Author's Notes: Set four years after 'Becoming' part two. Buffy ran away, and didn't come back. Now, four years later, she's about to be reminded of who and what she really is.

Rating: PG-13. Language and strong themes. Sorry, kiddies.

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognise is mine. Don't sue, please.

Feedback: Very welcome. Constructive criticism is welcome; flames will be used to help me toast marshmallows.

Chapter Notes: Thanks for all the great reviews. This chapter is…well…quite probably really confusing. Feel free to ask questions in reviews. I might even answer!

Chapter Twenty-Two: Clan I

They all gathered in the old skating rink. It was really the only place big enough to host them all, because as soon as Buffy had called Jake to let him know she needed him to bring Dave to her, Jake had informed everyone else what was going on. They all refused to leave Buffy alone with Dave. She told Jake to tell them that she wouldn't be alone, that she'd have Max and Spike and Dawn and Ethan…but that didn't appease them. So the abandoned skating rink was filled with nearly a hundred and fifty people, including two irate vampires, several powerful witches or warlocks, a number of small children (being carefully watched away from the potential torture scene) and one pregnant, pissed off Slayer.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ella queried, shooting wary looks at the gagged and bound brothers Dave and Tom. "I mean, I know you want some answers, Annie, but there are other ways…"

"Sweetie, there really aren't," Buffy answered, shedding her jacket and pulling on a pair of shiny brass knuckles. "Besides…he's had this coming for a long time." She glanced over at the children. "Just…make sure Hattie doesn't see this. Any of this."

"You're not going to kill him, are you?" Ella demanded worriedly. "I mean…he is human."

"She has a point," Giles chimed in. "The Slayer is not permitted to kill humans, Buffy."

"I'm not doing this as the Slayer," Buffy informed him. "I'm doing this as me. As Buffy, as Annie, as Alpha, as clan leader." She looked at Ethan for a moment. "I should have done this before," she admitted to him. He smiled faintly. "But I didn't know. I didn't understand." She turned back to face her ex. "Now I do."

The adults among the clan watched as she marched up to the brothers and punched Dave, hard. His head shot back and blood began to pour from his nose. He glared at her furiously, but couldn't speak because of the tape over his mouth.

"Here's how it's going to work, Dave," Buffy began quietly. "I'm going to take the gag off. We are going to have a nice, quiet, polite conversation about Rakeshia blood and the mate bonds, and then I am going to gag you again. You do all this without insulting me, you get to keep your teeth. You do all this without insulting my daughter, you get to live. Understood?" He nodded. "Good. And Dave, just in case you didn't get it? You see the guy with the bleached hair?" Dave's eyes moved to Spike and he nodded. "Even if I don't kill you, there's no guarantee that he won't. Or Ethan. Or Max. Or any number of my clan. You get me?" He nodded again. She reached out and ripped the tape off his mouth.

"Shit," he swore. "Bitch! That hurt!"

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I'm so bothered. I care so deeply about your pain." She put her hands on her hips, making sure Dave saw the brass knuckles. "Mate bonds. Start talking."

Dave slouched – as much as he could whilst tied to a chair. "What about them?"

"Specifically? Alpha bonds."

Dave's eyes narrowed. "You're kidding me. Annie the slut has finally found her forever guy? Gimme a break."

Spike started forward with a growl, but Faith held him back. Buffy's face remained impassive.

"I warned you," she said quietly. "I'm not the same person I was ten ye – uh. Ten days ago. I'm not taking your crap anymore, Dave. Start talking, or I start using my nice new toys."

"Or I will," Dawn called out helpfully.

"Quiet, Dawn," Buffy ordered. "Alpha bonds, Dave. How are they formed?"

"The same way as regular mate bonds," Dave answered mulishly after a moment. "The two people make a claim, anyone who disputes it speaks up, blood is shared and the bond is made. You already knew that, with three mates." His expression showed that he would have liked to add some choice words to his sentence, but he wisely left them unvoiced.

"Yeah, I already knew that." She narrowed her eyes. "But that's between two of our kind. Dependant on Rakeshia blood. Changed. Sylnapht."

Dave's eyes widened. "You've got to be joking. You want to mate with a regular person? Someone not in the clan?"

"Keep your opinions to yourself," Buffy ordered, bringing her arm up and punching him just hard enough to split his lip. "What if it's a bond between someone dependant and someone not?"

Dave spat out a tooth. "It's impossible. It can't happen."

"It is happening," she said quietly. "He's an Alpha."

"It can't happen," he repeated. "The mating system comes from the Rakeshia bonds. From the blood. The urge to mate can't happen in someone who isn't dependant, and Alphas have to have the urge to mate." There was part of him that loved thinking about puzzles like this.

"What about…what if it's a vampire?"

Dave looked disgusted suddenly. "By Haghd. You've fallen for a vampire? You're even more of a slut than I thought!"

She punched him hard. Blood poured from his nose again. "Answer the question," she said coldly, eyes starting to glow white.

"I don't know! It could happen – blood – blood connects, blood binds…"

"Blood is life," Spike agreed from behind her.

"Blood is death!" Buffy snapped. "Would it be enough to make vampires Alphas? Or mates at all?"

"Probably," Dave bit out. "I don't know. Not for sure. The only way…compare the blood. Do a test. To see if it's got the same primal base."

"That's it? That's all you know?" He nodded, and with a vicious expression she punched him again, and again until he was unconscious. Then she turned and met Ethan's guarded eyes. "So. Test. Fine."

