Chapter 4:

"Buffy…" Elena began, placing her hands up in a gesture of surrender and peace while letting her face shift back to human. "I can explain."

"How?" Her cousin choked out, finally coming out of her shock. As of right now, her Slayer and family instincts were warring with each other- the former demanding she kill her cousin, to save her and the latter telling her to at least hear her out.

"It's a long story, but I'm telling you, I don't kill- I only take what I need." The brunette begged, keeping her distance from her cousin, who she suddenly didn't know anymore. How did she know about vampires? Did anyone else know?

"What are you?" Buffy asked, wondering what type of demon her cousin suddenly was.

Elena was confused at first, but her encounter with Spike in the graveyard came to mind and she realized Buffy must know about those like him. "A vampire… just not like the ones you probably know."

"That's impossible… there's only one kind of vampire, and they don't look like you did awhile ago." The blonde replied, shaking her head.

"It's true. I'll explain everything, I promise."

"How can I trust you?"

"Have I attacked anyone- as in killed anyone? You, Jeremy, Jenna, Willow, Xander, Giles? I've had a whole lot of opportunities to do it by now, yet I didn't." She replied, hoping to make her cousin see reason. At least enough to make her stop gripping the stake so tightly.

To her relief, Buffy seemed to see the logic, and slowly released her grip on the stake. "You haven't killed anyone… that means I'm letting you go. But this doesn't mean I'm trusting you." She warned, keeping an eye on her cousin- despite knowing she wasn't human, she couldn't stop calling Elena her cousin- as she walked away to patrol.

Elena let out a sigh of relief, and finally remembering the man she had been feeding on, turned around and compelled him to forget everything that had happened before heading back to the house to tell Jeremy of the latest development.

Though she did find it interesting that Buffy mentioned 'I'm letting you go' like it was somehow her duty to kill vampires.

-BtVS/VD-

Buffy could still hardly process the night's events the next morning as she walked into the library. She knew she had to inform the others about Elena not being human, but she also wanted to see if what the brunette had said about her being a different kind of vampire was true.

"Whoa, Buffy, you okay?" Xander asked with concern as she sat down numbly on one of the chairs.

"Elena… she's not human." She said.

"What?" Willow exclaimed, while Xander and Giles just stared at her.

"What do you mean? Is this something other than being a doppelganger?" Xander asked.

She nodded. "She said she's a vampire… but she didn't look like one of the ones that run around Sunnydale. Is that even possible?" She said, the last part directed at her Watcher.

"Yes, it is quite possible. The Watcher's Council has some information on a different breed of vampires; more recent than the kind you are used to but still old. Apparently, they were created by magic- a mother cast a spell that would turn her children into vampires, and those turned others, so on and so forth." Giles said. "I've never come across one, but I have heard some… interesting things about them."

"So did you, you know?" Xander asked, miming a stake.

Hesitating slightly, Buffy shook her head.

"What?!" Xander exclaimed. "She's a vampire… wouldn't you have been doing her a favor?"

"She said she didn't kill… and I believe her. I don't trust her, but I believe her- she could have killed any of use awhile ago, yet she didn't." The Slayer explained.

"This is also possible- I've heard these vampires have a choice on wither to retain their humanity or not, i-it's like a switch they can flip." Giles chimed in. "Though, this doesn't mean we can exactly trust her."

Before anything else could be said, the warning bell for first period rang, and they all dispersed for their first class.

Buffy could only just hope she made the right decision and wouldn't regret it later.

-BtVS/VD-

Elena knew to expect the mistrusting looks from Buffy and the rest of her group of friends, but that didn't mean it hurt less.

Jeremy stayed with her throughout the day, but she convinced him to go with Buffy, Willow, and Xander to the Bronze that night- she didn't want her brother wasting his chances at having a semi-normal life on keeping her company.

She walked through the dark streets of Sunnydale, having nothing better to do. The sound of fighting reached her ears and she hurried towards it… only to arrive in time to see Buffy stake a vampire. To her amazement, it turned to dust instead of graying the veins appearing.

Clapping echoed in the dark alleyway, and the vampire glanced up to see… Spike. She hadn't seen the bleached-blonde since their first encounter in the graveyard and had forgotten just how… good looking… he could be.

Did I really just think that? She asked herself in horror- she couldn't trust him! He was like Damon when he had first arrived in Mystic Falls, dangerous and unpredictable… not someone she could be attracted to.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Spike mentioning something about 'seeing you Saturday'.

"What happens on Saturday?" Buffy asked, still oblivious to Elena's presence.

"I kill you." He said simply, causing fire to ignite inside Elena- not the good kind. No one threatens her family. He must have noticed her presence, because before he left he commented "Lovely seeing you again, Elena."

Buffy whirled around, noticing her cousin's presence for the first time. "You know him?" She demanded.

