Angel quickly pinned his childe on the mansion's cold stone floor as his mouth mauled Spike's. The younger vampire didn't fight as his Sire urged his knees towards his shoulders, plunging into him with no preamble. Spike's mouth fell open in a silent scream of pleasure and pain as his Sire pumped into him roughly, worried about only his own release. He found it quickly, howling in pleasure as he came inside his childe's body.

He panted harshly, braced on his arms above Spike. The younger vampire's face was passive, but his cock was beaded with pre-cum, red and angry looking from his denied release. With a wolfish grin, Angel pulled out of his childe and slinked down his body, taking Spike's erect cock to the root in one fell swoop of his mouth. Spike's eyes rolled back in his head and his hips thrust forward as his Sire sucked voraciously on his turgid flesh. With a strangled grunt, he came, climaxing in Angel's mouth.

After he'd sucked his childe dry, Angel flopped on his back next to the younger vampire. They both stared at the ceiling for long moments. Eventually, Spike grabbed his discarded jeans and dug a pack of cigarettes out of one of the pockets. He lit one for himself and offered one to Angel, who surprisingly, accepted. The two lay there, smoking and silent for minute after minute.

"Does she mind?" Spike asked without taking his eyes off the ceiling.

"I don't know," Angel replied. He hadn't intended to wait until Buffy had gone to see Willow to jump Spike, it just sort of happened. He hadn't given any serious though to whether or not Buffy would have objections to his relationship with Spike.

Spike was silent for the next few minutes as he contemplated his next move.

"Is this how it's going to be?" he asked.

Rolling over onto his side, Angel stubbed out the cigarette butt and looked at his childe. "What do you mean?"

Frowning, Spike turned his head to look at his Sire. "It's not like you're being subtle," he said.

Angel remained silent.

"You're never going to let me be alone with her, are you?"

"I won't let you have her without me, no." The statement left no room for argument.

Spike would challenge his Sire on many things, but knew that this subject would be nothing but futility. It wasn't a shock. Spike had been given Drusilla only because Angel had been preoccupied with Darla. Angel had been happy to leave his demented childe's care in Spike's capable hands, but his mate, Darla, he had never allowed Spike to approach without his supervision. Apparently it would be the same with Buffy.

"She wants me," the blonde said recklessly.

Angel smiled at Spike's childish baiting. "She wants you to be happy," he clarified. "It's in her nature. She can feel your emotions, she wants you settled and loved. She may even enjoy your company, but you know that you can't compete with me."

Spike scowled openly at his Sire but didn't debate the veracity of his statement. There was something between Buffy and Angel that superceded the Sire/childe relationship. He knew he could never be a serious challenger for Buffy's affections.

Laying in bed hours later, spooning behind her sibling, Buffy gently ran her fingers through his hair, caressing his scalp and the nape of his neck. He tolerated the contact, possibly even enjoyed it, but he did not encourage it. He didn't arch against her hand the way Angel did, he didn't purr.

Dejected, she dropped her hand to her side, nuzzling up against Spike's back. As before, he didn't move away, but he didn't pull her closer. She could still feel his pain acutely. It wasn't as intense as it had been before she found him in the cemetery several nights before, and she was certain he found a measure of peace being at his Sire's side again.

Still, he wasn't content, there was still a restless anxiety in him that didn't fade. At a loss for what else to do, she fell asleep holding him.

Long after the Buffy had fallen asleep, Angel came to bed. He and Spike regarded each other carefully, both unsure of the other's intentions. The situation wasn't as tense as it once had been. There was genuine affection between the two of them, but there was still a wealth of genuine animosity.

Heedless of his elder childe's need for comfort, Angel's possessive nature took over. Deep in the sleep of the newly turned, Buffy did not wake as Angel picked her up, removing her from her spot against Spike and pulling her against his own chest. No emotion registered on Spike's face, he continued to stare at his Sire passively.

Angel could feel his childe's pain, but truly did not know how to assuage it. Spike was family, but he wasn't like Buffy and Angel. He didn't fit, no matter how much they all wanted him to. Guilty, and a bit upset himself, Angel pulled Spike's face to his own, kissing him deeply.

