Under the Forbidden Sun
Part 2 – Revelation
“So now what do we do?” Xander asked as Spike maneuvered them toward the couch.
“Well, I suggest we play the tape again and write down the translation,” said Wesley.
“We should probably test your abilities too, Pet,” Spike hugged his mate.
"Yes," Giles nodded, "we need to find out what abilities have already
manifested and what ones we have left to expect."
“And what’re we gonna’ tell the gang?” came the plaintive response from Xander, looking at Giles expectantly.
“The truth, I would imagine.”
Looking at the floor, Xander muttered, “Buffy won’t like it.”
“Bloody bint doesn’t like anything that takes the attention off her. Of course she won’t like it.”
Xander whimpered. “Is she gonna’ slay me?”
“I doubt it.” Everyone looked at Angel. “Well, I would think she would be supportive. She seems to be okay with the whole undead lover.”
Spike snorted. “Of course she is, wanker. Who do you think got us together in the first place?”
Angel was aghast. “Buffy? Really?”
“Yeah,” Xander smirked, “Spike was totally crushing on Buffy and she knew I had the lusties for Spike, so one night we were fighting this weird demon-thing and she let it corner me.”
Wesley stared at Xander in horror and Angel seemed very upset. Xander protested, “It’s not like she’d let me get hurt! Anyway, the short story is Willow started yelling at Spike to just admit he wanted me and kill the demon already.” He grinned. “Spike went nuts; the demon never knew what was coming. We practically shagged on the demon’s body. Then he couldn’t stop telling me how much he wanted me and loved me and we shagged all night. Cool, huh?”
Angel and Wesley both tried to speak at the same time, then stopped and looked at each other. Angel tried again, “And how long have you known…”
Xander cut Angel off, “That I was bi? Dunno, junior year, I guess. Me an’ Oz an’ Devon had this thing for a while.” He smirked again. “Oops, I’m embarrassing the English father-figures again.”
“Good for you, Pet. They need a little excitement.” Spike got up and pulled Xander to his feet. “As much fun as this is, I want my nummy. We’ll be back later for all the fun.” With that, Spike dragged Xander out the door before the others could protest.
Wesley sat there stunned for a moment. “I can’t believe Buffy would actually get those two together.”
“She’s in love and happy. She wants everyone to feel the same,” Giles said as he picked up the two books and placed them on the counter. “Besides, I think it was a defensive move to get Spike to stop following her. And Spike and Xander have been mooning over other each other for months; everyone was getting very fed up with them.”
Giles looked at the two men, sighing, “I suppose you two can stay with me tonight.”
“Thanks Rupert. I doubt Gunn and Cordy will be back tonight.” Wesley stood, stretching.
“I’d best give the girls and Riley a call when we get to my place and tell them to be there by sunset for some interesting, uh, developments.”
“Xander… not human. It’s a little hard to believe.” Angel looked at Giles.
“Actually, I’ve had suspicions for a while. How else could he have survived childhood?” came the reply as Giles shelved the tomes Tara and Willow had been studying.
“His parents were really that bad?” Angel asked, stunned.
“Worse, I’m afraid. Xander is like a son to me. We’ve talked a bit. His father beat him regularly and sometimes…” Giles trailed off, cleaning his glasses nervously.
“His father raped him? What kind of an animal does that to their own child?” Wesley asked, horrified. “My father wasn’t exactly loving, but still. There are some lines you don’t cross.”
“Yes, well, Spike moved Xander out almost immediately after they got together. And I do believe Mr. Harris is number one when the chip comes out. Not that I disagree with him.”
“If he lives that long,” Angel growled. Guessing that he surprised the two humans, he clarified, “In case you hadn’t guessed, Spike’s going to initiate a lifebond with Xander tonight. That makes him my grandChilde. My responsibility. I’ve already lost someone very close to me, I don’t want Spike to ever have to go through that. It’s too painful.”
“You do realize we’re going to have to speak with the Harrises,” Wesley broke in. “We need to find Xander’s biological family and to do that we need to know his past.”
“We’ll work on that tomorrow. We all need some rest,” Giles picked the books up off the counter and opened the door.
