Spike blinked wearily as he returned to reality. He lay on his back,
wrists held above him by a chain that connected to a stone wall. Sunlight
shafted in through a crack in the ceiling above but thankfully the
poisonous rays fell far from him. Moaning, he struggled to sit up and
gasped in pain. Recovering in large, unnecessary breaths he waited for the
pain to subside and begun to examine himself for wounds.
Either his shirt had been lost in battle or stripped from him later because he lay in only his faded Levi's. Cuts and bruises decorated his body and his left arm hung limply from its socket. It would heal in a few days, but in the mean time he was sorely lacking the strength to escape from this prison.
And that lead him to ponder exactly what was going on.
The first thing that crossed his mind was Buffy's battle hard gaze at the beginning of the fight. For a moment he franticly tried to recall if the Slayer had made it out of the battle alive. His thoughts were assuaged however when he remembered the vampires of the Bloodlust were fledglings for the most part; new to their demon they stood no chance against a Slayer.
While Angel and his gang were preoccupied with the battle Spike had caught sight of Peter retreating into the recesses of the sewers. Acting on impulse he cut his way though a group of vampires and followed his wayward childe into the heart of the darkness.
His memories closed into black after that.
Testing the chains with a pull he sighed at their strength. Peter had learned from the best, it wasn't likely he would make a trivial mistake and tie Spike with weak bounds.
~~~
Buffy rubbed the sleep from her eyes and expelled a brief sigh. She sat on the edge of her bed in solitude, trying to order the events in her mind. For nearly an hour Angel had filled her in on Peters past, and she had listened, keeping back the questions that nagged in the back of her mind.
Spike had turned Peter a month or so after his rebirth. Angelus had bullied him into it after they had gotten drunk on blood and booze. They had followed a young man home and subjected him to various forms of torture – which Angel had quickly skimmed over – They then dragged him back to their lair.
Peter had just recently had a daughter, Juliet, and lived with a loving wife in a comfortable home. Spike and Angelus had directed a newly risen Peter to the cradle of his young child that next night. Instead off draining the crying infant dry however he turned to the two elder vampires and admitted that he couldn't.
Having no sympathy Angelus told Peter that if he couldn't kill off his ties to humanity, it would be humanity that killed him.
To prove his worth, Peter went into the next room and fed off of his wife under the watching gaze of Angelus and Spike.
Angelus took Peter under his wing then. Teaching the boy everything he knew about torture and pain. Some was by example, but most through experience. Through it all though, Peter had come crawling back for more. He had blessed the ground Angelus walked on, and Angelus had stepped on Peters wounded body in thanks.
Buffy wasn't given an exact setting, because to vampires, time really has no meaning, but after a while under Angelus's instruction Peter was led back to his daughter by Spike. According to Angel, Angelus hadn't had any idea of this occurrence.
Spike had convinced Peter to drink from his daughter but once the deed was done the younger vampire fled in horror at his actions. Angelus had taken out his anger on Spike for the loss of the childe.
"He was good." Angel had told her. "Just had to break down that last barrier of humanity within him and he would have been great. Greater then me even."
Angel had sighed after a moment of silence. "He was cool, calculated and smart. Knew what would hurt a body the most. It was art to him."
"It was art to you too." Buffy had pointed out.
"Yeah." Angel's eyes flashed away from her. "But it was more to him."
She hadn't wanted to know the answer, but had to ask. "How so?"
"It was like he knew what would hurt someone the most. I could drive someone to a slow suicide after months of careful planning. By watching and choosing exactly what meant the most and then killing that off." Angel struggled in a breath. "He- he could drive that person to do the killing for him. Was able to just look into their eyes and see exactly what was needed to make them break."
Buffy didn't say anything, waiting for Angel to finish and finally he met her gaze with quivering eyes.
"In the end his victims would beg for death. Could even convince them to accept his blood if he wanted. You see, I played on a person's fears, Peter toyed with their desires."
~~~
Spike awoke to the sound of metal scraping against stone as the door to his cell was pushed open. Blinking tiredly he barely made out Peter's figure as he collected himself enough to sit up against the wall.
"What in the bleeding hell do you want?" He managed to choke out, his throat dry and crying for liquid. His veins screamed for blood and he cursed himself for not feeding before the battle. In this state even water would ease the pain.
Peter knelt down and settled on his heels, watching Spike with a concerned face. "It's been far too long William." He whispered. "I still have yet to return that in which you gave me so long ago."
Spike was beginning to regain himself and watched his childe with perplexing eyes.
Suddenly Peter's face broadened into a grin and he straightened up to his full height. "You brought me to Juliet after she had grown into the soft innocence of childhood. You convinced me to feed from her, to drain her until those beautiful green eyes that spoke of life, dried into death."
