Author: Kay Tee maybeshedoes@yahoo.com
Distribution: Take it, but tell me where so I can visit.
Rated: R, for violence
Category: Series
Feedback: Please please please
Original Character Warning
Spoilers: Phases, but they're very minor
Disclaimer: In my dreams I'm Joss, but during the day I have to face the cold hard truth-- I'm a hack who steals characters. But I'm not giving them back! Or I am, just don't sue me, all I have are speeding tickets and student loans.
Summary: Spike can't take care of Druscilla all by himself, so he gets himself a slave to help. Angelus settles in. Xander and Willow ponder. And Spike and Dru have sex... sorta.
Notes: Okay, it's been a while since I've worked on this series, and I'm just getting back into the swing of things. The next part will be better and longer.
Notes 2: Thanks to maxandtess6275 for getting off my butt and reminding to work on this series.
****
Angelus was making his own minions, not trusting those that Spike had made or recruited to be trained properly. He taught the new vampires with violence and fear, and they became bitter toward the world. They were angry all the time, and Eve stayed in her room even when she was given permission to leave, not wanting to run into Adam, Adelle, or Clea, her new master's homicidal servants.
She ventured into the main part of the warehouse only when ordered to by Angelus or Druscilla.
Her master took a certain unreasonable delight in her, and was very possessive, but had not warned any of the other vampires away from the slave.
The one security Eve had before Angelus came to live at the warehouse was that Spike made sure that she was protected from the minions. Now she was uncertain and afraid all the time. She could not sleep, and became lethargic and contemplative, a mix that irritated Angelus endlessly.
Spike continued to visit the girl, but only when Angelus was asleep or out hunting. The crippled vampire did not want to incite his grandsire into finally banning all other vampires from going near the slave, cutting off Spike's access to his last hope.
It was probably inevitable; Angelus was out hunting, or following Buffy around, or whatever it was that Angelus did at night. Spike was with Eve in her upstairs room, gulping stale pig's blood and doing exercises. He was just leaving when Angelus walked in, back from hunting early, and grumbling something about the Hellmouth and werewolves.
The two vampires had been surprised to run into each other on the threshold of the room, and had simply shared a glare before Angelus stepped aside to let Spike pass.
Once they were alone, Angelus grinned wickedly at Eve and shut the door. He sniffed the room surreptitiously before turning to his slave. "Evie, you've been bad."
The young girl shuddered, barely stopping herself from taking a step back as Angelus advanced.
***
The screams only startled Spike because they were coming from the basement boiler room instead of the attic offices. He was just about to go investigate when Druscilla wafted into the main room of the warehouse, an adorable pout on her lips.
She floated around room, ending by draping herself across Spike's lap.
"Daddy's playing with our little girl," she sulked.
"So I hear," Spike said carefully, leaning in to give his love a light peck on the cheek. "They're making quite a racket, aren't they?"
"Hmph. Daddy's playing with the branding iron," Druscilla sighed. "Spike, why doesn't he want to use the branding iron with me? Spike?"
The handicapped vampire was startled and a little angry to hear of Angelus's activities. Didn't his elder remember how breakable humans were? Of course not. Angelus had been snuggling with them instead of torturing them; he didn't know a damned thing anymore.
"Spike?" Druscilla licked his ear to regain his attention.
"Yes, sweet," he said, smiling at her and barely restraining himself from trying to lean in for a real kiss. Druscilla had been distant since he was crippled, but since Angelus had arrived, she had flat out refused all of Spike's advances, and he had stopped trying, not wanting to face the humiliation of rejection.
Druscilla scooted up in his lap and traced his lips with her tongue. "Can *we* play, Spike?" She asked.
His grin stretched slowly across his face, moving first left, then right. "Really?" He asked before he could stop himself, but didn't wait for an answer. "Of course, luv. Lead the way."
"Yes, my Spike." Druscilla swept off his lap and sashayed towards their bedroom, glancing coyly over her shoulder once as Spike followed.
***
Eve's throat was raw, but she couldn't help herself, the screams were impossible to control.
She was concentrating so heavily on tuning out the pain that she almost missed Angelus's cheerful banter.
"Evie, Evie, Evie," he sighed, holding the branding iron over the flames in the old fashioned boiler. "What am I going to do with you? Don't you know that you are *mine*?"
He advanced on her again, almost finished with his masterpiece. Sure it was a little bit crude, but certainly effective.
He pressed the branding iron into the slave's side. Her screams were irritating, but inevitable, considering what he was doing. In truth, he was amazed that she hadn't passed out yet.
But then, he had always marveled at her strength.
Eve's skin was still sizzling as he drew the hot metal away. "Do you smell that?" Angelus asked. "That's your own flesh cooking." He smiled fondly at her and turned back to the fire.
Eve tried to contain her tears as Angelus turned his back to her.
When he had brought her to the basement and ordered her to strip, she had obeyed automatically, wondering what he was going to do to her. She had tried to be brave as she watched him heat the brand, but the first touch of the fiery metal to her skin had made her vision go purple with pain.
Three times he had pressed the brand into her, and she distantly noted that he had made a capital 'A' on her right side, the point scarring the side of her breast, and the tips reaching almost to her back.
