London 1880

November...

Getting out of London hadn't been easy. That, Angelus thought, was an understatement. They had made it away from the immediate vicinity of the mob and were in the process of vanishing quietly into the night when William the Bloody Fool had to go and get himself spotted by some eager youth. The lad was caught up in the excitement of the whole affair of a manhunt, or rather vamphunt, and wasted no time in shouting his discovery quite literally from the rooftops.

What followed this announcement was the thunder of footsteps on cobblestones, and a cacophony of voices yelling various encouragements to one another about what to do to the "hideous beasts" and "vile monsters" once they got their hands on them. Deciding it would take up precious fleeing time, Angelus didn't wring the boy's neck, instead he'd glowered at William again before breaking into a run and leading his family away from the mob.

Escaping had been more difficult than predicted, as even with vampire agility, it was impossible to keep a decent distance between their pursuers and themselves without running into the path of civilians and police patrolling the city streets ahead of them. Angelus had also been trying to keep to the shadows as much as possible, not wanting to risk combusting into flames. The sun was steadily rising and the vampires had grown increasingly agitated as their senses screamed at them to find cover soon or be burned to ash.

Since he had no other choice, Angelus forced his way into a vacant shop. Quickly locating the cellar, the group slipped inside taking shelter for the day. They remained silent, not even whispering to one another, as they listened to the search going on above ground. Hours later, they heard footsteps moving about upstairs as the owners of the shop arrived. Angelus remained alert, fully prepared to kill anyone who dared to come downstairs, but thankfully the door to their haven remained firmly shut the entire day.

By sunset Angelus was feeling completely exhausted and irritable and he contemplated tearing William's head off for causing him all this trouble in the first place. When they emerged from their hiding place, they quickly eliminated the shocked man cleaning upstairs and hurried back onto the dark London streets. Though the search for them was ongoing, the large mob that had followed them the night before had broken up into considerably smaller groups that patrolled the city. Should the vampires encounter one of these smaller groups, they'd be infinitely more manageable, yet they needed to avoid contact if possible. If more dead bodies were discovered they'd soon have yet another herd of bloodthirsty vengeance seekers on their trail, and Angelus had endeavored to retain a low profile.

After a long night of weaving and dodging, they made it out of London, away from their pursuers, and away from their lavish style of living. Deciding to hold onto his temper until he was positive they were safe, Angelus maintained his silence, not uttering a word to the others, not even Darla. She'd seemed to sense the hurricane brewing beneath his calm and silent exterior and wisely kept her mouth shut for once, conversing with Drusilla and reprimanding William to keep herself amused as they'd journeyed further North.

Miraculously, they completed their journey without any of them meeting a dusty end, and arrived at the safest destination Angelus could think of for the moment, a small town in Yorkshire called Barnsley. Of course, that was before Angelus realized what a liability his new grandchilde actually was. They made themselves at home and less than two nights later had another mob chasing them, which was why they were currently hiding out underground like rats in an old mine-shaft.

"I seem to forget why I haven't killed you yet, William. I made it this far without cleaning up after Dru's mistake but now I'm having sincere difficulty figuring out why. I gave you a reprieve after your actions in London. Not this time," Angelus said, his hand pinning William to the rocky wall of the mine shaft by the young vamp's throat.

"Sck—ike," William choked out.

"What's that?"

Angelus let go of William suddenly and the younger vampire panted for breath. The action pissed Angelus off even more. Vampires didn't need to breathe. The runt never seemed to stop.

"It's Spike now," William said, pointedly, adding a rebellious smirk. "You'd do well to remember it, mate," he added cockily, shoving off the wall and stalking off to a far corner while Darla and Dru watched the exchange.

"I'm not your mate," Angelus ground out, angrily, "and when'd you start talking like that?"

"Are we really going to argue dialect here, boyo?" William retorted, scathingly.

Angelus took a deep breath to reign in his temper. His own Irish accent grew thicker when he was enraged, like now for instance. Turning away in disgust, he began pacing within the shadow of the wall.

"You've got me and my women hiding in the luxury of a mine-shaft, all because 'William the Bloody' likes the attention!"

