=====================
Giles led Ryan into the back room. Not the one behind the counter, but behind some stairs. It was quite large, and looked like a mini version of a gym, with a heavy bag, weights, and a wall to wall blue mat. Ryan briefly wondered just *what* he was going to have to do when he saw a rack on the wall with crossbows, swords, and other axes.
His attention was brought back to the older man, who was sitting down on the mat with the small box beside him. "Please sit down."
Ryan sat facing him. Giles opened the box and spilled the contents between them. There were several religious symbols, a bottle of holy water, and a double-edged knife. "What are those for?"
"Vampires are burned by crosses, star of Davids, etc, and holy water is pretty much vampiric acid."
"Don't really like the sound of that."
"Hold out your hand." Ryan did as Giles picked up a cross, and dropped it right into his up-turned palm.
``````````````````````````````````````
"Spike," the red-headed girl looked at Greg and Colin, "who are they? And who was that other person?"
"The other person was Ryan, and this is..." Spike paused. "Sorry, I didn't get your names."
"I'm Greg, he's Colin."
"Oh, well my name's Willow, and that's Xander."
Xander opened his mouth, but was cut off as they heard a yell echo through the shop.
``````````````````````````````````````
"FUCK!!" Ryan dropped the pendant as quickly as he could. It was like someone had put a piece of white-hot lead on him.
"Check for religous symbols. I don't think you need to try the others." Giles moved the others away. There was a raw, reddened imprint on Ryan's palm, and he was suprised to see it was smoking a bit. "It'll heal faster than you think. Vampires have advanced healing powers."
"But you don't know if I'm a vampire."
"Oh, you are, but I want to be sure."
``````````````````````````````````````
It was a half an hour later when Giles came back into the main room to the others. His wrist was bandaged, and you could see the blood starting to show through. Colin imediately jumped out of his seat and made for the traning room, only to be stopped.
"I want everyone to hear this. You can go in moment."
Colin wondered if Ryan put the bandage there, while Spike's senses could smell Ryan on the ex-watcher.
"As some of you know and some of you don't, there are two kinds of vampire. Masters and minions. Spike is a master, and I am very willing to bet that Ryan's vampire was a minion.
"This is not the first time something like this has happened, but it's very rare. Every so often, a minon will take enough to kill their victim and turn them, but not enough for the demon to enter. Small margin of time in which that can happen, but here it did.
"Ryan still has his soul, but he can't lose it. However, he has no demon, and his body is still making his own blood, but he still needs to feed, as you can tell by the hole in my wrist."
"He bit you?" Xander stared at him.
"I let him. And there is more. Every vampire that was created without a demon, has died within a day. The demon keeps the dead body fuctioning. Without it..." He didn't need to finish as a silence fell over the entire room.
=====================
Colin and Greg were in the training room about five seconds after Giles's explanation. Everyone but Willow was a little too stunned to say anything.
"Isn't there something we could do? A spell or something? Summon a demon?" Spike looked around to her. Even he knew Willow was a good person, and for her to want to *help* a vampire that wouldn't rip her throat out was very Willow-like.
Giles shook his head. "Summoning a vampire demon is impossible. Only known vampires have them."
"I should've known what was wrong with him," Spike murmured. "One of Angelus's minions was the same way. God, I feel so... " He trailed off when he remembered what had happened.
When Angelus had found out about the minion, Spike and Drusilla, his sire, had mentally paid for it until Drusilla had a vision of the soloution. The resulting vampire left them, but was killed by a slayer thirty years later.
Spike did not say this to the others, but silently followed the two comedians, standing in the doorway, noting that the heavy bag was on it's side and about fifteen feet from it's original hanging position, and wondering if the soloution was something he could get away with.
``````````````````````````````````````
Ryan sat against the wall with his head in his hands. He went through all this and he was *still* going to die.
Again. There was something wrong with that, wasn't there?
He was glad the other two were staying quiet for the time being. He didn't really want to talk about anything, and he was busy enjoying the stinging feeling in his side. Giles had run the double-edged knife over his skin while Ryan drank from his wrist, and he was shocked to find he *liked* it.
It was then that Ryan became aware that Spike was lurking in the door. Which was another strange thing. He could smell the other vampire, a mixture of leather and cigarettes, booze and blood.
"You guys should go."
"Fat chance."
"I mean it. You can't do anything for me, and Jen and Deb are probably worrying their asses off."
"Ry, we aren't going to leave you."
"If you don't, I'll force ya. Leave. If I'm gonna turn into a dustcloud, I'd rather not have you see it."
"It's almost dawn." The three looked to Spike. "He won't be able to go with you anyway, he's stuck here." Spike didn't know why, but he thought he saw gratitude and relief in Ryan's eyes.
Colin knew when he was beat. So did Greg. "Fine. Are you sure? Because we will stay."
Ryan forced himself to nod.
``````````````````````````````````````
"Have you ever learned to fight?"