She had thought that was all, but the vampire had continued, marking out his whole name in large letters down Eve's side.
He had just completed the 'L' at her lower hip, and she had been sure for a moment that he was finally done.
But watching him stir the branding iron in the fire again, Eve realized that there were still two letters to go.
Angelus straightened and turned back to his slave, grinning.
Eve closed her eyes.
***
Xander sighed, rubbing his arms quickly to keep the cold from seeping through his worn jacket. February was not his favorite month.
He looked around cautiously, but there wasn't a damn soul around. No vampires either.
He had gone out nearly every night, looking for Eve at Willow's request, but hadn't seen the girl, and frankly, was starting to not care if he ever saw her again.
Last night, his night off, he and Cordelia had gone out, and he had been totally distracted, earning him a cranky girlfriend this morning. If not for the werewolf jumping out at them, he might have had one cranky ex-girlfriend today. Bonding over total stark terror, what a relationship.
Xander sighed, shook his head, and scanned his surroundings. No werewolves. No vamps. No demons. No Buffy and Giles hunting for werewolves (and wouldn't they be upset if they knew he was taking these little unchaperoned walks every evening). And no stupid little slave girls who were probably dead or vamped by now and could Willow please get over her obsessive need to help Eve any time now?
Xander threw his hands up in frustration. Actually, Willow was taking the night off from looking at missing persons reports to do werewolf research. How fun.
Speaking of fun, Xander noticed that the normal back alley scuttling sounds had stopped. Raccoons and rats everywhere had suddenly stopped what they were doing and crouched down, as if waiting.
Xander decided to follow their example, ducking behind a dumpster just before an enormous werewolf slinked by.
Xander waited, but Buffy and Giles were not following the beast.
He waited a little bit longer just to be sure-- you never knew what those frisky werewolves were up to these days-- and headed off in the other direction.
"I'm gonna go home, wash the alley stink off, go to be- do some homewo- go to bed, and forget this whole day," he muttered under his breath.
***
There was very little in Giles's books about werewolves. Stuff about full moons and silver bullets-- nothing Willow hadn't already learned from watching movies.
She was distracted, of course, by thoughts of Oz... and Eve.
Willow couldn't say why the beautiful young girl with the sad eyes and nasty attitude held her attention so well, but the hacker was soon on her computer again, searching through the hundreds of missing persons reports filed in the last few years in the northeast.
She had another screen open to search for info on werewolves-- something about three nights of being changed instead of one and pheromones. Nothing particularly interesting.
And her mind was a mess, thinking about Oz's strange behavior, and Xander and Cordelia dating, and a werewolf on the loose, and Angel turned Angelus, and Eve. Pretty, young Eve, who seemed to really believe she could live with a pack of vampires and be okay.
Willow shuddered when she thought of the girl's injuries. The broken nose alone would ruin that pretty face...
Willow wasn't sure why it was so important to her that Eve stay beautiful; every time her mind wandered in that direction, she veered away into thoughts of Oz instead.
Eve was beautiful. She should stay that way. She should be kept happy and warm and loved, even though she shot Xander that one time.
Willow figured that if they couldn't convince the slave to go home, then she could live with Willow at her house. The hacker's parents would hardly even notice anyway.
There wasn't anything to think about, really. Eve needed to be saved-- from herself if necessary-- Willow needed no more motivation than that.
She nodded resolutely to herself and sulked about Oz for a while instead of thinking about the slave girl.
***
After Eve finally passed out, Angelus quickly finished his work, carefully curving his iron to make the smooth round line of an 'S.' Then he had a minion carry the girl back up to her room.
He sat with Eve and admired her burnt flesh for a while before licking the wounds clean, disinfecting them.
The slave girl began to stir, and Angelus glanced around the room, wishing he had a full length mirror so he could show Eve the wonderful marks he had given her. He resolved to send her out to get one as soon as she was strong enough to walk again, and leaned over so that his smirk was the first thing she would see when she opened her eyes.
Eve blinked rapidly as recent events came back to her. Spike had trained her not to flinch from her master, and not to groan in pain, but she was having a hard time following either rule with Angelus leaning casually over her, one hand stroking her tortured skin.
They stared at each other for a long moment; one in amusement, the other with a studied neutrality on her face. Finally, Angelus removed his hand from Eve's side and brought his wrist to his mouth, gingerly slicing the skin with a fang.
"Drink," he commanded, pushing his bloodied arm into Eve's face. She obeyed and he explained, "It will make you heal faster. Now rest." He stood and left Eve alone, shuddering with pain on her bed.
Mentally, she pleaded for death. Then she pleaded for Spike to come back up and force her to take some of the painkillers he'd wanted to procure for her. She knew that at some point earlier that evening, she had screamed. She knew Spike must have heard it. She knew he would come take care of her. She knew it. She knew it.
And she would damn well stay awake until he came, because she wasn't going to miss the opportunity to have this pain numbed, and maybe be comforted for just a little while...
***
Spike snuggled happily into Druscilla's arms. True, he couldn't make love to her yet, and it was difficult to handle a bullwhip while sitting, but he had managed.
He had wanted so badly to show his lover that he could still give her pleasure. And now she knew. He was every bit the same bad-ass vampire he had always been.
Spike grinned triumphantly, while upstairs, Eve waited.