Pairing: Spike/Xander
Rating: NC17
Feedback: Please
Concrit: by email, please
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. No harm, no foul, no money made.
Warnings/Squicks: Character death, bloodplay
Summary: Xander is hurt terribly while on site.
Notes: This is darkhavens’s birthday present from me a bit late. I figure that’s okay since it’s gonna last her at the very least two months or more. This is a follow up to Everlasting Love which can be found here. Many thanks to kitty_poker1 for the great beta and both her and suki_blue for the encouragement.

Also I started this fic before the big issue with Living Wills and all that mess down in Florida became an issue here in the States so this fic does not contain any political issues hidden in the plot, just plot.

When I asked what darkhavens wanted for a birthday fic it was for Spike to take a newly vamped Xander to Angel to be welcomed into the family.

Well I have that weird!vamp!Verse running around, but it’s with Angelus and is a bit too dark. I still have my Forevermore!verse vamps running around, but I have plans for them that don’t include Angel. Well they do but they don’t include sex.

So for Spike to have a vamp!Xander, I had to kill him. Awful I know. But remember that I am a big sap who loves happy endings so don’t cry too much, okay? Yes, I’m a big wussies for giving this much of a spoiler but I hate it when I start reading a fic and then get hit between the eyes with character death with no hope. Well, not if it’s Riley or someone annoying like Andrew, but Spike or Xander? I’ll cry. So don’t cry, I’ll fix it, promise!

Part One

But with any other beat I got left in my heart
You know I’d rather be damned with you
If I gotta be damned you know I wanna be damned
Dancing through the night with you

~ Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell


Spike let himself into his, no, their, apartment. The door swung shut on its own behind him, the sound of it shutting echoing oddly through the empty rooms. He fought the urge to scream, to break everything in sight.

This had been his home for the past two months. He could still remember sitting on one end of the couch and wondering what was going on in his then friend’s head as Xander laughed and then asked him if he liked the human. The bed that they shared was just in the other room, and he could still smell the scent of their release from the night before.

He knew that if he looked in the bathroom there’d still be two damp towels on the floor, and the coffee was still on in the kitchen because Xander never remembered to turn it off. Xander’s latest project, a coffee table, sat in one corner of the living room, tarps laid down on the floor to protect it.

Everything in the apartment was just waiting for Xander to come back, down to the fact that his lover had set the VCR to tape something during the day.

But Xander wasn’t coming back.

Every time he thought about what he'd been told he wanted to growl. Xander had survived hell gods, demon mayors, even Angelus hating the boy with a passion. Spike had even tried to kill his boy once or twice but hadn’t been able to. But one idiot on site had gotten drunk and lit a cigarette near a gas line.

In a way, Xander was lucky. He had been far enough away from the blast to escape being engulfed in the fireball. But the debris from the blast had knocked Xander to the ground, and even his hard hat couldn’t protect him when a wall collapsed on top of him.

Even if by some miracle he survived, Xander would be permanently paralyzed. Right now, though, he had ventilators and all sorts of machinery doing all his body’s work for him.

Spike hated it with a passion. Hated that it was torturing his boy, keeping him alive and in pain.

Buffy and Willow were both furious that he’d left Xander’s side. They didn’t know, didn’t understand. Tara and Dawn were the ones to distract the other two women to let him quickly slip out of the ICU ward and down the stairs once the sun had gone down.

It had been Tara that he’d called to take him to the hospital in the first place that afternoon before the sun went down. Now that it was May the days were longer and the sun more powerful. If it hadn’t been for her, he doubted he would have gotten to see how badly his Xander had been hurt before the sun had set.

Spike stalked to the kitchen and pulled out a lock box from one of the cabinets about the refrigerator. This was what held all of Xander’s important papers, including his living will. They hadn’t been in their relationship a full week when his lover had sat down with cards and paperwork from his company and asking to see Spike’s fake ID’s.

At the time Spike had hated it. He resented taking time away from sex and cuddling in the bed to talk about things he hated to think about. He knew very well just how fragile humans were; he’d tortured and killed enough of them to know their breaking point.

But thinking that someday Xander’s luck would run out, or that one morning he’d wake up and realize that Xander had streaks of gray in his hair, had been a terrible thing to do instead of naked fun.

Now, though, he was glad that Xander had put his foot down. His lover had a stubborn streak a mile wide and had insisted. Said that Giles had known where to find the information and then Anya. Now it was Spike’s turn.

He leaned against the bar in between the kitchen and the living room and opened the box slowly. There were several papers, insurance, lease agreements, car information and the like. But on the very top were two manila envelops, one labeled “In The Event of My Death”, and the other “In The Event That I’m Injured and Can’t Speak for Myself.”

Spike growled low in his throat just seeing them, and had to fight his true face. He wanted to go out, kill things, howl with grief. But he couldn’t. He had promised the man he loved and he wouldn’t break that promise now.

No matter how much it was killing him to do so.

He opened the second envelope, figuring he’d read that was first since technically Xander was still alive. There were letters for all of his friends, even his ex in LA and Anya and Giles in London. Surprisingly, Buffy and Tara’s were the thickest. He would have thought it would be his, or Red’s.

He opened the one that said 'Spike' in Xander’s half-printed, half-cursive script. He just about fell to the floor in grief when he remembered the hell that he had gone through one night when Xander sent him shopping. He hadn’t been able to read half the list and had finally just gone home with beer, pizza and chocolate, and then growled in frustration at the laughing human.

The thought that he would never hear that laugh again ripped a hole in his chest, right where his heart would beat if it still worked.

Part Two

His hands shook as he tore open the envelope, and pulled the page inside of it out to read.

Spike,

If you’re reading this, well, I guess my ticket is just about up. I counted on the fact that you wouldn’t jump the gun and pull this envelope out unless it was really bad. I only hope you and the girls are still around. That’s why I couldn’t trust something like this to Willow. She might be my oldest friend but she’d panic. I know I can trust you with this, no matter what might be happening when you read it.

First of all, the reason why I bugged you about your ID’s and fake Green Card was simple. You, my love, are the recipient of my life insurance. Anya had this thing about insurance after Joyce’s death and I had to agree. If something ever happened to me I want the people I loved taken care of.

This includes an extra policy for Accidental Death and Dismemberment. Let’s face it, being a Scoobie makes it more likely that I’m gonna lose a body piece or two. One hundred thousand dollars, Spike. I know you're thinking you don’t care right now but you’re going to, so just keep your calm and listen to what I’m about to say.

The reason why I’m telling you this is so you know how important it is that I’m declared legally dead, in a hospital preferably. There can’t be any doubt on the authorities' part.

We haven’t talked about this, I thought we’d have time. But I knew there were only so many disasters I could escape before I finally got hurt seriously; it’s just a law of averages and numbers.

God, this is hard to write. A month ago I would have never even thought about it. See how much you’ve changed me, Blondie? You’ve made me a better person. And I love you. I’m sitting here writing this while you’re sulking that we’re not playing hide the salami and I even love the sound of your pouting.

I know, you’re the Big Bad. You don’t pout. Whatever.

The thing is, Spike, that we haven’t had enough time to talk about our future. Long range goals and stuff like that. You know, if we want to stay in an apartment or get a house with a big gothic fence for our pet demon dog that tries to eat the mailman.

But if I’m hurt, like not coming out of a coma hurt or something like that, and you know I’m going to die, be it later that day or a week or even a year from whenever, I want you to turn me, Spike.

That is, if you want me.

I don’t want to be all grrr and try to take over the world. I trust you, Spike, to keep that from happening. Ideally, Tara can do a spell that lets me keep my soul. I love Wills but considering her recent track record with magic it has to be Tara. And that’s also why I want to make sure there isn’t any question I’m dead. You’ll get my insurance money and we can invest it and never have to worry about working or buying blood and smokes.

But we haven’t talked yet about if, well, if you want me around for the next century or two. If you don’t, hey, that’s okay. Just…make sure I’m not in any pain, okay? Put me out of my misery.

Okay, enough of the depressing crap. If you decide to turn me, give the guys these envelopes here. I’ve explained my wish that you turn me in great detail to Buffy, so she won’t think you’re just doing it for your own jollies. Even had it notarized and everything. The same with the others. Tara’s has my plea to stick my soul on straight if she can.

And to give us a couple days running time if she can’t.

Guess I’ll see what you decide in a while. Make sure it’s what you want, I have.

Love,
Xander



Spike wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to laugh. He was so weak with relief and remorse all at once he nearly fell to the floor again. He had a second chance, a chance to take care of Xander. Bring him over and train him, keep him forever. Xander would make a beautiful Childe, dark and wickedly smart, even if he had a soul.

But still it tore at him that he’d never get to have a warm Xander come in from a long day of work, all tired and sweaty and smelling of sunshine. And even if he had the soul he’d be touched by the demon, by the darkness. How that would change his lover, he didn’t know.

He had been almost afraid to think of it.

Spike snorted. Who was he kidding? He had been willing to take up with a human that was his total opposite morally. Had changed his hunting patterns, even after the chip had worn out. He’d take Xander any way he could get him. He had loved his boy when Xander was warm and full of goodness.

And he would love his Childe, even though he’d be cold and in the darkness.

Spike gathered up the envelopes and reached for the phone. For this to work he’d need a few things set up. Clem had a van he could borrow and could get a hold of the keys to one of the mortuaries. That would be where he’d arrange to have Xander’s body sent. He didn’t want his Childe to have to claw his way through wood and concrete and dirt.

He’d also need a large supply of blood and somewhere quiet to take his Childe once he woke up. A newly risen vampire’s senses could be confusing, and between that and the hunger that every fledge awakens with, Xander might go a bit peculiar, even if he had his soul.

As he dialed the first in a long line of numbers he needed to call, he found himself hoping that Glinda could stick Xander’s soul back. He’d gotten rather fond of it.

Part Three

Spike fought the urge to pace and sat near the edge of the bed where the dead body of his lover lay. The last three days had been terrible, and he was exhausted. He wouldn’t be able to rest really, though, until he made sure Xander was okay, that Xander was Xander.

He’d gone back to the hospital that first night after making his phone calls. He’d returned to many tears and wailing coming from Red. Seemed that while he was gone Xander had some sort of episode and his prognosis was worse. Of course, both Buffy and Willow had turned their anger onto him.

Their anger had turned almost violent and the head nurse had called security and had the two women taken away. They didn’t even read the letters Spike had given them, they had just started screaming and shouting when Spike had talked to the doctor about getting Xander off all of those damned machines. Part of him kind of wished he'd had the time to smirk at them but, despite the fact that he knew Xander was coming back to him, Spike was still mourning the death of his lover in a way.

The letter had helped the Nibblet, though. After Buffy and Willow had been escorted out and Spike was inside one of the rooms fending off questions about organ donation, he’d heard her intake of breath and her happy babble before Glinda shushed her.

Tara had been the backbone of the group, obviously upset but keeping her cool and helping everyone do what needed to be done. Spike knew he could trust her and after he had been done with proving he had Xander’s living will and all the proper papers had been signed she had smiled at him and nodded.

Later, after the machines were turned off and both Tara and Dawn had gone in to say “goodbye”, Spike strove to remember everything he could about his own turning. The feel of Dru’s lips on his throat, the sweet taste of her blood as it ran over his tongue.

Of course, a hundred years ago they didn’t have bloody human vultures, wanting to pick the best of Xander’s bits and pieces out of him. He banged his head on a wall and sighed. Ordinarily Xander would have been an organ donor, he wanted to help people even with his death. And theoretically fledges could survived the autopsy and embalming process; it just made them a bit more…hungry when they woke up.

But Spike didn’t want to deal with all that, he wanted Xander as he was now, as whole as he could be with his broken bones and head injuries. As it was it would take him a day or two longer to rise as the demon healed the body it was taking possession of.

Now, watching his lover’s still form he only hoped he had done everything right. He’d fed Xander so much of his own blood he had nearly passed out, and he’d been thankful that Tara had insisted she watch because it was her hands that made sure his Xander swallowed the viscous fluid.

Dawn had taken the lock picking talents he’d taught her the year before and had broken into the blood bank. Even now Spike had to laugh at the look on her face. It was what Xander had called her “shit eating grin” and she had been so proud that her petty larceny had been able to help both Spike and Xander.

Not long after that Tara had left, taking Dawn with her. Spike was left to make arrangements through the hospital and the mortuary. Fortunately, one was owned and operated by a pack of ghouls. They were demons that lived off fresh human organs but hated to kill.

They were more than happy to help a Master Vampire, and had delivered Xander straight from the hospital morgue to the small cabin outside town that Clem had arranged and stocked for them. They would in turn bury a coffin filled with sacks of concrete, but Spike was waiting till a week after Xander’s “death” for that.

His lover had an odd enough sense of humor to want to go himself.

The cabin was nice, not as rustic as Spike had feared when Clem had suggested it. He’d pictured one room with dirt floors and a fireplace. The fireplace was there in the big living room, but it had hardwood flooring, a deluxe bathroom and kitchen and a bedroom. It had been owned by the former Mayor of Sunnydale and even had access to the sewer network through the root cellar.

A perfect place for Spike and his new Childe. The place even had a satellite dish. He was using it off the record for now, but figured that they’d buy the place as soon as they could. Tara had already been by the day before to place protection wards around the house. She’d also done the spell to give Xander back his soul.

Now all Spike had to do was wait.

He left the bedroom and went into the kitchen. The cabin had been fitted with shutters and he’d left them all closed so it was safe to walk through the rooms even though the sun still had a half hour to set. Spike hoped that Xander would wake once it got dark and he remembered all too well the hunger that would consume his lover. He made sure to heat and drink bag after bag of blood before going back to Xander.

He wanted to be ready to take care of his Childe.

Author's Note: I just want to say that I'm all for organ donation. It's a good way to help people...but not if you want your lover to come back from the dead with all his bits. Just saying.

Part Four

Spike had almost given up hope that Xander would wake up that night when suddenly the body on the bed shuddered. Xander’s eyes popped open but Spike could tell he was still unable to focus and he drew a breath that was now unneeded and nearly choked on it.

Spike moved behind his Childe quickly, propping him up against his chest. Xander was nude, and Spike only had on a pair of jeans so he was able to comfort his Childe skin to skin.

“Shh…it’s okay, Xander. Calm down, pet. I’m here, it’s Spike. You’re safe…calm down.” He kept up his litany of reassuring noises until Xander sagged in his arms and relaxed. All the while he let his hands pet and touch Xander, just trying to quiet, to connect to his Childe.

“S—Spike?” Xander’s voice was harsh from where it hadn’t been used. He was in what was now his true face and Spike traced a finger over the smooth ridges of his forehead. Golden eyes glittered in the dim light of the room and his fangs were prominent.

Even as a vampire, his lover was beautiful.

“Yeah, Xan, I’m here. Take your time; do you remember what happened?”

“No…not really. I feel awfully weird, Spike, and I’m hungry. Why is it so bright in here? What’s wrong with me?”

Spike held him tight for a moment before pulling Xander around to look at him. “There was…an accident. Someone on the site was drunk and set off a spark near a gas line. A lot of your mates on site died, luv, and a wall collapsed on you. You were hurt really bad, paralyzed from the neck down. Later on you had a blood clot that caused a heart attack or something. You were really bad off, Xan, and I found your papers…”

A look of pain crossed Xander’s face at the mention of his friends' deaths and Spike knew that Xander was pretty much still Xander. Spike watched as the realization really sank in. Surprisingly, a smile crossed his face, at odds with the deadly fangs.

“You turned me! I mean, it’s bad that I was hurt because I wasn’t expecting it and, really, when would you? But you turned me! I was afraid you wouldn’t want me. I mean, we’ve only been together a little while and I kinda read books about how much of a commitment it is to make a Childe…I am your Childe, right, I mean I’m not your minion am I? Not that that would be bad but I’d rather be your Childe and...oh! Do I have a soul or do we have to run? I bet Buffy is more than pissed. Do I have to call Angel Grandsire now? And…”

About the second sentence into his babble Spike’s jaw had dropped. He’d expected remorse for his death…Xander being upset at his vampiric condition, not a seeming unending stream of babble accompanied by an enthusiastic look.

The stress of the past few days caught up with Spike because he found himself chuckling at the Xander-ness of it all, at the mention of Angelus being told that Spike had a Childe and finding out it was Xander, and he let out a bellow of laughter.

Xander looked at him curiously and the sight of his Childe with that look on his face made Spike lose it completely. He laughed till his sides were sore and then caught Xander up in a tight hug, kissing him all over his face.

“M’so glad it’s you, Xan. I was so worried becoming a demon would change you but that was pure Xanderbabble, no doubt about it. Love you, Xan, so very much.”

His Childe curled up in his arms and hugged him back. “Love you too, Sire. That is right, to call you Sire?”

