Chapter 8: The dark Prince

Spike was lying on the bed and staring at the white ceiling. It was already late in the night, maybe even close to the early morning hours, and yet he couldn't sleep. The reason for this was lying next to him in a deep slumber. She had fallen asleep out of pure exhaustion, both of mentally and physically kind, shortly after she had finished telling him what she had just remembered this very morning. Buffy. The love of his life. The woman he would give his life for. Her sudden revelation had left him stunned. Heaven. Alone the thought of it was hard to grasp. Damn those Powers! Damn them! Buffy could have finally been in a place of peace, a place where she didn't need to fight the creatures of darkness. She could have been in a place where she was happy.

He wanted to curse those that called themselves the Powers that Be. He wanted to curse them all! He wanted to stand up against them and scream that what they were doing was wrong. He wanted to yell at them that Buffy had already suffered enough, that she had done her duty as Slayer and deserved some peace. Even if that meant that he would have to live without her. He just wanted her to be happy and she didn't deserve to be put in a world that had been hell for her – not when she had been able to go to heaven. He and the Scoobies, they would have protected Dawn. Until the end of the world. He had intended to keep that promise. Chip or no chip, he wouldn't have let one of those bloody wankers get near her. And the Powers knew that, they just had to know.

He swore, if he ever had the chance to meet the Powers that Be, he would give them a tongue lashing like they had never experienced before. He didn't care that they were higher beings nor did he care about what they were able to do to him once he was finished. Well, the worst thing that could happen would be that they sent him to hell, wouldn't it? Nothing to fret about. He was sure that he would be able to survive an eternity of torture as long as he had given them a piece of his mind and he knew that Buffy would be in heaven, where she belonged.

He suppressed the growl that seemed to be forming in his throat and carefully got out of the bed. There was no way that he would be able to find some sleep after what he had heard, so he might as well get up. The danger was too big that he would wake her up and she needed this sleep and the strength she would get through it for her fight against Drusilla. So he got dressed in a pair of jeans that actually belonged to Mirai and were a bit too long and one of the Saiyajin's T-shirts and silently left the room. Then he proceeded his way down the maze of hallways – once a creature of the night, always a creature of the night – until he spotted a small ray of light coming out of one of the rooms. He thought he remembered vaguely that the kitchen was somewhere in this part of the building.

So, curious as he was and as silently as a predator he walked to the door and stopped next to it, when he suddenly heard a voice, "You don't need to hide, Spike. I know that you are there."

Spike grinned and stepped into the kitchen. "Shoulda known that I couldn't sneak around without being noticed. Too many people with the ability to sense ki around here." He walked up to the table and sat down in a chair across of the dark haired girl. "And you, Pan, pray tell me what you are doing up at this late hour?"

She shrugged and took a sip of the warm brown liquid in her mug. "Couldn't sleep. What about you?"

"The same…"

Pan nodded understanding and placed the now empty mug on the table. "You also want some? Or do you rather prefer some blood?" she asked smirking.

"Sorry, luv, but I gave up on the bloody diet some time ago."

She returned Spike's grin and got up, took another mug out of the closet and filled both of them with the steaming liquid. "It's still so unreal to see you all breathing and all… Never had much time to get used to it."

The former vampire gratefully took the mug out of her hand and put it down in front of him, while she sat down. "Well, pet, can't say it's less unreal for me, still. After everything had calmed down and you guys were gone I had a pretty hard time. But Buffy and the Scoobies helped me."

"The soul?" Pan questioned.

Spike answered with a nod and Pan thought she could still see some pain in his eyes. "Never once noticed that it had been there until the nightmares began shortly after you left and my mind wasn't preoccupied with other things anymore. Nearly drove me insane."

"I can't imagine what you had to go through…"

"No, you can't…" Spike sipped at his mug and they fell into a comfortable silence. The only sounds that could be heard in the kitchen were the tick tock of the clock at the wall and the sound of slurping.

