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Possession by icemink
 
The Slave Market
 
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A/N: This story is not yet betaed. It was just a plot bunny that grabbed me and wouldn't let go and I needed some feedback, so I figured I'd post it here, since this is where the challenge came from. Once the chapter is betaed, I'll update it.
Italics for thoughts and flashbacks.

Chapter 1: The Slave Market

In some ways Spike had been expecting this day for decades, although this wasn't how he'd imagined it. He'd always known, that some day Dru would get him into more trouble than he'd be able to get out of. Of course that was part of her appeal. He'd just always figured when that day came he'd end up dust, not at the Center being sold as a slave.

It wasn't even Dru's fault this time. His dark princess was a siren that few demons could resist. Spike often had to fight off rivals for her affections, which she gave far more freely than he would have liked. Often Spike simply made these other demons disappear. But that wasn't always practical or possible.

They had been passing through Monte Carlo when Dru was abducted by the local Master's minions. It was a region of Europe where Spike had few friends and allies, so there was no way he'd be able to get her back through bloodshed. She was too well guarded.

He thought he could win her back by other means. Fighting wasn't the only thing Spike was good at after all, and gambling was a known weakness of Fredrico, Monte Carlo's Master vampire. So Spike had challenged him to a game of poker for Drusilla.

The only problem had been that Spike didn't have much of value to wager, so he'd offered himself up for Fredrico to do with as he pleased. It wasn't as if Spike had any intention of losing. He intended to cheat, and he was damned good at cheating.

Unfortunately, Fredrico was better at cheating. He also had no use himself for Spike, but he thought it would be amusing to sell his new queen's old lover as a sex slave at the Center.

The Center was exactly that, it was the center of the dimension Spike had always called home. That was why long ago it had become the center of the demon world. Not only was it inaccessible to human's who didn't know about magic, it was exactly the same distance from anywhere in that dimension. As such it was also the safest place from all other dimensions. Not that dimensional warfare was common, but still, you never knew when something that didn't belong would try and slither through and make a nuisance of itself.

Spike had never actually been to the Center. It was after all run by demons, who tended to look down on vampires as half breeds. Not that Spike was bothered by that, he'd just never really had a reason to go there.

His arms were chained behind his back as he was pushed past rows of humans, vampires, and demons who were all chained naked to strong iron posts. Spike tried not to look at them, or think about the fact that he was supposed to join them soon.

Of course he had no intention of letting that happen. He was slowly, and quietly working his chains loose. Fredrico's minions hadn't done a good job of it, and Spike was confident he could fight his way past his two guards.

He was lead into an office where a short pudgy blue demon was doing paper work. As they entered the demon looked up, and ran his eyes over Spike.

"Ah, yes. The vampire. Hmmm . . . " The demon got up to take a closer look at Spike.

First he put one clammy finger under Spike's chin and turned his head this way and that. "Pretty eyes, nice cheek bones," he noted as if he was going through some sort of mental check list.

Then the demon was sticking his fingers in Spike's mouth and forcing his lips apart.

Without thinking Spike growled and extended his fangs, hoping perhaps to bite off a finger. But the demon was too fast. Obviously he'd been expecting that.

"Yes, good reflexes, has all his teeth, and very nice fangs."

Then in one swift motion he tore open Spike's t-shirt baring his chest. "Yes, very nice," he noted.

It wasn't totally unexpected, but Spike still found himself less then prepared with the demon began undoing Spike's belt and fly. The only thing he could be grateful for was that there was nothing at all appealing about the demon's cold clammy hands on his member, so there was no chance of any embarrassing reactions to being manhandled.

"Ah yes, very impressive, although it's a pity really," the demon shook his head.

He didn't bother to zip Spike back up, he just returned to his desk and addressed the vampires who'd brought Spike in.

"If you'd only brought him to me a month ago. We could have made a small fortune. Male vampires were all the rage then, but well, you know how it is. . . They go in and out of style. It's young innocent human girls right now, and they never go completely out of style. Still he is a very nice specimen. I'll see what I can do."

The demon nodded and Spike was dragged back out of the room. Spike would come back, he promised himself. Someday he'd come back and chop off that demon's hands. But that would come after he escaped.

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

She had promised herself that she would never end up here again, but here she was. Of course this time she wasn't a slave waiting to be auctioned off. This time she was free, and she intended to stay that way.

Still, it was hard for her to walk past the slave pens, and to see the people and demons chained and waiting for buyers.

I'm the Slayer, she reminded herself. I am the strongest warrior to ever walk into the Circle.

But it didn't do much good. Inside she still felt like Buffy Summers, the scared and confused girl who'd been kidnapped and dragged here years ago.

This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real. Any moment she would wake up and find out this was all a bad dream. That monsters were not real.

But she didn't wake up. The nightmare wouldn't stop. And Buffy Summers wondered if she'd ever see her friends and family again.