“Sire, Spike; as worried as I was you, would probably get away with calling me a big girl’s blouse. Either Spike or Sire is good, Xander, s’not like I’m going to train you like Angelus trained me. Glinda gave you your soul so we won’t be going on a killing spree, more's the pity. I gave you plenty of my blood so yes, you are my Childe, and you’ve got all your marbles. Was worried about that, it’s not like the Aurelius line is chock full of sanity so I was a might concerned.”

Xander laughed. “I would say I kinda left being sane behind about the same time I invited a certain bleached menace into my bed. And it’s not like I was normal even before that. Thanks for making me a true Childe of yours, Sire, I’ll try to make you proud.”

Xander looked up and gave Spike a teasing look. “And speaking of blood -- and here’s where the eww moment will come in -- I’m hungry.”

Spike had to chuckle at the whine at the end of Xander’s statement. “Well then, let’s get you fed. Be glad I love you, Childe, you’ll get nothing but Sire’s blood for a bit and we’ve got human in the fridge. If I didn’t love you, you’d be stuck drinking that pig’s crap the Watcher forced on me all those years.”

He tugged and pulled at Xander until they were back to their original position, Xander in between Spike’s legs with his back to Spike’s chest. Spike held up his arm to Xander. “Now don’t tear, just gently…bite down. You’re stronger than you’re used to being, don’t want to go at my arm like one of those drumsticks from KFC. Think of it like biting into a plum; you don’t want to make the skin rip and the blood spray all over. Well, not now. Might be fun to play like that some other time. Go on…bite, Childe.”

Xander flicked an uncertain look at him before gently biting down on Spike’s arm. Instinct took over and he used his lips to seal around the wound so not one drop of blood would be lost and Spike made an approving rumbling sound in his chest. The feel of his Childe feeding from him was erotic and he felt himself harden even as his human face fell away.

Xander soon brought his arm up to hold Spike’s to his mouth, almost afraid of having it taken away, and the young vampire make all sorts of happy slurping noises. He wiggled and leaned onto Spike and he could scent their combined arousal in the air.

Spike knew he should probably stop Xander, since most Sires were afraid of their Childer being too strong, but instead he let his lover drink his fill. He used his other arm to pet at Xander, encouraging him, keeping his touch above the waist for now.

Finally Xander slowed down and Spike could tell he was drinking just for pleasure now. Childer and minions lived for a taste of their Maker and after being turned minions would be lucky to get more than a drop or two and only when they had performed outstanding work for their Master.

Childer got more of a taste but not much more unless they were being rewarded or hurt. As a fledge he’d always gotten in trouble or found himself in Angelus’s bad graces and hadn’t had as much of a taste as most other Childer.

Xander was going to end up being spoiled, he just knew it. Still, Spike couldn’t deny the exciting feel of having his lover nurse from him. He couldn’t wait till Xander had the control to feed from the neck; it would be mind blowing.

Xander pulled away and Spike waited to see what he would do. He used his tongue to lave at the wound, making sure it was sealed before kissing at it. Spike ran his fingers through Xander’s hair and his Childe’s first purr broke out.

“Good job, luv, you did it right your first time. Even made sure the bite was healed. Right proud of you.”

Xander snuggled into his hold, his voice sounding odd as he tried to talk and purr at the same time. “You taste good, Spike…better than prime rib and chocolate all at once.”

Spike couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “First time I sank my fangs into you I halfway expected to have a mouthful of chocolate syrup instead of blood, the way you eat the stuff.”

He let his hands roam lower and brushed Xander’s erection before going further down to rub at his lover’s thigh. Xander gave a pleased growling sound and Spike found himself rumbling in his chest in answer to it.

“Can we get to the wild sex part of the night now, Sire? Or are we going to tease each other while sounding like tigers baiting each other? And how weird is it that our sex life has now become an episode of Wild Kingdom?”

Spike nipped at Xander’s ear, earning him a yelp. “Hate to tell you this, pet, but even as a human you made some awfully weird sounds. No matter, though, that’s what good sex is all about, being all loud and messy.”

Xander’s laughter was deep as he turned in Spike’s arms. “Mmmm…let’s see just how messy we can be, Spike.”

Part Five

Spike spent the next few minutes relearning his lover’s body. Tracing his fingers over the new planes of Xander’s face, feeling how solid and strong he was now. The muscles that had been built up due to his outdoor work enhanced by his new status as a demon. It thrilled Spike to know that he didn’t have to hold back his own strength. This was no human lover, this was his Childe, who was more than strong enough now to take all that Spike could give him and beg for more.

He did miss the feeling of heat that Xander used to radiate. The boy had been as hot as a furnace. But fuck, they could always get a heating blanket if they wanted warmth; he had Xander in his arms, moving and wriggling and begging for him.

A sharp pain broke Spike out of his lust. Xander had raked his new fangs on either side of one of his nipples, causing him to bleed, and was licking him, circling his nipple. He let out a half groan, half laugh. “Fuck, Xan, that’s so good.”

Spike rolled them so their positions were reversed and he was straddling his lover’s hips. He leaned down to capture Xander lips in a kiss, their fangs cutting small nicks for them to lap at and soothe.

He kept kissing Xander as he reached for the bedside table. He’d stashed some lube in one of the drawers in there…somewhere. He just had a hard time finding it, what with a squirming Childe underneath him. He finally grabbed it just as Xander bit his tongue. The sharp sudden pain only served to make him harder and he swore as he crushed the tube of lube and it broke.

Xander laughed but, before he could say anything, Spike captured his lips again. He didn’t need his smart mouthed Childe making one of his trademark comments.

He moved down from Xander’s lips, stopping to nip at the junction of his shoulders and continuing all the way down to his navel. Spike stopped and gave his lover a wicked grin before sinking his fangs into the flesh in between his belly button and groin.

Xander groaned and opened his legs wide and Spike moved so that he was cradled in between them. He scooped up some lube from the broken tube and started preparing his lover. There was no way he was going to be like Angelus and take a new Childe raw, even if Xander was a demon now.

He was going to do right by his Childe, no matter what.

In just a few minutes, Xander was rocking back on the fingers in his entrance and gasping as Spike bent down to tongue his nipples and fisted his cock with his free hand. Finally, Spike took hold of his own cock and thrust in and Xander gave a strangled moan. Xander put his legs over Spike’s shoulders and grabbed the sides of the bed. Spike knew he didn’t have to be quite as careful as he had been when Xander was human, though, and started pounding into his lover as hard as he could.

Xander writhed underneath him, and through the rushing in his ears Spike heard a litany of “Fucks!” and “Sires!” that made him go faster, feel harder than he’d ever been in his unlife.

“Fucking hell, you’re so good, Xan, so fucking tight. Could do this for hours now, luv; keep both of us on the edge for days, neither one of us coming until we fuck our brains out. Would ya like that, pet?”

“Fuck no! I want to come, Spike!!” Xander growled out. After a particularly hard stroke against his prostate, he whimpered. “Please, Sire? Make me come?”

Spike grinned evilly. It was time to show his new Childe just how flexible he was. He took hold of Xander’s legs and bent them closer to his head till he was nearly folded in two. “Hold on to these, Xan, and I’ll see what I can do.”

Xander’s eyes were wide and he seemed to have lost all coherent thought but he did as he was told. Spike held onto his thighs for leverage as he pounded in with every bit of speed and strength he had, making sure to hit Xander’s prostate as often as possible.

His lover was clenching around him and Xander was tight and good and he was family and Spike let loose one of his hands to bite into it and offered it to Xander. “Feed, Childe.”

Xander didn’t hesitate, but took the wrist into his mouth and sucked on it for all he was worth. It was the thought of what that mouth would feel like on his cock that took Spike over the edge and he growled as he came. As the aftershocks of his orgasm flowed through him, he felt and heard Xander reach his completion as he lost his grip and his legs flailed in the air for a moment before falling to the bed.

But that was okay, because it made it easier for Spike to crawl up Xander’s body. His Childe instinctively turned his neck and Spike sank his fangs in deep. Xander tasted like family and love and lust and just the richness of it all nearly had him hard all over again. Xander was still suckling at the wound on his wrist, making happy snuffling noises that made him sound like a little pig.

He chuckled at that thought and broke away from Xander, removing his wrist from his mouth and his fangs from his neck. He hadn’t been lying earlier; he could keep them there all day in an unending cycle of feeding and fucking.

Maybe later. Right now he knew he had to call Glinda and let her know everything had gone okay. Plus there was the added time bomb of Red and the Slayer to defuse, and he knew that Buffy had called Giles about the funeral, at the very least. Tara had warned him of that. And he had to present his Childe to the Master of his line, never mind that he was a nancy-boy who thrived in guilt.

“Love you, Spike, so glad you wanted to keep me. No one ever wanted to keep me before.”

That semi-sleepy statement from the man in his arms made him feel like melting. All of those other problems would be dealt with later. Right now, he had a Childe to coddle.

“I’ll always want you, Xan. You know me. Once I find someone to love, it takes more than heaven and hell to make me let go.”

Part Six

“Do we have to?”

Spike gritted his teeth. “Yes, we do. Xander, I’ve explained this.”

His boy sighed, the sound of it slightly shaky due to the fact his lungs weren’t used to deep breathing for dramatic effect quite yet. “Can’t we just go down to Brazil or wherever and find Drusilla? I like her better; she might be evil and crazy but at least she doesn’t hate me.”

“Xander, you have to be accepted by the Master of our line. That’s Angelus. It will never be Dru. Much as she’s a Master in her own right, she’s way too barmy. So we have to visit Peaches and I’d rather give him a call and warn him than have his Poofyness and his minions trying to kill us as soon as we step foot in his door.”

Xander had his human face showing but he gave a very good growl as he sat down on the couch. “He won’t like it, and won’t do it. Both Angel and his evil twin hate me so I really doubt they’ll do this.”

Spike grabbed the cordless phone and sat down beside his Childe. He hated to think it, but Xander might be right. “Let’s not borrow trouble. If it happens, it happens. We’ll deal with it then.”

Spike had to admit his Childe was doing him proud. Not even two days awake and he’d managed control enough to talk to Tara when she’d come by the cabin earlier that day. She’d been glad to see that Xander was all right but was upset. Evidently, Red and Giles had both taken her to task for agreeing to go along with Xander’s plan, even though it had been what his boy had wanted.

It was Monday. They would be leaving the next night for LA as soon as the sun went down, and before that Spike knew that Xander would have to talk to his friends. So that left tonight, after his call to Angelus.

He needed a drink. Several drinks. If Xander was okay maybe they’d go to Willie’s after the big showdown, get roaring drunk and kill half the demons there. Xander had been training and had surpassed what Spike thought were his own abilities when he was first turned. Then again, that was more than a hundred years ago and, while he had a good memory, those first few days had been filled with little else but hunger and hatred. Hunger for blood, sex, Drusilla and hatred of his own past.

And, of course, hatred of Angelus.

“I don’t know if it makes me feel better or worse that you’re obviously having doubts about calling Angel. Can’t we just…I dunno. Stake him or something? Then you’d be the Master of the Clan and could welcome me. We wouldn’t need him, then.”

Spike grinned for just a moment. He could actually see that; Angelus wouldn’t be expecting Spike to be well fed and with a Childe. Xander’s soul didn’t seem to have a problem with the idea of killing Angelus. Then again, from what he could remember his boy had always been ready to dust the elder vampire. It would be so very easy to do.

Problem was, that would probably tip the Slayer over from being pissed with them to actively hunting them. Spike could handle that, but he’d hate it for Xander’s sake. Add in that Angel was supposedly the sodding Champion of the Powers, and he was afraid that if they dusted him Xander would end up with the job.

A little recreational killing and saving the world was alright, especially with Xander, but he didn’t want to be stuck doing it full time for the next century or two.

“Best not, pet. We don’t want to have your little friends after us more than they are already.”

Xander leaned against his side. His lover had always been affectionate but since his turning he’d been cuddlier. Spike had teased him that he was just a big cuddly puppy the night before and his Childe had vamped out and bitten him. He said it was to remind his Sire that this puppy now had fangs.

After which Spike had thrown him down on the floor to prove who had the bigger fangs.

“If you’re just going to sit there and fantasize about sex, maybe I’d better call, Spike.”

Xander grabbed the phone from his hand and there was a brief tussle for possession. Spike finally let his boy have it, simply because he had a better chance of getting through to the poof’s secretary.

“Brat.”

Xander dialed the phone and grinned at his lover. “Don’t you love me anymore, Daddy?”

The words and tone of voice Xander used went straight to his cock and his pants became uncomfortable. Before his turning Xander had said that he didn’t think he could handle a bigger kink than bedding a vampire. In the past two days, however, his Childe had learned a few tricks that were guaranteed to wrap Spike around his little finger even more than he already was.

He growled. “Not nice, boy.”

Xander fluttered his eyelashes. “Gonna punish me, then?”

He lost his human face and dragged Xander onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around his squirming Childe and pressed his hips upwards, letting his boy know how much his words had affected his Sire. Xander just laughed and squirmed more.

“Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless. How may I help you?” The voice on the other end of the line was definitely that of the prom queen’s.

“Hey Cordy, it’s Xander. Is Angel around?”

“Xander, why are you calling here?”

“Umm, you mean Buffy hasn’t called you guys?”

“No, why should she? Is something wrong, Xander?” Her voice had gotten shrill and both Spike and Xander winced at how the sharp sound grated on their ears.

“Fuck, Cordy, why don’t you shriek? No, there isn’t anything wrong. Well, not really. I’m…kind of dating Spike and I needed to talk to De—Angel about something.”

“Okay, I so don’t want to know about your sex life. And I thought you and Anya was weird! But why do you need to talk to Angel?”

Xander chuckled. “Thought you didn’t want to know about mine and Spike’s sex life, Cordelia. Change your mind?”

“What? You’re calling Angel about sex!?”

“Well, Spike did spend a lot of time with Angelus…”

“Okay, eww! Just stop. Ignorance is bliss and I want to stay blissful. He’s downstairs, trying to beat some sense into Connor. Hold on.”

Xander sighed and sank into Spike’s arms. “I think I’m glad we don’t talk to the gang in LA that much; I couldn’t handle telling her that I’m dead.”

“You’re only a little bit dead, pet, and there’s a difference. Not looked through your pockets for change yet, have I?” He let his hands roam to his Childe’s chest and then made a grab for the phone. “Here, it’s probably best if I do this.”

“Whatever. It’s not like I want to talk to Angel.” Xander sighed. “I can’t really call him Deadboy anymore, I’ll have to think of something else. Grandpa, maybe?”

Spike snorted. “Have to be Great Grandpa, pet.”

Xander hopped up and down on his lap and Spike grunted. It hurt so fucking good. “I know!! I know!! I can call him DangerMouse and Wesley can be Penfold!”

Before Spike could laugh or slap Xander upside the head for being a geek, Spike heard Angel come on the line.

“Xander, what the fuck are you thinking?!”

Spike wanted a cigarette, badly. “He’s thinking up new nicknames to call you, Poof, that’s what he’s thinking.”

“Spike.” One word but Angel managed to put as much hatred as he could into it and Spike found a corner of his mind rethinking Xander's whole killing Angelus idea.

“Peaches.”

“What do you want, Spike?”

This would be so much easier if Angelus didn’t have that pesky soul. “Me and Xan, we’ve been together for the past two months…”

“Together?” If possible, Angel’s voice got even flatter.

“Yeah, that’s what you call it when you actively seek out someone else and spend your time shagging like weasels. We’re together.”

“You, and Xander, are together. And you’re telling me this…why?”

“Well, there was this accident down at the site where he worked. He was hurt real bad, yeah? And I only followed his wishes, got him fixed up with a soul good and proper and everything.”

“Spike, you had better not be telling me what I think you’re telling me.”

Spike smirked and goosed Xander. He knew his Childe was listening to everything that was being said. “Congratulations, Gramps, it’s a boy.”

“You turned Xander. You turned Xander Harris, vampire hater extreme, bumbling idiot and sidekick to the Vampire Slayer?”

“Oi! I’ll have you know that my boy’s not an idiot! Never has been. Smart enough to stand up to you, both with soul and without, so you shove that thought up your arse! Told you, we’ve been together for a while, I’ve been all domesticated and everything. Chip even stopped working and I didn’t go on a bloody rampage. Even rinse my bloody mugs and once in a while cook dinner. Even let Xan have a go at being on top a time or two. But Xan…he was hurt bad, Angelus, worse than Dru ever was. She was just weak but he…even if he had lived it would have been terrible. Living inside a shell of what he once was. And he left these letters, see, about his wishes if something should happen to him. Like, instead of being buried he wanted to be cremated so no one could dig him up for parts.”

Spike could feel Xander turning in his lap but he didn’t pay any attention to it. A soft nip to his ear captured his attention, though, and Xander was whispering in his ear. “Spike, you’re babbling. Just…ask.”

