Kindred

By Sweetprincipale

Set in early Season Five. When Dracula called Buffy 'kindred'', he was doing a bit more than just saying they had a lot in common. Hungry for knowledge of herself and her power, Buffy didn't realize what kind of connection he had forged with her until he left town, and the damage was done. Hoping to break his hold over her, Buffy requests help from Spike. However, the way you break the hold of one vampire is to let another one possess you more fully. But, it'll only be temporary, right? Simple business, that's all…

Part XXII

"The- I- I am seeing this, right?" Xander managed to choke out.

"Spike and Buffy kissing like long lost lovers reunited after escaping death? Yes. We all see that." Anya blinked and rubbed her eyes just to make sure. "Oh. Boyfriend? Buffy? Buffy! Are you and Riley officially broken up?"

"Oh! Crap, with all the excited 'ding-dong-the-Drac-will-die' stuff that was happening as soon as you got in, I forgot to mention there was a message from Riley."

"Huh?" Buffy jerked her head away from Spike's. "Riley? He's okay?"

"Uh. No. He's very, very not okay."

"His heart?" Buffy yelped, stricken. If Riley had suffered some complication while she was blithely (well, blithely was a stretch) embarking on a new relationship. Sadness, yes. Guilt, some. Heartbreak? Nope.

Xander shook his head. "No, his brain!"

"Wait a second, we were here for like three hours before Giles and the gang got back! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you got here three hours before, but you didn't stay here, didja? You came, checked on me, looked at Willow's textbooks, screamed, and said you had to go to the campus bookstore," Xander pointed out reasonably.

"Yeah, Luv, we did sort of ditch him once you hit the panic button," Spike agreed. That wasn't the only reason they weren't timely in their actions. As Buffy had suggested earlier, they stopped by Spike's crypt to get a few items to take to the newly accessible dorms. And while they were there, Spike had pointed out that the upper level of the crypt was where they had shared their first passionate kisses, and so they recreated that moment. Then Buffy pointed out that the bed below was where they had first begun exploring each other and they should recreate that moment, too. Then expand on it.

"Can we go back to the liplock?" Anya demanded.

"It's the bond. You have to kiss. So, we, uh, kissed. And when you feel like your kindred one is threatened," Buffy began a plausible explanation that quickly fell to the wayside. "I thought I might lose him."

"Never lose me, Slayer." Spike reached for her head and it looked like another kiss was about to erupt, so Xander frantically interrupted.

"Joyce called, too."

"Just when were you planning to give us all this lovely news?" Giles asked waspishly.

"Right after you stopped telling me about the plan and right before you went repressed repo man on my friends!" Xander shouted, equally grouchy. "Oh, shit. I just included Spike as a friend."

"There, there," Willow said in a toneless voice, eyes wide and face slack in shock.

"Brothers in arms," Spike muttered, giving the boy a sidelong glance.

"Well… yeah, fine. Comrades, then. So, now that you're done scaring us to death- or more to death- want to hear about the off-the-wall messages?"

"Yes, please. The short version. Summarize," Giles requested.

"I had one uber weird phone call from Riley, who hung up on me when I said Buffy wasn't here- 'cause she wasn't at the time and then one really long call from Joyce, which said, and I summarize, 'Riley is nuts and he thinks Giles is a vampire. Also, I may have told him that Buffy's hanging out with Spike and she wants to break up.' Then,-"

Xander didn't finish. Buffy, who had just stood up, fell back down, knees going out. "She WHAT?"

Spike smacked his hands to his forehead and dragged them back through his hair, eyes closed as he hissed, "Well, bugger that. The bastard'll be out of his hospital robes and into his 'murdering Spike' gear in no time. Slayer-"

Buffy's eyes were hard, voice harder. "We need his chip out."

"Excuse me, what?" Xander shook his head uncomprehendingly. "Spike is a murdering vampire!"

"Is that any way to talk about your brother?" Spike cocked his head and crossed his arms with a glimmer of a snarky smile.

