow’s shudder as she replied to the question. She could imagine that the thoughts of a hundred and thirty plus vampire would be a bit much for the still quite innocent Willow. She had to admit, though only to herself, that she felt a little spark of jealousy at the trio having any sort of connection at all. She feared that she had burnt all her bridges as far as Spike was concerned. She listened as Willow went on to explain how it was Tara who had the stronger rapport and could differentiate between the Demon, William and Spike’s own thoughts.
Buffy was shocked. “You mean there are three different personas in his head, like multiple personality disorder!?” ‘God, no wonder he could seem a little helter skelter sometimes!
“According to Tara it’s not so much three personalities but one personality with three aspects to it. Each part of Spike makes a contribution to the person we know as Spike but sometimes the demon is needed to take control and sometimes, like when Spike was chipped and the demon was scared and unable to feed William took charge to teach him how to adapt.” Willow shook her head in wonder once again. She had never realised how complex the vampire was until she had a front row seat into his psyche.
Buffy was becoming more and more sure by the minute that she had severely underestimated the British vampire. This was not the mindless killer that first Giles, who seemed to have had a massive turnaround on that view himself, and lately Angel, who should have known better…probably DID know better….had taken every opportunity to drum into her, initially innocent and later bruised and battered mind.
“Buffy?”
Buffy snapped back to the moment at the concern in Willow’s voice.
“Sorry Will, just starting to wake up” ‘Been in the dark too long’ she added mentally as she felt a new yet familiar strength course through her.
“Yeah, this jet lag really sucks huh?!”
Buffy smiled as her friend took her comment literally and didn’t try to correct her. She still had a lot to work out in her head, including rearranging who was friend and who was…not so much. She just hoped that she hadn’t left it too late to call Spike a friend, or maybe even more…maybe.
“Come on Will” Buffy shook off the sudden hopes and fears and Willow saw that look in her best friend’s eyes that hadn’t been in evidence for so long… determination and purpose. “Help me choose something to wear for this meet, something Slayerish. Though why we should meet in a cemetery is beyond me. Talk about cliché!”
B*T*V*S
Luckily the Tennyson’s townhouse wasn’t too far from their destination so, after many goodnights and goodbyes, exhortations to wrap up warm and polite refusals of thermos flasks of tea Giles, Wesley, Buffy, Angel, Spike, Xander, Tara, Willow and Anya made their way to one of the most famous cemeteries in London, if not the world. They would have gotten away sooner if it hadn’t been for the arrival of a protesting Angel who spent ten very long minutes demanding why Dracula had called Wesley instead of him and why,,,yada yada yada… He finally gave up when Lady Amelia told him in no uncertain terms to stop being such a bore and act like a gentleman even if he would never be one. It was Giles opinion that her ‘unlike my dear William’ was the comment that had made him growl and turn a quite odd shade of puce. Wesley agreed in a clinical tone that it was quite a difficult color for a vampire to achieve. Dawn and Andrew’s protests at being left behind, even if Doyle had volunteered to stay and protect them, almost threatened to equal Angel’s but a little bribery from Katherine in the form of old photo albums promising pictures of a human William and his siblings soothed their anger. Much to Spike’s horror. If only photography had been invented a few decades later.
“Giles?”
“Yes Buffy dear?”
Buffy held back a wince as she witnessed the happiness in her surrogate father’s eyes at the simple act of her talking to him. She had thought that he had been distancing himself from her for some reason - something she had done wrong - but now, like with most other things in her life over the last weeks she had to re-evaluate. Was this more of Angel’s meddling? She smiled at her Watcher and his own expression lightened even more.
‘Yep!’ she concluded. Another Angel screw-up.
“I was just wondering… I mean color me clueless but how can a cemetery be considered neutral ground? I mean it’s a cemetery! Y’know, vampire… in the graveyard… with the sharp dentistry” She smiled as her board game reference made him shake his head in fond exasperation. She knew that as a Buffyism it was a bit lame but it still felt good to banter once again. Suddenly it was her turn to look exasperated, and not fondly, as Angel interrupted. She noted with pleasure though that Spike had smirked at her look; nice to see that he was taking an interest!
Angel’s superior tone cut through her musing rather like nails down a blackboard.
