Broken Revenge

by
Lit Gal

Part Seven

"Does everyone know his place?" Angel asked as the four of them stood in the shadows of one of Sunnydale's oldest cemeteries, one that happened to be close enough to the Hellmouth that Xander would have been able to see the top of Sunnydale High if he hadn't helped blow the place to pieces.

"Wesley?" Angel asked.

"I'll cast the congelo spell and keep it up as long as possible."

"Xander?" At Angel's question, Xander cast a quick glance toward Spike who gave a small nod.

"I'll defend Wesley while he does the jello thing."

"Congelo!" Wesley snapped while Spike laughed.

"Spike?" Angel continued, ignoring the glares between Wesley and Spike.

"I'm bloody killin' anythin' that moves," Spike said as he waggled his eyebrows at Wesley.

"Try to limit yourself to killing this new Master's minions," Angel said dryly.

"Ya used to be a lot more fun, Peaches," Spike answered as he sat back on a headstone.
"You're the one who asked for help, William," Angel said through tight lips.

"Oi, it was that or make m’self a bunch of minions to use as cannon fodder."

"William," Angel growled. Xander couldn't contain a small snort of laughter at the sight of Spike getting his sire completely wound up. Spike looked over and gave him a wide grin and a wink while Angel rolled his eyes and turned away muttering.

"You two stay here and look helpless, we're going to circle and see if we can't flush out some vampires. I'm feeling a need to kill something myself," Angel said as he started walking.

"We'll be close, just come if ya hear Angel scream for help, yeah?" Spike said with an intense look at Xander. Xander gazed back confidently.

"Yes, Master," he answered as he rested his hands on his knives. Spike turned and disappeared into the trees, walking in the opposite direction as Angel had.

Xander felt like bouncing on the balls of his feet the way he'd so often seen his Master do, but instead he sat waiting on a stone bench with his fists curled around his knives. The old Xander would never have been so patient, he realized with a start. A tiny, hesitant bubble of pride flickered through him.

"Are you alright then?" Xander looked over towards Wesley in surprise, trying to figure out what he could've said or done to give the former watcher the idea that he wasn't. After a long silence, Xander finally realized he was going to have to answer.

"I'm fine." Xander wondered what he must look like to the other man's eyes. After all, Wesley had known him before Leshar and before Lirowaus and before him losing his mind. Before becoming this new being, bonded to a Master who he once couldn’t stand to be in the same room with.

"It's just that you seem rather… I don't know… subdued." It wasn’t exactly a question, and so Xander didn't bother to answer, instead divided his time between looking at Wesley curiously and scanning the cemetery. Wesley sighed. "You must admit that most of the time we were together in Sunnydale, between you and Miss Rosenberg, a small city could have been powered off of the energy you two exuded." Xander thought about that comment for several moments while he stared out at the dark shapes of the trees and the shadowed outlines of the gravestones.

"I just don't show my excitement now," he finally said. Wesley frowned a little.
"Yes, quite. I can see why Giles would be concerned."

"You talked to Giles about me?" Xander didn't mean for his voice to get that sharp, and he took a couple of deep breaths to get control of his emotions again.

"Giles and I have spoken," Wesley said in a guarded tone. Those two of them discussing just how messed up *he* was suddenly struck Xander as the most hypocritical thing that he had ever heard. After all, Giles wasn't exactly in good shape himself, and at least Xander could admit that he was completely and totally screwed up. That gave him one up on Giles.

Xander would have considered telling Wesley at least some part of this, but a stirring in the trees distracted him. He turned to look at a group of tall elms that stood over a stone mausoleum at the far side of the cemetery. There it was again. One of the tree's leaves shimmered and danced for a moment as though something had hit the trunk hard enough to make all the branches shake. Xander stood and took a step forward as he drew his longer knife. The cool metal in his hand gave him confidence, and he could feel his adrenaline start to rise as he scanned the rest of the cemetery for other signs of movement.

"Spike," Xander said in a normal tone of voice, confident that Spike would still hear him. "Something's up at the north end."

"Xander, did you see something?" Wesley stepped up behind him, and Xander ignored the watcher in favor of trying to identify any possible enemies. No, Wesley, he hadn't seen anything, he just wanted to send his Master off on a wild goose chase in the middle of trying to flush out the invading Master Vampire. Xander bit off any sharp words, but he couldn't keep from rolling his eyes.

Xander spun at the sound of something scraping rock to his right. It was so loud that even Wesley heard because the watcher muttered a strange English curse under his breath before beginning to chant.

Xander smiled wickedly at the night and bent his knees a little as he considered the darkness around him. Keeping his sol knife in his right hand, he pulled a stake out of his waistband with his left as he started circling Wesley. Wesley's hands gripped a crossbow, but the man made no effort to actually aim since he was concentrating solely on the magical spell that Xander could feel start to slide around him, the power slipping over his skin like a snake.

A ghost of a feeling warned Xander that someone was behind him, and he spun with both weapons ready to take out the intruder, but he froze when he realized that it was Angel.

"They're coming," Angel said, and Xander barely avoided giving a hearty 'no duh' at the vampire's words. Instead he moved over to Wesley's right side, leaving Angel to guard Wesley's left side. "Where the hell is William?" Angel growled, but Xander knew that his Master would be near. Rather than worry about where Spike was, Xander concentrated on himself and the job his Master trusted him to do.

When the attack finally came, it came far more suddenly than Xander had expected. One moment the cemetery appeared to be abandoned, silent even of the normal sounds of night, which in and of itself was rather suspicious. The next moment a dozen vampires poured in from all directions, noiselessly running across the grass and darting between the headstones. Xander didn't waste his time with words, but instead fell into a fighting crouch, prepared to defend himself and Wesley.

