Title: Once a Vamp Groupie…
Author: Slaymesoftly
Rating: Strong R, NC17?
Disclaimer: Joss’s characters, but set after he was done with them (not counting comics)
Summary: This is the requested sequel to Lovers and Lethe. Set six months to a year later, as per instructions from debris4spike. It would probably help to know that story.
Once a Vamp Groupie…
“Anne’s been turned.” Buffy’s voice was soft and gentle, but her eyes were hard, challenging.
“Bound to happen eventually,” Spike said after a moment’s silence. “What do you want to do about it, Slayer?”
“I’m leaving it up to you. We can go back and take care of it like we promised, or I can tell the slayers in LA to handle it.”
“What did they say about her? What do they know?”
“About what we figured. She started letting the vamps use the basement and eventually the homeless men started disappearing – then reappearing as vampires. The whole place has become one big nest – and she’s the queen bee.”
“’s what she always wanted, isn’t it?”
“I guess so. I would have thought that meeting evil, soulless you way back in Sunnydale might have cured her of her vampire obsession, but we know it didn’t.” Buffy’s tight jaw was the only sign that she was still bothered by the events of the previous year.
Spike put his arms around her and pulled her close. “Now why would you think meetin’ me would turn a bird off?”
“Um, ‘cause you were evil and planning to eat everybody in the place?”
“Evil, yes, but devilishly handsome and sexy. Come on, Slayer, admit it. You craved my tight little body right from day one.”
“Sheeeyah! Right. That’s just what I was thinking when you were about to smack me with that two by four – ‘wow, this vamp is soooo hot!’” She grinned at him and continued, batting her eyelashes innocently, “Anyway, I was madly in love with Angel then, and you know it. I wouldn’t have given you the time of day.” When he started to growl, she continued, “And you were in love with Dru. Don’t pretend you weren’t. That’s how I saved Lily and all her stupid vampire-groupie friends. Remember?”
“I do,” he said quietly, releasing her body, but running a hand down her cheek. “I remember that you knew I wouldn’t let any harm come to the woman I loved – even if it meant letting all those willing blood donors go; and then when that woman was you, you couldn’t believe I even knew what love was.”
“Way to bring up depresso Buffy and make me feel bad, Spike,” she huffed, pushing him away. “You know I was just trying to convince myself that it was okay to be using you. If I’d had to admit to myself how I was using and abusing your feelings for me, you wouldn’t have gotten laid at all. And just think how happy that would have made you…”
“Point, love,” he agreed. “You might have made me a mite unhappy from time to time, but parts of me couldn’t have been more pleased with all that Slayer shagging.”
“Pig,” she said affectionately.
“Oink, oink,” came the expected response.
Nine months after Spike had recovered his memories and moved to England with Buffy, they’d settled into a comfortable relationship that managed to combine the affectionate camaraderie of two old friends with a passion for each other that still took them by surprise with its intensity. Spike had been wary of his reception from everyone except Dawn, but the other survivors of Sunnydale had surprised him with their warm greetings.
There’d been a few tense moments with Giles, as the old watcher stumbled through an apologetic explanation for not trusting Angel prior to the battle with the Senior Partners, but Spike had just nodded, saying, “Was a bit suspicious myself for a while, Rupert. Don’t really blame you for that – although, not letting Willow know about Fred…”
Eventually, the apology was accepted and the two Brits were beginning to develop a mutually respectful relationship that included Giles’ tacit agreement that Spike had earned his place in Buffy’s heart and in her life. He soon slipped into life at the slayer school, helping Buffy with training the girls as well as providing backup on the occasional real-life training mission.
“So, what’s the what?” she finally asked, pulling him back from his reminiscing about his time since she’d brought him home with her. “Stay or go?”
“If she’s running a big nest, I’d say we’d best go lend a hand,” he said slowly. “We are the ones that left her there, knowin’ how it was likely to turn out.”
Buffy nodded. “That’s pretty much what I figured,” she sighed. “We created this mess, it’s up to us to fix it.”
Spike grabbed her arm and pulled her in until he could hold her by both shoulders.
“We did not create this mess. Anne…Lily…whatever the hell she’s calling herself now---”
“She’s back to Chanterelle,” Buffy interrupted.
Spike rolled his eyes. “Fine, Chanterelle. She did this to herself. We warned her, and you told her what would happen if she got herself turned or her ‘guests’ started munching on the locals. It’s time for her to pay the piper.”
“Okay, then. I’ll tell Giles we need tickets to LA, and I’ll let the girls there know that we’re coming. They can wait another few days to take out the main nest. The new fledges should be enough to keep them busy.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Their arrival at the Los Angeles Slayer Residence was tense for the first few minutes. Spike could see the new slayers fighting their instincts -- which were telling them to stake him on the spot. Only when the oldest girl in residence – a former potential who had seen the fiery act that closed the Hellmouth and allowed her to escape certain death – squealed and threw her arms around him did the other girls relax enough to come down off the balls of their feet.
