Title: Immortal Convergence...but that's subject to change Author: Kay Email: kaygrr@hotmail.com Feedback: Do you really want to see me beg? My happy dance is way more entertaining. Website: ssfdu.tripod.com/kay/journal.htm (Sandy rocks) Archive: Hey, just ask first Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Pairing: Xander/Wesley, Xander/Wesley/Spike, Duncan/Methos, Giles/Richie...etc. Rating: PG Sequel: None Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the characters of the show don't belong to me in anyway whatsoever. Mutant Enemy, I live in envy of you. The same goes for Highlander and Rysher - they may be your toys, but I'm going to play with them. Niener. This story is written for enjoyment, not for profit. This whore only works for feedback. Litigation would be a waste of time, people. I'm a member of the Starving Student Sect. _Summery: A renegade immortal on the Hellmouth puts Sunnydale in danger, and it's up to the Scooby Gang and some visitors from Seacouver to put things right. Warnings: spoilers up to Graduation II...I think. Xander returned from his summer a month ago, but that's about it. No Anya, no Tara ( I *like* Tara). There is Riley, though. As for HL...say it with me people: Richie isn't dead! Let's just pretend that in the next to last season, Ahriman was vanquished without a certain never-to-be-mentioned incident occurring, K? And the final season of HL never happened, either. Hell, if I'm going to be messing about with the characters, why not mess around with time, too? Part Five/? Spike leaned closer to the open window, trampling flowers under his black boots as he maneuvered for a better view. He'd been away from Sunnydale for months and had been out of contact with any being he knew here. If he was going to have any idea what to expect in town, his best chance of getting the information was to get it here. Why the watcher had never figured out that closing his windows would be a good idea was beyond Spike. Not that he was complaining. Hang about the window for an hour or so while the Slayer and her groupies had their little meeting and he'd know what was going on in Sunnyhell. Not much had changed over the summer. Rupert was still looking at the children surrounding him with that mixture of pride and anxiety, as if he didn't know whether to cheer them on or lock them up in a closet. Buffy was as blond as ever...but hello, the guy she was cuddling with on the couch was new. Light hair, military bearing, open face. Probably someone she picked up at college. Spike wondered briefly if Angel knew he'd been replaced. Maybe he'd find a way to make sure his Sire knew. He sized up the new man and dismissed him. How dangerous could a guy willing to be Buffy's pet be? The witch was still snuggling with her boyfriend. Red hair and bright blue; the vampire had a sudden vision of the wolf dyeing his hair green in December so he and his girlfriend could be walking, talking Christmas decorations. His gaze paused on the whelp; the boy was talking, describing some encounter he'd had the other night. Spike listened to him, but the rest of his attention was focused on trying to figure out what was different about the dark-haired man. He *felt* different, even from outside the house, but Spike couldn't remember what that new feeling should mean. He glanced at the man beside Xander and had to repress laughter. Watcher Jr.? Since when did he get back? And why the hell was he sitting so close to Xander? Spike shook his head as Giles and Buffy seemed unimpressed by Xander's news. It wouldn't be a good idea to ignore this; he'd seen the guy Xander was talking about on his way over to the watcher's. The guy was a loon and he was going to be trouble. He grinned. Buffy was going to get knocked on her ass and he wanted to be there to see it. It would be a lovely little welcome back gift. The humans inside stood up, getting ready to split up for their patrols. Spike straightened as well; he wasn't done with them, yet. The Hellmouth was no place to chance walking around unaware and the Slayer and her friends always tripped and fell right into the thick of it. He glanced down and saw that a single plant was standing untouched in front of the window. He deliberately ground it into the dirt. Spike considered following Buffy; maybe he could snitch a camera from somewhere and catch her and her new toy messing around in a secluded camera. He could send the prints to Angel one at a time. His gaze became dreamy as he imagined the other vampire's reaction. Maybe he could steal a video camera. When they all left the house, though, he hid in the shadows and trailed along behind Xander and Wesley. He wanted to figure out what was new about Xander, where this odd awareness of the boy was coming from. He stayed far behind them, counting on vampiric sight and hearing to monitor them. When the pack of fledges jumped the pair as soon as they entered the cemetery, Spike anticipated a 'what-not-to-do' routine of flailing