Spike really needed that drink now. “Right, anyhow, he wanted to be turned if something happened and I wanted him. So I did. Glinda stuck his soul on tight, so it’s not like we’re going out and killing innocent virgins. That is, if you can find any this day and age in Southern California.”

“Hey, Dawn had better be innocent still or I’m gonna find the guy who did it and put him in a world of hurt!”

Spike clapped a hand over his Childe’s mouth but the damage was done. “I thought you said he had a soul, Spike.”

Xander leaned over and spoke near the phone. “Would have done it before becoming Deadboy the Third, Angel, and if you caught some guy trying to take advantage of Buffy’s little sister you can’t tell me you wouldn’t tear his dick off with your bare hands, demon or not.”

There was a moment of silence and then the sound of rueful laughter. “There is that. Spike, I assume you want to visit?”

“Yeah, Angelus. He’s my Childe, after all. If he’s not welcomed into the Clan, members of other Clans will try to hurt him and it’s not like the Aurelius Line is strong right now. He’ll need your protection and mine.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Sunset tomorrow.” Spike allowed himself to relax. Evidently, Angel approved of Xander wanting to castrate anyone taking advantage of Dawn. That was…an odd bonding moment that all three of them could agree on.

“Why not tonight?”

Spike laughed and Xander spoke into the phone again. “Sorry, DangerMouse, my funeral is tonight and I kinda wanted to watch.”

Part Seven

“So, how’s the kid doing?”

The man who spoke to Spike was older, fiftyish maybe, with gray hair and a face lined with wrinkles thanks to age and working in the sun. The funeral had been for the benefit of Xander’s co-workers, mainly; with the exception of Tara none of the Scoobies had shown up and Spike couldn’t help but be glad. Xander’s friends didn’t need to deal with a pissy slayer while grieving.

Of course, none of them knew he was still walking around, and currently sitting in Spike’s old crypt so he could hear everything but not be seen. None of them but this old codger.

Spike narrowed his eyes and the old man spread his hands out in a placating gesture. “Don’t mean no harm, but I’ve lived here all my life and you get to know things. Was worried a bit when Xander showed up with that giant hickey of yours a couple months ago but, well, he’s been happy. Is he…dealing with the change okay, is all I’m asking.”

The other mourners had left and it was only him, Tara and this man whose name he didn’t know but who actually had known Xander, if just a bit. He looked over towards where his crypt was and saw that Xander had come out of hiding and was grinning at him. Spike turned to the man and nodded.

“He’s okay. Got him fixed right up, woke up the other night. He’s over there.” Spike pointed with his chin. “Don’t worry, mate, can’t say he don’t bite no more but he’s not…”

The old man laughed. “Not one of the morons that don’t know when to come out of the sun. Good. I’m…well, can’t say I’m glad but at least the kid’s happy and still around, you know?”

Spike just shook his head as he watched the man walk away. Tara came up behind him and laughed. “Xander always did lie badly.”

He shook his head. “Boy was always too goody-goody for his own good. That’s what got him into half of the messes he’d land in.” Spike walked over to headstone of the grave. Alexander Harris, 1980-2001. Friend and White Knight. It had seemed…fitting, at the time, but now Spike realized that his Childe hadn’t left his White Knight tendencies behind with his heartbeat.

He’d almost been late to his own funeral. They were walking through the tunnels and found that some minions in Sunnydale Below had caught some git of a maintenance worker. Of course, before Spike could even blink Xander was in there, throwing punches and kicks that two weeks ago would have left him tripping over his own feet. It was beautiful, seeing this graceful, deadly demon that still had the soul of his lover.

But did the worker thank them for their trouble? Fuck, no. He ran away screaming.

He looked over to where Xander was talking to his former co-worker. He could hear their conversation; the old codger was telling his boy to make the most of his second chance.

And that’s what it was, Spike realized. A second chance.

He looked at Tara and she was smiling too, but there were dark circles under her eyes. “What’s the matter, Glinda? The others still giving you a hard time?”

She sighed and looked down so that her hair hid her face. Her way of protecting herself, Spike knew, but he sure as hell wished she didn’t need it. “I—it’s just…well, they think I shouldn’t have agreed, or stopped you. They don’t think that all this...” her arm waved in a vague gesture, “that this is what Xander wanted. That you made it up, or persuaded him.”

Spike growled and clenched his hands. “Goddamned stupid fucks. If I was going to do something like that, I’d admit it. What do I care? They’re just going to end up pushing Xander away.” He caught a look at her face and stopped. “Fuck, Glinda, they’re pissed off at you. M’sorry ducks. It’s not fair; I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”

“N—no. I’m glad. I did what Xander wanted.”

Spike could hear Xander walking up to them, his footsteps quieter than they had been as a human. He turned to really look at his Childe, but other than the extra grace and confidence, he was pretty much the same Xander. Oh, there were differences, sure. It was almost as if his Childe was…concentrated Xander. Everything that had made him special as a human was extra.

He grinned and held out his hand to Xander. “Glad you did, Tara, we both are.”

Xander bounced on his toes. “I’m very thankful, Tara. I’m sorry if I caused you…problems. But, I really did want this. Well, not the whole building falling on me and getting squished part. I would have liked to go on as normal for a few more years and give the guys a chance to get used to the Spike and Xander show, but hey, I’m here and, while I may not be breathing, I’m still kicking.”

Xander gave Tara another one of those rib-cracking hugs and Spike knew he was grinning like a bloody idiot but he just couldn’t help it. A week before his lover had been human, then Xander had been hurt and now he was a vampire but through it all Xander was Xander, thanks to this shy woman with wisdom beyond her years.

“Right, enough of this soppy shit. We’ll just have to go and visit the Slayer and company and prove to them that this is what Xan wanted and if they don’t like it they can take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut.”

Tara giggled and Xander grinned. His Childe bounced again and Spike found himself wondering if Tara had used jumping beans in the spell to secure his soul. “You know, there were a few times when they sent me on a doughnut run that I wanted to say just that. Well, maybe not that exact phrase, but hey, that’s a good one! I’ll have to remember that.”

They turned and started walking to the Magic Box, the two vampires keeping the witch in between them.

They walked through the streets of Sunnydale, and most of the shops and human places were closed up. It was May and getting dark later and later. Usually Spike hated summer, simply because he got bored out of his mind staying inside for hours at a time. Looking at Xander, he realized that he probably wouldn’t be getting bored for at least five hundred years or so.

He couldn't help but worry, though, about what would happen once they reached the Magic Box and about seeing Angelus the next night. Hopefully, after that things would settle down and Spike would have the chance to really spend some time with Xander, helping his lover adjust. Xander had already asked about hunting, but Spike was putting him off. For one thing, he didn’t want Angel getting his knickers in a twist over hunting scum bags, since Xander’s soul was definitely different from Angel’s.

For another, the feeling of having his Childe feed from him was so erotic that just the thought of it had him adjusting his pants.

Xander laughed and Tara looked confused but before either of them could say anything they had come out of the alley across from the Magic Box.

Xander stopped and looked at the shop. Spike knew what he was doing; he was using his new found senses to see who was there, cataloging scents and how many heartbeats were in the room. The sign said Closed and the shutters were down but there was light inside and Spike could tell that everyone with the exception of Dawn was there, even Xander’s ex. He growled and Xander looked at him worriedly.

“Sire? Do you want to do this?” And Spike hated that his beautiful Childe sounded so uncertain, so afraid. Xander was a demon now, he shouldn’t be afraid of anything, but Spike knew he was still the same person who still had the same fears.

And more than Angelus or any other monster Xander had faced down, he was afraid of losing his friends the most.

“Hell no, I’d rather be doing a half a million other things. Problem is, pet, we’ll have to face them some time and the longer we wait the worse it’ll get. Don’t want you to be the first vampire in history with panic attacks.”

Tara giggled and then ducked her head. “I—I don’t think that would be good. I mean, it’s not like breathing into a paper bag will help him now, is it?”

Spike chuckled and walked up behind Xander to give him a hug. “I can just see it now: Xander trying to breathe deep and forgetting he doesn’t need to and passing out anyway.”

“Haha, very funny. Come on. Let’s do this and afterwards Spike and I will take whoever is still talking to us for dinner at Mick’s.”

Spike grinned. “Onion rings might just make up for listening to the Slayer screech for a bit.”

Despite their laughter, though, Spike couldn’t help but wonder if the bell above the door as they entered the shop had a threatening tone to it.

He’d really been around Xander too long.

Part Eight

Five minutes. That’s all it took for tempers to flare and all Spike wanted to do was rip some of these self-centered idiots a new hole and take Xander home and fuck him senseless.

Of course, that would only make things worse. Xander had to be the one in control of whatever happened to his friends and all Spike could do was support him, no matter what. If Xander could get the screaming harpies to shut up and accept his decision, that was fine with him.

And if his Childe got fed up and tried to kick the Slayer’s ass? All the better, the way he was feeling right now.

“You know, I think we’re getting a bit off track. I, for one, am glad Xander isn’t dead. Well, not dead-dead. And he is happy; if anyone here knows a happy Xander it should be me. We were together for over two years.”

Xander grinned at his ex. “Thanks, An. I’m glad someone is happy to see me walking around.” The last was directed at Buffy and Willow.

Spike was watching the entire group. Anya acted happy to see Xander but on the whole was rather bored of the situation. Tara had retreated behind the curtain of hair and was trying to make herself invisible. Even the air around her seemed…vague. Given enough time, Spike was sure she could weave a spell around herself to make herself totally unnoticeable.

Dawn wasn’t there. Wouldn’t want the Slayer’s little sister hanging around two vampires. Never mind that both of them would lay down their lives for her and one of them had a soul.

Willow was sitting at the table, trying not to look at anyone. He took a whiff of her scent and she smelled angry and guilty all at once and Spike hope she hadn’t tried any mojo on either one of them. He’d really hate to gut her; it would bother Xander.

What amazed Spike was the Watcher. Either going back to the Mother Country or boinking Anyanka had done him some good. Gone were the dress slacks and tweed jackets. The older man was wearing a faded pair of jeans and a sweater and when the light caught him just right Spike could tell that contacts had replaced the glasses. Guess the ex-demon bint brought out the Ripper in the Watcher.

Buffy was the one doing most of the talking, as usual. She was saying how Xander should have never trusted Spike; how Spike put ideas in Xander’s head about how cool it was to be a vampire. He snorted. Considering she’d been the one chasing him right before he and Xander hooked up, that was more than a bit hypocritical.

“Buffy, I really don’t understand what made your panties bunch. I was going to be dead either way, this way I’m dead and can still pay you that twenty bucks I owe you. Seriously, what’s the problem?”

“You weren’t dead, Xander! That’s my problem. You were just…asleep and you could have woken up at any time and people come out of comas! But Spike didn’t give it a chance, he just left and came back and then turned you! I can’t believe that you’d let him do that, that you would want him to do that. It’s just…that’s not you, Xander.”

“And how the fuck would you know?” Spike looked at his Childe then. Xander was holding on to his temper by a thread. Even from across the room he could feel the effort his lover was making to keep from letting his demonic face be seen. “You know, I really thought that when we did the big intervention things would change. I thought, hell, I thought we’d go back to like it was in high school and we were best friends and in each other’s pockets. Stupid, huh? For a while I kept on rationalizing things to myself. How we pulled you out of heaven and that was our fault. That Willow was still having problems with her magicks. But you know what? I see it all differently now.”

Xander turned away from his friends and looked at Spike and smiled before he deliberately brought his true face forward. Spike could hear Anya’s small gasp but didn’t smell any fear from her. That was good, he figured. Tara didn’t do anything but smile, which was even better.

But when Xander turned, there were three heartbeats that sped up, and while the Watcher was still watching the two women were beginning to stink of fear.

“You know what, Buff? I have an even better sense of smell than my Sire. I don’t even think Spike realizes it yet. Might have something to do with the hyena possession, might be something to do with the demon I became. I can smell so much, even with my human face showing. I can smell the food from China Wok from here and that’s four blocks away. Each scent has a feel to it, it almost makes them two dimensional.”

Spike was shocked. He hadn’t realized that but it explained some things. Xander had never complained about his smoking as a human, but it had bothered his Childe to the point where he’d given them up. A muttered “Good Lord!” came from Giles and he looked amazed. Spike could see him visibly restraining himself from asking questions.

Xander took a step closer to Buffy, who was standing in the middle of the shop, and she took two steps back. He found himself grinning. If something happened the Slayer would never have a chance against his Childe.

“You know what I’ve been smelling on you all night, Buff? Both you and Willow? Jealousy. It’s not green, like the saying goes, but feels like an oil slick. You’re fucking jealous. You don’t give a shit that I died. Died! You’re just upset that Spike got over you. And Wills, I kinda bet you're more than a bit pissed that I asked Tara to make sure to give me back my soul. Sad to say, but after your misuse of magic I trust her more. You both read your letters; you know this is what I wanted. Now you’re going to have to accept it.”

Xander turned and came to stand in front of Spike and he opened his arms and embraced his Childe gladly. It had been hard keeping his mouth shut but he knew it was something Xander needed to do.

“See! This is what I’m talking about! Spike comes first and you forget about the rest of us. I thought you said you weren’t going to be in anyone’s thrall anymore!”

Spike let go of Xander, stepped in front of him and growled at Buffy, furious. “Listen here, you empty-headed little bint! Xander might be my Childe but I’ve never even tried to control him. It would be bloody impossible; his head is as thick as stone.” He heard Xander’s “Hey!” and felt his Childe thumping him on the arm but he ignored it. “Like Xan said, you’re just jealous that I jumped his bones instead of yours!”

“That is enough!!” Giles’s shout stopped all of the yelling that had started. He stood now in the center of the room and, by the set of his jaw, Spike could tell he was having a difficult time keeping his temper. Anya left where she was leaning to stand behind him, her hand on his arm, and Spike spared a thought that they looked good together like that.

“But, Giles…” This didn’t come from Buffy this time but Willow, and Spike could smell the salt from her tears.

“No, Willow. I have sat here and listened to you and Buffy for the past three days. I’ve listened to everything you’ve said and what you haven’t. It’s more than enough.” Giles sounded tired and Spike saw him make an aborted attempt to push up glasses that were no longer on his face.

He walked towards them and Spike found himself meeting his gaze. It was like the Watcher was looking to see if he really cared about Xander and for once Spike let his defenses fall just a bit. Giles nodded and then turned to Xander.

“I am so very glad to see you walking around. Rather shocked, though. It seems like it was just last week when Tara told me on one of our conference calls about you and Spike. I wasn’t aware that you had gotten so…attached so quickly. Still, that’s my own fault, I suppose. In the rush to distance myself from Buffy to give her room to grow into her life, I distanced myself from you and Willow as well.”

He embraced Xander and after a few moments of awkwardness Xander returned the hug. Spike was caught in-between growling at someone else touching what was his and laughter at the slightly shocked look on his lover’s face. About halfway through the embrace, Xander had replaced his human mask.

“Giles! You can’t mean that you’re okay with this! Xander is a vampire now and that’s just…wrong!”

Giles finally pulled away and faced Buffy. “It’s not wrong if this is what he wished, and after talking to Tara and both of you I feel sure that Spike did nothing more than follow Xander’s wishes. What is wrong is the fact that you and Willow are pushing him away with your attitude and if you aren’t careful you will lose Xander for real.”

“But…but we’ve already lost him. He’s not ours anymore. He belongs to Spike.”

Willow’s voice was so small and sad that Spike would have felt sorry for her if it wasn’t for all the shit she was putting his Xander through. Xander, however, rushed to kneel on the floor beside her.

“Damn it, Willow, don’t you get it? I was Spike’s before this happened. Being Spike’s Childe, being a vampire doesn’t mean I can’t be your friend, unless you make that impossible.”

She looked at him and then looked away but Spike could see her mask cracking. Xander gave her a quick hug and stood up.

“I went to my funeral tonight and was kinda surprised at who turned up and who didn’t. Not you guys, because you knew what was going on, but people from school I thought I didn’t matter to and guys from work and even a teacher or two. Rob, this older guy that kind of took me under his wing, he figured it out and came to talk to me. He used to be this big wig corporate dude that did an about face and became this everyday guy who worked with wood.”

“He told me why tonight. Seems he was in a real bad car wreck and died. Really died for, like, ten minutes. He didn’t tell me what happened, but he said that when he came back he knew that being here was a second chance and that he wasn’t going to waste it doing things he didn’t like or dealing with people that didn’t like him. He told me my life may not be that short now but that didn’t mean that I should take any crap from anyone.”

Spike laughed at that. “Knew I liked the looks of him. Sounds like something I’d say.”

Xander came up beside him and Spike ran a comforting hand down his back. The others might see Xander being all cool and collected but he could see the tension in Xander’s neck and could feel how anxious he was. His Childe was hurting but putting on a brave face.