“Good idea. Lead the way,” Angel stood, following Giles and Wesley.
Meanwhile, Xander and Spike returned to their apartment. Spike unlocked the door, pulling Xander in after him. He nibbled on the boy’s ear and he whispered, “Gonna make you mine forever.”
Arching into the caress, Xander moaned, “You really want to do this?”
“God yes, Pet. Since I first laid eyes on you. You’re mine.”
“Me too. Well, not exactly the first time I saw you, but umph…” Spike kissed Xander passionately, twining their tongues together. Shedding clothes as they went, Spike moved them toward the bedroom.
Taking control, Xander pulled Spike down onto the bed, nipping at his jugular. Manuevering so he was on top, Xander sent one hand twisting already erect nipples, the other hand snaking down to fondle Spike's cock. With little effort, Spike flipped them, so that he was on top. “Gonna’ shag you into the mattress and make the earth move, Love.”
Xander’s answer was an inarticulate moan. Grabbing the lube off the nightstand, Spike slicked his fingers and expertly pushed one into Xander, eliciting another moan. Crooking his finger, he thrust and hit Xander’s prostate, causing the boy to arch off the mattress wildly. He added a second finger and then a third. When he removed his fingers, Xander whimpered at the loss. Spike repositioned himself at Xander’s entrance and pushed in slowly.
Xander bucked his hips in an attempt to make the vampire speed up. He wrapped his legs around Spike’s waist and pulled him closer as he started thrusting faster and faster. Spike fisted Xander’s cock and pumped at the same speed as his thrusts. He leaned down and captured Xander’s mouth in a kiss. He caught Xander’s tongue on a fang and then ripped his open in the same way.
When Xander tasted their combined blood, he felt something explode inside him and came forcefully. Dimly he could feel Spike stiffen as cool liquid spurted inside him.
Spike slumped against Xander, completely spent. He swept Xander’s mouth for the last heady taste of Xander’s blood. “So good. All mine forever. Did you feel it?”
“Mmph, God, Spike. I think the whole town felt that. I thought I died. What was that?” asked Xander, pulling Spike close as he turned on his side.
Spike snuggled closer. “That was our lifebond. You’re stuck with me now.”
“Mmm, good. Sleep now. Love you,” came the sleepy reply.
When Spike and Xander arrived at Giles’ place, everyone else was waiting. “It’s about time you guys got here,” Buffy seemed relieved. “Anya was about to show the video.”
“Which video is that, Pet? She’s got quite a few,” Spike asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Oh, the crowbar one,” Anya was excited. “But Buffy doesn’t like it. I don’t know why, I think it’s cute.”
“You would,” Buffy grumbled.
“Crowbar?” asked Gunn, confused.
“Uh, er, well… You’d have to watch it to understand,” realizing she was making things worse for herself, Buffy shut her mouth.
“I want to see it,” Cordelia said, grinning. “I need something to make me feel better.”
“Well, let’s put it in,” Xander took the movie from Anya and put it in the VCR before sitting down. Buffy sighed, resigned, as Xander explained what they would be watching, “Now, this happened about a week ago. We were having a Scooby meeting and for some reason Anya had her video camera.”
“Some reason, ha!” Buffy cut in. “And when was the last time we had a meeting where you two didn’t end up trying to perform tonsillectomies on each other with your tongues?” Xander looked sheepish. Spike smirked and winked at Buffy, who said disgustedly, “I give up.”
Spike and Xander were making out on
the couch and Buffy was trying to separate the two. Willow and Dawn could be heard in the background. “Trust me, Dawn, you don’t want to look.” “Why not?
I think it’s romantic.”
“Romantic? Dawn, this isn’t romantic, it’s obscene!”
Buffy chastised Dawn. “Willow, would
you take her out of here?” On the
screen Xander and Spike were removing each other’s shirts. “Argh!
Don’t make me get the crowbar!”
Pants were being unbuttoned and unzipped. Buffy came on screen.
“Don’t you care that you have an audience?”
Spike looked up, his eyes
unfocused, “Audience? Nope.” He recaptured Xander’s lips.
