Wick Is As Wicked Does

Author: FemailoftheSpecies

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~Part: 11~

Wesley hung back, just enough to regain his composure.  Distance from the vampires was just what he needed.  He was warm now, undoubtedly, he convinced himself, from being in such eminent danger, and wished he’d worn something lighter in weight.

They were sitting when he caught up, and the blond demon motioned to the empty chair, which he took gratefully, his ordeal leaving the ex-watcher slightly shaky.

“Drink?”  Spike offered as a waitress appeared.

“Um yes, a beer and a bump, thank you.”

“Another Cadillac and a Jack and Coke.”

The waitress left the trio.  Wesley nervously tapped on the table, cursing his own foolishness.  He finally had William the Bloody in a relatively safe setting, willing to talk, and he was acting like a bundle of teenage hormones, attracted to Willow Rosenberg of all people…uh demons.

Spike and Willow did nothing to alleviate his discomfort, staring at him throughout the loud, music-filled silence.

“So, Spike… and should I call you Spike or do you prefer William the Bloody?”  He took a small recorder from his pocket.

“Spike.” He nodded at the recorder. “And put that away.  Not gonna pick up much of me with all the background noise anyway.”  Wesley slipped it back in his pants.

“Alright.  Now can we start with your real name, when you were human?  No one seems to know that, and there are different theories on your upbringing.”

He smiled at the man, so many lies he could tell and the git would believe every word, until he asked Angelus.

“Not giving my last name, but my first was really William.  And I’m NOT going to talk about William.”

“Okay then, when were you turned and how old were you?”

“May 1880. I was almost 26.”

“Who sired you?  Some say Angelus.  Some say Drusilla.”

Spike smiled and the rogue demon hunter thought it reached his eyes as if this, the ending of his mortal life, was a fond memory.  “Both.”

“Both??  How can that be?”

“When Dru found me she was pleased and wanted to keep me.  Said she saw great darkness in me.  Whatever that meant.   But being the nutter she is, she lost interest halfway through and took off to dance with the rats.  Thus leaving me half turned.  Angelus finished the job giving me his blood as well.”  He chose to leave out the most interesting details of his turning.  That would be a topic for another evening when he wanted to hear the human stammer.

The drinks arrived and the waitress was bent over serving them, giving Spike an eyeful of cleavage, which he did not refuse.  The conversation, considering the topic, was appropriately stalled until she left.   The large tip insured she wouldn’t stay gone long.  Talking was thirsty work.

“That is most unusual.  You have the blood of and share two demons.  How has that affected you?”

And so went the night.  Wesley asking questions, Spike either answering, dodging or refusing.  A few times he took Willow to the dance floor and twice he insisted that Wesley dance with his childe while he went to smoke, her affect on him the same each time.  It was official: the human had the hots for the redhead.

“Look, mate.”  Somehow Spike managed to say even that seductively.  “This place is about to close and I’ve been pretty…descent, although it has been like a bloody inquisition.  What say we take our leave?  Find something else to do?”

“I’m sure I should probably get home.”  Wesley said, but since he was on his sixth beer and shot, it came out sounding like, “Ahshir I surpababe gehome.”  And it was about three times louder than his usually soft voice.   Spike was certain the man would not be able to remember most of what they discussed, much less right an in-depth comprehensive accounting of his unlife.

“Nah.  The night’s young and I plan to show you what it really means to be a vampire.”

“Ohh, whoo wait…no showing.”  He made a tremendous effort to sober up, pushing feebly at Spike as he helped him stand.

“Come on, then.  Let’s get you home. Soddin' human’s.”  They all walked out together and Spike lit up as soon as he was outside of the doors.  He hated California laws, but since he had no plans to turn the place into a bloodbath, he followed the rules.  Not that a massacre was unappealing, but his anal retentive sire would be very pissed, and more importantly he needed to keep a low profile until they figured out this Initiative.  So he would entertain himself with debauching Angel’s pet.

“Willow, luv?”  The fledging was on the other side of the human and looked across him when her sire called.  “Go find that waitress.  Kill her and take her tips.”

“Oh, goody!”  She squealed, letting go of Wesley to jump in front of the blond and plant a kiss of happiness on his lips and dart back inside.

“What?  NO!”  Wesley called after her, his brain still fuzzy, but not enough to ignore that command.

“Oh, come on.  Don’t be such a bleeding prig.  The chits got a dead-end job anyway, and the girl’s gotta learn to kill on her own.”

“But…”

“And did you see the sparkle in her pretty, green eyes.  Made her happy, it did!”  The vampire, gazed lovingly in the direction she went and Wesley felt ill.  “So don’t you ruin it for her, with your fucking human morals,” he growled.  “She's still adjusting.”

“I cannot condone the taking of human…”

Wesley was silenced by the vampire’s lips crushing his in a brutal and claiming kiss.  He tried to pull away, but was held firm by the blond’s superior strength.  He gasped, in surprise or pleasure he was not sure, and Spike took the advantage, his tongue exploring the brunette’s mouth thoroughly.  This time the man moaned, his own hand tentatively touching the vampire’s arm.

“You’re starting without me?!”  Willow cried incredulously.  She pulled a tiny piece of flesh from her teeth and grimace.  Spike grinned and  released Wesley, who was panting, flushed, near fainting.

“Just gettin’ ‘im warmed up.”  He pressed against the brunette, shorter, yet much more intimidating.  “Now which way to your flat, pet?”

~Part: 12~

“Invite me in, watcher.”  Spike demanded while Wesley stood just inside his doorway.

“I told you, I’m not with the council…”  Wesley retorted with considerable annoyance.  The trip home sobered him enough to regain some of his good sense, such as they were.

The blonde rolled his eyes.  “Whatever, mate, just let us in.”

“Spike, I have no intention of being eaten alive by you two.  Do go back to Angel.”  He put his hand on the door, as if to close it, but did not swing it forward.  His breeding would not allow him to close the door on anyone’s face, even those of evil vampires determined to make him a meal.

The blonde chuckled, his tongue running over an elongated canine.  “If I wanted kill you, you’d be dead.”  The air was the thick with indecision, fear and no small amount of lust.  “Though probably not for long.”

Willow was pressed against her sire, grinding into his hips, but her wild green eyes were on the brunette inside.  “Spike, he smells so good.”  Wesley swallowed as he met her gaze, matching her lust with a burning desire of his own.  “I want him.  Pleeeease, Sire.”  She panted, gripping the blonde’s arm tightly.

The older vampire spoke, locking eyes with the human once he was able to tear his gaze from his childe’s.  “Can she have you, pet?  No biting…we promise.”  Two set of eyes ravished him, the lascivious stares, creating a throbbing in his groin unmatched in his experience.   <We promise.>  echoed in his head, mocking him, tempting him.

He took a deep, shaky breath, and closed his eyes.  The invitation fell from his lips, even as his mind screamed at him to turn and run, and a redhead and blonde crossed the threshold, closing the door to sanity and reason behind them.

~~~*~~~

“Tea?”

Spike turned, a frown on his beautiful and cold features.  “What?”

“Tea.  Would you like some?”

“Oh yeah, Ill take a cuppa.”  Spike walked into the small kitchen and began opening the cupboards looking for and finding biscuits.

“Um, Willow?  Tea?”  He did not want the vampires to develop a sudden thirst and planned to keep them plied with liquids.

“No, thanks.”  She explored the apartment, silently oohing and awing over some particularly rare occult book.   Sinking into a sofa, she began reading one while waiting for her sire and the human to do the English thing.  She remembered Giles needing this exact text for research when she was sickeningly good.  She shuddered at the unbidden images and repressed a desire to kill something as she turned the page.

Wesley and Spike were waiting for the steeping tea as the brunette attempted to write down some of the more astonishing facts revealed to him, or what few he could remember through the haze of alcohol.   The blonde joined him, peering over his shoulder amused as much by the spotty notes as by the scent of arousal pouring from the man.

“Need any help?”  In speaking his mouth was brushing Wesley’s ear, but was dangerously close to his throat.  The ex-watcher tilted his head slightly.  This gave the vampire less access to his neck, yet brought his ear closer to Spike’s lips and the blonde planted a series of wet kisses there, delighting in the heat emitting from the mortal.  He was trying so hard to resist, his body trembling with want, his mind restraining him, reminding him of what was proper.

Willow caught the scent in the air and tossed the old tome to the side, quickly joining the game.  She slipped onto Wesley’s lap, pushing the table out of the way, her mouth devouring the human’s.  She was hungry, amazingly not for blood, although she hoped for some of his later, but for this human.  To share him with her sire.

The kiss.  It made his blood boil and pulse in his head.  Both.  He felt Spike behind him, agile fingers reaching around, under his clothes, dancing lightly over pebbled nipples.  He sighed, hot air, into her mouth and she devoured that too.  Greedy.  Lips on his neck, no longer protected, sending signals to his cock, sucking.  Lips torn from his, breathing again.  Hands, small and dainty, pulling at his pants.  Impatient, ripping them open, skivvies also, now in shreds and for a second he is amazed that in her haste she did not tear him apart as well.  Strong.  Fingers, those same dainty ones, closing around his shaft, pumping his hardness.  His sweater, split in two by hands, not dainty or small, but powerful and talented.   Corrupted.  She slid from his lap to her knees, licking, teasing a trail as she went, snaking, his own descent into this pleasure filled hell defined.  Mouth. Cool but not cold, swallows him whole.   Blur, motion, naked, she is still taking him between blood red lips.  Hot flesh sandwiched between cold.  Giddy, insane, he laughs, eaten alive.  He spills.