“So this is it, my new life. I’m still Xander but I’m Spike’s Childe now and I’m happy. This is what I wanted. If you can handle that, well, that’s great. If you can’t, well then, you weren’t the friends I thought you were.”

Part Nine

Spike sat in the corner of the booth and grinned. Now this was more like it. Xander had finally relaxed after confronting his friends and was now nearly sitting in his lap. He and his ex were talking a mile a minute to each other, catching up. Tara and the Watcher were doing the same, talking about business and old musty books.

Red and the Slayer hadn’t come with them for dinner at Mick’s. Said they weren’t up to eating at a demon hang out. They had said that they would try to accept Xander; it would just take time. Xander had almost visibly flinched at that before reminding them that he had a hell of a lot more time than they did.

Personally, it didn’t matter to Spike what they did as long as Xander was okay. After downing a pitcher and a half of beer between the two of them and Giles and some onion rings, he was finally starting to calm down a bit. Plus, it wasn’t like they’d come after either one of them with a stake. As he’d pointed out to Xander on their way over to Mick’s, it just took a while for Buffy and Willow to understand things sometimes.

In the meantime, they were sitting in the corner at Mick’s and having good food and, more importantly, good beer. The place was dim and there weren’t that many customers of demon or human variety that night. No pool table, but there was a jukebox and Xander and Anya had fed the machine nearly five dollars in quarters. Thank god it was an old machine that actually got them music, more than three or four songs. It was good stuff too; no Sex Pistols, but Queen and Metallica at the very least.

“Rupert always likes it when I lick the back of his knees, which was very surprising.” Anya’s strident voice was clearly heard by all during a lull in the conversation and all eyes were suddenly on the blushing Watcher.

“Yes, thank you very much for sharing that with everyone, Anya.” The Watcher sounded irritated and Spike couldn’t help it, he started laughing. After a moment the others joined in, Tara shyly gigging behind a curtain of hair and Anya just grinning.

Best of all was his Xander, who gave a big booming laugh that seemed to echo even as he wriggled beside him. Spike was just thankful that Xander wasn’t attempting to go off and brood or go off the deep end of the pool. Whatever happened with his two friends in the future, Xander was going to be all right.

*****

“That went okay, don’t you think, Spike?”

Spike had his arm around Xander’s waist and Xander had his around his shoulders and he was feeling pretty fucking good. “Could have been a hell of a lot worse, pet. No one got dusted or maimed and, while ordinarily that last bit would have been fun, I know that’s not what you want. Seeing the Watcher embarrassed was an added bit of fun too.”

Xander laughed. “Yeah, that was fun, wasn’t it? I used to hate it when Anya did it to me, but as long as it’s someone else on the receiving end of her candor it’s amusing as hell. For a second I thought that Giles was gonna squirt beer out of his nose.”

Spike chuckled with him and squeezed his arm tight. They were on one of the side streets of downtown Sunnydale and it was mostly deserted. He stopped and pulled Xander into a dark alley. “What do you think about being on the receiving end of some public intercourse?” He leaned forward and licked up the side of his Childe’s neck. “Feeling…up to it?”

Xander moaned and Spike felt his hips thrust to meet his own. They were both hard. “More than up to it, Sire. It’s something I’ve always kinda wanted to do but I was too nervous…before.” His Childe’s head tipped even more and Spike was able to lick and nibble on a long expanse of neck.

The next few minutes went by in a blur of lips and tongues and fangs. He didn’t even bother with unzipping, that’s not what this was about. This was foreplay, just seeing how far they could work each other up and waiting until the last second to do anything about it.

Xander was sniffing at the crook of his neck and Spike wondered what he was scenting. He had meant to ask Giles about that earlier but had gotten distracted. He himself was drowning in Xander’s scent; the smell of denim and sawdust that had followed him as a human remained but now there was earth and blood and an added richness. He shuddered and pulled Xander as close as possible.

Suddenly Xander stiffened in his arms and growled, the transformation from his human face to his true face smooth and effortless. Spike did the same and then caught a new scent on the wind. Humans.

“Sire?”

“What do you smell, Xander? Tell me.”

His nose wrinkled even more as his Childe tried to put what he was sensing into words. “There’s at least three of them, all young males, and, I dunno, it kinda smells like used sweats from PE class with some crappy perfume dumped all over them. But there’s blood, too.”

Spike chuckled. “That sounds about right, some sort of aftershave. There’s a group of jocks from the High School moving towards us. Smells like they’ve been fighting or something.” It wasn’t his concern, really; he just wanted to get back to the bit where they were swallowing each other’s tongues whole.

But for some reason Xander was staring down at the tips of his shoes. Spike reached out and tipped his chin up and forced his Childe to look at him. “Xan?”

“Can we…I mean, if they’re like, mugging people or beating them up, can we hunt them, Sire? I’m hungry.”

Spike was more than a bit surprised. He hadn’t really expected this, he'd just expected that Xander would be content with bagged or Sire’s blood. Spike had never even considered that Xander might want to learn how to hunt.

Then there was the Slayer to think about. If she found them hunting, they would find themselves on the sharp end of a stake. Still, the thought of hunting with his Childe, showing him how to stalk his prey and how to subdue, how to seduce them was just so exciting. He was hard just thinking about it. And if they were careful, the Slayer would never have to know about it.

“Come on, pet. If those boys aren’t up to something wicked I can bet someone else is. We’ll find you an evil human for dinner.”

Part Ten

Spike grit his teeth and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He loved Xander with all of his unbeating heart.

“Don't be afraid. Of the guy in shades, oh-no! It kinda scared you. 'Cause you got it made, with the guy in shades, oh-no!”

But if his Childe didn’t stop singing that bloody song he was going to hit the brakes and let Xander hit the fucking dashboard. He sighed. He knew he wouldn’t, even though it wouldn’t hurt him anymore. It was just…tempting. They were nearly to Los Angeles and he knew his Childe was nervous but that didn’t mean he had to be so fucking annoying.

“I say it to you now, I wear my sunglasses at night, I wear my sunglasses at night, I wear my sunglasses at night!”

“Xander!” His Childe stopped singing along with the radio and turned in the passenger seat. “Luv, let’s stop with the flashback to the 80’s, okay? As far as I’m concerned, the only thing decent to come out of that decade was a few punk groups, Chucky and you.”

Xander shrugged. “Sorry Spike, I’m just nervous. And I feel all, I dunno, hyper. Between the two, I think I could get out and run to LA.”

Spike chuckled. “That’s part of the problem with drinking my blood and having some fresh instead of the bagged crap. And I hate to tell you this, Xan, but you’ve always been hyper.”

“Oh, like you’re the poster boy for being calm and patient? I don’t think so.” Spike didn’t even try to answer that one; he'd admitted to himself a long time ago about his own flaws. Xander leaned forward to find something decent on the radio. They were nearing LA and he could see the sky brighten with the city lights.

Spike took pride in how well his Childe had done on the hunt the night before. Of course they had targeted muggers, but he’d had better control than some vamps twenty years dead. He figured it was the soul’s influence, not wanting to kill.

Spike looked down at the dashboard and swore. “Gonna need to stop and get petrol at the next stop, luv.”

Xander turned on a hard rock station and this time it was Ozzy who was blaring from the speakers. Much better. “Cool! I’ll run in and get us some munchies to snack on the rest of the way. You can’t have a road trip without chocolate!”

He couldn’t contain the groan that escaped his lips. “Bloody hell, Xander! You’re already bouncing, want to make it worse?”

Xander grinned. It was an expression that Spike was becoming familiar with. It was sort of a miniature evil grin and he just knew his Childe was up to something. “Well, we’ll be in LA soon, won’t we? And visiting Grandpa! I have to be on my best behavior, you said so, Daddy, and I take that to mean you want me to beat the hell out of Angel. That means I need a sugar rush! A red bull and a giant Mountain Dew should do it.”

Spike groaned as his cock twitched in the confines of his jeans. “Xander, love of my unlife and my only Childe, don’t call me that while I’m driving.” He tried to keep his voice even. “We’ll both survive the crash but I really don’t want to explain to Angelus that the reason we need to be picked up is because you were sucking me off while driving and I wrecked.”

Xander grinned that grin again and bounced in his seat. “There’s a rest area just a mile and a half away if you want…Daddy.”

“Gods, Childe, you’re going to be the end of me.”

*****

“I am not!!”

Spike grinned. He loved teasing Xander. Of course, it helped that it usually led to mind blowing sex. Not that they didn’t have that in the car before getting their petrol. “Are too.”

“Not! Not! Not!” They stopped side by side at the entrance to the Hyperion. “Do we just go in?”

Spike raised his hand and felt to see if the invisible barrier would keep them from entering. He knew Peaches had humans living with him, but there wasn’t anything keeping them from going in. “Guess so, pet, and you are too.”

Xander made a strangled sort of noise and Spike’s grin just got bigger. He knew his Childe wasn’t really upset; Xander got quiet when pissed off, not louder. He hissed under his breath. “I am not a fucking human magnet, so just drop it, okay?”

Spike led the way into the lobby and hopped up and sat on what used to be the check-in desk. “Wonder where Peaches is; he knew we were coming. And you are too.”

“Spike!” Xander joined him but not before he smacked at him. Upstart Childe.

“Xander, you’ve got sodding bullet holes in your shirt. We were nearly mugged walking here and it was you who walked into that idiot robbing the convenience store when you went to buy snacks. In a hundred years that has never happened to me. Face it, you were a demon magnet when you were a human and now that you’re a demon, you’re a human magnet.”

“Am not! It was just…coincidence, that’s all.” Xander crossed his arms and pouted.

“Do I even want to know why you two are both sitting on the desk?” Spike turned to see Angel coming from a room behind them. He held up a hand. “No, don’t answer, I know I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know why Xander has bullet holes and I don’t want to know why you both smell of human blood. The less I know, the better off I am.”

Spike held up his hands. “S’not my fault. The boy still attracts trouble, despite the fact that he stopped breathing. Gits have tried to mug us three different times in the past two days. If we take a little…nip, well, it’s not like it hurts them. Used to do it yourself before you got all high and mighty with the hero stuff.”

Angel totally ignored him and looked at Xander. “I thought you had a soul.”

“I do, but look at this! I couldn’t let the clerk get shot, so I took the bullet instead. I have holes in my favorite shirt!!” He pulled at the shirt, one of his stupid Star Trek ones, “Everything I Need To Know I Learned from Star Trek: DS9”.

“Xan-luv, I hate to tell you this but if ever a shirt needed to be shot it’s that one.” He then quickly ducked the blow to the head that he knew was coming and laughed.

“Asshole. Just for that, Spike, you’re buying me another shirt when you take me to the next Star Trek convention.”

“Enough!!” They both turned their attention to where Mount Angelus was about to blow. “Why you two social rejects are even let out of the house I don’t know. I take it you stopped a robbery in progress but left the perpetrator alive for the police? Should I expect a few cops to be breaking down the door any minute now?”

Xander snickered. “Robbery in progress? Perpetrator? You’ve been watching reruns of Starsky and Hutch again, haven’t you, DangerMouse? Or is it Law and Order? Get your tights out of your ass, no one’s dead. Well, except for us.”

Angel spluttered and then took a deep breath. “I don’t want to know. Come on, let’s get this over with. I want to be able to look at Cordelia in the morning and I won’t be able to if you two idiots are still here.”

“What, that’s it? 'Let’s get this over with?' Fuck Angelus, you could at least buy us dinner first or ply us with drink. You must think we’re cheap or something.”

Another look from Angel had Spike closing his mouth as he followed the older vampire up the stairs. Xander followed and was singing under his breath, a sign that he was nervous. Spike listened closely and then had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

“He's The Best. He's The Greatest. He's The Greatest Secret Agent In The World! He's The Ace - He's Amazing... He's the Strongest... He's The Quickest.... He's The Best! DangerMouse! DangerMouse! DangerMouse!”

Part Eleven

“Okay, so how do we work this? And I swear to god, Angel, if you tell me to just lie down and think of England or to assume the position, Spike and I are going with Plan B and dusting you.”

Spike snorted and took off his duster, throwing it over the armchair Angel had in his bedroom. “Come on, pet, would think you’d have a fondness for England after being with me.”

Xander sat down on the bed and started bouncing while Angel crossed the room to pour himself a drink. This would never do. Vampire or not, Spike really didn’t want Xander being so nervous he was hurt. And the way Angel was acting, he wasn’t sure if the elder vampire could even get it up. If Angel was going to take Xander and give him the protection of the clan, they were all going to have to relax.

“Right, then. We’ll need that booze passed around, Peaches, if we’re going to do this at all. Maybe if we’re all pissed to the gills we’ll be able to do this without Xander having a panic attack and you brooding through the climax.”

“I can always do this without you, William. Tradition says I have to take Xander; his Sire isn’t needed.” Angel had remained near the small bar in front of the windows of the suite they were in, and his eyes were hooded. Maybe they’d be going with Plan B after all.

“Sod off, Angelus! If you think I’m letting you get within arm's reach of my Childe without me being there you’ve got rocks in your head! Always have thought I’ve heard something rattling around in that empty cavern of yours.”

Before he could say or do anything else, Angel was across the room and had him thrown against the wall. Spike could feel the hard grip of the older vampire’s fingers wrapped around his neck.

“You know what, Spike? It’s within my rights as Master to take you, your Childe and anything else of yours I damn well please.”

Spike could hear the fury in Angel’s voice and snarled wordlessly at him, his human face falling to reveal his true one. “Fuck you and the horse you rode in on, Angelus! If you hurt one hair on Xan’s head they’ll be vacuuming you out of the fucking carpet for weeks!”

He raised his arm and then brought his elbow down on Angel’s forearms as hard as he could. He heard a slight crack before falling to the ground. A broken arm served the bastard right for being such a git.

Angel swore loudly but before he could attack again a pewter candlestick attached to Xander’s arm hit him on the side of the head and the bigger man went down. His Childe looked over at him, a large grin on his face. “That was fun! I’ve always wanted to do that!”

Spike had to chuckle. “At one point or other everyone wants to hit Peaches, even if they do fawn all over him. Wonder what in the hell crawled up his arse? He was pissy last night but not more than usual, but he was nearly enraged when we showed up today.”

Xander bit his lip. “Do we even want to wait around and find out? Maybe we should just try this without the whole sex thing? ‘Cause I hate to tell you, despite being gay and a demon the thought of doing it with Angel just isn’t a good one for me.”

Spike leered at Xander. “Tell the truth now, Xan. I overheard Red tell the Slayer that the first time you saw Tall, Dark and Poofy here you thought he was handsome.”

Xander snorted. “Well, that was before he opened his mouth.”

He couldn’t help it; he laughed. “He does come off better when he's being the silent, mysterious type, doesn’t he? Come on, pet, he’s gonna wake up after a bit. What do you want to do?”

If Xander said right then that he wanted to leave, they would. Hell, by that point Spike was sick of Angel’s attitude and ready to stake him anyway, and if that’s what Xander wanted, well, that was what Xander was going to get.

His Childe shifted from foot to foot. “I don’t know. There’s something wrong, like he's wound up tighter than normal. Why don’t we just leave him alone for a bit and hope he chills out?"

Spike nodded. “Whatever you want, pet. Sounds good to me, and we can always stake him later if we want.”

He walked over and picked up his duster, slinging it over an arm instead of putting it on. Xander came to him and they embraced for a moment before they left the room and made their way down the stairs.

“You know, it’s weird, but I haven’t heard anything from the LA gang since Willow came back from telling them that Buffy died. Oh, I know they found out that Buffy’s back because she went and visited with Angel somewhere or other. But I have no idea what Cordelia’s doing.”

Spike just shrugged. “'S not like they know what’s going on in Sunnydale either, luv. From what Red said, the two Watchers didn’t even confer on Glory and if we ever needed back-up it was with her. Besides, I got the feeling from what Angel said that he’s trying to hide us like the crazy uncle your family kept locked up in the attic.”

Xander laughed. “You forget, in my family they kept the only sane one locked in the basement. Hellmouth logic, you gotta love it.”

Spike growled. He was more than glad that after Anya broke up with Xander his family had pretty much refused to talk to him. It saved him from having to rip their arms off and let rats nibble at the stumps.

Xander stepped in front of him suddenly and kissed him on the nose, making Spike blink. That was one of the things he loved about his boy. He could be growling up a storm and Xander wouldn’t blink twice. Even when he’d been human, he'd never flinched when it came to kissing or loving a snarling demon.

Xander laughed. “You’re so cute when you’re being all over protective! Come on, let’s find Angel’s favorite couch and make stains on it.”

A half hour later found them both in a better mood, with Spike lying on Xander’s chest. The couch had survived without any permanent damage due to the fact that they had been more intent on kissing and groping and foreplay than anything else.

