Disclaimer: Joss’ Buffy was a Slayer. I made her a demon.

Author’s note: Thanks to everyone who’s been leaving feedback, it is very much appreciated!

Another word about just how fabulous Bloodytearsoflife is. Another fabulous beta-ing job on this chapter and thanks for the way you made me go “aww”

*An oubliette is a kind of closet with no floor, a secret prison that were frequently built into medieval homes and castles. People were pushed into them and forgotten, usually dying of starvation or from the wounds they received when they fell. So there’s the history lesson for the day, on with the fic
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Chapter 4: Making Peace

Elizabeth Cecily Underwood, now known simply as Erixel, was a vengeance demon. And she was happy about it. Buffy spun in place after she regained the use of her legs, her arms spread out, and the skirt of the nightgown she was wearing floated around her as she spun.

D’Hoffryn clapped with glee at the joy and bliss that was coming from the former Slayer from his seat at the foot of her sick bed, his robes hanging off of him like a king in state.

“I feel it, D’Hoffryn,“ she said with awe as she took in what she could see of the world with her new demon senses. “I feel all the people that have been badly treated, all the humans that feel wronged. I want to help them.“

“Of course you do my dear,” smiled the demon. “There are a few things of course that you should know first before you venture out into the world. Your pendant,” said the Demon pointing to the necklace that now adorned her upper chest, it‘s red stone gleaming in the early morning sun that shone through a tiny dirty window. “That pendant is the source of your power. Without it you are as you were before, a human, powerless. With it you cannot be killed, except by beheading.”

Buffy nodded.

“I require a certain number of vengeance wishes to be cast on a monthly basis. I’ll start you out slow. However, there is one of my girls that I would particularly wish you to meet, she is my favourite, and she’s good at what she does.”

“Anyanka.”

D’Hoffryn smiled. “Make your peace with your pass life. I will be waiting for you in Arashamahar.”

Buffy nodded, instinctively knowing just what he was talking about. It obviously came with the Demon package.

D’Hoffryn teleported out of the room in a puff of smoke, leaving the slightly charred smell of what had once been the chair at the foot of her bed and the newly created Vengeance Demon to make her peace. With a determined air about her, Buffy walked out of her sick room, a room that she had occupied for what seemed an eternity. To make her peace she needed to see very few people. And only one of them was in this building.
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Buffy found Giles reading in a parlour of the massive edifice. He was startled when she called his name. The relief and confusion that passed over his face was evident.

“Buffy?” asked the Watcher. “They told me you had died, days ago.”

Buffy shook her head and smiled sadly. “No I didn’t die, but they tried to kill me. Giles, why didn’t you stop them?”

Giles stood, letting the book he had been reading fall to the ground. “They told me you had taken your own life, that you couldn’t bear to be confined any longer. Had I known, had they let me see you...”

Buffy grabbed his hands. “Dearest Giles. Please, don’t worry about it now. I know how this Council is run; I know how we are all pawns. I won’t be a pawn in their larger plan any longer. I’m free, just as I said I would be. No more Council to dictate what I do, no more giving up what my heart desires.”

Giles exhaled. He liked the happiness in her eyes that he saw. He was sorry to have to squash it. “But you are alive, Buffy,” said the Watcher sadly. “You are the Slayer still.”

“No Giles, I’m not,” she said without further explanation.

The warm touch of her hands told him that she was not undead. Giles looked at her with confusion.

“You must promise me something, dearest Giles.” Buffy looked pleadingly into the eyes of the man who’d become her father figure after her own father’s demise.

The Watcher nodded, and had an inkling of a feeling in his gut that this might be the last time he‘d see his Slayer.

“Promise that you will take care of yourself Giles. Have a family. Stay away from Angelus. And be very careful what you wish for in front of strangers.”

Giles raised an eyebrow curiously, but the Slayer would not give any further information. Buffy turned and headed out the doorway.

“Will I ever see you again Buffy?” asked the Watcher, staring after his former pupil.

“Perhaps Giles, but only if you are very naughty.”
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Reagan stared open mouthed at the tale Buffy told her. Sitting in the dark oubliette* that Reagan had been imprisoned in, Buffy had recounted the tale of the Watchers trying to suffocate her, her encounter with D’Hoffryn and her elevation to demonhood.

“So they pushed you down here?” asked her friend.

Reagan nodded. “I didn’t even know we had one of these in the house.” Reagan looked up at the stone walls that surrounded her. She had been lucky that her fall hadn’t broken any bones, suffering only from some minor bumps and scrapes. She had attempted to scale the walls of the oubliette but there were no handholds in the rock.

When Buffy had jumped down she had thought the Slayer was nuts, there was no possible way they would both get out of there, they would starve to death. Now, after Buffy’s extraordinary tale, Reagan realized something: Buffy could teleport.

“What will you do now?” asked Reagan.

“Be a Vengeance Demon, for a while at least, until I get bored of it, then maybe I’ll break my pendant and settle down with someone sweet and gentle...”

“Like William?”

