All About Spike - Family by Elinora

Family
By Elinora

Authors Note:

Scoobys vs. The Fang Gang
Numerous pairings
Nothing graphic, but rated R for implied situations.

Written for the LJ Halloween Fic-a-thon, the tone of this story is rather dark. This is the second of my Chosen-gone-wrong stories, see Crumbling for the first take on it. Poor Angel is really getting hammered in these stories, I'll have to give him a break in the next one.

Post Chosen - What might have happened...

They come here lot, just to hang, even though the alley has an unsavory reputation and a worse smell. It doesn't matter to them, it's their element and they thrive in it.

As befits his nature, Spike pushes ahead to create a distraction. Buffy and Faith are somewhere off to the side while Xander protects the rear. Willow stays in the middle, since magic no longer works very well for her. Dawn will always be the weakest link and Spike always makes sure she knows to stay back where it's safe. He constantly looks out for Dawn.

Strange, how some old habits die hard while others evaporate in the blink of an eye.

Sunnydale sits a bit lower than it used to, so they moved up the road to the big city a few months ago. Only Spike had real experience of a city that truly lived and breathed at night, and it's still new way of life for the rest. But, not having to concern themselves with banking hours and doctor's appointments, they adapted quickly.

The ones that couldn't adapt quickly paid the price. Besides, everyone who mattered pretty much agreed that the potentials were annoying no matter what form they took. And, as Spike said, they made for good target practice.

It's just the old Sunnydale gang now, kind of like it used to be.

Things are much the same, except different. Spike and Xander still glare at each other. Sometimes they fight, and sometimes one has the other pressed up against a handy wall in a liplock. Dawn makes disappointed teen-ager noises if they don't let her join in occasionally, and they are both still total suckers for the little girl act.

Buffy just makes rude faces at the lot of them, she knows she can fuck whichever she wants whenever she wants, and frequently does. Giles and Willow have a thing now, and the others think it's kind of ... well ...sweet. Poor Faith though, all alone. For now.

Surprisingly, there's not much in-fighting, they get along well. Family is for fun, after all. Besides, there's a multitude of other things they can sharpen their collective teeth on.

Like Angel. Angel claims he doesn't understand them anymore. Buffy doesn't think he ever did, although she still has a soft spot for him. It was Angel, after all, who brought the amulet.

It was pretty hypocritical of him, Spike pointed out, to have made them what they are and then bitch about it afterwards.

Like it's their fault the shaft of light from the amulet took a little Vampiric Soulfulness and a touch of that Slayery Strength pinging through the room and mixed it up with more than a dash of First Evil and then spread it around a bit. RTFM. Oh, wait, they couldn't, because Angel didn't bother to leave them the manual. Still, it all turned out for the best, in the end.

Spike stalks ahead, all black leather coat (a new, more modern cut that Buffy and Dawn insisted on) and wit. The alley, like Spike's new hair colour, is very dark, but there's a street lamp overhead and he shows up quite nicely in the spotlight. "Always the drama queen," whispers Faith to Buffy as they giggle together behind the dumpster.

Of course Gunn and Fred and Wesley stop and look at him, but then who wouldn't? He's quite noticeable, and rather attractive, and at that moment he's saying such clever and amusing things to them. So, naturally they don't notice the rest of the pack sweeping in from the side and rear. You think they'd know better after all this time. Really.

But no-one there cares if they deserved to die or not, they aren't even sure who Gunn and Fred are in the grand scheme of things. Although, they were introduced awhile back, that time Angel's gang got a little too close for comfort. They all miss Anya.

Afterwards, what's left of Gunn and Fred is arranged artistically on a grey granite stoop. Dawn, not in on the fighting, traces out their names with some of the blood, so there will be no mistake about identification. She has always been artistic.

After Spike has finished with him, they drag dead Wesley off and put him in the trunk of the Range Rover.

Angel and Co. have been a real pain recently. It was a little bit of luck, and a lot of well distributed cash and threats that gave Spike the heads-up on Angel's latest anti-Scooby strategy. And this counter-offensive was planned very very carefully, since they had something to gain from it.

Faith, you see, is still looking for that special companion to share the nights with, and Wes is so much frigging hotter than he used to be. Who'd have guessed?

It wasn't difficult to drop a few hints about anti-First Evil/Vampire/Slayer trinkets in the right bars and magic shops, and then wait for the bite. Then, they show up a little earlier than expected, as the wrong people, and on their own home turf. It's a sign of their strength, that they aren't afraid to let Angel know where they live.

Angel was regrettably delayed when someone (Giles, obviously, since he isn't here) blew up the Angelmobile, and he gets to the alley just a little too late to help the hopelessly dead.

Two present, one unaccounted for. Angel knows why, and he's not too happy about it.

Well, understatement, that. If utter despair provoked the same reaction as total happiness, Angelus would be on the prowl again.

Angelus. And that may be what Spike is hoping for. Spike appears out of the darkness, dark coat and dark hair, and, since that incident on the Hellmouth, dark black eyes. They stand closer together than they have in years. They don't talk, since Spike has already made his big statement, and it's still dripping blood over there in the corner. Angel has nothing to say, but that's nothing new.

He takes a moment to see if there is anything left of Spike's soul in those dark eyes, and he feels a chill when he meets it.

It's the soul after all, all twisted now, that gives Spike the cruel edge he lacked as an ordinary vampire. It's the thing that makes him special around here.

Deep down, Angel knows it's a fight he can't win, not by himself, and he starts to wonder if it's even worth the effort to fight at all. So instead, he turns and disappears into the night, leaving the remains of the last of his friends cooling on the pavement.

The others flock in and plan the celebration. They'll go to the bar for a bit, drink a lot, then go home and welcome Wes into the family. Faith is already giddy with anticipation.

Spike lets them enjoy themselves, because they think they won, and he doesn't like to disappoint them. But he stays quiet and moody as Dawn and Xander grab his arms and pull him down the alley to the bar. He knows he didn't win. Not yet, anyway. But Buffy taught him about hope last year, and it's a lesson he hasn't forgotten.

Because if Angelus ever does show up, he'll have family. They'll wait for him, as long as they have to, because in the end that's what it's all about.

fin