Buffy gave them a recap of her long history with Chanterelle – gliding quickly past Spike’s role at the vampire club in Sunnydale. She explained about the Lethe’s Bramble that “Anne” had used to keep Spike from remembering who he was after the battle with the Senior Partners demon army. That such a battle could have happened in their city, and they not be a part of it, caused much grumbling and complaining until Spike told them about Wolfram and Hart, the Senior Partners and the various forces of good and evil that were constantly in flux.
“You bints are the warriors for Good,” he said with a smile. “But the fact that there are now so bloody many of you means that the powers of evil have to step up their game. They’re gone for now, but don’t expect them to stay gone. You’ll get your chance one of these days – prob’ly when you least expect it.”
Buffy interrupted him with an apologetic squeeze of his hand.
“Spike can fill you in on his stories about evil lawyers and demons later,” she said. “Right now, we have a bigger than usual vamp nest to clean out, and a scrawny blonde vamp to send to hell where she belongs.”
It wasn’t lost on anyone, least of all Spike, that Buffy was taking a very personal interest in this nest. In case it wasn’t clear, Buffy added, “And she’s mine to stake, ladies. Mine or Spike’s – but mostly mine. You guys just take out all her minions.”
The girls nodded, all willing to bow to the senior slayer as long as they were going to get their fair share of the vampires living in the old homeless shelter. Up until recently, they had contented themselves with staking as many fledgling vamps as they could find in the vicinity; but two slayers had disappeared in the week prior to Buffy’s arrival and, while no one could say for certain that Chanterelle or one of her minions had been responsible for their disappearance, they were more than willing to take out their grief on the vampires they knew how to find.
Spike frowned when the slayers reported they had not found any bodies; all they knew was that the two girls had been on patrol one night and had never come back. Only Buffy noticed the thoughtful look on his face and made a mental note to ask him about it later. She watched him watching while the girls told about searching every graveyard in and near the city, as well as all the known demon haunts, but turning up no sign of the missing slayers. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they were dead, but the lack of bodies to bury was demoralizing for these girls who’d never known a world where they didn’t hold the upper hand in the battle against creatures of the night.
Even the big nest in the old homeless shelter had been something of a joke to them until recently. They’d sent patrols past it every night, easily staking the newest minions as they made their way from their graves back to their master. But lately, they’d found fewer easy targets and had begun spreading their patrols around more. It seemed that Chanterelle had grown tired of losing her minions almost as soon as she turned them, becoming more cautious and now keeping the newly turned vampires in the building until they had gained some strength and savvy.
Gathering around a big table in the communal dining room, the girls all listened carefully as Spike drew up a map of the building, explaining where the vampires were likely to be during the daylight hours, and how many places would probably be safe due to the large windows.
“I’d guess, unless they’ve blacked out all the windows…What?” he asked Buffy when she stared at him. “’s what I’d do. Why waste all that space when a couple of cans of black paint can make it all usable?”
“The windows are black,” a slender blonde said quietly. “So, what does that mean? That they could be anywhere?”
Spike nodded. “That’s what it means. It’s a big place, but if the nest is as large as you’ve said it is, they might want some room to spread out. An -Chanterelle might even have sun-proofed her apartment. It was pretty safe already, with the heavy curtains she’d put in for me and…” His voice trailed off as he watched Buffy’s stiff back leave the room. With a sigh, he stood up to follow her.
“You birds might want to think about bringing something to smash windows with. Letting in the sun is your best weapon while it’s daylight. After it goes down, they’ve got the advantage.”
“Well, shouldn’t we be doing this like…I don’t know…right now?” a pert redhead demanded. “While the sun is shining and… Hey? Where’d he go?”
One of the girls pointed in the direction Buffy had taken. “I think he’s more interested in Buffy than he is in planning our attack. But that’s okay. We don’t need them…him. I don’t see why we had to wait for them anyway.”
The redhead, whose name was Becky, nodded in agreement. “And why do we have to wait to attack until it’s almost dark? Just so he can go with us? He’s not a slayer.”
The planning session deteriorated into conflicting views of who should lead the raid, and when it should happen, with Becky finally standing up and saying, “I’m for attacking them right now while they’re asleep. Who’s with me?”
There was some hesitation as those who were more inclined to follow directions remembered that Buffy and Spike had been sent there specifically to deal with the problem. After a minute, during which Becky’s lip began to curl in contempt at the lack of enthusiasm for her idea, Janie, the slayer who had originally complained about having to wait for the arrival of the older slayer, stood up and walked to Becky’s side.
“I’m with you,” she said firmly. “These vamps are all just homeless guys anyway. They aren’t very smart or very strong. Nobody’s had any trouble dusting the ones we’ve caught outside yet. I’m pretty sure we can handle whatever we find there. At least whatever we find on the first floor.”
Becky nodded. “Exactly! Even if we just thin out the numbers a little bit, we’ll have some more information about the set up inside. Who else is with us?”
When only one of the remaining girls stood up, Becky shrugged.
“Fine. We’ll be back in a little while to let you guys know how many vamps we dusted for you.”
She swept out of the room, her followers in tow, pausing only to load up on weapons as they left the building.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!