As the vampires surged toward them, Wesley's spell reached out; Xander watched as his enemies' motions became awkward and slow. However, these were not helpless fledges who fled at the first sign of trouble. Of course, they weren't master vampires either, but they were old enough that they didn't panic. Instead they pushed forward in groups of three and four and Xander waited calmly for the first wave of attackers to reach him.

There were far too many vampires for Xander to get fancy, especially since he had to hold position and defend Wesley. So as the first vampire reached him, a curly red-haired man with a wide nose, Xander struck out with the blade of his golden Sol knife. The metal sliced through flesh and divided bone, turning the vampire to instant dust.

Xander didn't have time to celebrate, though. A second vampire was already on him, close enough to grab his arm. Xander slammed the stake home and pulled it out before the vampire even had time to turn to dust. Lunging forward through the cloud formed by the second vampire's death, Xander slashed at the third vampire. He missed the killing blow that he had intended, but his knife sliced her shoulder and arm, forcing the vampire to fall back.

Xander didn't have time to give chase, and so he turned on another of the sluggish attackers. This time he thrust forward with the stake, lodging it in the vampire's back with one hand while he used a vicious backhand to send his knife through the vampire's neck. Xander was breathing hard now, and he stepped back toward Wesley as he tried to catch his breath. His arms already ached from the force of his blows, his knife sending vibrations up through him as the metal struck bone. But Xander had learned to love that ache. It reminded him that as much as demons could hurt him, he could hurt them back.

Taking a quick glance around, he saw Angel was making short work of the vampires on his side. Wesley meanwhile continued to chant, and Xander shivered as the magical waves crawled over him. But this moment of reflection didn't last long since more attackers rushed in.

A dark-skinned man with dark, deep eyes ripped the stake from Xander's hand only to have Xander's knife halve his skull straight down the middle. Xander hadn't even been sure that that would kill a vampire, but because of how the vampire had grabbed his arm, it was the only strike he could make. It obviously worked because the vampire collapsed into dust before Xander's stake, which it had tossed aside, even hit the ground.

Xander pulled his silver Luna knife in one arcing motion as he brought his Sol knife down into the backbone of a vampire tossed in his direction by Angel. Wesley's chanting took on a shrill edge of desperation, and Xander danced to one side to avoid a vampire's fist as he glanced over at the watcher. Angel was several yards away battling his own group of vampires, and Wesley was continuing to chant while aiming his crossbow at a blonde woman who had managed to get past the two defenders.

Xander brought an elbow down into his own adversary's face, feeling the nose break under the pressure before he followed that up with a quick beheading. By that time, Wesley had already let fly the crossbow bolt. Even while distracted by the chanting, Wesley's aim proved true, and the woman disintegrated into a cloud of ash and dust. However two more vampires closed on Wesley's position. Xander hurried to defend the man. There were so many vampires that without the spell's assistance, none of them had a fighting chance. Even though he had feared that Wesley would give up the chanting in favor of defending his life, Wesley continued to chant even while striking out at the first vampire with his stake.

The second vampire was so focused on Wesley that she never saw the blade that severed her head from her body. Xander felt a grim satisfaction, and he turned to deal with the second attacker. However, Wesley knelt on one knee in the grass, still chanting, while dust and ash slowly settled to the ground. Xander moved closer to Wesley as he took up a defensive position again.

Xander knew that his fighting skills had improved tremendously since he had started fighting with Spike. Of course, when your two choices were to get better at fighting or get your ass kicked by a 120 year old Master Vampire, improvement was a given. However, with Wesley's spell he discovered a whole new level of demon fighting. Now the demons were the ones who were slow and awkward and Xander could dance between them, striking out at the head of one with a golden blade, while sinking a silver blade deep into the belly of another.

In the back of his mind, Xander was aware of the fact that the waves of demons were thinning, but he forced himself to stay focused on killing as many of them as he could reach. When Wesley’s voice stilled, Xander had a moment of shining panic where he thought that he had failed. He whirled around, determined to kill whatever demon had forced Wesley to stop his spell-casting, but instead of finding another attacker, he found Wesley standing under a tree next to Angel. Both were looking around at the cemetery.

Xander watched as two stray vampires took off across the grass with their newly recovered speed, and Xander took one running step in their direction. Then he stopped. There was the whole 'he would never catch them without the spell slowing them down' thing, but more than that, he didn't want a repeat of Spike's anger. He really didn't think Angel and Wesley needed to watch him get put into a punishment position or get spanked. And really, if they did want to see that, Xander didn't want to know they wanted to see that because of the whole ew factor, well, that and his ego could do without either of them getting to see that little humiliation.

Until then, Xander hadn't noticed his master's absence, but now he looked around the empty cemetery. The moon shone bright enough to cast long, indistinct shadows at the base of each gravestone and the trees' leaves made a gentle chittering sound. However, other than Wesley and Angel, he didn't see any movement. Xander tightened his fists around his knives as he cast a panicked glance toward the far sides of the cemetery. He saw only distant brick walls, the tall mausoleums, and the arched gateway marking the entrance to the cemetery. No matter where he looked, there was no Spike.

Xander set off for the copse of trees where he'd seen Spike disappear before the fight. A thin little voice in the back of his mind pointed out that if Spike were dead, there wouldn’t be anything left to find. However, Xander was good ignoring that little voice. Hell, he'd been doing it for years. He set off with a determined stride that took him within a few feet of Wesley and Angel.

"Xander?" Angel said as Xander marched past them, intent on his goal.

