Title: Secrets Don't Make Friends (Pt 11-Honesty and Understanding)
Author: DivaDelilah (divadelilah@aol.com)
Description: Set in late Season 4, after Faith has body switched and is in prison.
Adam isn't in play, Spike is working with the Scoobies reluctantly.
Disclaimer: I don't even have a bloody dead parrot. Joss, Mutant Enemy, and
Fox own all…I'm just daydreaming.
Distribution: Fanfiction.net, assorted lists, and anything I okay. (like you'd
want it!)
Feedback: Makes my undead heart beat… (makes you wonder doesn't, it?)
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Back at Xander's apartment, everyone was sitting around the living room, half
camped out for the night, listening to Anya explain all she knew about vampire
claims. Strangely enough, the one person who could tell them the most had said
nothing since they'd left his former apartment.
Angel sat on the balcony, a tall glass of the scotch Giles had bought and a
cigarette on the table beside him. He stared out into the sky wordlessly, his
brooding consuming his entire being. He sank deeper and deeper into the blackness
of his thoughts as every hour went by, and he had long since stopped worrying
whether this would allow Angelus to rear his head again. He simply did not care.
Nothing mattered after Buffy's betrayal. Nothing.
One by one people would come out, stare off into space, offer some inane platitude,
and then finally saunter off when he ignored them for long enough. And that
was fine with Angel. He wasn't going to sit in there and discuss this…
this absolute abomination of what two people in love should have. No fucking
way. A low growl emanated form Angel's throat.
"Oh, put the pointies away. You know that doesn't scare me anymore, Brood
Boy," Cordelia said, flopping down next to him.
He merely looked at her, and sipped his scotch.
"Okay. You're mad. It's a given, and I guess, maybe even your right. This
probably wasn't the best way for you to find this out. The timing was absolutely
the worst. But you know, there is a bright side to this mess. Besides Buffy
being unbelievably happy, I mean."
"What? What could possibly be good about this Cordelia?!" he shouted
angrily, smashing the glass on terrace.
"Well, first of all, you didn't lose her to Xander."
Angel's face spasmed then broke into a full blown grin as he laughed wryly.
"Yeah. There is that," he muttered, chuckling still.
"But there is something you need to know."
Angel looked at her expectantly, inherently knowing that this would be a bombshell.
"I had a vision a while back about this. And I didn't tell you. I knew
you had so much on your plate already with Wolfram and Hart, and I wasn't real
sure what you might do once you found out. But I knew one thing…Buffy was
not in danger. Spike would never hurt her. I think the Powers wanted
you to know that," she explained quietly.
"Cordelia, I raised Spike. I made him the killer he is, and I will tell
you that, as Spike once said, demons do not change. The soul tied my demon down;
it didn't change it. And Spike doesn't even have that. I know he loved Dru,
but he never once tried to claim her. From what I know of claims…it just
does not make sense that Spike would ever do this with Buffy. Not even if he
did love her, which I also doubt."
Cordelia looked at the haggard vampire and felt her heart constrict. He'd gone
through so much this year. "Angel, you are the most knowledgeable person
in this apartment when it comes to claims. Anya may know some sketchy details,
but you know everything. You need to go in there and explain to them if you
want them to believe you about Spike. Because, unfortunately for you, they may
not want Buffy with Spike, but it sounds like they've began to trust him as
a team member. You heard Tara say he patrols with her. And about Willow's spell.
He even lived with Xander for awhile. They need to know what has you so upset."
Angel sighed, knowing that what he told them might work against him since he
never attempted to do it with Buffy. It was because I want nothing to do
with vampire culture, he told himself. I didn't want her to be part of it, either.
I guess I was wrong to not even mention it, and now I'm regretting it. He
nodded curtly at Cordy, and headed into the apartment, much to the surprise
of its occupants. Anya wisely gave him the floor, knowing he was about to impart
crucial information. He sat down and put his forearms on his knees, looking
up at their expectant faces.
"I'm sorry I've been…withholding the things I should be sharing.
This is very hard for me since I've tried for over eighty years to disassociate
myself from vampire culture, and this, well, it's a large part of the culture
in a way."
"Angel, we know you love Buffy, and probably Spike in some way… a
Sire-like way not-not a 'ooh, I want him way' and…" Willow stammered
trying to finish without sounding silly.
"S-She m-means that we kn-know this hard for you, and we d-don't blame
you for being upset," Tara said, hugging a bright red Willow to her.
Angel smiled. He had suspected Willow might be repressing something like this
ever since he'd met her doppelganger, but this wasn't the time to discuss her
sexuality. "Yes, you're right. Now let's see..where to start," he
mused.