"The Countess doesn't have a chip," Tara whispered.

"Yeah, well, she's not exactly a model citizen. Wait, is she?" Xander looked from Anya to Giles.

Giles shrugged. "She's not a killer. She has lived for decades without harming a human, if her words were to be believed- and they should be. She was under the truth spell as she spoke. I could have Wesley do a bit of digging into her background as well."

"That doesn't matter!" Buffy snapped.

"Spike did once kidnap my boyfriend. I'd feel better if-"

"What one vampire does has no bearing on what another one does! Not now. Not in this case!" Willow talked over the babble.

Everyone paused. "Was that meant to be against me or for me, Red?"

"Um. I - I'm not actually sure, now that I've said it." Willow blushed.

"If Spike can't defend himself against Riley, then Riley could kill him. And if I don't have Spike, I can't kill Dracula. Who wants to start racking up frequent flyer miles to come see me in my new home-sweet-prison?"

More silence. "Who could get the thing out, Pet? I love the idea, you know I do, but who in the world could do that and not leave me a doddering vegetable while I'm healing? At that point, that's when Spooky'll strike."

"The people who put things in usually know how to get them out. The Initiative would never play ball," Anya pointed out, tapping her fingers on her knee. "If Riley were on our side, maybe he could convince one of those doctors who fixed his heart to fix Spike's head, but I'm betting that since your mother told him you want to call it quits, he-"

"Oh God! My mother!" Buffy wailed. "This day cannot get any wor-"

"Shhh!" Xander sprang forward, finger smushing to her lips, his eyes frantic. "Do not invoke-hay ertain-say oom-day."

"What?" Buffy asked in a muffled voice, pushing his hand away.

"The 'nothing can go wrong' rule." Xander formed quotes in the air. "Leads to certain doom. Works with 'it can't get any worse', too. That's why I'm doing the big, exaggerated finger quotes. So the Powers That Be understand I'm not saying it. Just a hypothetical reference, here."

"Properties." Tara tapped Spike on the arm and flinched as he whirled.

He clicked his tongue, frustrated at himself. It hurt to see his sister so - Bloody hell. I will not, will not, will not start thinking of them like that.

Except for Joyce. Mum. It suits her. He shook his head to refocus and Tara stepped closer, both of them abandoning Willow, Giles, Xander, and Buffy to a gabble of confused noises. "Sorry to scare you."

"You m-move so fast." Tara shrugged.

"But I can't cast spells, Luv," he said with a chuckle. "An' I don't bite. Wouldn't bite you, anyway."

She managed a little smile at that and reached up for his forehead, drawing her fingers back at the last second. "Can I try something?"

"Be my guest." He mentally promised himself that if it hurt, he wouldn't let her see that and he most definitely wouldn't growl or flash his nightlight eyes at her.

"The chip was made by scientists. It sends shocks. So, it has to be metal and wires and …" Tara stopped talking as her fingers pushed past the stiffness of gelled platinum hair and made contact with his scalp.

Across the room, Buffy stopped talking. Spike had tensed up, she could feel it. Something like anxiety was hovering in him, yet when she turned her head, she could see him standing casually, leaning against the wall, head tilted so Tara could reach the top of his head easily. "Stop." She held up a waving palm at her friends and the argument died.

Her eyes were closed, looking at something her outward eyes couldn't see. "Metal. Copper. Silver. Nickel? We could melt it. But that'd hurt."

Melting metal. Inside his head. He kept his voice indifferent. "Hurts to get zapped."

"The wires, they'd melt, too."

Another voice joined the conversation. "Hey. That spell. Giles, the numbing spell that is supposed to only work on the surface but it works on everything else? The one where you can't even feel yourself breathing or talking," Buffy tugged Giles' arm and moved toward Tara and Spike. "It doesn't last long. How long would it take?"

