Notes:
Long one!!!
Hmm, this one is a bit mean of me, but hey what the
hooey!!
Savana's life is changing, excitement, ooh!! And a smoochie!
http://www.savana_marsh.blogspot.com/
Tell me whatcha think of this chapter in the usual reviewing tradition!
-------------------------------
mel: thank you! Its lovely that you are into this, it makes me very happy and
shiny J
jane: aww, that is sooo great!!! WOW!!! Am now on cloud
20-something!!! Thank you!!
Teri: aww, Teri, what would I do without you? I'd have a
room full of onions ans a huge hospital bill – that's what!! He he!! Thank you,
precious!! You ROCK!!
Emm: tank uuuuu v.v.v.v.much! *elvis styple protruding
lip thingy*
Chisama: hey!! Thank you!!! Angel…well…
Pyro Bear: lol – will try! Promise!! Hmm, not sure if I'll
get into an Angel/anyone n a 'relationship' ship way – definitely Angelus/Will
is father/son above anything else.
A: daym. That was a funky ASS review. The 'Steven' becomes important later!! V.glad u picked up on it!!! Yah, didn't want it to be an S/B ship really.
__________________________
Stuff between these lines:
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are song/poem lyrics, disclaimed at beginning of episode if necessary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike and Buffy stopped their routine. She had realised that she didn't need that to feel alive. He was truly alone now.
His existence was meaningless. Pointless. He had lost everything, so easily.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-flashback+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
"Dru, my pet. I have some business to attend to."
Drusilla smiled coyly at Spike and floated out of the room, leaving him alone with the three vampires that had come in.
"Master Spike."
"Pull up a chair lads."
The three vampires settled themselves while Spike remained standing.
"Clan Tunisdius requests your presence in Prague, Master Spike."
"Has your Head of Clan given you a message for me?"
"Yes, Master."
The vampire on the left held forward an envelope. They waited in silence while Spike read it, petrified of being dusted. They hoped that the contents of the letter would not anger the powerful vampire standing in front of them.
Though the youngest of the leaders, Spike was by far the most powerful. He controlled his Clan with an iron fist and he kept relations with the other Clans at a peaceful point throughout his reign. However, he rarely attended the balls and whore-fests that were held in his honour, preferring to dote on Drusilla, read or feed. Not too bothered with the hunt anymore, Spike had a refined taste for the different types of blood he could consume. Rarities were bought to his door as gifts as he was renowned for truly enjoying his blood, mixing it sometimes with human food!
Whatever crossed his path was quickly and easily taken care of, his methods were sly and sinister and any vampire with the most basic common knowledge would stay wary in his presence.
Many of the other leaders had brought him perfect specimens for his childer as a sign that they wanted his blood to continue the reign and that they were at peace with him. More often than not, these humans became minions. If not, they were whores, food, dolls for Dru or 'little pets' for Spike.
"Alright then, tell your Mistress that once my business is finished here, I will go to Prague to deal with all this. It should take me two weeks, and stress that she must not begin the proceedings without me."
"Yes, Master. Is there anything we can do for you?"
"No, you are dismissed."
The three vampires left quickly letting out breaths they didn't need
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"William, let me speak quite frankly with you. They are going to attack. Don't go to Prague. Make an excuse."
"Must you continue to call me that? But thank you Carl -however I must face Tunisdius at some point. Hellia is a new Head. She doesn't know a bloody thing let alone what she's doing. If no one sets her straight she'll fuck everything up."
"You know you have my Clan's support. Call us in if you need to. I know the others are with you."
Spike nodded and pointed to an armchair, "Sit, please."
While Carl settled himself, Spike called out to one of the minions to bring in some brandy and blood.
"Will you take Drusilla? We can keep her safe in case anything were to happen…"
"No, I will take her with me. Nothing will happen, Carl. I can take care of this."
"You know Hellia, she's so fresh. Far too irresponsible. They should have overlooked her, age be damned and given the Head to Georgia."
"Georgia's too human for them, she's too smart."
"Ah, yes."
Spike smirked and raised his eyebrows. "Pray tell, Carl, what are you implying."
"Nothing at all William, only that a three month meeting with her in your Brazilian estate may not have been solely useful to the Order."
"I assure you, it was all business."
They made some more small talk, inconsequential, but comfortable. Carl's Clan, Warlint was the closest to Aurelius by far, mainly stemming from the friendship that Spike and Carl shared. Carl had become somewhat of a Sire to Spike, filling in a little of what Angelus had ripped out. There were not mated, but had shared a very basic blood bond through simple wrist-blood sharing.
