Reminding the Fallen
by zenithar
Chapter 20
[reviews]
Author's Note: Once again thanks to Rebelrsr for help on the fic, couldn't do it with out you.
As soon as the sun dipped below the horizon Buffy was up and in her full leathers. Just as she was about to leave the room, Willow stirred. "You leaving, baby?" Willow drowsily asked.
"Yeah, thought we'd get an early start on patrol," Buffy said, going back over to her lover. "Let's me get back to you sooner," she whispered with a kiss.
Getting a mumbled "alright" from the redhead, Buffy quietly left her room in search of the younger Slayer. Once she was in the hallway, she stood a moment to focus on her senses. Things were similar to how they were before being turned but now the way she felt vampires and Slayers was... enhanced for lack of a better term. It used to be a dull throb when one or the other was near, instead it had changed to a keener, sharper sensation. Now she could accurately tell where they were and distinguish between them. Buffy had learned to associate the cleaner feelings with Slayers and the darker ones with vampires. She could even gauge how old or powerful vampires were, and whether or not she could control them as she wished. It had surprised her when she could command Spike at first, but she thought it had more to do with having been around him for so long than it being her own natural aura. Her demon had told her otherwise by now. According to her Buffy had the status of an Ancient, allowing her control over virtually any vampire. Even the Master would be prey to her new found powers.
After letting her mind wonder some, Buffy redirected it back to her original goal — locating Faith. Which she found, unsurprisingly, to be her sister's room. Opening the door a slight bit she silently entered. Moving with supernatural grace, Buffy walked to Dawn's bed and watched the two occupants. Faith was spooning Dawn's back with her arms around her waist, while the younger brunette had one hand on Faith's arms and the other sprawled out in front of her.
'You sure letting them stay together was a good idea?' Buffy's demon asked her.
(No, but I know trying to force them apart would have been a worse one,) Buffy answered. (I guess they both changed a lot in the nine months I was gone.)
'That or Faith's just waiting and biding her time. She's done it before,' the demon chided.
Growling faintly, Buffy addressed her mental voice, (Stop trying to turn me against them. They're family so sooner or later you're just going to have to accept that I will never turn from them.)
'It's not you abandoning them; it's them abandoning you. Have you already forgotten what Will said?'
(Yes, I remember her saying the gang is working on accepting me. They know they were wrong, and they're trying to fix it,) Buffy thought heatedly.
The demon sighed before continuing, 'You're not getting it, so let me spell it out for you. They. Will. Never. Accept. You. They'll always distrust you for no other reason than you're a vampire.'
(I don't believe you. I know my friends; they'll see through you, and know that I'm still me.) With that, the Slayer vampire bent over and gently touched Faith's shoulder.
Waking quickly, Faith took notice of the sleeping brunette in her arms and the vampire standing behind her. The younger Slayer shuddered at the aura swirling around the blonde behind her. Gently disengaging herself from Dawn, Faith silently got out of bed without disturbing her girlfriend. "Hey, B, ain't it a little early to start huntin'?" Faith asked while wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"No, the sun just went down. So if I can go out, so can they. Plus, this way we can get back sooner," Buffy answered with a smirk while looking at Dawn.
"You're really ok with us?" Faith said hesitantly.
Shrugging, Buffy retorted, "If I wasn't, you'd probably be bleeding. But just so you know; you hurt her, and you'll find my fangs buried in your neck," the vampire finished with a dark smile.
Eyes opening wide, Faith nodded dumbly till she found her voice. "Ye-yeah B, I mean I'd sooner hurt myself than D."
Satisfied, Buffy led the way downstairs to the living room. "Ok, Faith, grab whatever you want to bring." The vampire went over to the doorway leading to the entryway and leaned against the doorframe.
"Don't you need anything, B?" Faith asked as she rummaged through the weapons trunk. As she looked up, she realized she had asked a dumb question. Faith saw the ridged forehead, and it reminded her what she was talking to. When the older Slayer smiled, Faith had to resist shivering at the look of hunger in the golden eyes. Mumbling, "Stupid question," The dark Slayer picked up a couple of stakes and a longsword, stuffing them all into a duffle bag.
The Slayer vampire easily picked up the muttered words. "Yes, that was a stupid question. But don't worry, Faithy, I wont hold it against you," Buffy said playfully.
Just as Faith passed Buffy she felt a second vampiric presence, and it wasn't Spike. In fact, it felt almost exactly the same as Buffy's aura. Shifting into a fighting stance and whirling around, Faith was not expecting what she found - Willow. The second Ancient's aura seemed to be emanating from Willow.
Seeing the dark Slayer move so rapidly into a fighting stance the Slayer vampire also turned around. Seeing that it was Willow Buffy relaxed and asked, "Faith, why are you getting all jumpy around my girlfriend?"
Willow sleepily descended the stairs to wrap her arms around the pale blonde's waist. The redhead mumbled into Buffy's shoulder, "Sorry, just wanted to give you a hug goodbye before you went patrollin'."
Looking at the pair, the raven haired Slayer could still feel two separate vampire auras. "Um, B, I'm sorta feelin two vamps here," Faith said uncertainly.
Looking at the younger Slayer like she had two heads, Buffy replied, "Faith, what the hell are you talking about?"
"I don't know, B. Try sensing other vamps or somethin'. All I know is I'm getting two vampires that are like you."