Willow, not entirely sure she agreed with the words coming out of her mouth (or rather the purpose of them) mused, "If I do some super concentrated blast of heat, magical heat aimed at the chip, I could melt it in seconds. Maybe a minute. But it's in his brain. You can't leave a blob of molten metal and rubber in his brain. I don't know how exactly vampire physiology works, but I can tell you that the brain still has some sort of nervous system or motor control happening, or this inter-cranium shock collar wouldn't work. We could end up incapacitating Spike for a long time." She didn't say the word permanently, but it danced around her lips.

"Oh, if it's in a liquid state, you should be able to extract it without too much damage. Through the nose. Or do elemental magic to change the fire-state to water-state and it'll leak out. I mean, boiling hot water, but still, if he's going to be supernaturally numb-" Anya shrugged.

"I'm beginning to feel a whole lot better about losin' to you lot all the time. You've got some bloody smart birds in this flock." Spike looked up with a smile.

Xander didn't smile back.

Dammit. This whole familial thing is goin' too far. Spike grimaced. He resisted the burning urge to do something comforting as he felt Buffy's frustration, tiredness, and sadness hidden under a bland expression. Resisted his own muted instinct that said you shouldn't leave family out to dry, whether it be alone in a dungeon or sitting in a wheelchair, or simply remembering the last time a "good" vamp had gone bad and nearly destroyed them all. Looked at her again. Gave. "What'll it take?" he sighed heavily.

"Huh?" Xander looked around, making sure Spike was actually addressing him.

"Very eloquent," he scoffed. "What'll it take to convince you I'll be a good boy?"

"A soul?" Xander's eyes were challenging- then wavered. Yeah. That could help. Didn't turn out to be too surefire. And even with a soul- he still hurt her.

Spike snorted. "Like the serial killers and murderers have? No, thank you."

"Is it enough if I can- can feel what he's thinking? Wanting?" Buffy asked.

"You can feel that?" Giles asked. Spike also looked mildly surprised.

"Not every detail. Just impressions. We're kind of mentally attached. In the good way! Not in the creepy 'Your will is not your own, have some spiders and a side of flies' way."

At the mention of his previous insectivore tendencies, Xander winced. "I've never met a vampire who didn't chow down on people - without a soul or a chip. I'll- I'll do whatever you need to do to beat Dracula, but I wish there was someone who-"

"Oooh, the Countess lady. Daniela!" Willow interjected excitedly, again not knowing whose case she was helping. "She did it. Not chowing down on people. In the fatal way. Or even in the nonconsensual way."

"She says she did it."

"Truth spell."

Buffy halted the argument. "Well… I'll ask Angel to check up on her past or her lifestyle, un-lifestyle, whatever. He's good at finding out information and then dropping cryptic hints before disappearing. Only I'll tell him to skip the cryptic and go large on the disappearing," Buffy said bluntly. "But that's secondary. That's about having some intel in our back pocket. Dealing with Spike's chip and Riley's delusions and- oh God- my mother- is the priority." Buffy crossed her arms and sighed, leaning back against Spike.

Xander exchanged a sidelong look with Willow. Not crazy about Spike. But hearing Buffy speak so candidly about Angel and his disappearing act- and wanting the disappearing act? No more longing for the jerk? Xander could get behind that. Similarly, Willow didn't mind that any delusions of romance were fading out of Buffy's brain when it came to the broody vamp.

"All right, Slayer gave the orders. You want to get on the phone to Peaches or-" Spike's sentence derailed at the sound of three crisp, sharp raps on the door. He inhaled. "Shit. Forgot somethin' on your to-do list, Luv."

"Rupert?" An unwelcome voice invaded.

"Bloody hell," Giles cast a panicked look at his slayer, then at the man behind her. "Upstairs, go!" he urged Spike. Then turning back to the door, he shouted, "Coming, Travers!"

"But I-" Spike cast a torn look at Buffy and then the doorway that would soon allow in a stream of tweedy bastards with crossbows and (formerly well-founded) preconceptions. "Toodles." He legged it up the stairs and crouched beside Giles' bed, near enough to five under if needed, able to hear just fine through the open loft.

