Chapter 22

 

Buffy and Angel

 

The gym was cast in darkness. Buffy could hear Spike hovering at the top of the stairs. She had to roll her eyes at insecuro-guy – as if she’d run off with Angel! Not after everything they had been through in the last few weeks…

 

Angel leaned against the edge of the boxing ring, his left hand still clutching the ice pack to his crotch. Buffy suppressed a smirk that, if she had allowed it to escape, Angel would have been struck by the similarity of it with his pain in the ass GrandChilde’s. ‘He sooo deserved that kick and more!’

 

Angel watched Buffy as she sat down on a bench.  She moved slowly; her injuries were still healing and the burns to her face and hand were now a faint pink, the skin slightly puckered.

 

“I’m sorry…” Angel’s voice broke the uncomfortable silence.

 

“For what? Attacking Spike or trying to stake me?” Buffy answered levelly. He had already apologised and she knew exactly what he was apologizing for – her being a vamp. ‘As if it were his fault!’ She mentally rolled her eyes at him.

 

Angel shifted uncomfortably, unused to her frankness. “Well no… I mean yes…I am sorry for what I did – what I’m sorry about is that you’ve been turned into what you hate… You’re a vampire…” Angel trailed off and stared at the small woman who was his entire world. Who now was beyond his grasp for all eternity.  She was lost to him more completely than before, when he had walked away from her.

 

Buffy could see Angel was in turmoil, but the imp in her couldn’t resist flashing a fang at him. Her eyes changed colour and her dainty fangs dropped. “I kinda noticed, Angel. And why are you saying sorry? It’s not like you had anything to do with it.”

 

Angel forced his demon down; it had woken at the sight of Buffy’s fangs. He could feel the beast within him railing against the soul. It was appealing to his baser instincts to claim the perfect vampiress that stood before him. But Angel managed to suppress his demon once again. It was a constant battle and lately the strength to resist was waning- he wanted to give in and let the darkness enfold him in its comforting embrace…

 

“But it’s wrong…” he whispered miserably.

 

“Yeah, it is wrong, Angel, but it has happened. I can’t change it and neither can you. We need to move on and try to adapt,” Buffy sighed.

 

“Are you adapting?” Angel quizzed her, his brown eyes filled with questions.

 

Buffy nodded. “Yeah, I’m not gonna say it’s a bed of roses, but I’m getting there.” She looked over her shoulder, sensing her agitated Sire’s presence. Spike had tried to stay upstairs but his feet had carried him halfway down the steps where he lurked anxiously, ready to leap in and defend his lady’s honour. If Peaches even made one hurtful remark, Spike was going to puree the sod!

 

Angel glanced in the same direction, his nostrils flared at the scent of Spike. “So you are, in fact you’re doing better than I would’ve expected. After that time when you were a vamp in that kid’s dream and how you reacted, I never would have expected you to be so calm.”

 

“Angel, don’t!” Buffy made a cutting motion with her hand. “I know you think you’re trying to help, but don’t…” 

 

There was a faint growl that drifted down the stairwell. Spike vamped out and his entire body tensed.

 

“Don’t what?” Angel pressed.

 

Buffy growled at Angel, the tone of it was dominating and angry. Angel’s head jerked up at the sound, surprise filling him that one of his line would directly challenge him. 

 

Particularly a fledge – even if it was Buffy…

 

He then froze at the tears that filled Buffy’s lavender eyes and spilled over onto her cheeks. “Buffy?” 

 

She dashed them away with her unbound hand and shook her head. “Angel, you have no idea what happened to me and how hard it was! Spike saved me from all that, he helped me and held me when I cried and let me be when I needed to be alone. He has been so amazing, please don’t dismiss it all by saying I’m doing better than you expected. It’s hard, but I’m getting there. All of it’s too hard and now there’s this Hell Bitch after me and everyone I love!” 

 

Spike leapt down the stairs with a snarl and pulled Buffy to his side. She turned her head and wept against his shoulder. 

 

“Happy now, Peaches? You made her cry!” Spike rumbled. Anger tensed his entire frame; all his muscles were locked, ready to burst into action.

