Wandering in the grounds of the St Petersburg establishment, Spike began talking… Xander knew a little of his mother from snippets, and tiny bits of his life with Angelus, but St Petersburg seemed to have prompt a watershed… and a necessary one for the High Master. This was about old,*old* demons of the personal variety and Xander began to understand the Master Vampire on an even more profound level.
Spike’s love of his Sire was uppermost in the conversation, and though in past times that might have proven something to prompt insecurity or even jealousy, now there was profound a understanding and a deep sense of shared loss. Were Anton to abandon them or Spike to be dusted, it would feel the same. Xander intertwined their fingers and passed love and comfort through their link as Spike allowed himself to reminisce and to mourn for Angelus/Angel.
The High Master confessed to his Consort in very quiet terms something the man already knew, William was Drusilla’s by turning, but Angelus was his Sire in everything else, Angelus *was* his everything. Spike then went very quiet and their link raged with grief, regret and love as he began to reminisce. Xander led the High Master to a spot Spike had pointed out on the first day, a pretty pergola covered in ivy, and pulled him down to sit on a stone bench his head falling to Xander’s shoulder. As Xander leaned back against the upright of the pergola and pulled Spike to lean back against him, Spike kissed his lover’s mating mark in gratitude, then his eyes glazed over as he continued to remember and talk.
Angelus and young William had traveled to St Petersburg without their female Sires several times in the early days of William’s growth as a vampire. They had fought, fed and f#@$ed their way to the north, and raised hell together. William was Angelus’ favorite plaything and ‘his boy’ reveled in the attention and the illicitness of their carnal relations.
St Petersburg was their summer playground prior to Angelus’ soul. Northern Europe had always been the place to consolidate reputations and Angelus and William had not disappointed their audience. Spike’s former lifestyle and command of Russian – and more importantly French and German – charmed the courtiers of Europe and his boyish looks had him a favorite of the ladies, and a number of the men. Angelus was no less popular, acting as the rather attentive ‘older cousin’ to his slim companion. They partied hard, ate well, and fought like hellions when a few local demons objected to their presence. How many humans they ate or vampire minions they dusted really could not be determined… ‘a lot’ being the best estimate.
St Petersburg pre 1900 and the Revolution was rich, decadent, and in Vampire terms, controlled by the Mistress Alenka who enjoyed the casual company and the reputation of the beautiful Angelus, and the new very pretty boy Childe he had in tow. The lovely, deadly, blonde companion simply added to Angelus’ attraction for the older Mistress.
Angelus and William reveled in the attention, were invited to balls, and both human and vampire parties. They smoked, ate and drank with, and of, the humans. They fought other demons and vampires like the hellions they were, and regularly bedded willing, live women and men with debauched glee.
………………….
Xander adjusted their position a little to relieve his back as Spike related nights of parties, of sharing rich women… and men, of drinking without killing in the rich circles, and of killing without drinking in the poor. He spoke of the finery they wore and the dances. And as Xander freed his long blonde locks from their tie and began to stroke and tug at the curls, he saw Spike roll in and out of game face before tears began to fall and the High Master continued the saga.
…………………
They had been staying in rooms in the centre of St Petersburg and had been called to attend the Mistress. Angelus and he had been engaging in pleasuring each other at the time the minion knocked on their door, Angelus less than impressed as he answered the door in a long satin robe sporting a very obvious erection. But the Mistress was not to be denied. She was hosting a number of humans along with her vampire court, including a young man, Rasputin, whom she claimed to be grooming for ‘greater things’. Angelus growled but still acknowledged their acceptance of the invitation for the following night then returned to his sport with his Childe. They managed to finish each other after the minion left then performed a swift sponge bathing to remove the evidence.
Angelus then carefully dressed his Childe in fine brocades and exquisitely made tailored trousers. He all but salivated as he fixed the cummerbund around the slim waist of his Childe, and noted the sturdy erection resulting from his touch and sheer proximity to his chosen companion.
The evening was rather uneventful, though the Mistress was rather pleased when Rasputin’s eyes wandered across various female guests then settled on William. She smelt the human’s arousal and determined her next move. She would not risk angering Angelus (or Darla… the High Master’s favorite) by offering William, but would continue to control the dark man via a series of liaisons with pretty young men, whilst coaching him in the art of engaging women, particularly royalty. He proved the perfect tool until he was dead… which was a pity, but in the end of little consequence to the Mistress.
It was well after Angelus acquired his soul that Lenin then Stalin provided *plenty* of fodder for Mistress Alenka’s charges, the latter ruler being particularly partial to ‘unusual punishments and massacres’. Stalin would have made a wonderful vampire, but with so much blood on his hands and being so valuable alive, there was little point in turning him… instead a devil’s bargain was struck, purges and ‘unfortunate events’ continued until well after the second world war, proving a win/win for the human and vampire rulers.