Turning back around, Angelus' eyes popped when he saw William, Spike, ignoring him and concentrating instead on drinking from a bottle that had appeared out of nowhere. He'd been conjuring alcohol mysteriously the whole trip, and it both baffled and irritated Angelus beyond belief.

"We don't need this. It's not how we operate." Angelus decided explaining would be the better option.

"Not how we operate? We're vampires. It's what we do. I'm out there making a name for myself, catching up to your fine reputation," William paused to point at Angelus, "while you what? Pick off a few faceless members of the populace? What happened to the Angelus I read about? All those detailed accounts of your atrocities are just myths then? Is what you did in London before Dru turned me such a distant memory? Face it, granddad, you were just like me once. I guess you've just gone soft."

"I've always had finesse!" Angelus argued, fiercely, approaching William. "Something you clearly can't comprehend."

"Wrong," William said, bitterly, meeting Angelus face to face. "I comprehend just fine. I came from that background, remember? It's bollocks. Frilly cuffs and collars and nothing more."

"So you decided the scum your society wipes off their boots is more appealing? You really did lose something when you got turned. The voice, the clothes," Angelus flicked at William's shabby coat, torn and covered in dirt and blood stains, "the name. This is how you want to be known?"

William batted Angelus' hands away. "Said yourself 'William the Bloody' was a mouthful. Spike works much better don't you think? So named for torturing my victims with railroad spikes," William continued, pretending to place each word in the air like a headline with one hand.

"Poetic," Angelus cut in, sarcastically.

"Cut off all ties to my past, remember? I've done that. I'm not him anymore. I'm nothing like him. There's no one left he knew and there's nothing of him left. The only thing William and Spike have in common is how much you hate us." William took another drink and shoved Angelus away. "Which is fine by me."

Angelus snatched the bottle out of William's hands before he could take another gulp and smashed it on the rocky ground at their feet. William stared down at the mess, looked up and sighed loudly.

"You know what I'd really enjoy? Getting caught. That's your problem. When was the last time you had a real fight, eh? Unleashed the demon? Backs against the wall with no way out, only your fists and fangs for survival? That's glory. That's something for the history books."

"Sounds more like a bar fight to me," Angelus sneered.

"Well you'd know all about that wouldn't you, Liam. Bloody poofter."

That was the last straw. Angelus snapped. Grabbing a discarded shovel that had been leaning against a wall, he cracked the wooden handle across his knee, breaking it. Grabbing William with one hand, gripping the handle in the other, he shoved William backwards until he was bent over a mining cart. Raising the makeshift stake in both hands, Angelus brought it down to rest against William's heart, pressing down heavily, but not hard enough to dust him.

"I think our boys are going to fight," Darla sang.

Drusilla nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, but Daddy mustn't break the weapon or the world will miss the main event."

Darla glanced at Drusilla sideways and rolled her eyes.

"S'all right, ducks. Daddy hasn't got the stones," William said, grinning, his eyes sparkling as they met Angelus', daring him to do it.

Angelus was just about to drive the piece of wood into the bastard's heart when a thought struck him. The realization hit him so hard it almost blindsided him.

"You still want to die. You've wanted it from the very start and you think you're finally going to get your wish. You want me to kill you."

"No," William shook his head, his grin remaining firmly in place. "Not anymore. I have no reason to want to die anymore. I'm a whole new animal. I'm just going to keep on killing and fighting until somethin' stops me, and the only thing that's gonna stop me is someone dustin' me. I don't care what happens to me now. It's all on you. It's about what you want."

"No," Angelus argued, "that's not it. This whole thing's a ploy, a charade to catch me off guard. You know something. It's about your future isn't it? Drusilla keeps prattling on about the things you're going to do, as if you're something special. As if you're destined for something, and you know exactly what." Angelus dropped the stake, backing away from William.

William rose up onto his elbows, his eyebrows quirked as he watched Angelus back away, still looking as if he found the whole situation funny.

"You've lost it, mate. Claustrophobia must be settin' in. The mine is rattlin' your brain."

Angelus began pacing again, running a hand through his dark mane of hair, eyeing William suspiciously as he stalked back and forth.

