Blood of My Blood
Chapter 11

AN: I made a new banner to go with the new plot twist as well as my new penname. It’s not spectacular, but it’ll do. :) Oh, and sometimes I write while influenced by my sleeping medication.... hehe... though, it might be the better parts, you never know! ;) Thanks go out to Dreams of Spike, Ruth, and even Patti for their help with this chapter.

Oh, and want to see Jackie? Here’s how I imagine her: http://dailypuppy.com/images/07/biggies/josie_jack_russel_beagle_mix_04.jpg



******


Across town on Crawford Street, the house was being used yet again. Strange how it attracted so much attention. For an abandoned mansion, it never seemed to remain vacant for very long.

A young woman with dark hair sat staring into the flames dancing in the fireplace. They reflected in the pupils of her once blue eyes, now an icy silver. Other than the eyes, one could have taken her for a sorority girl very out of place in the dusty, old mansion.

Her perfectly manicured fingernails thrummed against the arm of her chair as she thought out loud.

“Chaos, what would cause some chaos for them?” she asked herself quietly. “They can’t be allowed to settle in and get comfortable—or organize themselves. Given enough time, they might even heal the broken bonds of friendship and that would make their forces greater. No, something has to be done right away...besides the message I sent them, which they no doubt dispatched of already.”

When she settled back against the chair and let her head loll back, her eyes fell on the statue that still stood silently in the corner. Apparently her parents hadn’t tried to remove it while trying to make the mansion home. Knowing those fools, they probably hoped to just ignore it and the memories it conjured.

“Hmm, problems that come with emotional baggage—those are the best.” A slow smile curved her lips and she stood to walk over to the statue. “Certainly messing with their champion will irk the Powers as well—a double bonus.”

Amanda rested her hands on the stone, tilting her head as she gave it a considering look. Then she nodded; this was a good plan. Angel might have had his soul returned to him just before he was sent to hell, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use him to do her dirty work. Honestly, would he just sit there and let Spike take away his little slayer? She chuckled as she imagined his reaction to their mating.

Also, throw in her being Buffy’s daughter and it might not take much for her to have him wrapped around her finger, if she put on an Oscar-worthy performance.

“With her corrupted by Spike and the other slayer on their side,” she began, practicing her pout and sweet tone of voice already, “and not to mention my own sister being brainwashed by them—I’m his last chance at redemption.”

Her cackle split the air as she straightened, hands still on the statue. Her eyes glowed red as she poured power into it, the red glow flowing from her hands into the stone to encase the whole thing. After a moment, she stopped and took a step back. A fist into the core of Acathla had it cracking open like an egg, revealing its vampire yoke.

Angel fell forward, naked and trembling. His eyes rolled up to look at her and his slack mouth hung open as his mind worked to place who she was.

“You smell of sulfur! Ugh!” She pinched her nose daintily. “But then, what did I expect when I drag something from the fire and brimstone of hell?”

Shock from the sudden trip was wearing off; Angel’s nose was dissecting her scent and noting how powerful it was. In his feral state, it seemed like the perfect meal to get him feeling better. He lunged at her feet, but she nimbly stepped away and kicked at his arms.

“I don’t think so. If, and that’s a big if, I decide you are worthy of tasting my blood, it will be on my terms,” she told him, then tilted her head toward the door. “But, I’m sure there are lots of tasty morsels right out there on the streets of Sunnydale.”

******

Around sunset, Spike woke to the smell of something burning. He vaguely wandered if it was some sort of payback orchestrated by his mate. Payback for the fight they had as they were getting to bed that morning following the chaotic arrival of Melody.

Basically, he had thought it best they stick to the house for their own protection and if they had to go out, to not do it alone. She had not been thrilled with his idea, but he threatened to chain her up, so for the time being she was backing off while trying to figure out if he was bluffing.

He walked upstairs and into the kitchen where Buffy was pouting at a charred lump in a baking pan. She looked up when he walked in and he couldn’t help chuckling at the scene before him. What was she even doing when they all knew she couldn’t be trusted alone in a kitchen?

That’s when he noticed that Melody and Jackie were absent.

“Why am I wakin’ up to a burnt stench an’ a half-empty house?” he asked as he came around to her side of the kitchen.

“Melody took Jackie with her when she went into town to buy a few things for her stay here.” She dumped the burnt mess into the garbage and sighed as she tossed the pan into the sink. “And that was supposed to be a nice dinner for my family...”

“Well, not all families have a mum that cooks while the father goes off to work. Ours has a father that helps the mum do her sacred duty an’ the father cooks,” he consoled her and walked over to the phone. He held up a take-out menu and added, “Or they order pizza an’ wings.”

