Growling playfully, Spike nuzzled Willow's neck,
sending her into a fit of giggles. He was still
feeling good from the combination of starting the
repairs on his relationship with his Sire and finally
having the power to put Darla in her place. For too
long, he had been helpless to do anything about her
general hostility towards him, always repeating the
phrase "Childer don't tell their Sires what to do,
Boy" in a sneering, superior voice. She hadn't liked
him from the moment Angelus brought him home from the
stable where he had found the timid poet sobbing over
a broken heart.
"Spike, can I ask you something?" inquired Willow,
relaxing in his arms.
Something in her tone made Spike regard her with
serious blue eyes. "What is it, luv?"
"Why do you hate Darla so much?" she asked with a
puzzled look on her face. "I mean, the Watcher's
diaries don't really have that much on her except to
say that she's the one who sired Angel."
Leaning back into the cushions, he wrapped his arms
around her and held her close. "One thing ya have ta
know is that Old Bat-Face Nest was her sire and she
was his Most Favored Childe," he began, closing his
eyes to enjoy the apple and spice scent rising from
her hair. His Cockney accent was smoothing out into
the upper middle class one he had been born with as he
got caught up in his explanation. "She hated me from
the second she realized that I wasn't just another
minion, but Angelus' childe, which was the second she
caught sight of me. No matter what I did, she always
found fault with me and always punished me. Once I
made the mistake of telling her to 'Sod off', and she
took a riding crop to me, all the while chanting that
'Childer don't tell their sires what to do, boy'." He
shuddered briefly at the memory of that night. "Took a
week before I could move without agony ripping through
me. She use to repeat that phrase as both a reminder
not to cross her but to also remind me of my place."
Suddenly a cry of fear echoed through the house as he
felt panic slice into his very heart from. "Angelus,"
whispered Spike, already moving towards the source of
that scream. Dimly he heard feet pounding along behind
him, but his only concern was getting to his Sire.
Following his instincts, he burst into Darien's room
to find Angel on the floor in game-face, unmoving, and
Darien was huddled next to the bed, staring at Angel
with large eyes. Almost invisible tremors ran through
the lanky vampire, and Spike carefully approached him,
keeping his hands out in a non-threatening gesture.
Finally, he was able to gather the shaking childe in
his arms and gently stroked the spiky hair as he
purred in an effort to calm him.
"What happened?" demanded Darla's cold voice, and
Darien began shaking harder. Spike looked over his
shoulder to find everyone clustered inside the door,
unsure or unwilling to step into the room until they
knew it was safe.
"Bobby, Willow, come see to Darien," Spike said in a
soft voice so as to not frighten the vampire in his
arms. Before he had finished talking, Bobby was
already crossing the room with Willow following him,
and they removed Darien from Spike's arms. Casually,
the bleached blond stood up and approached Darla and
Dru who were still standing in the door, dripping wet
from their interrupted shower. Before she could move,
Spike's hand lashed out to grab Darla's hair and
pulled her head back to look into his icy blue eyes.
"You will keep a civil tongue in that head of yours or
I will personally rip it out and feed it to you. Do I
make myself clear?"
"You're not the Master," she sneered, defiance clear
in her eyes tinged with a hint of fear.
Spike smiled and saw her fear increase. "No, I'm not,
but I am the Most Favored of Angelus," he purred,
stroking a singe finger down her face. "And Angelus is
the Master of the Order of Aurelius now that Bat-Face
is dust along with that Anointed brat." The question
was clear in her eyes. "No, Angelus didn't dust that
one. I did." With his free hand, he gripped her chin
tightly to force her to meet his eyes. "I also
remember all of your lessons." With that, he released
her and returned to his little family, running
soothing fingers through Darien's hair.
After several minutes of purring and soothing
comments, Darien finally stopped shaking and turned
confused brown eyes on Spike. "What happened?" he
asked in a soft voice.
"Was hopin' you could tell us that, mate," replied
Spike, his Cockney accent back as he met Darien's
gaze.
"I was having a nightmare," confessed Darien as he
dropped his gaze to puzzle through what happened. "I
was at my brother's grave before sunrise and Arnaud
appeared." A low growl from Bobby caught Spike's
attention and he made a note to ask them who this
'Arnaud' person was to cause that kind of reaction.
"He started talking and I tried ignoring him, but the
more he talked, the harder it got to think or even
figure out which were really my memories and which was
him screwing around with my mind. Then he grabbed my
shoulder as he called me 'brother' and I snapped." He
looked up at Spike with wide eyes. "I grabbed his
throat and heard him shout except it wasn't him." The
trembling started up again. "I blinked and found
myself sitting on him with my hands around his throat
and then I heard pounding feet." He shook his head.
"Why am I terrified? Arnaud's not here and you're my
family."
Spike sighed and pressed a kiss to Darien's forehead.
