Adult-FanFiction.org : Buffy

Humanity	By : QueenB Category: AtS/BtVS Crossovers > Het - Male/Female > Angel(us)/Buffy > Angel(us)/Buffy Views: 4278 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Willow was busy working on some of her college homework when she heard a soft beeping from her laptop. She bounded out of bed, causing Tara to look up expectantly. The two girls bent over the console reading the message intently. Willow paled and turned to Tara. “We need to talk to Buffy right away.”
Buffy had put in the phone call to Angel earlier, which involved the tense awkwardness that was the hallmark of any conversation they had with each other. She wondered if she’d ever be able to speak to him calmly like a friend. Yeah, right. It’s always soooooooo easy for former lovers to become friends, isn’t it?
He’d confirmed her meager knowledge of the Mohra and added that the demon’s blood needed to seep into a wound or cut on the vampire’s body. The hand was preferable but any part would do. She’d restrained herself from asking him how he’d acquired such knowledge and he didn’t volunteer the information.
She’d also questioned him about Onegin. Not much to her surprise, he’d not only heard of him, he’d actually spent time in his castle over a century ago. The Russian boyar hadn’t been particularly cunning, only ruthless, though astonishingly kind when it came to tending to his human serfs. He hadn’t travel extensively like other vampires, preferring to keep to his ancestral home. He liked wealth, comfort, luxury and demanded absolute loyalty from his vampiric followers.
In spite of keeping the call strictly businesslike, she could feel the tension vibrating down the phone line. She’d gotten off the phone as quickly as possible, glad of the interruption from Willow and Tara.
“Buffy, there’s a problem.” Willow outlined the dilemma that had come through the email. Melissa had expressed her distaste at eating the other minions’s “leftovers” (that’s how she referred to humans who’d been so badly drained they barely had any blood left in them) and requested that Onegin have pig’s blood sent in.
Onegin had explained that no one in his castle drank animal blood when there were so many delicious humans to be had for the picking. So he’d scheduled her for her first hunt--and it was tonight. She’d be going out with at least fifteen other vampires, ostensibly for their nightly feeding. But Melissa knew better. They were there to keep an eye on her.
“What do we do? She told us where the others hunt but that’s a lot of ground to cover and there’s not enough of us.”
Buffy thought hard for a moment. Then she huffed in exasperation. “We’ll have to consult Spike on this one. He may have a better idea of where these particular vampires are likely to be.”
“No, Buffy, wait, you’re forgetting the scrying mirror!”
She felt like kicking herself. Of course! The scrying mirror was a new acquisition of Willow’s that she’d bought from the Magic Box. All you had to do was look into it and concentrate on the object of your search and it would magically appear. “Let’s hope she’s someplace with recognizable landmarks.”
Buffy ran to her bedroom and pulled the mirror from her drawer. After talking it over with Willow, it seemed to make more sense for her to keep it since she was the Slayer and needed to know about what was going on in the Hellmouth that was Sunnydale.
She stared hard into its depths, recalling the vampire she’d seen in the Magic Box just that afternoon. The mirror’s surface clouded and then cleared to reveal Melissa in the midst of a bunch of unfamiliar vamps. She was striving to maintain an air of nonchalance but there was a look of barely concealed panic on her face and, panning around the area, Buffy saw why. One of the other vamps had captured a young girl, about seventeen by the looks of her. The girl was screaming and twisting in his grip while he bit down savagely into her throat.
Buffy got the mirror to move around the area and quickly located the cross streets. She replaced the mirror in the drawer again and conveyed the news. “Got it! Call Xander and Anya and tell them where to meet us and bring plenty of stakes.”
“Shouldn’t we bring crossbows with this many vamps?”
“No, we don’t want to take the chance of hitting Melissa.” Willow smiled to herself. It sounded as if Buffy might be willing to help the vampiress after all.
“Guys, are you going out on patrol?”
Buffy hung up the phone and turned to see Dawn staring at her accusingly from the hallway. Buffy glared, “Dawn, what have I told you about spying on us?”
“It’s not spying if you leave the door open. Buffy, you can’t go out and leave me alone. There’s a law against that and you are trying to prove that you’re a good parent, aren’t you?” Dawn smugly replied.
Buffy gritted her teeth in annoyance and then answered in a deceptively sweet tone. “That’s only for minors, Dawn. You keep telling me you’re not a kid. Which is it?”
“Well, if I’m a kid, I need a babysitter ‘cause that’s the law. But if I’m an adult, then I’m old enough to go on patrol. So why won’t you take me? It’s not as if I haven’t killed a vamp before.”
