Family
By Velvet Crypt
Chapter Three"Oh, my God, that was amazing!" Lys bounced up and down in front of her uncles and her brother. Nate exchanged grins with Xander and Spike. "Have you ever seen a cooler movie, Uncle Wil?"
Spike shook his head, smiling. "Nope, Nibblet. Never in all my years." He looked fondly at her as she bounced down the street regaling them with tales of the glory of the flick they'd just finished seeing. He shifted Ellie on his shoulders as she tried to lean backwards.
So into the moment, it took Spike a second too long to realize that they weren't alone. Lys skipped down the road and bounced into a hard, large body that wrapped arms like steel bands around her, pinning her arms to her sides.
They stopped.
Spike counted eight. Five fledges, three who must have been older, because they weren't in game face. He glanced behind them. Shit. Seven more. He brought his gaze back to those in front of him and gently tugged Ellie down.
He pushed her into Nate's arms. Nate caught her up and looked in wide-eyed terror.
"Uncle Wil?" Ellie piped in. "What's wrong with their faces?"
The vamps laughed. Lys stood trembling, her eyes entreating her uncles to do something.
"Let the girl go." Spike demanded quietly.
More laughter. "Awful bossy for someone as outnumbered as you. Even if you are William the Bloody, Scourge of Europe." Derided the one who held Lys.
"Fine. You know who I am. Obviously you're here for me. Let the kids and the man go, and you can have me."
"No, Spike." Xander refused. "I'm not leaving you with them." He put his back to Spike's and faced the seven behind him. "Stake."
Spike smiled. Course he wouldn't leave. Stupid White Knight complex. Fine. He pulled a stake out of his pocket and passed it to Xander. If his hand lingered on the warm flesh for a second longer than it had to, oh well. They were about to get their asses kicked.
"Nate. Stay there. Keep a hold of Ellie. When Lys is free, I want you three to run like hell. Go to Buffy's." He pulled his own stake out.
"Let's do this."
He and Xander launched themselves at the vamps. Spike's first target was the vamp holding Lys. He flew by him; turning at the last moment and kidney punched him. Grunting with pain, the other vamp stumbled. Lys did her part by stomping on his instep. A minor irritation, at best, but he'd obviously not been dead long enough to realize that.
He loosened his hold on her and she spun free of his arms. She flung herself towards Nate and Ellie and the three of them frantically looked for a way out to do as Spike had said. None was there. The vamps had them cornered. They huddled in a pile and watched in horror as the monsters attacked their uncles.
Spike grinned at Lys' spunk, and then jammed the stake in the vamps back when he'd ascertained that she'd made it to safety. He threw himself into a cluster of vamps, not realizing that his own game face had made an appearance. Kicking, punching, and whirling...he was like a black blur. Bodies flew and dust filled the air. He was having the time of his life.
Xander approached his opponents more cautiously. He waited until the first one made its move and then flung himself to the side. His flight seemed to confuse the vamps, who were expecting him to meet them head on like Spike. Uh Uh. Sorry. Frail human here. He tackled one of the confused vamps and rolled with him.
He pulled away and let the vamp keep rolling off of him. With a hard jab, he slammed the stake sideways into the prone body. It exploded in a flurry of dust. He looked up just in time to see another vamp taking advantage of his reclining position. As the vamp lunged down on him, he braced his stake on his chest. The vamp had a moment to look startled and shamefaced before it impaled itself.
He scrambled to his feet. He was being circled. As one, they leaped at him. Picturing a corny Saturday morning cartoon, Xander crawled out from under the pile, stabbing random body parts as he went.
Spike looked down at vamp number five as it whooshed into dust. Stupid bastard. He swung his arm backwards and caught the next vamp; the human faced one, right on the chin. It went down, but so did he. A blinding pain shot through his head and stars filled his vision.
He screamed in pain and staggered towards the last place he'd seen Xander.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He growled. "Xander? They're fucking humans!"
Xander kicked the vamp off of him and rolled to his feet. He saw Spike swaying on his feet, rubbing his temples. With a curse, he ran past the blonde. As he went, he pressed his stake against Spike's chest.
"Here, switch sides."
Spike shook the last of the pain away, though everything seemed really bright now, and charged into the four remaining vamps.
Xander took a running jump and his feet connected with the chest of one of the humans. With an oomph of air, the human was knocked down. Xander hit the ground too, but was up and moving in less than a second. He and the second human traded blows for a long minute, and Xander felt worry growing in the pit of his stomach.