Ryan raised his eyebrows. "I was pretty reckless as a kid, but I have a bad back, or at least I *did*, so fighting wasn't really something I got into."
"Well," Spike looked him in the eyes, "vampires also have what's called preternatural strength. What makes us hard to kill. Your back problems are gone, and you won't ever have them again."
"Yea, especially because I'm gonna die."
"We'll see." He smirked as Ryan stared at him.
"What d'you mean?"
"Have you ever thought of what it would be like? To be a vampire? Even before all this?"
"Well, I thought they didn't exist. I've heard stories and whatnot, but I didn't belive them."
"Willow thought maybe we could help you with a spell, summon a demon or something." He moved to where Ryan was leaning on the wall, and reached a hand to pull his collar away, giving an unobstructed veiw of the faded bite. The sudden intake of unneeded breath was a clear sign that things were going right. "Spells can't fix this. He really did a number on you, didne?"
"Apparently not. Since I'm all fucked up. I can't even remember it."
"It's hard to remember. I didn't for a couple of days."
"Is Willow that redheaded girl?"
"Yep. She's a witch."
"She's cute."
"She's gay, too."
"Here's a question," Ryan said, desperately trying to distract himself from how close Spike was, because he was liking it more than he should have. "How come you were trying to kill me if you thought I was another vampire?"
"I can't hurt or kill anything living. About two years ago, to bloody goverment put this chip in my head that gives me really bad head pain if I try to. So I help these guys out for money and blood, plus I like fighting, and demons are a better challenge than humans. And since you're dead, I don't think I'd have a problem."
Ryan was about to reply when he heard a growl and a sharp pain in the side of his neck. And he was quite sure he should not be pulling Spike closer or having an orgasm while this went on.
But he did anyway.
Spike on the other hand, was starting to get dizzy. Maybe it was because he hadn't had human blood for so long, but Ryan's was *strong*. What's more, he had no sooner pulled back from him than he suddenly found himself flat on his back with Ryan pulling his shirt away from his neck. Spike let him drink his fill, knowing that even without a demon Ryan would be more than eager to take from something that didn't mind it.
The other vampire's blood easily tasted better than Giles's. Not that his was nasty or anything, but Ryan didn't have to hold back with Spike. Those were the last thoughts he could manage though, as everything went black soon after.
Spike smiled to himself and wrapped his arms protectively around his unconcsious Childe, knowing that, chip or no chip, someone would definately get their throat ripped out if they tried to take him away.
"What did you do?"
Fuck.
He didn't want to rip Willow's throat out.
=====================
Giles led Ryan into the back room. Not the one behind the counter, but behind some stairs. It was quite large, and looked like a mini version of a gym, with a heavy bag, weights, and a wall to wall blue mat. Ryan briefly wondered just *what* he was going to have to do when he saw a rack on the wall with crossbows, swords, and other axes.
His attention was brought back to the older man, who was sitting down on the mat with the small box beside him. "Please sit down."
Ryan sat facing him. Giles opened the box and spilled the contents between them. There were several religious symbols, a bottle of holy water, and a double-edged knife. "What are those for?"
"Vampires are burned by crosses, star of Davids, etc, and holy water is pretty much vampiric acid."
"Don't really like the sound of that."
"Hold out your hand." Ryan did as Giles picked up a cross, and dropped it right into his up-turned palm.
``````````````````````````````````````
"Spike," the red-headed girl looked at Greg and Colin, "who are they? And who was that other person?"
"The other person was Ryan, and this is..." Spike paused. "Sorry, I didn't get your names."
"I'm Greg, he's Colin."
"Oh, well my name's Willow, and that's Xander."
Xander opened his mouth, but was cut off as they heard a yell echo through the shop.
``````````````````````````````````````
"FUCK!!" Ryan dropped the pendant as quickly as he could. It was like someone had put a piece of white-hot lead on him.
"Check for religous symbols. I don't think you need to try the others." Giles moved the others away. There was a raw, reddened imprint on Ryan's palm, and he was suprised to see it was smoking a bit. "It'll heal faster than you think. Vampires have advanced healing powers."
"But you don't know if I'm a vampire."
"Oh, you are, but I want to be sure."
``````````````````````````````````````
It was a half an hour later when Giles came back into the main room to the others. His wrist was bandaged, and you could see the blood starting to show through. Colin imediately jumped out of his seat and made for the traning room, only to be stopped.
"I want everyone to hear this. You can go in moment."
Colin wondered if Ryan put the bandage there, while Spike's senses could smell Ryan on the ex-watcher.
"As some of you know and some of you don't, there are two kinds of vampire. Masters and minions. Spike is a master, and I am very willing to bet that Ryan's vampire was a minion.
"This is not the first time something like this has happened, but it's very rare. Every so often, a minon will take enough to kill their victim and turn them, but not enough for the demon to enter. Small margin of time in which that can happen, but here it did.
"Ryan still has his soul, but he can't lose it. However, he has no demon, and his body is still making his own blood, but he still needs to feed, as you can tell by the hole in my wrist."
