familiar strangers

TITLE: Familiar Stranger

AUTHOR: Rainie

EMAIL: [email protected]

DISCLAIMER: Joss, not I.

DISTRIBUTION: Please ask first

CATEGORY: Ae/S/B/Aus/L/D…

RATING: PG

PART: 1/2

This is one of the many what if stories… - like what if:

- The Buffy/Spike alliance hadn't worked out

- Angel still was Angelus

- He and Drusilla were ruling the Hellmouth

- Buffy had been captured and held prisoner by them

- Spike were kept hostage much similar to 'Puppy"

- And all of a sudden there would be Anne

Familiar Strangers 1

Chapter 1

"Buffy?"

His voice was nothing but a hoarse whisper, when he recognized the unconscious girl by his side.

Tears of gratitude oozed down his cheeks.

She was alive

His slayer was alive.

He had no idea when she'd become his slayer and right now he couldn't care less.

She was alive, with him. He couldn't believe it.

How often had he begged Angelus to at least let him talk to- let him see her…

He had no idea, what his bastard of a sire had done to the petite blonde since their futile attempt to overpower him. And thinking about it, he actually didn't really want to know either. He quickly looked her over., and with a sigh of relief realized no real harm had come to her. A couple of new scars, but nothing life threatening or immediately serious. He had no idea how she had come here, and right now he sure as hell didn't care.

She was here, with him and that was just about all that mattered.

In a helpless attempt to shield her from whatever underling might be likely to pass by, he dragged his sore and abused body to where the unconscious slayer laid. When the heavy chains wouldn't allow him to crawl any further, he carefully reached for the small of her wrist, pulling her closer. At second sight her hair seemed much shorter and somewhat much darker to him, and also there was no sign of the Claddagh ring.

"Buffy!" With a sigh he nuzzled his head into her neck, and froze, when his eyes caught glimpse of the tiny tattoo matching the one he himself had at his wrist.

***

"Buffy???"

He woke up with a start, the pointed end of a stake piercing his skin.

"It's Anne," the tiny blonde corrected him coolly. "And you better have a darn good excuse for…"

Her voice trailed off, when she got a good look at the person holding her down.

"Liam?" She asked tentatively, her eyes all of a sudden growing big as saucers. "How…? Why…? I mean, you're bad…?" Her little warm hand carefully brushed a strand of filthy brown hair off his face.

Spike watched her in awe, not daring to move.

"What..?" She frowned at him, when she spotted the bleached tips of his naturally dark curls. "You never…"

She most irritated twirled a peroxide blonde lock.

"Liam?"

Their eyes met, and all of a sudden they knew they were strangers.

***

"Okay, you first!" The tiny blonde ordered, stake firmly in place. "How comes you seem to know me, and why the heck are you calling me Buffy, nobody ever…"

She quickly lowered her eyes in a useless attempt to hide away her tears.

Spike, unconsciously reached out for her hand. Some long minutes went by, 'til he finally dared to address her.

"Who's Liam?" He asked, unsure whether he'd like the answer.

The small hand tensed, but wouldn't pull back.

He waited.

"Anne?" He whispered, gently squeezing her hand.

An action he immediately regretted, when the nasty stake once again drilled into his chest.

"Anne!" He tried to reach her once more.

"My guardian angel…," she whispered, her voice thick with tears.

And all of a sudden Spike felt the burning urge to make her feel easier.

"You… eh, Buffy," he stuttered helplessly, "is the current slayer. We started as enemies, but when her pet vamp lost his soul…"

"…I teamed up with Drusilla…"

Wearing matching frowns on their faces, they silently stared at one another.

"No!" Spike finally growled, fury distorting his face. "Stupid bitch couldn't run fast enough too come to dear daddy's assistance…"

Now it was up to Anne to look at him quizzically.

"You mean Angelus?" She whispered "How comes he's alive here?"

With more than a hint of surprise, Spike watched the girl's impassive features falter.

"What makes you thing, he's dead?" He inquired, his piercing blue eyes never straying from her.

When Anne offered no explanation, he quickly changed the subject of their conversation.

"Why don't you help me to get rid of those chains?" He quietly suggested. "So we can get out of this shithole and see for your… eh, Buffy's watcher."

