Disclaimer: Every character that has been taken from BtVS or AtS belongs to Joss Whedon. Every other character belongs to me

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Fetching Mad Scientist. If there are still any mistakes in the text, it's absolutely mine fault.

Originally, this flashback was a part of Chapter 5. Because it's very long and can be read separately, I decided to post it like that. I hope that it'll make it easier to read.

Also, it's the last update in this month. I'm going on holidays and I won't be back before September. However I won't be able to publish anything, because I will simply have no access to the Internet, I promise I'll be writing and I'll come back with the next chapters.

Thanks to all of my readers and reviewers - you make 'Insight' worth writing and posting!

***

Greenvill, 2005

Jenna was walking through the cemetery alley with both hands buried deep in the pockets of her jacket, one of them clenching a hidden stake. All alone, at night, playing vampire bait – it was freaking scary. And she shouldn’t have been scared, she shouldn’t have been so damn close to panicking because she had the power, the strength and the speed, because she was –

Tinglies. Rustling leaves. Footsteps.

– A slayer.

She took a few breaths before turning around.

‘Not freaking out, not freaking, not…’ Okay, she was already freaking out.

She found herself face to face with not one, but three vampires.

One of them smiled broadly, “Hello, puppy.”

The other two chuckled wickedly.

“And what is a cute little thing like you doing in such a dangerous place?” He inquired politely in a little odd and old-fashioned manner of speaking. One of his companions licked his lips hungrily, which made her want to throw up.

“Maybe she’s waiting for someone?” the third vamp asked no one in particular. “Maybe there are more of her wee little friends somewhere around here?”

“Do tell, puppy,” the first one – probably a leader – encouraged her. “Are you all alone? Poor little lost lamb – ”

“Maybe little, but neither a puppy, nor a lamb,” Jenna said, gritting her teeth.

The vampires looked at each other and laughed.

“Aw, how sweet,” the leader teased. “Neither a puppy, nor a lamb… So what? A kitten maybe?”

Jenna pulled out a stake in a silent response.

“And, the kitten you shall be.” The vampires changed into their game faces, “ You’re showing claws – ”

“Damn right I am,” the girl cut in and attacked, remembering that offense was supposed to be the best defense. Well, whoever said that had been way bigger than she was – and in less trouble.

Jenna acted on impulse – it was all she could do these days. She might have lacked experience, skills and grace in fighting – but she had power, basic knowledge and a great desire to live through the night. So she was kicking and punching with all her strength. That was what the instinct was telling her to do, and she trusted it because so far, her instinct had never failed her.

Somehow she managed to dust one of the minions. The other two froze in a sudden shock, obviously scared and the one on the left looked expectantly at his master. To his, and Jenna’s surprise, the older vampire chuckled, “Here, kitty, kitty, ” he said.

The younger demon lunged forward. Jenna ducked, hoping he would lose his balance. And indeed, he stumbled clumsily. In a split second he was nothing more than a pile of dust. Holding the stake firmly, Jenna quickly turned around to face the leader.

But, not quickly enough.

The vampire was much faster. He attacked her from the behind, kicking her hard in the back. Jenna hit one of the tombstones, feeling searing pain in her head. She tried to get up. She had to get up. She had to fight, she didn’t want to end like this, all alone in the graveyard –

A pair of strong, cold hands surrounded her neck. She closed her eyes.

“Nothing better than a little kitten-like snack before bedtime – ”

“Your mum forgot to tell you it’s bloody unhealthy to eat before sleep, mate?” Somebody spoke in a thick, British accent. Jenna’s eyes snapped open only to see the vampire’s teeth inches from her skin.

Hearing the intruder’s retort, the vampire froze, obviously annoyed that someone dared to interrupt his meal.

He growled, “And yours forgot to tell you it’s rude to bother a person who’s eating?”

“Aw, come on, mate,” the guy mocked. “You not sharin’?”

“No,” came the angry reply. The slayer felt the grip on her neck tightening dangerously. She couldn’t decide what was worse – being drained or choked to death.

“Too bad,” the Brit smacked, disappointed. “Since you’re not treatin’, I gotta help myself without an invitation.”

That was beyond the vampire’s patience. Fuming, he let Jenna go, and she slid flatly to the ground. The vampire lunged at the stranger. However, Jenna felt dizzy and her sight was blurred, she couldn’t keep herself from sighing in admiration.

The man, who – intentionally or not – had saved her from becoming a vampire’s snack, was the best fighter she had ever seen. His moves were full of cat-like grace, fluent and precise. Clad in black, he was barely visible and only his strangely white head shone in the dark.