"He bit you?" Xander stared at him.
"I let him. And there is more. Every vampire that was created without a demon, has died within a day. The demon keeps the dead body fuctioning. Without it..." He didn't need to finish as a silence fell over the entire room.
=====================
Colin and Greg were in the training room about five seconds after Giles's explanation. Everyone but Willow was a little too stunned to say anything.
"Isn't there something we could do? A spell or something? Summon a demon?" Spike looked around to her. Even he knew Willow was a good person, and for her to want to *help* a vampire that wouldn't rip her throat out was very Willow-like.
Giles shook his head. "Summoning a vampire demon is impossible. Only known vampires have them."
"I should've known what was wrong with him," Spike murmured. "One of Angelus's minions was the same way. God, I feel so... " He trailed off when he remembered what had happened.
When Angelus had found out about the minion, Spike and Drusilla, his sire, had mentally paid for it until Drusilla had a vision of the soloution. The resulting vampire left them, but was killed by a slayer thirty years later.
Spike did not say this to the others, but silently followed the two comedians, standing in the doorway, noting that the heavy bag was on it's side and about fifteen feet from it's original hanging position, and wondering if the soloution was something he could get away with.
``````````````````````````````````````
Ryan sat against the wall with his head in his hands. He went through all this and he was *still* going to die.
Again. There was something wrong with that, wasn't there?
He was glad the other two were staying quiet for the time being. He didn't really want to talk about anything, and he was busy enjoying the stinging feeling in his side. Giles had run the double-edged knife over his skin while Ryan drank from his wrist, and he was shocked to find he *liked* it.
It was then that Ryan became aware that Spike was lurking in the door. Which was another strange thing. He could smell the other vampire, a mixture of leather and cigarettes, booze and blood.
"You guys should go."
"Fat chance."
"I mean it. You can't do anything for me, and Jen and Deb are probably worrying their asses off."
"Ry, we aren't going to leave you."
"If you don't, I'll force ya. Leave. If I'm gonna turn into a dustcloud, I'd rather not have you see it."
"It's almost dawn." The three looked to Spike. "He won't be able to go with you anyway, he's stuck here." Spike didn't know why, but he thought he saw gratitude and relief in Ryan's eyes.
Colin knew when he was beat. So did Greg. "Fine. Are you sure? Because we will stay."
Ryan forced himself to nod.
``````````````````````````````````````
"Have you ever learned to fight?"
Ryan raised his eyebrows. "I was pretty reckless as a kid, but I have a bad back, or at least I *did*, so fighting wasn't really something I got into."
"Well," Spike looked him in the eyes, "vampires also have what's called preternatural strength. What makes us hard to kill. Your back problems are gone, and you won't ever have them again."
"Yea, especially because I'm gonna die."
"We'll see." He smirked as Ryan stared at him.
"What d'you mean?"
"Have you ever thought of what it would be like? To be a vampire? Even before all this?"
"Well, I thought they didn't exist. I've heard stories and whatnot, but I didn't belive them."
"Willow thought maybe we could help you with a spell, summon a demon or something." He moved to where Ryan was leaning on the wall, and reached a hand to pull his collar away, giving an unobstructed veiw of the faded bite. The sudden intake of unneeded breath was a clear sign that things were going right. "Spells can't fix this. He really did a number on you, didne?"
"Apparently not. Since I'm all fucked up. I can't even remember it."
"It's hard to remember. I didn't for a couple of days."
"Is Willow that redheaded girl?"
"Yep. She's a witch."
"She's cute."
"She's gay, too."
"Here's a question," Ryan said, desperately trying to distract himself from how close Spike was, because he was liking it more than he should have. "How come you were trying to kill me if you thought I was another vampire?"
"I can't hurt or kill anything living. About two years ago, to bloody goverment put this chip in my head that gives me really bad head pain if I try to. So I help these guys out for money and blood, plus I like fighting, and demons are a better challenge than humans. And since you're dead, I don't think I'd have a problem."
Ryan was about to reply when he heard a growl and a sharp pain in the side of his neck. And he was quite sure he should not be pulling Spike closer or having an orgasm while this went on.
But he did anyway.
Spike on the other hand, was starting to get dizzy. Maybe it was because he hadn't had human blood for so long, but Ryan's was *strong*. What's more, he had no sooner pulled back from him than he suddenly found himself flat on his back with Ryan pulling his shirt away from his neck. Spike let him drink his fill, knowing that even without a demon Ryan would be more than eager to take from something that didn't mind it.
The other vampire's blood easily tasted better than Giles's. Not that his was nasty or anything, but Ryan didn't have to hold back with Spike. Those were the last thoughts he could manage though, as everything went black soon after.
Spike smiled to himself and wrapped his arms protectively around his unconcsious Childe, knowing that, chip or no chip, someone would definately get their throat ripped out if they tried to take him away.
"What did you do?"
Fuck.
He didn't want to rip Willow's throat out.
=====================