"Xander, hold on!" Angel called, and Xander just ignored him with the same determination with which he had once ignored his math teacher, Mr. Phillips.

"Xander!" Angel called again as Xander left the vampire behind. When Angel's heavy hand fell on Xander's shoulder, he simply rolled his shoulder and shrugged to one side to get rid of the unwanted touch. However, the hand came again, and this time it held his shoulder more firmly. Unable to continue forward, Xander turned with an angry scowl.

"What?" Xander snapped and then he took a couple of deep breaths as he tried to control the anger and fear.

"Xander, just hold on a minute," Angel suggested. However Xander wasn't interested in any suggestions.

"I need to find Spike," Xander said almost desperately, and then he realized how unnecessary those words must have been since he didn't have any other possible reason for walking off in the first place. However, Angel didn't seem impressed with his needs because the large hand remained on his shoulder. "Damn it, let go," Xander demanded as the panic rose.

"Xander, we'll go together, but we need to go find Willow first. She'll be able to cast a spell to find him." Xander didn't know what annoyed him more -- the fact that Angel was physically stopping him from his goal or the fact that Angel was talking to him as though he were three years old and mentally challenged. Okay, the mentally challenged part might be debatable, but he was definitely older than three. And he certainly wasn't going to waste precious time going to Willow.

"You go get Willow. I'm going to find Spike." Xander tried to take a step backwards and yank his arm out of Angel's grip, but the vampire didn't budge.

"Xander," Angel said in that same condescending tone.

"Deadboy," Xander sneered in his own snottiest tone. Behind him he could hear Wesley gasp, but he didn't have time for Wesley's crap either. "Get your fucking hand off me," Xander demanded when the snotty tone of voice didn't work.

"Angel," Wesley said from behind, "perhaps you should let Xander go." Xander craned his neck around to look at Wesley in surprise. Where he had expected to see pity or some self-assured superiority, instead he only saw something that came close to understanding. Angel's hand loosened, and Xander took a step back.

"Oi, what the bloody hell are you lot up to?" Spike asked as he came through the trees. Blood trickled from a slash in his face that ran from the outer corner of one eye down to his chin, and as he walked, his tongue snaked out and licked the blood from his split lip. His left leg was dragging a little, but his expression was one of pure, violent glee.

"Master," Xander breathed softly in relief.

"So what have you nancy-boys been up to while I was off killing the new would-be master of the Hellmouth?" he demanded with a smirk. Xander could feel his legs tremble in the aftermath of his near panic attack. His first instinct was to go to his knees and press his cheek against Spike’s thigh, seeking the relief and protection and security that he always found at his Master's feet. However, the presence of the two men standing behind him made him suddenly self-conscious and so he stood and waited until Spike reached him and slid a bloodstained and strong arm around his waist, pulling him into his Master's side.

"Can't leave you lot alone for a second, can I?" Spike’s expression was feral, but his tone was almost affectionate.

"William," Angel only said the one word, but Xander could feel Spike's muscles twitch in response.

"Right then, thanks for the help, now get your bloody arses out off my Hellmouth." Spike softened his words with a smile, but it wasn't a very soft smile.

"Perhaps that would be best," Wesley offered. When both vampires turned to stare at Wesley, Xander felt a flare of sympathy. After all, he used to be the one that would always open his mouth and say something that was unnecessary, inappropriate, or unwanted. Heck, sometimes it was all three. He'd found the whole not talking thing to be much easier on the ego than the talking thing. And again with the wonderment at how much he’d changed since the days of Droopy Harris.

"We should probably stop in and see the others while we're here," Angel finally declared. Xander could tell that Spike wanted to order Angel out, he wanted to be respected as the Master of the Hellmouth that he truly was, but that wasn't the relationship that he and Angel shared.

"Right then, you do that." Spike's arm tightened around Xander's waist and then Spike started walking back in the direction of Joyce's house. Without warning, Spike stopped and looked back at the two men still standing under the tree in the middle of the cemetery. "One last thing, Xander and me have some hunting to do, so we won't be around town for a while."

"Spike, do you think that's a good..." Angel never got to finish his comment.

"Bloody hell yes! You saw my boy fight, he moves like a demon, like a soddin' fury takin' his revenge. Don't go thinkin' he can't take care of himself because he's a whole sight stronger than Giles or Willow who keeps natterin' on to you when she thinks we aren't around to hear. We have business to take care of. So just keep your bloody nose out of it." Spike's words left Angel standing with his mouth literally open in shock, and Xander understood the feeling.

Without another word Spike turned back and hurried Xander off to the far side of the cemetery. Xander followed willingly, practically floating on a cloud of approval. Spike thought he was strong.

Part Eight

"Right then, before we go in there, we need to have a talk," Spike said. Xander turned in the car seat so that he was angled toward his master. Unfortunately, he didn't take into consideration the new outfit. A strap between his legs attached to a small black pouch that enclosed his cock and balls on one end and to a belt around his waist on the other, and when he turned in the seat he found the skin pinched sharply in the stiff leather. Spike obvious misinterpreted the expression.

"Oi, what's that look for?" he asked, and Xander schooled his face into a more neutral expression.

"Ow… Master," Xander said with an apologetic shrug as he squirmed little more. Xander found himself smiling as Spike rolled his eyes. Xander really did understand Spike's amusement what with the whole surviving Leshar's training only to complain about pinched skin. However, that didn't change the fact that Xander really was glad that his hair had never grown back because that would be more ow-making than he really wanted to deal with.

"Loon," Spike accused him. "So, are ya listening to me now?"