“You’re still here?” Angel’s voice came from the stairwell and they both looked up. He had that stupid kicked puppy look on his face and his hair was mussed. Spike was torn between pointing and laughing and actually worrying about the big dumb ox. Angel just wasn’t acting normally.

“No, we’re a mirage. Don’t be such a moron, Angel.” Spike could feel Xander nuzzling his hair and grinned at the perplexed expression on his Sire’s face. He sat up and pulled Xander with him.

“Look, something is making you even surlier than usual, Peaches. I don’t think you’re going to be able to get it up until you get whatever it is off your chest. So make with the act of confession, we’ll fuck like bunnies and then leave.”

Angel sighed, but where Spike had expected a fight he merely walked behind the lobby desk and grabbed two bottles of whiskey. “This is going to take a lot of alcohol.”

Part Twelve

Angel sighed, but where Spike had expected a fight he merely walked behind the lobby desk and grabbed two bottles of whiskey. “This is going to take a lot of alcohol.”

*****
“Okay, so let me get this straight. You went extra special broody last year and boffed Darla after the evil lawyers brought her back and had Dru re-vamp her. Somehow she got knocked up and gave up her unlife for the baby while half of the West Coast’s bad guys tried to capture or kill you and the baby. Despite all of this, Cordy went on vacation and two of your little helpers were wrapped up in their own love story so no one noticed that you were going slightly nuts except for Wesley. Knowing Watchers like I do, he probably didn’t eat anything more than toast for days while researching and didn’t sleep so by the time he found this prophecy he was probably on the edge of dehydration and malnutrition.”

Spike had to grin. When Xander wanted to he could really cut through the bullshit.

“So Wes was convinced you were about to make your own kid a snack pack so he tried to get the baby away from you to protect him, ended up betrayed with his throat cut while the kid was sucked to a hell dimension. Now, thanks to some sort of wormhole or rift, the kid came back and he’s older but he hates you and is running loose in the streets of LA and since you tried to kill your Watcher and you can’t find the kid you're worried sick. Have I got it?”

Spike watched in amusement as Angel saluted Xander with his glass, took a drink and then threw it against the opposite wall. He was definitely smashed. They were in Angel’s office and there was evidence of his Sire’s temper tantrums all over the place.

“Have you even tried to talk to the Watcher? Or maybe just finding the brat and dragging him back to your hotel here by the hair?”

Angel snarled at him. “Why should I? They both made their decisions and now they have to live with it.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Nice way to relate to people there, Peaches. You sure you don’t want to beat on your chest while you’re at it?”

Beside him Xander snickered. “I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to drag Cordelia into his lair by her hair yet. He must be more scared of her than he is of Wes.”

“Yeah, as if you weren’t scared of her when you dated the chit.” Spike poked Xander in the side and was rewarded with a dirty look. They were both sharing a chair across from Angel. The man himself was leaning back in his chair and over the course of the past ten minutes had started sliding further down, ever so slowly. The first two bottle of liquor were long gone, and Angel had wandered around the office and what had to be the Watcher’s library when he was there and found two more.

Xander and Spike had only had about half a bottle’s worth. Angel had steadily drunk the rest.

“Spike, you forget that under that cheerleader attitude is a Queen Bitch. Anyone with half a brain is scared of Cordelia, which goes to prove that Gramps here is at the very least half witted.”

Angel growled at that but didn’t say anything. He’d stopped responding to their barbs about a bottle and a half ago, which was disturbing in itself. If Spike were to be totally honest with himself, he was…worried about the big idiot. Who was sliding further down into the big leather chair so that in a few minutes he’d be a vampire shaped puddle on the floor.

“Why do you two have to pick on me all the time? Everyone picks on me; Cordy even left me for Groo. Vampires have feelings too, you know.”

Xander’s jaw dropped before he closed it and made a strangled sort of sound. Spike himself was torn between amusement and, surprisingly enough, worry. Xander tugged at his sleeve until they moved to the other side of the office.

“Sire, what are we going to do? Angel has totally lost it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him like this. He's worse than you were when you went on that bender when Dru left. We can’t just leave him there. Shit, I don’t think I could stake him right now, and that’s saying something.”

Spike sighed and pulled Xander close to him, enjoying the scent and feel of his Childe. “First we’re going to get Mr. Personality poured into bed. It’s too early in the morning to find any of my old contacts in LA but I can make a few calls from here and find some things out. We’ll see.”

“So we’re going to stay and help?”

Spike sighed. This went against every instinct he had. “Yeah, pet, think we’d better. After all, the bloody git is family.”

“Part of me is cringing, but yeah, we have to help. This isn’t good. I don’t know what we’re going to do. This whole thing with Wes is weird. I mean, if I had a kid and there was a chance I was going to eat him, I’d want someone to take him away. I don’t blame him for that, and it’s not just Angel’s fault but all of his people. They’re going to have to do some major ass kissing.”

They both made their way back to the desk and found that Angel had managed to pass out. “Have to find his kid and get him them to talk, or lock them in a room together. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll kill each other.” He grabbed Angel under his arms and Xander moved to get his feet. “Why the hell do I suddenly feel like I’m up for a spot on the bloody Jerry Springer Show?”

Xander laughed. “You know what’s really funny? For once, we’re not the ones in trouble and we’re not the weird ones!”

“Right. You just keep on telling yourself that, luv. Never mind that you’re a vampire with a soul and a Star Trek obsession. Now come on, let’s get Peaches to bed. I swear to god, carrying his leaden arse is like carrying 85 kilos of mashed potatoes.”

They made their way around the lobby and up the stairs before Xander said anything else. “Spike? Do vampires get fat?”

******

“Xander! What are you doing here! Is everything all right with Buffy?” Cordelia’s voice echoed in the lobby and Spike took two steps backwards into Angel’s office. As Xander had said just hours before, anyone with half a brain was scared of the chit and the last time he’d seen the girl he’d been shoving pokers into Angel’s side and she'd had a crossbow aimed at him.

Besides, as much as Xander was his Childe he wanted to treat his boy as an equal. It wasn’t cowardly to hide behind your partner.

“Wow. Cordy, you look…great. You cut your hair. And you’re all different.” Spike could hear his Childe inhale and knew he was doing that odd scenting thing. He wondered about that. Xander had told him he’d been possessed by a hyena spirit when he was younger but he didn’t think that was it. After all, Xander might laugh but he didn’t whoop like a madman.

“Oh, that. I had to be turned into a half demon to deal with the visions the PTB send me. Let me tell you, that was weird. What’s up?”

“Family reunion time, Cordy. We came to see Angel and found him being extra special maudlin last night.”

“We? Is Spike with you? I swear to god, Angel needs to pay me more for this job or start paying for me to get therapy. The thought of anyone doing anything with Spike makes me all…crawly.”

Spike chose that moment to step out of the office and threw an arm around his Childe’s shoulders. “You’re just jealous, luv. It’s okay, we understand. The thought of two such handsome blokes snogging each other does strange things to a bird sometimes.”

Xander laughed and wrapped his arm around Spike’s waist. “My nose tells me the thought of us making out does something to her, alright.”

They both leered at the young woman and Spike watched in amusement as she stuttered and blushed. “Stop that! It’s…weird. Besides, how do you know, Xander?”

Xander ducked his head. “I just can since I was turned. It’s weird, but I’m starting to get used to it.”

“WHAT?! Turned? Xander Harris, are you telling me you’re a vampire?”

“What, didn’t DangerMouse tell you guys? That’s why we came to visit. He’s my Great-Grandsire now.”

“Oh my god! I am so going to kick Angel’s ass for this!”

Part Thirteen

“Tell me again why those two freaks are staying here? And why we’re not dusting them, just on principle?”

“Gunn, we’ve gone over this. Angel’s being an asshole with this whole Connor and Holtz thing and needs his ass kicked. No matter how many faults Spike has, and believe me there are a lot, he loves to torment Angel most of all.”

Spike stood in the back of the lobby and listened. He wasn’t sure whether he should be proud that the cheerleader recognized his nature or be insulted. For once he was actually trying to help Angelus and be on the up and up and everyone doubted his motives.

Then again, the last time the chit saw him he’d been shoving hot pokers in Angel’s side, and if not for the fact he was pissed about losing the Gem of Amara at the time he would have had more fun with it, added his own personal touch.

He grinned to himself. Hopefully Peaches had made a big enough arse of himself that he could get permission from Cordelia to do it again. Then again, maybe he’d just do it and deal with the consequences later.

He felt a sharp pain in his backside and realized his Childe had managed to sneak up on him. “You know, people who eavesdrop never hear good things about themselves.”

Spike snorted. “Luv, these humans wouldn’t like me if I was the bloody Queen. Charlie boy there is just dying to stake me; it’s only your ex-girlfriend that’s stopping him.”

“Yeah, right, like he could take you. Me, maybe. I’m still new to all this vamp strength, surrendering to my demon and inner Jackie Chan stuff, but you? Not going to happen. Now, what the hell are we going to do? These people are more dysfunctional than we are, and fuck, if that’s not saying something.”

“Hell if I know, pet.” Spike stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans and watched as Angel’s humans bickered back and forth.

“Umm, you remember pulling all that divide and conquer crap when you were working for Adam. Why don’t we just do the opposite?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think that would help, Xander. It’s sad, but it’s a hell of a lot easier to hurt with just a few words. It’s more difficult trying to get these gits together.”

Xander gave him one of those damned looks he was so good at. The kind guaranteed to make him want to make everything better for his love. He sighed. “Might as well give it a try, then.”

Xander grinned and Spike knew the little shit was manipulating him on purpose. He was rather proud of his boy; Xander was better at manipulating him than Drusilla ever was. Then again, it probably helped that he didn’t care that he was being manipulated for once. “Pest.”

“Idiot. Come on. The sooner we get things fixed here, the sooner we can go back home and annoy Buffy.”

“Oh, we’re going to be annoying the Slayer when we get back to the 'Dale, are we? I didn’t know that, should have mentioned it before, you git.”

Xander laughed. “Yeah, well, I think if we just stand there and do nothing she’ll still be annoyed so we might as well be prepared to cuddle and have as many PDA’s as possible just to bug the crap out of her. Hopefully, by the third time she’s caught us while out on patrol she’ll realize that you’re more interested in getting in my pants than taking over the Hellmouth and trying to rule the world.”

Spike snorted. He wouldn’t want to rule the world anyway; it would be bloody annoying. “Sounds like a plan, luv. Now let’s go.”

They had been talking too quietly for human ears to hear in the back of the lobby but they deliberately made noise as they came into the center of the room. Xander was getting much better at walking without making a sound but now wasn’t the time, considering Gunn was still wanting to stake them.

“Hey, guys, is Angel up yet?” Spike let Xander take the lead. He was much better at supporting people and getting fractured groups to come together; after all, he’d been doing it for years with the Scoobies. He was much better at the breaking up bits.

“No. Did you and Spike have to get him so drunk? Here I thought the Irish could hold their liquor.” Cordelia was behind the lobby desk, leaning against it and flipping through the pages of a magazine.

Spike snorted. “Not him, ducks. Bloody poof has always been a lightweight when it came to drinking. It was his downfall long before he met Darla in that alley. He's probably awake, though, and brooding a bit more. Being all embarrassed and guilty and pissed that Xan and I are still here.”

“Yeah, you know how well me and DangerMouse get along. It’s hardly a surprise he’s hiding to see if we go home.” Xander had paused and cocked his head and Spike listened as well. If anything would get Angel into an awake and roaring state it would be that comment. But there was nothing.

The small slip of a girl attached to Gunn’s side was ducking her head and smiling. “Y’all call Angel DangerMouse?”

Xander grinned and bounced in place. “Well, it used to be Deadboy from me, but with me being dead now I had to change it. Spike’s collected a number of nicknames for Angel though: Peaches, Poof…”

“Don’t forget Git and Broodboy, luv.”

The girl giggled and Spike smiled at her. She sort of reminded him of Red, Tara and Dawn all rolled into one slip of a girl with glasses and a Texan accent. “Hi! I’m Fred, pleased to meet y’all.”

She made a move as if to shake hands but Gunn stopped her. It was annoying in a way but Spike respected the big man, he was protecting his lover from what he perceived as a threat. Hell, he’d done the same with Xander. If only he could get the man to stop glaring at him.

“Hi! I’m Xander and this is Spike. Don’t worry, we’re cool.” Cordelia snorted at that but Xander just ignored her. “I mean, we’re not gonna try to snack on you or anything, I have a soul and Spike, well, Spike’s different.”

“I thought you had some kind of computer chip in your head keeping you from making a buffet out of the general populace, Bleach Boy.”

He opened his mouth to snarl at the cheerleader but Xander covered it. “It fizzled out a couple of months ago. Don’t worry, though. If he goes on a killing spree Dawn will scream at him and no one wants that. You know how loud she can get.”

Spike growled from underneath Xander’s palm but, with the exception of Gunn, everyone ignored him. It was a good thing he had a healthy self-image or else he would have been hurt that the two human girls weren’t running in terror.

“Whatever.” In fact, Cordelia was less than impressed. He’d have to do something terrible to her before they went back to Sunnydale.

“Yeah, well, the both of you can keep your fangs on the other side of the room. Don’t like it when Angel gets all primal so I sure as hell don’t like you. You come near me or my girl and I'll have no problems turning the both of you into dust bunnies, soul or no soul.”

“Charles!” Fred stepped away from her beau and rolled her eyes. “Never mind him, he’s being over protective. I’m sure you’re not gonna rip out my throat and drink me like a beer, right?”

Xander was laughing too hard to answer, and even Spike had to smile. “Don’t worry, ducks. Even if I was hungry, you’re such a bit of a girl it wouldn’t even be an aperitif. Besides, I’ve learned that it’s the shy, quiet ones that are the hardest to take out.”

She smiled hugely and then fell silent. Spike had the feeling that normally she was as bad as Xander with the babbling and he could smell both Fred’s and Gunn’s nervousness.

“So…any ideas on where Connor is? Favorite places to crash, shelters for runaways, things like that?”

“Nah, man, we’ve been checking all those kinda places out and we’ve got nothing. Angel just wants to wait for the kid to come back but me and Fred have been looking. Even called in a few favors but there’s no sign of him. Right now Lorne is taking Groo around town getting him used to LA and they’re gonna try to find him too.”

Spike looked at Xander before turning back to Gunn. “What about Watcherboy? Have your people asked him?”

It was like the room’s temperature dropped twenty degrees. Cordelia even stopped flipping pages in her book and Fred lost her bounce. Gunn looked at the other two before answering.

“We haven’t talked to him, we don’t want to talk to him, and we don’t need him. End of fucking story.”

Spike snarled. “You know, I realize the git made a mistake but I would think getting his sodding throat cut was more than enough penance. For hell’s sake, he was trying to keep the nipper safe from Angelus!”

“Angel would have never hurt Connor, not in a million years.” Gunn sounded so sure it was almost sickening.

“Cordy, did you slip and hit your head or something? Because if Angel lost his soul, unlike Spike here he’d be more than happy than snack on anyone or anything.” Xander had edged closer to him, seeking comfort from his Sire in the face of all the anger that was being focused on them.

“You lot have never read the Watcher’s Chronicles, have you? Know where Angelus found Dru? She was taking her vows to become a nun and was a postulant with an order that took care of orphans. Darla and Angelus did their best to drive her insane. That included killing her entire family, all the nuns and all the children, right down to a newborn that had been left on the doorstep earlier that day. He used to say he liked them young, tasted sweeter. Now, you be tired and irrational and find a prophecy that says the Father will eat the Son and see what you fucking well do.”

He turned around and tugged Xander along behind him. “You lot stay here and keep the status quo with your thumbs up your arses. We're going to find the Watcher.”

Part Fourteen

“Is this it? Can we try that jumping off buildings thing?”

Spike just had to grin as he pulled his enthusiastic Childe closer. They’d left the Hyperion without getting Watcherboy’s address and the man was unlisted. They had had to visit a few bars to find Wesley. At the third one they’d finally gotten lucky.

Of course they’d run into trouble at that one, Xander’s odd sort of luck making problems for them again. This time it was five guys beating on one scrawny little kid who had obviously decided to pimp himself out for some reason or another. Spike had no problem with hooking when it was done right; it was the world’s oldest profession, after all.

Still, Xander hated to see it, hated it even worse when it was a kid and before you knew it the two of them had five guys chasing after them into a dark alley where fists could fly and humans wouldn’t notice if the two men attacking them had brown, blue or golden eyes.

Oh, they had left them alive; Xander still hadn’t crossed the line yet. But there were sirens and police and they had ended up running along the rooftops. At first Spike had only meant to do it for a block or two, then it would be safe. But Xander had the most wonderful, happy, goofy expression on his face and they had ended up playing on the buildings and running across town.

It was hard to believe that just a week ago he was worried that his Childe was going to wake up insane. Not only was Xander right in the head -- well, as right at the little git ever was-- but he was…relaxing.