~~~*~~~

Angel tossed.  Angel turned.

<Where are they?>

Since they were out he took the opportunity to reclaim his bed.  But now the scent of his childe, sex and blood, surrounded him, making it nearly impossible for him to sleep.  They were officially on his mind and he worried about what could be keeping them so late.

Earlier he spoke with Buffy again, feigning concern and providing a false status on his progress.   She provided news on their search for the redhead.  According to a source with the council a redhead matching Willow’s description was spotted in several desert towns along with a trail of dead bodies.   Buffy was in denial, refusing to see the obvious and Angel, aware of the obvious, was in no hurry to disillusion the slayer.

And now he brooded over his most recent lies, how could he ever explain them if… no when… they were revealed?  How could he explain his need to protect his childe to the woman he loved who was also born to destroy his kind?  Could she ever understand the bond?  His childe is part of him, his demon.  If Spike dies, a part of him dies as well.

He already staked his sire.  Buffy had no clue how much that hurt him and he regretted it everyday.  Not that he wanted a relationship with Darla, but he felt her absence from this world keenly. Buffy would also have him kill Spike and Drusilla. But he was painfully aware that he could never to it.  Can Joyce kill her own daughter?

No plan came to mind and, finally, all the thinking and remorse blended into one jumbled mess and sleep claimed the dark vampire.

~~~*~~~

Wesley shivered as he sank into her tightness.  She was so different than human, her coolness a direct compliment to his heat, needed to tolerate the fire ravaging him from the inside.  A tiny piece of him was able to think, and cringed at his behavior.  But it did nothing to stop him.  Not when he let her suck him off.  Not when he took a huge cool cock in his own mouth, learning as he went.  Not when he slipped his fingers inside her, watching with half-hooded eyes as she writhed beneath him, calling his name and Spike’s.  And certainly not when he thrust inside her.

So he could see no reason to stop when he felt the older vampire behind him.  No reason to stop as the blood from a bite at the blonde’s wrist dripped over his ass into the crack.  No reason to stop when Spike pushed a finger, then two, then three into the small, unbelievably tight hole there.  No reason to stop when the blonde grazed over that sweet spot inside him that was previously unexplored.  No reason to stop his screams and pleas for him to do it again.  And certainly no reason to stop when he felt the impossible occur and that huge shaft slid, inch by inch, into him.

And then they were all motion, Wesley taking his queue from the vampire behind him, his thrust that much more powerful.  He was sure he would break her, but found that he could not.  In reality he was being broken.  Broken into a world of decadence and hedonistic pleasure.  At a cost?  Yes.  But the bill was not yet due and payable so he would lose himself in her, be possessed by him and enjoy.

Their pace increased, Wesley moans and cries louder as Spike angled himself to hit the human’s prostate repeatedly.  Tears fell on Willow, and she lapped what she could of his sweet misery as fangs slipped into the brunette’s shoulder and the beginnings his orgasm made the man convulse.  He could feel the former hacker, her walls clenching around him.  They both cried out, not for each other, but for the blonde vampire and Spike answered them, flooding the human’s bowels.

Panting, they fell into a heap of cool and hot limbs and sweat.  Spike pulled away and took Wesley with him, placing him between him and his childe.  Wesley, not disturbed yet still thinking, pulled the girl to him and they all spooned together, falling into a deep and needed slumber.

<They will kill me in the end.> his last coherent thought.

~Part: 13~

Wesley was awakened by a delicious snog.  Although his eyes were still closed, he knew it was Willow, her tiny hands flitting lightly across his brow and cheek.  Reluctantly, he pulled away as she danced her fingers along his neck.  He opened his eyes to stare into hers, gripping her by the shoulders.

“Willow, what…why are you doing this?”  He wanted nothing more than to let her kiss him senseless, but that was too dangerous an option.  He needed all of his faculties if he planned to live through this.

She tilted her head and shrugged.  “Because my sire wants you.”

<Wants me?!>  Panic began to creep into his mind.  Want, to a vampire, was obsession.  Not many lived beyond vampiric obsession.

“Really?  And what does he want me to do?”

Willow smiled and Wesley saw the girl he once knew, but she was gone in an instant,  replaced by the protégée of the devil himself.  “It’s not for me to say.  But you’ll know when it’s time.  Then, everyone always knows when its time, because it’s time, and that’s kinda what that means, right?”

Maybe there was more of the girl left.

“Sun’s up, luv.”  The blond spoke, stretching lazily, his limbs tangled in the sheets, and pulled Willow to him, claiming her lips.  Tasting the watcher, he moaned at the combination before releasing her.  “You need sleep.  Passions will be on this afternoon and then we can head back.”

“You’re staying here?”  Wesley asked incredulously, before he could think to speak cautiously.

The vampire eyed him coolly, as if deciding on something, perhaps the human’s fate.  Eventually he cracked an evil grin.  “As are you, pet.”

Wesley stood quickly, wincing from the pain in his lust abused body, and snatched a pair of boxers from the laundry pile on the chair, inching toward his bathroom.  “Angel gave me a job, Spike.  I have to go.”

“No…you have to stay here and keep your guests company.  Call in sick.”

“No…I..”  He backed away, but not fast enough.  Never fast enough.  He heard the growl at the same second that he was slammed against the wall, a picture falling from the impact.  He cried out, Spike pressed against him, the vampire’s mouth possessing his.

Willow watched, excited, thrilled by the display.

Wesley tried to pull away, but the slightest effort for the vampire proved too strong for him.  His head jerked as the blond tangled his hands in the human’s hair, kissing him until he was ready to collapse.  Finally freed, he gulped in huge amounts of air, but it was only a momentary reprieve, for he suddenly found himself flung onto the bed and straddled by the gloriously naked demon.  Spike tugged on the boxers that were still held tightly by Wesley’s fingers.

Despite his words, the human was aroused.  The blond inhaled deeply.

“Mmmm…”  He rocked his body, rubbing his shaft against the brunette’s.  “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Spike…please, I have to go.”  He panted, but it was a token protest only, punctuated by him pulling the blond to his mouth.  He felt possessed by the lithe creature over him, and wanted to belong to him completely.

They kissed forever, and Willow looked on, mesmerized by her sire.  He was amazing right now, or rather more so as the drapes filtered the sunlight, lending a warm glow to his chiseled form.  For a moment, she was jealous.  Jealous that he had not the time to seduce her properly before turning her.  But he told her he was not willing to let her get away again, and more than made up for it in the following days.  She knew he was upset that her first weeks had been chaotic as well, but she rather enjoyed the rush of it all.  The violence Spike committed to keep her safe was unsurpassed in beauty.

And as she watched the human, she wondered if she would have a brother soon.  Spike certainly thought him intriguing.  Such deliciously conflicted emotions and needs, that the blond vampire found him irresistible.  A brother could be fun, someone else to help wreak havoc.  A loud curse followed by a chuckle tore her from her musings.

Spike had trailed his way down the man’s prone body, wet kisses the evidence of his presence.  He reached the thatch of dark curls and took in his scent while licking and nibbling the flesh underneath.  He took great care to avoid the hard and aching shaft standing proud in the middle of the curls.  Wesley bucked, trying for friction of any kind, and cursed when Spike held his hips still with strong hands as he took his cock into his mouth, a chuckle escaping before he closed the seal and began sucking intently, swallowing him whole.

Wesley tossed and writhed as much as he could, arching his back, only to be disappointed by the hold on him.  Spike would not be rushed, bringing him to completion at his own pace.  The brunette’s hands held the sheets, pulling and twisting them to vent his repressed need.  The human whimpered and Spike growled, the vibrations sending shock after shock through his new pet as he took him deeper into his throat. He nuzzled into his hair, swallowing repeatedly, working his shaft with his powerful throat and Wesley screamed, his orgasm taking him by surprise.  Spike pulled back some and swallowed all he offered, reveling in the heat and taste of him.

Willow, unable to resist, crawled onto the bed and licked her sire’s lips, tasting them both, finding it wonderful.

“Call in sick, Wesley,” Willow advised, but he knew it was a command, one that he no longer had the will nor desire to disobey.