Buffy kept her arms folded and huddled back between her friends as Giles opened the doors. Travers came in, looking down his nose, nodding and smiling without his eyes joining in. Behind him there were four dark-suited men, all of whom looked more thuggish than bookish. Her head tilted as she sized them up. Was it her imagination, or was there something more… instinctive in her glances now? She felt herself sniffing in, as if some scent would magically give her information.

"Threat assessment."

Travers stopped short, hand extended, eyes momentarily betraying him, startled and wide. "Greetings to you, too, Ms. Summers."

Her chin jerked, hands stayed tucked under opposing elbows."Those four. They're here to put down threats. You're the one with information. Or power. Do you actually have any information?"

The older man bristled. "That's no way to talk to the head of the Watcher's-"

"Save it. She quit," Xander reminded him, barely containing his glee under a hard mask.

"And I'm still fired. Forgive me if I don't fawn all over you," Giles added.

"Tell the goons to wait outside unless they have information they want to share." Buffy pushed past them, opening the door Giles had just closed. She saw two hands slip into breast pockets, a third head to its owners hip. "Seriously? I'm the Slayer. I can take on four humans before my nails dry."

A triumphant cackle erupted from somewhere and Tara, Anya, and Xander were all suddenly seized by fits of hacking coughs. Willow muttered something and snapped her fingers behind her back.

"Go. Now. Shoo!" Buffy insisted.

The four men looked to Travers. He sighed, eyes heavenward in annoyance. "Very well. Remain within earshot."

As soon as they departed, Buffy demanded, "What can you tell me about Dracula? Where is he? How do I get him here?" Wait. I don't really need to know that. We have a plan. Spell to hold him. Lure him here with the wedding. Hands, head and heart. Poof. I guess it can't hurt to hear what he says, have a back up plan.

"Ah, yes. It seems that you faced him to a draw. Failed to best him."

Buffy felt her eyes ignite, briefly worrying if they changed color as well as intensity. "Don't even. I'm the only Slayer in history to get close to killing him. I staked him in the heart, he dusted. He re-formed. Tell me how often that happens in your Average Joe vampires."

"Well, I-"

"Never. It happens never. So, let's stop putting me down and playing games. Do you have useful information?"

Travers' eyes had changed as well, hard and cold. Some men would see her directness as worthy of respect. He found it impudent, distasteful.

But she was right about one thing. Dracula was unlike other vampires and he was a source of public humiliation for the Watcher's Council. Centuries of one demon basking in attention, spouting secrets and misinformation in print, for heaven's sake! He'd created some base of misled groupies who thought vampires could turn into bats, wore capes and spoke with accents, romantically whisking you off for eternity in some damned castle. Meanwhile, hundreds died each year because they went somewhere alone with an "Average Joe" vampire who looked like any other human- until he decided to bite.

"Miss Summers. If you kill Dracula, permanently, that is, we will reinstate you and your Watcher. With pay," Quentin said simply, no emotion showing under his precise facade.

"Uh. I didn't get fired. I quit."

"Pay for both of you."

Buffy paused, mouth in mid-retort. Oh. Pay. Pay for me to live on my own, set up a nice little apartment with Spike and do the happily marrieds thing.

"No."

"What?" Travers' looked startled by her flat refusal.

Buffy, a word." Giles was similarly gobsmacked and made to grab her elbow.

"She means no. She means, why does she get paid after the fact?" Spike demanded from above, elbows leaning on the railings surrounding Giles' loft.

Travers' mouth opened to bellow for his goons, and again, Willow snapped her fingers and muttered something.

"Good point. I'm taking all the risk- and if I die, not like you're really going to hire me at that point. No. You pay me up front. Also, you pay my friends, per incidence. You expect me to take on a vampire that no one else can even come close to killing, deal with the run-of-the-mill Hellmouth stuff, pull off my annual apocalypse prevention, and go to school?"

