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Author's Chapter Notes:
A/N: First, thank you all so much for the encouraging reviews! I’m super nervous about posting this story, and you’ve given me the courage to keep going.

I realized, in my nervousness about posting the first chapter of my first fic, that I neglected to give any background information. I’ve added a bit of info that will help explain the context of the story below, I’ll try to go back and add it to the first chappie as well.

This fic starts around the beginning of season 5. Things won’t have happened exactly the same way in this universe since some characters won’t have been present in Sunnydale, but it’s safe to assume that major events like Buffy dying, etc., still happened, just a bit differently. The story veers off cannon pretty much immediately, and will continue in an AU.

I hope you enjoy the second chapter. I seem to have a tendency to babble a bit and write major run-on sentences. I’m working on it though, and hopefully future chapters will have a more succinct writing style.








Shortly before noon the following day, the Scoobies found themselves meeting up down the street from the address Spike had given to Anya.



“Do you really think this is a good idea, Buff?” Xander asked, again. “This is probably a trap. I bet it’s a trap. He’s just trying to lure us there so he can eat us all and then the rest of Sunnydale.”



“Xander, you don’t have to come.” Buffy was getting tired of listening to Xander’s rants. She was well aware she could be marching all of her friends into a trap, but she really didn’t want to hear about it anymore.



“Yes Xander, do stop blathering on.” Giles was as wary as Buffy was. He was also extremely curious. If what the vampire had told them was indeed correct, he had come to the Slayer for help stopping an apocalypse. Giles had never heard of such a thing. “Buffy and I discussed this at length. While this situation may prove to be dangerous, if what he hinted at last night is remotely true, not speaking with him may be, in fact, more so.”



“I’m just saying,” Xander said sulkily.



“I agree with Xander, Buffy. You shouldn’t be going in there,” Riley spoke up, blind conviction coloring his voice.



Buffy stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her current boyfriend. “I’m the Slayer, Riley, this is what I do. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to come either.” Resuming her path down the street, Buffy fumed to herself at the audacity of Riley telling her what to do. Between training, the fight they had last night about him staking Spike, and his ever increasing need to tell her what to do, she was reaching the end of her rope. Fast.



As they approached the house, Anya had been listening to the back and forth argument about meeting with Spike, but chosen not to say anything. She figured they wouldn’t listen to her, having no real idea about the significance of the blood ritual Spike had performed. They hadn’t listened to her last night anyway, so she stayed silent.



“It’s a very large house. He must be very wealthy,” Anya announced to the group with typical bluntness as they arrived at the given address.



“Can you sense anything Buffy?” Giles asked his Slayer.



“Um… nope, can’t feel a thing.” Buffy scrunched her nose up, trying again to search out signatures with her Slayer senses, “maybe nobody’s home?”



“Of course you can’t feel anything. Spike said the house was protected.” Anya sighed, wondering again how this group of people managed to stay alive all these years. “Didn’t you listen to anything he said last night?” Anya mumbled more to herself than the others.



“What do you mean, Anya?” Giles asked, having heard her last comment.



“He said the house was heavily protected. That means wards, charms, glamours and any other number of magics have been done to the property. Buffy not being able to tell if there are demons inside is obviously a ward.”



“What do we do now?” Xander asked, staring at the house as though trying to see past the magic he couldn’t feel anyway.



“We knock on the door, Xander,” Anya stated as though it was obvious, which admittedly it was, and made her way to the porch. The rest of the Scoobies glanced at each other. Buffy shrugged and went after Anya, everyone else following behind.



By the time the last Scoobie arrived on the porch Anya was already finished banging on the door. A few moments later it opened, revealing a smiling young woman with dishwater blonde hair.



“Hello, I’m Tara,” the young woman said as she smiled sweetly at the group.



She stood waiting for a few moments, expecting one of them to introduce themselves, or to say something at least. She noticed the questioning look the older gentleman gave the petite blonde girl, and the answering shake of her head.



