Chapter 30 – Blood Ties
Spike didn’t want to wake
up. The guilt was still there, filling every corner of his being and ruthlessly
ripping his heart into shreds. No matter how hard he tried to rationalize his
past, it wouldn’t go away. He whimpered when his body continued to bring him to
wakefulness instead of letting him slide into oblivion. If only it would go
away. The tears started to return but before they could take him over, Spike
felt someone crawling into the bed with him.
“Shhh, Spike,” Angel whispered,
molding himself to the curve of Spike’s body and wrapping a protective arm
around his torso. “I’m here.”
The kindness of the one mate
he thought would reject him caused even more guilt in Spike’s heart. He turned
over so he could burrow against the larger body of his Sire. The arms tightened
around him even more as they settled against one another. He was surprised that
here in Angel’s embrace things didn’t look so bad just like when Buffy was
holding him. Maybe things would be all right after all. His mates still loved
him and that was the most important thing to him.
“I didn’t think you’d want
me anymore,” Spike whispered. “I’m not the same.” It was a stupid explanation
for his earlier rejection of his Sire but yet it told everything. Garnering
Angel’s love had taken several lifetimes to accomplish and he had been afraid
that if he wasn’t the vampire Angel had fallen in love with then the love would
disappear.
“I’ll always want and love
you,” Angel said simply and kissed the top of Spike’s head.
Spike relaxed under the
confession. Now, all he had to do was learn to live with this stupid soul he
hadn’t wanted to get life back to the way it should be.
“You and Buffy made love,”
Spike said, inhaling the scent of the sex from his mate’s flesh. It surprised
him after the earlier encounter in the bathroom. It had seemed that Angel and
Buffy would once again be embroiled in another argument and struggle for power
in which he would be caught in the middle.
“I gave her what she
wanted.”
Spike drew back look for the
first time to look up at his Sire. He drew fingers along the face he loved so
much and saw the truth there in brown depths. The arrogance was gone leaving
behind a man who had been humbled by his greatest fears. He didn’t have to be
told what Buffy had done to Angel. He knew because she had done it to him. They
both needed her love too much. It had been a catalyst for the changes in them
both and it was her ultimate power over them. And somehow the demon had found
it and yielded that power without a second thought. Spike nodded and let it
drop. To make Angel talk about it would be pouring salt on an open wound.
Instead he returned to cuddling next to Angel.
“Where’s Buffy?” Spike
asked, refusing to move from the comfort of where he was. His question ended up
being mumbled against Angel’s chest.
“She’s upstairs getting
dressed.”
“Is she handling it okay?”
“Well, enough,” Angel
sighed, rolling onto his back and taking Spike with him. Spike didn’t hesitate
to follow, entangling his legs with his Sire’s, as they settled into the new
position. “She’s seems to be focused on changing things, us, LA and the general
way things are being done.”
“I don’t like her like
this,” Spike said honestly. “I miss my girl.”
“Shush,” Angel whispered in
his ear. “She has our hearing now, too.”
“What happened to us, Ang?”
“I’m not sure,” Angel
replied, his hand leaving long strokes along Spike’s back. “I hate to say this
but I wish Giles was here to help us get some answers. I don’t think two
vampires and a Slayer have claimed each other before so there might not be
answers really but only more questions.”
“What about you, Angel? Why
didn’t anything happen to you?”
“The only thing I can think
of is that I already have a demon and a soul.”
“Well, who the bloody hell,
thought I needed a soul and Buffy a demon,” Spike groused. “We were just fine
the way we were. Get rid of one fucking leash and get given another one.”
An idea came to him and he
leaned up one elbow to look down at his Sire.
“Do you think it was those
witches?” Spike asked. “They lied about thinking it was fine and decided to do a
spell? A spell that obviously got wonked up because they sure as hell wouldn’t do
that to Buffy but…”
“No,” Angel said. “I don’t
think so because they wouldn’t know what we did. Whatever happened, it was
during our orgasms.”
“Best bloody cumming I ever
had,” Spike said, smiling but then it faded just as quickly. “Why did you do
it, Angel? Do you really think that we would stop loving you?”
“You thought it,” Angel said,
scooting out from under Spike. He walked over to the dresser and grabbed
Spike’s smokes. “Hell, we all do. Buffy was afraid I was going to stop loving
her, you think you have to stay the same bad ass vamp for me to love you, and
I’m afraid that the love between you two is strong enough to exist without me
in the middle. We’ve been together for months, we’ve done the claim once before
but still we’re all acting like we’re alone when we’re not.”
Spike watched as his Sire
lit two cigarettes then handed him one. He took a deep drag and patted the bed
for Angel to join him again. Angel settled with his back against the headboard
with his knees drawn up.
“Why does she still love us
after what we did?” Spike mumbled, afraid of making it anymore real than it was.
Somewhere in the morning he had faced what he had done to Buffy, her cries of
pain and her pleas for him to stop, echoed over and over his head. It hadn’t
been about pleasure. It had been about the power of being able to hurt someone
again. He wanted that power and had taken it without a second thought of what
he was doing to Buffy.
“I don’t know,” Angel said,
taking a deep drag. “Maybe it’s why she isn’t fighting the demon. She’s too
hurt and angry to deal with us so she’s letting it control her.”