~~~*~~~

It was early afternoon before Angel made an appearance downstairs.  Cordelia called down in the morning to let him know that Wesley was not feeling well and would try to make it later today, but was otherwise left alone.  Completely alone to brood.  Brood about his missing childe.

He should have known better than to expect anything long term from the unpredictable demon.  Spike was a fly by night kind of guy, and apparently the winds have taken him and his new childe elsewhere.  He just wished he knew where and knew they were okay.

He rounded the last of the stairs and spied his seer.  She was sleeping, her head hanging awkwardly.  Part of him, a HUGE part, was itching to sneak up on her and scare her to the point of bladder control loss.  It would be delightfully amusing to the demon, but she would be pissed.  Not ordinary pissed either.  This would be nuclear explosion type pissed, the pissed only possible with the hell bitch queen of Sunnydale on a bad hair day.  And his demon was not up for that kind of fight.  So he approached, making as much noise as possible, and allowed her to wake up and pretend to have been reading a magazine <As if she could get away with pretending to have been working>.

“Hey, sleepyhead.  Bout time.”  She greeting, without looking up, no doubt trying to hide the drool from her little nap.

“Hi…I had a hard time sleeping.”  He sniffed the air to confirm his beliefs.  His childer had not been there recently.  “Have you seen Spike and Willow?”

“Nope.  What’s up?  He up and leave without so much as a thank you or goodbye?”

“No…I…It looks like it I suppose.  But…”  He trailed off, not sure what he was thinking or feeling.  Having him with him, even without *having* him, was pleasant.  He’d hoped to get closer to the blond, mend some fences and right some wrongs.

“Has Wes called again?”

“Nope.  Sick I guess.”  She was reading again and not listening to him when the phone rang.  Even though it was sitting not more than six inches from her hand, Cordelia made no move to answer it.

With a sigh, he picked it the ringing object. Cordy rolled her eyes at his theatrics and went back to her article on the dangers of acetone in nail polish remover.

“Angel Investigat…”  He started.

“Oh Angel… It’s me.”

“Buffy!  Hi.”  He was caught by surprise.  “Hold on.”  He gave the phone to the seer, motioning that he would take it in his office.

Cordelia tossed her magazine down and began packing her things to leave.  In her experience, all contact with Bitchy left Angel moody and dark for hours if not days.  She was getting away while the getting was good, before His Broodiness began to roar.  When she heard him pick up, she slammed the phone down loudly.

“Okay…” He said, wincing as he sat. “What’s up?”

“The Initiative. I think they’re after Willow.  I’ve been patrolling, and heard people taking about a redhead girl in the dorms and that she got away."

A tightness in Angel’s chest made his voice strained, but Buffy was too distraught to notice.  “And you think it’s Willow.  Was she alone?”

“No she is with someone called Hostile-17, whatever that is.   Normally Willow would hack into the files, but…Anyway, even Oz could help, but he up and left town.”  She groaned.  “God, I hate this.  Not knowing.”

Angel was torn.  He wanted to tell her, end her suffering, but could not.  He got up and paced.  “Do you want me to come to Sunnydale?”

There was silence for a few seconds before she replied.  “No…It’s okay.  You know, they all know about the Initiative. The demons.  I know it seems like it’s a big help to me, having an army do the slaying, but they aren’t just killing them.  They are trapping them and systematically torturing them in the name of research.  It’s wrong.”

“I know.”  It was all he could say.

“Tell them.”

“Tell who what?” He felt me missed something in the conversation.

“Other demons.  Tell them the slayer is against this.  It’s cruel.  I will stop them.”

Angel was relieved.  He was not sure how Buffy would feel about this secretly operation.  She could use the help, live a more normal life, a longer life.  And yet she saw the fundamental flaw in this organization.  They took creatures whose nature, God-given or otherwise, was to maim and kill, and in the name of goodness and righteousness tortured them.  It was paradoxical.  He was glad she saw that, even if she didn’t realize that was what bothered her.

“I will.  And Buffy, when this is over, whatever happens, we need to talk.”

“Okay Angel.”

“It’ll be alright, Buffy.  You’ll find her.”

“I know.  I just hope I do before something happens to her.”

Angel said nothing in response, knowing it was already too late, unwilling to tell that great of a lie.

“Bye Buffy.”

~~~*~~~

Darkness accompanied the trio as, freshly showered and dressed, they snagged a cab back to the office.  Wesley had the silly idea that he should go in first, and that Spike and Willow should arrive a while later.

Spike chuckled and dismissed the plan, not bothering to inform him that Angel would know regardless.

They reached the building and went in.  The outer office was empty.

“Angel!  Are you here? Perhaps he’s gone on a case.  I do hope not,” he said to his unlikely companions.

“He’s here.  I can feel ‘im,” the blond stated, just as the vampire in question appeared, the shadows that hid him melting away to give him form.

“Spike.  Willow.”  He took a step toward the group, wondering at their simultaneous arrival when it him.  The smell – sex, blood, cum.  All over them all.

“Wesley?”  He asked, unbelievingly, yet unable to deny what his senses told him.

The ex-watcher, totally unaware of the danger, replied, “Hello Angel.  Sorry to have been absent.  Did I miss much?”

“No… I’m betting you didn’t miss a thing,” he quipped, the growl so low that the human could not hear it, but the vampires did.

Willow looked warily to her sire, who was grinning madly at his.

“Hey Wesley, I was reading this book of Angel’s…it’s…uh…in the apartment and I need you translate something for me.”  She dragged his confused form to the elevator and shoved him in roughly when he tried to escape.  “No!”  She whispered harshly, the growl barely concealed.  “You don’t want to be up there.”  And down they went.

~~~*~~~

“Is he safe with her?”  Angel asked through clenched teeth.

“What…Wesley and Willow?  She won’t hurt ‘im.  Wants a brother, she does.”

Angel refused to rise to the bait. “Did I give you permission, William?”

Spike flopped on the cheap sofa, looking up at the use of his name.  “Don’t try it, Angel.  You’re no real vampire.”

“Spike…what did you think I would do?  Sit back and LET him have you?”

“I can bloody well…”  He stopped, stunned.  This wasn’t about the watcher.

“YOU belong to ME, William!”  Angel walked, no stalked, towards him.

Spike backed away, shaking his head in denial, a hundred years crashing down in one instant.  <He’s fucking serious!>  His eyes darted around in search of Willow, and he was thankful when he remembered she went downstairs.

“Now, let’s be reasonable, Angel.”  His hands were splayed in front of him, a display of submission.  “It’s been so long.  You’ve never come for me.”  He tried guilt.  Still, he stalked him as Spike backed around the furniture.  “I’ve minions all over the world.  I am a master vampire, Angelus.”  He tried indignation, but still Angel stalked his childe.

“Fuck, Angel, it was just a bloody shag.”  His voice was high and nasally, a whine escaping which pissed him off entirely.

Angel was upon him now, and with his back finally against the wall, the blond demon had nowhere to go.

“Your body is mine.  You do not give it to another.”  He sunk his fangs into the scar created at Williams turning, pulling gently but constantly, weakening him.

Spike whimpered.  “Never…he did not take me, Sire.  No one ever…please… don’t drain …”  His voice trailed off and Angel stopped before he lost consciousness, laying him on the floor.  He wanted to talk with Spike, not fight, and this insured the squirrelly vampire was in no condition to lash out at him.

