A/N: I don't have a whole lot more written after this so updating may be a bit slower, and my work schedule will probably not allow me to update every day. I do have every intention of finishing what I've started here though =).
Big Thank You to "shadow" for your review, I appreciate it =).
Giles had only just finished explaining the latest apocalypse to his young peers when the door to the library swung open and Angel walked in with two women at his side. Giles, Willow, and Xander immediately recognized one of them. "Uh-you're dead," Xander said dumbly.
"We all are, silly little boy," the dark haired female laughed. Giles assumed that this must be Drusilla.
"Angel..." Willow squeaked out.
"Don't worry, they won't attack. They're both here for the same reason," Angel soothed. "Where's Buffy?"
"Right here," Buffy's strong voice sounded from behind the three vampires. She slowly walked past them and towards the table where her friends were seated, never removing her eyes from them. "Darla, I thought you were dust," she said snidely.
"I was," Darla replied in the same smooth voice that Buffy remembered. She noticed that instead of the catholic schoolgirl uniform she'd worn in the past, Darla was dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt,
"We don't know how she was resurrected, but I think that my earlier theory was right," Angel told them.
"Where did you appear?" Giles asked the blonde vampire, interestedly.
"The same place I was killed," she replied, her eyes flashed yellow at the reminder of her second death. "You know why I'm back. Tell me," Darla demanded, staring the watcher down.
Giles bravely maintained eye contact and cleared his throat before launching into the story of the prophecy for the third time that night.
"I don't understand how a group of four half-blood's are supposed to be able to stop an army of purebloods intent on destroying us," Angel said in confusion.
"Not to mention that there aren't even four of us," Darla scoffed looking over at Drusilla who was staring off into space.
"Yeah, how do we know that this Spike guy isn't dead?" Xander piped up.
"I would have felt it if he dusted, part of the sire link," Angel replied.
"And considering that I'm sitting here right now even if he had died I don't think that would have stopped him," Darla added. "Drusilla, darling. Where is William?" she asked sweetly.
"My William left me. Gone, gone away," Drusilla said.
Darla rolled her eyes in impatience, "Yes I know, you've said. Why did he leave you?"
Drusilla looked over at her grandsire with wide little girl eyes. "His dark princess was very naughty. Spike no longer wants her."
"You cheated on him again?" Angel asked.
"And he finally said enough," Darla finished, looking somewhat proud of that fact.
"So how do we get him here?" Buffy questioned.
"And we want him here, why?" Xander asked.
"Yeah, Buffy, didn't you guys say that he's killed two slayers?" Willow agreed.
"The prophecy demands that all four of the Aurelian's be here, together," Giles told them.
Buffy looked over at Angel, "Darla was resurrected because of this and you said that Drusilla was drawn here for the same reason, so should Spike be drawn here too?"
Angel scowled and Darla laughed.
"What?" Buffy demanded.
It was Darla that answered, "If something tells Spike to go one way he almost always goes the opposite."
"Great," Buffy muttered.
"It doesn't mean that we can't try to get him here, though," Angel spoke up. "We all have a link to one another, A sire can call his or her children to them. Spike is the youngest of us all, if we were to all use the link then we might just annoy him into coming."
"I suppose it's worth a try," Darla replied with a nod.
"Hang on. Why is it that your so eager to help instead of eating us?" Xander demanded.
"I was just brought back to life, I don't find the idea of extinction very appealing. None of us do," Darla sneered at the boy.
"I dunno, Spike might let it happen just to spite us," Angel muttered.
"Not very fond of you, then?" Giles asked the vampire.
"The feelings mutual," Angel returned.
"I think you should try to call him here. Giles how long do we have?" Buffy asked.
"A matter of days. A week or two at most," her watcher replied grimly.
Buffy nodded darkly and turned back to the vampire trio, "So the sooner you get started on that, the better."
Halfway across the world a peroxide blonde Vampire flinched harshly as the blaring call of three of his older family members burst into his head, summoning him to Sunnydale, California. "Bloody 'ell."
Two nights after Darla's miraculous resurrection and the subsequent discovery of the prophecy the scooby gang along with three vampires sat at a large table going over any materials that would help them defeat The Scourge. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Cordelia (who had decided that she didn't want to be left out of the loop), and Giles held themselves stiffly in the presence of what used to be their foe. Darla smiled a wicked smile at the tension that the air held, Angel was uncomfortable and Drusilla was busy scolding Miss Edith.
Buffy and Angel had hardly talked about anything non-apocalypse since he told her of his history with Drusilla. And everyone was getting nervous that the final link in their defense wasn't going to show up. The three vampires had Spike on a constantly open link, sending out endless calls.