" Vampires have several rituals that are passed down to every Childe…
not minions or fledglings, but Childer, because they are traditional and very
much held as part of our past that shouldn't be forgotten. To Sires, they are
like reading Bible stories…you tell them, but you certainly don't expect
your children to go out and emulate them, though some obviously do. The rituals
of claiming people, Siring, becoming a Master, thrall, clan initiation, and
many others are pretty much confined to Europe anymore due to America being
the land of the more modern vamps. However, this is not to say that American
vamps don't know them but they are less inclined to use them because they tend
to be younger than the European vampires."
He took a deep breath, and went on. "I don't know many vampires who have
actually claimed people. Basically because it's like… well, the only human
thing that's equivalent is marriage. The participants claim each other to the
death, and would quite readily die for each other. The ritual involves some
very strong reciprocal magick, meaning it ties the claimants together magickally
as well as mentally. They will share properties, be able to read each other
minds and communicate without words, even feel each others' pain. Which is why
vampires very, very rarely do this. We're selfish creatures and not all of us
can love that strongly.
"The Master had claimed Darla; the Gorches claimed one another. And understand,
being claimed is even better than being a favorite Childe, because that's much
more common. The ritual of favorite Childer is much safer route, and less revered.
I was Darla's and the Master's, Spike and Dru were mine, etcetra. Lastly, you
should know that even though Dru begged him quite a few times, Spike never claimed
her. Angelus never claimed anyone because he's a selfish prick, though if he
had, it would have been Spike if he had been willing. He was always my favorite,"
he murmured.
"Question?" Wesley asked, interrupting the heavy pause.
They all turned to stare at him and he shrugged. "Yeah Wes?" Angel
asked.
"Why did Spike refuse to claim Drusilla? I mean, besides the possiblity
of sharing her madness through the bond?"
"I don't know Wes. It's not like he didn't love her. He did, obsessively
even. Maybe he knew he never really had her love. Not fully."
Giles cleared his throat. "How common is it for vampires to claim humans?"
"More than rare. I've never heard of it happening. A thrall would
be a much better, and easier, way of manipulating them, like Drusilla discovered.
But Buffy isn't really all human, and we all know that, right?" Angel replied.
"Is that why it smelled so foul when they…" Willow asked uncomfortably.
"Well, yes. But usually it's not really much muskier than humans…
unless…" Angel turned his back on them, brooding again. His thoughts
turned to a time way back into his past when a strange rumor had floated through
the vampire community. It wasn't possible, was it? That was only a rumor.
Even the Master passed it off as impossible; he killed the minions who repeated
it to him for lying. It couldn't have been true. He cleared his throat and
turned around. "Anything else?"
Anya stood. "Okay, if no one else has the stones to ask, I will. Angel,
why didn't you ever claim Buffy? It would have kept this whole mess from ever
starting. Technically, I know Spike could not have touched her if she were claimed.
You would have known instantly."
Angel's face flickered for a moment in frustration. He knew she was right.
"It's hard to explain, but I wanted Buffy to have no part of the vampire
side of me. I wanted her to have the man…and claiming is inherently vampiric.
There is nothing human about it. The blood sharing, the violence of the act,
the visceralness of possessing one another just isn't…. human. And I didn't
want her to have to be a demon hunter in the day, and a demon's possession at
night. I also didn't trust to demon to stop at just a sip to claim," he
finished quietly.
The room fell silent as he turned, adding, "But Spike has always had more
control than Angelus. It's his greatest gift: his demon and his man rarely war,
even before that chip. He likes humans, earth, this life. Most demons
do not. Mine certainly doesn't."
Xander watched everyone contemplate this and felt the whole mood grow lighter.
"Hey, how about we get some DVDs, some booze, and relax? Cause I know if
I stay like this any longer, I'll have to shop for some poetry with Deadboy
here."
Cordy snorted, then Wesley almost giggled, and Willow covered her mouth over
a snicker. The room seemed to completely change in atmosphere as even Angel
barked out a short laugh. Anya smiled at Xander and took his hand, pulling him
down on the couch next to her. "I like dating the funny guy."
Angel looked at the snuggling couples wistfully, remembering when he and Buffy had been so close. What had changed so much in a such a short time? He caught Cordelia's eye and she smiled, scooting over and putting her hand on his knee, patting it lightly. He noted Wes and Giles retreating to their books in the dining room.
Sighing deeply, he leaned his head on Cordy's shoulder and watched the TV,
hoping his previous thoughts had completely off track. It just couldn't be
true. And it certainly couldn't have happened to Buffy…especially with
Spike.
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