“Spike, can you hear me?”  His voice was soft as he gently caressed his boys smooth face.

He nodded and whispered, “Yes."

“I’d never drain you, understand?”  When he nodded again, the older vampire continued.  “I just don’t want to have to beat you into submission with your childe here.  And we need to talk.”

“ Bout what, poof?”  He glared at his sire, furious at him for doing this, and also craving him.  He wanted to taste his own blood, filtered through Angel’s powerful body and this also angered him.

“About what belongs to me.  You made a childe and have responsibilities to her.  I understand that and expect that union to occur.  But Wesley…”

“You want him?”

“No…I want you, and cannot abide sharing with the human.”  Angel trembled with restraint.  His first instinct when he smelled Wesley on his boy was to snap the rogue demon hunter’s neck.  That urge was building again, but acting on it would destroy him, his soul, forever.

Cradling Spike in his arms, he stood and took the stairs to his apartment.  Willow and Wesley were in the living room pouring over a book.  The redhead looked up questioningly at her limp sire, a rage brewing inside her as she went into demon visage.

“He’s okay, just needs to sleep a while.”  And he slipped into his room, closing the door behind him.  He quickly undressed him and put him under the covers.

~~~*~~~

“Willow, go stay with Spike.  I need to speak with Wesley.”

“Angel it wasn’t Sire’s or Wesley’s fault.  I wanted him.  He was a gift.”

“Spike spoils you, childe.  Now go and I’ll deal with both of you later.”    He smiled slightly when she turned away, remembering the times when his Will would try to take the blame for some of his own antics.

Wesley, still clueless, thought he was in for a lecture on the dangers of consorting with a vampire.

“Angel…I think I know what you are going to say,” he began as he stood.

The vampire spun on him.

“You have no fucking idea what I am going to say!”  He growled, making the human take a step back.  “The boy is mine.”

“What?  I’m not…”

“YOU touched what is mine, Wes.”  He reigned in his rage and he was deceptively calm.

“Spike?”

“Spike.”  He confirmed.  “Sit.”  Wesley jutted his chin out in defiance and remained standing.  “SIT.”

“I bloody will won’t.  I’m neither your pet nor your childe, Angel.  You’d do well to remember that.”

“And you’ll do well to remember that I am a vampire.  This soul is just a leash.  Sometimes something gets close enough for me to bite.”  His eyes flashed gold.

Wesley considered his options, the distance to the stairs, and sat.

~Part: 14~

Wesley fidgeted under the vampire’s gaze, his long limbs tense and slightly awkward.  Angel paced in front of him, his attention divided between listening to Willow fuss over her sire in the bedroom and keeping his own raging demon under control.

The smell of blood, signaling Willow feeding Spike her own blood, roused him from sinking into heavy contemplation.  The blonde would be up and about soon and he wanted Wesley to himself for a bit.  A point had to be made.

“Wes…I don’t want to seem…overbearing <I am fucking demon and overbearing is an understatement!>, but you need to understand.  Spike is my childe.  Therefore everything he has is mine, including him, his body.  You get what I’m saying?”

“Oh, certainly.  At the Council I studied the sire/childe relationship in great detail.”

The vampire frowned.  “So knowing this, how could you think it would be okay, allowable, for you to be with him?  He’s mine.”  The growl was building slowing, progressing to human auditory levels.

“For Christ’s sake, Angel.  You have tried to kill that same vampire a dozen times over.  How can you possibly expect me to think you would have been territorial now?”  The man’s anger was clouding his judgment.  He realized this, albeit too late, when Angel pulled him from the seat with one powerful hand wrapped tightly around his throat.

“Because he is MINE!  It is my right to kill him if that is what I wish.  Everything he is belongs to me, his life included.  He lives because of my grace.”  He was squeezing and releasing Wesley’s neck, trying desperately not to give in to the demon within.  With a frustrated groan, he dropped pushed the man away from him, watching with a mixture of concern and distaste as the human held his throat and coughed.

“You talk as if you are God, Angel.”  He retorted, chokingly.  The bruises were already forming and Angel’s darker side eyed them almost lovingly.

“But don’t you see.  That’s just it.  I AM a god.  His god. I created him and gave him life, my demon and I am everything to him.  I took him from your god and remade him in my image.  In the end that’s all there is.  Me.”

Curiously Wesley mused that he did not recall Angel being this talkative.  “Perhaps the Council was correct when they determined Angelus to have a god-complex.”

Angel laughed, that sound alone enough to send shivers down the human’s spine and Wesley finally understood that he had been talking more to Angelus than Angel.

“Did they also speak of Spike’s seduction of eight watchers over the last 100 years?”

“Of course.  But that’s not…”

“…what’s happening here?  Isn’t it?”  Angel watched Wesley rotated his head, a thought clearing process for him it seemed.  “When he can’t get to the slayer he goes for a Council member.  They were all fine watchers, highly regarded before each had the misfortune of catching his attention.  Spike killed them all, turned 3 who begged for it, except for Hinckle who killed himself to keep the ‘beautiful demon that haunted his existence’ from turning him.”  Wesley’s chin jutted out again, miffed and a bit violated that Angelus must have had access to council records at sometime for that was a direct quote from the man’s suicide letter.

“So Wes… what will you do to make sure he doesn’t kill you?  Turn you?”  The vampire sat and steepled his fingers, keeping his subject under observation.  “Will you run to me for protection later after scorning my demands now?”

“Angel, I am not scorning…”  The words poured from him without thought.  “I’m just…I’m not a child and you can speak with me like an adult.  Like the friend I was hoping to become.”  His voice was soft and pleasing and Angel definitely understood why his boy was intrigued.  The human could be very beguiling.

“By fucking my childe.”  He stated flatly.

“No…”  Wesley sighed, feeling like the conversation was going in circles.  “That was a mistake.  I was drunk.  They were drunk…I…It’s been a long time and Willow was very persuasive.  I…it won’t happen again.  Truthfully, I thought they would kill me.”

“Is that what you wanted?”

“NO!   No, I just found myself in a situation and could not control the outcome.  Bad decision making on my part, really.  I suppose I’m lucky to be alive.”  Again the softening of the voice and blue eyes searching out brown ones.

Angel smirked at that, knowing just how true the statement was.  It was only Spike’s LACK of information regarding how Angel felt about Wesley that kept him in the heart-still-beating status.  If he thought for a moment that Angel would not care, it would be open season on the rogue demon hunter.

“Yes, you are indeed.  I just hope you take this luck and make good use of it.  I wouldn’t press it if I were you.”  He advised, standing up and walking toward his room and childer.

“He’s not done with me is he?” Wesley called after him.

The vampire stopped, but did not turn.   “Not by a long shot.”

“He can be so very…compelling.”

“Yes.  It’s the main reason why I can’t seem to kill him.”  He smiled at some memory involving hot poker.

“If you’re affected, what chance do I have?”  The human asked, half joking.

“Spike won’t destroy anything he finds useful.  Become useful.  Alive and useful.”  He opened the door to the bedroom and left the human to his thoughts.

~~~*~~~

His reality slowly came into focus, then the sensation of his childe’s young, but strong blood sliding past his lips.  He, once again, congratulated himself on selecting such a wonderful childe.  He pulled back, having had enough to function again.

“Thanks, pet.  You’re a gem.”  He licked at her wound, catching the last drops of her essence as she moaned and leaned into him.  Something was on her mind.

“Red?  What is it?”

She played with the fabric of his shirt before speaking.

“Why did he do that to you, Spike?”  He pulled her back again, anger at the tears in her brilliant green eyes.  “He could have killed you.”

“NO, luv, no.  Angel would never kill me.  He might want to and act like he’s going to but to kill me would be like killing himself.”

“I remember, Spike, when I was HER and Angel tried to kill you.  A lot!”  She shoved away from him and stormed around the bed, thinking.

“Nah…That’s what he wanted his little pet humans to think.  Before he lost the soul in Sunnyhell, he spent many evenings in the company of his wayward childer, he always knew how to find us.  He just never told you white hats about it.”  He laughed, truly amused when she grimaced at having ever been one of the scoobies. “Could you imagine if the slayer knew that Angel was with us when most of the Judge arrived?   Trying to talk Dru out of her coming out party, bless is twisted soul.”  He barked then, caught up in the hilarity and Willow giggled remembering how worried they all were about the big blue guy.