"No, no, no. Maybe you don't know exactly what it is, but you have a notion, an inkling of what she means." Angelus pointed at Dru when he said "she."

William glanced at Dru and then looked back at Angelus.

"Nice sentiment, but no one knows what Dru means. No offence, luv."

"Hmm?" Drusilla asked, as though she wasn't even following the conversation.

Angelus snapped his fingers, thinking he'd figured out William's scheme at last.

"It's Hunters!"

"What?" William asked again, rising up from the cart and brushing off his coat.

"I went to a lot of trouble eliminating the Hunters in London. In a single night, you've undone all that hard work."

"And how exactly did I manage that then?" William asked, his brow furrowed as though honestly baffled by Angleus' discovery.

Angelus wasn't falling for it. He knew William had it planned. It was the only explanation for his insane behavior in London and Yorkshire. Why else would he expose their existence so freely?

"You showed people what you are! You had a mob after us. How do you think half of those Hunters became Demon Hunters in the first place? I know you know. You couldn't be one of them without knowing. They witness something exactly like what you did and they take it upon themselves to root out evil and destroy it. You've made the task of re-establishing the Hunters in London much easier for them."

"It's still going to take years for them to recover to full strength, and it's not like we were staying there anyway, right?" William argued.

"You alerted them to our presence! You want us to be found and destroyed. It's like a last effort to redeem yourself for failing to kill me."

William scoffed and stared at Angelus, who glared back, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Bloody hell, I killed the last sodding Hunters left in the city! They were my mentors and I murdered them! How much proof do you need? I'm not a Hunter anymore. You honestly think I planned all this, hmm? Your downfall? Think I paraded around waiting to be caught in hopes that Dru would just happen to turn me?" William spread his arms wide. "What were the chances of that? All so I could destroy you from inside your precious family circle?"

When he put it like that, Angelus had to admit it didn't seem nearly as plausible as he'd first thought, but he still wasn't willing to trust the runt. The little pest had a long way to go before he could prove himself to Angelus. Especially after his recent antics.

"Besides, what does any of that have to do with my having a death wish for some 'master plan?' If I'm still working on their side," William rolled his eyes, "those plans I'm destined for would be ones I'd want carried out, wouldn' they? Wouldn' make much sense for me to be suicidal."

"Not necessarily. You're a killer. It's part of your nature. You can't avoid it. You will spill more blood. If you die, all those you're destined to kill would survive, so you'd want someone to stop you. If a Hunter can't kill you, I can."

"You really have gone off your rocker."

Angelus refused to give up the notion now that it had occurred to him. There was a reason for this behavior. There had to be. No vampire could be this infuriatingly childish. Then again, Angelus thought, as he watched William swagger over to Darla and Dru, smirking back at him, maybe they could. If the Hunter in him was truly gone, perhaps all that was left was a blithering idiot. The runt had trained to be a Watcher once, after all.

"I don't know what you're up to, William, but whatever plans fate has for you, you're not getting out of them that easily. I told you before I wasn't going to end your misery, and I meant it. Fair play for effort. You've tested my patience to the last," Angelus threatened, one finger pointed menacingly at William.

"For the last bleedin' time I'm not up to anything and the name is Spike. Now are we gonna sit here and debate my motives or are we gonna go have some more fun?" William asked, smoothing his hair back with one hand.

"Fun? Did you miss the part where there's an angry crowd out there looking for us?" Darla snapped, irritably.

"No, luv. I didn't. Did you miss the part where I said a good fight's the sort of fun I had in mind?" William retorted.

"I am not your luv." Darla scowled, folded her arms and gave William one of her looks that could kill.

"Bloody good thing too. What about you, Princess? You fancy spreading some fear?" William asked Drusilla, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her hair.

"I forbid you to put my childe in danger," Angelus interrupted, as Dru leant into William and curled her fingers around the arms encircling her.

"Forbid. Yeah, good luck with that." William chuckled.

Angelus decided that even though he couldn't kill William, it didn't mean he couldn't throttle him soundly until he started acting like the no good underling he was. Every pack has an Alpha and an Omega. William was an Omega who seemed to think he was an Alpha. It was time to clear up his confusion.