"I love you," Angel whispered against his childe's lips.

"I know, Sire," Spike responded, his cool exterior cracking just a bit.

The turned Slayer woke slowly, stretching and yawning. She eventually became aware of her Sire watching her intently, and hungrily. Feeling her core flood with moisture under the force of his gaze, Buffy looked around the room and discovered they were alone.

"He's not here," was the terse explanation.

Some little part at the back of Buffy's mind knew she should be concerned over Spike's absence, but as her need grew, she decided she would address that particular issue later. Angel reached for her, grabbing her by the forearm and pulling her under his heavily aroused form. Supplicating joyously, Buffy wantonly spread her legs and pulled him down on top of her tiny frame. Apparently not inclined towards the romantic this particular evening, Angel entered his childe with a swift, brutal thrust.

He had sanctioned her earlier activities with Spike, but it still enraged him that she had come while another male's cock rutted in her depths. He knew it was irrational, she and Spike were siblings, it was normal, expected even, but some part of him would never be able to accept his mate with another.

As Buffy came beneath him, Angel was forced from his thoughts. Lowering his head, he bit deeply into her flesh as he came, claiming her once again as his alone.

"He's still not happy," Buffy said sadly as her Sire brushed her hair.

"I know."

"I just thought ..."

"You thought if you brought him home that everything would be fine," he said a bit too harshly.

"Yes."

"And it isn't."

"No."

"Spike isn't a fledgling that you can fix with a few words of encouragement and a fuck, Buffy," he said seriously. "I tried to make you understand that before you started all of this."

"I know," she said, trying not to whine, "I just thought ..."

"Some things are beyond your power to fix, Buffy. Spike has a lot of problems, most of them with Angelus and Drusilla. He can never make amends with Angelus, and Drusilla will never forgive him. Odds are Spike won't get over this. Now you've brought him home and he isn't allowed to be a true demon anymore. He's just going to hate himself even more."

"But ..."

"No buts. Spike is a demon. We aren't. How do you think we can all be a family together like this? You take away *what* he is and it is going to destroy *who* he is."

"If he just *wanted* to change," she said grasping at straws.

"You're right, Buffy. If he truly wanted to change all of this would be different, but he doesn't. He's so lost he doesn't know what he wants."

"If we could just find something he truly wanted."

"The only thing Spike ever truly wanted was Drusilla and now she's out of the picture. The odds of him finding a love like that again are fairly non existent."

Sire and childe both looked up as the peroxide blonde they were talking about walked into the bedroom and sat down on the bed next to his family. He was apparently lost deep in his thoughts, a small trickle of blood running from one of his temples, down his neck.

"Penny for your thoughts," Angel said expectantly.

Spike snapped from his reverie, regarding his Sire with a shuttered gaze.

"Where were you?" Buffy asked gently.

"Out," he said, "ran by Willie's to see what's up, cut through a few cemeteries."

"Is that where you got hurt?" she asked gently.

Spike looked at her in confusion and lifted a finger to his temple, pulling away the blood covered digit. He stared at it blankly, as if he couldn't figure out how he'd been injured.

"Run into trouble?" Angel asked.

"Definitely," Spike said absently. All at once he seemed to snap out of the funk he was in. Quickly, he sucked the blood off of his finger and looked at his Sire and sibling.

"I didn't know there was already another Slayer here," he said.

"Yeah," Buffy commented quickly," Faith. She's been here for a few months. She was Kendra's replacement."

Spike raised both eyebrows at the information, mentally filing it away for later.

"You and Faith have a go round?" Angel asked.

"You could say that," Spike replied. "She's an ... interesting ... girl," he drawled.

Buffy and Angel watched as he stood up and went out into the living room. They could hear the television set click on.

"That was weird," Buffy said.

"Maybe not," Angel replied. "Maybe Spike just found a new playmate."

Twisting around, Buffy looked at her Sire cautiously. He smiled wickedly, pulling her against him and kissing her soundly.

The End

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