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***This is a long chapter but I figured you all we're tired of being kept in the dark about what was going on, so I hope this answers most of your questions.***




“I’m still me,” Buffy said still sounding like Drusilla but her own tone of voice was slowly returning. “I somehow managed to tune in her for a moment and let me tell you her mind is a lot like a amusement park…without the fun.”

“What are you saying Buffy, that you somehow managed to link minds with Drusilla?” Giles asked, finding the entire matter fascinating. No one seemed to be in any danger and since the new Watcher was coming, he might as well learn as much as he could before then.

Link…that made sense Buffy, thought to herself, and now that it was no longer a shock, she was quickly adapting to this gift. Focusing for a moment, she searched for a different station…one a little less crazy and a little more explainy. “The Master could do this as well. He mentally traveled down the bloodline and used it to discover the location of his people. But he couldn’t see inside their mind unless he fed on them and he’s a little ticked that I can.”

“I’m sorry but, am I the only one who doesn’t get this?” Xander asked raising his hand. “I mean The Master’s dust, so how can he be talking to you.”

“I’m a vampire and I don’t understand it, so I don’t have any hope for the lot of you.” Spike said watching Buffy’s eyes return to their normal green.

“You don’t understand because that bastard Angelus didn’t feel the need to share with his family.” Buffy said reaching out to take his hand. She felt his fingers twine around hers and she sighed in contentment. “The Master, whose name is Heinrich by the way, shared this knowledge with Darla and Angelus because they were his favorite children. They couldn’t use it like me but they could use it to recognize other members of the Order. They didn’t share it with Drusilla because well, she was insane, and they didn’t tell you because it was just one way for Angelus to make you feel lesser than him.”

Since her voice was filled with outrage on his behalf, he had to smile at her. “That’s not much of a surprise luv but how come you can do it?”

“Not just anyone can become the head of a bloodline, you have to have to have enough power to take the lead. See the head of the bloodline is like the queen bee, all the other bees go out to gather the pollen, or in this case making new vamps but with each new person you bring in the connection gets weaker. The stronger vamps like Spike and Angelus rise up the bloodline as they gather power.” Buffy explained, leaving out one very important detail since she wasn’t exactly sure how Spike would take it.

“Why do they need to rise up the bloodline?” Willow asked, almost as curious as Giles.

Damn, why did they all have to be so smart, Buffy thought grumpily, casting an apprehensive glance at Spike.

“Whatever it is pet, you might as well say it.” Spike told her. She looked like a doe caught in the headlights and he had a pretty good idea of what she was going to say. Angel had become the head of their bloodline and that was why he had been able to break the claim, Spike thought disgustedly, not sure which was worse.

“There are only so many bloodlines, it’s kind of natures way to find the balance. If left unchecked vampires could theoretically turn every single human into a demon, which would mean they would have to resort to feeding on animals. Well since vamps have long life spans, given enough time they would exhaust the food supply. Game over, everyone looses.”

“Checks and balances,” Giles said catching on quickly. “To stop that from happening, only the strongest vampires can survive.”

“Now see just when I think I am beginning to understand, you lost me again.” Xander said swiping his hand about two inches over his head. “Wouldn’t strong vampires be a bad thing?”

“No you git, the strong vampires keep the lesser ones in line. Every system, has to have someone in charge of order. The slayers may take out the lesser vamps and a few powerful ones but mostly we take care of our own problems. You don’t survive for centuries largely unnoticed by your kind if every single vamp in this world went rampaging nightly.” Spike told him with a snort. “Back in the old days it was easy to earn a reputation, like mine. You could massacre an entire village but you could move one province over and no one would know a thing about it. But today if Los Angeles suddenly became overrun with vamps, it would hit the news and people would know about it an ocean away. We’d go from being a myth to being hunted overnight. We may have you beat when it comes to speed and strength but you can come into our lairs during the day without an invite and we can‘t escape. Then it becomes a numbers game and the simple truth is you have more.”

“That didn’t seem to be a problem the hundred times you tried to take over Sunnydale.” Faith told him, with a roll of her eyes while she made herself comfortable on Riley‘s lap.

“Well Sunnydale isn’t exactly like other places, now is it?” He shot back arrogantly. “Unlike most small towns you all don’t get upset when you read the obituaries or someone comes up missing. It’s something everyone knows happens but never talk about it. Sure the paper is full of neat explanations but people have eyes and brains. They chose to believe the lies instead of facing the truth and that makes this town safe for our kind and all the other assorted nasties hanging about.”

“That makes sense but it still doesn’t explain why vampires can rise up the bloodline?” Willow asked, bringing the point back to the question she had asked.

“Even though The Master is dead a part of him lives on in the blood of his children and their children. Just like a part of the one who was the head of the bloodline before him, still lives on. The best way to explain it is to have you think of the entire bloodline as a tapestry. Each thread is a different vampire and the brighter colors are the ones with the most power. Threads are pulling pulled out and added all the time, so there has to be one person who weaves them all together and keeps it from unraveling over the years. That is where the head of the bloodline comes in. The one with enough power and will rises to the top. So when you killed The Master you left a vacancy and now there is a new head of the bloodline…me.” Buffy said softly, unsure of how the others would react.

“But you can’t be, I mean you’re a new vampire.” Xander sputtered out. That just wasn’t fair, first she got to be a slayer then she gets picked to be the head of an entire vampire clan, some people have all the luck, he thought mutinously. “I mean your haven’t even sired anyone yet…have you?”