Realization hit him, the moment he actually said it out aloud - this girl may looked like his Buffy but in fact wasn't his slayer. He took a deep unneeded breath. His Buffy, if alive, still had to be a plaything in the hands of his sire.

He shuddered.

**Poor Buffy, if only I had known…**

Anne's pitying state reminded him of his own miserable condition. There wasn't an inch of his body that wasn't bruised, cut or burned. Credits to Drusilla's color making sessions. Also the fact that he'd been continuously beat up and raped by an sheer endless row of underlings didn't help to improve the picture. His head shot up with a start, when he felt a none to gentle jerk at his hand. Next thing he knew was a pair of heavy chains dangling in front of his face.

"C'mon, Li…" The girl hesitated, then held out her hand. "What did you say was your name?"

Spike sighed, unsure if to tell her the truth - would she still be willing to help if she knew…

Well, on the other hand, would she actually be willing to help at all?

When the silence between then threatened to become awkward, Anne finally decided to speak up.

"Right," she chuckled. "Let me take a wild guess. You're a vampire. Your name is William Cameron Broughton, also known as Spike, or William the Bloody. And you don't have a soul."

This immediately got his attention.

"What makes you think I had a soul?" He snapped offhandedly.

With a heavy blush the girl scrambled to her feet.

"Nothing, forget that I mentioned it." She quickly brushed of his question. "Let's get the hell outa here and see for Sir Brave-Brave Wesley to shed light on whatever situation we've got ourselves inhere."

She was up and around the corner, when a most irritated Spike finally managed to followed on unsteady feet.

***

Chapter 2

"Buffy!!!"

Before Spike or Anne had a chance to react, the tiny blonde girl found herself in a multiple bearhug. Shouting a pleading glance at the smirking vampire, Anne tried to not to obviously wiggle out of the most unwanted embrace of what she assumed to be her counterpart's friends.

"Buffy!" Giles was the first to loosen his death grip. "I can't tell you how happy we are…"

He never finished his sentence, instead, overwhelmed by emotions, he bent down and pecked a quick peck to her cheek.

"Spike!!!" Anne exclaimed, murder on her face. "What the hell's going on here? Who are these people?"

She suspiciously glanced at the older man and the two smiling teens, who stubbornly refused to let go of her.

"C'mon, Buff, it's us!" The dark-haired boy mumbled through a mouthful of hair. "Xander and Wills, Slayerettes - remember!"

The sparkle in his shining brown eyes said she just had to.

"Eh, Spike" A wry smile on her face Anne turned at the still smirking vampire. "You sure there is nothing, you think I should know?"

***

"Yeah, and that's how I woke up," Anne told them, a pointed look at Big Bad. "With a snoring vampire hovering on top of…"

"Excuse me, sweetheart, but vampires don't - oh blast it, slayer!" He quickly lowered his head to hide to flush of embarrassment heating his cheeks. How dare her blurring out him protecting her. Her groonies, however, didn't seemed to care.

"Spike," the watcher addressed him firmly. "Can you explain…"

"…why Angelus locked me up in the first place?" He took a bold guess, his already rosy cheeks flushing even more. "We… well I mean… Buffy and I… well, we had some kind of … truce… - ifihelpedherdefeatingangelusshedletmeanddrusillaleavehereforgood…" His embarrassment was infinite, when three amused teenagers plus a somewhat dumbfounded watcher gave him the look. He was just about to let his human mask slip, when Giles changed the topic.

"Well," the Englishman said, clearing his throat. "W-when you r-realized you were not d-dealing with B-B-Buffy, why…?"

"…didn't I kill her?" Spike patted his back, when he once more completed the watcher's sentence.

He was just about to blur out about their matching tattoos, when it came to him, Anne might not want everybody to know about her relationship with the other him. Intensively chewing his bottom lip, his eyes darted from Giles to Anne. When seconds turned into minutes and it was obvious the vampire wouldn't come up with some witty come back any time soon, they all started to shift rather uncomfortably.

"I guess, it's because of this," Anne finally put an end to their awkwardness. She quietly reached for the vampire's wrist, allowing the watcher and 'Slayerettes' a glimpse of their matching tattoos.

"But, but…" Xander stuttered, kind of taken aback. "Didn't you just say…?"