about and miracle escapes from the two men. He stared as the two men smoothly moved to defend each other's backs, stakes in both hands as they evaded grasping hands and gaping jaws. Defense flowed seamlessly into offense and ash showered the ground around them, drifting through the night air and the fledges were destroyed one by one. Where the hell had the two men learned to move like that? Spike drifted closer; the two panting men were focused on each other, not him. Sucking in a lungful of air, Xander gave Wesley's body a searching once-over. "You OK?" Wesley nodded. "I'm fine." He took a step closer to Xander. "You've got some ash on your face." Xander made a face and raised a hand, but Wesley caught it in his own. "Let me." With a half-grin playing on his lips, he leaned in close and gently rubbed his thumb over the corner of Xander's chin. When Wesley's hand didn't release its hold on his chin, Xander raised an eyebrow. "Did you find more?" "No. Just something else I need to do." With no more explanation, he pressed his mouth to the other man's. Spike closed his mouth. What the hell? He watched as the two men stole heated kisses in the middle of the cemetery, hands wandering greedily inside of jackets as they stood pressed so closely together they cast but one shadow. It was only as they regretfully separated that he realized how close he'd come to them: he'd kept on walking, wanting to see better, wanting to see *more*. He ducked behind a crypt with a muttered curse. Ducking down a bit, he peered around the corner. "Where to now?" Xander asked, reaching up and straightening Wesley's glasses. "There's a Hlern hiding out in the Westfall family crypt, or another nest of vampires over on Elm Street. I'm personally leaning toward the vampires." Xander sighed. "Elm Street's a mile away." "Hlerns are notoriously nasty." "There's a whole nest of vampires." "Hlerns spew mucus." "Exactly where on Elm Street is the nest?" Xander grabbed Wesley's arms and tugged him toward the cemetery exit, resolutely ignoring the other man's laughter. Spike was pulled after them. He couldn't resist following. How could he? He'd been gone for a few months and everything changed. These two were supposed to be jokes, the comic relief of the Slayer's merry little band. Hell, the English guy wasn't even deemed good enough to be in the group, last he'd checked. Wanker had been voted right off the island known as Sunnyhell. As he skulked through the shadows, he noticed a few things. Xander and Wesley weren't on patrol. They weren't doing any of the aimless wandering that was the usual tactic of the Slayer's gang for stumbling across trouble. Instead, they were hunting, moving through the night silently and lethally as they deliberately tracked down their prey. In between battles they laughed and teased each other and stole kisses and caresses. It was hypnotic, the way they shifted from deadly concentration to lustful mirth and back again, never losing focus of their purpose. They were gorgeous. He should have brought a video camera for them. His eyes traced over the line of muscle in Xander's shoulders, the elegant slope of Wesley's back, wandering from one to another and back again. He'd dismissed them before, focussing instead on the Slayer, tormenting them only as a way of getting to her. How could he have never seen them before? Wesley was right; the Hlern was difficult to kill. Spike's muscles tensed as he watched them battle it, forcefully restraining himself from helping them. He didn't want to reveal himself yet, but he wasn't going to allow them to die. He shook his head as Xander pulled a sword out of nowhere and took a chunk out of the Hlern's hide. The dark-haired man's follow-up stroke died before it was completed as he staggered, one hand half-rising to clutch at his head. Wesley stepped in, chanting low under his breath, sending a shower of ominous violet sparks flooding over the demon. As it backed away roaring in pain, the two men glared behind them. Spike's eyes widened as he saw the four men approaching. The power radiating off two of them was enough to send him into a predatorial crouch, shivering at the feel of it rolling off them in waves. It hummed through him, calling to him to take it, taste it on his tongue. As the men drew nearer, he realized that he recognized one of them. He grinned slowly. That explained what was so different about Xander: the boy was one of them. An Immortal. He rose to his feet and watched as Xander and Wesley turned their attention back to the Hlern. As Wesley cast another spell, Xander skewered the creature with his sword. The Hlern thrashed about in a frenzy of pain, roaring weakly as its life slowly drained away. It turned toward the four arriving men. "Down!" Xander shouted, dropping to the ground beside Wesley. The four men immediately fell to the ground, just before a gout of mucus flew forth from the Hlern's snout. It arced high over them, missing them completely. With a final