Spike rolled his gaze upwards to Peter. "This a revenge thing then mate? Come to pay me back for getting you to kill your girl?"
"This is a thank you." Peter corrected him simply. "Angelus taught me the finer points of the kill, crafted me into a hunter and predator. But it was you that broke me of my humanity. Showed me that death is ultimate, unforgiving."
"If I remember right." Spike managed to cough out hoarsely. "You spent more time under Angelus's thumb and whip then my teaching. You were always Angelus's childe."
"Ah, but you miss the point." Peter seemed to adopt a caring tone. "Juliet was what kept me from being a demon. It was you who freed me from that bound to humanity, you who showed me true darkness."
It took Spike a moment to find his voice. "You ran, blood dripping from your fangs, dead child in your hands. Just took off and don't think I couldn't smell the fear on you from what you had done." The words were spiteful, but Spike didn't care. It had been a selfish act when he got Peter to kill his daughter. Both his childe and his women were becoming property of Angelus and he wasn't about to risk his neck over Dru considering she was as much owned by his grandsire as himself, but Peter was his by blood and he felt justified in what he had done.
All he had wanted was for Peter to take the life of his daughter and fully embrace his demon. He had wanted Peter to recognize him as his Sire because Angelus had no right stepping into that role. But Peter had run off and Spike had realized that his childe wasn't half as strong as he had expected.
But now as he lay under the mercy of his smile, generations later, Spike knew that he was finally getting the praise he deserved from his childe.
And it sickened him.
"It took me a while to realize that Juliet was the reason for my weakness. But once I killed her, I killed the weakness in me." Peter seemed pleased with himself as he gloated. "I tried to find you again, but by then Angelus had regained his soul and you and Dru were in to many places at once to find."
"So you went to Africa." Spike added for him. When or how he had come across that information he couldn't remember, but it had always been something he had known.
"Yes." Peter said carefully. "I continued to hone the talents your grandsire had taught me and before long those who didn't know better would mistake me for Angelus. But I don't owe all my credit to just him, it was you that made me a true demon, that taught me that murder without reason was sometimes the sweetest of all."
"Bloody wonderful for ya." Spike muttered sarcastically. "But all of that is in the past, things change, even demons. Me especially."
Peter nodded solemnly. "I know, your soul." He sighed. "You freed me from the taint of humanity, opened me to darkness. You brought out my demon and I will do the same for you."
In Spikes dazed mind it took him a moment to fully comprehend the logic behind Peter's statement.
He was going to rob him of his soul.
Either his shirt had been lost in battle or stripped from him later because he lay in only his faded Levi's. Cuts and bruises decorated his body and his left arm hung limply from its socket. It would heal in a few days, but in the mean time he was sorely lacking the strength to escape from this prison.
And that lead him to ponder exactly what was going on.
The first thing that crossed his mind was Buffy's battle hard gaze at the beginning of the fight. For a moment he franticly tried to recall if the Slayer had made it out of the battle alive. His thoughts were assuaged however when he remembered the vampires of the Bloodlust were fledglings for the most part; new to their demon they stood no chance against a Slayer.
While Angel and his gang were preoccupied with the battle Spike had caught sight of Peter retreating into the recesses of the sewers. Acting on impulse he cut his way though a group of vampires and followed his wayward childe into the heart of the darkness.
His memories closed into black after that.
Testing the chains with a pull he sighed at their strength. Peter had learned from the best, it wasn't likely he would make a trivial mistake and tie Spike with weak bounds.
~~~
Buffy rubbed the sleep from her eyes and expelled a brief sigh. She sat on the edge of her bed in solitude, trying to order the events in her mind. For nearly an hour Angel had filled her in on Peters past, and she had listened, keeping back the questions that nagged in the back of her mind.
Spike had turned Peter a month or so after his rebirth. Angelus had bullied him into it after they had gotten drunk on blood and booze. They had followed a young man home and subjected him to various forms of torture – which Angel had quickly skimmed over – They then dragged him back to their lair.
Peter had just recently had a daughter, Juliet, and lived with a loving wife in a comfortable home. Spike and Angelus had directed a newly risen Peter to the cradle of his young child that next night. Instead off draining the crying infant dry however he turned to the two elder vampires and admitted that he couldn't.
Having no sympathy Angelus told Peter that if he couldn't kill off his ties to humanity, it would be humanity that killed him.
To prove his worth, Peter went into the next room and fed off of his wife under the watching gaze of Angelus and Spike.
Angelus took Peter under his wing then. Teaching the boy everything he knew about torture and pain. Some was by example, but most through experience. Through it all though, Peter had come crawling back for more. He had blessed the ground Angelus walked on, and Angelus had stepped on Peters wounded body in thanks.