“So why did he hurt you?  You don’t hurt me.”  Her lips curled wickedly.  “Well... not much.”  She snuggled into him, inhaling his scent, letting it calm her.

"Daddy and I don’t get along all that well.  No secret there.  But today he was feeling generous and just wanted to talk.  I didn’t want to listen.  Hence he subdued my dead arse.”

“Oh.  So…why is he freaking about Wesley.  We didn’t even hurt him.  I think that should earn us both points.  Cause I REALLY wanted to hurt him.”

The blonde moaned and pulled Willow into a rough kiss, devouring her until she submitted to him before releasing her.

“I know you did, luv.  And I’ll find you someone to hurt tonight.  How’s that?”

Hopping up to hug, then straddle, her sire, she peppered him with kisses.  “That sounds good.”  Her face clouded over, indicating rampant thinking. “Damn, now I sure wish we had that stupid gem.”

“Me too.”  He watched her eyes go dark for a few seconds and fancied that could almost hear her thinking.

“Do you think he really destroyed it?”

“Who, the poof?  Hell bloody yes.  There’s not enough self-flagellation in this world for him.”

The door opened and both vampires’ eyes trained on the brunette demon joining them.

“Uh...Hi Angel.”  Willow turned in Spike’s lap to face her grandsire.

“Willow, you fed him.”   She nodded, her deer-in-the-headlights look perfected.

“I guess I didn’t specify that you were NOT to feed him so that’s my fault.”  He switched his gaze to his own childe, oh joy and bane of his existence.  “Are we going to have a problem?  Or should I just drain you again?”  Angel really did not want that.  He was already so full of blood and rock hard since entering the room and being bombarded with the scent of their desire.

Spike clenched his jaw and shook his head.  “Not gonna do anything, Peaches.”

“Send your childe out.”

“Willow, go upstairs and see what else you can get from the disc.”

“But...”  She started, interrupted by the growl from the blonde demon.  “Fine.”  She spun, pouting, and stormed out of the room.

Angel winced a bit as the door slammed.  “She seems pretty easy going, Spike.  How’s her demon?”

He sat back and lit a smoke, smirking inwardly as Angel’s nose wrinkled. <Not like the bastard can’t just stop breathing for a bit.>   “She’s bloody brilliant, but no patience for games. More of an eat and run girl.  But she loves watching her Daddy work.  Gets all wet for me.”

Angel rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to smack the blonde.  “Can you control her?”

“Sure, of course.  What are you getting at?”  His tone was all innocence and attentive however, he’d already decided that when he finished his smoke so would he end this conversation.

“Wesley…That was her idea?”

“Noooo…She wanted him.  It was my idea to give him to her.”  Spike replied honestly.  It made him shiver.

“And have him for yourself as well?”

“Never said I wasn’t selfish.  He was a two-fer.”

And will you go after him again?”

“Dunno.”  He spread out on the bed, head hanging over slightly and peered up at his sire.  <Satan below, he’s huge.>  “He. Is. Sooo. Tight.”  He was grinning as his hips undulated, the motion so tiny that Angel almost missed it.

“Spike, this isn’t a game.  You know how I feel.”

The blonde let his eyes rake over Angel, lingering a few seconds too long over his crotch.  “I haven’t known how you felt in nearly one hundred years…Sire.”

“Well feel this, then.”  He was upon him, crushing his smaller frame into the mattress.

"Get the fuck off me, wanker!"  Spike struggled, dropping his cigarette in favor of pushing uselessly against the dark vampire as Angel forced his other hand to his erection.

“This…”  He pumped against his childe, “is what you do to me.  Always, all the time.  Is that what you want to hear?  That I still want you and can’t stand to see you with anyone else? INCLUDING that childe of yours?”

He rolled off of Spike and the younger vampire leaped off the bed, putting as much distance between him and his sire as the room allowed, which was not much.  He was not in the mood to play hide-the-salami unless he was doing the hiding.

“Fuck Spike…I…Willow – yes, Welsey – Hell no!”  He declared.  His whole being was shaking, only this boy having that affect on him.  He ran a tired hand through his hair.

The blonde stooped and picked up the forgotten smoke, stepping on the burn forming in the carpet.  He pinched it between two trembling fingers, savoring the burn, using it to push away erotic images of him and Angel.

“You gave me up, Angelus, a century ago.  You wanna play Sire now?  Where were you when they hunted me?  And Dru?”

“Hunted?  Who hunted you?”

“Angel, YOU are one fucked up demon!"  He pointed at the broody vampire, chuckling, the laughter forced.  "EVERY clan came after us...eventually.   Darla left us right after China. Woke up one night and the bitch was gone…don’t you fucking growl at me when YOU put a stake in her heart!...Anyway, me and Dru waited for her for about a month before we went back to Europe without her.  It was in France when they found out.  Two blood childer of The Order of Aurelius were alone.  No Sire.  Masters and minions alike came from everywhere and we had to fight and hide when there too many to fight.”  Spike’s voice had become nasally, as it often did when he was upset.  “Oh how many times did I have to hear some git say ‘William the Bloody, Angelus’ latest fuck-toy’?  I killed them all.  If they got away, I hunted them down.  Me and Dru.  And it was bloody glorious.”

Spike’s back was to Angel throughout most of his account.  When he finally faced him, his blue eyes were cold and hard, and Angel knew that this, running, hiding, fighting, was what created Spike.  William belonged to Angelus, but Spike?  Spike created himself and had no master.  It would be foolish of Angel to try to rule over him now. All he could do was reason and use brute force when needed, but never should he expect submission.   The demon balked at this notion, wanting to claim the boy a his own again, bend him to his will.

“Spike, I…”  An apology was futile and unwanted.  “I want Wesley to remain human and alive and healthy and sane.  Are we clear on this?”  He asked instead.

“Yeah, mate.  Crystal.”

~Part: 15~

Spike left his sire in his apartment, intent on feeding quickly with Willow and finding her a toy for the evening.  She wanted to play and who was he to deny her.  The fact that it would piss off Angel was clearly a bonus to the blonde.

He ascended the stairs effortlessly to find the redhead and Wesley at Cordelia’s desk, Willow tapping away at the keys.

“Anything?”  He asked, lighting a smoke, eyebrow lifted when the watcher jumped and squealed, startled by the vampire’s voice.

She sighed and pushed away from the desk.  “Not much.  The encryptions have encryptions.  And Cordelia interrupted my decryption program so I had to run it again.”  She got up, pulling two sheets from the printer, and flitted over to him.  “But I did manage to get this so far.”

The blonde read over the sheets, stopped gawking at her, then started reading again when she tapped the papers impatiently. Wesley and Willow nudged each other conspiratorially as he finished.

“Are you sure, Red?”  Deep and dark, his tone was serious.

“Yeah…Incredible, huh?”  She rocked on her heels, a simplistic grin gracing her pristine features.

Incredible.  Yes it was.  These stupid humans had found, in all their probing and testing, the reason vampires are susceptible to death via staking.  And with that reason came a simple solution, one they never expected a vampire to actually learn of, no doubt.  Now, hopefully, all they had to do was decrypt the rest of the disc to get that solution.

“So do you think this is why the hounds were hot on our trails?”  Willow asked.

“Dunno.  Maybe.  No one was around when I nicked the disc so could be they just want all the puppies back in the kennel and have no soddin’ clue about it.”

He eyed the tall brunette who was grinning like the goof he was.  “What’s his problem?”

“Oh, he’s got some notion about showing up the Watcher's Council by publishing this information…”  She planted the seed and sat back to watch it grow.

Wesley’s smile faltered as Spike approached him slowly, head tilted.   “Wesley…if that…”  He motioned toward the disc lazily, his tone gentle,  “got out, then a certain covert government operation would come calling, pet.”  He was upon him, trailing a finger along the ex-watcher's cheek and down his neck, his mouth open and watering as he stared at the pulse jumping under the tender flesh.

Wesley remained still and stammered. “No, no, of course, not.  It was foolish of me to forget your current situation.”

“You. Are. Precious.”  Spike whispered.  Wesley, unsure of how to respond, said nothing.   He blinked once, slowly, trying to think beyond the fathomless eyes in front of him and then the blonde was gone, nearly across the room, his lean form against the wall while his cigarette got the benefit of his lips’ attention.