She had stayed late at the gym, to finish polishing the newest routine she wanted her and the other cheerleaders to perform. She'd heard the gym doors open, and had looked to see who it was.

Then she screamed.

There were two of them and they were the most hideous creatures she'd ever seen. They had white skin, and what looked like tentacles dripping from their chins. They wore long black robes, and carried clubs.

Without thinking Buffy ran. She ran faster than she had ever run before. She ran faster than she thought a person could run. But it didn't matter. The monsters followed her.

Too late she realized they had steered her into a trap where more of the terrifying creatures where waiting for her.

When they had her surrounded, they moved in slowly, cautiously, almost as if they were scared of her. Which was insane because they were the monsters and she was just a girl.

Finally they attacked her. She tried to fight back but she'd never thrown a punch in her life.

Even so she was surprised by how well she did. They seemed genuinely hurt when she did hit them. But in the end there were too many. They had overpowered her and beaten her until she was unconscious.

She had woken up chained and inside a cage. There were other cages around her, but none of the occupants were human. They were all monsters. It was as if the whole human race had just disappeared, and Buffy was all that was left.

Not knowing what else to do, Buffy curled up into a ball and cried.


That had been years ago. Buffy didn't cry anymore. She didn't even think of herself as Buffy anymore. She was The Slayer, and she knew that she could easily take any demon here.

But it didn't matter, somewhere, deep inside, a fragment of that scared teenage girl remained, and although The Slayer walked proudly through the slave market, she didn't feel at all confident. She couldn't help but eye the guards with nervous suspicion.

What was worse there was only one person to see for what she needed. Rill'kor. The same demon who'd arranged for her kidnapping and had auctioned her off all those years ago.

She passed into Rill'kor's tent and picked up a list of the demon's that were going to be auctioned off. Then she began to look around. All of the demons were chained up on display so that potential buyers could get a good look at them.

She moved easily through the crowd although she kept her head down. She didn't want to be recognized. This was important for two reasons. The first was she hated signing autographs, and sometimes suffocating crowds of her fans would encircle her. All reaching out for a piece of her.

That was why she'd come to the auction wearing a robe and with her hair and face hidden in a hood. That wasn't all that unusually. She knew most demons would recognize her as humans, and the sort of humans who came here, usually didn't want to be identified.

But the second reason, was that if anyone recognized her, they would most likely try and outbid her on any slave that caught her eye. Her funds were very limited. Her only real hope was to find a demon that had potential that no one else saw. After all, she didn't need a champion her first time out, just someone tough enough to survive a couple rounds.

That's why she quickly scratched several demons off her list. They were obviously perfect for the Circle and everyone knew it. They would most likely be sold for several times what she could pay.

Other's were also quickly scratched off her list, like a Fyarl demon that looked very impressive, but Buffy noticed the slight scar on one side of it's nose that meant that it's mucous sack had been removed.

Finally she had her list of the five demons that would both suit her purposes, and that she thought she could afford.

She left the tent to find a seat in front of the auction stage, but as she was leaving a man suddenly ran right in front of her.

A moment later she corrected herself. He wasn't a man, but a vampire. His hair was so blond it was almost white, and she was willing to bet that wasn't natural.

A black shirt hung in tatters about his body, and he yanked off the rest of it as he ran by, leaving him wearing nothing but his black jeans.

He's well muscled, Buffy absently thought as he ran by. Of course since he was a vampire that didn't really matter. You couldn't tell how strong a vampire was by looking at them. Or so she'd always been told. She'd been taught about vampires but had never actually fought one.

A moment latter two other vampires came around the same corner he had.

The first vampire didn't keep running however. Instead he grabbed a pole from one of the tents and turned to face his attackers.

Since it was going to be a while till the auction started, Buffy decided she might as well watch the show. And what a show it was. The vampire was actually good. He trust one end of the pole through the heart of one of his pursuers, who exploded in a could of dust.

Buffy gasped in spite of herself. She'd heard about that, but she'd never seen a vampire dusted before.

He quickly knocked the other guard down, and was just about to go in for the kill, when he was tackled by one of the slave market guards.

That's when the fight really began. The vampires that had chased their blond comrade, hadn't been very good fighters at all. The market guards were another story, and there were four of them, and just the one of him. Still he managed to hold his own for a while.

The Slayer couldn't help but watch the eye of a professional, and she was impressed with what she saw. The vampire was a dirty fighter, but he was also obviously an accomplished fighter as well.

But he was outnumbered, and it wasn't too long until the guards had him on the ground and were beating him into submission.

Curious, she watched as the guards dragged the beaten and bloody form towards Kira's tent. An escape sex slave, she thought, and shuddered a little. It reminded her that things could have been worse than being sold at Rill'kor's.

The show obviously over, the Slayer shrugged and moved back towards the auction stage, took a seat, and crossed her fingers.

 
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