Oil & Blood

By Medea

Chapter Five

Early in the morning, the Slayer's father was flown by helicopter to Santa Fe, which had the nearest hospital with a trauma unit. Megan and her mother drove down to be near him, and checked into a local motel. After nearly three hours on the phone, Giles had indeed worked the miracle he'd hoped to, and convinced Mrs. MacKenzie to trust Willow. Thus, as soon as the sun permitted, she and Spike followed and set themselves up in an adjoining room, reserved for them by Giles.

Spike was tremendously pleased to be rid of barnyards and quiet small towns, and went out for a celebratory spot of bloodshed their first evening in town. When he returned, he found Megan sitting beside her mother on their bed, inundating Willow with questions.

"So, you're really dead?" Megan asked curiously.

"I've been dead for nearly twelve years," Willow acknowledged.

"What's it like?"

Willow chuckled and tilted her head upward. "Meg, there's more than I could begin to tell."

"Well...what does blood taste like?" the girl persisted.

As Spike plopped down onto the bed beside Willow, he snorted, "Everyone knows what blood tastes like."

"Not everyone is a vampire," Megan pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Ever cut your finger before?" Spike fired back.

"Yeah," the girl admitted with a puzzled frown.

"What'd you do?"

"I put a Band-Aid on it."

Spike rolled his eyes impatiently. "*Before* that. What was your first response to the sight of your own blood seeping out of the cut?"

"I put my finger in--"

"--your mouth," Spike finished for her. "Everyone does it. Animal instinct. Means everyone's tasted blood."

"So when you drink people's blood, it's no different than when I suck on a paper cut?" Megan seemed disappointed at such a mundane explanation.

"Don't know. D'you come when you nurse a paper cut?"

"Spike!!!" Willow protested in alarm.

"Honey, it's about time for bed," Mrs. MacKenzie broke in hastily, wanting to steer her daughter away from the conversation. "We might be able to see dad tomorrow morning."

Instantly, Megan's interest in vampire nature was eclipsed by the more-pressing concern for her father. "Do you think he'll be awake?"

Mrs. MacKenzie smiled gently at her. "The doctor said he thinks the chances are good."

Megan chewed on her lower lip and her face became a mask of stoicism that seemed out of place on one so young. She leaned in and gave her mother a crushing hug, then got up to brush her teeth. While her daughter was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, Mrs. MacKenzie asked Willow in a low voice, "Are there vampires in Santa Fe?"

"It's a city," Willow confirmed. "Vampires tend to settle in wherever humans congregate."

"So how long will we be safe here?" the Slayer's mother posed the crucial question. Her eyes had the beleaguered look of someone not used to being hunted.

"In a normal motel room, probably not more than one or two days. They're not really private residences, so vampires can come and go as they please. And this town's vamps will catch wind of Megan pretty quickly. But as soon as we got here, I set a protection spell around our rooms," Willow assured her.

"Oh...that's right. Mr. Giles said you're also a witch," Mrs. MacKenzie murmured to herself.

"It should keep them out," Willow continued. A thought occurred to her, and she frowned slightly. "Unless one of them has a faroe stone...but that's not very likely. At any rate, Spike and I will keep watch at night."

Mrs. MacKenzie nodded, but said nothing further as Megan approached, now changed into an over-sized sleep shirt, and prepared to crawl into bed. Willow rose up and gestured for Spike to follow her. "Spike and I will be right next door if you need anything. 'Night, Megan."

"Good night, Willow. Good night, Spike," the Slayer responded. Before Willow left the room, Megan called after her, "Hey, Willow?"

"Hmm?" the redheaded vampire paused in the doorway separating their rooms.

"Can you turn into a bat?"

Willow grinned. "No, but I've turned Spike into a rat before."

"Oh, thank *you*!" Spike's irate voice bellowed from the other room. "She didn't need to know about that."

Megan giggled and pulled the covers around herself.

*****

Roy MacKenzie, Megan's father, was on the road to recovery after several blood transfusions. The severity of his injuries and long period of unconsciousness meant that his memories of the attack were fairly garbled. So, it took the combined efforts of his wife, his daughter, and the two vampires to convince him of what had happened, and that he and his family would soon have to make some life-altering decisions.