"William, there is something I would like to talk to you about."
"Don't become so sombre Carl, what is it?"
"You need a childe."
Spike's jaw set and he put his drink down. "Ca-"
"I don't like you going to Prague at all. Something's not quite right. My minions there have been followed and tricked, the Tunisdius lot are dusting left right and centre… but you insist on going, and I know it is your responsibility as Head of Aurelius. Hellia probably thinks that in your downfall will come the others…"
"Carl, there-" Spike stood, agitated, not knowing what to do with himself. Carl stood and grabbed his fumbling hands.
"William, you need a Childe to be part of the Clan incase you…. of course the Head would go to Demitrie next, he is your right hand, but you need to have some blood left. You will be risking too much, there will be no pure Master's blood left in Aurelius. The Clan will be perceived as weaker and inferior, maybe even be dissolved altogether. Think of your Clan, they will all become Outcasts."
"I can't do it, Carl. Not after Angelus." The name tasted foreign on his lips, it had not been said for nearly a century now.
"Angelus was a bastard."
Spike's face became pained and his turbulent eyes tore into Carl's. The blond vampire had pitifully dusted many others who had uttered things less severe about Angelus. Only the most profound respect for Carl held him back.
"He's fucking gone. You're still here. You're still a Master Vampire dammit. I'm here for you William. Haven't I tried to be what you need?"
"Yes."
"Then listen to me, childe, when I tell you that it is time for you to create childer. I'll even settle for only one."
"You are not my Sire."
"No, but you don't have a Sire."
The silence was painful, severe – almost overwhelming. For a
brief moment, after a long time, Spike felt like Will.
"I'm sorry Carl, I can't. If the worst comes to worst, Dru can sire someone or Penn can be hunted down. I can't do it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Derrick?"
"Yes Master Spike?"
"Please pack my things and Drusilla's."
"May I ask where you are going, Master?"
"Prague. We'll need a car to take us to a hotel, an en suite room. Drusilla will be separate from me."
"Yes, Master, anything else?"
"Make sure there is a bed for you in my room. I want you close by me Derrick."
"Yes, Master."
"Thank you, Derrick. You are dismissed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The events of the next few weeks were of little interest. Many Aurelius were mysteriously 'dusted' and many Tunisdius disappeared in similar fashion. There were tense and dangerous meetings between Spike and Hellia, always wrought with fragile nerves, every vampire ready for the inevitable day that one meeting began the war.
It was now definite that a war between the two Clans would take place.
No others supported Hellia, 5 Clans refused to be involved either side, 3 Clans did not have the resources to help and 2, one of which was Warlint (Carl's) and the other, Rosemarte were on Spike's side.
The tensions heightened, both Hellia and Spike looking for a weak spot in the others attack and failing to find one.
One night, after an unusually quiet afternoon and evening, Spike returned to his room after checking on Drusilla.
Tunisdius had left him a present.
There was blood everywhere it seemed. In reality it was a messy clump of footprints and drag marks leading up to the bloodied, nearly dusted body in the centre of the room.
"The bastards." Spike swallowed and walked, almost trance-like towards Derrick's mutilated body. Bent railroad spike's protruded at grotesque, satirical angles and Derrick's eyes opened with an agonising creak as Spike neared.
"I'm so sorry Derrick." He chocked out, falling to his knees and pulling the minion's head onto his lap. Slashing his wrist, Spike tried forcing his blood down Derrick's throat in a pitiful attempt at helping his faithful companion of his entire existence.
"I'm sorry I dirtied the room, Master."
"No, no, Derrick, please. Please, please." No longer aware of what he was begging for, Spike started sobbing as Derrick spoke.
"I will remember you, Master Spike. Not as a Master vampire. But as the childe that Angelus introduced me to. The troublesome Master William that grew into the only Master who has ever said his pleases and thank yous' to a minion of my position."
"Thank you Derrick."
"Sir, if I may, I is very sorry for Angelus, Sir."
And with that, Spike sobbed and sobbed, long after Derrick had become dust between his nails, Spike continued to sob. For the pain it caused him to live each day as the Master who looked after so many and had no one to look after him, for Angelus, for Derrick, for Carl, for Dru and for the lost Childe who still pined for his Sire.
