Devil You Know

Title: The Devil You Know

Author: Juno

E-mail: Juno_skywalker@yahoo.com

Archive: Yes. Just let me know where.

Rated: NC-17 for M/M sex, violence, and some language

Pairings: Jim/Blair & Xander/Spike

Disclaimer: I don't own them or make money off of them. Wish I did. Characters are owned by Pet Fly(Sentinel), WB Network (BtVS), and Sci-Fi (Highlander)

Author's Note: Story is rated as a whole, not in parts. Special thanks to my beta Lyn for doing such a great job for me. < Hugs >

Summary: Xander must face his future, Spike must face himself, Blair and Jim must face their fear, and all must stop a serial killer before he claims another victim.

***** Part 1: Dream A Little Dream Of Me

SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA:

Back Alley Of The Bronze 3:29 a.m. :

//They weren't going to make it! Oh God, please don't let this be happening. PLEASE!// That was all Xander could think of as the vampire assassin loomed over him, moving in for the kill. Xander used his hand to search along the ground for anything he could use as a weapon. He knew better than to take his eyes of this killer for a second, even if it meant it would help him locate the stake he had dropped earlier. So here he was, flat on his butt, using one hand to search and the other to help him scoot back further away from the creature that had him on tonight's dinner menu. All the while praying for Buffy, Giles, Willow, anyone who could come in and save him from Mr. Smelly here. Xander's hand touched something wooden and without thinking he snatched it up to use as his last line of defense. His mind raced for some way to make the vampire give him the opening he needed. He was going to show this creep that he was someone who wouldn't go down without a fight!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God, he was so tired. Where the hell was everyone? Xander knew he wasn't going to last much longer. Actually he should be surprised that he had lasted this long but figured Mr. Fangs here was just playing with him. What happened next he would have to figure out later. One moment he was being slammed up against a wall about to have his throat torn out, the next an inhuman battle cry sounded and the vampire assassin was being tackled while he was sliding to the ground. Sounds of hand to hand combat were the only thing Xander's tired mind registered as he slumped with his eyes closed and his body unwilling to move. However, as much as he wanted his rescuer to fight it out for him, Xander knew the guy didn't stand a chance against the vampire alone. Meaning he had to finish this himself. So Xander ordered his body to gather what little strength he had left for one more try and hoped it would be enough to save himself and his rescuer. Opening his eyes and taking a deep breath, he pushed himself up off the ground and stood with one hand against the wall for support. Xander looked up in time to see his rescuer go down and knew that it was now or never. With a shove off the wall he lunged out with the stake he had found earlier and drove it straight into the vampire's heart via way of its back.

Xander fell to his knees on the dust pile that was once the vampire assassin, his energy now spent. He forced himself to crawl over to his rescuer's side to see if the guy was still alive. With a shaking hand Xander reached out and touched the blonde guy's neck to find a pulse, only to discover there wasn't one. "Oh God!" he sobbed, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." It was all his fault, he thought, that this man had died to save him. Just as he was about to berate himself for being too late, he heard a low moan. Could he have missed the man's heart beat? My God, the man was alive. ALIVE! Xander thanked the big guy up stairs for this miracle. The man groaned and Xander helped him to a sitting position. " Are you alright, dude?" questioned Xander.

"I've had better days, mate," an accented voice replied.

"Spike!" Xander whispered in shock as he watched Spike turn to face him. Surprised at seeing one of Sunnydale's worst vampires looking at him with those bluer than blue eyes and smiling at him sapped what little strength Xander had left. Staring at Spike, time seemed to stand still and as his world narrowed till he only saw the man before him . . . . he blacked out.

Spike looked at the slayer's favorite pet with an amused grin on his face. This could get interesting, he thought as he watched for the fear to show on the young man's face. When it didn't eventuate Spike's look became one of confusion. He waved his hand in front of the young man's face. Nothing. He snapped his fingers at the kid. Not even a flinch. //Huh! That's gratitude for you,// Spike thought, //try to help a guy and he goes into shock with out so much as a thank you.// Spike sighed as a little voice inside his head chimed in, "Well you did try to kill him and his friends just last week."// Hhhmm, good point,// he thought with a grin. // Might as well .......what was that smell?// Like a dog on a trail, Spike tried to locate the smell only to discover it was coming from the kid. Leaning closer, the smell lead him to locate a wound just behind the boy's right ear that was slowly bleeding and before he even registered the action, Spike licked it. He licked at it repeatedly tasting something in the blood he had never tasted before. Moaning, he grabbed the kid and pulled him to straddle his lap, never losing contact with his little piece of heaven. Spike felt he was losing control of himself and tried desperately to hold on to what was his old self. His head snapped back as if he had been slapped. Panting, he leaned his forehead against the kids wondering if he could stop what was happening to him.