“It’s not like human ancestry, there isn’t a single pair that passes their blood down through the centuries. But vampires still get the blood of all the ones before them when they drink the blood of their sire, making us a family of sorts.” Buffy explained, more than a little worried about the look on Spike’s face. “You and Angel are equals in power at the very top of the line, but as long as you both are alive neither one of you could claim the top spot. But if one of you died, the survivor wouldn’t have enough power to move up. See the blood relates us all but every family tree has branches. Some die out while others thrive. You, Angel, Darla and Drusilla were all powerful in your own right and so that means anyone sired by you would have more power than another vampire on another branch. But more than that, the more power you both gather in your lives, the stronger your blood connection becomes. See the division of power starts at the top and then filters down to all the vampires beneath you. With The Master and Darla gone you three that remained at the top should have been sharing power equally, but since Drusilla has been claimed by Angel, she is closed off from your power directly. See that is what claims were meant to be, your right to another’s power. Since she has no right to your power, you’ve been giving it to Angel alone. But the blade cuts both ways, you don’t belong to him either so he has been sharing his power with you and even some that he takes from her. Now if he wasn’t such a bastard he could share it with her, but he’s greedily so he is taking but not returning the favor.”

“So that’s why Angel broke my claim on you, he thought he could become the head of the bloodline, eh?” Spike asked coldly, hating the fact that he was giving Angel anything, even against his will.

“Angel didn’t break the claim I did.” Buffy said bringing their joined hands up to lay them over her un-beating heart. “He may say he’s Angel but Angelus is still there beneath the surface and he hates you as much as you hate him. When he came downstairs to talk he was just Angel and he even offered me his blood to take the edge off of my hunger. He explained about how sharing blood works, being all superior and when he tried to make a move on me, I showed him your mark and said I was off limits.”

She broke off for a moment and rolled her eyes. “Then he was Angelus or as much as he could be with a soul. Out of nowhere he pounced and bit me and since I was starving to begin with, I bit him back. When I drank from him, I saw the way they both used you through his eyes and it made me angry. I could feel him in my mind and I wasn’t about to let him use that to hurt you. So I let you go so to keep you safe.”

Quickly she explained what had happened next and to her surprise Spike laughed. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he placed a light kiss on her cheek. The weight that had been sitting on his shoulders since he had felt the claim snap was lifted and as hard as it was to believe, she had actually chosen him. Angel had even tried to force her into accepting him and she had kicked his ass and came home…to him. He felt like an idiot for ever doubting her and he silently vowed that it would never happen again. “I bet he was livid when you told him that it was his bite that made you the head of our sodden bloodline.”

“I didn’t tell him, besides it wasn’t his bite that did it.” Buffy said giving him a pointed look. “I don’t think that you to hate each other as much as you think you do, I think its your demons struggling for dominance. I mean it’s obvious that you hate Xander but you’re not about to try to steal Anya away just for spite. See since he’s had a soul he has been slipping in power and it was only his connection with Dru that was keeping him tied with you. Then you went and sired me taking the lead.”

“Not that I mind you being the boss luv, but if that was the truth why didn’t I take the top spot?”

“If you had given me your blood before I left, you would have. The only reason I was able to break the claim was because you hadn’t finished the ritual. When I drank from him, it finished the ritual but since it wasn’t his marks, all he managed to do was link us all together giving me access to both of your powers and hers. Then when I drank from you, it pushed the power level even higher giving me enough to gain control of the bloodline even though I am only technically half vampire. It helps that the other half is slayer or else Dru could have very well become the head of the bloodline, which wouldn’t exactly be a good thing.” Buffy said snuggling against Spike.

“Why didn’t she,” Willow asked unable to drop the subject until she understood it all. When it came to learning something new, she was like a dog with a bone.

“Angel never finished claiming her and if he had, she would be out of the running entirely. You can’t exactly be in control of the bloodline if your power is going to someone else. If she would have broken the claim then her power would be her own, weakening Angel, therefore weakening Spike and giving her the advantage. But since now that I have the job, she will just have to wait until it opens back up and I don‘t plan on being dusted anytime soon, she‘s in for a long wait.”

Spike noticed her absently rubbing her temple and turned her to face him. “Are you alright pet?” He asked searching her face and eyes for any sign of pain.

“My mind is full of stuff right now and it’s a little headachey. Don’t worry though, I’m not about to be possessed by your ex again. The power caught me off guard but I’m a really fast learner and control is something I have always been pretty good at.” She searched his face for a moment, much like he had just done to hers. She could tap into his mind to see what he was thinking, or she thought she could, but that just didn’t feel right. When Dru had entered her mind, it was something very close to being raped and even though she couldn’t possess him the same way, she would still be taking his private thoughts against his will. “Are you okay with all this?”

“I love you Buffy and as long as its not hurting you, then I am okay with it.” He said honestly, seconds before laying a light kiss on her lips. He had known Buffy was special so this didn’t change a single thing for him. What he didn’t say was that he didn’t care who was in charge of their bloodline, just as long as it wasn’t Angel. It was even sweeter knowing that he had played a part in denying him that kind of power. Buffy could think what she liked, but it wasn’t just him and Angel’s demons that hated each other, it was the men as well.

“What about you all?” Buffy asked turning to look at the others.

“It’s a weapon Buffy and this development only helps us fight the good fight.” Giles said thinking of all the battle applications. “You will have to learn how to use your new powers and how to calm your mind with focusing techniques to stop the headaches that I am certain will come, but we are here to help you in anyway that we can. You may be part demon but you are still part slayer and that makes you one of us.”

Faith was a little ticked that Buffy had lied to her about what had happened with Angel but since Riley was running his hand up and down her back suggestively, it was really hard to hold onto her anger, so she let it go…for now.





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