"Ya know, I've missed this – our late night cocoas," Pan told him with a compassionate smile on her face.

"Yeah… So, and how has your life been?" Spike wanted to know. A sly grin appeared on Pan's face and she extended her left hand, showing him a silver ring with a beautiful sparkling light blue stone on her ring finger. Her friend's eyes widened comically and he almost fell over with his chair in shock. "Bloody hell! The bloke proposed to you! When did that happen?"

"One month ago. He rented a whole restaurant just for us, violins were playing softly, our table was only lit by a candle and then he took out the small box, opened it and asked me to marry him."

"I never thought that our dear Mirai was this romantic…" Spike shook his head. "I can't believe our little Panny is getting married, and this without telling us."

"Don't worry. You would've known soon enough. I'm planning on getting married in Sunnydale, after all. You know, there's this one beautiful church that I've seen during my patrols and I always wished that I could get married in there. And who knows," she winked at him, "maybe this will even be a double wedding."

"What are you…?" For the second time within a few minutes Pan had managed that Spike's eyes widened. "Oh…"

"Come on, I know how much you love her and you know how short the life span of a Slayer could be. Haven't you asked her yet?"

"You have no idea how often I wanted to do it. I mean, I have the ring already, always carry it with me, don't ask why, but I'm just waiting for the perfect moment. Buffy's life has never been perfect and I didn't want to ask her on the spur of the moment. Only two, three days ago I thought I would finally do it. Buffy had been down that day, because her partner had gotten her into trouble, and I wanted to make her feel better. But then Dru came and destroyed my plan. Well, and now, we're here."

"Hey," Pan spoke softly and took Spike's hands. "And as soon as this is over you can ask her. It's not like she will die in this dimension. All of you have faced much stronger demons than Drusilla and I'm sure that Buffy will be strong enough to defeat her. And if she needs help, we're also there."

"Thanks, luv, but please do me one favor," Spike said with a sudden seriousness in his voice. "If you meet Drusilla, don't underestimate her. I've seen her bring down the strongest men with her mojo and she has even killed one Slayer."

The Saiyajin smiled at him. "Still wanting to protect me, big brother Spike?"

"Of course…" he replied, also smiling. He stretched his arms away and yawned. "Well, what do you think? Should we give sleep another try? The sun's going to rise in two or three hours and I don't think that we would be of much help, if we didn't get any sleep."

"Okay."

Together they walked along the corridors, until they arrived at Spike's and Buffy's room, where they said goodnight to each other and parted.


It was about the same time in a different part of the city, when a black haired man landed in a small green clearing. It was no one else than Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyajins, dressed in his blue gi. The clearing was in a small park, surrounded by trees that gave the whole situation a ghostly touch. The light fog that was floating just above the ground only added to that touch. Everything was completely silent, no people were to be seen or to be heard, but still Vegeta felt something strange going on.

He had the feeling already the whole day, since shortly before sunrise. Something was off, not quite right and he sensed that the source of this was here, in this park. He expanded his senses, but he couldn't feel any kis in the close distance, and yet, he felt something. He couldn't quite lay a finger on it. His senses were on full alert because he didn't know what to expect. There had only been one other time, when he had gotten these weird vibes and this had been, when…

A sudden rustle in the bushes tore him out of his thoughts and his eyes stared into the darkness of the trees. It took a few seconds, but eventually he could make out the forms of a person, a woman. She was wearing an old fashioned black dress and had long black hair. He relaxed a bit, thinking that this woman couldn't possibly hurt him in any way. And then, finally, when she stopped in front of him and he could see her pale face in the faint starlight, he knew what had felt wrong.

"You're a vampire," he simply stated, but still didn't think of her as threat. After all, one small ki-blast and she was dust.

"This I am…" this mysterious vampire answered in a sing-song voice. "You're smart."

Vegeta snorted. "Of course I am. Now tell me, how did you get here and what do you want?"

She made tsking sounds with her tongue and started to circle the Saiyajin. "You're not nice."

