I don't need you: Discovering.
"No, no more small talk. What are you here for?" Spike growled.
"All right. Calm down Will." She saw his visible scowl at the mention of his human name and made a mental note not to use it again. "Look there's no easy way to say this. I'm the Vampire Carer. Your Carer to be precise." She looked at Spike to see his reaction and was shocked when he began laughing.
"You?" he snorted unable to keep a straight face. "You a vampire carer? I don't think so."
"THE Vampire Carer if you don't mind." She scowled and folded her arms. It really wasn't a good start. "And yes I am the Carer. Deal with it."
"But...but you're so young!" was Spike's only retort through the laughs. This had to be a joke.
"Well being young didn't stop me from helping your Sire a few years back." Higgy folded her arms and put a smug grin on her face as the vampire turned to face her. "And I was even younger then. Only...fourteen. You've got the new improved older version."
Spike glared at her and began growling. "What do you mean? You helped my Sire?" Spike had leapt off of the table and was now stomping round the shop waving his arms about animatedly with each question. "How? When? Why did the great poofter need help? Tell me woman!"
"Gees, calm down first of all." She grabbed the vampire's arms and steered him towards a chair. "Now sit down, all of you," she nodded to the rest of the Scooby gang. "And I'll explain everything."
"Oh God. Higgs!" came Amy's moan from over the blonde's shoulder. "Do we have to hear all of this again? It gets a little boring after the billionth time!" she strutted over to stand next to Chezza, who also had a look of disgust on her face.
"Look DL, Red I'm sorry 'bout this, but they have to know. It just wouldn't be right for Wi...Spike to go through this and have the others tease him because they didn't understand. They have to know." At this comment Spike had immediately began to bother Higgy about what was going on. She sighed before pointing to the back room. "Okay, DL," she returned to using her nicknames, "take Red and do some training in the back room. Just try and keep it down and DON'T go O.T.T. on the attacking like last time!"
Amy chuckled to herself as she dragged the potential away from the magical urn she was playing with and into the backroom. "That was not my fault." She protested. "The wall just wasn't strong enough. Plus you always moaned that it would look better with a window."
Higgy turned back to the utterly confused scoobies and vampire. "Sorry to use your room without asking but I had to get rid of them. That's okay right?" she looked up at Giles apologetically.
"Of course," he nodded, "that's fine. Now tell me." He began getting all watcher like. "What is this 'Vampire Carer' business? There are no records of this in the watcher's diaries."
"Well of course there's not." Higgy started, sitting next to Spike and readying herself for the long explanation. "It's got nothing to do with the Watchers or Slayers. It's vampire thing, except that I'm not a vampire and it only includes certain vampires." she sighed to herself again.
"So what you look after the baby vamps or something?" Xander interrupted. "Has little Spikey been a bad boy?" he ruffled Spike's hair as he said this and received a growl from the annoyed vampire.
"No whelp. A vampire Carer is the one girl in the world who helps vampires and can't be bitten by them. Sort of the opposite of the Slayer." Spike explained all he knew. "She helps them through times of difficulty and guides them."
"What do you mean, 'can't be bitten'?" Willow asked. "Surely if she's human and has blood she can be bitten?"
"Well you see, it's hard to explain." Spike rubbed the back of his neck. "She...Higgy...well vampires just steer clear of her. It's like a rule. You don't approach the Carer unless you are her next or old charge."
"How do they know who the Carer is?" Buffy asked. "Is it like me being the slayer? They just know?"
"Well," Higgy began "So far I'm specialised in the order of Aurelius and only those specific vamps that I've been able to contact know. Angel was meant to inform William but obviously some other issues, such as torture, got in the way, and Wi...Spike didn't get the message. That's why he pounced on me."
"Hey you were hanging out with three other vamps it thought you were with them." The vampire shrugged. "It was and easy mistake to make."
"I was asking if they knew where you were. They called you a traitor and said that you'd be here hanging out with your pet humans. So I came here and you pounced before I could get inside."
"What do you mean pet humans exactly?" Xander inquired, looking clearly frustrated.
"Don't worry, they got staked for that."
"So what kind of things does a Vampire carer help vampires with?" Giles began taking notes. Boring Watcher Higgy thought.
"Well I'm here to help Spike while he goes through a difficult stage in his unlife."
"What stage?" Spike looked up from flattening his hair from Xander's earlier ruffling. "What?"
Higgy raised her eyebrows, clearly shocked at the vampire's reaction. "You don't know? Really?" She chuckled to herself and made a mental note to phone and yell at Angel. "Spike," she began. "How old are you?"
"Erm...126."
"And when's your Birthday?"
Spike looked around at the scoobies before muttering something inaudible.
"What was that Spike?" Xander cupped a hand to his ear in mock deafness.
"November 14th. That's when Dru turned me." Spike folded his arms and looked away when Anya spoke up.
"But that's in two days! Why didn't you tell us?"