Travers seemed to be hardwired to argue with anyone who dared challenge him."Miss Summers, college is not-"

Spike cut him off with a growl, "Optional. She's smart. She's got a big brain under that pretty face. That's why she can do all the shit you ask her to do and she's still alive longer than the rest."

"Rupert, why is William the Bloody in your upper room?"

"He does nice hospital corners," Giles replied drily.

"I can see a valid concern about pay upon completion of the task," Travers unwillingly conceded.

"You mean the part where I take out the most famous vampire in history while saving the world, guarding the Hellmouth, and bringing up my miserable GPA? Which, by the way, would be less miserable if I'd had fewer Frankenstein wannabes to deal with last year."

Travers felt himself slipping further into the unpleasant reality that this slayer faced. He prefered the boardroom to the battlefield these days. Distance was key. He never should have come here to pull this powerplay on her. "Very well. A salary commensurate with your workload-"

"Saving a billion lives for four years running?"

"A salary that is commensurate with your living expenses- and a hefty bonus when Dracula's death occurs."

"Now I'm listening."

"The Council cannot employ untrained civilians. This part about your little friends-"

"You mean this calling triad- and with my help, a Four Corners? These are extremely powerful, gifted witches," Giles spoke while gesturing to Anya, Tara, and Willow. "Dracula re-forms with the use of sorcery, he has thrall, he has transfigurative powers. How else do you expect Buffy to inhibit his magical abilities without use of magic herself?"

"The boy-"

"The Man. You bring your hired guns. She can bring hers." Xander pointed to the window. Outside, four hovering figures were smoking cigarettes in the courtyard.

"You're some sort of marksman?"

"Do you really want him to prove it?" Willow asked, voice low and stiff with power.

Travers looked at the red head. Willow's eyes flickered black in warning.

"I draw the line at the vampire."

"Then get out your eraser. Spike," Buffy spoke, and he landed neatly beside her, boots thudding, Travers taking a hasty step back to regain his balance. "Dracula bit me. Started to work his hold. Do you know how to end a hold?"

"Death of the vampire works nicely."

"How exactly does that work, then?" Spike asked in a snarky drawl. "Ever had someone try to place a claim on you? No? It's bloody difficult to fight against an ancient instinct that tells you you want to be close to that person, or that the person mustn't be harmed. Slayer already staked him after he started his mojo, because she's that strong. Still, Dracula's no ordinary vampire. He deals in thrall and getting into people's minds, even their dreams. Sometimes the best way to fight fire is with fire. Fight vampire with vampire. I broke his hold. She's a free agent now."

"Impossible. He's still alive. For you to break a hold, you'd have to usurp him in some other fashion. The only way you could have done that is to bite her yourself, meaning she's loyal to you, and you could control her. A vampire-controlled Slayer is-"

"Is still stronger than me." Spike looked at Buffy. He looked at the annoying bastard in front of him, the ring of people behind him. He turned his head slowly, eyes front once more. "I am hers."

"He is mine. Kindred." Fingertips twitched, itched to rub her neck.

Spike found he didn't mind his knees going to the ground. Kneeling beside her, eyes not leaving Travers' stunned face. "Loyal to her. Always. Forever."

Buffy felt something tug in her heart. Blood rush. Power rush.

And love. So much love and something crying out that it was true- but not like this. "My ally in everything." She took his hand and pulled him up, shoulder to shoulder. "We learned how to kill Dracula. There must be two warriors who move as one. They have to be- mentally connected. We're talking about way more than just having good timing. They move like one, because in a way, they are linked. This is… Spike is my other half. Take us both, take us all- or get the hell out of this house."

Travers blinked. His features reverted into cold disdain and his hand reached into his pocket. As they all tensed, he brought out his chequebook. "Very well. Let's discuss wages."

To be continued…


Thank you again, guys! Sales have been blowing up for S.C. Principale this week and I'm assuming it's you! I'm happy to say that the next book, CrossRealms: You an' Me Against the World is still on track for a December release. I appreciate all the love and kindness.