Blood Bonds
by Sage Darkwoods
Disclaimer: The characters in this story that were created by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy belong to them and them alone. No infringement is intended, and no profit is being made.
Author's Note: This was a plot bunny that pranced through my sleeping brain in the form of a dream. It was much more outlandish than this in my dream. For one, the main character said things like, "Hey! You're Angel! Cursed with a soul! And you're Darla! Hey, weren't you pregnant?" Knowing every single facet of the 'Verse would have completely ruined the story. I blame this on reading vampire-themed fanfiction (glares at Vega: Curse you for writing well!) and watching Angel directly before going to bed.
Chapter 1: Acquaintances
The Sunnydale Music Festival this year was packed. Twelve bands in total were on the bill; most local high school bands, but a few that were gaining momentum and a following in the local press. One group in particular was interesting to watch perform. The Hellyons were an aggressive heavy rock band that favoured distorted guitars and bass notes that vibrated right to a person's core. They also favoured a bit of performance art in their live performances. Tonight (as they were always billed at night, for good reason) a woman wearing a leather bikini and thigh high boots was gyrating in a corner with a large snake draped across her shoulders. On the other side of the stage, two vampires were eating ham sandwiches on rye bread. That's right, two vampires, eating sandwiches, wearing leather jackets emblazoned with the band's logo. It was either very clever makeup, or the band was really pushing their luck.
Cassie Harvey pushed her way through the crowd to get closer to the stage. She had flown down from Toronto for two weeks for two reasons: to visit with the UCLA Department of Biology, to interview a professor for her master's, and to watch this band in particular play. She'll be damned if she missed it because of some pushy groupies.
The band launched into a heavy version of Aerosmith's Walk This Way. The gyrating in the corner became a bit more intense. The vampires were finishing their sandwiches. If she didn't see it with her own eyes, Cassie would have said someone was making it up. The lead singer was doing a good job of screaming out Steven Tyler's lyrics, then hit the distortion pedal for his guitar. One of the vampires left the stage and out the wings. Cassie followed, notepad in hand.
She caught up with him, surrounded by three scantily-clad groupies, all giggling and fawning. Cassie resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"Wow, you look so good in that jacket!"
"Like, you're amazingly cool!"
"You're so hot! Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Do you find it difficult to eat the sandwich? You know, with the fangs and all."
The groupies turned to stare at her. "What are you talking about?" one scoffed, a look of disdain on her face.
"I was also wondering," Cassie continued, stepping closer. "How do you manage to keep the food down?"
One of the girls made a gagging noise, and all three looked disgusted. "Oh, my god," one uttered.
"Oh, you girls think he's just one of the band?" Cassie said with feigned surprise. They looked at her quizzically, visibly lost. Cassie sighed. "Never mind," she said and started to walk away. The vampire reached out and grabbed her elbow. Cassie hid her smile. "Yes?" she said and turned to him.
"You know things," he said slowly, as though the thought had just occurred to him that girls actually think. "Have dinner with me tonight."
Cassie grinned. This was easier than she expected.
They met at the only Italian restaurant in town. It was a relatively small town, Cassie noted, but due to the high percentage of dead people, it wasn't all that surprising. Peter, who had walked in without the "makeup" as he called it, talked over a glass or red wine, while Cassie had some garlic bread with cheese. Might as well keep up with the superstitions; they have to exist for a reason.
"So, I said to the stage manager, 'Look, we can only play at night!' And he says, 'Why?' And I say 'Because, we're vampires!' And he says, 'Right buddy, and I'm the King of England.' So I salute him with my middle finger and pushed him off the stage!"
"Fascinating," Cassie intoned, poking at her bread. The word 'manager' was the longest word he had pronounced since he started talking fifteen minutes ago. As a vampire, he was unsuccessful at best. If his plan was to bore her to death, he would succeed. She figured she'd have to get him to stop talking eventually, so she could get him to do what she wanted. Otherwise, it would be a waste of an evening.
"Tell me, Peter," she drawled. "How did such a dashing guy like yourself become what you are today?" She batted her eyes for effect.
He smiled and reached for her hand. "I talked to the right chick in a bar. She offered me power, fame, and immortality."
"You know, Peter, I do know things. I know what you really are. So you can drop the rock star act and you can be honest with me. How long have you been dead?"