He was taking too much time. The others were going to gang up on him any second now and he'd be down for the count. Sure enough, he felt a grip on each arm and he was pulled back away from his foe. The first two humans held him, squirming, as the third began to rain blows to his midsection.
He was beginning to see spots when the grip on his right arm was loosened. Then his left arm. Then his attackers were falling. What the hell? The man in front of him looked around, then turned and ran. Xander turned around wobbling and saw Lys and Nate standing behind him, Lys holding a metal bar and Nate holding a rusted metal car part. He looked down at his feet where the knocked out humans lay, and he grinned.
Spike turned all of his fury onto the last vamps. How dare they attack him when he was with his family? How dare they threaten his family? If he found one scratch on any of them, he'd resurrect them and kill them again. He felt curiously bereft when the last bit of vampire dust floated away on the wind.
He fell to his knees and gasped for air. Not that he needed it, it was just a reflex. And it made him feel more connected. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Xander crouch before him.
They shared a smile, which grew to a grin, which grew to a laugh. Xander plopped down in the street and looked behind Spike's head. "Are you guys okay?"
Footsteps, then a hiss of indrawn air. Spike glanced up. Nate and Lys were staring at him like they'd never seen him before. Ellie crawled into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and looked into her eyes.
She reached out a hand and touched his forehead with a very serious expression on her face. "Why do you look like the monsters?" She asked. Spike shot a horrified look at Xander and quickly shook his head, his features melting back into their human visage.
"Because I am one of the monsters, poppet." He whispered, a sick, cold feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.
Ellie stared at him a moment longer, then nodded and snuggled down into his coat. "Okay." she said. "I'm cold. Can we go home?"
Spike shut his eyes against the tears, fearing to meet Lys and Nate's gaze, and then stood up. "Sure, poppet. I'll take you home." He began walking, not looking back to see if anyone was following. Just holding the little piece of heaven he knew he'd have to give up as soon as he got her home.
---
Nate and Lys watched them go. Xander watched Nate and Lys. They turned as one to him and stared. He smiled.
"Spike is a vampire." He said simply. The gig was up. No use trying to explain it away. They were too smart for any lie he could think of now anyway. "He's 126 years old. He has a chip in his head, implanted by the government, that won't let him hurt humans. He drinks blood, but only from a bag or from someone who offers it to him.
He can't hurt you. It hurts him every time he's violent with a human. He will blow away to dust if he's staked through the heart or if he walks into the sun. It hurts him to be touched with holy water or crosses or garlic."
"Y-you have had a vampire watch us to keep us safe?" Nate asked incredulously.
Xander looked at him disapprovingly. "No, I have had Spike watch you to keep you safe."
Nate continued to stare at him. Xander sighed. "Come on. Let's take this conversation home. I don't want to get jumped again by whatever the hellmouth has to offer tonight."
He herded the flummoxed teens towards home, following the black duster in the distance. Ah, Spike. He winced. What will happen if they don't understand? Will they be afraid of you? I don't think you could take that. Will they hate you? I couldn't stand to see your heart break over it. Will they never want to see you again? You'd still watch over them, I know. You'd be there in the shadows, killing anything that dared threaten your family. But then I wouldn't have you either. And I think that hurts as much as losing the kids.
When did you sneak into my heart? When did I let you into my life? Was it when you defended three kids you'd never met? Was it the first time you held Ellie in your arms as though she were the most sacred of beings? Was it the first time we shared a parental smile? Doesn't really matter. You're here now. Ensconced so firmly in my life and my thought that I don't know how I'll ever get you out.
I don't want you out. I want to be with you. I want to share every second of the day with you, with the kids. I want us to be a family. I need you. I can feel you tugging at my soul sometimes. When you're sad, or lonely; I can tell. I don't know how, I just know I need to be there for you. And you can tell when I'm wound tighter than I can handle. When I want to scream and beat my head against a wall. You know. And every time, you put a hand on my shoulder. You sit next to me and have a guy chat. You hand me Ellie to hold and go about the business of taking care of whatever frustrated me.
I'm afraid. I'm afraid to have you in my life. You're an evil vampire. Right. Okay, being realistic, that's just stupid. You're a man. Yes, you are a man. And Nate has already expressed his feelings about a gay uncle. Could he handle his gay uncle's a gay vampire lover? Probably not. And then there was the idea of your past. How could I hope to compete with 100 years of Drusilla? Or of however many years of Angelus?
They were beautiful. They were powerful. They had a part of you I could never touch. They inspired a devotion in you such as I've never seen before. How could I compete with that? What do I have to offer? I'm just the donut boy. No special witchy powers. No Slayeryness. Just Xander Harris. The guy who gets his ass kicked.