 

“I didn’t mean to…I’m sorry…” Angel apologized again, embarrassment colouring his entire demeanour. 

 

“You never mean to and yeah, you’re always sorry…”Spike pressed his lips to the crown of Buffy’s head. “Mate, you have no idea how bad it was, what that bastard did to her…If I hadn’t…oh god, if I hadn’t…she would still be there….” 

 

Angel peered at both of his kin and his heart broke at the sight of them wrapped around each other. Before he could stop and think, his long legs ate up the distance between them and he had them both in his arms- comforting them and himself in the same move. 

 

Spike and Angel

 

Spike watched as Buffy walked slowly up the stairs, her entire frame radiating exhaustion.

 

He turned back to Angel with a smirk.

 

“Now that you’ve got all the cuddles outta your system, you and me need to have a chin wag.” Spike pulled out a battered pack of cigarettes and shook one out. “Come on.” Spike pulled Angel along by the elbow into the office at the back of the gym. Away from teenage ears. 

 

“Want a drink?” Spike pulled open a drawer in the desk and a bottle of tequila appeared on the desk, along with two shot glasses. “And no, I am not letting you do body shots on me, Peaches!” Spike arched his scarred brow at the look of complete shock on Angel’s usually immobile face. He grinned and sloshed some amber liquid into the glasses and shoved one over to his Grandsire.

 

Angel reached across the desk and took the glass and sipped at it. He usually didn’t drink, he tried not to as it reminded him of his mortal self- Liam the drunkard- who, because of his asinine ways, had let himself be turned. But he needed a drink after all the revelations of the evening- he needed it! And Angel suspected that Spike was about to unload another shock to his already frazzled nerves. “Thanks…”

 

Spike downed his shot with relish, a relish that even to this day Angel resented. He refilled his glass and then waved the bottle at the brunette vampire. Angel shook his head and put the half drunk glass back down. Taking a deep and unneeded breath, he said the words he never thought he would ever say to Spike.

 

“Thank you for saving her.” Angel braced himself for Spike to crow over the muttered words and was surprised, yet again.

 

“No need for thanks, mate. I’d have died for her if it would’ve helped her – still would.” Spike downed the second shot and re-filled his glass, not even offering it to Angel this time. Instead, he placed the bottle within both their reaches and sat back in his chair. 

 

“I realise that now…” Angel truly did. Spike always had a romantic streak in him from the moment he had been turned. 

 

Spike nodded briefly. “Yeah. But now, Peaches, I need a blood oath from you.”

 

Angel sat up straight, “WHAT?” 

 

“You heard me, and it’s got nothing to do with Buffy and her new nocturnal accessories.” 

 

Angel leaned forward, ignoring the sliver of pain that shot through him. “What for?” 

 

“Joyce and Dawn.” Spike sighed and rubbed his face tiredly, unwillingly to tell Angel it all, but he had to know what he was getting into. 

 

“Joyce and Dawn?” Angel questioned. He could see Spike was worried and that his nerves were stretched thin, he decided for once not to goad him.

 

“Yeah, they don’t know…” 

 

“Know what?” Angel pressed.

 

“That bint we fought is after Dawn; she’s the key.” Spike felt his shoulders loosen at his admission. He knew that the noble nit in front of him would help now that he knew everything.

 

“Dawn is the reason this woman is here in Sunnydale?” Angel frowned. He was confused; why would anyone want Buffy’s kid sister? All the years he had known Buffy, Dawn had been there in the background, just a bratty kid sister nothing more. And now someone wanted Dawn.  What for? 

 

“Yeah, that’s why we need her out of here and somewhere safe.” Spike gritted out the last few words, the concept of having to ask Angelus for help grating on his last tender nerve. 

 

“But what does she want Dawn for? To force Buffy to do something for her?” Angel was completely lost. 

 

As Angelus, he had considered turning the child and then setting her on the Slayer, but Spike had talked him out of it. Reminding him of Anne Rice’s Claudia and how well that had gone.

 

“No, not to use for blackmail- Dawn is the Key,” Spike explained. Sometimes Angel could be a bit slow, he briefly wondered if he should draw some flash cards to explain it all to the git.