Everyone simply started mutely at her, expressions of shock on their faces. Tara smiled inwardly to herself, thinking they had been expecting someone taller, blonder, and with longer teeth to greet them.



“Let me just get Spike for you,” Tara said.



“Right behind you, pet,” Spike announced as he came down the stairs and strode across the entryway to stand beside Tara. He was careful to stay just outside the sunlight that streamed though the open doorway.



“Welcome everyone, thank you for coming. Before we get underway, there’re a few things I should tell you, in the spirit of disclosure and all that rot. First, you need an invite to enter this home, from me.” Spike paused to let that bit of info sink in, and waited for the reaction.



Surprisingly, the Slayer was the first to catch on.



“What?” Buffy asked indignantly. “We’re not vampires, we don’t need an invite.”



“You do here, pet. Give it a try if you don’t believe me,” Spike said with a smirk, watching as the Slayer exchanged a look with her Watcher and then stepped forward to stick her hand across the threshold. As she stood there, leaning on her hand against the invisible barrier, Spike invited her in. “Come in, Buffy Summers.”



The Slayer stumbled slightly as the barrier slipped away and she practically fell into the house. Buffy huffed, sending a withering glare towards Spike when he chuckled lightly at her.



“Second, the invite must be issued by name and is only temporary. Once you leave you can’t get back in without another invite.” He turned to the Slayer, “Would you mind stepping outside pet, give it another go?”



“Don’t call me pet.” Buffy bit out, but moved to do as the vampire requested. Once she was outside, she reached out to find the invisible barrier once again in place and barring her entrance.



She hated to admit it, but Buffy was impressed, as were the rest of her companions. Willow, especially, was wondering if she could learn the spell that had been used so she could put up the barrier herself.



“If I may ask, how do the other… others in the house enter?” Giles asked the vampire before him. He’d heard of barrier spells that worked against beings other than vampires, but he’d never actually seen one used.



“Permanent invite,” Spike offered the Watcher, as though that was enough of an explanation. Seeing that it wasn’t, Spike continued, “it’s magic, yeah? Don’t like the stuff normally, always has consequences. But I do what I have to, to protect what’s mine, and the people in this house are mine.” There was an edge to Spikes voice that clearly conveyed his message, harm anyone in this house and you’ll be on the receiving end of my wrath.



“Third, I’ll only allow people into my house that aren’t a threat, or at least aren’t too much of a threat.” As he’d expected, the group standing on the porch erupted.



“Good Lord. You cannot expect us to listen to what you have to say if you refuse to allow us all into your home,” Giles sputtered.



“See here, Watcher. Any of you don’t pass my test, aren’t getting invited into my home. Stuff I got to tell you is important, dangerous like. Not for some ears.” Spike was dangerously serious.



“What do you mean by test?” Willow piped up quietly from behind the Slayer, curiosity winning over indignation.



“Glinda, Red.” Spike responded, glaring at the confused faces of the group, daring any of them to argue with him while Tara did her thing.



Tara looked at each member of the group. Examining their auras, looking for anything about them, inside them, that might prove problematic. She started with the Slayer, quickly moving on to the older man identified as the girl’s Watcher. She then moved on to look at the cute redhead and the green haired young man next to her that Tara assumed, unfortunately, was the young wicca’s boyfriend. Next was the taller girl with short strawberry blonde hair, Tara found her aura very interesting and made a mental note to ask her about it later. Lastly, she moved on to the two other young men of the group. One was a goofy looking boy with brown hair who she looked at a bit longer than she had the others. Satisfied with what she saw, she examined the tall, broad shouldered guy with short blonde hair. She looked at him for a while, head tilted in concentration.



Finished with her examination, Tara turned to Spike to whisper her thoughts in his ear. While she spoke, Spikes eyes shifted among the Scoobies, resting a bit on Xander and finally staying on Riley until Tara was done.



