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Life is Change	By : trudyw000 Category: BtVS Crossovers > Misc - Slash - Male/Male Views: 9166 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Sentinel, I make no money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Author's Note : Thank you Kayla Kodai, Kitty and 6phoenix6flame6 for your reviews to last chapter. I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story so far, although I'm not sure why you think that the story has been abandoned Kitty, I know it had been almost a week and a half since the last update when you posted that review but still, I think you may be expecting a little too much of me, after all I do have a full time job, a husband, two kids and a life outside of fanfic. Here is chapter 17, please read, enjoy and review.
Chapter 17
Jim stared, frozen at the blood that outlined each vicious tooth in that grinning mouth. He was held motionless by the conflict within him. On one side the Sentinel wanted to be happy for something that made a Guide so happy, on the other side was the fear inspired by this creature of myth and legend that lived on the blood of the innocent.
Blair handled the sight much better. He was concerned about his Sentinel though, they’d had a heavy few days, lots of surprises and he wasn’t sure how much more Jim could take. Standing up he approached the still grinning vampire and held out a hand offering his congratulations. Spike gleefully shook the offered hand, thanking Blair before nodding over to the still stunned Sentinel on the bed.
“I think I broke your Sentinel.”
Blair turned to his friend, the conflict was clear in Jim’s eyes as they flicked from Blair to Spike and back again. Before Blair could move to help his friend Xander stepped in, “I don’t think the fangs are helping.”
Looking sheepish Spike retracted the fangs as his forehead smoothed and his eyes changed back to their normal ice blue shade. As the visible signs of the vampire disappeared Jim seemed to shake off his fugue state. It had been the strangest feeling as the Sentinel warred with the man but as soon as the monster vanished and the attractive blonde reappeared his conflict was resolved. He still felt some niggling doubts at the back of his mind though, he’d been reassured that the chip kept the vampire in check. Now that the chip was apparently gone there was nothing but the man’s innate goodness to keep him under control. Still most of the human race managed to get by with nothing more, and in many cases with far less.
Steeling himself he stood stepping over to add his own congratulations to those already offered. Gratefully Spike shook his hand, “thanks.”
“So, what does this mean for the operation?” Blair asked, bringing the conversation back on track.
Spike and Xander exchanged a glance, “nothing changes, except now if there is any trouble with humans in the Butcher’s shop then Spike can defend himself.” Xander finally explained.
“And after?” Jim couldn’t help himself.
Spike just looked confused at the question.
“Jim means that it was the chip that kept you from chowing down on the general populace.” Blair clarified, his displeasure at the question causing him to translate it a little more bluntly than Jim would have preferred.
Strangely it was Xander who took offence at the question, stepping between the big detective and his friend, “and just what do you mean by that?” He asked angrily, but Spike held him back restraining the furious young man.
“He’s the Sentinel of the city, he has every right to ask about a perceived threat to his people.” Spike clearly understood something of the protective instincts inherent in the Sentinel persona and Jim was grateful for that.
“I didn’t mean any insult,” he confirmed, more in an attempt to mollify the two younger men than Spike who had impressed him with his maturity. Although Jim didn’t realise it, not having seen the vampire in any other setting, Spike’s attitude had changed a lot on this trip. Away from the constant derision of most of the Scoobies he was able to show more of the maturity he had within. He no longer felt the need to hide behind the infantile wall he’d built to defend against their constant taunts and barbed comments.
“None taken,” Spike agreed “I have no intention of ‘chowing down on the general populace’. I’ve gotten by on animal this long, I’m almost used to the taste.” Although the grimace that accompanied the words made them somewhat less than convincing.
“I don’t see the harm if the occasional perp comes up a pint or two short,” Blair shocked them all, “as long as they make it to trial in the end.”
“Blair!” Jim was shocked at his partner’s words, although thinking about it, there had been one or two criminals over the years that he wouldn’t have minded feeding to the smiling vampire.
If possible Spike’s grin widened at the byplay between the other Sentinel / Guide pair, but he had to be realistic. “As nice as that idea is, it might cause some uncomfortable questions if suspects started showing up with twin punctures in strategic places. Anyway, I’m not sure that I’d want to get that up close and personal with anyone else, a mouthful from Xander now and then is all I need.” This time the truth of his statement was obvious to everyone who saw the soft glow in the vampire’s expression as he gazed on his new love.