"Yes, Master," Xander agreed as he shifted a little more to try and find a more comfortable position. No matter how he shifted, the edge of the leather strap bit into some piece of sensitive skin so Xander finally gave up and just sat still with his best 'paying attention' expression on his face.

"Not happy about going in there, pet," Spike said as he nodded at the large building. Xander sat in the rental car looking at the enormous two story brick factory and he couldn't exactly claim he was thrilled. He didn't know what scared him more: the idea that they might not find the girl or the idea that they might. Xander flashed on a memory of her eyes, and he feared seeing the fear and accusation in her eyes again.

And he wasn't exactly the poster boy for mental health, so part of him understood Spike's logic, which really was kinda scary considering that neither he nor Spike were really good at the logic parts…. Or the plan parts. Or the not getting their asses kicked parts. But a little piece of his brain still felt like he had raped the girl, and being told by a soulless killer that he shouldn't feel guilty didn't exactly help that. Xander should have been used to his brain not really getting along with itself, but he couldn't help feeling the creepy anyway.

Spike hadn't asked a question; he had just complained, so Xander waited.

"You aren't the same person you were before, pet." Spike said and Xander waited for Spike to say something that wasn't ridiculously obvious. "Ya have to remember that this is an act, pet. Don't let yourself forget that you're a bloody demon hunter," Spike said, and Xander watched as Spike's fingers twitched nervously. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't seen Spike smoke in a long time, but now those long fingers moved as though searching for something to do. Xander idly wondered what Spike did with his hands before cigarettes.

"You understand what I'm saying, then?" Spike asked.

"Yes, Master," Xander answered.

"Pet, I’m looking for a little more than a 'yes.' Need to know you're going to be okay because I don't care if you have fifty soddin' rugrats in there, I won't risk you." Xander froze at that open confession. Blue eyes turned to look at him, and Xander could see the nervousness of those hands reflected in eyes that had flecks of yellow sparking in them like tiny flames.

"I'll be fine, Master. I…" Xander thought for a moment about what was and wasn't true in his own head. "I'm not like their slaves," he finally answered. "I know how to fight back."

"Bloody right. You faced down Angelus. You helped take out another Master's army of vampires without tripping on one of 'em."

"Which is more than Droopy Harris would have been able to do, Master," Xander added.

"Oi. Droopy Harris was so confused and untrained, he was lucky he didn't stake himself," Spike said with a smirk.

"You couldn't kill him," Xander blurted, and then he bit his lip as he turned his eyes back to the brick building outside their rented car.

"And you're right about that," Spike said softly. Xander ducked his head down. For some reason he felt like being right somehow made his blurting even worse, and yeah, chalk one up for the lack of logic on that one. Xander focused his eyes on the dash until he heard Spike sigh. Then he risked a small glance.

"Bloody glad I couldn't," Spike said as he reached over and ruffled Xander's hair gently before tugging on a curl.

"This is just playactin', and having the courage to walk in there knowin' the danger shows how strong you are."

Xander stared back into his Master's eyes calmly. "I have to find her, Master."

"Still the White Knight, so we find the bird and get the hell out. Don't bloody like these people," Spike said briskly as he opened the door. Xander got out on his side and pulled the heavy coat closer around him as the chilled fall air whipped around his face. His breath came out in white plumes and his feet tingled with the cold of the dark asphalt.

Spike had tried arguing for Xander to wear shoes, but Xander knew the coat alone would cause enough raised eyebrows. Hell, arriving at a show walking behind his Master would cause a few raised eyebrows. Well, assuming the demons had eyebrows. It might cause raised eye ridges or raised spines. Or, hey, they could have actual hackles to raise.

Xander knew full well he'd gone on full out panic-babble mode but then he was following Spike into a building full of creatures that saw him as a lower-life form. Of course there was the being weaker and shorter lived and more fragile Xander kinda understood where they were coming from, but it didn't mean he wanted to hang out with them.

He mentally replayed the image of Spike telling Angel off. Spike had called him strong and if everyone else in this old factory thought he was weak and helpless, it didn't matter. Xander flexed his hands inside his coat pockets as he imagined the feeling of Sol and Luna in his hands, the feeling of their blades slicing through demon flesh. Spike banged on a door that came open almost immediately, and Xander slipped to his knees in perfect form. These were demons and he was on demon manners.

"So you're the vampire. Register your animal and get your room assignment at the desk there," Xander kept his eyes properly focused on the ground in front of him, but he recognized the rattling sound of the demon's voice, and he flashed on an image of his beautiful Luna knife slicing through the line of spine along the back of his head. Right. And then the rest of the demons would have him and Spike shoved in a cage in about a second. Xander reminded himself to let go of the anger. Not in the plan.

"Thanks, mate," Spike answered and then he was on the move. Xander rose and followed, the fluid slave gait coming back to him as he stepped onto the tiled floor and felt demon eyes watching him. Somewhere back in his mind, the primitive part of his brain screamed at him to run, but he focused on watching Spike's coat flap as he followed like a proper slave.

"This where I get my room key?" Spike stopped and Xander knelt again.

"Your beast checked in?"

"Plannin' on doin' it after I get my room and have the boy put our things away," Spike answered calmly, but from his place kneeling at Spike's feet, Xander could see one of Spike's legs twitching nervously.

"Gotta check in your animal first. Get him papers and I'll give you your key," the demon said in a bored tone.

"And where do I do that?"

"Doctor's that way," Xander stood and followed as Spike took off again.

"And get him out of those clothes," the demon yelled, and Spike stopped so suddenly that Xander nearly bumped him and had to drop to his knees so close to Spike that his shoulder pressed into Spike's knee.