“Highgate cemetery is….” Angel broke off in shock as Buffy glared at him and poked a none too gentle fingernail into his chest… he fancied that it might have actually broken the skin. But it was her words that cut him the most. Since when had she begun to get so contrary again. He had thought that she was mellowing. That she was becoming the young sweet little girl that he had fallen in love with the moment he first saw her. As everyone stopped and watched the confrontation with interest Buffy made her opinion clear, to Giles delight and Angel’s chagrin.
“No Angel! Giles is my Watcher. It’s his job to, well, to watch stuff. Then he gives me the answers I need to do my job. I am The Slayer and he is MY Watcher, not you or Wesley” Buffy gave the younger Watcher an apologetic smile before refocusing her glare on the bemused and angry vampire.
More than one member of the group hastily hid a smile and a tear at the return of the old stubborn streak. ‘Who would have thought that Bossy Buffy would have been so sorely missed’ thought Giles with quiet satisfaction while his Ripper side felt a less benevolent sense of satisfaction at the look of hurt bewilderment on the elder vampire’s face.
Wesley was wearing a watcherly frown and Angel waited for him to put Buffy right on her errant opinions; to assert his dominance as the senior watcher for the group, a role that he had been performing well under his own benevolent guidance. But Wesley remained silent and it was Angel’s turn to frown in confusion and consternation.
Wesley, for his part, wondered how it had taken the guileless words of a Slayer to remind him that the Watcher / Slayer relationship was a highly personal one. That it wasn’t just a question of research and knowledge and that he had no right to interfere in that. He figured that the best thing he could do now to correct that mistake was to remain silent and allow the natural order to re-establish itself.
Giles paused momentarily, waiting for Wesley to intervene as he had done on so many other occasions of late. He cast the other Watcher a grateful glance when he remained silent. As they entered the gates of Highgate Cemetery, Spike taking point, leaving Angel to protect their rear, Giles explained the unique nature of the Victorian burial ground.
“Highgate has always been a cemetery of note, many famous people are buried here and it has always had a certain allure as a rather unusual tourist destination. The combination is, to vampires, rather like an all you can eat buffet. Two of the most ancient and influential clans in Europe quickly realised this and so began a war which lasted nearly sixty years. The Borgia - Calligari Clan and the Raleigh Clans almost wiped themselves, and a good percentage of several other minor clans out in their struggles to gain dominance over this small piece of London.”
“It had become a matter of honor by the end; nobody cared much about the original aims. In fact even the humans finally took the hint and kept away from the graveyard” added Wesley and Giles nodded. Buffy was pleased to see a new lack of aggravation between the two Watchers. She rather liked Wes as a person, even if he was stuffier than Giles at his stuffiest; it was just his horning in on HER Watcher’s territory she didn’t like.
“So how did it end?” she asked, genuinely interested. As long as she didn’t think of it as history, because her and school type stuff had parted company long ago.
“Well, the leaders of the Clans realised that they were risking everything they had built over the centuries” continued Giles. “Of course each vampire only having a handful of childer and minions left may have had some sway in their decision. They finally declared Parley…”
“Like in Pirates of the Caribbean?” Xander’s voice still held a trace of his fear but his curiosity was winning out.
“Indeed. The result of their meeting was to declare the feud ended and a decree that Highgate become a neutral place - rather like Switzerland. A place where humans walk in safety because no hunting is allowed and where vampires of different clans can meet and socialise in peace.”
As they reached the main gate Giles addressed the others in a solemn voice.
“Please understand this. There is to be no violence here. No staking. You will see vampires coming and going freely; they won’t approach you and they will expect you to do them the same courtesy.”
“You can’t expect us to…” began Angel but Giles silenced him with a raised hand.
“I expect you to conduct yourselves with decorum, just as I expect Dracula’s party to…However, while violence is not permitted here one is allowed to protect oneself. If attacked you will be permitted and indeed expected to defend yourself. Just make sure that you don’t act in haste or we will all repent at Dracula’s leisure.”
With agreeing nods and a muttered complaint from Angel which everyone ignored the group entered the oldest and most evocative of Victorian times section of the oddest tourist attraction in London.