Too late. Spike felt as if he had finally found what he had been looking for all his life. Whatever was happening to him, had started the moment he tasted the young man's blood and he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to. Strangely he didn't want to anymore. What he did want, however, was for the kid to come out of whatever world he had lost himself in. The kid? The kid? What was his name? The kid had to have a name. Spike tried to remember what the slayer had called him. He kept playing memories over and over in his head searching his mind for the answer. Then like a gentle breeze the answer came. XANDER. His name was Xander. Spike rolled the name over his tongue a couple of times out loud. "Xander. Xander." he whispered the name like it was his salvation. At the sound of his name, the young man blinked and looked at him, but not really seeing him, laid his head on the vampire's shoulder and promptly fell asleep. Spike, sliding the kid off his lap, stood up and lifted the young man into his arms. He carried Xander to the one place the vampire knew he could get help for the young angel that he held not only in his arms, but now in his un-beating heart.


CASCADE, WASHINGTON:

Same day Cascade P.D. 10:34 a.m.:

"Ellison! Sandburg! In my office now!" called Simon. Jim and Blair looked at each other briefly and closed the file they had just finished. Standing the two men walked into the Captain's office, knowing that what ever this was about they weren't going to like it. Things in Cascade had been quiet for the past two months, almost too quiet and both men had a feeling that something had just changed.

"Come in, gentlemen and close the door behind you." Simon puffed at his cigar as he waited for the men to take a seat before he continued.

"I got a call this morning from a old friend of mine, he is the Captain at the 53 rd precinct in Sunnydale, California. He called to see if I could loan him a couple of officers for a serial killer case that is getting out of hand down there. The killer has already clammed the lives of 12 teenagers and has left messages saying he has targeted his next victim."

"Now this isn't an order but I would like to send you two to help." Simon took a deep breath, then pushed on.

"Jim, it would mean a lot to me if you and Sandburg went down there to give them a hand with this. With your sentinel abilities, you could be the only one to take this guy down before he has a chance to get his hands on another kid."

Jim held up his hand. "Simon, save your breath. I can't speak for Sandburg, but you know I'll do it."

Blair's hands moved as he punctuated his words. "Hey man, were you go I go. Count me in, Simon."

Simon smiled at the two men he considered to be his best friends, even though he would never breath a word of that to Blair. "I knew I could count on you two that's why I told Marcus that you're coming. Here are your tickets and the rest of the information you'll need once you get there. And here is the case file Marcus faxed over for the two of you to look at. You leave tomorrow morning, so you can go ahead and leave for the day so you can pack and take care of what ever you need to. Oh, and gentlemen, I would plan to stay a month just in case things take longer than we think."

Nodding, Jim and Blair had started for the door when Simon stopped them one last time, giving them the only clue of things to come. "Gentlemen, one more thing before you go. Even though Sunnydale seems like a nice quite sleepy little town don't let your guard down even for a moment. You two will be walking into a war zone. They don't call the place ‘The Hell Mouth' for nothing."

"We'll keep that in mind, Simon. Thanks for the warning." Jim said.

Simon watched the best detective team he had leave for the elevator that would send them on their way. "Good luck, guys. You're going to need it." Simon whispered and shut his door softly.

852 Prospect Loft 307 11:05 a.m. :

"Hey man do, you know what the weather is going to be like there?" Blair walked out of his room when he spotted his friend out on the balcony gazing out at the harbor. "Jim? Man, are you ok?" Blair walked over to his partner, worried that he had zoned out again.

Just as he was about to check, he was surprised by Jim's quite, statement. "I had a dream last night, Blair."

Uh oh, Blair got the feeling that he wasn't going to like this. " What was it about, Jim?"