After Derrick had been dusted, Spike launched an attack like no other on Tunisdius. All three clans, Aurelius, Rosemarte, Warlint pulled up one giant offensive under Spike's ruthless command. Millions and millions of minions were involved, either to fight or to supply the fighters with what they needed.
They charged Hellia's base and a bloody battle ensued. Time was lost in the gore and filth, blood literally lining the streets and pouring into the drains along the gully. Somewhere along the line, Drusilla was lost and hours went by, Spike under a desperate search for her. When he finally found her, she was terribly weakened, but not dust. Realising his loss when he prepared to call for Derrick's assistance, Spike pulled her up and held her close to his breast like he had for so many nights.
"Shhh, pet, it'll be ok."
"Fly away Spiky, Fly away."
"We will, eh Dru? After all this, we'll head off somewhere, just the two of us. A nice long holiday. Sssssh, it'll be ok, pet."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tunisdius was defeated, as everyone had known it would be. The Master killed Hellia and Georgia took her place as Head. All 4 Clans suffered great losses, mainly Tunisdius, but a fair amount from Rosemarte and Warlint were also dusted. Tunisdius, now that it had become so small, was eventually, after weeks of discussions, split between Rosemarte, Warlint and Aurelius. The vampires involved were blood bonded to their new Head of Clan to avoid loyalty issues.
Georgia came into Aurelius at personal request, and the Order was finally at peace again for the moment.
The fight however, had wearied Spike. The high life of the Order no longer appealed to him, instead quiet life, as an elder seemed to jump out at him. Derrick's death and Carl's request had pulled Will to the forward and Spike could no longer behave in the manner that he had grown into.
Handing over the Clan to Georgia and passing some blood to her, Spike took a well-earned break. Having heard that there was a hot spot hell mouth in California, Spike decided to go there to relax and try and nurse Dru back to health as well.
Making plans to not be disturbed or contacted, they had left.
Spike had never returned to the Order.
Carl called and called and sent out hunts, it was of no use.
Spike had seen the one man he had pined over, respected and trusted the most in the world; the blood bond that Spike had convinced himself was a figment of a longing imagination - Angelus. Still in existence with no excuse for an absence of 100 years.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-End flashback+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Buffy yawned, deciding to pack it in for the night, she started on her way home.
A young boy, quite scraggily looking, left a deserted crypt with a frustrated expression on his face. Kicking a flowerpot, the boy continued forward until he ran into Buffy. Noticing the stake in her hands, he smiled and asked,
"Do you know a Spike or a William the Bloody?"
"Who's asking?"
"Steven."
"Steven who?"
"Steven, his brother."
"You're human."
"I know."
"I think you know that Spike is not. Human that is."
"We share the same parents."
"Spike's father can't be your father because Spike's father is-"
"Angel."
"Well. Yeah."
Buffy frowned at his boy, not liking his attitude.
"You're the Slayer right?"
"Yeah, who are you?"
"Angel's son."
"Angel does not have a son."
"Yes. He does."
"Who's your mother?"
"Darla."
"DARLA?"
"Yeah, prophesy."
"You're a bit old."
"I was in another dimension for most of my life."
"Oh, I see."
"So, you could have been my mother?"
"That is beyond disturbing, but yeah."
Buffy smiled at him warmly, trying to see Angel in the wild features Steven possessed.
"I'm really glad you're not my mother, you're quite ugly."
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*
Buffy scowled as she led Steven to Spike's apartment.
*UGLY? ME? Helloooo this coming from the boy who's father and brother BOTH…anyway! I'm so not ugly. Stupid stupid kid. I hate him*
"You aren't built to be a fighter. You're body is too puny. Can you not afford food?"
*He's Angel's kid. Don't wack him. He's Angel's kid. *
~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*~**~~~~~~~
Spike furrowed his eyebrows as Buffy stormed into the apartment with an unconscious boy in her arms.
"I was provoked I swear. I gave the kid half an hour, but I just couldn't take it anymore. He's worse than Anya."
Dumping him on Spike's sofa, Buffy turned to pin the blond vampire with a glare.
"I'm not going to tell anyone anything. I'll leave this to you to sort out, but I want to know what's going on tomorrow."
"Slayer? Who the fuck is the kid?"
"Your brother."
I know, kinda cliff-hanger-esk? Please review, it makes writing more so much easier and less delete-filled!!!
And Teri? I'm-not-edging-to-the-onion-room-or-the-brand-new-sledgehammer.
*Teri smiles and looks away*
Onions and sledgehammers ensue…..