“Hey, Wes unless we have a case…uh…I mean, you don’t have to stay if you have plans or something.”  Angel was at the top stair, hands in his pockets, surveying the scene.  The air was perfumed with… <fuck!>  arousal.  His. Hers. Theirs.

“No plans…I was going to load the data from the Book of Kemplar into Cordelia’s database.  I promised to return it tomorrow before sundown.  The owner has a ritual to perform.”

“Well, that’s our queue …”  The blonde grabbed the redhead and dragged her out the door before Angel could protest.

Angel entertained going after the pair and hauling them both back downstairs.  It was what Angelus screamed at him to do.  Instead he picked up the book in question and sat on the desk next to Wesley.

“So,  what did I walk in on?”

~~~*~~~

Willow and Spike strolled arm in arm, as lovers often do.  To the uninformed observer they seemed quite in love, giggles punctuating the endless kisses and caresses.  The fact that they were paler and moved with more grace than most humans was lost to the crowd.  And it was from this crowd of unsuspecting sheep that Willow shopped for her new toy.

“Them, over there.”  He followed her eyes and spotted a couple coming out of the Sheraton.  “See... he's handing her a key card.   So they’re staying the night in the hotel, right?”

Spike smiled proudly.  She was learning and it would not be long before she could hunt alone.  Not that he would want her to, but she needed to know how.  “So what shall we do then?  They’re splitting up, luv.”

She watched as the male went back through the lobby doors.

“You take her, I’ll follow him and get in the room.”

“How long do you need?”

“Give me fifteen minutes?”  She asked, the first indication tonight that she was still a fledgling and still needed to defer to his greater skill and knowledge.

“Make it thirty.  I’ll kill the girl and be on my way by then .  Call me on my cell with the room number.”  He called back as he jogged off quietly to catch up with his prey.  The evening was full of promise and this was a game he’d already taught Willow.  She would seduce the male and get him to take her to his room for a quickie, Spike would get the girl and play his own games until Willow was ready for him.  Then he’d find his redhead and help her with any of the finer points of torture.  She was slower than many vampires in taking to the violence as a form of entertainment so when the urge hit her, as it apparently did tonight, he was more than happy to allow her to do it her way.  She liked to play alone for a while, experimenting on her own with different methods, before showing Spike her work.

He shook off his musings as his dinner rounded a corner, heading to a Bath and Body, and followed her in.

~~~*~~~

He was in the hotel bar when his phone rang.  His childe.

Now, as the elevator doors parted, revealing plush green carpet and a decidedly Italian décor, the smell of blood, undetectable by humans, assaulted his senses.  He pushed the demon down with practiced ease and leisurely closed the distance to the room.

The door swung open as soon as he reached it.  He stepped in, amazed at what he found.

The man was laid out on the bed, tethered to the headboard by stockings, which she found to be surprising hard for humans to break, even though they ran so easily whenever she wore them.  His skin was just…not there.  Apparently the flavor of the day was flaying.  His girl had removed great sections of skin, just the thinnest top layer, leaving the human resembling a quilt.

“I know… it’s a little…messy.  But I did keep him quiet.”  Blood was splayed everywhere.  Flecks painted walls in a pretty design that some circles would consider art.  She bounced on her feet, eyeing him expectantly, waiting for his approval.  He ran his fingers over a particularly soaked end table, lifting them to his lips for a taste.  The small pink object drew his attention and he picked up, shaking it at her.

“Cor, Willow, you cut out his tongue!  That’s cheating.”  He scowled at her, a playful smirk hidden underneath.

She pouted at this and crossed her arms.  “But he was yelling a-and calling me crazy. Oh!  And bitch!  He called me a bitch.  No tongue remains in any mouth that calls me bitch.”  She growled.

“No, I suppose not.”  He could hear the weak, but steady heartbeat.  “And yet he lives.”

She smiled and it was wicked and Spike fell a little more in love.  “Not because he wants to, Sire.  And not for long.”

~Part: 16~

The office was quiet.  Angel and Wesley deserted it long ago.  The human finished his work and went home.  The vampire had retreated into what his reluctant seer called his batcave, a term that irritated and amused him equally.

Despite her friendly exterior, friendly for Cordelia, she kept a plethora of vampire killing paraphernalia in her desk, just in case.  She trusted Angel with her life, but did not trust that Angel would remain Angel forever.   Angelus respected her instincts.  Her attitude appealed to him. She took no shit or prisoners, and he fluctuated between wanting to snap her neck one minute and turn her the next.  Angel always found himself in a constant battle for control with his demon when the pretty brunette was in one of her more dominating moods, which explained the pained, Angel-has-gas, expression he often wore as she mouthed off at him for whatever she deemed to be his transgression for that day.

Alone, he let his senses stretch, feeling around, picking up on the scent of his childe and Willow, and their…activities, Cordy and Wesley, hearing the squeaks and moans of the building, the dripping in the sewer below, the hum of the computer upstairs.  The computer…he was about to go up to turn it off when he recalled Wesley being very careful not to disturb a program the Willow was running on it.  He relaxed again, picking up a book.

Upstairs the humming took on a different meaning.  Willow’s program continued to do its job, decrypting the information on the disk, unlocking files.  One such file was a security file which had a program of its own, triggered to execute upon opening.