"I'm going crazy, I need to go patrol," Buffy announced. She quickly stood up and started to leave.
"I'll go with you," Angel said.
"Oh, no. No way are you leaving us here with two unsouled killer vamps," Cordelia said firmly.
"If we were going to kill you we would have done so already," Darla said in false sweetness.
"Must kill the bad men, the stars tell me. Can't kill the white lights," Drusilla agreed.
"R-ight," Xander nods sarcastically.
"You'll be fine," Angel assured them.
"Yeah, haven't you ever heard 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend?'" Buffy asked cheerfully before quickly leaving the room with Angel.
The scoobies had a short standoff with the two remaining vampires before the air finally settled down to a slightly less tense atmosphere and they all went back to their prior activities.
"Are you all still calling Spike?" Buffy asked Angel as they patrolled Restfield Cemetery.
"Yes, we haven't stopped in the last two days. Spike is anything but patient, he'll come eventually," Angel told her confidently.
Buffy started to respond when the sounds of shouting reached her ears, immediately she and Angel started running towards the sounds of conflict. As they grew closer the words became easier to understand. They turned the corner just in time to see an ass ugly vampire descending down upon a shorter man. "You killed my girlfriend," he snarled.
"I've killed a lot of people's girlfriends, mate," the other man replied in a cocky British accent. Buffy felt more than saw Angel tense up next to her but her attention was focused on the sight in front of her. The brutish vampire stalked closer and closer to the peroxide blonde who did nothing but light up a cigarette.
"You'll pay," he snarled before pouncing towards the Brit. Buffy barely managed to catch the movements of the blonde as he brought his lighter down from his cigarette and threw it casually at his opponent. A loud scream rang out through the night as the large vampire burst into flames. The British vampire took a casual drag off his cigarette and watched in satisfaction as one of his own dusted in front of him.
Once the dust cleared Buffy got her first good look at the vampire, and nearly choked on her breath. He was gorgeous, it was a shame that she'd have to kill him. Before she could move though his bright blue eyes snapped over to where she and Angel were standing, immediately they flashed yellow and before Buffy could react the blonde threw himself at Angel, knocking her boyfriend against the side of the crypt they stood in front of. "Get the bleeding hell out of my head, Angelus," the blonde demanded angrily.
Buffy's head snapped back and forth between the blonde vampire that had her boyfriend in a death grip and her boyfriend who was trying to wriggle out of his grasp. "Been a long time, Spike," Angel replied. Angel did as Spike ordered and severed the link, breaking the call. Spike let him go and stepped back.
"Not long enough, peaches," Spike drawled. "Thought Darla was dead, felt her die," he mused.
"She came back," Angel replied shortly.
Spike rolled his eyes and snorted, "'Course the bitch did."
"Drusilla misses you," Angel replied, changing the subject. Buffy was getting rather annoyed with the lack of recognition of her.
"I doubt that she's the reason for the twenty four hour summon," Spike replied.
"You're right, it's much bigger than her. The world is ending," Angel informed him.
Spike laughed and shook his head, "The world's always ending, Angelus." Buffy had to acknowledge the truth in that statement.
"Yeah well, this time it's up to us to stop it," Angel told him.
Spike studied him in amusement as he considered his statement. He finally shook his head with a chuckle and said nothing before turning abruptly to Buffy after she cleared her throat, trying to get some attention. "So you're the newest slayer," he said as he looked her up and down.
She glared at him. "So you're William the Bloody," she returned.
"Prefer Spike, luv," he said with a smirk.
"She's not your love, Spike," Angel growled.
Spike turned back to his grandsire, his gaze darting between Buffy and Angel before he burst into laughter, "Shacking up with a slayer, Angelus? Bloody brilliant, can't wait to read about that in the history books."
"Will you stop talking about me like I'm not standing right here?" she asked angrily.
"Sorry, Buffy," Angel said apologetically.
Buffy glared at him briefly before turning back to Spike, to find him gone. "Where did he go?"
"To the school," Angel replied.
Willow yawned and flipped to the next page in the large volume in front of her. Xander was half asleep beside her and Cordelia had left 10 minutes ago for coffee. Giles seemed to be the only one still completely awake aside from Drusilla and Darla.
She returned her attention to the book, only to look up startled when Drusilla squealed in delight. "William's here." Darla looked up in interest and Willow exchanged a nervous look with Giles as the gravity of the news registered.
Buffy and Angel ran at full speed back to the school and made it to the library just in time to see the back of Spike's head disappear. They quickly walked inside. Buffy watched as Drusilla quickly ran over and hugged Spike who stiffened and shrugged her off. "Cut the bloody link," he growled.