Angelus removed his jacket and draped it across a crate on the floor next to him. He then loosened his cravat and removed it, letting it drop on top of his jacket. The other three vampires suddenly noticed what he was doing. Darla smiled at him and he nodded slightly at her.

"Come on, Drusilla, let's find ourselves a good seat," Darla said, holding out her arm to Dru.

Linking Darla's arm with her own, Dru kissed her fingers and pressed them to William's lips before gliding off to a far corner with Darla. William watched her go and turned back to Angelus, who was rolling up his shirtsleeves. Pursing his lips, William nodded and slid his own coat off, letting it drop to the ground. He didn't bother rolling up his own sleeves. Glancing at his scruffy attire, Angelus wasn't surprised. The runt took no pride in his appearance anymore. On second thought, he did. William took pride in looking like a street urchin.

"So we're really gonna hash this out then?" William asked, as he waited for Angelus to finish preparing for their fight.

"You wanted a good fight. You're getting your wish. A fight with me will be far more thrilling than a group of angry men with sticks and pitchforks."

"I don't doubt it. Think you can take me, granddad?" William jeered.

Angelus just smirked. He'd learn soon enough. No fledgling could last in a fight with a true vampire from a powerful bloodline. Angelus took two steps forward and stopped. Spreading his hands either side of him, he waited, gesturing for William to make the first move.

William cocked his head to the side. He hesitated briefly before inhaling deeply and swaggering forward. Angelus smiled and waited. When they were no more than five feet apart William stopped and their gazes locked. Angelus maintained eye contact. He detected uncertainty in his opponent as he knew he would. No matter how cocky the youngster was, he knew better than to question Angelus' strength. The whelp knew he was in for a harsh lesson, and Angelus would revel in teaching him.

The punch, when it came, was lightening quick; a left hook that was a hairsbreadth away from connecting with Angelus' cheek. The boy had speed, he'd give him that. Angelus turned his head at the last instant and felt the whoosh of air against his cold skin. Unable to contain himself any longer, Angelus unleashed his wrath. His right hand became a solid fist that delivered a blow like a hammer strike to William's left kidney. The young vamp grunted and bent forward, clutching his injured side. Angelus used the opportunity to bring his left knee up into William's face. William's head flew back and he fell backwards, landing on the ground hard, his nose bleeding. Angelus slowly circled him, grinning, enjoying himself. He was just getting started.

William groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. He rolled over onto his side and pushed himself off the ground and onto his knees. Sitting back on his heels, he looked up at Angelus and wiped the blood from his face, glancing at the red smear on his hand before licking it off. He chuckled softly as he watched Angelus circle him.

"Now you're gettin' it."

Angelus raised one eyebrow questioningly and continued his slow circling. William laughed and stood up. Stretching, William rolled his shoulders and began a slow circling movement of his own, so the two vampires appeared to be sizing each other up as they prowled around each other in the confined space of the mine shaft. Simultaneously they stopped moving, squaring off again. This time, Angelus moved first.

He kicked William in the stomach, smirking when he felt his foot make contact, but William had quickly bent over when he'd seen the kick coming, and avoided most of the force. His two hands grabbed Angelus' ankle and held on tightly. Giving him a cocky grin, William yanked Angelus' foot upwards, forcing the older vamp to jerk forward and off balance. In one swift movement, William swept Angelus' other foot out from under him, and the bigger vampire landed onto his back with a thud. Angelus couldn't help wincing when his body slammed into the solid rock beneath him. Angrily, he yanked his foot out of William's grip and quickly shoved it back at the vamp's chest, sending him stumbling backwards a few paces.

Angelus was livid. How dare that runt belittle him like that! Angelus would not be forced on his back in front of his women by such an idiotic little upstart! Any chance that he would go easy on William had vanished, not that it had existed in the first place, but Angelus was ready to push him to his limit after that display.

Quickly springing to his feet, despite his bulk, Angelus flew at William, throwing merciless punches left and right. William blocked most of them, and this enraged Angelus even further. He hadn't considered that when William was human, he'd trained to fight demon's much stronger than himself, so he wasn't the pushover that the majority of fledglings tended to be. However, the few blows that did connect were punishing, and William was soon covered in bruises and blood. The sight only marginally satisfied Angelus.