The vampire Jenna had considered a master stood no chance against this man, who dusted his opponent in no time.

Her savior approached. “You okay?” He asked and helped her stand up… Jenna’s eyes grew in shock and fear.

His hands were cold. Dead cold. Comprehension slowly downed at her.

You not sharin’? Since you’re not treatin’, I gotta help myself…

Another vampire. And this time, a real master.

“What are you doin’ here at night?” He frowned, looking at her intently.

“N-nothing,” she replied in a voice that was shaking a little bit. While she started to move away from him, her hand slowly wandered to the back pocket of her jeans, where she had been always keeping a spare stake.

“Nothin’? You know how much this nothin’ could have cost you?” He looked at her angrily.

“I guess so – “

“No, you bloody well can’t guess,” he mocked her. “You know why? Too little imagination, that’s why!”

“Spike!”

The vampire turned in the direction of the voice. It was an opportunity she couldn’t miss. Using his distraction, she raised the stake, ready to plunge it home –

“Look out!” somebody shouted.

Everything happened so quickly, that even moths later, better trained and more experienced, Jenna had a problem with remembering how she had found herself pressed to the ground and sniffling the cemetery grass, with her arms twisted on her back. A cold hand grabbed her wrist, forcing her to drop her weapon.

“You are… a tricky little bird – ” She heard muttering above her.

Jenna struggled and tried to shout for help, but the grass muffled her scream. So instead, she tried kicking the vampire off her, but it was impossible to hit somebody who was sitting on your back.

“ …And a strong one – ” There was genuine surprise in the vampire’s voice.

“Wow, and you’re a bright one,” said the third person, the one who had warned him earlier. Another vampire?

Most likely.

“I would thank you,” the Brit snarled, “if I weren’t about to kill you. What the bloody hell are you doin’ here?!”

“Ah, beside saving your skinny, vampire ass?”

A vampires – to be specific. A young one. Or maybe just somebody turned young, the slayer corrected herself. Her voice was cheery and chirpy and most definitely girly – and, strangely, familiar.

“My ass is not bloody skinny,” the male sounded affronted, “and it’s sure as hell not in need of savin’.”

“Yeah, right, because you so weren’t about to be dusted by – oh, gosh, unbelievable! – A local slayer.”

Jenna held her breath. How did she…?

“A slayer?” The English vampire repeated slowly, savouring those words.

Jenna, feeling the adrenaline kicking in, made one last effort to free herself –

“Stop… bloody… wriggling!”

“You know, it’s been scientifically proved that slayers who don’t think they’re going to be killed are much less wriggly,” the vampiress noted, matter-of-factly.

“Why does she think she’s going to be killed?”

Jenna froze.

“Don’t know, unfortunate circumstances maybe. Night, a graveyard, a vamp sitting atop her.”

“If I let her go, she’ll stake me,” came the calm and reasonable reply.

“C’mon, she’s in my class, she can’t be older than – what? Thirteen?“

The slayer didn’t even notice when she was freed, the shocking realization striking her once again this night, as she recognized the girl’s voice. Collecting her thoughts, she jumped on her feet.

“You?!” Jenna shouted accusingly, facing the pink-haired girl she had met in school.

“Um, me?” Carrie smiled shyly, looking away. “And – hey yourself.”

I moved here a week ago with my… older cousin, w-who’s British and…

Shit.

“B-but you’re not a vampire – “ She finally stuttered.

“A slayer, you say? Could believe that, seeing how smart she is not,” the man – who was a vampire – joked.

“I’m sorry,” Carrie apologized sincerely, ignoring her companion's retort. “I didn’t want it to end like that… I would tell you… Eventually.”

“What are you?” Jenna whispered in utter shock, “To live with… with such a creature – “

“Hey, standing right here, Freckles!”

“I couldn’t let you kill him. You have to know that – “

“All I have to know is how to plunge a stake into a vampire’s heart!”

“Let me explain, it’s important – “

“No, you let me explain,” Jenna said through gritted teeth, anger rising in her. “And listen up, ‘cause I’m gonna cover some basics here. This is my town, get it? And I won’t let any bloodsuckers wander around – not on my watch. You,” she pointed at Carrie, “can leave. I’ll cut you some slack for being human and extremely dumb. But he,” she pointed at the pink girl’s companion, “stays. Preferably, in the ground.”

The vampire smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Didn’t hear you saying that neither when the bad guy had you pinned to the tomb stone, nor when I had you pinned to the ground.”

“You – “

“That’s a big talk, Freckles, for such a little girl you are,” the vampire didn’t let her finish. “Very slayer like. No surprise here, considerin’ the fact that the Council of Wankers teaches that rot to all its girls.”