“Don’t remind me, Dawn. That’s when you snuck out on Halloween and lied to me and the others about it, remember? Besides, you weren’t patrolling. You were going parking with a boy who tried to rip out your throat.”
“God, you’re just not going to let it go, are you?”
“Hey, you’re the one who brought it up!” Buffy pulled herself up abruptly. Now was NOT the time to get pulled into another fruitless argument with Dawn. “Dawn, we’re going up against a major gang. Just stay here and don’t leave the house. Please?”
When Dawn didn’t respond, Buffy decided to play her trump card. She moved closer to her sister and said in a low voice, “Dawn, when I came back from the dead, you said you’d try harder. But lately all we seem to do is fight. How am I supposed to do my job as a Slayer if you make me worry about you all the time?”
The shot hit home. She could see it in the stricken look that appeared in Dawn’s face just before it closed off. “Fine,” Dawn muttered. “I’ll stay home.” Stifling a pang of guilt, Buffy snatched up her coat and slammed out the door with the two wiccans.
__________
Melissa found herself in a steadily mounting state of terror. The other vampires had all eaten, leaving various bodies scattered behind them. Corpses had been thrown into dumpsters or chucked into the bushes. They had become impatient with her, egging her on to take a victim. She’d managed to avoid it so far, saying she wanted to see how they managed before she tried. And for the last fifteen minutes, the streets had been mercifully deserted. One of the vampires had jokingly suggested they take to the woods and see if they could catch any teenagers making out. Melissa flinched as a voice suddenly seemed to come out of nowhere.
[MELISSA, CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT’S WILLOW. DON’T TALK OUT LOUD. IT’S A TELEPATHIC LINK. JUST LET ME HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS.]
[WILLOW? MY GOD, HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS? I HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE THIS POWERFUL A WITCH.]
[IT’S WICCAN, THANK YOU. YOU’RE CLOSE, I CAN TELL. HOW ARE YOU?]
[JUST FINE FOR THE MOMENT, BUT THE OTHERS ARE GETTING IMPATIENT. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?] The plaintive nature of that question and the obvious fear behind it removed the last of Willow’s doubts. This woman was definitely in need of rescuing.
[TARA AND I ARE AROUND THE CORNER ON A BENCH. JUST FOLLOW YOUR NOSE.]
Melissa understood. Using her vampiric senses, she quickly latched onto Willow’s scent.
Oh my, the girl smelled like strawberries. She pointed ahead of her and told the others, “I’m smelling something good. That way.” She hoped that sounded sufficiently tough and eager. The other vampires followed her at a lope as she cleared the corner.
Then they all stiffened, she in shock, the others with appreciative growls and low whistles. The two girls were sitting on a bench together, kissing and fondling each other, to all appearances totally oblivious to their surroundings.
Tara had initially balked at Willow’s plan. Willow had pointed out that lesbians making out was usually a predictable turn-on, even for vampires as old as the ones Melissa had mentioned. It would be a good distraction, giving Buffy and the others a chance to surround the other vamps.
“Great!” one vampire crowed. Idly she remembered that he was Stanley, only about three years old. “A two-for-one! I want a taste of this.”
He moved forward eagerly when one of the others grabbed him. “Don’t be greedy, Stan. You already ate. Let’s see what Melissa does.”
She hung back a little. “Come on, guys. This is my first hunt. Don’t you think it’s a little…unwise for me to try for two my first time?”
The vampire who’d last spoken rolled his eyes. “They’re human females, for Chrissakes. How much of a fight do you think they’ll put up? And if they give you any trouble, we’ll be right here to help. Now get a move on!” With that, he shoved her roughly towards the two girls.
Melissa advanced nervously. [WILLOW, ARE YOU STILL LISTENING? THEY’RE RIGHT BEHIND ME. IF YOU’RE GOING TO TRY ANYTHING, IT HAD BETTER BE SOON.]
Melissa sauntered up to the two girls, trying to appear casual. “Hello, girls. Lovely couple weather, isn’t it?
The two girls jerked apart, apparently taken by surprise. “Geez, lady, we’re kinda in the middle of something here. Would you mind moving along?” Willow scowled.
“This is a public area, in case you haven’t noticed. If you girls are determined to play slap-and-tickle where anybody can see you, then you should be prepared for the consequences.”
Tara put on a credible sneer. “What are you gonna do? Tell our parents?”