B*T*V*S
Buffy couldn’t help but think that Dracula looked somehow more at home, more ‘in place’ here in this grand yet deathly setting than he had in Sunny California. She also noted, with amusement, that he completely by-passed a rather puffed up Angel. Or was that puffy? She hadn’t thought that vamps could gain weight but Angel had definitely piled on a few pounds since he’d been in LA - must be the otter blood, she mused. Then again, she couldn’t imagine sweet Victorian William having such a drool worthy and studly muscular body as Spike had… ‘okay, so not the time for such thoughts’ Buffy chided herself with more than a hint of regret.
Angel glared as the Count neatly sidestepped his challenging stance, his long cloak with the gold bat design clasp swishing in that annoyingly perfect way that made him feel like a lumbering peasant, and homed in on his even more annoying Grandchilde. It was a direct snub under vampiric tradition and had not gone unnoticed by the various curious bystanders who he knew would take the gossip back to their various Clans and Houses. And there were plenty of Clans represented; this was a meeting of historic proportions. Two of the most ancient and influential Clans and the most successful Slayer in history. As historic greetings went, however, it was far less formal than later journals would record it to have been.
“Oi you wanker! You owe me eleven ….”
“Pounds; with interest, as agreed” finished Dracula with a grin to match Spike’s. The blond quirked an eyebrow in surprise as Dracula handed over a thick envelope, giving a little bow as he did so.
“Hell!” muttered Spike. He had never actually expected the vamp to pay up! They had been greeting each other this way for decades. He didn’t bother counting the hundred and three thousand pounds. Drac was many things but in business he was a man of his word. Instead he handed the envelope over to a bemused Buffy.
“There you go luv; should keep the wolves from the door for a while.”
A whole summer as carer for those at the house on Revello Drive had left Spike with an intimate knowledge of the Summers financial situation. He also knew that Giles had petitioned the Council for a regular wage when Buffy returned and had been flatly denied. He didn’t know, but strongly suspected, that Angel now held the purse strings and was using that power to control the Slayer’s life. After all how could Buffy be independent if she had to beg the great poofter for every penny. He didn’t expect her to accept his offer easily though.
“S…Spike!” Buffy looked at the thick wad of cash in the envelope. She couldn’t work out the exchange rate but even so it looked like a fairly huge sum. “I can’t acc…”
“Too damn right we can’t accept!” Angel made no attempt to conceal his anger at the offer; and in his furious state he failed to notice Buffy frown. “We don’t want your dirty money Dracula. Especially from the likes of you. God knows what poor bloody corpses you stole it from!”
A flicker of anger crossed Dracula’s face but it was Wesley who spoke up, much to Angel’s disappointment.
“You know full well that that is untrue Angel. In fact you yourself told me about the intricacies in vampire business dealings. There is no way that The Count would dishonor his people by offering tainted gelt.”
Wesley sounded confident in his proclamation and judging by Dracula’s acknowledging nod of the head, and Angel’s scowl, Giles concluded that not only was Wesley correct but that he had gained knowledge from his time with AI Investigations that was new to both himself and his Watcher’s profession in general. It might be worth the two of them getting together to trade that knowledge rather than wasting valuable energy and time vying for attention like a couple of six year olds.
Buffy, meanwhile, was seething. Whether she accepted Spike’s gift or not was down to her and her alone… well, maybe her and Dawn. It was certainly not up to Mr Power Trip! And it hadn’t escaped her that, unlike Angel, Spike hadn’t attempted to set conditions on his generosity. He seemed to know her financial situation; she supposed that was only natural given his activities while she had been ‘away’ His offer was made in a genuine desire to help… and Wesley had said that it wasn’t blood money….
