Title: It’s All in the Family
Author: Joyce Renee
Rating: Pg (If even that)
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be.
Distribution: Please ask!
Note: This is my first challenge on the YGTS? list, and I didn’t realize how hard it would be! My apologies if it sucks.
Summary: Answers YGTS? challenge #48.
Challenge #48
Proposed by RedFire.
"After a conversation with Blaire, I got thinking. We've seen very few old vampires on the shows, the Master and Kakistos being the oldest I can think of. BUT, they weren't all that powerful, considering their age. Maybe, somehow, the power was diluted before being passed to the vampires we see so often on the show. Some vamps, they seem special. Darla and her line down, especially seem to have quite a bit of strength and skill. Maybe this is a trait left over from the First One, who sounds to be awesomely powerful. So, I want a fic, explaining why the vamps you see Buffy slaying nightly are so weak, and why Darla, Angel, Drusilla, Spike and Darla revisited, are so strong. Chose any explanation. Use another show, be it Charmed, Highlander, or Roswell even, if you want. Just give a good fic explaining it as you see it."
It’s All in the Family
“You need any help, Buffy?” Spike asked as he watched the Slayer concentrate on taking out a fledgling vampire.
“Nope, I got it.” she called, before tackling the vampire to the ground.
“Well, I wouldn’t say no to some help about now!” Xander called as he ducked under another vamp’s swinging fist.
He got no response.
“Spike? Anya? Anyone?!”
“Nah, you’re doing fine mate!” Spike called back to him, and grabbed a handful of potato chips out of the bag that Anya was holding.
“You should help him, Spike. You did say you were going to be helping us out, remember?” Anya complained as she tried to hold the bag out of his reach.
“I do help!” he said, and crammed a handful of chips into his mouth.
Anya made a face.
“Yeah, but you only help Buffy.” she pointed out.
“The whelp’s your boy-toy, why don’t you help him?” he asked.
“Because, I’m holding the chips!” she said, as if that explained everything.
Spike just rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, six more vampires came out of nowhere, charging the group
Potato chips went flying as Anya was sent sprawling on the muddy ground. Xander cried out in pain as he felt the bones in his wrist shatter at the force of being thrown down beside her.
“You two stick around. I’m sure we’ll be hungry later.” a huge vampire with only one eye growled at them, and then turned to face Spike.
“It’s always the wrist!” Xander complained to Anya, holding it up for her to inspect.
“Does this mean another medical bill? Xander, you can’t afford to miss anymore work! We might lose the apartment.”
“You always know just the right thing to say!” he said, sarcastically.
Anya removed a potato chip from her hair, and shoved it into her mouth as she turned to watch the fight.
“Hey, look at that!” she said, pointing to Buffy.
Xander looked up and saw that a couple of vamps were trying to get Buffy to chase them, while all of the others focused on Spike.
“Yeah, they’re trying to separate Buffy and Spike.”
**********
Spike was having the time of his unlife. It had been so long since he’d been in a really good fight. He grinned at the satisfying sound of breaking bones under his fists and feet. His grin widen at the sight of Xander and Anya watching in awe as he quickly incapacitated vampire after vampire. He loved showing off!
When he’d had enough, Spike withdrew a stake from his pocket, and was soon standing alone in a cloud of dust.
**********
“Can’t you just stay still a minute?!” Buffy complained.
The final vampire wasn’t even trying to fight her. He just kept moving out of her reach, tiring her out as she chased him in circles around a park bench.
Suddenly Buffy felt a sharp pain in her side from lack of oxygen, and found herself flat on her back, the elusive vampire looming over her.
She tried to bite back panic, and look for her stake as his fangs got closer to her neck.
When she finally managed to get her hand on a stake, the vampire exploded and she was covered in shower of dust.
Spike, who was also covered in dust, grinned down at her and offered his hand to help her up.
Buffy grabbed his hand, and yanked him down next to her.
She quickly got to her feet, and glared down at him with her hands on her hips.
“A simple ‘thank you’ would have been fine, Slayer.” Spike said, trying not to let on how much he enjoyed her being rough with him.
Spike felt that as long as she was violent toward him, she considered him more of an equal, and not the useless nobody that he felt that he had become.
“I didn’t need your help! I was doing just fine.” she spat out.
Spike looked at her in astonishment as he got to his feet.
“You didn’t look fine! That one almost got you!” he retaliated.
**********
Xander and Anya were still staring curiously at Spike as they approached the quarreling duo.
“When I said you could help , I didn’t mean-....” she stopped, noticing the way that Xander was clutching his wrist.
“Xander, did your wrist get broken again?”
“Yeah.” he said trying to put on a brave face, despite the intense pain
“Buffy, you should pay for it since it’s your fault that he broke it.” Anya said
“Anya!”
“What? It is!”
**********
“Why are you so good?” Xander asked Spike later as the group was walking home from the hospital.
Spike turned to the young man clearly offended. “I am not good!”
“No, no! I meant at fighting, and surviving, and stuff. Is it cause you’re so old?”
“Me? Old? Bloody hell, I’m the baby of the family!”
Xander ignored Spike and turned his attention to Buffy.