Melissa appeared to think it over for a moment or two. “No, why drag them into it? Besides I want to keep you both for myself.”
Willow and Tara glanced at each other, the very pictures of confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Tara squinted.
Melissa leaned closer, shielding the two briefly from the sight of the other vamps. “I mean, have you ever considered making this a threesome?”
Tara pulled away, feigning disgust. “Hell no, b-bitch!” Willow held back a giggle at Tara’s attempt to sound badass. “We don’t even know you.”
Willow tilted her head and gave Melissa a saucy grin. “I don’t know, sweetie. You’re always telling me to try new things.” Over Tara’s spluttered protests, she turned back to Melissa and batted her eyes. In spite of the severity of the situation, Melissa nearly laughed at her “saucy” expression. “Just what did you have in mind, miss?”
[GET READY, MELISSA. BUFFY’S CLOSE. BUT THERE’S STILL NO SIGN OF THE OTHERS.]
[SHOULD I CONTINUE TO STALL?]
[YEAH. THEY SHOULD BE HERE ANY MOMENT.]
Melissa slid between the two girls, draping an arm over both of them. She idly played with Willow’s hair. “You know, I’ve always had a thing for redheads. Shall I start with you?”
Willow blinked. She hadn’t expected things to go this far. Without warning, she found herself in a passionate embrace as Melissa pulled her close and pressed her mouth over hers. The vampiress teased Willow’s lips with her tongue and Willow gave a startled ‘mmmph!’ as the nimble thing slipped into her mouth. Almost unconsciously, she found herself shifting closer and twining her tongue around Melissa’s as the latter moved her hand slowly downwards and started stroking Willow’s throat in a sensual caress.
Abruptly, Melissa’s head jerked back and Willow had to stifle a moan of regret as Melissa pulled her hair out of Tara’s hand. “Hey, nobody kisses my girl but me!”
Melissa shook her hair and smiled sweetly at the irate blonde. “Aww, what’s the matter, cutie? Were you feeling left out? Let me kiss it and make it better.” She clasped Tara’s hand and tugged her closer.
[GUYS! WE CAN’T WAIT MUCH LONGER. I THINK THE OTHER VAMPS ARE GETTING ANTSY. ARE YOU READY?] The three females jumped as Buffy sprang out from behind the bench, brandishing a stake.
Melissa cowered back and screamed for all she was worth. Buffy whirled in time to face the other demons as they sprang to the attack.
Just moments after they appeared, Willow and Tara joined hands and whispered a magical incantation. A ring of scarlet misty flame darted all around the startled vampiress and the three girls. The two wiccas smiled in satisfaction while Melissa stared, utterly mystified. [IT’S A SPELL OF PROTECTION. NO VAMPIRE CAN CROSS IT SO THEY’RE ALL LOCKED IN HERE WITH US. THEY CAN’T GET OUT.]
[BUT THAT MEANS THAT I’M TRAPPED HERE, TOO!]
The two girls stared at each other, chagrined, and then gave her a reassuring smile. [THAT’S OKAY. BUFFY WILL PROTECT YOU.] Melissa appeared less than convinced.
Buffy swiftly staked the first vampire who charged her and two more in quick succession. “Get back! It’s the Slayer!” one of the others yelled. “The boss told us to avoid her!”
“Screw that! She’s just one girl. And she’s a hell of a lot smaller than Onegin made her out to be.” That came from Stanley. Young as he was, he hadn’t yet learned the proper fear and boldly decided he would be the one to take her out. What a coup that would be, taking down the Slayer!
His over-confidence lasted all of ten seconds as Buffy easily parried his clumsy windmilling blows and staked him. As he crumbled to dust, the other vampires panicked and tried to escape. But the mystical barrier effectively trapped them. After that, Buffy staked them all in swift succession.
A car came screeching to a halt moments later. Anya staggered from inside, hefting an impressive battleaxe. “Hi, everybody! Is there anything we can…..,” She paused when Buffy stood up, brushing off the vampire dust clinging to her clothes. “Oh, I guess you took care of them all.”
Buffy glanced at her sarcastically. “Yeah, Anya, glad you could make it. Better late than never, I suppose.”
Anya dropped the axe and shrugged. “Well, we would have been here sooner only Xander drives so slowly.”
“Anya, like I kept telling you, I couldn’t risk being pulled over for speeding. We’d have had a tough time explaining to the cops why we have a whole arsenal of stakes, axes and swords in the trunk. There’s a little law against carrying concealed weapons that we humans have. We’re just funny that way.”