 

“The Key to what?” Angel queried. 

 

“Dunno.  All the monk said was that she was a power source for the bint to get home…”

 

“Dawn’s a battery?” Angel mentally slapped himself for saying this, but it was out of his lips before he could stop himself. 

 

“Oi! So she’s not really Buffy’s lil sis, doesn’t mean you can say that!” Spike growled.

 

“Okay, what are you on? Did you eat the worm already? Dawn is Buffy’s sister, are you nuts?” Angel interjected angrily.

 

“For Christ’s sake. Listen, you ninny. Dawn isn’t real.  She was put here for Buffy to protect by some arses in brown robes, who decided that, rather than praying to god, they would play god with our lives. Your memories of Dawn aren’t real; everything in your noggin has been played around with to fit her into your life. We need you to protect Dawn and Joyce so we can fight and kill the bint after her,” Spike hissed in exasperation.

 

“Huh, umm, Spike?  Are you sure I didn’t hit you on the head?” Angel stared at the furious vamp seated behind the desk. 

 

“Look, I’ll track down Whistler and send him to you for a show and tell moment, okay? Until then, neither of them knows the truth so don’t say anything to Joyce or the Nibblet. And swear that you’ll protect them till you’re dust.” Spike slammed his hand down on the desk and vamped out. His golden eyes flared a challenge at his Elder.

 

“Whistler? Oh…” Angel knew that if Whistler had been around then something big was cooking in the cauldron of big evil. Even though he thought Spike was nuts, he decided to go with the flow.

 

Raising his hand up, Angel vamped out and raked his fangs across his palm. Spike mimicked his actions and then reached over the table.

 

Their blood soaked palms met with a slap. 

 

“I swear by the Line of Aurelius to protect the two women with my unlife,” Angel rumbled around his fangs, his eyes never leaving Spike’s.

 

“I bear witness to this oath and will hold you accountable if you fail,” Spike rasped back. 

 

Angel released Spike’s hand and licked their mingled blood off; he tried not to groan at the taste of Buffy’s blood that was present in Spike’s. Spike licked his hand clean, savouring the taste of his Grandsire’s blood, the first taste in a century of the elixir that he missed so much.

 

Angel blinked. There was something in Spike’s blood; as it washed over him, he understood.

 

“Dawn’s not real!” He exclaimed.

 

Spike dropped his head to the desk with a groan. “That’s wot I’ve been trying to tell you.” 

 

“Oh…”

 

Joyce and Angel

 

“Are you sure you don’t mind babysitting us?” Joyce asked worriedly as she pushed open the front door and ushered Dawn in before her. 

 

Angel stepped into the familiar house followed by the others. “Not at all,” he said as he smiled briefly at the woman he barely knew. He secretly resented the ease of interaction between Spike and Joyce, something he had never shared with Buffy’s mother. He ignored Cordy’s humph and gestured for his friends to sit down. 

 

Checking outside, he could see Buffy and Spike leaning against the tree in the front yard, two sentinels on watch for attack. Giles, Tara and Anya had already said their goodbyes and headed home, leaving the eight of them to travel on to Revello Drive.

 

Joyce pulled Angel into the dining room for privacy. “Thank you for doing this. I know we’ve never really seen eye to eye before, but to take us into your protection…thank you…” Joyce avoided eye contact with her daughter’s first lover. 

 

Angel folded his arms across his chest and stared at the woman whose words had been the final nail in the coffin of his relationship with Buffy. He could recall the entire conversation in the mansion as if it were only yesterday. Part of him still resented her for what she did, but only a small petty part of him. “It’s okay, Mrs Summers. I would do anything to help Buffy, you know that.” With that final barb Angel made his peace with the woman.

 

“Oh…” Joyce chewed her lower lip, acutely aware what Angel meant. She straightened her shoulders to show that she wasn’t intimidated.  It didn’t matter what he said, because she knew she was right about him. He was not right for Buffy- Spike was meant for Buffy, that much was apparent now. 