"Right, off with the coat, pet," Spike ordered, and Xander instantly shrugged it off onto the ground. Xander resisted the urge to trace the figure tattooed into his chest, his bird. Even in the harsh light of the factory it was beautiful, each individual feather was clear as the bird prepared to take off or land, wings stretched up to the sky. The tattoo and the collar were permanent, other decorations had been chosen to impress the local slavers.

Leather armbands were laced around his forearms, the long trailing laces running down the back of his arms. On the front of his collar hung his black chain with three red crystals trailing down his chest and ending just at his belly button. And with the coat off, demons could see his draped back chains with teardrop shaped crystals that were worth more than most slaves at the show. Xander reached down and tried to unobtrusively pull one hip chain out from where it was caught in the folds of the coat, and the red crystal on the end came free just as Spike scooped up the coat and started walking.

Without the coat to muffle the sound, his ankle strap with it's small bell chimed with each step, and he had actually argued against that one, but Spike had insisted. Xander wondered whether Spike liked dressing him up or whether the vampire wanted a way to keep track of Xander in the crowd, but it didn't matter. Spike had wanted it, and now with every step, Xander tinkled. And really, tinkling in public… not his thing.

Xander considered sharing that joke with Spike, but they had reached other desk, and Xander went to his knees properly. Of all the ornaments he wore, though, the auction required pouch annoyed him the most. The tight leather straps and small pouch squeezed uncomfortably, and when Spike reached down and stroked his hair as he talked to the demon, the pouch became even more uncomfortable. The strap continued between his butt cheeks giving him a permanent wedgy, and the strap around his waist made it hard to see the delicate black links of his hip chains.

"Up, pet," Spike ordered, and Xander realized that the petting of the hair and the aching of the cock had distracted him long enough that he had lost track of the conversation.

He rose with a roll of his body that made his hip chains slither around his legs, and Xander hated the fact that the chains sliding over the leather of the harness made an unpleasant scratching noise.

"Right over here," a high-pitched voice said, and Xander kept his gaze down as Spike guided him with a grip on his elbow.

"Does he need to be restrained?" the high-pitched voice asked again, and Xander was guessing Nelka demon. Or Ritome demon. Or Shurl demon. Or he had no idea. The last was a very real possibility.

"No, and don't want him restrained," Spike insisted darkly.

"Then let's just check him out then."

Xander stood, Spike's hand on his elbow keeping him from kneeling, and Xander switched into a proper stance, his legs apart, his hands at the small of his back, his head down. An unfamiliar and hot hand ran down his arm and then unexpectedly pinched the skin right above his elbow.

Xander jumped a little, and then cursed himself out a lot. During Leshar's training he had endured whips without flinching. Focusing himself on the dual images of Spike calling him strong and the girl's green eyes begging him to save her, Xander took control of his body and the examination continued.

A finger went in his mouth, and he obediently opened as it explored.

"He's marked," the voice said suspiciously.

"Yeah, trainer did that before I bought him."

"West Coast slave?"

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?" Spike demanded. Xander focused on keeping his breathing normal, but his body wanted to move to Spike's side when his Master took that tone. The finger in his mouth withdrew and a hand pressed down on his shoulder. Since fighting wasn't an option, Xander submitted and sank to his knees.

"I have a problem with abusing good stock. I'm not some Pylean," the demon said, hissing out the word Pylean like a curse.

"Case you haven't noticed, I'm not soddin' green."

"No. You're just a vampire." If the word Pylean had been a curse, the word vampire was… well, something way bigger than a curse. Way, way bigger. An uber-curse. And really, he needed to borrow a thesaurus from Willow.

"You're supposed to sign off on him being healthy or not. So just do your bloody job," Spike snarled, and from the slightly leaky sound on the 's' sounds, Xander guessed his Master had gone into game face.

"I don't like you, vampire."

"I'm not thinkin' much of you right now either. So sign off on the bloody paperwork before I start—" Spike's words cut off so suddenly that he risked glancing up, panicked at the thought of something happening to Spike, but his Master simply had an expression of intense concentration as his lips pursed together and then pushed first up and then down, resulting in some pretty strange expressions.

"Right, just do it," Spike finished. Xander felt a warmth spread around his back before something smooth and hot touched him. This time he kept himself from flinching, but as the heat grew, he had remind himself that Spike would protect him. He recognized this heat having felt it a dozen times when Leshar's doctor would heal him. It had been an endless cycle of injury and healing, and he focused his eyes on the tattoo to keep that memory from sucking him under. Eventually the heat ended and the tapping of footsteps told him that the demon had walked away.

"He's healthy," that voice admitted, and Xander could hear the unhappiness in it, which, hey! If she liked humans, she shouldn't be hoping he wasn't fine.

"Paperwork then," Spike snapped, and Xander heard the sound of a pen over paper.

"If at any point he isn't fine, I reserve the right to kick your ass out of the show," the demon bit back, and then the sound of rustling paper.

"Oi, wouldn’t hurt my boy," Spike insisted before he turned. The minute Spike took a step, Xander rose and followed after him. Focusing on his swinging hip chains and keeping his back chains motionless and the tinkling of his damn ankle strap, Xander could just let the other fears slide away.

Following after his Master as Spike got a room key and led him through the mass of demons uncaging their humans and setting up booths, Xander concentrated on the cool slide of metal links across his body and the tickling of the leather laces and the pressure on his cock which was maddening and yet somehow still incredibly pleasurable. He let his body lead him to a plateau where the only thing that existed was his Master and the touch of his Master's toys against his body.