"There was no reason to. Why d'you wanna know Higgy?" he spoke to avoid more of the Scooby's questions.
"Well when a vampire turns 127 you know what happens don't you?" she sighed and added to the mental note to seriously yell at Angel, when Spike shook his head. "Well a vampire begins their equivalent to puberty." She winced when she heard the whole shop yell in confusion.
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah...that's why I was hoping Angel had told you. It was his right as a Sire to do that."
"Git. I'll kill him."
"Already there."
"So what's so hard about this puberty that Spike needs help?" Giles asked, notes lying forgotten on the table.
"Well vampire puberty, or Sinco as we call it, is a lot harder than human puberty. The whole process only takes about 3-4 months but there is double the amount of changes than human puberty. So usually the vampires end up staking themselves trying to get out of all the changes, they can't cope without help, they don't understand what's happening and Sires just aren't up to the job."
"It can't be that bad." Xander tries to reason. Seriously not seeing what was so hard about this.
"Higgy's right." Came a voice from the backroom doorway. It was Amy. "I've seen it. The vampires have no idea what's going on. It all happens so fast that they can't cope. I've seen it happen. When we didn't get to Sam in time. He was a wreck, he could barely stand let alone feed." She wandered over and put her hand reassuringly on Higgy's shoulder. "We weren't in time to stop him."
"That's when Higgy became specialised in the order of Aurelius. That way there wont be too many to handle at one time." Cheryll finished while dusting her hands off and scowling at the fresh cuts.
Higgy sighed before glaring at Amy. "I thought I told you to go easy on her."
"I was, she just caught the wrong end of the sword." Higgy sighed to herself again. This was going to be a long night. First details then home to researching and training followed swiftly by first aid.
"What happens that's so hard?" Willow asked again.
"It starts with mood swings. And not just little ones either. We're talking about big ones. You might get to see a few more sides to Spike. There's a lot more but let's just focus on one thing at a time." She turned to the vampire who was staring into space trying to ignore what he had just been told. "Spike I'll come and see you on the 14th so I can see if you're okay. If you feel anything weird or different then I want you to come to our flat or phone me. Okay?" she waited for some sign of response and went to hand him the piece of paper. She tucked it into the pocket of his duster when he leapt up.
"I don't need your help!" he yelled at the blonde. "I'll deal with this myself. I don't need you; I don't need anybody. You watch, I'll be fine. Don't you dare come and see me. I don't want your help." He stormed off out of the shop door and slammed it shut behind him obviously hoping to smash the glass.
"Oh dear...he's started early."
"No, no more small talk. What are you here for?" Spike growled.
"All right. Calm down Will." She saw his visible scowl at the mention of his human name and made a mental note not to use it again. "Look there's no easy way to say this. I'm the Vampire Carer. Your Carer to be precise." She looked at Spike to see his reaction and was shocked when he began laughing.
"You?" he snorted unable to keep a straight face. "You a vampire carer? I don't think so."
"THE Vampire Carer if you don't mind." She scowled and folded her arms. It really wasn't a good start. "And yes I am the Carer. Deal with it."
"But...but you're so young!" was Spike's only retort through the laughs. This had to be a joke.
"Well being young didn't stop me from helping your Sire a few years back." Higgy folded her arms and put a smug grin on her face as the vampire turned to face her. "And I was even younger then. Only...fourteen. You've got the new improved older version."
Spike glared at her and began growling. "What do you mean? You helped my Sire?" Spike had leapt off of the table and was now stomping round the shop waving his arms about animatedly with each question. "How? When? Why did the great poofter need help? Tell me woman!"
"Gees, calm down first of all." She grabbed the vampire's arms and steered him towards a chair. "Now sit down, all of you," she nodded to the rest of the Scooby gang. "And I'll explain everything."
"Oh God. Higgs!" came Amy's moan from over the blonde's shoulder. "Do we have to hear all of this again? It gets a little boring after the billionth time!" she strutted over to stand next to Chezza, who also had a look of disgust on her face.
"Look DL, Red I'm sorry 'bout this, but they have to know. It just wouldn't be right for Wi...Spike to go through this and have the others tease him because they didn't understand. They have to know." At this comment Spike had immediately began to bother Higgy about what was going on. She sighed before pointing to the back room. "Okay, DL," she returned to using her nicknames, "take Red and do some training in the back room. Just try and keep it down and DON'T go O.T.T. on the attacking like last time!"
Amy chuckled to herself as she dragged the potential away from the magical urn she was playing with and into the backroom. "That was not my fault." She protested. "The wall just wasn't strong enough. Plus you always moaned that it would look better with a window."
Higgy turned back to the utterly confused scoobies and vampire. "Sorry to use your room without asking but I had to get rid of them. That's okay right?" she looked up at Giles apologetically.
"Of course," he nodded, "that's fine. Now tell me." He began getting all watcher like. "What is this 'Vampire Carer' business? There are no records of this in the watcher's diaries."