Dracula had to admit that he was impressed with the attitude of the humans. Wyndham - Pryce showed great intelligence and impartiality, and if he didn’t already know what his answer would be he would offer to make him his personal Steward to the House of Dracula. The Brit’s loyalty obviously lay elsewhere. He just wasn’t sure whether the Watcher had realised yet that he was being loyal to the wrong Aurelian. ‘Honestly! Calls himself head of Aurelius’ thought the Count with embarrassment. ‘Makes a demon want to apologise for being a vampire!’ Knowing better than to show weakness or insult to the other Aurelian Master by doing any such thing Dracula instead turned to Buffy, which carried the added bonus of delivering another snub to Angelus and explained that the money was obtained from legal investments, emphasising that it was bad etiquette and bad business practice to resort to underhand dealings in inter-clan business dealings. His comment that he left that to lawyers raised a much needed chuckle and reassured Buffy enough to politely and, to everyone’s surprise, humbly thank both Dracula and Spike for their generosity. Xander wanted to object. To remind Buffy that she was dealing with evil bad vamps here but even if he wasn’t cowed by his memories of his bug eating days with the Count he really couldn’t manage to raise any enthusiasm for his own objections. Nothing was as it should be anymore! Well, except Angel - he was still a slimy creep! And if she had her own money Buffy wouldn’t have to look to the pervy vamp for every last little thing which was majorly of the good…when did life become so complicated he wondered as he followed the others into the sumptuous trailer that had been arranged for the meeting.
As the ice seemed to have been broken Dracula proceeded to introduce his entourage. ‘Good job he’s not a Lestat style rock star’ thought Spike as he watched the flamboyant vampire meet and greet. ‘Would probably bankrupt the record company with his riders.’
“Ahh, this is a face I recognize… Mr Harris, welcome back.”
Xander’s teeth practically rattled in his nervousness, and although Spike had earlier taken pity on him and informed him that he couldn’t be ‘Renfielded’ twice he still kept his gaze averted from the vampire’s hypnotic orbs.
Dracula just chuckled as he moved on to the others. He noticed the demon girl, Anya, scowl at something behind him. Upon turning his head he saw, to his exasperation, that his ‘brides’ had cornered Mr Giles and were attempting to get re-acquainted. Really! It had taken them weeks to stop talking about the, in their words, ‘dreamy Englishman’ It would seem, the vampire concluded, that Mr Giles ‘qualities’ had been noticed by the ex-vengeance demon. Well, rather him than me Dracula thought with a shiver at the idea of trying to keep one of ‘them’ happy!
“Ladies!” At his request, which they knew to be a politely couched order the three white clad women backed reluctantly away. Giles wasn’t sure whether he should be pleased or disappointed.
Finally, after a polite round of how do you do’s where everyone (except Angel) smiled brightly while secretly waiting for a stake to the heart or a fang to the throat Dracula drew a final member of his family forward for introductions and everyone could see the deference with which he introduced her.
“And finally, may I introduce my Mate, my Beloved, Mina Harker.”
The couple watched as mouths gaped and gasped at the revelation of a woman they had believed to be a fictional character in Bram Stoker’s novel. Spike smirked slightly as the beautiful vampiress pulled him in for a hug. He didn’t see why everyone should be surprised; after all Dracula himself had been real, so why not the others. Just because Stoker had changed the real ending - but then what reader would want to know how their hero, Jonathan, had turned out to be a prig and a monumental bore unable to hang on to his vivacious and intelligent wife who had never forgotten her vampire lover and willingly consented to be his wife, his mate. Spike would give his unbeating heart to a woman who would love him half as much as Mina loved her vamp. He had met the eternal Mate of his fellow vampire several times and was always treated like family. He winced, however, when she ruffled his hair. Why did they all insist on doing that!
Soon the ubiquitous tea was arranged and everyone who was deemed necessary to the meeting had settled themselves on the various chairs and couches. Both Giles and Anya were pleased that the brides had floated off somewhere - though that relief stemmed from very different reasonings. Anya, especially, was still trying to come to terms with the unexpected pain that seeing her employer being fawned over had brought. That the brides were revealed by Mina to be a smokescreen which preserved her and her beloved’s privacy didn’t seem to help at all. It just meant that they were free agents…and the thought of them signing Giles up for their team was not pleasing to her…not pleasing at all! Giles was simply relieved that his unwanted role of sex symbol was, hopefully, soon forgotten. He hadn’t liked the way it seemed to upset Anya, though he couldn’t think why the normally unflappable ex-demon would be overly concerned. He had to admit, though, that that concern did give him a warm feeling inside.
Both Giles and Anya reluctantly turned their attention to the speaker of the moment.
Angel…
Whining again.