He had reached a place of almost dream walking when a voice slammed him back into reality with shouting demon voices and boxes and crates slamming into the floor and all the other normal sounds of a huge open space filled with construction.

"I thought you would have already turned my sweet boy there," a familiar voice said. Spike stopped in the middle of the corridor, and Xander went to his knees. Part of him wanted to tremble in a combination of fear and rage at hearing that voice, and another part obsessively checked to make sure his form was perfect as he knelt at his Master's side.

"Leshar," Spike growled.

Part Nine

"Vampire," Leshar said in a voice that made his distaste clear.

"Not interested in anythin' you have to say," Spike snarled as he started walking, and Xander rose to follow. However, Spike stopped almost immediately. Xander's hip chains bobbed awkwardly as he came to a halt and slid back down to his knees. From there he could see Leshar's legs right in front of Spike's legs, and Xander took deep breaths as he reminded himself that in a fair fight Spike would rip all of Leshar's skin off his body before letting him die.

The problem was the feeling of others watching. The sounds of construction petered off, and Xander could just imagine the demons gathering around them. Xander had more experience with demons than most people, and he didn't see demons being big with the fair fighting thing.

"Your beast attacked me, stabbed me. Since he is still an animal and not a half-breed like you, that demands punishment," Leshar insisted, and Xander had to struggle not to tremble at the word punishment: he just wasn't sure whether he was feeling terror or fury. "An animal cannot be allowed to get away with that behavior," Leshar announced loud enough for the gathering crowd to hear.

Xander listened as the normal background sounds faded as the demons around them quieted. Oh yeah, this was bad.

"My pet isn't any of your business," Spike stepped forward a half step, and Xander just kept still since Spike would need room to move if a fight broke out. Without his Solluna knives, he knew he wouldn't be much help in the middle of it. He had a brief image of himself trying to fight and keep his hips chains flowing at the same time, and really… this might be a sign he was approaching quietly hysterical.

"Misbehaving animals are the business of everyone at the show. Surely you know the rules." Leshar backed off a step, and Xander could see his former trainer's shoes move across his line of sight.

"You soddin' little wanker. You're about to--" Spike's words were cut off by a strangely whining voice yelling something in a language Xander didn't recognize.

"Not goin' to be talked to like that," Spike snapped back. Xander watched Leshar's legs retreat several steps more. The large tentacled thing that edged into Xander's vision made Xander want to back off himself, but he held position. He wasn't going to get out of this himself, so he had to trust Spike to fix this one. Xander tried really hard not to remember how all of Spike's pre-chip plans had worked out. Hell, most of Spike's post-chip plans had sucked monkey balls too.

The voice whined about something else, and this time Leshar answered.

"Yes, I do. That animal is violent and has attacked a handler." Xander focused on the line of the tiles in front of him as he realized that he was the topic of conversation.

"He's my property, and you can just get your hairy arse out of my business," Spike growled after another briefly whined inquiry.

"How dare y--" Leshar legs stepped forward fast enough that Xander was happy to be behind Spike, but the legs suddenly stopped a couple of feet away from Spike who had dropped back into a fighting stance with one foot braced behind the other.

"Enough!" The whiny voice shrieked in a tone that made Xander think of fingernails down a chalkboard. The world's biggest nails and the world's biggest chalkboard. Amplified. By about a hundred. He couldn't control the flinch at that tone of voice, and then he froze as he checked his form and pulled his back straight again.

"Charges have been made, leash the animal," the voice demanded in a tone that was only bone-gratingly annoying. Xander watched as Spike's back leg twitched nervously, but he wasn't surprised when Spike dropped the fighting stance and started digging in one of his duster pockets. They were surrounded by demons, and Spike might be a little manic but he wasn't stupid. Not even he would try to fight all these demons.

Soon Spike's hand appeared with a leash in hand, and Xander remained motionless as Spike attached the leash to the same link as his front decoration.

"I'm not havin' my pet punished for stabbin' you, that's for sure," Spike snarled, and Xander flinched mentally even if he didn't show it as he rose smoothly to his feet with the leash swaying between them as he trailed after his master. He was quickly revising his opinion on his Master's non-stupidness. Okay, maybe he wasn't stupid-type stupid, but he was big on the not keeping his mouth shut type stupid. Xander knew full well that the other demons would demand punishment for the stabbing no matter what Spike said.

Xander concentrated on swinging his hips in perfect time with the dangling hip chains. The motion made his ankle strap ring merrily, and Xander tried focusing on that rather than the whipping he was going to get. If he was lucky it would be a whipping. Xander tried to not think about the other options. Funny though, the more he tried to not think of other options, the more all those options kept crowding into his mind.

Even though Xander was well on his way to a full out panic attack, he lowered himself gracefully when Spike stopped again. Spike took a step back, and Xander would have adjusted himself; however, Spike's hand found his hair and long fingers held him in place with a simple caress.

"The full council is not here, so this will be an informal meeting. However, we need to decide if the animal is to be allowed at this show."

Xander's breathed a little easier. It sounded like the worst they would do is send him home. At least that thought was a comfort until Xander realized what that meant. No him, no finding the girl; no finding the girl, no finding his child. Suddenly Xander would rather endure a dozen whippings. Earlier he had worried about facing the girl, and now terror ran though him at the thought of not having the chance to face her. Spike's hand pulled him into a lean, and Xander took deep breaths as he tried to control his rising tide of fear and guilt and pain.

Xander didn't realize that he had missed another chunk of time until Spike tugged a lock of hair.

"Master?" he asked, his voice carrying that shaky edge-of-crying tone that he had hated as a child. It had had always made his father look at him with his bewildered sort of disgust like he was shocked that a child of *his* could be so babyish as to cry. And really… he wasn't fond of it now either.