Spike had been on his way back to Alenka’s region in the latter part of the war when he was captured on the Czechoslovakian border by some German soldiers shortly after a feeding frenzy. There had been a massacre of a group of local resistance fighters and their families. Spike and two other vampires were simply assisting those who were mortally wounded but not quite dead along their way.
Dru was in Italy – with the Italian Master at the time, Janos. They had holed up in the catacombs under the city of Rome.
Spike quite enjoyed Janos’ company but left at Drusilla’s insistence after she babbled something about “tin cans” and “fishies and stars” and “meeting Daddy”. Janos encouraged him to go north as the word through the vampire community was that there were less incendiary bombs and more mayhem in that direction. With Dru safe, and Janos’ first childe, the very pretty Petros in tow, Spike had figured on visiting the old stomping ground, St Petersburg (now Leningrad… it had been Petrograd for a while around WWI). The city was under siege but even if they couldn’t get in, the German army holding it hostage apparently afforded easy pickings.
Darla, Angelus and Childer, had always followed wars, enjoying easy hunting with little or no need to be rid of bodies, and frequently gorging themselves on give away meals in the chaos… but historically battle fields were specific, with the rapidity of the German expansion had come the ability for vampires to travel the length and breadth of Europe with guaranteed gluttony all the way.
The Germans captured he and Petros easily. They had been unconscious, full of human blood and copious quantities of vodka. Separated somewhere between their place of capture and Prague, Spike was interrogated harshly enough to fall into game face, eat his torturer and was consequently subdued, crated, and in the process of being shipped as part of a ‘special initiative’ on a submarine when Angelus turned up on behalf of the ‘other side’. Having met with, then been rejected again, by his ensouled Sire on some rescue mission, it was the last time he would try to connect with, or even contact his mentor, his true Sire of old, for close on fifty years.
……..
Xander continued to stroke his dear lover as the vampire fell into game face and grieved the loss of his elder. When Spike struggled and could not find balance, Xander pushed his wrist against the vampire’s mouth and waited. Spike calmed a little then bit down and took three long drafts, gently licking the wound closed and kissing the spot before continuing.
…….
It had taken three months to find his way back to Italy, three very lean months. They had been in the Atlantic and close to USA waters when Angel had forced he and the newly made Lawson, Angel’s last Childe, overboard. They were both eventually picked up by a ship headed for Spain and Spike made his way across to Italy from there.
“I arrived starving to find her in the lap of… Anton! I confess pet, I was hurt… but too weak to challenge him, so simply took her and hid… Funny now that I know him, I guess he wouldn’t have minded – and nor would I… but there you go.” Spike swiveled in his lover’s arms and kissed him soundly. “My dark warrior… my Consort… my best friend and lover. It is right to be here, in this place with you, my love. How lucky am I to be here with you.”
Xander leaned down and kissed the pale forehead. “But remembering is painful it seems.”
“No luv… History here is about triumph. And I’ve already had mine… but… just being here brings it all back and … I’ve never known how much I…” Spike buried his game face in Xander’s shirt and with strong loving arms surrounding him and giving him permission, he sobbed like he had not allowed himself to since Angel’s demise.
Xander noted the tears still flowing and whispered, “How much what….?” He brushed away the evidence of his partner’s distress.
With his face now buried against his Consort’s neck, and his body cradled in an adoring hold (one hand around his waist, the other stroking his manhood through his trousers),. The vampire whispered, “How much I needed to find…. Peace and acceptance.”
Xander quietly stated “Have you found it with me?”
“Yes… oh my Love… yes!”
Xander waited for his partner to calm then as the Consort lifted and walked the High Master back to their boudoir, he reflected.
Never had their age difference been in sharper contrast; never had Spike been so honest; and never had he loved another as he did the man in his arms. They had a momentous task ahead of them, but he knew in that moment that they were two parts of a whole and truly believed that together, they could do anything.
…….
As they re entered Mistress Minna’s abode the Consort bowed first and made a quiet request – an act that told the Mistress two things, one that she was trusted, and two that the master was in need of some ‘time’. She kissed Xander on the cheek as an older sister might, then arranged that the High Master’s repose was not to be interrupted until his own (or his Consort’s) specific instructions.
The following day the ruling couple entered the room with a strength that none had felt before. For some reason the previous evening’s confessions of William the Bloody and the acceptance of the same by his Consort had shifted things. They were strong before, now it seemed, the very walls vibrated with their presence.
Xander stood behind his partner with a calm hand lying on Spike’s shoulder and publicly offered his wrist, which was taken. Several younger vampires fell to their knees, others fell into game face and the older masters simply took an unneeded breath and moved to kneel at their master’s feet.
The Master spoke, “As you all know, we have called you here for a reason.”
Four hundred faces looked up expectantly.