 

Angel stared at Buffy’s mother. Her face was coloured with the strain of the past few days. But there was something else there, something in her eyes. He inhaled deeply, scenting her, and frowned. His eyes flickered to the two blonds outside, wondering why they hadn’t noticed. But then again, Buffy was still a young vamp and she wouldn’t know what her senses were trying to tell her and Spike…Well, Spike had been focused on saving Buffy and then helping her through her changes. If there hadn’t been those distractions, Angel was sure that the peroxide blond vampire would’ve picked up on it… 

 

Dawn and Angel

 

‘She isn’t real! I cant believe it – I can remember so much…’ Angel leaned against the door jam and watched the petulant teen as she stuffed clothes into her suitcase. Every movement screamed teen angst and Angel briefly wondered if Buffy had ever behaved like this. 

 

“I hate you!” Dawn spat as she pushed her diary into her case. “Always have!”

 

“I know…” Angel replied patiently.

 

“I want to stay here…”

 

“With Spike, I know,” Angel interrupted. He had noted the attraction the youngest Summers had for Spike. 

 

“What? NO! I want to stay at home…it’s nothing to do with Spike.” Dawn blushed bright red, her blue eyes flaring with anger. She cringed at the realisation that Angel had picked up on her crushing on Spike. She knew Spike was interested in Buffy and saw no one else but her annoying older sister, which bugged the crap out of her. Cos She was so much nicer than Buffy!

 

“Yeah…Yeah…nothing to do with Spike,” Angel teased and then straightened. He walked into the room and snapped the case shut, hefting it to one side as he held out his free hand to Dawn. “Come on, Rodeo Drive awaits you...” 

 

Dawn ignored Angel’s proffered hand and stomped past him as she clattered down the stairs. 

 

Angel shook his head and then looked up at the ceiling. “What do they see in him?”

 

*********

 

Angel stood in the hallway and stared at Joyce, wondering what to do. His eyes flickered out the front door. Spike straightened at the sensation of his Grandsire’s eyes resting on him and returned his gaze with a reflected question. Spike rested his hands on Buffy’s shoulders and murmured something to her¾ she nodded and carried on watching Dawn loading Angel’s car with her bags whilst talking quietly to Wes and Gunn.

 

Spike sauntered over to the brunette vampire with a questioning gaze.

 

“Need to talk to you around the back.” Angel grabbed Spike’s elbow and the two of the vamps disappeared around the corner of the house.

 

Buffy glanced over and wondered what they were up to – she hoped Angel would leave Spike’s dangly bits alone this time. The bruising she had discovered on Spike still made her feel kinda icky.

 

*********

 

Spike yanked his arm free with a growl, “Stop manhandling the goods mate.” He spun away and started pacing back and forth – the entire evening’s events and those of the day before had pushed him to the limit and one more thing would send him into a frothing frenzy. Spike suspected that whatever Angel was about to say would be the final straw. Running his hands through his slicked back hair, he sighed and stopped in his tracks, then turned to face Angel.

 

The older vamp hadn’t moved an inch; he stood there with his hands thrust into his coat’s pockets and stared intently at his errant Grandchild as he paced. ‘Never could stand being still for even a moment…’

 

Spike glared at Angel and finally threw his hands in the air in exasperation, “Spit it out, oh broody one!”

 

Angel’s head snapped up¾ detente aside, he would not tolerate younger members of his family being so impertinent. “William,” he growled.

 

Spike’s nostrils flared and his whipcord lean body tensed.

 

“Don’t push me,” Angel warned.

 

Spike snorted and rummaged in his duster pockets for a pack of fags. Shaking one out, he lit it and exhaled a stream of smoke from his nostrils, his sapphire blue eyes glittering with impatience. “But pushing is wot I do best, Grandad…” he rocked back on his heels, the lit cigarette dangling from his lips and a familiar smirk shaping them.

 

“Enough.  There is something more important to discuss.” Angel checked around the moonlit backyard for observers and then moved to whisper in Spike’s ear. As the elder vampire talked, Spike’s face was contorted with a myriad of expressions, running from shame, anger, fear and finally worry.

 

“You sure?” Spike hissed.