Buffy bristled as she watched Spike’s eyes move from her to each of her friends, feeling like they were being judged and found wanting. She didn’t like it, didn’t like it at all.



Spike nodded once, seemingly agreeing with Tara’s judgment, and began the invites. “Come in Buffy. Come in Rupert Giles. Come in Willow Rosenburg. Come in Daniel Osbourne. Come in Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins.” He easily welcomed the Slayer, her Watcher, the witch, the werewolf, and the ex-demon.



“Come in Xander Harris.” Spike waited until each of them had moved across the threshold.



“You, Captain Cardboard, are not welcome.” At the angry indignation that appeared on the ex-soldiers face, Spike smirked.



“Excuse me!” Buffy screeched, cringing slightly at the unbecoming sound. “He’s my boyfriend, you will invite him in.”



“He may be your boy toy, pet, but he’s not coming in here, for more than one reason.”



“Such as?” Giles asked while Buffy stood spluttering at Spikes refusal. The Watcher found himself curious as to why the vampire would not allow the Slayer’s boyfriend into the house, a bit startled by the realization that he wasn’t actually upset by the idea.



“For starters, he staked me…” Spike ignored Xander’s chorus of ‘you’re a vampire’, “Glinda here didn’t like what she saw in his aura, git’s full of anger, ignorance, deceit and control issues. Also, he’s not covered by the protection pledge.”



Giles considered Spike’s last statement, suspicion at the vampires meaning forming in his mind. “What does that mean, that he’s not covered? Why isn’t he?”



“Her mental claim doesn’t extend to him,” Spike stated simply. “Slayer doesn’t see him as family.”



“Huh?” Buffy looked between the vampire next to her that was clearly enjoying himself, to her furious boyfriend standing outside.



“I’m her boyfriend. Of course I’m included.” Riley ground out between his teeth, knuckles white as his hands clenched the crossbow he held.



“So the Slayer said. Don’t care. I can feel the connection through the blood magic, and you aren’t covered Soldier Boy.” Spike glared at the overgrown farm boy, holding up a hand to forestall more of the Slayer’s objections. “Wouldn’t matter rot to me even if you were covered though, I can smell what you’ve been doing at night.”



The dangerous tone of Spike’s voice, and the knowledge he hinted at, were enough to make Riley shift back from him. It was a slight movement, but enough that both Spike and Giles noticed.



“EXCUSE ME!” The Slayer all but screamed. Embarrassment at the vampire’s statement, evident on her face.



“Not you Slayer, don’t smell you on him at all.” Spike smirked, amused there was not so much as a hint of the Slayer on her so called ‘boyfriend’. “Your boy here reeks of vampires.”



“Duh, we fight vamps. Of course you smell them on him.” Xander spoke up, determined to defend Buffy’s boyfriend from the evil vampire.



“Sure, whelp, but that’s not what I smell. Cardboard here’s been visiting the bite shops, haven’t you.” He turned to Riley, seeing the boys face flush with anger.



“The huh now?” Buffy asked, hearing Anya’s gasp of surprise behind her at this revelation.



“Bite shops, Slayer. Vamp whore houses pretty much. Sure your Watcher knows about ‘em.” The disturbed look on Giles’ face as he furiously polished his glasses and the Ripper-like look he was throwing at Riley, told Buffy he definitely knew what Spike was talking about.



“People pay the vamps to bite ‘em, yeah? Can be a real rush if the vamp does it right, gits like Cardboard here get addicted to the bite, the feeling.” Spike explained.



“Yes, it can be very pleasurable. I remember this one time…” Anya started to agree with Spike.



“Ahn! Shut up, no one wants to hear it!” Xander interrupted his girlfriend, once again defending Riley.

“Riley would never do that! That’s just disgusting!”



“Do shut up, Xander,” Giles chastised the boy. “If what Spike says is true…”



“Know what they do to accidents and mistakes in those places, Slayer?” Spike picked up the Watchers train of thought.