In the past Xander had always held part of himself back. He tried to get along and soothe people’s feelings. That was still there to a certain extent but only because, even as a vampire, Xander was a natural peacemaker.

Now, the only person’s opinion he really cared about was Spike’s. Oh, he worried about his friends, but most of them were okay about his new…eating habits. It was almost as if now that he was undead he worried less. After all, why worry about the little stuff you’re not going to remember in thirty or forty years?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and peered down the side of the semi-posh apartment building. “Yep, this is the Watcher’s place. Let’s go around back to where the building doesn’t face any traffic and we can jump down there.”

“And it’s just like jumping one or two storeys, right? I won’t break anything?”

Spike grinned at Xander as he lead him to the side of the building where the back alley full of shadows was located. “Unless you panic like a scared little schoolgirl you’ll be fine, luv. Now if you panic, you’ll fall flat on your arse and from fifteen storeys up that will even hurt a vampire.”

Xander grinned. “You’ll kiss my ass and make it better if that happens, right?”

“Suppose I might, if you ask nicely, pet.” They grinned and then stepped onto the parapet and jumped.

The first time Xander had done this it had only been about a ten-foot drop. At first Xander had been scared but he had trusted Spike. Now he was actually enjoying jumping off buildings and testing his new “vamp powers”.

But if the little shit suggested tights and a cape again, Spike was going to shove him off the next bloody roof.

They both landed on their feet in the alley. “Cool!! That is, like, so much fun! One year when I was eight, Jesse and me were playing on the roof of the porch and he fell off and broke his leg. We got in so much trouble and Willow didn’t talk to us for a week! This is so much better!”

There was a fleeting look of sadness that always came when Xander mentioned his old friend. Spike never said anything about it, though; he understood the guilt. Although it was sort of ironic that his Childe had killed his best mate for being a vampire and now he was one. Then again, Darla had turned the poor git and made him a minion and Spike wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone, much less his lover’s best friend. Minions were just…cannon fodder.

Not precious to their creators, not like his Childe.

“Come on, luv, we can jump off a few more buildings later on. If you’re a good Childe we can even try shoving Peaches out the window when we get back.”

“Really? You mean it?” Xander’s voice had a teasing quality to it, and he was batting his eyes. Spike pulled him closer and took a kiss from him, pressing their lips together and just taking. Xander tasted different than when he was human, more darkness and blood now but there would always be that hint of chocolate.

They finally broke apart, and Spike could see the gold highlights in Xander’s eyes and it made him want. For the first time in years he had a lover and a partner that was equal to him in strength. Even when she was well he had been careful of Drusilla. But Xander was someone who would fight with him and fuck him, and keep up with Spike on so many levels it was frightening.

“Really, pet. I’ll lure the big wanker in front of the window and you can shove him. Just make sure he doesn’t take you with him. And if he does, make sure you land on his lard arse.”

Xander laughed. “I meant the playing on the rooftops bit, not the maiming Angel bit.” He paused. “But we can do that too if you want.”

They made their way into the apartment building laughing. There was a call box set up so that visitors supposedly needed someone to ring them in but Xander smiled and chatted with a pair of ladies leaving for the evening while holding open the door and he and Spike were able to slip right in.

On the way up in the elevator Spike pulled Xander close. “You know more about this Watcher than I do, pet. What do we say?”

“I dunno. I mean, from what I can tell Wesley’s changed a lot. Back in High School he made Giles look relaxed, you know? Prim and proper and the snooty kind of English guy. But not royal snooty, more like serving royalty snooty, if you get what I mean.”

Spike snorted. “Know the type, pet. Used to be the highest position fought over in politics was who would get to wipe Henry VIII’s arse. Never mind the fact that all you were doing was wiping up someone else’s shit, everyone wanted to be that important.”

Xander’s nose squinched up. “Ewwww! That is so gross!! I could go another century without hearing anything like that, Spike, really. But you get what I mean. But if he’s changed as much as Cordy has, I really have no idea.”

The Watcher had changed. In fact, he’d changed a lot. Spike had expected someone in glasses with a tweed suit and nancy-boy attitude. But the man who opened the door had beard stubble, jeans and an oxford shirt on. The collar wasn’t buttoned and he could see the redness of a fresh wound that was only just healing across his throat and winced. That had to have hurt like a bitch.

“Good lord! Xander! And…Spike?”

“Hey, Wes! We were just in the neighborhood and…”

Wesley gave them both a glare and Xander shrugged. “Okay, so we're here, Angel was a giant ass and we came to swap stories. Maybe we can start a hate club. Make some “I Hate Brood Boy” buttons or bumper stickers or something. Can we go somewhere and talk?”

Spike had to laugh at the approach but he tried to keep it quiet. Apparently he didn’t keep it quiet enough, though, since Wesley gave him an irritated glance. The human didn’t say anything; he just stepped back from the door and Spike prodded Xander in the back just a little.

“Yeah, I’m kinda in the same boat as Spike now, Wes, not going in anywhere without an invite. You want to go somewhere public, though?”

Wesley raised one eyebrow and looked at Xander. “And why should I believe you won’t kill me?”

The man’s voice was rough and Spike knew now why he hadn’t said much before. It must still hurt like a bitch to talk.

“I have a soul. Really!” Wesley had given Xander yet another look and he was defending himself. “I wanted one from the beginning so my demon is used to it already. You can ask Tara. She’s Willow’s ex but she’s really great with the magicks. I’m not all depressing and everything like Angel and I’m not going to snap if I get sex. Promise.”

Again they were both on the receiving end of a pointed glare before Wesley turned to Spike. “What assurance can you give me that you are harmless?”

“M’not bloody harmless, still a vampire here. But if I go about killing needlessly, that one,” he pointed at Xander, “will start withholding sex and I’m not gonna let that happen. We just want to talk about what a complete wanker Peaches is, really.”

He looked at them both again before nodding. “There’s a coffee shop two blocks to the south. I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes.”

Spike turned to Xander and his lover nodded in agreement and they made their way back downstairs after Wesley closed the door.

“I figure he’s calling Glinda or someone in Sunnydale to make sure we’re on the level.”

“You know, we really need to get Tara to make me up a certificate or something so it proves to people in the know I have a soul. I’m getting sick and tired of explaining things.”

Spike chuckled at that. “S’not like she’s gonna have anything like that on hand. Besides, what do you expect, something like that piece of paper that came with your Babylon 5 collector plate crap?”

Xander bounced at that and Spike knew he should have kept his mouth shut. “Ooh! That would be too cool! Maybe Dawnie could make me up something like that on the computer with Tara’s help and I can get it shrunk down to wallet size or something.”

“Xander, I love you with every part of my unbeating heart but you are such a fucking geek it’s not even funny.”

Part Fifteen

“I can’t believe it. Well, I can believe Angel can be that big of an asshole, but, damn, I would have thought once Cordy got back in town she would have smacked him on the back of the head or something and got those two lone brain cells working. It’s just…not fair.”

Spike growled and bit back his words. Of course it wasn’t bloody well fair! Not that he really liked Wesley the Watcher; it was the principle of the thing. Angelus was acting feral near his child. There was a prophecy that said he’d eat the little nipper. Yeah, looking back on things, Percy should have talked to his friends and not have trusted that Justine bint any further than the human could throw her, but he could understand what the man had been thinking.

Before seeing this version of the Watcher he’d been prepared to see a man that, from Xander’s description, would remind him a bit too much of William the Bloody Poet. Shy, with a stutter, glasses and a suit. With an added bit of pompous attitude thrown in perhaps.

But the mental image he had of Wesley was nothing like the real thing. Yeah, the man was quiet but then again he’d nearly had his windpipe sawed through. It sounded like it hurt like hell to talk. And who the fuck was he going to talk to? The walls? That Lilah bint that was stalking him? All of his friends had abandoned him.

“Thank you for your sympathy, Xander, but I did fail Angel. He is well within his rights to be furious with me.”

Spike snorted. “I think you all had your heads up your collective arses, each and every one of you. It’s a good thing all you’ve been facing are evil lawyers with a grudge and a demon or two; if there was an apocalypse we’d be up to our ears in toads and locusts. As it is, they’re all just sitting back and enjoying the show, getting stiffies from watching you and Batvamp’s team angst about like fucking fairies.”

Wesley made a strangled noise that seemed to get caught in his throat and Xander winced. “Spike!” He just rolled his eyes and shrugged at his Childe. Yes, he could have put it in a nicer way but what did they want? He was evil.

“Sorry, Wes, but he is right. You need to get out, do something worthwhile with your life. You have a second chance now; you could have died. I’ve been told that it’s a precious thing. I’m certainly enjoying my second chance and you should too, instead of moping around in your apartment with your books.”

“I assure you, Xander, that research is not the only thing I occupy my time with. Despite my…regretful parting of the ways with Angel and his company, I still have contacts in the demon world. I’ve been thinking of offering my services to those in need. As much as Angel tries to help people, this is rather a large city and there is more than enough business for both of us. I’ve also taken to designing weapons but without…well, I no longer have the resources to help build them.”

Spike couldn’t contain the eye roll as he watched Xander’s eyes light up. Xander loved to build things, to tinker. He always had a project going. Since his death he hadn’t been that interested, though, and Spike had assumed that it was one of the human things his Childe was putting aside.

Now that zeal for making things was lighting up his eyes again, and Spike had to chuckle as he watched his boy and the Watcher conferring over ideas and drawing diagrams on one of the napkins on the table.

Still, it would be interesting to see what the two of them could come up with. The Watcher was smart and Xander was talented, and Spike was always interested in new weapons.

A plan started to form. Wesley needed something to do and Xander, being the soft hearted git that he was, wanted to help. Xander liked helping people and Spike liked helping Xander because he usually got great sex out of it. Giles and Anya were flying back to the Mother Country, leaving Tara in charge of the Magic Box once again. Red still couldn’t be trusted to work there, and the Slayer, well, she was just hopeless.

Xander had been helping Tara out, going by after work to give her an hour or so free and closing up once or twice a week. Still, Glinda had it pretty hard, running a business and going to school. If she had someone who knew magic to help out…

“Hate to bust up your talk of weapons, mates, but I only want Xander getting a stiffy for me, not some collapsible sword doohickey you two are thinking about. S’not like you can do anything here. Watcher Jr. will just have to come back to Sunnydale with us since he needs a job and our Watcher is busy having orgasms with your ex in jolly ol’ England.”

Wesley’s mouth dropped open just a bit but Xander bounced in his chair. “That’s a great idea, Spike!! Tara could use the help and I bet she’d like Wesley!” Xander grinned at Spike and gave a wink and Spike had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Xander thought Tara would be good with Wesley?

Well, considering her relationship with Red had ended because the little chit liked to play around with her mind, maybe Wesley would be good for the girl. Although any bouts of sex would probably be rather quiet; neither she nor the Watcher was exactly vocal.

Then again, it was always the quiet ones who went wild, wasn’t it?

Spike grinned and leaned over and licked Xander’s ear. “Mmmm, good idea, pet. We’ll call Glinda in the morning, give her Percy’s phone number and let them bore each other to death talking about herbs and protection magicks or whatever. Won’t be too long and they’ll be doing spells together.”

Both he and Xander laughed as Wesley spluttered. He may not have known the running joke Xander had about the witches and spells but he certainly understood the tone of voice Spike had used.

“Now see here! I just can’t up and leave! Besides, I highly doubt Buffy would appreciate having me back in Sunnydale, and this Tara person doesn’t even know me!”

Xander just waved his hand in a dismissive gesture at Wesley. “You can leave if you really want to; sorry to be a prick, but it’s not like you have anything left for you here. As for Buffy, well, if she doesn’t want to use a guy of your abilities she can do her own damn research. We were assholes the last time you were in town but we’re all different now, you got rid of the stick up your ass, and, well, I’m dead. And Tara will like you, don’t worry. It’s your second chance; you’d be an idiot not to take it.”

Spike sat back and grinned at Xander in pride. Before his turning his love had started growing into a more confident man. Now he was growing into someone who could be serious or playful or anything else he wanted to be. Xander really was making the most of his second chance.

Now if only Percy would do the same. Not that Spike really cared one way or other but whatever made Xander happy, ultimately made Spike happy.

And he was looking forward to being made happy two or three times at the very least later on.

*****

“Wait for a moment, Xan.” Spike kept his voice low as they reached the rooftop next to the Hyperion. They’d left Percy at the coffee shop a few hours before to do a small patrol around that area of the city just to see what trouble they could find.

What they found was a group of collage kids attempting to sacrifice someone’s little sister for power. Even Xander had been tempted to eat them. You’d think if they could get into UCLA they’d be too smart to do stupid shit like that but they were all taking law courses and Spike had found out they were all trying to get summer internships at Wolfram & Hart.

Xander had bitched for an hour. There was evil, and then there was evil. Even Spike would draw the line at killing a little girl over a job. Especially since it was an unpaid job at that.

To get him to shut up Spike had taken his Childe to the Walk of Fame, which almost instantly cheered Xander up. In fact his mood got so much better Spike had been dragged into an alcove near Gene Roddenberry’s star on Hollywood Blvd. His Childe had laughed about Spike being the first and only one to go “Where no man has gone before” and then had dropped to his knees and proceeded to blow Spike’s dick and his mind.

Now they were on their way back to the motel, to hopefully bother Angel more. Xander was going to ask the older vampire to help him train just so he could get a chance to perhaps knock some sense into his thick skull while Spike heckled.

But just when they reached their destination Spike noticed something. In the shadows there was a slight figure trying to watch the people inside the hotel.

“Sire? Think that’s Connor?”

Spike snorted. “I bloody well hope so, otherwise there’s another androgynous teen stalking Angel. What say we introduce ourselves, eh, luv? After all, the boy is family.”

Part Sixteen

“You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

Spike looked up at his Childe and gave his most innocent expression. “What?”

Xander laughed, which was a sure sign he didn’t buy it. “You didn’t have to knock him unconscious. There were two of us and only one of him; we could have just taken him into the hotel without giving him a bruised jaw.”

Spike pulled Connor over his shoulder to carry him into the Hyperion. “He was running his mouth off about shite he doesn’t even know about. It’s one thing to be all pissy because we’re vamps, he’s been raised by that bastard Holtz after all, but he didn’t have to call you a queer.”

Xander sighed and followed him into the building. “He called us both names, and it’s not like we haven’t heard them before. Besides, he’s just spouting the same crap that bastard taught him all these years. It’s a learned behavior. All demons are evil, only men and women should be together, a woman’s place is barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. It’s been hardwired into his brain since he was a baby; it’s not all his fault.”

“Bollocks. If that was all there is to it you’d be as big a lump as your father.” Spike fought the urge to growl. Xander’s parents were mostly ignored by both of them. They hadn’t reacted well to Anya’s decision to call off the marriage and had blamed it all on Xander. The only reason he didn’t kill them was because Xander had always said he didn’t want them to feel important enough to kill.

Maybe now that he was a vampire he’d have second thoughts. After all, it would be easier for him to participate now.

“You forget one thing, Spike. Growing up I had Willow and Jesse and then Giles and Buffy and other people to help me figure out how to act. All Connor has had is that Holtz guy. If Angel ever wants to get his son back even halfway sane, he’s going to have to force the kid into some major therapy. I’m talking hours and hours of Dr. Phil and Oprah, here.”

Spike had to grin at the mental image of this slip of a boy and Angel trying to talk out their differences on the telly. If Angel treated Conner anything like he’d treated him back in the days when he was William…well, he’d have to get it through his big head that you shouldn't hit your kid.

Of course Spike had hit the kid but he wasn’t the whelp’s Dad so it didn’t matter.

He followed Xander into the hotel, his eyes drawn to his khaki covered arse. So far Xander refused to wear all black or even black and red, saying that he didn’t want to perpetuate the stereotype. Personally, Spike thought his Childe had been watching too many daytime TV shrinks.

“Oi! Peaches, got your Emo boy here. Where do you want him?”

There was no one in the lobby so Spike just dropped the kid on the couch. Connor was sort of handsome in a youthful, waiflike way. Nothing like his Xander, though. He still remembered the night Angel tried to trick him by giving him the boy who later on would become his Childe. Xander had been scared, yes, but mostly he had been furious at Angelus.

That was one of the things that kept the child alive at the time. Spike had been impressed at the fire the boy had and how much he could sense that Xander truly hated the souled version of his Grandsire. Now he was doubly glad he did because Xander was his of his own free will.

Spike just wished that someone other than Darla had been the kid’s mother. Even Dru, weird as that would be, would have been easier for him to deal with. He had really tried to talk to the lad but between seeing Darla’s eyes and hearing Holtz’s hatred spilling out of his mouth…well, the kid was lucky he'd just slugged him.