Willow took in the sight of the newest arrival. Anyone with eyes could see that he was drop dead gorgeous, and he definitely had the bad boy look working in his favor. Xander looked at the black leather duster that Spike wore in envy. Giles saw the predatory stare and defensive stance that Spike had as he studied the room and is occupants.
Dru and Darla shut the link down and for the first time in over two days quiet filled Spike's mind. Darla stood up and walked over to the youngest, but perhaps deadliest, of their clan. "It's good to see you, William."
"Darla," Spike nodded as he lit up another cigarette. "How was hell?"
"Hot," Darla smirked.
"Saving the worlds never really been your style," Spike said casually as he stalked closer to the table.
"No, but avoiding extinction has been," she replied.
Spike smirked at her, "Not the best at that."
"I always come back," she pointed out.
"Touché." Spike turned his attention to Giles and the heavy volume in front of him. "The slayer and her watcher in league with four of the deadliest vampires in existence. That's a laugh," he chuckled as he grabbed the book in front of the watcher. Giles did nothing to stop the vampire in front of him, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't the teensiest bit scared of him.
Spike leaned against the table, crossing his ankles together and read the prophecy that Giles had diligently been studying. Buffy exchanged a look with a bewildered looking Angel. Dru was still pouting in the same spot that she had landed when Spike threw her off of him and Darla was watching her youngest family member with interest.
He raised an eyebrow and looked up at his vampire family, "The Scourge, eh?"
"You've heard of them?" Angel asked.
Spike looked at him in disbelief, "You haven't? Nasty buggers, they are. Don't fight fair, either."
"You've fought them before?" Giles asked, speaking up for the first time since Spike had arrived.
Spike looked over at the watcher, "Yes."
"And you're still alive..or, er, undead," Xander said excitedly.
"Well aren't you observant," Spike drawled out.
Xander looked affronted as Willow, Buffy, and Giles fought to keep in a smile.
"I still don't understand how we, as four of the half-blood's that they are intent on destroying, are going to stop them," Angel said, repeating his earlier words.
"According to the prophecy we're only a part of the whole," Spike pointed out.
"Which means? It says that we're the key to stopping it" Darla prompted.
"We all have our part to play, being the key to stopping the apocalypse doesn't mean that we're the key to stopping them." Giles nodded as he listened to the vampire's interpretation of the prophecy. None of the others had bothered so much as glance at the ancient script.
"So then what do we do?" Angel asked in irritation.
Spike looked at him and grinned wolfishly, "We die."
"There was a time that you didn't look so excited at that possibility," Darla said ruefully.
"Oh it's not the dying that has him excited," Angel said darkly, "It's the challenge."
"The challenge of what? Stopping the apocalypse or trying to survive?" Willow asked, boldly speaking up for the first time.
Spike turned to the young redhead and cocked his head to the side, he smirked when she didn't break eye contact, "Both."
"So you'll help then?" Giles asked.
Spike shrugged, if the world was going to end in a final fiery battle the he was damn well going to be in the thick of it. "Got nothing better to do. Now if you'll excuse me, it's my bed time," he states as he gets a whiff of the impending sunrise.
He started towards the door when Cordelia walked in with coffee and a box of doughnuts in hand. She saw the striking man in front of her and hurriedly set the food items down. "Hi! I'm Cordelia," she said enthusiastically holding out a hand.
Buffy opened her mouth to warn Cordelia when she noticed amusement creeping into the blonde vampire's eyes. He looked at her hand and took it, shaking in briefly. "I'm Spike," he smirked.
Cordelia yelped and gulped before stepping back a couple of paces. Xander couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction.
"Oh!" Willow suddenly exclaimed. "We didn't introduce ourselves! I'm Willow," she told the blonde vampire once everyone turned to look at her.
Xander looked at his best friend like she was crazy, but turned his attention to Giles when he was the next to speak, "Ah, yes. I'm Rupert Giles."
Everyone looked over to Xander who sighed, "Xander," he muttered reluctantly.
"And I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Buffy spoke up from the front of the room.
"Right," Spike said. "And I'm leaving," he said before disappearing from the library.
"Introductions, Will?" Xander demanded after the peroxide blonde had left.
"Well we can't expect to work together if we don't know each others names," the redhead shrugged weakly.
"And he really looked like he needed to know our names," Xander returned sarcastically.
"I think that we should all be getting home," Buffy says, stopping any further argument. "We'll meet back here tomorrow night, okay?" Everyone nodded their agreement and slowly filed out of the school.