“And I kept telling you that if you kept them in the backseat in plain view, they wouldn’t be concealed, would they?”
As Xander and Anya continued to bicker, Buffy walked over to the three women on the bench. “Great going, you two. It worked like a charm.”
The two wiccans beamed with pride, while Melissa stood up slowly, staring at Buffy with awe in her eyes. “That was…fantastic. I mean, Onegin warned us what you were capable of but it didn’t really sink in before. You really are the Slayer.”
Buffy gave an uncertain smile. She’d never had a vampire look at her with such admiration. Not even Angel had been so appreciative.
Melissa looked at the scattered piles of dust on the street and appeared to snap back to reality. “I’d better get going.”
Willow jumped up in dismay. “You’re going back now?”
She nodded. “I have to. I’ll go to Onegin and tell him the bad news.” She put a weepy expression on her face and blubbered, “Onegin! There was nothing I could do. The Slayer, she just came out of nowhere and started murdering us all. It was all I could do to escape.” Her face relaxed back into a normal, bland look. She caught everyone choking back sniggers. “What? Too subdued?”
They all broke out laughing. Her good humor seemed infectious. She smiled back, a genuine look of happiness before she sobered again. “I’m off, then.”
Willow caught her hand impulsively. “No, wait, Melissa. You don’t need to go back right away. You can tell Onegin that you had to hide from the Slayer and couldn’t get back until near dawn.”
Melissa raised an eyebrow. “Yessss, I could do that but…why stick around?”
Buffy replied, “I spoke to Angel. He gave us instructions about the Mohra and you should be prepared. Besides, if we stay here on the street discussing it, we’re bound to attract attention. Xander, think we can all fit in your car?”
Xander counted heads. “One large powerful male and five small females. It’ll be a tight fit but, yep, I think we can squeeze you all in. Hop aboard, ladies.” Melissa smiled at the description of herself as “small” and pushed herself into the backseat.
Buffy and the others were glad to get back to the Summers’s residence. On the drive over, Anya had kept up a running commentary about some of Buffy’s past exploits including Spike’s fairly recent involvement with the little group. Melissa had listened wide-eyed to tales of his exploits and some of his major gaffs. But when the ex-demon started delving into the touchy topic of Buffy’s resurrection, it had taken some harsh whisperings from Xander and cold glares from the others to shut her up.
“So you’re telling me that Spike has a chip in his head that keeps him from hurting humans?”
“Yep, courtesy of the Initiative.” At Melissa’s worried look, Anya hastened to reassure her. “Don’t worry about them. They got attacked by a whole lot of demons and some Frankenstein freak named Adam. Buffy and the others helped destroy the demons and saved the Initiative so they cleared out of town. No one’s seen them since.”
Melissa sagged in relief. “That’s great. I’ve got enough to worry about without dodging some covert paramilitary group in khakis. But that still doesn’t explain why Spike hangs around all of you. Xander said he was a reluctant ally. Why would he help the Slayer at all? Especially if her ex-boyfriend was one of the people who tagged him?” By this time, they were walking up the driveway and preparing to go inside the house.
“He’s got a crush on Buffy.”
“Anya!”
She threw up her hands in exasperation. “What? It’s not as if it’s a big secret. Besides, if she insists on getting Buffy’s help, she’s going to run into Spike sooner or later. It’s best if she knows the score. And I don’t see how it matters, anyway. Buffy doesn’t return Spike’s feelings but it keeps him in line and makes him occasionally useful.”
Melissa’s lips twitched again, a gesture the others were beginning to recognize. “A vampire in love with a Slayer. That’s so….romantic.” She was standing on the doorstep. “I’ll bet that doesn’t happen too often.”
“More often than you would imagine, luv.” The familiar hateful drawl came from the couch as the others stepped inside. They all halted as they saw Spike stretching his feet out on the floor from where he sat on the couch.
“Spike, what are you going here?” Buffy said coldly.
Spike got up and sauntered over to them. “I thought someone should check up on Dawn. I did promise to look after her and it turns out you lot had left her on her lonesome. Shame on you, Slayer. You know you’re supposed to be looking after her. Now who’s your new friend?” He eyed Melissa as she stood on the doorstep. In the general atmosphere of annoyance that Spike always seemed to create, Buffy had forgotten to invite her in and now she hovered outside, turning away from Spike’s penetrating stare.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Melissa. Come in.”
Spike blocked her path before she could move. “Now hang on a minute! Since when do you just invite strange vamps into the house?”