His smile faltered. "You know? B-but… you're not running away –"
Oh, this one's sharp as a tack, she thought. Instead, she said, "That's cause you're hot, silly," and feigned a giggle. "I've met a few vampires before, but no one like you. I've never met a vampire as, um, amazingly cool as you. You've got to be a real badass vampire."
"Yeah? You think so?"
"Of course!" she gushed. "In fact, I could see how that chick you met wanted you on her side – what do you call her?"
"My sire," he replied, and puffed out his chest a bit. "Yeah, she's like, really old and stuff, too. But still hot. She turned me almost 50 years ago."
Cassie nodded in agreement. Only a little longer, and she'd have him where she wanted him. She heaped on a few well-worded compliments about himself and how lucky his Sire was to have him as a Childe. Then he asked if she wanted to meet her. She was living in Los Angeles at the moment, and she'd probably be thrilled. She may even grant her the "Dark Gift." Cassie nearly laughed at the choice of words, but smiled gratefully instead.
He paid the cheque, and he tossed her a motorcycle helmet. Oh god, I'm going to die, she thought. Still not at the direct hands of a vampire. She was lucky, in that respect, that she picked a dumb one. One who would risk exposure of their entire race so blatantly, so crudely, for the tiniest bit of fame, deserved to get his head handed to him on a platter. This would probably happen when his Sire found out that he had dragged a human to see her, one who knew all about them.
On the trip, she told him about her thesis, and the research she was doing for it. It was about the reconstitution of vampire blood, and how when a foreign blood was introduced into a person's system, if the donor blood had certain chemical properties to it, it would mutate the recipient blood to change into a new type altogether. This would occur through the splitting of the white cells in order to attack this foreign agent. They would not be destroyed, as they are with HIV, but instead mutated into the same chemical agent found in the donor blood, thus perpetrating the virus throughout the system, and granting it the ability to pass it along to others through the same means as the first exchange. The new mutated blood would also cause major organs to fail and become redundant, as the blood is self-supporting, and leads to enhanced features such as strength and speed. This, she postulated, was due to the restrictive result that the blood had on muscle tissues, causing them to become tighter and more compact. She had a feeling that Peter got about ten percent of what she said, but he nodded anyway. Good boy, she thought. Now take me home to mommy.
As they passed the Welcome to Los Angeles sign, she wondered if she had gotten in over her head. She had gotten blood samples from the vampires that she knew in Toronto, but they had been very supportive of her research, and her acquaintances for a long time before that. Now, she was riding on the back of the bike of a vampire she had known for four hours, heading towards what sounded like a rather old and probably powerful Sire, one that would probably twist her head clean off as soon as talk to her. Let's hope I can manage to get out of this alive, she thought.
He pulled into an alley beside what looked like a biker bar. "She's probably in here," he said. "This is like the type of place where she picked me up. Besides, I can, like, sense her close by."
They walked into the bar, and they looked around. He couldn't find sight of her, so they left. Cassie had an idea. "What does she look like, this Sire of yours?"
"She's really hot," he repeated. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, skinny, pretty big boobs… pretty classy, actually. It was kinda weird to see her in a rough bar like that."
"How about that place, down the street?" She pointed at a neon sign, displaying the name 'Liquide' coming out of a martini glass. It looked a lot higher-scale than the dive they just walked into. Before they went, she asked him for a blood sample. "For my research," she said, pulling out a syringe from her leather satchel. He cringed as she drew his blood. Imagine, a vampire afraid of needles, she tsked in her head. She stowed the syringe in a sunglasses case, and they walked down to Liquide.
The bar was classic contemporary, with nondescript electronica playing in the background. A suave-looking DJ was mixing in the corner. There were glass-topped pools built into the dance floor, with koi swimming lazily inside. There were very few sharp edges in the bar, the style preferring a flowing look to follow its water theme. The liquor flowed easily here too, as most of the patrons were rather relaxed and feeling amorous towards people they just met. Sitting on a stool by the bar, a blonde was sipping a strawberry daiquiri and chatting with the bartender.
Peter tapped her on the shoulder. "Yeah? Hi! What?" He cleared his throat, and she turned slightly in her seat. She took in his leather jacket, acidwash jeans, spiked hair, and the tiniest of mustard stains on his white t-shirt. "Yes? What do you want?"
"Harmony? It's me, Peter. I've come home, and I'd like you to meet someone."