And somewhere, in an underground military facility, another computer came to life.

~~~*~~~

The couple stood over his bed watching him as only the undead can, with an intensity that challenges time, as they are no longer susceptible to it.   He was unaware, asleep, exhausted and still sore from the previous evening’s games, of the preternatural creatures that stared.

After draining what blood was left in her plaything, she and Spike had taken a long bath in the huge soaking tub.  She rummaged through a suitcase that had yet to be unpacked and changed into clean clothes.  Hers were splattered with blood.  Spike put his own clothes back on, having been a neat eater that night, something Willow was still working on.

It was her idea to go see Wesley.

They left him in his bed and slipped silently into the kitchen.

“I wanna wash these, before we go back and Angel smells them.”  She indicated the bag of clothes.  It would not do for her to return with blood-stained clothes, wearing ones she’d stolen from her victim’s dead wife no less.  And these were the pretty clothes that Cordy bought for her.  The brunette might notice if they were missing and ask about them in her ever-so-blunt way.

Spike pushed open a door past the refrigerator.  “Washer’s in there.”  He nodded and Willow proceeded to check the labels, thankful that the fabric was a washable blend.

Spike left her there, bypassing the human’s relatively bare cupboards, in search of the remote for the television.  He found three.

It took a moment, yet eventually he sorted out how to work them and had the television on, surfing through the numerous cable channels.  The volume was low, but he could hear nonetheless.  Willow joined him, going for the remote which he held teasingly just beyond her reach.  Not to be frustrated, she settled for a passionate, but gentle kiss and leaned into him, just enjoying this quiet closeness.

They both knew the moment when the ex-watcher woke up, his heart hammered in his chest upon realizing that his dryer and television were running.  He was confused. Almost more than scared.

<Why would a thief watch the telly and do laundry?>

He left the bed quietly, arming himself with the shotgun he had taken to using during his rogue demon hunting days.  Down the short hall he crept, staying close to the wall until reaching the end, the living room on the other side.  Steeling his nerve, he spun, cocking the weapon and leveling it. And it was lifted from him easily by a blur as he was shoved against the wall.

“You’ll shoot me bloody eye out with this.”  Spike commented, placing the gun in a corner, out of harms way, and dragging on his cigarette.  ‘Innit that what the mums all say?”   He offered the human a hand up.

Wesley ignored it, angry that he'd been so easliy disarmed, and stood on his own.  “Noooo…it’s you’ll shoot your own eye out.  Why are you here, Spike?”  He queried, adding upon seeing the redhead, “and Willow.  Brilliant.  I obviously need to find the uninvited spell quickly.”  He mummbled to no one and everyone, turning away from his unwelcome guests to enter the kitchen.  <Yes, the dryer.>

“Why on earth are you doing your laundry here?  Am I to believe this is now an open-all-night washhouse?”  Tea…he needed tea.  Once he had tea all things would fall into place and solutions would be apparent.

“Uh…I kinda got dirty,”  Willow offered.

“Do you mean bloody?” he inquired pointedly.

“No!  I… well okay yeah, but it wasn’t my fault.  See this guy, he was screaming way too loud...like he was gonna need the skin...and I just knew that some little busy-body would call…”

“Willow,” Spike said, eyeing the look of revulsion on the ex-watcher’s face.

“...security, and I still had some theories I needed to try out.  So I needed him for a while…”

“Willow,” he tried again.

“...longer.  So I just cut it right out.”

“Willow!”
 

“Sire?”  She asked innocently, seemingly oblivious to his rising anger.

“You’re scaring the nice human, luv.  No more tales, eh?” <Is this what I did to the Poof?>

“You cut what out?”  Wesley asked against his better judgment.  Morbid curiosity also killed the cat.

“Um…his tongue,” she whispered, as if this lessened the brutality of the act.  “And the blood went everywhere.  I mean who knew that such a little bitty…”

“I GET…I get it,” he grounded out through clenched teeth, ever so sorry that he had inquired at all.  “Will you be staying long, or leaving when the drying cycle is done?”

“Sun’ll be up soon so we may as well stay.  I’m knackered.”  Spike spoke as he sat back on the sofa, stifling a yawn.  He and Willow fed well, and even sex with the new puppy seemed taxing.

Wesley left and returned with blankets and pillows.  “The couch converts,” he explained as he dropped the linens next to the blond vampire, who raised an eyebrow and glanced at his childe.  Willow watched the brunette’s retreating back and moved to follow quietly.

Inside his darkened room he maneuvered with the certainty of one who knows his surroundings, yelping when he crashed into the cool and immoveable form to his left.

“WILLOW!  I…Don't sneak up like that!  Are you trying to kill me?”

“Huh?  No!”  She leaned close to whisper.  “That’s for Spike to decide.  But don’t worry, I think he likes you enough.”  Petting his shoulder in what probably passed for vampire affection, she stepped away and stripped out of the shirt and slacks she stole earlier.  They were more like something her mom would have worn and she was happy to be out of them.

The rogue demon hunter observed her slack-jawed, again amazed by the beautiful body the young hacker she had once been kept hidden under many layers of fluffiness.  She felt his stare and faced him, apparently unconcerned about her nudity, a devilish grin creeping into the corners of her lips as he rapidly averted his eyes.   Somewhere she heard the television turn off.

“Aren’t you sleepy?  What time do you go to Angel’s?”

“What?  Oh…um…usually around 9 or 10.  He comes up around noon,” he answered distractedly, his thoughts still on her pale, creamy skin.

“Then you better come to bed.  You only have a few more hours to sleep.”  His head turned of its own volition and he swallowed hard, walking toward her on legs that had their own minds as well.  She slid under the covers, a cat writhing against cool sheets, and lifted the covers for him to join her.

He took off his t-shirt, for no other reason than his desire to feel her flesh against his own, and crawled under, allowing her to pulling him closer and snuggle into his neck.  She enjoyed the scent of him, especially the fear that tainted everything about him.   As she was learning, her nose did not lie.   Wesley wanted her, and Spike, if the human was honest, but that ever-present fear dripped into his desire, creating a delightful mixture.  Her sire was right, as usual… the seduction of someone who knew exactly what they were was terrible fun.  Almost as good as chasing down a particularly cagey meal.    She wondered if he would just kill the man when done, or turn him.  She wanted to keep him.  Alive or turned, it made no difference to her right now as long as they could play.

The blond demon watched them from the doorway, a shadow in the now darkened hallway.   He stepped into the room, disrobing as he went, and slinked under the covers behind his childe, facing the human.  Wesley felt the vampire join them and tensed, not knowing what to expect.  After a few moments of nothing happening, he relaxed and his breathing took on the pattern of one who had finally succumbed to the benefits of slumber.  Spike smiled.

~~~*~~~

It was early.  Too early for this.  Angrily, Professor Walsh read the report again while waiting for Riley Finn.  Somewhere out there in the whole wide world was a disk of highly classified information, being accessed and decoded at this very moment by a very experienced hacker.  The Hows and the Wheres and the Whys were all mysteries at this time, however with a bit of luck they would all be known bythe end of the day.

The knock at the door was answered by a dry ‘come in’.

“Agent Finn, please sit.”

“Professor.”  The tall soldier sat in the chair as directed, awaiting further instruction.

“Riley,” she spoke as she closed the door, her voice softer now, less formal, “we have a problem.  It seems someone has smuggled a disk bearing data critical to our research out of this facility.  If in the wrong hands… well our entire operation is in jeopardy.”

“Who has it?”  He asked, following her with his eyes as she paced.

“We don’t know.  There is a security program that was activated during decryption.  That’s how we found out it was missing at all.  Whoever got it out of here did so completely without setting off any alarms.”

“Is that possible?"  He looked up frowning.  "Any disk used in here will set off the alarms at any exit.  No one can take anything out, not even you, right?”

“So I thought.  But apparently we have a breach.”

She was worried, he could see it etched in her face.  The lines signaling her graceful aging were just a bit more pronounced today.  It bothered Riley.  Maggie was like a mother to him, very protective.  Not that his own family was lacking in the caring department, but it certainly was appreciated when someone, especially someone of Maggie’s standing, took the time to be concerned about him, even nagging him to eat correctly.   He wanted to return that feeling, be able to help her.

“What do you need me to do?”

“In a few hours we hope to get a fix on the modem that the security program accessed and have a location.  Have a team ready to retrieve the disk and capture the perpetrator.  I want to know how it was done before they are terminated.”

~Part: 17~

He groaned, eyes still closed, the brightness behind them a clue that he was already late.  Spike, thankfully, was still on the other side of Willow, and Wesley was relieved by the fact that he managed to survive last night without violation.   Nevermind that he became flushed when the evil blond was near.

Willow was spooned by her demon sire, his arms around her waist protectively while his face was hidden in her neck and long tresses, the positioning punctuating the fact that he did not breathe, was indeed dead.  Wesley had to constantly grasp at that idea, for at times the blond and redhead seemed more alive than most humans, more willing to live life, and it put him off guard.

He removed Willow’s tiny hand from his hair, in which it was tangled, and got up to shower, chuckling to himself at the irony.  That small hand could and would crush his existence on a whim, yet he felt the need to treat her as if delicate.

They stirred, moving to his warmer spot on the bed.  He planned to slip out of the apartment before they awoke, but it was doubtful that would happen.  The water was heating up quickly, so he got in and thanked whoever designed the plumbing in the States.  Across the pond the pressure and temperature were hardly ever more than light and tepid.  These showers, full of steaming hot water forced out at high speeds, were a treasure, something worth killing for, and a huge reason for him not returning to England.   With all that happened revolving around Faith, he sometimes felt dirty, used by the Council, his father, deceived by people he thought were friends.  Sometimes it was overwhelming, and he considered unspeakable things.  At first, thoughts of harming himself seeped into his brain, but he casts those away easily.  Wesley was not angry with Wesley.  Then he planned violent attacks on those who betrayed him, but discarded them as well.  It was not in his nature to cause pain to others deliberately, or so he believed.  Instead he hunted demons, a task he was trained for and prepared to accomplish.  He still felt dirty and used, but he found a peace in the hunt, which led him to Los Angeles and Angel, and now to these childer of the vampire.  And through everything, the intensity and strength of a good hot shower, washing away all that could hurt him, comforted him.  It helped him see clearly, feel clean, fresh, untouched ,and this could never happen in the weak, frigid showers of his homeland.  So he stayed in the United States and stayed sane.

Well as sane as you could be with two vampires stepping into the shower with you.

~~~*~~~

The whirlwind that was Cordelia Chase struggled into the office, dropping packages and bags carelessly around her desk.  She had been doing a little early day shopping.  Her wardrobe was seriously lacking in the turtleneck department so she had to procure some immediately, to cover the bite from the Jim Jones poster childe for Kool-Aid.  New tops needed new bottoms and shoes and accessories, hence the spree on Angel’s card.  His family, his business expense.

“Hey Angel, I’m here,” she yelled, not sure if he was up yet since it was only eleven.  She started a pot of coffee and checked the messages while booting up her computer.

“Hmm…It’s still on.  And that’s strange,” she spoke to herself, getting up.  The door to the batcave was partially open and she could see that the room was empty, so she headed for the noisy elevator, slamming the gate closed.

When the doors opened, Angel was already standing there waiting.

“Hey...”

“Cordy… Hi.”

“Is Willow still doing something on my computer?  It’s still on and a bunch of things are happening.  I was gonna just shut down, but she was all growly about her stupid decoder thingy yesterday…”

The vampire was staring at her.

“What?  Is my hair creepy?  Stop looking at me like that!  Take a Tums.  Anyway, where is she?”

“They are not back,” he stated tightly.  He was going to have to lay down some house rules when they did return. “Can’t Wes help you?  He used it last night without bothering the program.”

“Wes isn’t here yet….Hey! What’s wrong?”  She called to the retreating vampire.  He stormed back into his room, flinging the door shut so hard it cracked.

The seer shrugged and went back to the elevator.  She could do her nails while she waited.