“That’s it! I’m getting the crowbar!” Buffy ran off and a door slammed. Several seconds later she reappeared holding
a crowbar.
“Buffy, where did you
get that?” Giles sounded shocked.
“My car.” She turned to the boys.
“One more chance, knock that off.”
Xander’s pants were thrown at Buffy.
She went nuts and dropped the crowbar.
“At least YOU wear boxers!” She
tried to pry the pair apart with her hands, then grabbed the crowbar and
whacked Spike with it.
“What was that for?!”
“What do you think?” Buffy pushed the crowbar between the two and
began to pull Spike off of Xander. “I
cannot believe you’re having sex right here!
We’re trying to research.”
Spike yanked the crowbar out of her
hands tossed it behind the couch, “It’s not like you have to watch, Pet. And we’ll clean the couch when we’re
done!” Buffy grabbed for Spike, who
rolled himself and Xander onto the floor, knocking her down on top of
them. “Why, Pet, I didn’t know you
wanted to have a threesome! What a
surprise!”
Xander chimed in, “We can always call Angel and see if he wants to join too.”
The LA group looked at Xander, who blushed.
“Ooo, kinky!”
“Argh! Giles, Anya, do something!”
“I am, I’ve got the video camera.”
“Erm, what would you suggest I do?”
“Make them stop!!!!”
“Spike, Xander, would you please
refrain from, well…”
“C’mon, Giles, say it: having sex;
the act of mating; making love; shagging; getting down and dirty; getting it
on. Take your pick.”
Buffy removed herself from the
tangle, noticing for the first time that Spike had ripped her blouse. “You ripped my shirt?! You are so dust, Spike!” She retrieved the crowbar and starting
whacking Spike with it.
“Now, don’t be hasty here, Luv,”
Spike rebuttoned his pants, trying to keep away from Buffy. He eyed Buffy, leering, “It looks good that
way. Ow!” She swung the crowbar toward his head, he put an arm up to shield
himself and an audible crack was heard.
“You broke my boyfriend!” Xander had managed to get his pants on and
now he launched himself at Buffy. “I
can’t believe it! You broke my
boyfriend!”
Buffy dropped the crowbar and
ducked away from Xander. “I didn’t mean
to.”
“Yes, you did! You were trying to kill him!” Xander went over to Spike. “Are you okay, Love?”
Spike moved his wrist and grimaced
in pain, “My wrist is broken. It’ll be
fine in a few hours.”
Xander glared at Buffy, who looked
very upset. “I really didn’t mean to
hurt him, Xander. I just didn’t want a
repeat of the Bronze incident.”
“Right, well, I think you owe
somebody an apology.”
“Do I have to?”
Giles spoke up, “Buffy, you broke
his wrist. He is a vampire, but he
still has feelings.”
“Thanks, Watcher,” came the snarky
reply.
“Oh, fine. I’m sorry Spike. I didn’t mean to cause that much damage.”
“Oh, so you were trying to cause
some damage, Pet?”
“A few bruises, why? Does it really matter? I’m sorry and I’ll try not do it again. I wish I could make it up to you.”
“Well, you could…”
“I don’t THINK so, Bleach Boy!”
“Oh, fine.”
Everyone was laughing at Buffy. “Oh, I can see why you didn’t want us to see that!” Cordelia was in hysterics.
“You beat my Childe with a crowbar AND broke his wrist?” Angel looked at Buffy, who looked away.
“It healed. What’s the big deal? They were the ones having sex on Giles’ couch.”
“We’re not the only ones, eh, Father?” Spike grinned good-naturedly. “And lay off Buffy there, Peaches. We were deliberately provoking the Slayer. She’s always threatening terrible things and we decided to see if she would actually follow through. If you were paying attention to the video, you would’ve seen that I was wearing boxers that day and I NEVER wear them. Too confining.”
That comment got a snort from Xander, “Yeah, this from the guy who deliberately buys his pants too small. And leave Father alone. Those two deserve some time together. Oh, hey! I just thought of something. Did you two invite Giles to play, too?”