Buffy rolled her eyes at the others. “Geez, I don’t know, Spike. We’ve had all sorts of undead guests in here. Let’s see, in descending order of importance, there was Angel, Darla, Dracula, Harmony and you. What’s one more walking corpse compared to all of them?”
Spike glowered at being put last on the list. “Yeah, well, what do you know about this bint? You gonna bring her in here with the Little Bit?”
“Actually, we know quite a bit about her, Toothless. She’s a fledgling killed just two months ago and now she’s trying to regain her humanity, which is a big plus in my book. Besides, Dawn’s already met her. Now step aside. The lady was invited.”
Buffy turned to Dawn. “Why’d you let him in here, anyway?”
“God, Buffy, I didn’t think you were still mad at him. Besides, he said he wanted to see how I was. He didn’t mention you at all.” Dawn finished up with more than a hint of satisfaction.
Actually, that hadn’t been quite true. Spike had asked where Buffy was but since Dawn didn’t have any definite information and hadn’t wanted to tell Spike about Melissa, she’d shrugged and said she didn’t know. She thought Spike was way too hung up on her sister, anyway. Didn’t he see the sun didn’t rise and set on Buffy?”
Melissa stepped inside hesitantly. “I miss that.” As the others stared quizzically at the soft statement, she elaborated, “I mean, I miss being able to come and go in people’s houses. I used to take it for granted--like a lot of other things. It seems strange to run up against invisible barriers placed against my…kind.”
She grimaced at the last word and started to shrug off her coat. The Scooby gang gaped at her attire.
Unlike the conservative clothes she’d been wearing earlier, she was now clad in a tight top with a form-fitting leather corset and a flared dark-red leather hip-hugging skirt that was slit on the side almost up to her thigh. Following their eyes, she hastily pulled the coat closed. “Onegin thought since I was finally becoming more vampire-like in my behavior, I should start dressing the part. He said these clothes were very expensive and would be more becoming to my figure than the drab stuff I’d been wearing.” She pulled a moue and said, “Who knew it cost so much money to look so cheap?”
“I don’t know, pet. You’re looking all right in it,” Spike leered.
She turned and swept a swift glance up and down his body. “Yes, I supposed you’d think so since you dress like a male hustler.” As everybody else laughed, she threw them a quick grin. “What is it with vampires and leather? I’ve been a fledge for two months and I don’t feel this overwhelming urge to dress myself in dead cowhide. What’s the appeal?”
Spike smirked. “It makes you took tough. And humans find the look sexy.”
Melissa arched an eyebrow. “What, even the ones whose tastes tend to silk, satin or rubber? Besides, you don’t look tough--Spike, is it? You look gay.”
Xander snorted as Spike snapped in indignation. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Melissa shrugged. “You know--the English accent, the hair, the nails, the oversized leather coat in eighty-degree heat. You look like one of those leather fags I used to see on Christopher Street when I was working out of New York.”
Spike growled, “This look is punk, you dumb cow. It’s got nothing to do with being gay.”
“Relax. I didn’t say you were gay. I said you looked gay. Still, I don’t know too many straight men who dye their hair and paint their fingernails. Look, just because you were turned in the seventies doesn’t mean you have to keep dressing like that. It really dates you. In fact, I’m surprised more people haven’t caught on to Onegin, he’s so insistent on maintaining some of his old traditions. I mean, who uses samovars to make tea anymore?”
“I was NOT turned in the seventies. I’m over one-hundred-twenty-five years old, I’ll have you know.” Spike was really starting to dislike this woman. She’d gotten over her initial fear of him and now seemed more bored by his presence than anything else. How come she didn’t know about him and his fearsome reputation? When he saw Buffy bringing her a mug of blood warm from the microwave, he shouted, “Oi, that’s MY blood!”
Buffy glared at him. “No, Spike. We keep the blood as a favor to you. Since we’re the ones who actually have to keep it in our freeze next to our food, it’s our blood and we can do what we like with it.”
Melissa had reached out eagerly towards the mug but now she dropped her hand. “I’d better not.”
“Damn straight, you’d better not, you bint.”
Ignoring him, she spoke directly to Buffy. “This night was to have been my first hunt. I can’t go back to Onegin smelling like pig’s blood when I’m supposed to have been chewing on humans. He’ll be suspicious enough as it is.”
Buffy frowned in realization at this admission. “Right. I’ll just put this back in the freezer then.”