"I'm known for not being nice."

A small giggle escaped her throat. "I know, the stars told me. They told me, too, that you would come here tonight. Do you want to know what they also told me? They told me what you are."

"So, tell me. What am I?" Vegeta didn't know what to make out of this woman – vampire. She was obviously crazy, but still he had a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that something wasn't right. But he didn't expect the answer she gave him.

"You're evil. I can see it in you, feel it. This power in your body is not made for good purposes. You don't belong here. You are a man surrounded by fools who cannot see his strength, his vision, his glory. You are a creature of the darkness, just like me." By now she was standing next to him, so close that he thought he could feel the coolness of her skin on his body. He stiffened ever so lightly, but still didn't do anything to stop her. "Don't deny it, because you know I'm right." She moved further so that she was now standing directly in front of him and looked directly into his eyes. "I see what you want – the darkness. You have always been a part of it. You are more than just a warrior, more than a warrior that has become soft, weakened by people that call themselves friends. But I can free you from this. I can give you what you truly desire. I can make you what you were. I can help you to become the Prince of Darkness, my dark Prince."

"The dark Prince," he repeated in a whisper.

"Do you want it?"

Vegeta wanted to say something, wanted to move to show her that he didn't want it, but something seemed to keep him from doing it. Instead he gave her a light nod with his head, though he couldn't fathom why he did it. He couldn't remove his eyes from the dark haired vampire in front of him. He wanted to say that she was wrong, when at the same time something was awakening in him. A feeling he had long since buried. He could feel it, the desire that she was talking about.

She began to sway slightly from one side to the other and involuntary, as if he was a puppet moved by strings, he followed her movements, first only with his eyes and in the end with his whole body. "Look at me…" she breathed, barely audible to him. "Be in my eyes… Be… in me."

When she stopped swaying his mind refused to work. He was caught in her eyes with no way to escape. Not even a man with the strongest will could break free from those eyes. He couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't feel. Time seemed to stand still. Suddenly the woman in front of him changed, her black hair became an aqua color and her dark eyes became blue. She was even dressed differently. Instead of the black dress she wore a short red one. "Woman," he groaned, unable to think straight. Something in his mind was screaming at him that this wasn't his mate, but he couldn't hear this voice.

A small shiver ran down his spine, when Bulma touched his face with her chilling hands. Her finger traveled over his cheekbones down to his collarbone, tracing a small faint scar, where she placed a small kiss on the soft skin. Vegeta couldn't suppress a groan and closed his eyes, dwelling in the pleasure this simple touch was giving him.

"Don't be afraid, my Prince," Bulma's voice said. "It won't hurt – much."

His eyes sprang open and he hissed sharply, when he felt something sharp piercing the sensitive skin of his neck at exactly the same spot, but what followed was indescribable. He felt it, the blood circling in his veins. He swore his could feel his blood in her veins. Vegeta became lightheaded though he couldn't quite make out why with his clouded mind. He didn't know how much time passed, the pain in his neck ceased eventually and he could feel himself drifting in and out of consciousness. The last thing he was just partially aware of was a metallic taste in his mouth, before he eventually gave in to the darkness.


Bulma awoke gasping, sitting straight up in her bed. Her whole body screamed with an excruciating pain, but the worse was the agonizing throbbing in her neck. Tears shot into her eyes, as she fought for consciousness. Oh god, it hurt so much. But as sudden as the pain appeared, it disappeared again, though it somehow left a gaping hole in her soul. She remembered vaguely the only other time, when she had felt something close to this. This one time had been many years ago and she did her best to suppress those memories.

She fell down on the bed, being drained of all her strength and with tears streaming down her face, fell into a dreamless slumber.

And hopefully, in the morning, she would wake up and find out that everything had only been a bad dream – a nightmare –, and that her husband and mate, Vegeta, was not dead.


A/N: Some quotes were taken from Buffy Episode 5.07 "Fool for Love".