"Well of course there's not." Higgy started, sitting next to Spike and readying herself for the long explanation. "It's got nothing to do with the Watchers or Slayers. It's vampire thing, except that I'm not a vampire and it only includes certain vampires." she sighed to herself again.
"So what you look after the baby vamps or something?" Xander interrupted. "Has little Spikey been a bad boy?" he ruffled Spike's hair as he said this and received a growl from the annoyed vampire.
"No whelp. A vampire Carer is the one girl in the world who helps vampires and can't be bitten by them. Sort of the opposite of the Slayer." Spike explained all he knew. "She helps them through times of difficulty and guides them."
"What do you mean, 'can't be bitten'?" Willow asked. "Surely if she's human and has blood she can be bitten?"
"Well you see, it's hard to explain." Spike rubbed the back of his neck. "She...Higgy...well vampires just steer clear of her. It's like a rule. You don't approach the Carer unless you are her next or old charge."
"How do they know who the Carer is?" Buffy asked. "Is it like me being the slayer? They just know?"
"Well," Higgy began "So far I'm specialised in the order of Aurelius and only those specific vamps that I've been able to contact know. Angel was meant to inform William but obviously some other issues, such as torture, got in the way, and Wi...Spike didn't get the message. That's why he pounced on me."
"Hey you were hanging out with three other vamps it thought you were with them." The vampire shrugged. "It was and easy mistake to make."
"I was asking if they knew where you were. They called you a traitor and said that you'd be here hanging out with your pet humans. So I came here and you pounced before I could get inside."
"What do you mean pet humans exactly?" Xander inquired, looking clearly frustrated.
"Don't worry, they got staked for that."
"So what kind of things does a Vampire carer help vampires with?" Giles began taking notes. Boring Watcher Higgy thought.
"Well I'm here to help Spike while he goes through a difficult stage in his unlife."
"What stage?" Spike looked up from flattening his hair from Xander's earlier ruffling. "What?"
Higgy raised her eyebrows, clearly shocked at the vampire's reaction. "You don't know? Really?" She chuckled to herself and made a mental note to phone and yell at Angel. "Spike," she began. "How old are you?"
"Erm...126."
"And when's your Birthday?"
Spike looked around at the scoobies before muttering something inaudible.
"What was that Spike?" Xander cupped a hand to his ear in mock deafness.
"November 14th. That's when Dru turned me." Spike folded his arms and looked away when Anya spoke up.
"But that's in two days! Why didn't you tell us?"
"There was no reason to. Why d'you wanna know Higgy?" he spoke to avoid more of the Scooby's questions.
"Well when a vampire turns 127 you know what happens don't you?" she sighed and added to the mental note to seriously yell at Angel, when Spike shook his head. "Well a vampire begins their equivalent to puberty." She winced when she heard the whole shop yell in confusion.
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah...that's why I was hoping Angel had told you. It was his right as a Sire to do that."
"Git. I'll kill him."
"Already there."
"So what's so hard about this puberty that Spike needs help?" Giles asked, notes lying forgotten on the table.
"Well vampire puberty, or Sinco as we call it, is a lot harder than human puberty. The whole process only takes about 3-4 months but there is double the amount of changes than human puberty. So usually the vampires end up staking themselves trying to get out of all the changes, they can't cope without help, they don't understand what's happening and Sires just aren't up to the job."
"It can't be that bad." Xander tries to reason. Seriously not seeing what was so hard about this.
"Higgy's right." Came a voice from the backroom doorway. It was Amy. "I've seen it. The vampires have no idea what's going on. It all happens so fast that they can't cope. I've seen it happen. When we didn't get to Sam in time. He was a wreck, he could barely stand let alone feed." She wandered over and put her hand reassuringly on Higgy's shoulder. "We weren't in time to stop him."
"That's when Higgy became specialised in the order of Aurelius. That way there wont be too many to handle at one time." Cheryll finished while dusting her hands off and scowling at the fresh cuts.
Higgy sighed before glaring at Amy. "I thought I told you to go easy on her."
"I was, she just caught the wrong end of the sword." Higgy sighed to herself again. This was going to be a long night. First details then home to researching and training followed swiftly by first aid.
"What happens that's so hard?" Willow asked again.
"It starts with mood swings. And not just little ones either. We're talking about big ones. You might get to see a few more sides to Spike. There's a lot more but let's just focus on one thing at a time." She turned to the vampire who was staring into space trying to ignore what he had just been told. "Spike I'll come and see you on the 14th so I can see if you're okay. If you feel anything weird or different then I want you to come to our flat or phone me. Okay?" she waited for some sign of response and went to hand him the piece of paper. She tucked it into the pocket of his duster when he leapt up.
"I don't need your help!" he yelled at the blonde. "I'll deal with this myself. I don't need you; I don't need anybody. You watch, I'll be fine. Don't you dare come and see me. I don't want your help." He stormed off out of the shop door and slammed it shut behind him obviously hoping to smash the glass.
"Oh dear...he's started early."