“She’s acting kind of like
Angelus…”
“And talking like you…”
“So, is the demon trying to
be like us or is it a part of us?”
“I don’t know, Spike, I just
don’t know.” Angel sighed and stubbed out the cigarette. “I wish I had the
answers. The one thing I know is that no matter how insecure we are the
connection between us is stronger. I can feel the both of you inside me. If I
reach out to Buffy I can find her…”
Spike furrowed his brows in
curiosity. The only thing he had been able to feel all morning was the guilt
but maybe because it was like Angel said about Buffy. He wasn’t fighting back
but had let the feelings from the soul take him over. No matter what he did now
he couldn’t change the past. It had been done, for whatever reason, and no
matter how bad he felt he couldn’t undo the damage. He could only go forward
and try to do the right thing from thereon out.
Thus accepting
responsibility he pushed the emotions aside and concentrated on his mates. A
tingling feeling rushed through his blood and then he felt Angel first. It was
almost like looking through those brown eyes and looking back at himself. A
warm glow infused him at the rush of love he felt from his Sire. He could
actually feel the way Angel felt, like being in his skin. With a grin, Spike started
a search for Buffy, wondering what it would feel like to have her connected to
him, too. He felt Angel’s hand entwine with his then she was there. He could
sense her movements upstairs in the bedroom then she stopped.
Something was happening
because Buffy was reaching back. The glow grew in intensity until it was a hot
flame licking at him. Spike could see it in Angel’s face that he felt it too. A
sense of power came over him like there wasn’t anything he couldn’t defeat if
he wanted to. Whatever was happening to them was growing in intensity but
before they could see where it took them, the phone rang breaking them from
their trance.
Spike was still trying to
shake the dizziness from him when he heard Buffy running down the stairs. Her
frantic pace letting him know that something was wrong. Angel felt it too as he
jumped up and headed toward the living room with Spike on his heels.
“It’s Dawn,” Buffy said.
“She’s disappeared again.”
~~~~~~~~
The three were almost
running as they came through the hospital entrance. Buffy was leading the way
with Spike and Angel right behind her. Joyce had a doctor’s appointment for a
post-surgery checkup and had taken Dawn with her.
They turned down the last
corridor to the waiting room when
‘Thank goodness, you’re
here,”
“Why wasn’t someone with her
at all times?” Buffy growled.
Angel could see the moment
that the witches saw the amber eyes. Their own eyes grew wide and
A pair of doctors was coming
down the hall the other way and the four moved to the side to let them past.
“Found him in the break room,” one of the doctors said as he passed them. “You
guys gotta see him. His head’s almost twisted clean off.”
“Glory,” Buffy said, turning
to watch the two men disappear around a corner.
There was a familiar scent
on the air. It was a scent that Angel and Spike both knew. A quick glance
between them and Spike was opening his mouth to tell Buffy what they knew when
she leaned her head back and sniffed the air.
“Isolate the one you know,”
Angel encouraged. “It’s Dawn’s fear. Follow it.”
Angel never would have
allowed Dawn to be in danger a moment longer than necessary but he wanted Buffy
to know what she was doing. It didn’t matter anyway because Buffy took off at a
trot with the rest of them behind her. There weren’t any doubts as they followed
the scent. It kept growing stronger and when Buffy kicked in the door to the
exam room it revealed exactly who they thought it would be. Glory and Dawn.
“Get away from my sister,”
Buffy warned.
Dawn scurried over to them
and Spike sent her off to a corner to hide.
“Hey, we were just talking
about you,” Glory said.
“Conversation’s over,
hell-bitch,” Buffy said, swinging the first punch.
Angel and Spike circled
around to the sides of the two fighting females. Watching, waiting to offer
help when needed but for the moment it seemed equal. Buffy was giving as good
as she was taking, slamming Glory into a display case. The slayer went in for
another punch but was kicked back. Glory stumbled as she stood again and Spike
grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her.
“I thought you said this
skank was tough,” Spike said, chuckling.
It was the wrong thing to
taunt Glory with because at that moment she broke free and flipped Spike. Angel
took his opportunity and punched as Buffy came up on the other side. Between
the two they sent Glory rocking between them and their punches. Spike was quick
to recover and wanted to add to the fray. The three began to move in
synchronicity as they beat Glory. The connection between them flared again
sending more power into their punches. Glory was backed into a corner when she
found Dawn. She reached down and grabbed Buffy’s little sister by the hair,
hauling her up. The trio froze as they watched Glory wrap her hands around
Dawn’s throat.
“Back off now,” Glory
threatened. “Or little sis won’t have her head.”
The trio looked for an
opening, a space that would allow them to get Dawn free from Glory who was
inching toward the door. Spike was moving around toward the door when chanting
could be heard behind them. It was growing louder and Angel knew that
Then she yelled one word, “Discede.”
Glory disappeared in a cloud
of dust.
“What did you do?” Buffy
asked even while she was catching Dawn.
“Teleportation spell,”
“Where’d she go?” Spike
asked.
“I don’t know,”
“Well, at least she’s gone
for now,” Angel said. “Maybe we had better go find Joyce so she’s not worried.”
The group gathered
themselves together to leave when they noticed
“What’s the matter?” Spike
asked.
“I’m sorry,”
“What is it, baby?”
“They’re what?” Dawn asked,
stepping away from Buffy.
“They’re mixed up,”
to be continued…