"No. I've run into him before, but nothing happened." Elena replied. "Why does he have such an interest in killing you?"

"No idea." The blonde said, standing there for a few minutes before walking back inside the Bronze without a backward glance.

Elena sighed- how could she regain her cousin's trust?

-BtVS/VD-

The answer to her question came a few days later, during parent-teacher night of all things.

Buffy was busy leading Joyce everywhere in the school but near her teachers, Willow and Xander were still avoiding her, and Elena was standing with Jeremy, having opted out of joining her cousin and aunt. Not that Buffy will probably trust me, anyway.

Unfortunately for her cousin, Snyder caught up with Joyce and told every little detail about Buffy's performance- potentially exaggerating some parts. It made Elena's dislike for the man grow.

"He really is an ass, isn't he?" Jeremy commented, as if he'd read her thoughts.

Suddenly, the lights went out, making everyone in the room jump, including Elena.

"Everyone, calm down. I'm sure it's nothing." Snyder said- just the glass beyond him shattered, revealing four figures… figures wearing faces just like the ones she'd seen Spike's face shift to. In fact, much to her horror, she recognized him among them.

Before she could get a good look, the crowd panicked and began running for safe places, dragging her with them. She saw Buffy stay close to Joyce, with Jeremy behind them. She ended up being shepherded into a tiny closet-type space with her brother, cousin, aunt, Snyder, and some others.

Someone tried escaping through the window… only to get pulled out and most likely snacked on by the vampire waiting outside. I don't think anyone will be trying that again. She thought as everyone barred the exits. That's not going to help. She knew very few things could deter a vampire from their mission- cabinets barring a door was definitely not one of them.

It wasn't long before Buffy opened a tile in ceiling and crawled out, much to Joyce's protests. Remembering what Spike said about killing Buffy, she followed a few seconds later.

"Elena, no!" Joyce called.

"I'll be fine- promise." She called back, before following her cousin's scent. I hope. She added mentally, reaching the spot where the blonde had exited the ceiling.

Taking a deep breath, telling herself there's no turning back- especially with Buffy in danger- she jumped down. Immediately, once again, fighting reached her ears.

She followed it to an empty hallway, where sure enough, Buffy was fighting Spike- she'd recognize the bleached blonde hair and black duster anywhere… at least, had been, before she hit the floor hard enough to knock the breath out of her.

As Spike stood over her cousin about ready to kill her, Elena jumped on him with enough strength and surprise to knock him away from Buffy.

Reflexively, her face shifted, but she hardly noticed, her blood burning much like it had a few days ago when she had heard the other vampire telling her cousin he was going to kill her.

Spike looked surprised- he obviously hadn't been expected her to attack- but that quickly faded. "Well, this is a surprise. Never though you'd defend a Slayer."

Slayer? She briefly wondered, glancing at Buffy, before quickly returning to the matter at hand. "No one messes with my family." She growled, getting off him and placing herself between him and Buffy, never relaxing her fighting stance.

Elena suddenly recognized Joyce's scent as her aunt raced towards them, and at Buffy's shout tore her gaze to her aunt after reverting her face.

"Where is he?" Joyce asked, and for the first time the brunette noticed the axe in her hand. She turned around to see Spike taking off down the hallway.

"Gone." Elena said.

"Are you two alright?"

They both nodded, and when Elena met Buffy's gaze, she knew she had regained her cousin's trust- and the fact made her smile.

-BtVS/VD-

Spike put as much distance between himself and Sunnydale High before he slowed down. The night's events hadn't quite gone as he had planned. He had planned to kill the Slayer, but unfortunately the intervention of a certain brunette prevented that from happening.

Out of everything, it had to be Elena he had been most surprised about- he knew she was a vampire, but he didn't realize how strong she could be, particularly when brassed off.

That, combined with her loyalty to the Slayer- who despite being family, is still supposed to kill her- made him very intrigued with her.

As he entered the warehouse, he began forming a second plan, one which involved learning more about Elena, her abilities, and her connection to Buffy Summers.

-BtVS/VD-

Yes, this probably sucks, and I apologize, but as I finally broke down and wrote out the plot for some of my stories, I want to start updating them as soon as possible before I lose inspiration… or I kick the bucket. (As I always considered me writing out basically the full plot for a story the signal of an early demise for me… I really hope that's not true…) This, obviously, was one of them, along with 'Lurking Danger', 'Soulmates', 'Blood of A Doppelganger', and 'Blood, Love, and Gold'- I'm not sure which of the latter three will be updated, we'll see tomorrow or the next day.

What did you think of the Spike/Elena scenes (despite being rushed, as I want to get this up before bed and it's a school night)? Good, bad, want to murder me painfully or tie weights to myself and jump into Lake Michigan or Antarctica? Want me to go back and rewrite this?