"It's yer demon, pet," explained Spike, running gentle
fingers across the younger vampire's brow in a
soothing manner, as if stroking the ridges of his game
face. "See, Angelus there is the Master of our Order
and a hell of a lot more powerful than me. Ya attacked
him, unknowingly, and now yer demon's reacting to that
attack." Darien leaned into the caress and closed his
eyes as a soft sigh of contentment slipped past his
lips.
A soft patter of water hitting the wooden floor drew
his attention to Dru who was swaying, almost dancing,
across the floor before she knelt next to Angel, a
dark nymph who had been caught in the rain. "No Angel
beast or Daddy," she cooed, running delicate fingers
over the prominent ridges. "Only one, sings the stars.
Halo and horns."
Cautiously, Spike approached the humming vampiress.
"Dru, what do you mean?" he asked, kneeling on the
other side of Angel's motionless form. "What are you
talking about with halo and horns?"
"Not two but one," hummed Dru, her hair dripping on
Angel's face as she tangled her fingers in the dark
hair, tugging on it slightly. "Mummy and Daddy same,
dark and light together. Halos and horns. Oh how they
hurt." She started yanking on her hair as her moans
filled the air and Spike reached across to gather Dru
in his arms, immobilizing hers before she did any more
damage to herself.
"Of coarse," breathed Willow, drawing Spike's
attention from the vampiress. " 'Halo and horns'. It
makes sense now."
Spike looked at the redhead over Dru's head as he
continued comforting the brunette. "Pet, for those of
us who don't speak star, care to translate?"
A faint blush stained Willow's cheeks. "Sorry," she
apologized before turning her attention to Darien.
"Darien, you said that you tried to strangle this
Arnaud person in your nightmare but woke up with your
hands around Angel's throat. Did anything else happen
when you tried to strangle Arnaud?"
"Well, there was a strange red light that surrounded
him," stated Darien, his eyes still looking a bit
haunted.
Willow nodded once. "When you unknowingly attacked
Angel, you used your powers on him," she announced
before taking a deep breath. "Angel's soul is
permanent and if I'm understanding Druscilla right,
the soul and the demon have merged into one being."
But which one would have the most influence over his
actions no one could say.
Just then, a soft groan cut through the air and Spike
released Dru just as the demonic ridges smoothed out
into Angel's handsome face. Everyone seemed to hold
their breath as confused chocolate eyes fluttered
open. This was the moment of truth.
*********************************************
"What do you mean he disappeared?" demanded Martin,
leaning across the table to shove his ridged face into
Samuel's. The two were in the Watcher's room at the
hotel once more, discussing what happened at the
cemetery, and Martin was less than happy.
Samuel growled and glared at the vampire. "Just what I
said," he snarled. "We had him weakened and on the
ground. I had the stake in my hand and was about to
kill him when this strange liquid silver seemed to
seep out of his skin and I staked him just as he
vanished." He ran a hand through his hair in an
attempt to calm his temper. "Then we were being tossed
around like dolls by the Slayer, William the Bloody,
and another vampire who seemed familiar to both." He
watched as Martin's face smoothed back out into its
human planes before he slammed his hand down,
splitting the table in half and sending it crashing to
the floor.
"It appears that there is a new player in this game,"
mused Martin, the picture of unruffled calm. "I do so
detest people who enter the game in the middle." He
turned and started towards the door, but topped before
he reached it. "I trust you will be ready to correct
your mistake once the Accursed One has been found."
With that, he strolled out of the room and Samuel let
out a relieved sigh. Henry Goldlum had given him
permission to work with the vampires but to dust them
once their primary mission was completed, but that
didn't mean that it was any easier to work with
Martin.
Scooping up the phone, Samuel quickly called the other
Watchers to his room for a meeting, and waited until
they were assembled before he explained about his
meeting with Martin. "Any suggestions on how to find
the Crimson Child?" he inquired, opening the floor to
all suggestions.
A younger man raised his hand. "Perhaps we could find
where the vampire is and destroy it while it's
wounded," he offered with a shrug. "We might even get
lucky enough to take out William the Bloody and the
new vampire as well."
"But where do we find them?" demanded another Watcher,
gesturing to the town beyond the room's walls. "They
could be hiding any where out there. Especially since
this place is right on the Hellmouth. It practically
breeds demons."
"So someone needs to find the local snitch for the
demon community," stated Samuel looking around at the
others, noticing how many were drooping in their
seats. "We'll start first thing in the morning. Until
then, get some sleep and fi anyone comes up with an
idea or a plan, then let me know as soon as possible."
Nods and muttered agreements accompanied the men as
they shuffled out of the room, leaving Samuel alone
with his thoughts.
With a groan, he stretched out on his bed and stared
at the cracked ceiling as he tried to organize his
thoughts. The dark vampire that had appeared in the
cemetery seemed rather familiar, like he had read
about the creature in one of the various books that
make up the Watcher's library, but the answer was
eluding him. One final sigh escaped his lips as he
gratefully sank into sleep's gentle embrace for the
night.