“What?” Buffy asked cautiously, not sure she wanted to know. She felt torn between wanting to defend her boyfriend from the outlandish claims the vampire was making, and needing to know why her Watcher looked ready to break all of the bones in Riley’s body.



“Turn ‘em. Boy here is putting you and everyone else in danger with his extracurricular nighttime activities. You’d never know what hit you.”



Buffy just looked at Riley. She wanted to argue with the annoying blonde vampire, she really did, sort of. Yet, she had a niggling feeling in the back of her mind, that he might just be right. Like the night before last, Riley wasn’t in bed when she had woken up in the middle of the night. She had just assumed he was in the bathroom and gone back to sleep, but maybe…



When all Buffy did was look at him with a thoughtful expression, Riley lost it. “This is ridiculous Buffy! He’s a demon! He’s lying! You can’t believe anything he says!” Riley fumed. “Come on Buffy, we’re leaving!”



Everyone was shocked when Buffy made her way out the door towards Riley. A triumphant expression crossed Riley’s face, up until the moment Buffy grabbed him and wrenched up the arm of the long sleeved shirt he was wearing. He’d been wearing those a lot lately.



Riley tried to pull his wrist out of Buffy’s grip, but this time she was using her Slayer strength and he was no match. Buffy was so focused on Riley’s arm that she didn’t register the gasps and exclamations that came from inside the house behind her. Riley’s arms were littered with vamp bites, some healed to just scars, others fresh.



“Riley,” Buffy said in a dangerously calm voice as she released his arm and looked up to his face, suppressed fury in her eyes. “You need to go, right now. Get out of my town and go far, far away.”



“What! Are you breaking up with me? Over what that demon says! These are from patrol!” Riley spluttered indignantly.



“Yes, Riley, I am. And if I ever see you in my town again, I won’t be responsible for my actions. No one, do you hear me… NO ONE puts my friends and family in danger! Now, GET OUT!” The Slayer screamed at her now ex-boyfriend.



Buffy turned away from the spluttering man and walked back into the house, not even pausing for Spike’s quietly spoken invitation. Grabbing the door and giving Riley one last scathing look, she slammed the door in his face and on the ‘normal’ relationship she thought he represented.



Thinking that the Slayer wouldn’t appreciate seeming upset or ‘weak’ in front of him, or maybe even her friends and Watcher, Spike quickly suggested they move into the living room.



The Scoobies all noticed that the drapes had been left open and the furniture was arranged so that most of it was in full sunlight. Giles, Buffy, and Anya took seats on the couch while Xander sat on the sofa’s arm next to his girlfriend. Willow and Oz sat next to each other on the smaller love seat set perpendicular to the couch.



Spike smirked a bit at the groups seating choices; though he was pleased they seemed to notice the effort he had taken to make them feel more comfortable. He sat down in one of the stuffed armchairs that were placed out of the direct sunlight.



As everyone got settled, Tara came up and stood next to Spike, asking what everyone would like to drink.



“I have coffee, tea, soda and hot chocolate.” She offered, always the gracious hostess. With beverage orders placed, Tara left the group alone and went to the kitchen at the rear of the house.



“You have quite a lovely home, Spike.” Anya broke the silence. “The furnishings look very expensive as well.”



“Ahn!” Xander chastised her in a not-so-quite whisper.



“‘S alright, Whelp,” Spike chuckled. “Demon girls got good taste.”



“Yes, I do. You must be very wealthy.”



Spike couldn’t help but laugh at the forthright woman. “Yeah, well, had money from my human days. 100 plus years of investing right does wonders for the bank account.”



“Oh yes. You’ll have to share your strategies with me. I would enjoy learning more about how to increase my money.” Anya responded with a blinding smile.



Before anyone could comment further, Tara returned with everyone’s drinks and several trays of cookies and pastries. Spike noticed the strange looks he was getting as he sat back with a plate of cookies and his mug of hot chocolate, complete with his beloved mini-marshmallows.