It was obvious he hadn't quite figured out the how and why yet.

Willow, however…

"So in your world it's Spike who got cursed with a soul?" She inquired tentatively.

Death silence.

"Buffy and Spike?" Xander was the first to voice his distress. "Anybody else who thinks that's just eww?"

***

Chapter 3

"Gosh, look at those wankers!"

Spike solemnly grumbled to himself.

With a look, matching his voice he glared at the small gathering at the far end of the library.

He had no idea about their usual meetings, but for his idea this one seemed to be far to quiet.

Anne, he guessed had a pretty good reason to be worn out an miserable, but what about the slayer's little pets?

Shouldn't they be more enthusiastic, more determined to go and rescue their friend?

Everybody seemed so incredibly sad. It was almost getting too much for him.

Yeah, he knew, he wasn't in top condition, and that even if, he wouldn't be in any position to tell them what to do. However, truth to be told, he and this little girl his bastard of a sire held captive had a truce, and he would be damned, if he weren't at least to try and rescue her. And if the slayer's little sweethearts could not be trusted to supply proper assistance, he would go and find someone who could master.

***

"C'mon, Anne, what's your problem?"

Close to pounding it into the girl's pretty head, Spike impatiently glared at the blonde.

"You don't have feelings for him, so why…?"

"Spike!" Anne scowled back at him, her best I'm-not-impressed-look firmly in place. "I don't belong here, remember, I can't just go round interfering with…"

This time the vampire couldn't restrain himself from jumping the girl.

"Bloody fucking hell," he shouted, viciously shaking the small of her frame. "Do you think, I don't know this myself! But what about Buffy… I can't do it on my own - Anne, please, I'm begging you, we've got to get her out of there…"

His voice trailed off, when he half shocked, half embarrassed realized what he'd just confessed.

And even worse, every word had been true. All he wanted was getting her out of his sire's claws. Preferably some place safe, some place he could hold her, kiss her all better. However, there was no way he could tell Anne - not after all, he presumed, his other self had done to her. He still considered himself lucky, the blonde hadn't staked him on sigh.

God, why did unlife had to be all that complicated?

When he looked up, he found himself face to face with a much-confused slayer.

"You really care about her?" She asked tentatively, unsure whether to trust his bold words.

His face flushed in embarrassment, but Spike instinctively knew if he wanted to her to help him, he wouldn't get round the truth.

"Yeah, well, sort of…" He mumbled, thoroughly facing the floor.

When Anne didn't giggled, or burst into laughter he finally dared to look up. Their eyes met just in time for him to see her wiping a tear of her cheek.

"What is it, pet?" he asked gently, the very next second kicking himself for his denseness.

Yeah, if his soulless counterpart couldn't care, why him, who never ever had a soul…

"I don't know." He answered the unspoken question he saw in her eyes. "I always could."

Although it wasn't really an answer, Anne accepted his attempt to explain with a wry smile.

"Lucky her," she whispered, her voice filled with tears.

"I don't know," replied in an inflection only few ever heard on him. "It's Angel she wants - just as you wouldn't want me, or Angelus…"

Their eyes locked.

"I'll do it." She said, offering him a smile.

"Thank you." Spike replied all to quickly, blinking away the traitorous tears.

"It's alright," Anne nodded, offering him her hand. "I guess, at least one of us should have a chance."

***

Chapter 4

"Alright, power, got it." Giles quickly checked with his notes.

"Let it boot." He read out loud. "Boot..., boot...?"

Another quick look at the small piece of paper, where Willow all neatly and step by step had put down a list of instructions.

"Ah, wait for the funny noise to stop." He flashed the frustrating machine a victorious grin.

"Then do as being told on the display - alright, I can do this!" The watcher nodded confidently, leaning back in his chair.

"Hard disc can not be detected. Do you want to try again. Retry. Ignore. Cancel." He jumped to his feet in less than a second. "I didn't do this!" He started to justify his actions until he realized Willow wasn't even near the computer room anymore. With a heavy sigh and a furious look at the vicious computer, Giles headed for the door.

***

"It was just a floppy disc." Willow explained to a much subdue watcher. "Somebody must have left it in the floppy drive. See, no permanent damage." She waved the small plastic disc in front of his face.