“Oi, how about letting me have it?” Buffy grudgingly handed it over to him as he slouched back to the couch, eyeing Melissa over the rim. “So, you’re one of Onegin’s crew, are you?”
“Yes,” she replied warily.
“He must have told you about me, then.”
Melissa gazed blankly at him. “No, he never mentioned you.” Turning away in an obvious gesture of dismissal, she settled in one of the easy chairs. “So what did Angel have to say about the Mohra?”
“He told me that smashing the jewel is the permanent way of killing the Mohra. But running swords through them, staking them, shooting them, breaking their necks, etc., kills them temporarily until they recuperate. The blood running in their veins gives them the same kind of healing powers that vampires have. Unlike vampires, they come back bigger and stronger, so we have to be prepared to take this guy down before he recovers. So while he’s down for the count, you slice him and get the blood. You only need a little and then you just pour it into a cut or wound in your body. You can use your hand if you like.”
The vampiress bounced up and down a little in excitement. “Well, that sounds easy enough. If this works, give this Angel of yours my thanks, won’t you?”
Buffy stared at the floor for a moment then looked up, as if she’d been thinking of something else. “Yeah, whatever.”
Spike felt distinctly left out of the conversation. He’d never heard of Mohras but they were obviously important to the vampire bint. She’d enlisted the help of Buffy and her little gang of superfriends and now they were treating her as if she were a member of the family. Whatever they were planning, they’d been doing it without his help. They’d even consulted Angel behind his back!
He decided it was time to push his way back into the inner circle. “You’re trying to regain your humanity? What for? Being a vamp’s a great life.”
Melissa looked at him, repelled. “It’s not a life if you’re not living. Besides, what’s so great about it?”
“You can go wherever you like and no one can touch you.”
“You can go where you like at night unless you want to turn to ashes.”
“You don’t have to pay rent, gas, heating or water bills.”
“That’s right, because most vampires stay in crypts and sewers. Before I was turned, I had no problem paying my bills.
“Nobody gives you any trouble.”
“Nobody gave me any trouble until I was dead and then I knew plenty. I’d show the whip marks on my back if they hadn’t healed. I’m sure you had your share of blows when you were a fledgling.”
“Once you toughen up, you’ll leave all that behind you. And you’ve got an eternity to do it.”
“Oh, yes, an eternity to watch everything and everybody I’ve ever loved die. And I get to spend it with jackasses like Onegin. No, thank you.”
“You can always leave him if you get tired of it. You could leave tonight if you liked. In fact, what’s stopping you?”
Xander interrupted, “Why don’t you leave tonight, Sparky? It’s not as if we’d miss you. I’ll even buy you plane tickets to South America. Maybe you’ll catch up with Drusilla again.”
“Onegin demands absolute loyalty from his followers. He destroyed my credit cards, my driver’s license and every piece of I.D. I possessed. I’ve no cash and no money. How am I supposed to get out of town on nothing? And if I try to leave, he’ll send someone after to bring me back and punish me. Probably Yuri.”
Melissa shrank back into her chair as a cloud flitted over her eyes. Whatever Yuri had done to her, the bitter memory of it still lingered.
Tara walked over to her and patted her back awkwardly. Melissa smiled at her gratefully and then glared at Spike. “You know what? I’m not going to have this discussion again. It’s the same one I had with Onegin’s gang of bloodsuckers and it never gets me anywhere. You’re happy to be a bloodrat. I’m not. End of argument.”
She stood up, obviously agitated by the pointless debate. “You’ve all been a tremendous help to me but I really should be going. Thank you for inviting me into your home, Buffy. It’s been an honor to have been taken under the aegis of a Slayer. Human or not, I really appreciate what you’ve done for me so far. I just wish there was some way I could repay you all. Especially this Angel.”
“Yeah, you’d love Angel, what with his silly soul and all.”
Melissa raised her eyebrows, flicking her eyes to and from Spike. “I take it Spark…I mean, Spike, also knows this Angel?”
Spike gave the others a nasty smile. “Oh, didn’t the others mention it? Angel and I go way back. When he lost his soul after a one-night shag with Buffy here, he killed one of her friends, a Miss Jenny Calendar, right? Buffy had to stick a sword in him and send him to hell. Terrible blow it was to them, I ‘spect.” He shook his head in mock sorrow. “But after he came back from the underworld, his soul all restored, they patched things up and let bygones be bygones. Isn’t that right, folks?”
Melissa looked around the room. There it was, that tension she’d noted whenever Angel’s name was spoken, now considerably higher than it was before. “I don’t understand. What’s this about his losing a soul? And he murdered a friend of yours?”