“What? Hot chocolate not a manly enough drink for you lot?” Spike asked, a whipped cream mustache just above his top lip.



“Uh, no… We just, uh, I’ve never seen a vampire eat or drink real food before…” Buffy spluttered out.



“Yeah, well, tastes good. Glinda here makes one hell of a hot cocoa.”



Spike took a long gulp of one of his favorite drinks, behind blood and liquor, and studied the people before him. He let out a suffering sigh, knowing it was time to get down to the reason they were all here together.



“Time to get this started, yeah? Might want to get out your notebook Watcher, it’s gonna be a long story.”



“Story?” Willow asked, intrigued by the vampire sitting before them. She looked to her boyfriend to see what he thought. Oz just raised an eyebrow and gave her a slight nod in typical, stoic Oz fashion.



“I thought you were gonna tell us about some Big Bad coming, not tell us a freaking story.” Buffy all but snarled at Spike, still reeling from her not-so-earlier breakup.



“Well, yeah. But I‘ve gotta build up to it, don’t I? Won’t make much sense unless I start at the beginning.” Spike explained with more patience than he felt. These people could be the only thing standing between him and… well he really didn’t want to think about it. Truth was, he needed their help.



“And when, pray tell, was the beginning?” Giles inquired, already holding pen to paper.



“1880, the year I was turned.”



“Crap, this is gonna be one long story.” Xander wasn’t excited at the prospect of spending any longer than necessary in the home of a vampire. He too, was still reeling from the Riley incident.



“So,” Spike ignored Xander, “1880, year I was turned. Lived in London, one night I was leaving a party and ran into Drusilla, my sire, and she turned me. Now, Dru, she was turned a few decades before that by my grandsire, Angelus, and he was…” Spike was interrupted at this point, the Scoobies having varied, if equally loud, reactions.



“Your grandsire is Angel?” Buffy choked out, nearly frozen with shock.



“Yeah, Angelus,” Spike said slowly, “you lot know him? I had heard he was around this area a few years ago.” Spike had heard that Angelus had been in Sunnydale for a while, but wasn’t sure what, if any, interaction he’d had with the Slayer though. From the group’s reaction, it was clear that they knew him, and whatever had happened probably wasn’t good. He wasn’t sure what to make of that, he pretty much hated his grandsire. Not wanting to give anything away, he kept his face schooled in a mask of calm, semi-interest.



“Something like that, unfortunately.” Xander muttered.



“Yes, he was… well, he was here in Sunnydale for a few years. He, uh, recently moved to LA. He never informed us he had any, any childer though.” Giles was surprised at what Spike was telling them. He watched the vampires face closely, sensing there was much more to this story. He could only hope Spike would tell them the rest.



“Sounds like there was a lot he didn’t ‘inform’ us of.” Buffy knew there were things Angel hadn’t told her, but to find out that he had both a childe and grandchilde that he had never mentioned! She had to wonder what else her first love had hidden from them. She wasn’t really sure she wanted to know. She didn’t think she was ready to learn he wasn’t the man, er vampire, she thought he was.



“Well, he wouldn’t now, would he? Doesn’t matter much anyway, prolly just make it easier to tell you my story, should be familiar with the circumstances and all. So, I guess you know Angelus was turned by a vamp named Darla, prostitute turned by the Master on her deathbed?” The Scoobies all nodded.



“Right, so Darla turned Angelus and he turned Dru. Thing about Dru is, Angelus did a real number on her. Wanker’s all about the soddin’ mind games, not the kill. Gets off on breaking someone down… getting inside their head, messing with them till they’re nothing more than a broken shell with nothing to live for.” Spike sighed and ran his hand threw his hair. He didn’t really want to explain Dru to them, but knew that if he didn’t they wouldn’t understand the mentally unstable vampiress.