He looked up and realized that they had made it to the apartment. With a sigh, he went forward to meet his fate.
They found Ellie at the table, eating a pop tart and drinking a juice. Spike was quietly gathering his belongings together. "Spike?" Xander said. The vamp twitched, but didn't look up. "I think we need to talk about this."
Spike shook his head, stuffing a pile of t-shirts into the bag. "No, I don't think we do Xander." He replied.
He finished and zipped the bag up. Heading to the door, he found his way blocked by Xander. "Move, whelp."
"No."
"Xander, don't make me move you."
"Cause you're such an evil vampire that you'll do what? Ask me to move again?"
"Don't start with me, whelp. I was the Big Bad for 100 years before I met your gang of scoobies and got chipped. I may be biteless, but I still have connections."
"I'm not afraid of you Spike."
"Yeah, well…seems to be the story of my life lately. Now move."
"Please, Spike. Don't walk out until we've talked about this."
"Xander, what is there to talk about? I am a vampire. I am a killer. I am an evil fairy tale come to life. The kids are terrified of me. And if they aren't, they should be. I've overstayed my welcome. Just let me go while I still have some dignity left."
"I'm not afraid of you, Wil." Nate said hesitantly. Spike turned his gaze to the boy. "I have to admit, I'm a little freaked out by the idea that vampires are real and you happen to be one of them. But I've seen you everyday for months. You've watched movies with us, you've taken us for ice cream, you've made funny shaped pancakes for us, and you've read bedtime stories to my little sister. I may be afraid of vampires, but I'm not afraid of you, Uncle Wil."
Xander's eyes filled with tears. He saw Spike's ironclad will weaken. And when Nate stepped up to him and gingerly slid his arms around the vamp's waist, he saw it shatter. Spike dropped his bag and drew the boy into a tight embrace. His eyes were squeezed shut and he looked as though he was trying desperately to keep his own tears in check.
"I love you, Uncle Wil. Please don't leave." Nate said against the blonde's chest.
Spike drew in a shuddering breath. "I'll be here as long as you want me, luv."
Lys threw herself against her brother and each male freed an arm to gather her into his embrace. Xander smiled and put his hands in his pockets. Nate lifted his head and smiled through his tears. "Uncle Xander?" He whispered, and moved so that a space was opened next to him. Xander joined the group hug with a laugh.
A moment later, Spike felt a tug on his duster and looked down to see Ellie standing demandingly with her arms up. He picked her up and put her in the center of their hug. Everyone's arms wrapped around her. They stood for long moments, just drinking in the feeling of being held by family. Had Willow been there, she would have seen a green glow surrounding them and faint green lines connecting them to one another.
They couldn't see the glow, but they could feel it.
Chapter FourSpike had the same series of thoughts pounding over and over through his brain: Get home. Warn the others. Protect my family. He couldn't see. The blood flowed into his swollen eyes and obscured any part of his vision he had left. He hurt in so many places that he couldn't concentrate on any one in particular. He knew he was practically dragging his right leg, and that it had to be broken, but he didn't have time to stop and set it.
He kept one hand firmly pressed against his stomach. The only time he had let go, a swarm of intestines had threatened to spill out and trip him. He was operating on instinct now. He followed the tug that said 'home' and hoped he wouldn't meet up with anything else tonight. He knew he'd made it home when he turned the knob on the door and fell through with no resistance.
Blinking rapidly he looked around for Xander. He tried calling, but the only sound he could muster was a croak. He felt the blackness calling him and he fought it tooth and nail. But, in the end, it pulled him under.
"Uncle Xander!" Nate shrieked, racing to Spike's side. Xander came out of the kitchen carrying a handful of silverware and a dishtowel. Lys and Ellie followed. Xander's face went stark white as he saw his love collapsed in a bloody heap on the floor. He dove to his side and began running his hands over the vamps body to assess the damage.
"Oh Jesus Fucking Christ," he breathed when he got to the belly wound. "Lys, take Ellie out of here. Nate, call Giles and the others. Tell them we need blood. Lots of it. A shitload. And tell them to hurry." Lys tried to pull Ellie away, but the little girl just looked at her with a calm expressionless face and Lys felt something steal over her. She couldn't identify it, but she stopped trying to take her sister away.
Nate raced to the phone and speed dialed Giles.
"Hello?"
"Giles! You have to come quick! Uncle Wil is messed up bad. Uncle Xander says he needs blood. Please…you have to hurry!"
"Nate? What happened? Never mind. How much blood?"