“In case nobody noticed WE are the good guys…well, most of us” Angel cast a scathing glance Spike’s way only to be met with a smirk from his errant Grandchilde and a scowl from his beloved Buffy. Disconcerted at her increasingly confrontational attitude he returned his attention to their host.
“What rights do you claim to lead this discussion? Since when do YOU want to see justice done?!”
Dracula was unperturbed by Angel’s outburst but noted with interest that no-one on his own team seemed overly supportive of his opinions.
“It is not a question of justice Angelus; it is a question, quite frankly, of not wanting to rock the boat. It is a question of wanting to protect MY family; something that you have never been too eager to do - how was your dear Sire the last time you met? Dusty I hear.” They all heard the venom in that comment and while neither Buffy nor Giles were sorry to see the end of Darla the Count had a point, if you thought it through from a vamps standpoint that is. It just wasn’t polite to kill one’s creator..
Angel was, for once, wise enough to keep quiet and Buffy took the opportunity to ask a question.
“And why would what’s going on affect you and yours? I thought this would suit the vamp population fine.” Buffy hadn’t mentioned what they knew, she wanted to know if Drac was just fishing or had something to contribute.
Dracula paused to gather his thoughts for a moment before replying. These people, including the Aurelians, had no reason to want to help him preserve his way of life. Indeed in normal circumstances they would be trying to kill each other. But this was bigger than any of them and besides he had no wish to watch a life that had taken years to establish be destroyed when a little cooperation could alter a probable horrendous outcome.. He felt so strongly that he was even prepared to make concessions - but only as a last resort of course!
“I am sure that you have interpreted the signs in a similar fashion as we have and have reached the same conclusion - that London is to be the birthing ground of a new Hellmouth.” He noticed expressions of agreement and nodded his head respectfully to Tara as it was revealed that it was she who had correctly assessed the situation for them. In fact he almost couldn’t drag his eyes away from the young Wiccan. Not that she was physically beautiful, attractive, yes, but not as breathtaking as his Mina; but the pure goodness of her soul radiated a spiritual warmth that even made his demon long for her blessing. That Spike was linked to her - well, he was a very fortunate vampire and, he suspected from the research findings, more special than anyone could possibly imagine.
Dracula, for once, told the simple unvarnished truth, confirmed by the Watchers, that London, as a major centre of both business and culture in both the demon and human communities, had developed a mutually beneficial relationship; he admitted that an influx of their more bestially minded brethren would undermine that delicate balance; that in essence his Clan ruled the London demon community and he didn’t want any trouble.
Buffy sat next to Spike and listened quietly but inside she was puzzled…and hurt. All her slaying life she had been told and shown that it was simple - demons bad, humans and Slayers good. Slayers kill demons QED. But it wasn’t like that at all. Faith was a Slayer and she was bad to the core; Willow was good yet nearly went bad and Spike! Spike was good AND bad, or rather bad and then good, and all without a soul while Angel was good (as he would no doubt remind you at the drop of a hat) yet he had been behaving quite badly lately without any sign of Angelus! She had a sudden nostalgic desire for the days when bat faced Masters and the school prom was all she had to deal with. God! All of this was giving her a headache! Who was she supposed to trust? What was she supposed to be?
A sudden warm tingle spread through her neck muscles and flowed over her temples banishing the headache as Dracula’s voice faded into the background. She was vaguely aware that Giles and Wesley were talking possible tactics with the Count, only to be shot down every few seconds by an irate Angel. Anya seemed to be instructing Mina in the intricacies of retail. None of it mattered as Spike’s gentle touch soothed her. She didn’t question the fact that as he slid his long, elegant, fingers along the top of her spine she could ‘hear’ Tara’s soft chant in her head and could smell the subtle scent of roses.
This she could trust. Her gut told her this. This was pure goodness, born of Tara and delivered by Spike…No. For some reason she knew instinctively that this was William. She didn’t dare turn around lest the spell be broken. Unfortunately neither of them had a say in the matter as Angel, spotting Spike’s innocent ministrations gave a roar and, grabbing the younger vampire by the throat, threw him across the trailer’s lounge area.
As their link broke Tara cried out and slipped from her chair into a dead faint. All movement ceased for a split second before Willow’s hair and eyes turned coal black and Angel feared for his very un-life
TBC
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