“’Fore Dru was turned, she was a bit of a seer. In those times, with a religious family and all, wasn’t seen as a good thing, work of the Devil and all that rot. Angelus, he played on that. Convinced her she was bad and wrong, the Devil was speaking to her so she was evil.” Spike’s face relaxed as he spoke, his eyes turning glassy as he stared off as though he were seeing back to a different time.



“Dru was a real innocent till he got her, from a good family, wanted to be a nun. Once Angelus had her confused and scared, he went after her family. Tortured and raped her da, mum, and little sisters in front of her for days ‘fore he killed them… made sure Dru knew it was her fault too.”



“He wasn’t done with her yet though. Let her go, he did. Wanted her to live in fear, looking over her shoulder never knowing when he’d be there. Dru ran to the Church, did what all she needed to do to become a nun, thought they could keep her safe. The day she was to take her vows, that’s the day he came for her. He attacked every person there, raped and beat each of the nuns in front of her. When there was no one left, that’s when he finally took Dru. She’d lost her mind, her grip on reality by then. He tortured her for days before he finally turned her.” Spike closed his eyes for a moment, taking a cleansing breath before he looked towards the Slayer’s group once more. He was glad to be through that part of Dru’s story. Anything else he had to tell them about his history was easy compared to what his grandsire had done to his sire.



The Slayer and her group were affected by the story of what Angelus had done to Dru as well, if the looks on their faces were any indication, which he was sure they were. The Watcher seemed mostly curious, scribbling everything down like he had just been told the solution to peace on Earth. The rest of them though, were varying degrees of pale.



“Once she was a vamp Dru was still a seer, nuts though she was, and real vicious. Angelus had her right trained, loved the violence and pain she did. In some ways though she was a bit like a child, always talking to the stars and her dollies, rambling away in riddles. Darla and Angelus didn’t much like having to take care of her all the time, so he told her to turn someone, hoping her childe would see to her. She did what he told her to of course, she turned me.”



“The four of us rampaged through Europe for the next 18 years, Scourge of Europe they called us. Things we did, things I did… not gonna go into details for you lot, yeah? Just know we were worse than anything you’ve ever bloody seen.” Spike stared over their heads for a few minutes, lost in the horrors of his past. “Wasn’t all bad though, took care of Dru, I did. I loved her with all that I bleeding was, thought she’d rescued me from my pathetic existence, gave me a new life filled with blood, fucking, and carnage. We were good together then, her and I. She didn’t love me like I loved her of course, belonged only to her ‘daddy’ she did, and they both made sure I knew it. But… we were a family, of sorts.” Spike sighed, running his hand through his bleached blonde hair before looking around at his rather captive audience.



“Course, everything changed in Romania. Dru’d been ranting for days about losing her ‘daddy’ but the stupid sod ignored her warnings when we came across the Gypsy camp. Angelus had a thing for the young ones… young virgin girls, ‘specially the ones that were really loved by their family. And she was, that Gypsy girl, loved by her clan that is. Girl was right special and they felt she was a blessing to them, almost revered her. Certainly protected her, as best they could.”



“Excuse me,” Giles interrupted, casting an almost apologetic sideways glance towards his Slayer. “You say the girl was, uh, special? How so?”



“Well,” Spike said slowly, looking from the Watchers questioning eyes to the Slayer’s downcast gaze and back, “she was a potential.” Spike had figured they knew this, having had Angelus around for several years. Apparently, he had figured wrong.



“She was what?” Buffy’s head snapped up to look at the vampire. The emotions swirling in her green eyes begging him to tell her she had heard or understood him incorrectly.



“She was a potential, a baby Slayer.” Spike stated, quickly moving on. “Angelus got to her though. Played with her and then left her raped and broken body in the middle of the Gypsy camp. He paid for his actions though. Those Gypsies had a right taste for vengeance magic.”



“Yes we know. He was cursed with a soul.” Giles nodded.



“Well, yeah,” Spike said quietly, but clearly enough for each of them to hear, “we all were.”








TBC...










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