She shook her head with a soft chuckle, kicking the oven door closed. “Well, I haven’t got to do much of my ‘sacred duty’ while you’ve had me on house arrest. Faith’s been getting all the fun.”

Just as Spike was hanging up the phone, the door opened and Melody practically fell inside. Jackie followed her in, nosing at the girl with little whimpers. The bags that the teen had been carrying fell with a dull thud, spilling their contents. The spill went unnoticed as the worried parents rushed forward in alarm over the condition of their child.

“Slayer, pick up the bags an’ take them an’ Jackie to the other room while I do somethin’ about her injuries...please?” He glanced up to meet the eyes of his mate, trying to be the one with the cool head to take care of his small, but strange, family.

Buffy cast another look at Melody’s pale face before nodding and letting Spike take the girl from her arms. “I’ll get the first aid kit from the bathroom, too.”

Spike lifted his not-so little girl onto the counter to sit where he could wet a rag to wash her up first. He wanted to throttle whoever did this to his daughter. It was a marvel he could feel so connected and protective already, but he did.

“So, Peanut, who the bloody hell did this to you so I can tear them to wee bits?” he finally asked as he reached up to tenderly wash her face.

Melody looked every bit the errant childe, hoping her dad wasn’t angry with her as she told her story.

“I went to town to get some clothes and other stuff with a card mom gave me, even though she warned me you wouldn’t be happy about my leaving here alone...but I didn’t think it’d be a problem. I’d make it quick and Amanda probably doesn’t know I’m here yet.” She wrung her hands with her head lowered.

Spike cupped her chin and lifted it again to finish washing it. “Yeah, you should have got me to go with you. We could’ve used the sewers until sunset. But, I’m more concerned about what happened to you? Amanda?”

“No, but almost as bad...Angel.” She winced when he jerked in reaction to the name. She tilted her head to give him room to work on her shoulder wound. “He’s back and feral. He attacked me—took me by surprise—and I fought him, but when he saw I wasn’t an easy meal he took off. Someone needs to...go make sure he isn’t killing people and stop him. I...knew you’d be really mad if I continued after him instead of returning here to get patched up and tell you what’s going on.”

“Yeah,” he said with a nod then sighed. When Buffy walked back into the room, he looked at his mate with trepidation over the news he had to pass along. “Melody says it was a feral Angel that attacked her on the way home. He’s back apparently. So we have two problems it would seem.”

“Angel? But how did he...?” Buffy shook her head. “That can be figured out later, but for now that feral thing needs to be taken care of. I’ll call Faith since I assume you definitely won’t let me out now.”

She handed Spike the first aid kit then went to the phone to make her call.

Spike’s attention returned to his daughter. “No more goin’ off alone. Got it, Peanut?”

“Dad...” she began with a petulant look which he purposefully cut off with a spray of disinfectant into the scrapes on her arm. She yelped then scowled at him, much like her mother. “Soulless jerk...”

“But, you bints love me all the same, eh?” He gave her a cocky smile and received an eye roll. “I just want to make sure you an’ your mum stay safe. I’ve got to protect my girls.”

“We can’t hide here in fear forever, Dad,” Melody said tiredly. “When Mom gets pregnant, she’s going to need to visit the doctor. Also, it’s pitiful to not fight for ourselves. We’re champions.”

“Look what fightin’ got you,” he retorted, poking at the bandage he had just tied off.

“I was alone and he got the jump on me. There’s a difference between that and purposefully going out with others to hunt down the bad stuff.” She sighed softly. “And I meant to be back before dark.”

He nodded and remained silent as he packed up the first aid kit. “We’ll see what the slayers an’ Red say when the other birds get here.”

“At least Faith’ll probably agree with me. She usually does.”

“I’ll bet,” was all he said as he helped her into the living room where he settled her in on the couch.

About fifteen minutes later, Faith and Willow arrived at the house wondering who the new girl was. The somewhat proud parents gave what they could of the story while Melody interjected now and then with details and explanations.

“Someone must’ve brought Angel back,” Faith said. “Obviously.”

“So, the feralness must be a side-effect of either being in hell or being brought back,” Willow speculated then wrinkled her nose. “Do we give him Slayer blood like when Spike was Tarzan?”

Spike growled somewhat at the reminder, but more at the thought of Angel biting his mate than at the allusion to his recent condition. “I suggest we just stake the poofter.”

“Spike...” Buffy began, looking toward him with a torn expression.