"I don't know. Uncle Xander just said 'a shitload.'"
"A sh-. Ah, yes…well. I'm on my way. I'll call the girls en route to the blood bank. What is Xander doing?"
"I don't know. He checked Uncle Wil out and I'd say, now, from the look on his face, the knife in his hand and the big cut in his arm, he's trying to keep Uncle Wil alive until you get here."
"Oh, dear Lord. Don't let him give too much, Nate. If he starts to sway, or get really pasty, pull him off."
"Okay, I will. Please…hurry."
Spike. Oh, fuck, Spike. What happened to you, love? Who did this to you? I'll gut them. I swear. Can you hear me? Can you feel me? Fuck, where is Giles? Please, baby, don't die on me. You're so gray. You look like ash. Does that mean you're close to final death? God, no. Please stay with me, love. What can I do? Ow, what the hell is that? Oh, the silverware. I wonder…yes! A knife! I'll keep you with me until Giles gets here, baby. I won't let you go.
Fuck, that hurt. Deeper, deeper…gotta keep it flowing for him. There. Now open your mouth, love. Open and drink from me. Drink and live.
"Uncle Xander, that's enough." He vaguely heard his name. He did, however, feel the tugging on his arm. He looked up to see Nate's worried face and suddenly strong hands jerk his arm out of Spike's mouth. "That's enough. If you give too much you'll pass out and I don't know what to do."
He nodded; it seemed to take forever to move his head up and down. "He needs more, though. I'll just rest a minute and then I have to feed him again." Nate furrowed his brow and snatched up the knife. He had it dug into his flesh before Xander could wrap his brain around his actions.
"Nate! No! What are you doing! You can't-"
"I can't what? You can't give anymore, Uncle Xan. And I don't know how long Giles will be. Uncle Wil's leaking it out as fast as you can put it in him. He needs more."
"But you're a boy. You don't understand what you're doing."
Nate snorted. "I'm 15, Uncle Xan. I can make this choice on my own." He paused for a moment. "Do you love him?"
Xander's eyes went wide and then they closed, tears leaking out of the corners. "Yes."
"Then why is it so hard to believe that we love him too? He'd die for us. We know that. He loves us. We know that too. He's family, Uncle Xan. Our family. And I won't let him die either."
Xander just looked away. Nate finished the cut and shoved his forearm into Spike's mouth. He could understand why Xander had to be pulled away. The blood loss made him woozy, but there was something else. He felt as though he was becoming a part of Spike. He was drowning in him. He could feel the vamps pain, his fear, and his love. He didn't want to let go. He was angry when small hands drug him away.
"Nate. Stop. That's enough." Lys shook him slightly. She smiled at him, reassuringly. "You were fading out."
Nate slumped. He looked at the belly wound and saw that the blood flow had slowed, but was still sluggishly flowing. Lys followed his gaze and bit her lip. With a look of fierce determination on her face, she held her hand out for the knife. Nate handed it to her, squeezing her hand. She whimpered a bit as the blade cut into her, and she couldn't watch as her blood started to flow, but she held her wrist to Spike's lips and felt him begin to drink.
She too felt the pull. Only she felt it from Spike, from Uncle Xander, and from Nate as well. She felt herself fall against Nate's side and tried to force her eyes open. When she did, she wished she hadn't.
"Ellie, no!" She tried to move forward, but tangled in Nate's legs. They wrestled to unravel each other. Xander snatched the knife out of Ellie's hands, but not quickly enough. She hadn't cut herself badly, but there was a drop of blood clinging to her arm. With a serious look, she pressed the drop against Spike's lips. Xander tried to stop her, but found he couldn't move at all.
She moved away before Spike could begin sucking and deliberately took a place above Spike's head. She pointed to Spike's side and Xander scooted over, bewildered at why he was doing so. She pointed just below her position to the right and Lys crawled to there. She gestured to an opposing spot on the left and Nate took up that position.
The door flew open and Giles, Willow, Tara, Buffy and Dawn jostled for the lead into the room. As they stepped in, they stopped dead in their tracks. The green glow was back. Only this time, everyone could see it. It covered the five figures in the floor and the lines began to draw themselves. They went from person to person, touching each and moving on to the next, until they were all connected. Then, the line shot out and encircled the little group. They all jerked slightly, and then slumped to a prone position as the green dissipated.
Giles, Willow and Tara stared in awe at the sight. Buffy and Dawn stood and looked panicked. "What is it?" Dawn finally whispered.
"It's a pentacle." Willow breathed. "An absolutely perfect pentacle created by the life force of five people."