Jim turned away from the harbor to look at Blair but then he's gaze turned into one that was like he was stared off into space, remembering. " I was in the jungle running after a black jaguar. It keep looking back at me to see if I was following it and some how I got a sense of urgency, as if it was begging me to hurry. I heard two distant sounds, one was a faint drum beat, the other was like an animal in great pain and badly suffering. We finally reached the front of the Temple of the Jaguars but instead of going up to it like always, we ran around the side of it to a part of it that I have never seen before in my dreams." Jim took in a ragged breath to steady himself for what he was about to say next. "As we reached the back of the temple, I saw a young snow white jaguar with gray spots on the ground, writhing in pain. I reached out to it and eased it into my lap trying to see what was wrong with it. I was stroking its fur when I realized it wasn't fur anymore. It was skin! I looked again and instead of a jaguar, it was a naked kid in my lap, a teenager. He was moaning in pain and kept saying the words, "Too much. Too much." over and over again. I asked him what was too much and a voice with a British accent replied "Everything, mate." I looked up and there was a wolf looking down at me from this platform, by his side crouched down was a blonde haired man.

The guy looked over at me and said, " Everything is too much for him. Lights, voices, spices in his food, even the clothes he wears feels too abrasive. He has been like this off and on for a while now and some of his friends and I seem to be of the only ones able to help him."

I was confused and pissed so I asked, "So why are you just letting him suffer like this now?"

With a shrug, he said, "Because he won't let me, mate. He is afraid of me and with good reason I might add. I haven't, shall we say, been an absolute angel in the past. I have done some pretty nasty things to him and his friends before now so he doesn't trust me. Not that I blame him mind you, I did try to kill him once or twice," he smiled, " Things like that tend to get in the way of listening to someone when they're trying to help, don't you know."

Now I was really confused "So why the sudden change of heart?"

The guy shook his head in frustration. "How the bloody hell should I know, mate? One minute I was going to kill him, the next I was carrying him to a friend to get help for him. I don't understand it and I'm scared as hell at what is happening to me but I am more frightened of what's wrong with him right now. He won't listen to me so maybe he'll listen to you. You and he are the same, I can smell it on the both of you, mate. What ever it is that you are is what he is and like it or not you're going to help him even if I have to make you!" He stood up and jumped down to stand right beside me. He then stooped down so that we were face to face and he said, " Listen, I don't know what to do for him since he won't let me help him. I've changed and I know it's going to take time to gain his trust but time is something we don't have much of anymore. I love him, you can make of that what you will but it's true. He is my soul and I can't survive without him." He paused, "I don't want to live on without him and if he doesn't get help soon he will be killed."

"I don't know how I know this but your not human are you?" I stared at the man in front of me.

"Not by a bloody long shot, mate." he said with a laugh and his face changed into that of a monster.

"So who or what are you?"I knew I should be afraid but somehow I didn't feel threatened by this creature.

"Well, people call me Spike but I was also called William the Bloody at one time. As for the what, I would think that would be obvious." Spike winked at me and gave a roguish smile.

I got a hell of a surprise when I saw the thing's teeth. "My God you're a . . ."

"Vampire, mate. The word you're looking for is vampire." Spike sighed. "And until just recently a very nasty one at that. As I said I'm no angel but I got my humanity back and I've changed a lot. One might say a complete one eighty." the last was said in a self mocking tone and a look of disgust on his inhuman face, but the look quickly left and his face changed to its human like mask. " Well, you know who and what I am so now it's your turn."

I was still reeling from what I had just learned so it took me a second to register the comment. I swallowed, " Um. . . I'm Detective Jim Ellison of the Cascade P.D. in Washington."

"Ah, a constable are we? Lovely but that still doesn't answer my question mate and our time here is short. So give, what are you and what can I do to help the kid with the pain?" The vampire asked with just a hint of impatience.

"I'm what is called a Sentinel, kind of a tribal watchman or guardian. As for how you can help the kid you'll have to find a book called The Watchmen by Sir Richard Burton, the explorer not the actor. The book was written over a hundred years ago so it may be a little hard to find, but if you really want to help him then help him find his guide, otherwise the kid will suffer until you do." I looked deeply into Spike's azure blue eyes to make sure that the vampire understood the severity of the statement.

"So how do I go about finding this guide fellow?" he asked.

I cocked his head to one side. "Now that I don't know. You'll just have to read the book to find out, I suppose. If my guide were here then he could tell you. He's the one who keeps up with this sort of thing."