"Annie – "

"Where's Toni?" she demanded. "She's best at this sort of thing."

"Annie –"

"What?" she said at last, turning to look at Max. "What, Max?"

Max shifted uncomfortably. "I was just…gonna ask how your arm's holding up."

"Oh." Buffy lifted her left arm and moved it about a bit. "A bit sore, but alright." She looked a bit bashful. "Sorry, Max…" He nodded acceptance. "Um. Yeah. So, someone find Toni?" Max nodded again and disappeared into the crowd to find his daughter. Buffy turned to Spike. "You alright with this?"

"What exactly is 'this'?" Faith inquired. "I mean, I'm down with beating on the guy, but testing blood?"

"It's just a magickal screening," Buffy explained. "To see if vampires and Sylnapht have the right base to be able to mate." She glanced at Spike. "If the blood isn't…I don't know. If it doesn't match, there's something majorly weird going on."

"Does it matter if…whatever you're looking for isn't there?" Tara wanted to know.

"If it's not, Spike is something of an anomaly," Giles commented. "Ethan filled me in," he explained to Buffy on her look. "But then again, Spike always has been fairly, uh…"

"Strange?" Angel offered, smirking at the other vampire.

"Hey!"

"Sorry. Did I say strange? I meant to say abnormal."

Toni pushed her way through the crowd. "If the vamps are all done with the testosterone, we could get started now." She hugged Buffy. "Hey, Auntie Annie. How's it going?"

"Fine. And don't ever call me that again." Buffy kissed her niece's forehead. "You up for some magick?"

Toni looked Spike over critically. "He's a hottie. If you can't bond, I'll go a round." She quailed under the combined glares of Spike and Buffy. "Okay, maybe not…"

"Toni, stop being an idiot," Max spoke up fondly. "Get the blood, do the spell."

Not turning to face him, Toni made a face. "Yes, Pops."

"Don't call me that," Max said automatically. "Get on with it, Toni."

"Fine, fine." Toni muttered a word and pulled from the air three vials and a sharp knife. "Annie, you going first?" Wordlessly Buffy held out her hand palm up. Toni nicked it carefully and let the wound drip into two of the vials. "Here, hold yours," she instructed, giving her aunt one vial. "Spike, right? C'mere." Hesitantly Spike moved forward. "It's just a nick," she assured him. "Hand out." He obeyed silently, and let her move his hand to drip blood into the empty vial. She took the two and looked carefully at both Spike's and Buffy's blood. "Okay, Auntie, give me your vial." Buffy duly passed it over. Toni very carefully poured the a few drops of Spike's blood into it.

There were a few moments of quiet as the two types of blood mixed, giving off a few bubbles. Then the blood exploded, spraying Toni with shards of glass and boiling blood. She gave a small shriek of surprise.

Spike leaned towards Buffy. "Were we expecting that?"

Buffy looked just as stunned as he did. "Um, not so much." Her hand snaked out to hold Spike's. "Toni? Are you alright?"

Toni let out a whoop and shook herself. "Boy, that was a blast! Can I do it again?"

Buffy stared. "And you're how old now? You're acting like Zach!" Zach, her grandson, was seven. "Are you hurt at all?"

"No, just scratches," the young woman answered, running her now-empty hands through her bobbed hair. "But sheesh, Auntie, you could have warned me!"

"Warned you about what?"

"About his blood! And your blood!" Toni was nearly dancing with enthusiasm. Sarah and Max exchanged weary glances from behind their daughter. "I mean, wow! The things that could be done! The healing properties, and the magicks, and the bond – by Haghd, the bond!"

"Toni, honey, I'm kind of thin on patience right at the minute," Buffy said quickly as her niece paused for breath. "Give me answers."

"Has he ever bitten you?" Toni questioned, looking between the two. "Or tasted your blood?"

"Never," Giles denied instantly. "He never got close."

"Um, Giles?" Buffy didn't look at her old Watcher. "There was, actually…one time…"

"Just the once," Spike hastened to add.

"And it was just a little bit…"

Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them. "I see. And when exactly was this?"

"Four years ago," Angel told him quietly, eyes on Buffy. "Just before I tried to destroy the world." He looked at Toni. "Is it important?"

"Very," Toni nodded, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "See – and I may be wrong here – I think there was a bond formed between you two before Annie was in Phtygiktha – only not a mate bond, because Annie wasn't a Sylnapht. A vampire bond. Vampire families are similar to our clans, right?" Angel nodded. "But then Annie went into Phtygiktha and became dependant on Rakeshia blood. From your perspective, Spike, she was gone…really only a few weeks. So she came back, and the bond kept growing between you, but because she was now a Sylnapht, and an Alpha, somehow…it got transferred to you too."

Buffy shook her head blankly. "Lay it out for the dumb blonde."

Toni rolled her eyes. "The way I figure it, Spike had the potential to be an Alpha if he was ever to be a Sylnapht. When you became one, that transferred along the bond that I could see in the blood – the vampiric bond. So Spike isn't a Sylnapht, except through his connection with you. Because he's a vampire, he has in effect become a sort of quasi-Sylnapht."

Ethan sighed. "What she's saying, Annie, is that you and Spike already have a bond," he explained. "So your blood was made compatible. So you can mate, and he's an Alpha."

Spike turned to Buffy with a pleading expression. "Can I eat him now, love?"

Please review! It was such a nice long chapter for you!

Coming next chapter:

Dave doesn't get eaten.

Glory catches someone.