As Xander blushed at the mental picture that Spike’s words evoked Jim couldn’t help thinking of his own recent revelation about the beneficial effects of sleeping wrapped around his Guide. He decided that he could definitely understand what Spike was saying. Concluding that they had delayed long enough, he checked his watch and saw that it was getting late, the sun should certainly be down by now.
Seeing Jim glance at his wrist Spike turned his attention to his own internal clock. Vampire senses became attuned to the travels of the sun and he instantly knew that it was late enough for him to leave the room in safety. “Shall we go?” he asked.
Soon all four men were striding briskly down the street, retracing Spike and Xander’s steps from two nights before. They continued to chat as they walked, about a wide variety of things and Jim quickly found himself feeling just as comfortable in the blonde’s presence as he had before the chip had been removed.
Passing the pub where Spike and Xander had whiled away several very pleasant hours on the night they discovered the Butcher’s shop, the talk turned to the current mission.”So, you know what you’re doing tonight yes?” Jim asked and then answered himself before the others had a chance to speak. “You get in, get a sample of the blood and get out. No heroics, just get in, get what we need and get out.”
“Sir, yes Sir!” Xander snapped out with a cheeky salute, ducking as Spike levelled a playful swipe at his head.
They had reached the turning onto the target street now, Jim and Blair would wait here, out of sight of the shop, but hopefully within hearing range for the two Sentinels. Pulling the familiar ‘Big Bad’ persona around him like a cloak and with a jaunty wave to the Detectives Spike turned the corner, calling after him, “c’mon whelp, it’s showtime.”
Running a couple of paces, Xander quickly caught up to his Guide, all the while keeping up a sub-vocal commentary on events for Jim’s benefit. Spike didn’t know how they did it, Xander and Jim had gotten themselves so tuned in to each other that he couldn’t hear what his Sentinel was saying and they were walking shoulder to shoulder. The only thing that gave away the conversation going on below his hearing range was a slight flutter of Xander’s throat as he breathed the words.
Finally reaching the store Xander pushed open the door, respectfully holding it for Spike to pass by him. They had decided to play the roles of master and, well not quite thrall, more like boy-toy, just in case someone asked why a vampire was travelling with a human. As they walked in a loud bell rang above the shop door startling a dirty, unkempt looking man who was just pushing his way through a thick plastic curtain from the back of the shop. He had one filthy sleeve rolled up above the elbow and was holding a pad of cotton against the crook of his arm, the cotton startlingly white against his grimy skin.
The notes clutched tightly in his fist and the slight coppery tang of blood on the air made it plain that this gang was also paying for voluntary donations in addition to committing murder to obtain their product. Spike and Xander exchanged a quick glance, this could be a problem, they needed to get blood from one of the murder victims, blood from a willing source, while not exactly legal, wouldn’t give them what they needed. Thinking fast Xander murmured a quick question to Jim and hoped they could get him an answer quickly.
Trusting to Xander to find a way to get what they needed Spike tried to think of a way to stall for time. Then he discovered that he wouldn’t even need to try, for there, ushering out the homeless blood donor was a face he recognised.
“Viktor, fancy meetin’ you ‘ere!” The cockney street rat accent was back with a vengeance as Spike addressed the man he’d last seen forty years ago.
“Spike, you’ve got some nerve, showing your face here.” The tall, blue eyed blonde stopped dead, staring at Spike with animosity writ large upon his features.
“C’mon Viktor, it’s all water under the bridge now, Bitch left us both in the end.” As he listened to this exchange Xander had no idea what the past between Spike and this stranger was and to be honest he didn’t really care. He’d rely on Spike to keep them out of trouble, his job was to find a way to get the information that Jim had just whispered in his ear to his partner. He’d intended to murmur the message loud enough for Spike’s vampire hearing to pick up while leaving the human shop keepers oblivious. That wasn’t going to work now as this Viktor character appeared to be a vampire too, something they hadn’t expected.
“Don’t call me that, it’s Dieter now.” Viktor, or was it Dieter sounded much less angry now, in fact there was a distinct smirk to his lips as he continued, “so, Dru left you did she. Found someone better did she. You never were in her league gutter rat.”