 

Angel nodded and stepped back.

 

“Fuck!” Spike turned and began to leave, only to be stopped by a touch of Angel’s hand on his forearm.

 

“No William, don’t,” Angel muttered in hushed tones.

 

“But…”

 

Angel shook his head, “we need to be sure, before we say or do anything.”

 

“Why did I miss this?” Spike demanded.

 

“You had a lot on your mind - both of you have...” Angel responded, trying to soothe his agitated Childe.

 

“But…” sorrow filled Spike’s face.

 

Angel gingerly wrapped an arm around Spike’s shoulder and to his surprise Spike’s smaller form slumped against him. Never in their entire history had William or Spike turned to him for comfort – not that Angel had ever expected him too. Angelus would have seen it as a sign of weakness and destroyed the younger vamp without pause. But Angel suspected that recent events had significantly alter Spike’s personality, and surprisingly for the good.

 

“Will, me boy, I swear I’ll do everything in m’power to right this.” Angel’s voice slipped into his natural brogue as he calmed his shivering Childe. “Me word, my oath is m’bond Childe.”

 

Spike realised the rather compromising position he was in and straightened quickly with a decisive nod. “Come on…”

 

“Hey, are you guys back there?  We’re ready to go.” Cordelia’s bored voice echoed around the side of the house.

 

Buffy pulled away from her Mom’s embrace and looked for Spike.

 

Dawn was already sitting shotgun in the convertible and, to keep the peace, the others had said nothing.

 

“Right here.” Spike sauntered around the side of the house, his loose-limbed gait belying the tenseness of his entire body. He tossed a firm stare at the brunette seer who was tapping her foot impatiently, “looking smashing as usual, Pet.” He was used to high maintenance women, so knew just what to say to calm the fuming female. He wondered why Angel always surrounded himself with birds like Darla and Cordelia…

 

Cordelia preened slightly and then her eyes narrowed.  Spike was making nice, why? Guess it was cos Joyce and Dawn and their prospective LA road trip. She was unhappy with the two guests they had acquired, on top of the whole Buffy angst-a-thon from Angel. Cordelia wanted to go home to LA and forget about all this, but now there were two reminders of the whole ‘lets see how hard to hit Angel in the head and balls situ’ coming back with them.

 

She had tried to talk Angel out of it, but he had given her the ‘don’t even bother trying’ look and muttered something about Vamp blood oaths and him owing Buffy, and Cordy had given up. She had retreated to the couch in Buffy’s house with a grumble and flicked through some magazines while everyone was getting ready to leave.

 

Spike swept Joyce up in a hug and inhaled deeply. He slipped into game face and rumbled deep in his chest. “Gonna miss you, Mum…”

 

Joyce patted Spike’s back with her hands and rubbed her head against Spike’s, “Me too, look after Buffy for me?”

 

Spike nodded against her neck, he had buried his face in the soft curve of her throat, trying to absorb as much of her scent in his dead lungs to sustain him. With a shiver, he reluctantly released Joyce and his game face slipped away as he took Joyce’s shoulders in his hands. “I swear I will, love.  Keep the Nib outta trouble and don’t let Peaches push either of you around.” Spike smirked at the good natured ‘hey’ that emanated from Angel’s direction.

 

Before anyone else could say anything, Dawn’s petulant tones erupted from the car.

 

“If you’re making me go, well then, lets!” she glared at her Mom and Spike for making with the hugs, and then sent a laser glare across the front yard at everyone else.

 

“This is not gonna be fun,” Gunn muttered to Wes and Cordy, both of whom nodded in agreement.

 

*********

 

“Oh luv, stop blubbering, you can talk to ‘em on the blower all the time…” Spike wrapped his arms around Buffy’s tiny weeping form. He watched as the taillights on Angel’s black convertible disappeared around the corner. His mind teaming with thought.

 

“I miss them already, even Dawn,” Buffy sniffled. She surreptitiously wiped her nose on Spike’s T-shirt and then her lower lip wobbled again.

 

“Come on, let’s get you home so you can have a good cry and a sleep…” Spike coaxed her into the Desoto and they roared off into the night.