Buffy was quiet for a while.

Reagan cleared her throat before continuing. “It’s been confirmed, the newest terror on the streets of London is William the Bloody. He’s been driving railroad spikes into people’s heads. And his mother is missing.”

Buffy gulped. “Missing?”

Reagan nodded.

“Is Mrs. Fairchilde dead too, then?” asked Buffy.

“No one knows, well at least they didn’t before I was pushed down here.”

Buffy grabbed her friend’s hands. “Reagan you have to get away from them, the Council, you can’t stay here with your father.”

“Well first I have to get out of here...”said Reagan looking up at the doorway she was unable to reach.

“I wouldn’t leave you down here Reagan,” said Buffy with a smile. “But where will you go?”

“Where I should have gone a long time ago, to the university like I was promised.”

Buffy nodded.
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Buffy was enjoying her new powers as a Vengeance Demon, the teleporting was very very fun. The ability to have money and clothes and a place to stay all at the blink of an eye, made her wish that she had brought vengeance down on the Watcher’s Council sooner than she had.

And she was ready to do her vengeance chores; she wanted to make others pay.

But first she had to see him. She had to make him understand. She had to make things right.

Finding him wasn’t hard, given that it was common knowledge that he was sired by Drusilla, childe of Angelus. Or rather it was common knowledge to anyone who believed in Vampires and Demons. Buffy just causally walked up to the house from which she took her tragic fall and entered uninhibited.

The house was much the same as it had been that night, though a few of the pieces of furniture had been replaced. At that point, Buffy seriously wished for her Slayer sense to be restored. Elevated she sensed the wish for vengeance above all things, but she knew could also sense other demons. Angelus had so many minions she had no idea which feeling she should follow.

Buffy climbed the stairs, moving towards the master bedroom, she anticipated finding Angelus and his brides, sleeping the day away.

Opening the master bedroom door, Buffy was surprised to see only Darla and Drusilla sleeping wrapped in each other’s arms barely covered by the quilt that was draped strategically in all the right places. Buffy quietly closed the door, not wanting to wake the nude vampires. This meant that Angelus was somewhere else in the house. And her William was probably with the sadistic bastard.

Buffy walked to the next bedroom, and opened the door. She stifled a laugh as she saw Angelus, who had clearly passed out from his abuse of the whiskey he was so fond of. The empty bottles that surrounded him were a testament to just how much the vampire had drunk.

Buffy opened the door still further, noticing that not only had Angelus passed out in a puddle of alcohol, but also that he had neglected to close the windows of this particular room. Buffy shrugged her shoulders. For some reason she had no wish to dust Angelus at the moment, but if he got a little crisp, she wasn‘t about to complain. What she wanted was to find her William.

The next room revealed nothing. Nor the next. Buffy climbed the stairs to the attic and the servants quarters. In the far back room, probably one that had belonged to a lowly maid or stable boy, was her William, wearing only his breaches and chained to the wall. He was unconscious, hanging, his arms held tightly by manacles.

“Oh William,” said Buffy sadly, reaching out to touch him.

He was covered in cuts and bruises, marring the pretty pallor of his skin.

“I’m so very, very sorry,” she began, her hand finally making contact with his bruised face.

Angelus had done this to him, she was certain of it.

William groaned as he woke up. It took him a few seconds to process the images that his eyes were sending him, his brain telling him his eyes were deceiving him.

“Cecily?” he asked hesitantly.

Buffy nodded.

“It’s me William. I had to come, I had to explain. I had to say how truly sorry I am.” Buffy moved a step closer, her hands ghosting over his injuries. Then taking a step back she knelt at his feet.

“Sorry for what?” he asked harshly, his voice rough. “For breaking my heart? For sending me out into the night to meet Drusilla? She changed me you know.”

Buffy nodded with tears in her eyes. “I know William. One of them were going to kill you anyway. Angelus, he wanted to have me, to make me like Drusilla, I was his project.”

William shook his head. “No, all he ever talks about is his Elizabeth, his Slayer that got away.”

“Me,” she said sadly. “Elizabeth Cecily Underwood.” Buffy looked up at him, her green eyes glistening with tears still yet unshed. “They made me do it, they were going to kill me, the Council, if I didn’t tell you...crush your hopes, my hopes. Angelus would have killed you too, to get to me. Drusilla beat him to it.”

William’s face lightened for a moment. “Your hopes?” he asked quietly. The poet in him was still very much alive, and his heart swelled at the idea that she might have reciprocated his feelings, however tragic their outcome was.

Buffy nodded. “My hopes. I wanted it William, I wanted the dream. I wanted you. Now everything is changed, everything is ruined. You are a vampire and I’ve been changed, I’m a...”

“Demon,” he said frankly. “I can smell the change Cecily.”

“Buffy, please call me Buffy.” Buffy sniffled. “I’m a Vengeance Demon now... The Council, they tried to kill me, after Angelus dropped me from the balcony. I couldn’t walk, I was useless and crippled. I cursed them. I have a job to do now, to wreak vengeance, make people pay...people like the Council, but William...I want to see you again.”