Spike knew he aught to snipe back but his heart wasn’t in it. Yes Dru had left him, for a chaos demon no less, but what he had now so far exceeded anything he’d had with her that there was no competition. It seemed as if Xander could read his thoughts because at that moment the young man moved over to stand behind his left shoulder. His long body pressed tightly up against Spike’s back as he rested his chin on the vampire’s shoulder and grabbed a hold of the pale, slender hand.
Spike was confused but years of practice allowed him to hide it as Xander started tracing patterns on his palm with one finger. Tap tap, swirl, swirl, line, tap tap, swirl, swirl, line, as Xander started to repeat the pattern a third time Spike concentrated on the feel of that finger against his palm. Suddenly it clicked and with a swift turn of his head he lightly kissed the cheek that had been gently rubbing ear.
“Yeah, whatever, I saw the sign on the wall, I’ll take a pint of AB neg if you’ve got it.” Spike delivered the line confidently and the pleased huff of breath by his ear confirmed that he’d got it right.
“Bagging it! What’s up? Getting past it old man!” Twin growls erupted from the pair at Viktor / Dieter’s scathing words and the younger vampire found himself facing one angry master vampire and his suddenly equally scary human. Remembering why he’d lost out to Spike in the brief battle for Drusilla’s affections, Viktor quickly backed down, turning to call to someone out back, “one pint, AB neg, now!”
Happy at the speed with which Viktor had given in Spike smiled wickedly and chose to answer the other vampire’s question. “Not at all, but I’ve got better things to do with my time these days than chase down my next meal.” With those words he turned into Xander’s embrace and pressed their lips together in a searing kiss that had Xander hard within seconds. Hearing a shocked intake of breath as someone pushed aside the plastic curtain and stepped through Spike gently ended the kiss and turned his head to cast a sly sidelong glance at his old rival.
“Why buy, when you have a perfectly good human right there?” Viktor asked.
Spike just laughed softly and ran one teasing hand up Xander’s arm gently squeezing the firm bicep through the thin material of his shirt. “He’s in construction isn’t he, needs to keep his strength up.” Xander ducked his head, burying his face in Spike’s neck to hide the flush of arousal that flooded his cheeks at the blatant innuendo in the vampire’s voice.
A bulky man dressed in blood stained butcher’s whites stood behind the counter next to Viktor holding a blood packet and staring at them with disgust clear on his face. Placing a quick kiss over the bite mark at the juncture of Xander’s neck and shoulder Spike reached for the roll of cash that Cascade PD had supplied and peeled off five bills. Throwing them onto the counter top he snatched the blood packet out of the other man’s hand and thrust it into an inside pocket.
“I’d like to say it was a pleasure, but...” and with that parting shot Spike slung one arm around Xander’s waist and together they strode out of the shop and away down the street before Viktor or the butcher could react.
Maintaining a brisk pace but careful not to appear to be hurrying Spike and Xander quickly made it back to the street corner where they had left Jim and Blair. Turning the corner they found the other Sentinel / Guide pair standing beside a beat-up brown sedan talking to Simon as he leant against the car.
“Well, did you get it?” Simon asked as they rounded the corner.
“Of course!” Spike replied in obvious good spirits as he pulled the blood pack out of his pocket and handed it over to the big police captain.
Reaching in through the car window Simon pulled out a large evidence envelope and slipped the bag into it, sealing the envelope and signing the seal with a pen conjured from one of his many pockets.
“What was that about the blood group?” he asked once he had the evidence properly bagged and logged.
Here Xander took over the explanations, starting with a question, “did you see the guy who left the shop after we went in?”
“Homeless guy?” Simon answered the question with one of his own.
“Yeah, well he was coming out of the back of the shop as we came in, they’re buying blood from willing donors as well as taking it from your victims.” Xander stopped to survey the men in front of him to see if they got it but they all looked a little perplexed.
“I get why you wanted to know if any of the last set of victims had a rare blood type, what I don’t understand is why these guys would type the blood in the first place.” Blair finally voiced the question everyone wanted to ask.
Spike just looked at him like he’d asked a really stupid question, when he saw that no-one else shared his astonishment at being asked something so basic he answered as if it should be obvious. “You have a favourite flavour of ice-cream right,” he looked around and saw the uncertain nods from his audience, “well we have our favourite flavours too. And by the way, why didn’t anyone mention that this Dieter character only worked the night shift?”