“You’ve been slaying vampires on a nightly basis for almost five years now, but there are a few of them that you haven’t been able to kill. Angel, Drusilla, Spike, even Darla.” Xander pointed out.
“I thought Darla was dead.” Spike said.
“She is, but Angel was the one who killed her. Not me.” Buffy admitted.
“What gives?” Xander asked Spike.
“Don’t look at me! I guess we’re all just lucky.” Spike said.
“It’s not luck, it’s your bloodline.” Anya said nonchalantly.
The others stopped walking and turned to look at her.
“What?” Anya looked over her shoulder, then realized that they were looking at her.
“What do you know about Spike’s bloodline?” Buffy asked.
“Well, he’s in the Order of Aurelius, right?” Anya asked.
Spike nodded in affirmative.
“Right.” Anya said, as if that explained it all.
“And that means, what exactly?” Buffy prompted.
“It means he’s a descendent of the Master.”
At Buffy’s blank look, Anya sighed in annoyance.
“You mean to tell me that, not only are you the Slayer, you killed the Master and you have know idea who he was?”
“I know who he was! His name was Henry James Nest!” the Slayer shouted, defensively.
“That’s Heinrich Joseph Nest, luv.” Spike corrected gently.
Buffy just sent him a glare.
“What else do I need to know about him?”
“He’s the favorite childe of Aurelius.”
“And Aurelius is who?’
“The very first vampire ever made.”
**********
“I can’t believe Giles never told you this story.” Anya said, as the four took a table at an out door cafe.
“Giles only really tells me anything when I need to know it.” Buffy complained.
“No offense, Buff, but G-man probably already told you about all of this. You have to admit that actually listening to his long-winded speeches is not something you do a lot.” Xander said.
“I listen when it’s important!”
“You mean when you think it’s important.” Spike smirked at her
“I always...”
“Do you want to hear the story, or not?” Anya demanded.
With a final glare at Spike, Buffy turned her attention to Anya.
Taking an exaggerated breath, Anya began.
“Thousands of years ago, all of Earth’s inhabitants were demons.”
“Wait! I’ve heard this one before. These demons or, ‘old ones’ began to leave and die out, and the way was made for humans. And then the last demon to leave, bit a human and mixed their blood, thus creating the first vampire.” Xander said, imitating Giles’ accent.
“Actually, there’s more to it than that. I got all of this second-hand, but I believe that everything goes back to the ‘Powers That Be’.”
“You mean, like God?” Buffy asked.
“More like gods. Only not quite as human as the ones you’ve heard about. Well, two of them, I don’t know their names, or even if they have names...”
“Honey? Focus.” Xander said.
“I’ll call them number one and number two. They created the Earth together. Number one was evil and sympathetic to demons. He allowed them to live there. Number two didn’t really care one way or the other about good and evil, but pointed out to number one that without good, there was no such thing as evil. Also he was upset that the demons where destroying the Earth that he helped to create.”
“So they decided to make the demons leave, and allow humans to take over. For they new that man-kind would take care of their creation. Before the last demon could leave, number one allowed him to feed off a human, mix their blood, thus making a human-demon hybrid. A vampire.”
“Number two got mad because number one had done this behind his back. So he retaliated by creating a slayer. Only, this first Slayer was invincible. Although human, she was immortal.”
“The first Vampire, Aurelius, got very upset when this little girl started killing off all of his minions. So he pleaded to number one to help him out.”
“Well, after much debate, number one and number two finally came to a compromise that would keep the balance between good and evil on Earth. The Slayer would become mortal, yet would retain all of her strength and skill. Upon her death, another would be called, then another, and so on and so forth. Also, she would have guidance. A council of humans that would help her in her fight.”
“As for the vampires, Aurelius was allowed to pick a favorite minion, and make him a childe. This childe would inherit an invincibility to Slayers that would be passed on.”
“But I was able to kill the Master.” Buffy stated.
“Like I said, all of this is second-hand information. I have know idea how you were able to kill him.” Anya replied.
“I think I know the answer to that one. The Master had three favorites. Darla, Luke, and the Anointed One. Darla was the first.” Spike said.
“I guess that makes sense. The Master had passed down the invincibility to Darla, but when he tried to give it to Luke and the Anointed One, he lost it himself. He broke the rules.” Xander commented.
“I said it once, and I’ll say it again. He was a loser!” Buffy declared.
“So, Buffy would never be able to kill me?” Spike asked.
The group contemplated his question in silence for a moment.
Buffy whipped a stake out of her sleeve and gave him an evil grin.
“Let’s find out!”
Spike looked warily at the stake for a moment, before shaking his head.
“You know Buffy, I think some questions in life should remain a mystery. Makes everything more exciting.”
“I don’t know, William, we might all sleep better knowing the answer to this one.”
“Well, it’s been a pleasant evening, mates! We should do it again some time.” Spike said, jumping up from the table and taking off for the safety of his crypt.
Buffy laughed as she watched him scurry away.
“Would you have really staked him, Buffy?” Xander asked.
“Probably not.” she said.
“Why not? Because I might be wrong?” Anya asked.
“No.” Buffy chewed on her bottom lip as she stared off in the direction that he had disappeared into.
“Because you might be right.”
The End