“No!” He quickly stood up and pointed a finger at her, shaking with anger. “Don’t you dare start up again with takin’ up for poor Angel an’ your complicated feelin’s for him. I won’t have it. You’re MY mate!” He roared the last part, shifting into game face unconsciously. “Mine!”

Everyone stared up at him in shocked silence after his outburst. Melody was the first to look away uncomfortably. Buffy’s eyes were impossibly wide before they dropped to her lap.

“Maybe we should wait until we find out what’s going on before we make any decisions,” Willow said tentatively, trying to defuse the situation.

Faith nodded. “I should tell Giles and see what he says.”

“Then it’s a good thing he’s here, huh?” Spike said darkly. “I wonder if he just came to lurk outside like the poof or if he’s goin’ to come up an’ knock properly.”

“What with the what?” Buffy sputtered, looking at the door along with the others.

“Can sense him, luv. Vampire.” He gave her a withering look, not quite in the loving mood.

“Dad...” Melody started to say something but was cut off by a knock on the door. She shook her head and frowned as Buffy got up to answer it.

Buffy stood at the door facing Giles, both wearing similar grim expressions. He looked as if he hadn’t fully expected her to answer the door. Each was clearly formulating something to say and she finished first.

“Just so you know, we’ve got charms on the house to keep anyone from trying to do anything to us,” she told him with a note of warning.

“Why would you automatically assume I was here to do you harm?” he asked, taking off his glasses to clean them.

“It wouldn’t be to bring us a cake that says ‘Congratulations Newlymates’ or give us housewarming gifts,” she said, crossing her arms. “Especially after the run-in we had with Xander.”

“Yes, he had rather perverse joy in informing me about his encounter with you two and—these are his words—your hellbeast.” His eyes went past her to where Melody stood holding Jackie. She, along with the others, stood peering out of the living room.

“Well, from what Faith and Willow told me, you got your research jollies,” Buffy said to bring his attention back to her. “But besides that, how did you find us? I doubt they ratted us out.”

“Yes, I was rather surprised to find out they knew about this the whole time and had clearly chosen to back you regardless of whom you were dating,” he replied with some exasperation. “The truth is, after they each called to give excuses for not coming to my place tonight, I decided to go into town to do a bit of shopping. Imagine my surprise when I see them walking together and heading towards a side of town I knew neither of them lived near.”

“You stalked my friends?”

“Not on purpose.” His glasses came off a second time. “Now may I please come in so that we can discuss things that require more discretion than airing them out on your front porch will permit?”

Buffy glanced to the others before nodding and taking a step back to allow him entrance. She herded them all back into the living room, gesturing for them to sit back down as she took a seat that faced Giles.

“The ‘hellbeast’ was our new dog, Jackie,” she said, deciding to start introductions there. The easiest one. “The girl, Melody, is here from the future...and she’s our daughter. Apparently, us mating was some sort of prophecy that led to our having babies. Willow told me about it, then Melody showed up to confirm it’s true.”

“I believe that is one of the interesting things I came across when doing that research you claim gave me ‘jollies’.” He sat down and looked around at everyone. “So, with a fellow countryman in the house, there has to be tea somewhere.”

“Comin’ right up, Jeeves,” Spike finally said after being prodded by his mate.

“So you found that prophecy, too?” Willow turned toward him. “But you say one like you mean there were more.”

“Yes, the rest of my research mostly concerned vampire mating practices, mostly pertaining to claims along with other things. There were a couple more vague prophecies that may apply to this one or not.”

“I see...I think.” Buffy took a moment to let his words sink in.

Ew, he so did not read about vampire sex.

“Before we go any further, though, I need to know if Xander passed on the message and where you stand on what I said.”

“I suppose my response is this.” Giles paused and replaced his glasses on his nose as he chose his words with caution. “Seeing you as a daughter, as I find myself doing, I only have your best interests at heart usually—however misguided they may be. You know very well how parents can clash with their children in differences of opinion and views in things, but like your mother, I can’t just give up on you.”

She seemed a bit relieved by his response, but there were still issues to be cleared up. Giles wasn’t finished with his response, however.

“You know full well why I have warranted misgivings of you taking a vampire as a mate, but those are my complicated issues after...” He let it drop with a wave of his hand and she understood it was still too fresh to mention. “But, this is more serious; you’re mated. It can’t be undone, so I must get used to this and...I must admit he hasn’t gone on some mass murdering spree. In fact, vampire killings have gone down—what with both Angelus and Spike done with such behaviour. Also, that research I mentioned...implied that such unions are not as unique as the Council would have liked us to believe.”