Ignoring the apparent change of subject Blair zeroed in on what, to him, was the most important piece of information. “You mean you can type blood by taste!” The shock in his voice so heavy it bordered on disbelief.
“Even I can’t do that!” Jim muttered in amazement.
“Hey, wha’d’ya know, vampire senses still win out at something!” Spike sounded inordinately pleased at the revelation. “Yeah, I can type blood by taste, any vampire worth his salt can, and Dieter would have been able to tell them that.”
“What do you mean, Dieter could have told them that?” Simon asked.
“Dieter’s real name is Viktor, he was turned about 70 years ago, Dru and I ran into him 30 years after that. Dru took a fancy to him, took him under her wing for a while until I had to run him off. He was getting ideas above his station,” explained Spike.
Suddenly realising that they were discussing vampires in the middle of a public street whilst surrounded by police officers the three Cascadians looked around quickly to make sure that no-one was within hearing range. Luckily they were in the clear, although now that the operation was over and, apparently a success, the SWAT team lead was approaching them.
“We’ll continue this in my office,” said Simon, “get these two out of here.” And he swiftly walked over to meet the oncoming officer and confirm the order to stand-down.
As soon as the order was given the SWAT officers started to disassemble their weapons and creep silently away from their vantage points. Half an hour later there was no sign to show that anything had happened on the quiet street in Federal Way.
With a resigned expression on his face, Jim chivvied his partner and the two civilians back towards the hotel so that they could pick up their respective vehicles for the trip back to the Cascade PD. He was astounded at how well everything had gone, they had the blood, which would hopefully match back to one of the victims. More importantly, Spike and Xander had got in and out with no fanfare, no fireworks just ultimate professionalism, got in, got what they needed and got out.
Of course watching them now as they were horsing around in the street, play wrestling and making stupid jokes as they burned off the excess adrenaline it was hard to believe. But still he’d been impressed, running into another vampire, and one that Spike had known in the past no less, was a wrinkle that they had not planned for. Even so, everything had gone off without a hitch, Jim was a very happy man as he followed the frolicking threesome through the darkened streets of Federal Way.
By the time the four men joined Simon back in his office on the third floor of the Cascade Police Department building they had worked off most of the excess energy. Though there was still a decided air of playfulness about Spike and Xander as they entered the office shoulder to shoulder.
Simon was sat behind his desk, elbows propped up on the blotter, both hands wrapped around a steaming coffee cup, eyes closed as he breathed in the caffeinated fumes with a look of decided satisfaction on his face. As they filed through the door his eyes slowly opened and with a small smile he waved them in. Jim propped himself against the closed door as Blair took the seat opposite Simon at the desk. Xander and Spike were still too keyed up to sit and just found places to perch around the office.
Taking a slow sip of his coffee before reluctantly putting down the cup Simon surveyed the men arrayed around the small, glass walled room. “Well, first things first, congratulations on a job well done. We got a sample of the blood they are selling, I dropped the package off in the lab on my way back up from the car, we should have the results by the morning. If they tie one of our victims in to the butcher’s shop then we will have no trouble getting a warrant and mounting a raid sometime tomorrow. Now from the top, I want to know everything that happened from the moment you entered the shop.”
And so, with Simon taking copious notes as they spoke and with Jim providing occasional prompts, Spike and Xander relayed everything that they could remember of the events of the evening. When they had finished talking they waited in silence as Simon carried on writing for several more minutes. Eventually finishing up the weary Police Captain capped his pen and stowed it away in a drawer along with the detailed mission debrief.
“Right, now tell me the details that I can’t put in my report.” He asked with a finality that permitted no argument.
“Alright,” Spike started to lay out all that he knew, or had surmised from what he had learned that evening. “Loganschmidt is the brains of the outfit, he’s a vampire and when Dru and I ran into him forty years ago he was calling himself Viktor. He ran with us for a few years but he got it into his head that Dru could do much better than me, namely himself, and I had to show him the error of his ways. He was a money grubbing worm, even back then, always had an eye to the main chance, any way to make a few bucks was good to him. I imagine he saw an opportunity to sell bagged blood and so he took the job at the donation centre. Then he hooked up with someone at the butcher’s shop as front man for the operation. I don’t know how he convinced them to turn to murder to supplement their supplies when he got himself fired but he’s a charismatic bugger. It wouldn’t have been that hard for him to thrall them into committing the first few murders, after that it wouldn’t be hard to convince them that they were too far in to get out easy.”