Xander yelled a few more times and people started appearing from different areas of the hotel. Gunn and his bird in their jimmies looking all rumpled and some green…thing with red horns, a dressing gown and a sleeping mask. Spike snorted. It was Jerry Springer they needed to be on, not Oprah.

“Spike! What the hell do you want?”

Ah, there was the voice of reason. Well, really the voice of total annoyance. Angel came bounding down the stairs, looking like he’d been having yet another conversation with Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker. Spike nudged Xander and his Childe tested the scent on the air and nodded.

“Nothing much, Peaches. Just thought you’d like to welcome the Prodigal Son home and all that crap. Or would you rather go back upstairs and have a drink to celebrate? You’re smelling awfully fermented.”

“Shut up, Spike! What the hell did you do to Connor?”

Spike just pressed his lips together and started humming the Jeopardy theme. It wasn’t as annoying as the Barney song but it was close. Xander came to lean against his back and snickered in his ear.

“SPIKE!”

“Gee, DangerMouse, it seems to me like you told him to shut up. He’s just doing what you asked.” Xander sounded annoyingly sweet and polite and Spike could hear Gunn swear to himself before pulling his girl back up the stairs and to bed. The green demon, whatever he, she, it was, said something under his breath about not getting in the middle of family squabbles and followed.

Angel looked like he was actually going to pull out his hair and for a moment Spike thought he saw the older vampire go cross-eyed with rage. He just grinned and silently pointed at the couch behind them where Connor was sleeping.

All of the anger left his face and all that was left was a profound sadness. Even Xander sensed it because, with the exception of holding onto Spike tighter, he stilled. They watched as Angel brushed the hair out of his child’s face and lightly touched the bruise where Spike had knocked him out.

“Angel…he’s going to need some serious help. I know you want to be all noble and stuff and let him make up his own mind but he doesn’t really have one. All he knows is the garbage Holtz has been telling him. Lock him in his room and make him get therapy, if only to where he's had enough help so he can make an informed choice.”

Spike looked at Xander. “Where in the hell did you get that…shit?” He hissed under his breath.

“Spencer novels. Robert B. Parker really is damn fucking smart and Spencer is the greatest private detective ever. He could kick Magnum’s ass with one hand tied behind his back.”

Spike just shook his head. Trust his Childe to come out with a pretty impressive bit of wisdom from a paperback.

Angel, though, shook his head. “I just can’t ask him to come into my world. He's been in the darkness long enough; he deserves to live a real life.”

“If you think that bloody tosser Holtz is going to give it to him, you’ve got another think coming, Angelus. The bastard is the type that once he kills you he’ll turn on your boy there just to get rid of what’s left of you. Bastard’s had it in for you for longer than I’ve been undead, which is fucking well saying something.”

“He needs to be in the light, and I can’t give that to him. He’s my baby boy…”

“Get him help, Angel. Let him find his own way.” Xander’s voice was sad and Spike wondered what memories this little scene might have raised in his Childe’s brain. They were quiet as Angel picked up his son and carried him up the stairs.

“Jesus fucking Christ! Where the hell does he get his dialog? I can’t drag my son into the darkness with me… You’d think it was a bad episode of Forever Knight!”

Xander’s sudden outburst made Spike laugh. “You’ve got to admit, that Nick bloke is the only vampire in the world more depressing than Angel.”

“Well, there’s Anne Rice’s Louis.”

“He wasn’t depressing, Xan-luv, he was just a ponce. Well, a ponce who was seriously undersexed…why the hell she thought that up, I’ll never know.”

Part Seventeen

Spike was beginning to think that he was in Hell. The real Hell that Sunday School teachers warned little kiddies about, the one where you’re tortured for eternity. The only thing keeping him sane right now was Xander.

Fred was doing research, or looking for naughty pictures in the books, he wasn’t sure which. All Spike knew was that she was keeping as far away from him and Xander as she possibly could and still be in the lobby. Between them was Gunn, and he was making a show of cleaning weapons, especially his axe. He was seriously disgruntled.

Spike chuckled to himself. The reason for that was lying on his chest. Xander had decided that it was time to tease the humans again, and had made some rather lewd comments when the black man had been polishing his sword.

All he wanted to do was get Xander accepted into the Clan and go home. Or just get out of the hotel away from Gunn’s glares and Fred’s nervousness. Xander was in fine form today, in fact, all but rubbing off against Spike in front of everyone and calling him Daddy. Mostly it was for entertainment value; the green demon named Lorne had already left, mumbling something about cold showers and needing to get out of the hotel. It probably had something to do with Spike humming Love Bites under his breath.

To tell the truth, he was having as much fun as Xander was. It had been a long time since he’d had someone to plot with, even if it was just annoying his Grandsire’s minions. And Xander was playing and having more fun than Spike had ever seen. It was almost as if he were letting all the things that worried him as a mortal roll off his back like water, only to leave the bits he truly cared about.

Well, it was that or the wake up sex. Either was more than fine with Spike. He liked having a happy, loving, enthusiastic Childe.

Both vampires winced as the sound of a body hitting the floor could be heard from overhead. Angel was attempting to patch up things with his kid. Problem was, Connor didn’t want to hear it and kept on attempting to leave, forcing Angel to stop him. They’d fight for a while and then stop and Angel would go back to trying to talk to the lad. Xander had suggested that Angel show pictures of Connor’s early life but whether or not it would help or hurt, Spike wasn’t sure. He knew he’d be ready to hit something if anyone forced him to watch a slideshow of his early life.

Spike was afraid nothing would get through to the boy. Most humans weren’t able to withstand mental torture like Connor had gone through. Call it brainwashing, call it Stockholm Syndrome, the kid’s brains had been scrambled good by both Holtz and living in one of the worst Hell dimensions there was.

He sighed and Xander looked up at him from where he was snuggled against his chest. “You okay, Sire?”

“Fuck no, I want to get the hell out of Dodge, pet. I want us here just as much as the Warrior Prince over there wants us here. I want to go home, shag you stupid in our new home, and go out at night and kill things. Oh, and annoy your friends, can’t forget that. It’s not nearly as much fun to annoy Peaches’s friends. They don’t start pouting and stuttering like Red and the Slayer do.”

Xander sighed and sat up, straddling Spike’s hips. “I get that. I about died when I saw Cordy walk out with that Angel-clone. What kind of name is Groo, anyway? It sounds like something from an anime or a bad Nick Toon. That was just…creepy, to see her sucking face with a shorter, dumber version of Angel. And I can seriously do without the family reunion crap. I feel sorry for Connor and all but I don’t think holding hands with Angel and singing campfire songs is going to fix the kid. DangerMouse really needs to find the kid a shrink or a deprogrammer or something.”

“'S not as easy as all that, pet. You know as well as I do how Angel hates to ask for help. Stupid git thinks if he asks for it he’s weak, or some shit. Bastard never has played well with others.”

“Yeah, I know.” Xander sighed and then bounced, causing Spike to grunt. “Oh! While you were in the shower I went and called Anya about Wes. She was really excited, in fact she was going to call and even offer to sell her half of the Magic Box to Tara and him, and Giles is starting another one in one of the suburbs of London. Surrey, or Essex or something like that. I get confused. I thought a surrey was one of those horse drawn things from Oklahoma.”

“Xan-luv, I’m not sure what scares me more: the fact that Anya is going to let go of some of her hard earned cash or the fact that you watch musicals.”

“I have to watch musicals; I’m gay now. Isn’t that, like, in the rulebook? Along with owning a copy of To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar? That’s a great movie, by the way. I watched it with Dawn, like, a week before I died while you were out killing things. Wesley Snipes is very scary as a woman, and he kind of reminded me of his role in Demolition Man.”

“Does no one else find this whole thing fucking weird?” Gunn’s outburst was unexpected and both Spike and Xander jumped and Fred gave a little squeak. “I mean, we’ve got Angel and Connor having some sort of twisted Addams Family moment that includes full body slams upstairs, you two are all but screwing in the middle of the lobby and Cordelia is playing Princess with her boyfriend! Does no one but me think this whole freaking situation is weird?!?”

Fred’s eyes were wide and Spike looked at Xander. Xander nodded and they both turned to answer Gunn.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“’Course it’s fucking weird; what else do you expect?”

Their total agreement seemed to take the wind out of Gunn’s sails. He seemed to shrink into himself for a moment before shrugging. “Just wondering if it was just me.”

Xander grinned at the man. “Listen, once you’ve accepted the weirdness it gets better, honestly. Like surfing only with giant preying mantises trying to take your virginity before killing you, Hell goddesses and geeks that try to take over the world. It’s when things start acting normal that you have to worry.”

Gunn opened his mouth and then quickly shut it before shaking his head. “You know, I just really don’t want to know.”

Part Eighteen

Spike pounded on the heavy door that lead to Peaches’ suite. He and Xander had waited for hours and there had been no sign of the bleeding poofter, and he was getting seriously angry. He and Xander hadn’t come to LA to fix all of the brooding idiot’s problems, and he was fucking well tired of Gunn’s glares and his bird’s nervousness and the generally hostile environment of the hotel.

He just wanted to take Xander home and get started with their new life. Maybe figure out how much they could hunt in town and not have the Slayer notice. See how many public places they could have sex in and annoy Red until her head spun 'round a bit.

He wanted to go home. And if anyone had told him a year ago that he would consider the Hellmouth his home he would have pulled their spleen out through their nostril.

“Oi! Angelus! Open up, you great sodding sack of potatoes! Want to get my Xan accepted into the Clan so we can get the fuck out of here!”

The door opened unexpectedly and Spike growled at having to keep his balance. He looked at Angel and growled again at the look on the older vampire’s face. Didn’t the bloody git realize that if he’d just do this one thing they’d leave and could stop annoying each other? Sure, it was fun but enough was enough. Spike knew he either had to get out of town or take his chances with rearranging Angel’s face.

“What do you want, Spike?” Angel sounded stressed, and Spike couldn’t help but snarl back.

“What the bloody hell do you think I want? Git. Want you to accept Xander into the Clan so we can get as far away from your ugly mug as possible. If you were human I’d tell you to eat more fiber, but since you’re not all I can guess is that you're emotionally constipated and that’ll take more help than either of us has to give.”

He really wasn’t surprised when a meaty hand wrapped around his neck and lifted him. He could hear the slamming of the door behind Angel. Usually he’d fight but just to be different he hung there and smirked at his Grandsire. The poof was getting too comfortable dealing with humans; he’d forgotten that Spike didn’t need to breathe and wasn’t intimidated.

“I’ll be there when I get there, Spike. I have to get through to Connor first.”

“You’re an idiot if you think spending a day or two nattering at him about how much you love him is going to change things overnight. He’s been bloody well tortured for sixteen years! You pouting at him isn’t going to do a damn thing but prove you’re the bad guy.”

Angel shook him a little and then he was dropped. Spike picked himself up and straightened his clothes before leaning against the wall. Angel was leaning against the door to his suite. He looked as if someone had kicked his puppy.

“I…I just don’t know what to do.”

“Hoo-bloody-rah! That’s the first step to doing something useful with your miserable life. You have a damn demon that can read auras; have you asked for his help? Have you even used your fingers in those stupid Yellow Pages and found a shrink? This is LA, you know there’s some doctor out here that deals with demon families. For fuck’s sake, there’s shrinks for people’s bloody poodles! Have you even asked your friends down there in the lobby that keep on looking at Xan and me as if we’re insane? You need to get a pair of pliers and pull your head out of your arse before the boy hates you even more than he does now.”

It was odd, seeing his Grandsire looking so…defeated. This was Angelus, the vampire who taught him how to hunt, how to make his victims last. This was also the man he’d fought with time and time again. Over Drusilla, over his stupid plans, over…well, just about anything, really. If one of them said the moon was full the other would argue that it wasn’t.

If it was anyone other than Angelus and him, Spike would have claimed that it was unresolved sexual tension.

He shook his head. There had been that one time but they were drunk and…

“William?”

Spike looked up at the unusual use of his given name. Even Xander didn’t call him William, or else he’d be calling Xan Alex. His reply, therefore, came out sounding a mite more surly than he would have liked. “What?”

“Get Xander and be in your rooms in an hour. I’ll…be there.”

Spike opened his mouth to say something and then changed his mind. He didn’t want to piss his Grandsire off anymore than he had to before he was in a room with Xander. He nodded and turned and walked down the hall.

He pretended not to hear the soft 'thank you' that followed in his wake.

*****

“You’re going to be here, right, Spike? I mean, I know I’m supposed to be all demony now, but I’m all nervous. I don’t know if it’s the soul or if it’s the thought of Angel naked. If I had eaten cookies recently I would toss them.”

Spike snorted and ran his hand through his Childe’s hair. They were both lying on the bed, Xander in his arms, and he could feel his Childe’s nervousness. “He’s not going to hurt you, luv. 'S not like he’s Angelus anymore, is it? Considering his state of mind it’ll be a “Wham, bam, thank you, Xan.” Then he’ll go back to brooding in front of his kid. It’ll be okay, pet.”

“You’ll stay here the entire time, right, Daddy?”

Usually Xander called him Daddy to wind him up a bit, not that it took much, Spike reflected. This time, though, he got the feeling that Xander was actually wanting reassurance.

“Of course, Childe. Not leaving you, not even for a second. And tomorrow night we’ll go home to our new cabin and it’ll be just us. You’ll see. You’ll be fine.”

“The lawyers should be sending my insurance money soon. We should do something special.”

“Tell you what, we’ll throw a Happy Deathday party and have all your friends over to see the new place. Even the Slayer. Not much she can do now that you’re starting to learn what to do with your demon.”

Xander chuckled. “It would be fun. We could have it all in red and black and watch bad vampire movies and make fun of them all night. It might just get them to accept everything, you know?”

Spike sighed and kissed Xander on the top of his head. “I know you want Red and the Slayer to be happy for you, luv, but they just don’t get it. At least, not yet. Maybe with time …”

“That’s just it, Sire! They don’t have time! How can you stand it? I mean, I see all these people, my friends, and I know that in a hundred years they’ll all be dead! Don’t they realize how much there is to do and enjoy? It makes me so pissed at the way Buffy acted after we brought her back. Yeah, she was in a good place but this can be good too! And she and Willow just…sit there, like they’re in mourning for me and isn’t it awful that I let you seduce me to the Dark Side or some shit! It’s not just me they’re hurting, it’s them too and they don’t get it!”

As Xander got more enthusiastic his hand waved and there was a spark in his eyes. Spike held back a chuckle at the fact that this was an undead creature of the night wanting to lecture his friends on living. He grabbed his Childe by the arms and pulled him close, rubbing and caressing him to get his mind off his worries.

“I know, pet, I know.” He continued to gentle his Childe, getting his mind off his disapproving friends and his worry over being taken by Angel. That would come soon enough. He pulled Xander close and kissed him, using every trick he’d learned in well over a hundred years of enjoying life, despite being dead.

Oh yes, he and his Childe had much in common.

When he finally pulled away they were both in their true faces, and Xander was panting. Then he realized there was another presence in the room. He looked over to find Angel at the foot of their bed.

“It’s time.”

Part Nineteen

“Damn it, Angel! Could you not do that?! With the sneaking and the whole sounding like you’re pronouncing someone’s death sentence, you’re going to make me more nervous than I already am!”

“Look, Xander…”

“Shut the hell up, the both of you! Let’s just act like we bloody well like each other for an hour and get this over with. Dear fucking gods, can we just get through this before the lube goes off?”

“Does lube even has an expiration date?”

Spike smacked Xander on one of his thighs. “Childe…”

“Ooops. Sorry, Daddy.” Xander looked honestly chagrined and from the corner of his eye Spike could see the sides of Angel’s mouth turn up just a bit. Maybe they could get this over with now. Not that he enjoyed the idea of letting Angel take his Childe. Xander had never been with another male, ever, and Spike hated the idea of sharing.

He grabbed up the tube of lube, strongly resisting the urge to look for a use by date, and turned to Angel. “I’ll get him ready while you strip.”

He knew he had a look of defiance in his eyes that would normally would piss Angel off but he didn’t care. Vampire tradition called for the fledgling Childe to be presented to the Master of the line with no preparation whatsoever. But he couldn’t do that to his Xander. He still repressed all memory of the time when Dru had brought him in front of ol’ Batface. He wouldn’t put Xander through that kind of pain and humiliation.

Angel looked at him and nodded once and Spike let out a breath. He kissed Xander softly on the side of his mouth. “Gonna get you ready, pet, and this will all be over soon. Just relax, I’m here.”

He moved between Xander’s legs and started to prepare him. There was always something magical about this act. Even as a vampire Xander would gasp and pant and make little mewling sounds that went straight to his cock. His body would clench around Spike’s fingers and it almost felt like Xander was drawing him in, pulling him in deeper.

And while on one level he truly enjoyed this moment because Xander was just so fucking gorgeous like this, spread open and wanting, he hated it too. He hated that Angelus was seeing just how beautiful his Childe was, that he would even once get a chance at feeling how tight he was, how sweet it felt to be close to someone like Xander.