“Really?” Willow interjected.

“Um, bigger problem,” Buffy said, sheepishly curbing the mating talk toward the more important news which contradicted part of Giles’ speech. “Angelus may not be so out of commission. Melody was attacked by what she reported as a feral Angel.”

That had the glasses whipping off at lightning speed. His hands were clearly shaking and Buffy took pity, leaning forward to pat his knee. Spike came back in right about this time to hand Giles his tea.

“We’ll find him...and stop him. Whatever it takes, I promise,” she said adamantly then noted the hint of doubt in his expression. “I will, if I have to...I’ve done it before and now, I have a mate to keep me from being confused. Heck, if anything, he might beat me to the staking.”

“You really think...” Willow began and trailed off as all eyes turned to her. “I mean, not to start more arguing...but if he has his soul again...if the spell worked like Buffy said it might’ve, then why can’t we try to ‘de-feral’ him to make sure before we jump to staking. Souled Angel, I know would be weird to have around after all he did...but he’d probably also help like before, yeah?”

Spike was pacing in the back and muttering, not liking this conversation at all. Buffy stood and went to place her good hand on his shoulder, neither saying a word but clearly communicating silently. He relaxed a bit as she massaged the back of his neck.

“By the way, how did you injure your arm?” Giles finally asked.

Buffy glanced away from her mate to look at her watcher. “Drusilla attacked me after she saw me dust Angel. She broke my arm before Spike could come running to my rescue like a knight in dark armour. Then I think the shock of losing both of the immediate family links made him retreat and the demon take over—so voila, feral Spike.”

“Feral, you say? And he did not try to attack you in that state?”

“Actually, he sort of took care of me. When I woke up, he was licking my wounds clean.” She wrinkled her nose at the memory. “He also brought me food.”

“Interesting.” The watcher’s hand was itching to write this down. “That is quite the strange behaviour for a feral vampire—or even a normal vampire, I suppose.”

“You forget that he took care of Drusilla, too,” Faith pointed out with a shrug. “Just saying...it seems to not be so unusual for this vampire to take care of people.”

“She was his sire. It still seems very out of place for him to just take care of a human girl, especially the slayer.” Giles took a sip of his tea then looked to Spike. “I wonder what he was thinking when he decided to nurse her wounds.”

Spike looked a bit startled, glancing between the watcher and Buffy. He shrugged off her hand and tried to hide his fidgeting, which only made it worse. His voice came out a bit strained.

“He...I...thought I was takin’ care of a potential mate...” he finally admitted.

All eyes were on him, but the only pair he cared about was the emerald ones belonging to his mate. Buffy’s brows were furrowed, puzzling out what he had just told them and thinking back to that night.

“You had already decided to claim me from the start?” she asked then shook her head. “You had only just got rid of Dru and I thought a feral vampire just thought about blood.”

“I’d just lost the only family I thought I had left.” Spike carefully watched his feet as he spoke. “I was feelin’ alone an’ somethin’ in me must’ve felt somethin’...seein’ as how I instinctively dusted Dru to save you.”

“It is highly odd that you easily dusted the seeming love of your unlife in favour of saving Buffy,” Giles interrupted when Buffy opened her mouth to say something. “Just as Buffy managed to recover so quickly from the trauma of dusting Angel and settled so easily into a domestic routine of sorts with you.”

Buffy’s head shot up and she looked at her watcher with wide eyes. She worked her mouth like a fish as she realized for herself how quickly she had recovered from that night and moved on to this thing with Spike. Did she use him as a rebound guy? Was she really just a whore for fang? Her pulse started to pound in her ears.

Then there were cool hands on her shoulders as Spike sensed her troubled thoughts and knelt beside her chair. He turned her face to his, speaking both for her and Giles’ benefits.

“Somethin’ in us must’ve known—known that we were meant to be mated. The fact we didn’t miss the others once they were gone, well, that just proves it, yeah?” He searched her eyes for sign that she heard him.

She bit her lip after a moment and nodded. “I guess. But, it’s still a bit weird that Tarzan looked at me as a mate from the beginning.”

“I think he was smarter than you gave him credit for,” he retorted then stood up. He motioned to Melody who was watching the exchange with a smile. “Knew what pretty kids we’d make.”

Melody blushed and grinned up at her dad.

“’Kids’? You have more than her?” Giles questioned and turned attention back to him.

“Oh,” Buffy’s mouth made a little O as they got back to business. She looked over at him and grimaced. “That would be the story of why our future daughter is here.”

Tbc...