“They didn’t tell you that, either? Angel was once known as Angelus before some gypsies cursed him with a soul. They attached this little clause about him losing it if he knew a moment of happiness and I guess rolling in the sack with Buffy was enough to do the job.”
Buffy stalked over to Spike with clenched fists. The potential violence was suddenly broken when Melissa cried, “Hold it! Did you say ‘Angelus?’” The others stared at her in confusion. “Oh, I remember Onegin talking about him. He’s the only vampire Onegin ever spoke of with respect. He says Angelus visited him over a century ago.”
Buffy turned from Spike with an effort. “Yeah, that’s what Angel said when I spoke to him.”
“Onegin threw his castle open to Angelus and his family of vampires. He extended him every bit of Eastern hospitality. He admired Angelus’s ruthlessness, his elegance in killing, his cunning.”
A pale hand was waved in irritated dismissal. “Frankly, I couldn’t have cared less. I usually don’t mind hearing about ancient history. But when vampires talk about the past, it’s always about how many people they killed, where, when, how. Do you know how boring it is to have to listen to stories that all have the same ending? But he said he was a little amused by Angelus’s squeamishness when it came to feeding on his thralls. Angelus preferred the thrill of the hunt. Feeding on passive, willing humans just didn’t do it for him.”
Dawn spoke up. “What’s a thrall?”
“You know, it’s what Dracula turned Xander into when he was here in Sunnydale.”
“Anya, how would you like it if I told everyone who came into our lives how you used to be a murderous demon?”
“Xander, it’s not as if I talk about that all the time--only when the subject comes up,” Anya protested. “Besides, I like telling people about my demon days. Those were fun times,” she sighed.
Melissa blinked a moment as if absorbing this news then continued. “Anyway, this Angelus he described seemed like a big loser when he was human just like his extended family. His Sire was an ex-hooker, Angelus was an Irish brawler given to whoring and drinking. He turned some mad English cow who used to drive Onegin nuts babbling about the stars talking to her and she turned some fifth-rate hack of an English poet named Something-the-Bloody.”
“William the Bloody,” Anya said matter-of-factly.
Melissa brightened. “Yes, that was it. How did you know?”
All eyes turned to Spike who seemed suddenly intent on avoiding everybody’s gaze. There was a moment of stunned silence and then Melissa whooped, “YOU’RE WILLIAM THE BLOODY?!?” Suddenly she was laughing her head off.
Spike was furious. “That was a hell of a long time ago. It’s Spike now and don’t you forget it!”
She was clearly unimpressed. “So what? Spike is a dog’s name. Just ask Joan Rivers.”
Buffy smirked. “You were a poet? What was all that crap you told me about how bad you always were?”
Xander crowed, “I don’t believe it. The Former-Big-Bad writing poetry. Well, I guess there had to be a reason for Drusilla hanging around with you. She always was crazed as a loon.”
Dawn glared at him. “Don’t listen to them, Spike. I think it’s kinda romantic. How come I never heard of you, though?”
“Like Onegin said, sweetie, he was a lousy poet. If he’d lived, he would have died in obscurity and nobody would have known about him. He did what all vampires do. He remade himself, gave himself a new look, new name, different accent and turned himself into a bloodthirsty killer.” Melissa shrugged. “Angelus and his family are prime examples of what happens to pathetic jerks when they become vampires. They strive to bury everything in their human past and turn all their efforts to the only things that distinguish vampires: cruelty and bloodshed.”
“Speak for yourself, luv. I became a killer because that’s my nature.”
Melissa narrowed her eyes. “That’s not what Onegin said.” Spike growled, dangerously close to losing his temper. Melissa either didn’t recognize the signs or didn’t care.
“I thought you said Onegin never mentioned me.”
“He never mentioned a Spike. That’s why I didn’t make the connection. According to Onegin, it seems our dear William here was an English gentleman, as tony and refined as they come.”
“Spike was a gentleman?” Buffy settled into the easy chair Melissa had abandoned and leaned forward. “Oh, I can’t wait to hear this.”
“He was born William Hargreaves. He was quite a kind soul, actually. But then he found himself thrown into a trio of some of the most vicious vampires ever to walk the face of the earth, one of them known as the Scourge of Europe. He had to re-make himself into a tough guy just in order to survive and crawl out from under Angelus’s considerable shadow. William’s sire probably subjected him to the same brutal treatment I got to ‘toughen him up’ as I believe he put it.”