Dawn looked again, tilting her head. "And what does that mean?"
As they watched, the green grew softer and faded away. Xander woke from his daze first. He took a moment to reassure himself that Nate, Lys and Ellie were opening their eyes as well and then turned his attention to Spike. His brow furrowed and he jerked the vampire's shirt nearly off of him. He prodded Spike's belly and ran his hand over his leg.
No, he wasn't seeing things. The gut wound was no more. The flesh was gloriously unmarred. His leg was no longer broken. His face was pale and bloody, but there were no wounds. He leaned over the blonde's body and tried to control his tears. He found he was fighting a losing battle and gave up when he felt Lys's arm snake around his waist.
He began to sob; huge wracking sobs that shook his whole body. He wanted to reach out to the kids, to hold them and reassure them that it was all going to be okay. But he was pretty sure they'd think he was insane, telling them it was all hunky dory while bawling his head off. As he thought about telling them, he felt a strange tingle in his head.
He couldn't identify it, but just as soon as he thought, /It'll be okay/, Lys squeezed him.
"Of course it will, Uncle Xan."
He lifted his head and looked at her in confusion. /But I didn't say anything./
"What do you mean, you didn't say anything?" Lys turned to him. "I heard you. You just said It'll be okay. And it will. Ellie thinks so too."
Xander looked at Ellie. She returned his gaze with a calm, serene, totally not a five year old look. /Uncle Wil is all better. We fixed him./
"Ellie?"
/We got put together. That fixed him. Now he'll be okay./
"What does she mean, we got put together?" Nate asked. Xander's head shot to him.
"You heard her, too?" Nate looked a little nervous, but nodded.
"I heard her too." Lys volunteered.
"Willow?" Xander turned scared eyes to his friends. "What the hell is going on?"
---
Nearly 30 minutes later, everyone was curled up on a couch. They had hot chocolate in hands and were waiting for someone to tell them what to do. Nate, Spike, Lys, Ellie and Xander sat on one couch; Ellie in Lys's lap, Spike sprawled across Xander and Nate. Giles, Buffy and Willow sat on the other, with Dawn and Tara curled at their feet.
Willow took a deep breath. "I really don't know what happened." She began. "I know what I saw. I know what I think it means. But why it happened? No idea."
"So, just tell us what you think it is." Buffy encouraged.
"They made a pentacle. A five pointed star with an encompassing circle. They made it with their life forces."
She waved her hand in the air helplessly. Tara cut in.
"A pentacle is a symbol. Each point represents a part of the whole of a person. The circle forms a protective and completing part. It makes the pentacle, or the spirit represented whole." She leaned forward and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from off of the coffee table. "Here, it looks like this…"
She drew a five-pointed star, surrounded by a circle. "This part," pointing to the bottom left, "represents the element of Earth. It also stands for stability and endurance." She looked up. "This is the position Xander took." Eyes darted to him, but he only had eyes for the symbol Tara was drawing. "This part, the bottom right, represents fire, also, courage and daring. From what I could see, Spike took this position."
She moved on. "The top right represents water, also emotions and intuition. Lys took this position. The top left is air. Intelligence and wisdom fall here. Nate took this position. The top of the pentacle is the spirit. It stands for the heart, the soul, and the divinity in a person. Ellie had that position." She looked up from her drawing. "I think that the five of them created a bond. They created a connection to each other with their own life forces and each one of them took on the aspect most suited to them in the whole of the new entity they created."
Giles wiped his glasses. "Are you suggesting they created a…thing?"
Tara shook her head. "No, not at all. Each person has a spirit. Each spirit can be represented by a pentacle. Some have stronger pieces of the pentacle. Some don't have the completing circle. Some, practitioners of the dark arts, have perverted the pentacle into it's opposite. In that instance, the spirit is on the bottom and each corner represents the…well, to be frank, the rape of that which it represents."
She smiled. "I just think that each of them took their strongest piece of their own pentacle, and merged it with the other four. I think the love and protectiveness that they each feel for each other created the circle. They were five separate, lonely entities. Now they are bound into one content entity."
Everyone still looked confused. Willow sighed. "You saw how they could hear each others thoughts?" Nods all around. "And how, when they mixed their blood and wanted more than anything to heal Spike, he healed?" More nods. "They took the strongest parts of themselves and threw them into the middle of the table. The parts found each other, bonded to each other, and created a new vessel to reside in. They are each a human…well, human and vamp, vessel like they always were. But together, they have formed a new vessel that is five times as strong as any one of them. And they are all connected to it."