Buffy was about to say something when she felt the smallest sense of another vampire and an even smaller a sense of contentment. Once she noticed the aura Buffy opened herself to it. It was unlike any aura she had felt, having both the darkness of a vampire but also the light of a slayer. After getting this confusing information she got an even bigger shock — it was powerful, unbelievably powerful. Looking around for its source, she discovered it to be the redhead in her arms.
Seeing Buffy's confused eyes, Willow looked slightly frightened. For a moment Buffy thought she felt fear coming from the redhead. Trying to prove her innocence, Willow plead to Buffy. "I'm not a vampire. You'd know if I didn't have a pulse anymore, Buffy. And you're the only one I'd ever let turn me."
Hugging Willow closer to her Buffy said, "Of course I know you're still alive. It's just I'm getting the same thing Faith is, but from what I can tell the aura is saying you're both a vampire and a slayer."
Confusion completely took over the Wiccan's face. "Maybe Spike would know," the Wiccan suggested.
"I guess he would have the best chance of knowing what's going on right now," Buffy agreed.
Faith was already ahead of them and on the basement steps, trying to spot the older vampire. "Hey, Fang! Get up," she called to Spike.
Immediately sitting up from his cot, Spike made some incoherent mumbles before falling onto the floor. Groggily standing up the vampire said angrily, "What the hell, I was going to sleep for a couple more hours."
"Sorry, Spike, but we thought you might be able to help," Buffy said in a hopeful voice.
"Help with what?" he asked, still rubbing his eyes.
"With the fact that Will seems to be giving off vamp vibes," the undead Slayer explained.
"Wait, what?" Spike paused a moment, still having his hands on his eyes, before his senses kick in, and he noticed there were in fact two vampires before him. Removing his hands, he saw Buffy and Willow standing near one another with Faith off to the side. Puzzlement clearly displayed on Spike's face as he said, "So you did turn her?"
When Buffy began growling in aggravation, Willow wrapped her arm around the slender vampire's waist and said, "No, Spike, Buffy didn't kill me. I'm still alive, but according to these guys I seem to have an Ancient's aura. We were wondering if you knew why I might have one."
"The only reason I can think of for why you'd feel like a vamp is because you are one," her replied, receiving a glare from the two women. Spike quickly hurried on, "But there is one strange thing about your aura. It seems really similar to Buffy's."
Nodding her head, Faith moved to get a better look at the couple. "Yeah, Red's is like B's, only it sorta seems like it's... warning me off."
Suddenly comprehension showed on Spikes face. "Buffy, this might be a bit of a personal question but have you boinked Red?"
Willow immediately reddened while Buffy only looked at Spike in shock. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?" the blonde Slayer nearly yelled.
"It has everything to do with this," he said energetically, "Because I don't think Willow's aura is hers at all; I think it's yours telling other vamps to piss off."
"Wait; what? You lost me, Spike," Buffy said honestly, if not a little sarcastically.
"If you did shag her, which I'm betting you did, then you probably mated with her," the older vampire said.
Willow finally managed to shake off her embarrassment and moved to contribute constructively to the conversation, "You're right; we-we did do it last night but that..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes got as large as dinner plates.
Seeing her girlfriend's stunned state, Buffy asked, "Will, baby, what's the matter?"
Chuckling some before answering, Spike said, "Once again Red knows before Blondie. I'm surprised your demon hasn't told you what mating is."
'Oh, crap. This is when I'd run,' the demon in Buffy's mind thought.
Growling again, Buffy said between clenched teeth, "Seeing as she's not being too cooperative right now, you wouldn't mind explaining it to me. Would you, Spike?"
Swallowing audibly before speaking, Spike went on, "Well it's nothing bad. It just creates a bond between two vampires that let's others know what they are to each other. Making certain that no one else tries to touch what's theirs."
"Ok, so you mean those two are in some sort of weird, creepy vampire marriage deal?" Faith asked skeptically.
Nodding his head, "Yeah, more or less. However this is the first time I've heard of it being between a human and a vampire."
Buffy vamped out and growled. Willow burst into Willowbabble as soon as the words left Spike's mouth. "Wait, hold on, this isn't right. I mean it's great that Buffy and I are together like that but isn't there some sort of warning sign or some sort of notice for these kinds of thing? It shouldn't be one of those wham-bam-you're mated kind of deals, right? Because I'd like to have a little more time to think on things before I fully commit to something like that. I'd still say yes but I'd still want some time to think abo-"
(You knew this happened, didn't you!) Buffy roared at her inner demon.
'Well, maybe. But it's not like you asked or anything,' the demon defended itself.
(That's not the point and you know it! You need to tell me shit like this, because if you've forgotten we are one person!)
'Yeah, you really don't need to remind me. But what was I suppose to say, oh. If you fuck the sexy redheaded goddess you'll be mating her. It's not one of those preemptive things,' the demon enlightened Buffy.
(What? You mean that you weren't planning this?) Buffy thought.
'No. There wasn't any way I would have thought a human could have had even a chance of making the two of us content. I was just going along with you for the sex.'
(Content?) By the time her internal conversation ended, Willow's babble fest was also coming to a close. "I'd still say yes but I'd still want some time to think abo-"
"She said you make us content," Buffy cut the redhead off. "She really does care about you."