When he was finished Spike looked around to see if anyone had any questions. Jim just had one, “OK, so I get why Xander asked if any of the recent victims had an unusual blood type, but I didn’t hear him passing that information on to you and I’m pretty sure I heard every word he spoke the whole time. How did he pass the message on without giving the whole thing away to this other vampire?”
Here Xander took up the story, “that was easy, allow me to demonstrate,” and stepping across the small space he took Jim’s hand in his and started to trace the letters into the palm of the other Sentinel’s hand.
Hearing twin growls Xander looked up from his demonstration to see two pairs of bright blue eyes glaring at him as he stood close to the other Sentinel. Quickly he dropped the other man’s hand and stepped away, hands spread in a placating gesture as he moved to stand at Spike’s side. He might be new to this Sentinel lark but there was one thing he had picked up very quickly, do not anger the Guide. Definitely don’t anger two Guides at once, they will make your life very miserable.
Seeing what the other Sentinel was doing Jim quickly followed suit, moving to crouch beside Blair’s chair he reached for the younger man’s hand. “Xander was just showing me how he passed the message along, see” and he started a small demonstration of his own while providing a commentary for Simon’s benefit. “Two taps to start, then A,” he formed an exaggerated swirl on Blair’s palm to form a lowercase letter A, “b” another swirl formed a lowercase B, “negative” finally a short line across the palm provided the negative symbol.
Blair simply smiled and clasped the hand, still swirling out its message on his palm. To be truthful he’d been somewhat surprised to realise that half of the growl he’d heard had come from his own chest. He’d been watching Xander and Spike and could clearly see that the two men only had eyes for each other, and he knew how hard Jim had been trying to mend his ways. He knew deep down that he had no reason to fear anything more than comradeship between Xander and Jim yet somehow he felt some small insecurity deep down inside himself. Then looking into Jim’s anxious face he knew why he was concerned, a vision from several years earlier swam before his mind’s eye. A vision of a beach, a slender, blonde woman and Jim holding her tight in his arms as they fell to their knees in the sand, locked together at the lips and joined in a pheromone induced haze.
Recognising the cause of his anxiety made it easy for Blair to throw it off. Alex was no threat to them now, the woman had been left a drooling vegetable in a secure psychiatric facility after an ill-judged attempt to augment her already impressive Sentinel abilities. Xander was nothing like Alex had been, he already had his own guide and the pair of them seemed well on the way to establishing a strong bond. With a reassuring smile to his Sentinel Blair stood, pulling the older man to his feet along with him.
“Do you need anything more from us tonight?” he asked the big man behind the desk who replied with a tired smirk and a vague wave towards the door. Blair correctly interpreted this as a dismissal and led his three companions out of the door and back towards the elevators.
Watching the four men leave Simon chuckled softly, it amused him to see the big Detective whose brusque attitude had cowed half the department for the last ten years or so brought so swiftly to heel by his young partner. There had definitely been a major change in that relationship recently and he could only see that as a good thing. The boisterous anthropologist had been fading away before their very eyes for a long time now. It was good to see him back, and hopefully back to stay.
Surveying the paperwork spread across his desk Simon decided that nothing more of any great importance was going to happen tonight. He knew he would benefit greatly from a decent night’s sleep in his own bed. So after a quick call down to the lab, who confirmed they were unlikely to have any results on the blood from the butcher’s shop before morning, he closed his office door and headed home for the first time in over a week.
It was around three o’clock in the morning when a runner from the lab entered the Major Crimes bullpen to see Simon’s office empty and dark. Not recognising any of the night shift officers working quietly on their own cases the young man in the lab coat tried the office door. Finding it unlocked he slipped inside and laid the results of the DNA testing over the keyboard on the desk where it would immediately draw Captain Banks’ notice when he returned in the morning. Slipping back out of the office he headed back to the elevators and down to the labs unaware of the dark eyes that followed his progress across the floor, only shifting to stare intently at the glass windows of the Day shift Captain’s office when the elevator doors had firmly closed behind him.
A/N: Well there it is, tell me what you think. Please review.
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Life is Change