"B-b-but this is Jen... eh, Ms. Calender's computer," Giles stuttered. "N-n-nobody has been using it s-s-since..."

He never finished his sentence and Willow involuntarily flinched by the pain that even now darkened his expression.

"Eh, well, I can open it for you," the teen quickly suggested. "Just to see if the disk really belonged to..."

She let the sentence dangling in the air.

For quite some time they just quietly stared at the plain plastic object, peacefully lying next to the keyboard.

"Alright."

The watcher thoroughly cleared his throat.

"Have a go, maybe the disc will give us a clue about Jen... eh, Ms. Calender's murder."

And once again his eyes veiled by the thought of the woman he had loved an all that crudely lost.

***

"It's encrypted," Willow commented with a sigh.

"W-w-wait a second," the Englishman muttered. "This is ancient Romanian - oh my God..."

His face visibly paled.

"Giles?"

"The cures," he whispered flatly. "Jenny has been trying to restore Angel's curse..."

***

Chapter 5

"So, would you take him back, all fluffy and soulful?"

Spike stopped his pacing just in time to see Anne aiming a pencil case at his head.

"What?" He exclaimed defensively. "Isn't a vampire allowed to make sure what to expect?"

Their eyes met and after an couple of minutes of silence Anne no longer could withhold a grin.

"Listen, shinehead," she teased mercilessly.

"Well, excuse me," Spike rumbled, cutting her off viciously. "But could we restrain ourselves from commenting on my hair!"

Anne pretended to give it a thought, all the while looking him over from head to toe - much to his disapproval.

"Well," she finally smirked. "I'm not quite sure. When do you usually have the change to play with a live magic locks Barbie doll..."

"It's natural curls, and why don't ya shut the hell up!"

Spike shot her an murderous glare until he remembered his flashy pink cheeks and quickly lowered his head.

Alright, maybe Anne was right and his new, old look was kinda flamboyant - but couldn't she indicate this a little less bluntly? Her intimate acquaintance with his other self wasn't doing him any good, he decided. Oh well, there wasn't much left for him to loose since she already knew about him being a lovestruck pup - at least as far as the slayer was concerned.

"Well, I'm waiting!" He growled.

"So what?"

Her grin was contagious.

"C'mon, Anne, tell me, would you take him back?"

The cheeky grin faded and out of a sudden impulse she leaned into his chest.

"I don't know about Buffy," she said. "But my answer would be a definite no!"

When she tried to pull away, Spike swiftly locked his arms around her waist.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, gently petting her back.

Once again their eyes met and this time she brought a shaky hand round his back.

"Thank you."

***

Half an hour later, the two hugging people still hadn't moved one bit - much to their mutual surprise.

It was a friendly, a comforting hug, a hug neither had had for a long time.

"Ready, slayer?" Spike finally asked.

Anne's hold on him immediately tightened, when she quietly stepped out of his embrace.

"What about you?" The little blonde girl answered his question with a question. "Are you ready to take on your sire?"

A frown appeared on the vampire's face. And Anne was glad he didn't just brush of her concern with on of his usual snippy comebacks.

"I am ready." Spike nodded gravely, his whole body strained in anticipation.

"Alright," Anne nodded just as seriously, nervously tucking a stand of blonde hair. "Let's go and kick some ass!"

This immediately painted a grin on their faces.

"You're the boss, little one," the vampire snickered. "Let's beat the shit out of them!"

***

Chapter 6

"Spike?"

The blonde vampire nearly cried out in pain, when Anne, in an attempt to attract his attention, ever so slightly tapped his dislocated shoulder. He growled, but in the end couldn't but smile, when his brain finally deciphered her inaudible words.

+Piece of cake!+

Yeah, they had done pretty well so far. All right, well until they had run into Drusilla…

Fortunately his ducks wasn't any ordinary vamp - sure, she had given them hell, the slayer particularly, but at least, instead of running for the minions, she had fought for herself.

Poor Anne, the nasty black eye his all so frail-looking ex had given the girl would take quite some time to properly heal. And he himself… Spike carefully twisted and turned his maltreated shoulder.

Gosh, he still couldn't really believe it that his wilting, weak pet all of a sudden had become that strong.

It had taken all of their combined strength to wear off and finally overpower her.