The group was sitting in Mr. MacKenzie's hospital room, awaiting the results of a few final tests his doctor wanted to run before discharging him, when Willow mentioned the likelihood that they would have to move.

"Megan won't be safe for long if you stay at your ranch. Spike and I can't stay there indefinitely. The town is so small that our...um, special needs...would attract attention," Willow cautioned, delicately side-stepping the issue of feeding.

"But you keep telling us she's some kind of vampire killer," Mr. MacKenzie objected. "Her mother and I have seen the strength she has. If we're careful--"

"Having strength and being the Slayer helps, but it isn't enough," Willow interrupted sternly. "She needs to be trained. Giles was assigned to train..." Her voice caught momentarily as an image of Buffy flickered in her mind. "...the previous Slayer, but he feels it would be best for Megan to work with someone younger. If we can finally get through to the Watchers Council -- the organization responsible for monitoring Slayers -- they should be able to send someone who can teach Megan everything she'll need to know."

"*If* you can get through...? Why is that a problem?" Mrs. MacKenzie asked. "And if this Watchers Council is in charge of Vampire Slayers, why didn't they send somebody to find Megan? Why did they leave the job to two vampires? Unless...do you work for them?"

"Fat chance!" Spike snorted with distaste. "The Watchers've suffered a bit of a...set-back. Not sure who's minding the store at the moment."

Willow shot him a quick, silencing look, fearful that he would blurt out certain details that it wouldn't be good for Megan and her parents to know right now. Such as the role of the Watchers Council in Buffy's premature demise, or the murderous acts Willow, Angel and Spike had committed in retribution. It had been hard enough as it was to convince them of the girl's Slayer nature and earn their trust.

"What Spike means is that the Council is plagued by its own internal politics as much as any powerful organization," Willow chose her words carefully. "They've had a recent change in leadership, which has interrupted their usual flow of communication. That's in part why your daughter is vulnerable at the moment."

"And you're helping because...?" Mr. MacKenzie repeated his wife's question, still dubious about the two vampires.

With a sad smile, Willow replied, "The previous Slayer, Buffy, was my friend. We knew each other before I was turned. I feel like I owe this to her."

"You mean even her own friends got turned into vampires?" Megan exclaimed in dismay.

Willow crossed from the wall she'd been leaning against and crouched down before Megan, who sat beside her father on the bed. As gently as she could, Willow explained, "It isn't the Slayer's choice to be surrounded by danger. It just comes with the territory. Which means that her friends sometimes find themselves in trouble. It's nobody's fault, that's just the way things are."

"You've told us that vampires are remorseless demons," Mrs. MacKenzie argued, regarding her with puzzlement. "How is it that you care so much?"

Before Willow could answer, Spike volunteered his own opinion. "Red's not an ordinary vamp. Wrong chap sank his teeth into her. 'sides, who you were as a human has some influence over what you're like as a vampire, and she was as good as they come."

Willow's eyes softened and she gave Spike a loving look. However, not wanting to make him too uncomfortable with a sentimental display in front of the humans, Willow held her tongue.

She'd find a way to use it later. Preferably, while Spike was flat on his back.

Instead, she steered the conversation back to Megan's future. "Eventually, the Council will want to assign the Slayer where she's most needed. I know this has all been sudden, and it's probably too much to grasp right now...but sooner or later, you'll have to think about moving."

"Just pull up stakes and leave everything behind?" Mr. MacKenzie shook his head uncomfortably.

"Not exactly how I'd have put it," Spike muttered bemusedly at the man's choice of terms.

"It's better than risking losing everything -- including your lives," Willow warned. "You'll be vulnerable if you stay at your ranch, without anyone to teach Megan how to handle our kind, let alone the host of other demons she might encounter."

"Other demons?" Megan's eyes widened. "You mean there's more?"

Spike arched an eyebrow at her and chuckled wickedly. "Oh, we're just two of the beasts in the zoo, little girl. Try some Hellmouth Spawn on for size."

Mrs. MacKenzie glared at Spike and retorted, "There's no need to scare her like that. We understand the danger."

Spike narrowed his eyes and appraised the Slayer's mother from head-to-toe. The woman squirmed self-consciously. Almost casually, but with the unmistakable edge of a killer, Spike strolled over to her until he was towering over her chair. "No, you don't understand," he replied softly. "If you did, you'd be more than scared. You'd be petrified."

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