William shook his head, his dead heart breaking again. “I’m hers now, not yours.”

Buffy turned away as if he’d slapped her, the tears she’d been keeping at bay finally falling.

Buffy wiped a tear away with the sleeve of her dress. “She’s your Sire, I would expect nothing less,” she said in resignation as she wiped the last of her tears away. “I am sorry,” she stated again, looking into his bluer than blue eyes. She could see her pain reflected in his blue pools staring back at her. Once again she cursed everything that had led them to this moment. Buffy pushed herself up off the floor.

“Pet?” William called after her.

“Yes, William?”

“I’m sure two immortal beings like ourselves will run into each other from time to time.”

It was a beautiful thought, but would his Sire let him out her sight long enough for a few clandestine meetings? It was a hope, a hope she clung to with the very fibre of her being.

Buffy smiled sadly. “I wish for it with all my heart, William.”

“Spike.”

“Beg pardon?”

“Spike, better vampire name than William the Bloody Awful Poet don’t you think?” he said smugly.

“You’ll always be William the Bloody Brilliant Poet to me William. And D’Hoffryn renamed me. I’m Erixel now, in demon circles.”

“I’ll keep an ear out for you love.”

“And I’ll do the same.”

Buffy placed a small kiss on Spike’s cheek and walked out the door.

Spike let out the breath that he found himself holding. It was true that as a vampire he didn’t need to breathe but he was finding that old habits die hard.

“You’ll always be William the Bloody Brilliant Poet to me William.”

Cecily’s words rung in his ear and he clenched his teeth in an effort to not let his tears spring forth. The injustice of the whole situation made it just that much worse. She had shared his feeling and because of the Council, she’d been force to break his heart, and hers too.

His yell of frustration resonated in the room and he slumped against his restraints.

Cecily wanted him. But why should that matter now? He had Drusilla, his ripe wicked plum, his black goddess.

Deep down he knew why. He loved Cecily and always would, even if he was with Drusilla now. But he was immortal now, and so was Cecily. Things could change, and just one day, he knew they would be together.

Spike shook his head, attempting to clear it of these rebellious thoughts. Drusilla had saved him from mediocrity. She had given him a new outlook on the world, a new purpose for being. For that he was forever indebted to her. It was ungrateful to think that any other woman, even Cecily could be anything to him now.

Really what kind of life would they have had together? A genteel couple living beyond their means in a world that did not understand them. That was no life. Spike caught Cecily’s scent on a breeze of night air that floated through the window and bade a silent farewell to the woman he had thought of as his one true love.

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“So he was tied to the wall?” asked Reagan, as they walked about Hyde Park in the daylight.

Buffy nodded.

“And you didn’t get him down?”

Buffy shook her head.

“Why ever not?” asked Reagan.

Buffy shrugged. “He didn’t ask to be let down.”

“So what are you going to do now?” asked Reagan.

“I will go to Arashamahar, I suppose. Meet with the famous Anyanka,” said Buffy. “But I will keep in touch Reagan. I promise. If you ever want vengeance...”

“I’ll know who to call on,” said Reagan with a smile.

“You’d better Reagan Amelia Wyndham.”

“I will. And I’ll do you one better...” Reagan pulled out a slip of paper from her purse and handed it to Buffy.

“What’s this?” asked the demon.

“This is the only way that the Council will stop hunting down William Fairchilde. I know you are worried about him. His connections, they are so close to the Council, and now that you’ve visited him...He’ll be a target, more so than any other newly fledged vampire.”

Buffy looked down at the scrap of paper. On it was a spell that would obscure or remove all written entries made about William the Bloody. His truth would be hidden. The Council would never remember that he was once a member of their society, that he loved a Slayer or that he was turned because she was trying to protect him.

She stared a while at the paper, contemplating the consequence of it. Finally, she spoke up.

“Do it,” commanded the former Slayer.
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Presented to Anyanka by D’Hoffryn himself was quite the honour, Buffy perceived. Other demons in the fabulously decorated room cowered in the corners, waiting for D’Hoffryn’s audience or Anyanka’s temper to flare.

Anyanka, who’s past deeds were legendary, the demon who wreaked vengeance solely on men who mistreated their women, was a slight woman, no bigger than Buffy herself. Buffy presented her hand to the demon with a smile.

“You must be Anyanka of whom I’ve heard so much,” said Buffy straight away.

Anyanka smiled. “Erixel? Is it? D’Hoffryn has told me much about you. Is it true you were a Slayer? Imagine the bragging points that D’Hoffryn is going to get by elevating you.”

Buffy blushed.

“And the curse you did! Spectacular! I only wish I had come up with it. You must tell me how you did it!”

Anyanka linked arms with the new demon and led her through the halls of D’Hoffryn’s chamber.

The lips of the other demons in the room started to move as the gossip surrounding Erixel grew. Erixel and Anyanka were instant friends; Erixel was someone to be feared.
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tbc...