And still, they had left a fair deal of feathers, or as in their case skin and hair.

His vision was still blurry from where Drusilla had ploughed her razor-sharp nails across his forehead and cheek.

+Yeah, piece of cake!+

He gave her the thumbs up when he realized why Anne had the word victory all cross her face.

There were indeed, only five hulky but dumb looking vampires watching over their master.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Spike carefully started to cover his left with several layers of cloves.

"Wish me luck!" He grinned at the two dirt-covered women, one of them lying tied up and face down in the mud.

Casually grabbing the huge wooden crucifix Anne had been carrying under her shirt, the peroxide blonde soundlessly sneaked up on the pack.

***

"Stop it, Spike!!!"

The stunned vampire nearly dropped the holy object he held in his hand.

"Eh, slayer," he snarled in a mixture of anger and frust. "Have you ever heard of the element of surprise?"

On Anne's guilty look he furiously threw the solid cross at his ever so slowly approaching sire.

"See," he purred, silkily. "This it was!"

He glared at her pointedly while Angelus, who had reflexively caught whatever was tossed at his head, roared at them in blind rage - his big hands a sizzling row mass. Then, without as much as a warning the younger vamp's booted foot smashed viciously into the other man's face.

"Why can't you just kick him in the guts!" Anne scolded, while at the same time putting three out of five minions asleep.

"What is it about slayers and Neanderthal vamps?"

She heard her assistant growl gruffly. Out of the corners of her eyes she saw him ramming his head into Angelus' abdomen. Both vampires howled in pain. One because he none to gently plunged on his back and the other one because of his shoulder with an angry crack had just about relocated itself. Uncaring about the mind-numbing sting in his arm, Spike flung himself on top of his still taken for a loop sire and hailed a series of punches in the older man's slowly distorting face.

"Will you stop it already!"

Spike wasn't too sure whether Anne's angry request meant him or the female blonde minion pulling her hair.

However, keeping one watchful eye on Angelus he waited for the slayer to stop toying around and finally stake her.

"OFF!!!"

A ferocious kick to his head made him shift his attention.

"Bloody bastard!"

In blind rage Spike reached for the crucifix lying close to Angelus' head.

"Don't hurt his face!" Anne none too gently took the wooden object out of his hand.

"Watch it, slayer," he barked without to look up.

"C'mon, Spike, I want him to look good on my trophy board!"

Her nasty comment immediately earned her an angry kick to the shin. Angelus!

"You ungrateful bastard!!!" The tiny blonde howled.

Spike didn't have the chance to properly plant his final blow, when Anne had launched herself at his sire - the offending crucifix she stubbornly clung on to barely missing his face.

"Bloody hell, slayer," Spike roared and jumped to his feet. "Next time give me a bloody warning, will ya!!!"

"You wouldn't dare, lover," Angelus challenged her smugly, as so she wasn't holding her deadly weapon centimeters above his chest.

Their eyes met.

And locked.

With a stunned expression Spiked watched the slayer's face go blank.

They stared.

And stared.

And seconds turned into minutes.

The peroxide blonde bit his black-polished thumbnail in anxiety.

"Got me, honeybum!" Much to either vampire's surprise, it was Anne, who gave in in the end.

Smiling down on the fuming figure she thoughtfully weighed the heavy cross in her hand.

"I could never forgive me, if anything happened to this beautiful visage of yours!"

Her small fingers teasingly outlined the curve of his face.

"Never!"

She swiftly bent down to brush a quick peck on the tip of his nose.

Spike, all the while watching somewhat dumfounded, finally couldn't but smirk.

The wave of victory that flushed across his sire's face…

Angelus obviously still hadn't realized, yet, that he wasn't dealing with his slayer.

However, his amusement immediately turned into fear, when he watched the other man's hands lock around her head.

+Watch it, Anne!+ He pleaded involuntarily.

But much to his surprise Angelus only angled her face in just the right way to allow him to properly kiss her.

Their kiss lasted exactly two seconds.

"Who do you think you are!!!"

Her tiny right hand left an angry red mark on his cheek.

"This is disgusting and disgusting … and will you stop sniggering!!!"

She furiously dumped the crucifix on loathing Angelus while at the same time she glared at Spike.

"AAAHHRRG!!!" The dark-haired man roared, abruptly shoving her off.