Giles turned red, Wesley paled visibly, and Angel glared at Xander. “You are worse than Spike.”
“Alright!”
“ ‘Ey now, you big poof! I’ll have you know he learned it from me.”
“Why don’t we just get down to business?” asked Riley, with military efficiency. “We have a limited amount of time before we should patrol.”
Xander sighed as Giles started to explain, “After everyone left, Wesley and I looked through some books to find out more about Grogthk demons. We, ah, made an interesting discovery.”
“Yeah, some discovery,” Xander snorted. “I’m a demon.”
Dawn and Tara looked very startled, while Willow nodded thoughtfully. Buffy was ecstatic, “I knew it! I could sense something about you. I always figured you, y’know, had some demon blood in you.”
“And you never said anything?”
“Not really my place to say. I figured you knew and either didn’t care or were embarrassed about it.”
“Nope, not a clue. Hey, Anya, did you know?”
“Um, no?” She gave Xander puppy eyes. Spike glared at her. “I, uh, I knew your parents. Old friends, great guys.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I was sworn to secrecy. You weren’t supposed to find out yet.”
“Oh, well, when was I supposed to find out? When I couldn’t be killed? Or maybe when my friends started to get older and I didn’t?”
“When you were of age, twenty-five. That’s when Grogthk demons stop aging.”
“Why not sooner?”
“To protect you.”
“Protect me? From what?”
“Your family. Jeremy and Ken, your parents, had that whole Romeo and Juliet thing going. They weren’t allowed to see each other, so they had to sneak around. When Ken got pregnant, he tried to hide it. And these things always get found out and both families were horrified. They wanted to abort the pregnancy, but it was too late by that time. So then they were going to kill you at birth, but Jeremy and Ken ran away. I helped them. And when you were born, I arranged for your adoption. You looked very familiar to me, but I didn’t figure out who you were until we started dating. You look like your parents.”
“What happened to my parents?” Anya wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Please? I need to know.”
“After the adoption was finalized, they returned to the clan. For their deception and disobeying their families, they were killed. The clan looked for a while, but they couldn’t find you. I’m not sure what would happen if you were go to them now, but I’m certain they would kill you, too. Even now.”
“Why would they go back? Didn’t they know what would happen?”
“Yes, but the family ties are very strong. It took a lot of strength for them to defy their parents long enough to have and hide you. Of course, they knew what would happen, but they loved you enough to die so you could live.”
“If they had killed me, would they have lived?”
“Yes, their families would have punished them and then would’ve sent them each somewhere where there was no chance they could ever get back together.” Anya started rifling through her purse. “Last night, after you started translating the tape and we left, I got this out. Here.” She handed him a manila folder.
Xander took it, shivering slightly. “What is it?”
“It’s from your parents. They asked me to give it to you on your twenty-fifth birthday, but you need it now.”
“Thank you, Anya.” Xander’s voice trembled a little.
Spike looked at him, concernedly. “You okay, pet?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He turned to Giles. “You want to play that tape again, so we can write the prophecy down?”
“Of course, but Xander, if you need some time…”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. We have the world to save, remember?” Xander set the envelope aside.
“Well, why don’t we play that tape, then?” Wesley placed the tape in Giles’ stereo and pressed play.
Stopping after each sentence, they soon had the translation of the prophecy. “Look,” Xander said, “it breaks down into three sections. See? The first two lines are one, then the next six, and the last two makes the third.”
“But what does it mean?” asked Angel.
“The first and last sections appear to be what’s going to happen and the middle group is the six people needed for the prophecy to take place,” said Giles.
“Six? But it says ‘five to one.’ That’s five people, right?” asked Buffy, confused.
“No, if it said ‘five AS one’ there would be five. The word ‘to’ indicates a single person directing five more,” Wesley explained. “Let’s look at the middle section now. We can dissect the other two later.”
“ ‘One is and isn’t to the naked eye, holds the eternal reigns for all to live yet die.’ That makes no sense!” Buffy paced.
Cordelia agreed, “Yeah, we never figure out what the prophecies mean until it’s too late.”