William remained on the defensive while Angelus pushed forward, striking blow after blow, now varying his moves from simple left right punches to include kicks as well. Soon, Angelus had backed William against a wall. The whelp grabbed hold of Angelus by the shoulders, and before Angelus had a chance to shove him off, William head-butted him directly in his forehead. Angelus stumbled back, grabbing his head, feeling a dull pain spread across the injured area. He rubbed at it absently, noticing that William was clutching his own head and wincing.

"Bloody hell, you've got a thick skull," William swore, shaking his head and rubbing the sore spot.

Angelus snarled and straightened up, blinking a couple of times to regain focus.

"I'm the one with a thick skull? Though in retrospect, you are a touch soft in the head."

William growled and dived at Angelus. The move caught Angelus off guard and unable to block the attack in time, couldn't prevent William from colliding with him and the two tumbled to the ground. Angelus snarled at finding himself on his back a second time, but couldn't get his hands free in time to block William's fists, which began a brutal assault on Angelus' face. The younger vamp got a good few hits in before Angelus grabbed hold of something heavy nearby and swung it at William's head. There was a loud clang and William fell to the side. Angelus sat up, realizing he was holding the head of the shovel he had broken earlier when about to stake the upstart. Using it as a prop, he shakily rose to his feet.

William was on all fours like a dog, shaking his head, no doubt trying to dispel the inevitable ringing in his ears after being clocked with a shovel. Angelus panted heavily, not because he had to so much as to vent his frustration, which had built up over the course of the fight. William was panting heavily too, but that was because the fool never stopped breathing. The sight pissed Angelus off more and, roaring, he kicked William savagely in the stomach, the sheer force sending William flying sideways where he collided with a wall and hit the floor, face down and spread eagled. Tossing his weapon away and wincing at the noise of it hitting the ground, Angelus strode over to where William lay.

Nudging him with his foot, Angelus watched as William struggled to roll over. The movement was accompanied by a loud groan and a cough.

"Satisfied now?" Angelus asked, suddenly too tired to care about beating William to within an inch of his unlife.

After everything they had been through since London, all Angelus wanted to do was rest, feed, and get the hell out of England permanently.

"You done?" William asked, groaning again as he raised himself up on his elbows.

"You're not?" Angelus retorted.

William chuckled until a coughing fit overwhelmed him. When he'd recovered, he sat up and met Angelus' eyes, his own sparkling with—what? Not life. That was impossible.

"I'll keep going until there's nothin' left, mate. Thought we were clear on that."

Angelus sighed and stalked off to where he had left his clothes, sweeping his hair out of his face.

"Fine. You don't want to learn. Sooner or later, Spike, you're going to have to grow up. If I can't teach you, I'll leave it to the next angry mob you rile up. That, or the Slayer." Angelus shrugged his jacket on and smoothed it down, adjusting his collar while watching William out of the corner of his eye.

At the word Slayer, William seemed to perk up. It certainly wiped the grin off his bloodied face. This reaction pleased Angelus. At least until the runt opened his trap again.

"Slayer. You've fought the Slayer?"

"I've had a run in with her once or twice. And the correct term is a Slayer. There may only be one at a time, but no Slayer lasts long. If you survive one meeting with her, you can almost guarantee it won't be the same lass the second time around."

"We could run into one of these Slayers then?" William asked.

He seemed more curious than worried and it added to Angelus' suspicion.

"Why? Are you planning on fighting one?"

"No." William stood up, grabbing his coat which Angelus tossed at him and slipping it on. "I'm planning on killing one."

The admission brought Angelus up short. He studied William, but the vampire was completely serious, his tone ice cold. Angelus cocked his head, taking in the change from an over confidant trouble maker to brutal predator. Deciding he'd had enough of trying to solve the riddle that was William, Angelus turned his back on him, grabbed Darla's elbow and headed further into the mine.

"Well then let's hope we find you one," he muttered, ignoring Darla's sideways glance as he let the dark tunnel swallow them up.