She glanced at Spike and for the first time there was a trace of sympathy in her look. “Onegin said that underneath William’s bravado was a desperate desire to please and make a reputation for himself. Onegin thought it was very cute.”
“CUTE?!? He thought I was CUTE?!” Spike roared. He could tell by the smothered sounds coming from the others that they were getting ready to laugh again. There was no way he was going to let this slide. “He didn’t think it was so cute when I started making inroads into the local population, did he?”
Melissa allowed a slow smile to curve over her face. “That’s right. Onegin had a long-standing pact with his human villagers. He protected them in exchange for some of their sons and daughters.”
Willow gaped in shock. “They sold their children to him?”
“Oh, no, I’m not talking about babies or infants. They’d hold lots for giving him some of their grown offspring. Onegin had dozens of thralls that he’d taken in conquest and trade. When the villagers gave him an occasional child, it was considered a kind of honor. They knew their sons and daughters would be given every luxury. They would eat well and live like royalty and the family would be well compensated for their loss. In return, Onegin saw to it that none of his vampires killed anyone except traveling merchants and tourists. It was an equitable arrangement all around, one that he’d carefully explained to Angelus and his brood when he offered them the thralls.”
Xander observed, “I take it Chips Ahoy here didn’t stick to the rules.”
Melissa nodded happily. “Yeah, that’s why this story stuck in my mind. I like any tale that has Onegin getting the short end of the stick. It seems that ole Willy here started noshing on the locals. They didn’t take too kindly to it; in the end he and the others were run out of town by angry, torchbearing, crossbow-waving serfs. The way Onegin described it, it was like something out of the original Frankenstein movie.
“Onegin knew about that, did he?” Spike scowled.
The smile on the vampiress’s face got wider. “Knew about it? He arranged it. Why do you think the castle gates were locked when you tried to get back inside?”
Spike stared in steadily mounting fury. Then he ground out. “I knew it. I told Angelus the bastard had set us up. He just said I’d been careless and the natives had found out what I was up to. He insisted on blaming me for it. He said if I’d only kept my hands off the townsfolk, we would have been fine. But, hell, we’re vampires! We don’t obey the rules! We break them!”
“Onegin’s a vampire, too. He had his home and other vampires to protect. He couldn’t risk their safety over a foreign troublemaker who couldn’t obey the laws of hospitality. Face it, you got what was coming to you.”
That was it. Spike had had enough of this vampire bitch withering him with her barely veiled pity and amused contempt and uncovering the past that he’d rather stayed buried. He moved in such a blur the others never saw it. Thrusting his face into hers, he snarled in a low menacing tone, “And if you got what was coming to you, the Slayer would have staked you the minute she saw you. And if she won’t, I’ll be happy to do the honors.”
Willow snapped, “Separate,” and Spike found himself flying through the air.
Landing hard near the couch, Xander ran over to him and hauled him up. “Keep your hands off her, you rotten poet. She’s welcome here. You’re not. As long as you got that chip in your head, any one of us can kick your ass.”
Melissa placed a restraining hand on Xander’s arm. “It’s okay, Xander. I’ve only been undead for two months but I’ve never met a single vampire who wasn’t a bullying, sadistic thug. And a coward at heart.” She paused then shrugged. “Why should ole Willy boy here be any different?”
“That’s SPIKE to you, you cow.”
“Down, boy.”
Xander pulled Spike towards the door. “Once again, you’ve managed to wear out your welcome, Sparky. Hit the road.”
Spike shrugged off Xander’s hands and shook his head with disgust. He yanked open the door but couldn’t resist a final parting shot as he left. “Didn’t you idiots learn anything from Angelus? You don’t know this creature and she ain’t chipped like me. She’ll betray the whole lot of you….”
“Like you did when you sided with Adam against us?” Buffy stared coldly at Spike, daring him to deny it. “We forgave you for that, Spike, goodness knows why. You certainly didn’t deserve it. Now take Xander’s suggestion and get out of this house.”
Melissa spoke up again. “I might as well go, too. I have to get my story straight before I see Onegin.”
Xander ran for the door. “I’ll drive you back, Melissa. There are nasty things crawling around in Sunnydale. Wouldn’t want you falling victim to any of them.” Giving Spike a pointed look, he walked Melissa past him and escorted her to the car. Anya quickly followed, determined not to leave her husband-to-be alone for a minute with this demonic creature.
Melissa turned to her and murmured, “So, what’s this about Buffy and Angelus?”

TBC
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- 7
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