“But there is always a chance we can discern the meaning of the prophecy, girls. There is always hope,” Giles said, cleaning his glasses. “However, if you would rather not work on the prophecy, you can always patrol.”
“Sounds good to me,” Buffy grinned, heading for the door. “Who’s coming with me?” Riley, Anya, Cordelia, Willow, and Tara left with her.
“Guess it’s just us again,” Spike smirked. “Let’s get down to business.”
“Spike, you actually want to help?” Angel and Giles were shocked.
“ ‘Ey, the sooner we’re done, the sooner me ‘n the pet can go shag.”
“Spike. We can always duck into the bathroom or a closet for a few minutes.”
“No, I don’t think so.” Spike and Xander turned to look at Wesley. “You want to call me ‘Father,’ fine. Then you’re going to listen to and obey me. And I say no shagging until we’re finished for the night.”
“Yes, sir,” the two replied in unison, sitting back down. The five men in the room each took a copy of the prophecy, silently reading the lines. “Hey, look at the fourth line of the second section!” Xander said excitedly. “ ‘One from Hell yet still the same, lost and found shall again deserve the name.’ Dad, you’ve been to Hell and you’ve been two different people: Angel and Angelus!”
“So this could mean that Angelus is going to make a comeback?” Angel shuddered. “I don’t like that idea very much.”
“Well, it does seem likely. ‘Lost and found’ could be Angelus losing control to the soul and then regaining control. And ‘shall again deserve the name’ would be…”
“The Tormentor.” Spike’s comment had everyone look up at him sharply while Angel studied his feet.
“Beg pardon,” said Wesley, “but who is the Tormentor?”
“Oh, come on, you know I am also known as ‘William the Bloody.’ Before the whole curse fiasco, Angel was ‘Angelus the Tormentor.’ Isn’t that in your Watchers’ books?”
“Actually it’s not.” Wesley turned to Angel, “Dare I ask…”
“No,” Angel’s voice was full of pain.
“Don’t make him explain, please.” Spike went over to Angel. “Sire? You’re Angel, not Angelus. You haven’t been for over a century. And you’re bloody well not changin’. We like you the way you are now, broodiness and all.”
“But, I could lose my soul…”
“Wait! We can fix that! Willow’s been working on a way to change the curse and make your soul permanent,” Xander bubbled enthusiastically, joining his mate and his mate’s sire. He slung an arm around Angel’s shoulders, “Nothing will take you from us, not now or ever. Besides, who else will we annoy for eternity?”
Angel looked at Xander, then his childe, before sweeping them into a hug. “Don’t ever change.” He paused. “Spike, get your hand out of my pants now.” Spike complied sheepishly, then noticed what Xander was doing. “Xander!”
“What?” Xander gave Angel the most innocent look he could muster.
“Don’t ‘what’ me, young man, I’ll take you over my knee, and…” seeing the thrilled look on Xander’s face, he sighed. “No, you’d like that too much. But I don’t ever want to catch you putting your hand there ever again, or I will tell Cordelia to take you shopping.”
“Okay, I’m sorry! Please, please, please, don’t make me shop! Not with Cordelia!”
“Maybe Buffy, then.”
“Giles, you’re not helping.”
“Well, you’re traumatizing your poor surrogate dad. I saw what you did, you know. Perhaps shoe shopping?”
“Maybe a new wardrobe for you?” Wesley snickered.
Xander looked down at the tight blue jeans and white tee shirt he wore. Spike narrowed his eyes, “ ‘Ey now, I resent that. It took a lot of persuasion to get rid of those bloody awful clothes he was wearing. You should all be thanking me.”
“Yeah, now Spike buys all my clothes. So, let’s get back to the prophecy, okay? We were just trying to make Angel feel better.”
“Right, which gives you permission to feel me up?”
“Didn’t it work?” Xander was all innocent eyes.
“When we test his healing ability, do I get to maim him?”
“Angel, that was uncalled for,” Giles looked at him sternly.
“But his hand was…”
“We know where his hand was, Angel.” Wesley turned to Spike and Xander, “If I ever catch you feeling Angel up again without our explicit permission, you are going to wish you could die.”