"They asked you a question, pet," Spike said, and Xander trembled a bit as he realized he was screwing it all up. He couldn't get his brain to even engage enough to remember the question much less answer it.

"I..." he paused as he voice shook uncertainly. "I didn't hear, Master. I'm sorry," Xander whispered since he couldn't control his voice when he spoke louder. At one point he had thought having his voice squeak at unexpected times as it changed was embarrassing, but this trembling that made his throat tighten and strangled his syllables... this was even more embarrassing. At least he wasn't trying to babble and cry at the same time, Xander consoled himself.

"Inattentive," Leshar snapped harshly, and Xander didn't quite control his flinch. Spike's hand just started a soothing pattern of circles.

"Pet, are you being inattentive?"

"Yes, Master," Xander admitted, hating that all these demons were seeing his failure.

"Why?" Spike asked softly, and Xander really wished Spike would just wait on the public humiliation until they were alone. Not that it would be public then. But he really preferred private humiliation to public humiliation.

"Master, I don't want you... I'm making you look bad," Xander finished after a false start. "I'm sorry, Master." Xander's body trembled despite his best effort to keep form, but it was so hard to keep the body in form when he was leaning into that strong leg and feeling those slender fingers in his hair.

"S'all right, pet. The council here just asked why you stabbed him."

"You ordered me to, Master," Xander immediately answered.

"I demand that the vampire AND the slave be removed from the show at once. His willingness to..."

"Stop!" the fingernails down the chalkboard voice demanded in a high-pitched scream.

"What do you mean by ordering your slave to attack?" the voice challenged Spike, and Xander felt a tightening in his stomach that threatened to force his breakfast out.

"Oi, I... Pet, when did I tell you to stab Leshar?"

"When you gave me the knives," Xander said, and the hand in his hair had stopped petting and now held several curls firmly. Xander tried to focus on that day even while Spike communicated anger in the tightness of this grip and the small movements of Spike's leg and in the clipped words. "Master, you told me to stab anyone who tried to take me away again," Xander finished.

"You never… Leshar," Spike growled, his voice low and feral, and Xander could practically feel the shift as Spike's anger moved to the trainer. "Xander, tell me what happened." Xander thought back on that day with the smoke and the panic and Willow's blood on his hands.

"I was trying to get back to you. I knew you had gone farther in, and I was hiding and running. Leshar stopped me, grabbed me. He tried to pull me toward the exit, and I got scared," Xander also remembered getting angry, but he'd learned to not say some things. He was telling the truth about being scared though so none of the demons who could sense a human's lies would find anything in his reactions.

"I was trying to get the animal out of the fire," Leshar interrupted, and Xander didn't argue. He fell silent and waited for another question.

"I remember the vampire giving that order," a familiar voice rumbled, and Xander had the impression of something large moving behind him although he didn't turn to check. "It was right after the vampire killed Lirowaus for poaching."

"It's not poaching to take an animal away from a vampire," an unfamiliar voice called from the crowd.

"They'd given him passage into the auctions. The West Coasters sold a breeder to a vampire, so they can't then steal him back. Are we primitive beasts to steal from each other and show our weakness... our inability to earn for ourselves that which we covet?" Xander thought the feminine voice was familiar, and Xander suspected it was the blue demon, Calsha. "If Lirowaus wanted the animal, he should have bought him or challenged the vampire."

"Maybe we should challenge the vampire now," another voice called, and Xander focused on breathing as an angry mutter traveled through the crowd. Part of Xander wanted to have his knives in his hands so he could fight back, but another part was glad to be unarmed and leashed. If he wasn't, he knew he'd be doing something stupid right now. Monumentally stupid. Droopy Harris stupid.

"Oi, I'll take on any challenge," Spike shouted to the crowd, and Xander waited on the edge of panic to hear the response to that.

"I'll take you up on that, vampire." Xander nearly lost his balance as Spike spun around. "And when I'm done, you won't have to worry about someone taking your slave because you'll be a pile of dust that gets swept away into the trash." Xander focuses his eyes on the intersection of four tiles and his heart pounded nearly out of his chest.

"You're goin' ta be the one dyin', mate," Spike snarled, and Xander tried really hard to hang on as reality began to slip away from him in wisps of terror and panic.

That whine was back again, and Xander was really starting to resent the lack of English... he had enough trouble keeping track of what was going on without people talking in language he didn't know.

"He can just bloody wait here," Spike insisted angrily.

Whatever the other demon said, it didn't please Spike who offered only a growl at return.

"I'll take him," the feminine voice from the crowd offered, and now Xander saw the blue skinned demon who owned the huge slave. She stepped forward into the side of his vision, her slave missing from her side as she held out her hand. Spike stood motionless for a long moment, and Xander took furtive glances to the sides where demons watched with expressions that ranged from bloodthirsty to bored.

"Fine, but you keep him where I can see him," Spike finally handed over the end of the leash. Xander decided that he had already screwed up enough for one day, and so he shifted to kneel at Calsha's feet without complaint. Oh, he felt like complaining. He felt like complaining a lot. But instead of saying the many, many bad words that were currently crossing his mind, he slipped into a formal position kneel at Calsha's side.

"Pet, look at me," Spike said, and Xander looked up into the yellow eyes of his Master. "You watch me."

Since Spike had ordered him to watch, Xander kept his eyes focused on his Master as Spike strode across a large room to where some chairs stood against the wall. He shrugged out of his duster, catching it as it fell and tossing it onto one of the chairs before he turned around again.