“Yeah, and how would you know?” Jenna challenged.

“Been there, done that.” The Brit shrugged casually. He became serious in a moment, looking at her intently. “Known a few blokes – beside the point – the thing is, we had a little misunderstandin’ here. I saved your life, havin’ no idea who you are, and now you wanna stake me, havin’ no idea who I am.”

“Where did you get the idea I need to know that?”

The vampire’s smile broadened and he turned to Carrie, “I like that one, Sunbeam. She’s sassy. Look, love, if you run into that English guy of yours, who probably considers himself as your watcher, he’ll tell you that not all vamps are black hats.”

Jenna raised her eyebrows skeptically, “And you’re one of them?”

“And how quick, isn’t she?”

“Bullshit,” the slayer exclaimed.

“Language.”

Carrie rolled her eyes, her irritation growing. “You gonna tell her, Spike, or you two prefer to bicker the whole night? ‘Cause hello, some of us are neither a corpse, nor have superpowers and are freezing now!”

Spike shot a dirty look. “You better stop bloody complain’ and start thinkin' of an excuse good enough for me not to kill you for wanderin’ in the cemeteries at night – ”

“Tell me what?” Jenna asked, staring at this strange duo. She was starting to realize that indeed, nobody’s going to hurt anybody and she became more relaxed. However, she was still cautious.

“He is,” Carrie said in a mockingly festive tone, “a vampire with a soul. Beware, forces of evil, his stupid hair and British curses nobody understands – “

Spike hit her playfully in the pink head. “Hey!”

The slayer blinked. Once. Twice.

“Huh?”

“Oh, the tormented soul of his shall or shall not but eventually shall be – “

“You’re Angelus?”

Silence. Spike scolded, Carrie looked as if she was about to laugh. What did they think? That she was some kind of stupid, mindless muscle? Her watcher – her ex-watcher, the coward and the filthy traitor – left all his books in the basement she had been training in. There were tons of old, smelly volumes, good for lonely, cold evenings… When he had left, Jenna decided that she didn’t want to work with any of those Council jerks ever again. Still, she needed somebody to do research for her. And since she had no one, she had to do it herself.

So she was not a stupid, mindless muscle. She was a well-educated muscle.

“Are you Angelus?” She repeated patiently. “’Cause if you are, gotta tell you – you looked different in the sketches from my books – “

“No,” Carrie answered for Spike, “he’s the other vampire with the soul. Look it up in a revised edition.”

“Why the other? Why can’t he be the other for once?”

“Because he was first? About a century faster – ”

Spike rolled his eyes and sighed, “Yeah, right, forget it. Point is that I’m on your side, Freckles,” he looked at Jenna intently, “And even if I’m not featured in your fancy books, you can check in with the Council.”

Whoa. Checking in with the Council? Who was going to check whom? Jenna…? If Spike was really one of the good guys, or Spike, if Jenna was still in touch with watchers?

Considering the fact she had faked her own death just to get them out of her hair – she didn’t like the idea of them coming back into her life.

“Let’s assume I believe you,” she started slowly, minding her own words, “Let’s assume I won’t ask how you know about me being a slayer. What will happen then?”

“Nothin’,” Spike answered. “Well, nothin’ you don’t want to happen, pet. We’ll part here – I’ll take Sunbeam home, you’ll go back to yours. Kinda like a truce,” he smiled mysteriously.

“A truce?”

“I’m not getting’ into your way, you’re not getting’ into mine.”

“How will I know you’re not killing?”

“Told you. Can call the watchers. If I’m lying, they’ll send you enough of a backup to take me down .”

Jenna was silent for a moment, making her decision. 'Kay, a quick list of pros and cons for the stakage: Pros: he was a vampire. Vampires needed to be staked. Cons: he was a master vampire, and seeing him fighting had left Jenna without any doubts about her chances. Meaning – she had none. What was more, there was a possibility he was telling the truth. Next, seeing if he indeed had a soul would require contacting the Council, which she couldn't do – so a pro for staking-without-asking, here. But how was she going to kill him on her own, without the watchers' support? Another con –

Finally, she looked straightly at him, “Fine. We’ve got ourselves a truce.”

The vampire held her gaze. After a few seconds, he put his hand on Carrie’s shoulder. “Let’s go, Sunbeam.”

They turned around and started to walk away.

“Spike!”

He stopped.

“Just because we’ve got a truce doesn’t mean I trust you.”

Jenna could swear that he smirked. He was silent for so long that she didn’t think he’d answer her, but he did, “That you don’t.”