"Here, he's all yours!" She clumsily threw the blonde vampire a stake.

"Blast it, slayer," Spike immediately complained. "Why is it always me to end up with the dirty work."

But the speediness with which he reached for the deadly weapon belied his harsh words.

"You wouldn't dare…," Angelus rasped, his face twisted in pain.

"Uh-huh, I think I've heard this one before," Spike being Spike mocked the older man mercilessly.

Next thing Spike launched himself at his sire in pretty much Anne-like a manner, and it was impossible to say which pair of eyes held more hatred. Unimpressed by the smoking red cross burned into the dark-haired man's chest, Spike placed the stake right over his heart.

"Any last words?"

A content little smile tucked at the corners of his lips.

"Yeah, thinking about it, give this to me, we'll take him to the library…"

"Anne???"

"Slayer???"

Two pair of eyes drilled into her when with one swift movement she substituted the stake in Spike's hand with a pair of strong metal cuffs.

***

"Well, wouldn't it be more efficient, if we split up?" Anne intensively looked at the bottle blonde vampire, who fpr almost ten minutes hadn't as much as uttered one word. "Spike?" She tried once again, but with no more success.

Quietly, and with much more confident a smile than she actually felt, Anne walked up at Spike and put her arms around his waist.

"Don't worry, William," she whispered, when she heard him sigh heavily close to her ear. "Buffy's gonna be fine."

She felt the small tremor through their embrace and protectively tightened her grip.

"You just go and find your slayer," her tiny warm hand ran soothing circled up and down his back. "Meanwhile I shall cart Lady Vex and Prince Charming over to the library."

She shot him a droll little smile, which somehow managed to make his lips curve.

When Anne felt his wits coming back, she quietly stepped out of their embrace.

"Three, two, go?" She inquired good-naturedly.

"This is one way to put it!"

Spike was almost up and around the next corner, when something struck him as odd.

"Mo-mo-mo, slayer!" He grabbed a not too cooperative Drusilla by the hand and forced Anne, who was quite literally dragging her by her hair to an abrupt halt. "How exactly are you going to 'cart' them to the library?"

Giving the vampire her most triumphant look, Anne proudly produced a set of car keys from Angelus' black duster.

"All right?" She grinned at the fuming dark vampire, whose gagged face immediately took on an unhealthy red colour.

"Angelus says the car's all mine," she turned around and smiled at her aide.

"Well, if that's what he want…" Spike grinned at his sire with unmistakable glee.

Then he was off - leaving Anne to deal with two piqued and ill-tempered vampires.

***

"Buffy???"

Spike heavily dropped next to the girl, who spread-eagled and naked had been chained to the floor.

"You're all right?"

Tentatively he reached for her wrist.

+Damn you, Angelus, how on earth could you do this to her!!!+

In his one hundred and fifty plus years he had seen many a victim of torture, but none, not a single one of them, had looked as perished and systematically destroyed as the petite blonde slayer.

Her eyes started to waver under his touch, but apart from this she just as well could have been dead.

Biting his lips to hold back a sob, Spike quietly stared at the motionless figure.

Just as his body had been when Anne had found him, Buffy was covered with bruises and cuts.

There were bite-marks from at least 12 different vampires all over her arms, neck and breasts. And judging from the pools of cum and blood oozing from between her legs even more must have used her for sex.

His stomach turned, when his eyes came across what he immediately identified as Drusilla's work.

Starting from her wrist all up to her elbow somebody ever so carefully had removed her skin and flesh. Exposing the delicate strands of veins and ateries like some macabre piece of art.

Oh yes, his Ducks could be infinitely patient if something she wanted got stuck in her head.

Finally recalling the small metal object he held in his hand, Spike hurried to unlock the four padlocks.

"Come here, deary," he carefully threaded his arms under her back and knees and even more carefully lifted her up.

"Everything's gonna be fine, sweets," he whispered into her greasy and cropped hair. "Just fine, you hear me?"

HE searched her mask-like expression for the slightest of sign that she understood.

"I'm here now, slayer," his icy lips brushed a quick kiss to her even icier forehead. "Nobody's gonna hurt you again!"

Crying and on unsteady legs he hurried to get himself and the girl out of the sewer.