Spike was still in game face, his ridges making shadows and his yellow eyes scanning the crowd. Calsha started walking toward another wall, and Xander stood and followed using his best form. When she stopped, he flowed to the floor, his hands tucked in behind his back and his head high so that he could watch his Master. Spike looked over at him and gave a crooked smile that Xander associated with sex and violence and mayhem. And when had mayhem gotten sexy? From the sudden painful tightness of his cock in the pouch, mayhem was very, very sexy.

A screeching noise came from the right, and Xander turned to look at the demon who had the world's most annoying voice. It could give Cordelia lessons on screeching. The thing looked vaguely like a flattened octopus with tentacles making up the lower half of its body. The fact that it had a sort of miniature humanish head stuck on the top just made it all the more disturbing.

"Just make sure the vampire follows the rules," another demon demanded in reply. Xander looked over, finally able to see the demon that would be fighting Spike. Calsha had skin that was a light shade of blue the Xander had to admit didn't look bad on a woman. The demon who wanted to fight Spike, however, had grayish-blue skin that made it look dead with huge mottled freckles-pimples things that varied from dark purple to sort of a greenish blue. It wasn't pretty. Then again, its mother probably loved it. The demon turned around and Xander got a good look up the widened, upturned nostrils, the sharp teeth, and the tight little horns held close to its head. Okay, even if he had given birth to the thing, Xander still wouldn't love anything that looked like that. Just ew.

"Only one rule here, Mate. Don't die. And I bloody well expect to follow that rule." Spike bounced on the balls of his feet as he paced a six foot section of the room. The blue demon snarled his frustration, and Xander returned his gaze to Spike.

As soon as he looked at his master, Spike looked back and winked.

"No helping the combatants, no calling a truce, winner takes the prize," freaky octopus dude declared. Xander didn't have to ask what the prize was.

"Enough bloody talking. Let's get on with this then." Everyone else seemed to agree with that because the center of the room was suddenly empty of all demons. Calsha even had to snarl at a gray skinned demon who tried standing in front of her as an audience formed in a squished-circle shape.

Spike started circling immediately, and Xander recognized the strategy. Spike's movements were slow and deliberate, intended to convince his enemy to ignore Spike's greatest advantage: his speed. The other guy kept pace with Spike, shifting from one large clawed foot to another as he prepared for an attack.

Spike's first attack was slow; he moved in and took a short jab before retreating. Xander struggled not to smile as he watched Spike toying with the demon. He had seen Spike use that same clumsy feign on any number of vampires, and they always fell for it. And then, once they saw Spike as slow and unimportant, then he would move in. Obviously this demon wasn't smarter than the average fledge.

The demon struck when Spike tried to make another circle around it, a huge law slashing through the air. Spike threw himself backwards his hands flying wide of his body so that he resembled a bird flying in reverse. And then Spike landed as gracefully as if he were a bird. Crouching slightly, he tilted his head as he looked at his opponent.

Xander expected the taunts to start now. Now that Spike knew how fast his enemy was and knew which hand his enemy used to attack, now Spike could have some fun. But the look of intense concentration didn't change on Spike's face. Spike snarled with yellowed eyes and lunged forward. When the demon brought his hands up to protect his face, Spike dropped into a crouch and swept the demon's legs with a solid kick.

The demon roared, and a number of monsters in the audience made answering noises: hisses and snarls and slurping sounds of disgust. Spike danced back again. The demon had half rolled to its side in an attempt to get back up when Spike landed a kick in its face.

The demon reached out and grabbed Spike by one leg, and Xander flinched as his Master went flying through the air. The demon tossed Spike like a rag doll into the wall where he slid down to the ground behind the line of watching demons. Oh yeah, that hurt. But when Spike pushed his way through the crowd, Xander couldn't see the pain in his expression. All Xander saw was the cold determination and even colder fury on Spike's face.

Spike launched himself at his opponent, his fist flying toward that wide nose. The demon brought his own hands up to defend his face, but at the last minute, Spike dodged to the left and slammed a foot into the side of the demon's leg. Stupid demon to fall for that twice, Xander decided. The thing had pretty well asked to get killed.

The audience grew still, and Xander had to remind himself to stay in form. The demon reached up, clawing at Spike, but his Master simply backed off leaving the demon on the floor. It supported its weight on its one good knee and one hand as he continued to follow Spike's circling movements with its eyes. Its second leg stuck awkwardly out to the side.

Spike dashed in and backhanded the demon across the face sending him collapsing onto his elbow before Spike retreated. Xander was shocked when the audience of demons cheered Spike's move. Spike's smirk grew wider as he began to torment the demon with a series of crippling hits. With every strike the audience grew more appreciative, clicking and howling and growling demands for blood. Xander knee-walked forward with Calsha who stepped forward as she cheered Spike to even greater violence. Xander watched in horror as the demon was reduced to raw flesh and seeping blood and bones that bent at impossible angles.

But despite his disgust, Xander kept his eyes on his Master as he'd been ordered. Spike brought his boot down one last time on the demon's head, and Xander could practically feel the moment when the monster died. Spike, bloodstained and gleeful, danced around the body once or twice to the sound of cheering demons before he turned towards Xander and Calsha. His eyebrows were lowered and his tongue pushing out on his lower lip. Xander knew that look. Despite the gore and his own disgust, he still couldn't resist that look.

"Come on, pet, got business in our room," Spike said as he retrieved his duster. Xander immediately stood and started toward his master, but when the leash tightened he stopped for a moment and looked back at Calsha. With a tilt of her head she dropped the lead so that the metal links fell against his chest and legs. Xander ducked his head submissively before returning to his Master's side.

Feed the Author