The distant drum beat's rhythm grew a little faster and the sound came closer, echoing all around them. Spike looked up at the sky then back at me. "Times up, mate and I have to go." He stood up and started to leave.

"Spike?" I asked.

The vampire looked back.

"You be careful to watch the kid close. Sentinel's have what is called a zone out, looks like he kind looking off into space but doesn't respond to anything. He could have a zone out at any time and could freeze in the middle of the street and get himself killed. Only the kid's guide will be able to help him control these zone outs, so until you find his guide, you're going to have to watch his back for a while. Both night and DAY!" I put emphasis on the last word.

Spike gave him a cocky grin " I already am, mate. I ll ready am." With that the vampire disappeared into thin air. The once distant drum beat became louder and then there was a sudden crash.

Jim blinked a few times and noticed that his guide was no longer at his side but on the couch writing the whole thing down for his notes. He couldn't help himself as he warily grinned at Blair, forever the scientist he thought . Sigh. Might as well finish this off. " When I woke up I realized two things. One, the crash was from you dropping one of the juice glasses" Jim gave Blair a one of his looks and Blair had the decency to duck his head at the comment. "And two, the drum beat was the sound of your heart beating."

Blair looked up from his notes to judge what Jim wasn't telling him. He knew Jim was leaving out something. He didn't know what but it was obviously bothering the older man. "Okay man, so what else did you notice about this dream that was different?"

"You mean beside the 5'9 Billy Idol look alike vampire?" Jim said, sarcasm dripping of the comment like hot butter.

Ok so he's got me there Blair thought. "Yeah, besides that."

Jim thought about it for a moment, then said, "Purple."

Purple? "Huh? Purple what?"

Turning way from his guide, Jim answered, "Everything was in purple, Chief. Normally when I dream about the jungle it's in blue."

"And this is what has you on edge?" Blair asked.

Sighing, Jim turned back to look back at his partner. " No, Chief what has me, as you said ‘On Edge' is the fact that both the kid and Spike are in Sunnydale and before you ask, no he didn't tell me that's where they are. I just know that they're there. That and Spike did say he was going to make me help him with the kid. It's kind of hard to do from a distance so when Simon asked us to go this morning I knew that Spike was behind it."

"So you're saying this vampire is the killer?" As a shiver ran down his spine, Blair wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"No! He isn't the killer but I would bet the loft and my truck that he is behind us being assigned to this case." Jim walked to the kitchen and got a beer out of the refrigerator. "You want one, Chief?"

Shaking his head, Blair continued "So you're saying . . ." At that moment you could see a light bulb turn on over the younger man's head, "This has nothing to do with him does it? It's the kid you're worried about. You're scared the kid will turn out to be another Alex, aren't you?"

Sitting down hard in the chair, Jim leaned his head back and gazed up at the ceiling. "Got it in one Darwin. What if the kid is another Alex? She . . . ." Jim swallowed hard. " She almost took you from me. Tried to kill you and me both. How do we know this kid won't succeed where she failed, Chief? She didn't have a guide either and look how she turned out."

Blair got off the couch, walked over to the chair, and kneeled down beside his friend. Placing a reassuring hand on Jim's knee he said softly, "We don't know what this kid will be like but you said that the guy. . . what was his name. . . Spike? That he said that it just started recently and that the kid had friends trying to help him. Right? Alex didn't have that, man. She didn't have anyone so maybe that will be what makes the difference. Maybe the kid has a shot at being someone really great some day. All we can do is try to help and hope for the best, man."

"Ever the optimist aren't you, Sandburg?" Jim looked down into the blue eyes of his best friend and gave him a half smile. I could get lost in those eyes, Jim thought.

Blair's stomach was doing flip flops. Oh God, he's looking at me that way again, Blair thought. It was taking everything he had not to just reach up and kiss Jim within an inch of his life. Mentally giving himself a shake he stood up and grabbed Jim's hand, giving it a good hard tug. "Come on, Big Guy lets get packed and when we get there we'll just take it one step at a time. And if this kid even exists then we'll help and let the chips fall where they may."

"Got another cliche you want to throw out there, Chief?" Jim asked as he let himself be pulled up out of the chair.

"Yeah. Eat, drink, and be" (SMACK) "Youch!" Blair turned and glared at his sentinel.

Jim just chuckled as he watched his friend try to rub the sting out of his butt. "That was a rhetorical question, Darwin."

......TBC.......