Spike really hoped the soul was stuck on tight, and that Angel would feel too guilty about Connor and doing this to Xander to really enjoy himself. Angelus had always loved to take whatever Spike held dear away from him.

If it came to that he’d go with Xander’s Plan B, and worry about sweeping the dust out of the room later.

A large hand touched him on the shoulder. “William, that’s enough.”

He turned his head and snarled, his true face breaking through unexpectedly. Reluctantly, he left his place and went to hold Xander in his arms. He couldn’t have stopped glaring at Angel if he tried. “If you hurt him…”

“Will, Spike, it will be okay.” Angel gave Xander a half smile. “Don’t worry, young one, this will be over soon.”

Xander had moved so that he was lying down on top of Spike and Spike's erection was boring a hole into his Childe’s back. He ran his hands down Xander’s arms soothingly and took his hands, wrapping their fingers together in a grip so tight that a human’s bones would have shattered.

Spike had to admit, Angel was careful when he entered Xander, going slow, letting Xander adjust. Still, when Angel pushed all the way inside there was a soft whimper of pain and Spike kissed Xander on the top of his head.

Spike found he couldn’t even look at Angel, or at where Angel was joined with Xander. Not that it wasn’t a beautiful sight, the soul didn’t make Angelus bad in bed, but he hated the thought of anyone else touching his Childe.

He looked down at Xander’s face and Spike saw that his lover was biting his lip. He looked like he was trying to control himself. Spike swore silently to himself in a hundred different languages. When Xander enjoyed sex he was very vocal but this time he was silent. That meant either he didn’t love it, or was afraid he’d hurt Spike’s feeling if he did.

He nuzzled Xander’s hair. “It’s okay to let go, pet. I won’t mind. Relax, luv.”

Immediately Xander’s true face came out and he let out a low groan and started thrusting back against Angel. “Ooh, so big, Daddy. Feel so full. Gods!”

Xander threw his head back and nearly screamed. Evidently the sounds he was making were turning Angel on just as much as Spike because his thrusting became faster, more erratic. The next few minutes were filled with the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and first Xander's and Spike’s and then Angel’s harsh breathing.

Spike had to grit his teeth at the combined weight of the other men pressing against his cock. He could feel where his pre-come had leaked on Xander’s back, making it easier for him to thrust against it, but he controlled himself. He had plans for Xander when Angel was finished.

Suddenly Angel growled in the back of his throat. “Gods! Xander…I’m going to…”

Spike leaned forward to speak into Xander’s ear. “You need to submit to him, pet. Just this once, right? He’ll bite you and give you some blood, then you’ll belong.”

He knew that last bit would guarantee Xander’s cooperation. All his life he’d felt like he was the outsider, like he didn’t fit in. He felt somewhat guilty taking advantage of Xander’s fears but wanted to make sure Xander didn’t fight this.

“But…”

“Shhh, it’s okay. Just submit. It’ll be okay, Childe, promise.”

Xander had never stopped his movements but he looked through heavy lidded eyes, first at Spike and then Angel. He whined in the back of his throat and nodded, turning his head for easy access.

Angel must have been holding himself back for that because as soon as Xander bared his neck he slipped into his true face and leaned forward. Spike could sense the smell of blood added to the already rich scent of sex. He groaned at the sounds of feeding and fucking and found himself getting even harder. He unwound one hand from Xander’s grip and used it to keep his Childe from coming. Angel’s part would be over soon.

And then it would be his turn.

Angel suddenly reared back, his mouth painted red with Xander’s blood. He used his own fangs to tear into his wrist and presented it to Xander, who latched on and started feeding. Spike could feel him moan at the taste of such old blood.

As for Angel, his eyes were nearly rolling to the back of his head and Spike could see his hips going even faster, pressing harder into Xander’s body until he gave a rasping moan and came.

Xander was whining and pleading with Spike to let him come but he ignored his Childe for the moment. Angel was gasping and had nearly collapsed on top of them both but he shakily pulled out of Xander and moved to the other side of the bed.

Spike quickly took his place, hardly even waiting for Xander to adjust to being empty before he was thrusting into him, enjoying the feel of cool muscles clamping around his dick. This wasn’t going to take long, they were both too close to coming, but Spike was going to do his damned best to make it as intense as possible.

He threw both of Xander’s legs over his shoulders, nearly bending his Childe in half and Xander gasped at the change. He set a quick pace, pumping in and out as fast as he could while still hitting Xander’s prostate every time and Xander keened his enjoyment, his hands clawing at the sheets below him.

“You’re mine! My Childe! My lover! My forever! MINE!”

He leaned forward and sunk his fangs into his Childe’s neck, just below Angel’s mark. He brought one hand away from where he was bracing himself on the bed to urge Xander to bite at his own neck, sharing blood more intimately than they had ever before. He could feel Xander’s growl just before the sharp pain of fangs made itself known and he nearly came.

He continued to brace himself with one arm and used the other to work Xander’s cock, smearing pre-come all around the head before jerking him off to the same tempo as his thrusts. He could feel his balls drawing tighter and pushed his hips even harder, trying to bury himself in his lover.

Spike could feel Xander reach the edge as well, both of them hanging there together. He pulled away from Xander’s neck and growled, wanting to kiss Xander as they came but unable to use either hand to pull Xander’s head around without losing their rhythm.

Fortunately Xander was on the same wavelength and soon they were kissing, fangs and tongues and blood mixing and sharing and he could feel Xander as he started to come, his muscles rippling around his cock and pulling his orgasm from him in a wave of pleasure so intense his vision whited out.

When he came back to himself he had collapsed on Xander, his lover’s legs still over his shoulders, and he could still feel the aftershocks of their lovemaking running through him. He looked over at Angel and was shocked to see the look of longing on his Grandsire’s face. For once he actually felt sorry for the git, so he didn’t say anything, he just pulled out of Xander carefully and moved Xander so that he was lying comfortably on the bed.

Vampire or not, he’d be sore after that round of sex.

He had moved to the opposite side of Xander from Angel and they all three lay there quietly, the smell of blood and come and sex nearly overpowering his senses. It would be so tempting to start all over again but he didn’t really want Angel in on it and for once he didn’t want to push.

“So…that’s it. No words or mumbo jumbo? I’m all accepted now?”

Angel quietly smiled. “Yes, Xander, that’s it. Welcome to the Family. Such as it is. Even before I got the soul the Aurelius Clan was known for being…odd. I guess we just got a little bit weirder.”

Spike snorted. “Two vampires with a soul, one if which broods more than Batman on a bad night, and a crazy seer who talks to dolls. For once, I’m the normal one.”

Xander halfheartedly slapped at him, more out of habit than anything, and Angel rolled his eyes. They lay there peacefully. Spike allowed himself the luxury of cuddling next to his Childe in contentment. It had gone better than he’d expected -- Xander was safe and there were no broken bones. All in all, a good visit.

Xander took a deep breath. “Is it just me or is accepting someone into the Clan sort of like a bad porno movie? And why all of a sudden do I feel like a guy version of Emmanuelle? I mean, wasn’t there an Emmanuelle vs. Dracula movie that might be suing us for copyright infringement or something?”

Angel groaned at that and pulled the pillow from behind his head to cover his face. Seeing that, Spike let the laughter he’d been holding back go, laughing even harder when he saw the pleased look on Xander’s face.

The next few centuries were going to be fun as hell.

Part Twenty

“Xander! Will you get your shit together and get down here! For fuck’s sake, I may be immortal but I really don’t want to spend another century in this god forsaken hellhole!” He glanced over at Angel. “No offence, but let’s face it, mate, from what I’ve heard you’ve had giant roaches. That gives a place a bad reputation, you know?”

Angel closed his eyes and opened them again in a slow motion sort of blink. “You are leaving for good, correct? And taking your Childe with you?”

“No, mate, we’ve decided to buy the lot down the block and set up shop. Figured a little competition will do you good. Of course we’re leaving, you great big tit. Neither one of us wants to hang around and watch you try to bond with Angel Jr. Just as well, too, because Charlie thinks he’s being so sly by watching from the back room that he seems to forget that I’m a fucking vampire and can hear him breathe. If the bloke had any hair he would have lost it by now, angsting over me and Xan being here.”

He could hear an agonized groan from said back room and then a feminine giggle. Spike knew if given half a chance he’d probably like Fred. The little girl had some serious spunk, but her guard dog was more trouble than he was worth.

Angel made a soft sighing sound and Spike had to grin to himself. He knew Xander was doing something halfway evil upstairs, but he wasn’t sure what it was. All his Childe had said was to distract Angel downstairs. Spike chose to do this by yelling at Xander to hurry up and blowing smoke in Angel’s personal space.

In truth, he was almost sad to be leaving. Well, not really, but he did hope that the big idiot got things patched up with the Fruit of his Loins. If only so that Angel didn’t brood into the next millennium. And, in reality, Spike couldn’t blame Gunn for being overprotective; the human had lived too long with his kind making midnight snacks out of his family and friends.

Still, it was amusing to aggravate them. Almost as fun as winding Red up and watching her babble in embarrassment when she’d catch him and Xander having a snog.

There was the sound of thunder coming from the upper levels and Spike grinned to hear Xander making as much noise as was possible before attempting to slide down the banister. Since the stairs switched directions halfway he had to jump off and start again, making an even bigger racket, and Spike grinned to see Angel open his mouth and then close it.

He could almost see his Grandsire’s thoughts running across his face. “They’re leaving and I don’t have to see them again; I just have to wait a little bit longer and they’ll be out of my overly styled but fascinating hair.”

Or something to that effect, Spike was sure.

Spike looked at his lover as he pulled his duster closed around him. “Finally. Can we go now?”

“Sure, just a second.” Xander stopped right in front of Angel and looked at him before poking him in the stomach.

“Ah! What the hell?”

Xander grinned and bounced on his heels. “Just checking to see if you were evil. I’d hate to leave and you go on a killing spree. Then we’d have to come back up to kill you and I'd never get home.”

Angel nearly growled. “It’s supposed to be a moment of perfect happiness. Believe me, the two of you have been so annoying it would take a miracle for me to be that happy.”

Instead of getting angry, Xander just grinned and Spike didn’t even bother to hide his smirk. “You know that’s a good enough reason to make us stay, you know? We can hang out and check your closet for leather pants and velvet shirts once a week or something.”

Spike dug out a cigarette and lit it. “That doesn’t have to mean he’s Angelus, luv, could also mean he’s decided to run a stable of girls.”

Xander laughed. “Pimp Daddy Angel. Oh, that’s too funny!”

This time Angel did growl and turned to walk behind the lobby desk. “If I take enough aspirin will you both go away?”

Spike grinned. They’d annoyed Angel for a week now and he supposed it was time to give the older man a break. “Come on, pet, let’s get home. Oh, Peaches, if you ever decide to get your head out of your ass about Penfold, call the Magic Box.”

“Who?”

Xander rolled his eyes. “Wesley, you doof. Penfold to your Dangermouse, Q to your 007, the smart guy with the glasses. He’s moving to Sunnydale to work at the Magic Box. He wasn’t for the idea at first but I called Anya and she talked him into it.”

“Badgered the poor git, most likely. She might not be a demon anymore but your ex is still fucking scary.” Xander just shrugged and Spike walked over and threw an arm around his Childe’s neck, dragging him towards the door. “You know where we’ll be if you need us, Peaches. Have a fun time prancing around like a ballerina. Tell your minions they can come out of hiding now, we’ll be on our way.”

As they left both vampires could hear Gunn’s loud “Thank God!” and the sound of wood hitting wood. Xander got into the passenger side of their car and looked at Spike. “Sounds like Dangermouse is banging his head against the wall!”

Spike grinned. “And just what did you do before leaving? I refuse to believe it was that hard to find your shoes.”

Xander bounced in his seat. “You know those picture frames with the recorder?? The other night when we were out hunting, that was what I slipped into that specialty store for. I bought, like, ten of them. They’re hidden in about ten different places in the hotel and they’ll go off when there’s a loud noise or a door closes or something. It’ll take him a week to find them all.”

Spike couldn’t help it, he laughed. That was just so juvenile and such a Xander thing to do. “Do I want to know what you put on the little things?”

Xander shifted in his seat and Spike maneuvered the car into the traffic, heading towards the Hellmouth. “Different things. One was of me screaming your name, one was of me singing the Addams Family theme. Oh, and the one in his bedroom, it will play the Dangermouse theme song. Don’t want him forgetting about us, do we?”

“Only you, Childe, only you.”

“Sire? Do you think Angel and Connor will be okay?”

Spike sighed. “I don’t know, luv. It'll take more than a week to deal with that kid’s issues. But I think eventually it will because, if nothing else, Angel really does love him. I just hope that’s enough.”


******

The party was in full swing and Spike had to stand back and admire. Anya and Giles had already left to go back to the Mother Country, and more power to them. He knew that Xander was still friends of a sort with his ex but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

Dawn was babbling Wesley into submission in a corner of their living room. The entire gang had been invited over for a Housewarming/Deathday party. Willow and Buffy had frowned at that last bit but had come, which had made Xander happy to no end.

There was pizza and music and videos for the big TV for later on. The new Watcher was fitting in nicely and, while Xander’s prediction of him and Tara being a good couple hadn’t come through as of yet, they did work well together and Spike had to be glad for that. He owed Tara a great deal, and she was one of the few humans that he actually felt comfortable around. Didn’t treat Xander any differently either, which was good.

Red and the Slayer still acted on edge around Xander, even though it had been a month since his turning. They were in another corner of the room now, talking softly, and Spike turned his attention to check on Xander.

His Childe looked over his shoulder for a moment and threw him a quick grin. Xander was comfortable with being a demon, something Spike was thankful for each day. He was able to control himself for the most part, and even when he slipped and got too aggressive it was with good reason.

The biggest slip had been during one patrol not a week before, when a fledge had almost gotten Red. Xander had gone into an almost berserker like rage, tearing the entire group of fledges apart nearly single handedly. Both the Slayer and Red had looked sort of sick, which Spike didn’t really understand. You’d think they’d be glad he protected his friends, but instead they were disturbed by how violent he could be.

Then again, even when he was a human they had both underestimated Xander.

Spike heard his name and tried to pay more attention.

“I really don’t get it, Xander. I mean, it was weird when you two got together. It was like you were just friends and then all of a sudden started sleeping together. I just…why did you let him do it?”

Red’s voice was soft at the end and even Spike had to strain to hear it, and Xander’s voice was tightly controlled when he answered.

“It? Which it, Wills? Fall in love with me? Or turn me? You still don’t get it, do you?”

“No, and I’m trying. It's just…”

Willow trailed off and Spike glanced over there to see Buffy with one hand on his Childe’s arm. He growled in the back of his throat but stayed where he was.

“Let’s face it, Xander, it’s odd. And well, after what happened with me, with the Heaven thing and all, I guess we just don’t understand. Doesn’t choosing a demon mean you don’t get to go? Do not pass Go, do not collect $200?”

Xander sighed and Spike could hear a world of sadness in that one action. “No, I guess you really don’t get it, do you? Okay, see, Spike is a demon but I love him. I love him now and I loved him as a human. There was no way he was getting into the Pearly Gates or Summerland or whatever you call it. And since I love him, do you really think it would be heaven for me without him?”

Xander gave a sad sort of chuckle. “Besides, I get the best of both worlds now, the soul and living with Spike. How could I ask for anything more?”

******

Dawn was not far off by the time they finally settled in for their rest. The party had run late, and Dawn had fallen asleep in the middle of the floor and her sister had carried her out. Buffy and Willow had been quiet after their little talk with Xander, but as time wore on they seemed to thaw out.

Xander thought they were getting used to the idea of him being a vampire, but Spike blamed it on the froofy wine coolers.

“Xan, did you mean what you said?”

“When?”

Spike’s voice echoed oddly in the pre-dawn quiet. “That bollocks about heaven and hell and all that.”

“Oh, that.” Xander snuggled in close to his body and Spike squeezed his Childe tight. “Sure. I mean, it’s like that old song, “If I gotta be damned, you know I wanna be damned, dancing through the night with you.” I’m not sure if there is such a thing as heaven, or another life or whatever, despite what happened with Buffy. But if there is, well, it wouldn’t be heaven without the one being I love.”

Spike pulled his Childe, his lover even closer than before and claimed his lips in a kiss. “God, Childe, just when I think I couldn’t love you any more, you go and say something like that.”

“I’m really glad you turned me, Sire.”

“Me too, pet. We’re gonna have a long and happy unlife together, you and I.”

The room was quiet for a few minutes before Xander turned to him.

“So…now that we’ve gotten the romantic stuff over with, do you want to fuck like bunnies?”

Spike grinned, knowing that his lover could see it in the weak light. “What do you think, Childe?”

The End

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