Buffy wasn't given an exact setting, because to vampires, time really has no meaning, but after a while under Angelus's instruction Peter was led back to his daughter by Spike. According to Angel, Angelus hadn't had any idea of this occurrence.
Spike had convinced Peter to drink from his daughter but once the deed was done the younger vampire fled in horror at his actions. Angelus had taken out his anger on Spike for the loss of the childe.
"He was good." Angel had told her. "Just had to break down that last barrier of humanity within him and he would have been great. Greater then me even."
Angel had sighed after a moment of silence. "He was cool, calculated and smart. Knew what would hurt a body the most. It was art to him."
"It was art to you too." Buffy had pointed out.
"Yeah." Angel's eyes flashed away from her. "But it was more to him."
She hadn't wanted to know the answer, but had to ask. "How so?"
"It was like he knew what would hurt someone the most. I could drive someone to a slow suicide after months of careful planning. By watching and choosing exactly what meant the most and then killing that off." Angel struggled in a breath. "He- he could drive that person to do the killing for him. Was able to just look into their eyes and see exactly what was needed to make them break."
Buffy didn't say anything, waiting for Angel to finish and finally he met her gaze with quivering eyes.
"In the end his victims would beg for death. Could even convince them to accept his blood if he wanted. You see, I played on a person's fears, Peter toyed with their desires."
~~~
Spike awoke to the sound of metal scraping against stone as the door to his cell was pushed open. Blinking tiredly he barely made out Peter's figure as he collected himself enough to sit up against the wall.
"What in the bleeding hell do you want?" He managed to choke out, his throat dry and crying for liquid. His veins screamed for blood and he cursed himself for not feeding before the battle. In this state even water would ease the pain.
Peter knelt down and settled on his heels, watching Spike with a concerned face. "It's been far too long William." He whispered. "I still have yet to return that in which you gave me so long ago."
Spike was beginning to regain himself and watched his childe with perplexing eyes.
Suddenly Peter's face broadened into a grin and he straightened up to his full height. "You brought me to Juliet after she had grown into the soft innocence of childhood. You convinced me to feed from her, to drain her until those beautiful green eyes that spoke of life, dried into death."
Spike rolled his gaze upwards to Peter. "This a revenge thing then mate? Come to pay me back for getting you to kill your girl?"
"This is a thank you." Peter corrected him simply. "Angelus taught me the finer points of the kill, crafted me into a hunter and predator. But it was you that broke me of my humanity. Showed me that death is ultimate, unforgiving."
"If I remember right." Spike managed to cough out hoarsely. "You spent more time under Angelus's thumb and whip then my teaching. You were always Angelus's childe."
"Ah, but you miss the point." Peter seemed to adopt a caring tone. "Juliet was what kept me from being a demon. It was you who freed me from that bound to humanity, you who showed me true darkness."
It took Spike a moment to find his voice. "You ran, blood dripping from your fangs, dead child in your hands. Just took off and don't think I couldn't smell the fear on you from what you had done." The words were spiteful, but Spike didn't care. It had been a selfish act when he got Peter to kill his daughter. Both his childe and his women were becoming property of Angelus and he wasn't about to risk his neck over Dru considering she was as much owned by his grandsire as himself, but Peter was his by blood and he felt justified in what he had done.
All he had wanted was for Peter to take the life of his daughter and fully embrace his demon. He had wanted Peter to recognize him as his Sire because Angelus had no right stepping into that role. But Peter had run off and Spike had realized that his childe wasn't half as strong as he had expected.
But now as he lay under the mercy of his smile, generations later, Spike knew that he was finally getting the praise he deserved from his childe.
And it sickened him.
"It took me a while to realize that Juliet was the reason for my weakness. But once I killed her, I killed the weakness in me." Peter seemed pleased with himself as he gloated. "I tried to find you again, but by then Angelus had regained his soul and you and Dru were in to many places at once to find."
"So you went to Africa." Spike added for him. When or how he had come across that information he couldn't remember, but it had always been something he had known.
"Yes." Peter said carefully. "I continued to hone the talents your grandsire had taught me and before long those who didn't know better would mistake me for Angelus. But I don't owe all my credit to just him, it was you that made me a true demon, that taught me that murder without reason was sometimes the sweetest of all."
"Bloody wonderful for ya." Spike muttered sarcastically. "But all of that is in the past, things change, even demons. Me especially."
Peter nodded solemnly. "I know, your soul." He sighed. "You freed me from the taint of humanity, opened me to darkness. You brought out my demon and I will do the same for you."
In Spikes dazed mind it took him a moment to fully comprehend the logic behind Peter's statement.
He was going to rob him of his soul.