convulsive thrash, the Hlern lay still. "You're learning," Wesley said, climbing to his feet. He stretched out his hand and pulled Xander up to stand beside him. The powerful one with long dark hair got to his feet. "What the hell was that?" "Just one of the many joys of life on the Hellmouth," Xander said, wiping the blade of his sword clean and hiding it away. "Mucus-spewing demons." Spike decided it was time to make his presence known. He ambled out of the shadows, hands swinging gently at his sides as he made his way around the Hlern's carcass. "Nicely done, that." Xander turned to face him, eyes narrowing in recognition. "Spike. What are you doing here?" "Just passing through, really. Was in the general area and got to missing the old Hellmouth." He lit a cigarette with exaggerated casualness. "Nice to see you again, Xander. Wesley." He gazed past them to the thin man he remembered so well. "Benjamin." "You know him?" Xander asked. He shot a glare at the other man. "I thought you said your name is Adam." "It is Adam," the thin man said with a shrug. "Right now, anyway. I don't insist on keeping the same name through the years, like some of our more stubborn brethren. I'm flexible." "That you are, mate," Spike agreed with a dirty chuckle. Adam frowned. "I don't remember you. And I haven't gone by 'Benjamin' in a very long time." "Yeah, about ninety years, isn't it?" "Who are you?" "What, you don't remember me? I'm hurt." Spike let himself slip into demon visage. "Does that jog your memory?" Xander heaved a bored sigh and leaned back against Wesley, who pointedly restrained a yawn himself. The reactions of the four other men were more gratifying. The one with he long hair pulled a sword out of his coat and held it low, at the ready. The red-haired youngster stumbled backward into the bearded older man, who was swearing under his breath. Adam gaped at him for a moment, then also drew his sword. "William the Bloody." He'd still been William the Bloody, a part of the Scourge of Europe, when he'd met Benjamin. Darla hadn't been all that interested in playing with the Immortal, but among them Angelus, Spike and Dru had more than made up for her absence. It had been consensual, mostly. Benjamin had enjoyed the bloody games they'd played with him, enjoyed the painful and dangerous position of favorite toy until Angelus and Dru had lost interest in him and let him go. It had been years, but Spike could never forget him, never forget the taste of Immortal blood on his lips or the way he'd pushed the other man beyond the limits of mortals. Spike inclined his head. "Most people call me Spike now." He took a drag on his cigarette. "How've you been?" "You know him?" the long-haired man asked. Spike didn't miss the way he moved closer to Adam, taking on a stance that was both protective and possessive. This could be fun. "Oh, Adam and I know each other *very* well," he answered in a tone thick with innuendo. Adam shot disgusted glare at him. "You never could keep your mouth shut." "Not true, pet. As I recall, you were the one who had to wear the gag all the time." "That's only because your mouth was full of other things." "Your still jealous that my technique is better than yours." Adam shook his head. "You're delusional." "Yeah, but that didn't stop me from fucking you until you passed out again and again, did it? Didn't stop me from draining you and waiting for you to recover only to begin again, the whole time with you begging and screaming against the gag - only you weren't asking me to stop, isn't that right?" Spike kept half his attention on the long-haired man. He didn't know a person could turn that red without stroking out. "As if you didn't do your share of groveling," Adam said. He looked over at his would-be protector. "MacLeod, calm down. It was a long time ago." "What the hell is he?" ground out MacLeod. "A vampire." Xander's face brightened. "They do this neat turn-to-ashes thing when you kill them. Wanna see?" Despite his words, he made no move toward Spike. The blond man raised his hands, shifting back into his human features. "Hold on a minute, there. You don't want to kill me. Not when I can tell you where to find the crazy man you're looking for." "How do you know we're looking for someone?" Wesley asked. "Keep my ears open, don't I? Immortal like Xander here, and he wants to be a bad-ass mojo-worker. Does that sound like your boy?" Xander took a step toward him, deliberately invading his space. "You can take us to him?" Spike didn't back up an inch. Staring up into the dark eyes, he smirked. "Am I going to have to blow in your ear, or will you follow me on your own?" He watched as Xander's eyes darkened. "Lead the way." Xander reached out and took Wesley's hand, not needing to look back to know the other man was reaching for him. "We'll be right behind you." Spike allowed his gaze to wander once more over the bodies of the two men in front of him. A package deal, were they? He could get to like this. *****