~~~*~~~

Wesley refused to leave the vampires alone in his home so they took sewers to Angel’s, Spike using the long dormant bond to guide him.  Eventually they arrived, popping up in the apartment just before noon.  The shower was running, so they took this opportunity to sneak the human upstairs while the demons became naked again and climbed into the older vampire’s bed for more sleep.

Angel felt the blond vampire as he neared, clearly reading his emotions and desires as the bond was opened to him.  It was a strange sensation after so long, feeling so close to him, as if they were joined one more.  He missed it, now that he was privy to it again.  The boy was still his, even if he had been a terrible sire.  No matter what -  time, neglect -  nothing changed the blood.  So Angel had to make a decision regarding Spike.  The vampire would continue to run wild, wreak havoc at will, unless he established some sort of dominance over him.  Nothing as all-consuming as Angelus had in mind, but something to let him know that he was his sire and would take care of him and Willow and should therefore be respected.

He knew when they returned, but did not hurry.  Having made up his mind, he had an eternity to deal with them now.

~~~*~~~

“Willow….Willow wake up.”   It was midday, the time a vampire was most vulnerable.

She roused groggily and twisted, freeing herself from Spike’s grip.

“Angel?”

“Cordy needs help on the computer.  You have that program still running and she’s afraid she’ll mess it up.”

As he guessed, the mention of computers and work got her mind moving again.  She sprung from the bed, pale smooth skin over harden flesh appealing to his demonic nature.

“Ooooh, Angel please don’t let her touch it.  I so don’t wanna start all over AGAIN.”    Putting on a skirt and top from the items the seer purchased, she headed for the bathroom and snagged her toothbrush.   “I’ll be up in a sec.”

The brooding vampire smiled down at the childe that was still in bed.  He looked so innocent, hair curling and roots showing.  He could not catch the scent of recent sex with Wesley on either Spike or Willow, although the faint evidence from two nights ago was still there if one was sniffing, and he was.  However he could smell them all on each other.  They were together, just not fucking. Yet.  He was pretty sure it had nothing to do with his directives, but he would be thankful anyway for now.

~~~*~~~

“Hey, Cordy…”  Willow didn’t like using the elevator. It was noisy and she was just getting the hang of stealth.

“AHHHH!   OH!  Wills?!!!  ANGEEEEEEEL!!!”

He came stumbling from his office, Wesley right behind him.  “WHAT?  What happened?”

“Tell me,” she spoke, calm now that everyone else was in a panic. “Is there a law, a rule, regulation, code, a vampire commandment,  SOMETHING THAT SAYS THAT THE FUCKING UNDEAD HAVE TO CREEP UP AND SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF THE LIVING?  Huh?  Is there?”  Her foot tapped annoyingly.

Angel pressed his lips together tightly and whirled away from her, effectively escaping into the batcave.  Welsey took one look at the brunette and decided to take his chances with the brassed off vampire.

“Sorry.”  Willow smiled evilly.

“No. You’re not.  But since you can kill me with all the enthusiasm of making Poptarts, I accept your apology.”  She smiled up at her old schoolmate.  “So get your stuff off my computer.  I’ve got work to do.  Really,” she emphasized, eyebrow raised.

The redhead smiled again, looking like her mortal self.  The demon enjoyed the bold and tactless human.  Not that she would not eat her alive if she ever fell from her grandsire’s grace, but she was interesting now that she could not hurt her.  Cordy stood and Willow sat in her place, tapping and hmm-ing and oh-ing and ah-ing.

“What the…?”  A deep scowl formed on her face.  “Oh fuck… I mean poop…..Ooooh, I mean fuck.  I can say fuck now ‘cause I’m evil.”  She bit her bottom lip with human teeth, chewing nervously.
 

“What are you talking about?”  The ex-cheerleader did not even spare a glance from her magazine.

“I-I’ve got to…oh Hell!   Crap…no, no, no… Okay…there.”  She exhaled a huge breath she did not know she was holding and stared, green eyes wide. “Get Spike.”  There was a slight tremble to her voice, but she did not care.

“What?”  Cordelia lowered the periodical, annoyed.  “Do I look…”

Willow’s demon slid forward and she growled between razor-sharp fangs, “Get Spike now!”

~Part: 18~

Cordelia stormed out of the elevator, angry at being ordered to summon the evil undead himself by mousy Willow Rosenberg of all people.  She slowed her pace and sighed, reminding herself that it wasn’t Willow upstairs, but an equally evil vampire that could drain her dry within seconds.  The fact that the redhead seemed afraid also sent her own survival instinct into overdrive.  If whatever scared the young vampire required Spike’s attention, then she would get Spike.

The door to Angel’s bedroom was cracked, so she peeked in, and upon seeing the vampire lying face down, tangled in sheets and spread out so as to almost take up the entire bed, she cautiously entered.

There was no sound, no breathing, no slight movement, and for all intents and purposes, before her was a corpse.   She shivered and gathered her considerable resolve, taking small steps toward the bed.
 

“Spike,” she whispered, arms wrapped around her torso for comfort.

No response.  She inched closer and tried again, bending at the waist.  “Spike!”  This whisper was harsher, yet netted the same result.

Steeling herself, she took the final steps and was next to the bed, knees touching the mattress.  One of her hands released her waist and extended toward the blond, trembling as she swallowed hard and shook his shoulder. “Spike! Wake up!”  She shook him a bit more vigorously, then let out a yelp as she was flipped and found herself pinned to the mattress below an irate demon, fangs to the fore.

“I think I can get Angel to forgive me if I bite you just one more time,” he growled, shoving the demon down despite her scared-rabbit eyes.  Her blood, hot and sweet, was pumping furiously beneath the flesh, and the temptation to tear into her was becoming irresistible.  He rolled off of her, onto his back.  “What do you want?”

She swallowed and licked her dry lips before speaking. “Willow said to get you.  She saw something on the disk and went all freaky and GRR.”

He jumped up, causing the seer to flinch, and pulled on a pair of jeans, sans underwear, she noticed with unwanted appreciation, and then dashed out of the room and up the stair without another word to her.
~~~*~~~
 

“It just…ended.”  The Initiative’s resident computer expert, sitting behind the metal desk at the computer, appeared confused.  He continued tapping at his keyboard, trying to stop the unstoppable.

“What do you mean?”

“The connection…it’s gone.  Whoever is accessing the disk detected us and disconnected.” He frowned and tried another command, which froze his system. He yanked his glasses off and tossed them to the desk. “AHHH!  And they sent us a little present.”  He added while shutting down the computer.  “A little virus to remember them by.  It’s destroyed any hope we had in tracing the modem futher.  All I know for sure is California, a central office in Los Angeles is as far as I got."

He reached for a small screwdriver and opened up the shell to reveal the motherboard.  This he removed and stood to leave.

“Where are you going?”  Walsh asked, her frustration well concealed.

“Gotta get another harddrive and try to extract the data from the tracker program.  If the prefix or number was recorded… then I think I can…”

“How long?”

“Well, if it’s not gone...give me at least four hours.”

“I want results in two.”

He nodded and turned to leave, smiling when she could no longer see him.  He should be able to extract the data and transfer it to another PC, virus free in less than two, but knowing the mighty professor, he gave an over-estimation so that when she low-balled him, as he knew she would, he would still have enough time and maybe even look like a hero.

~~~*~~~

Spike felt his childe’s agitation.  It crept into him, instilling a feeling of nausea.  He came up behind her as she turned.

“They were fucking tracing us,” she blurted angrily as she began her nervous pacing.  He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, stilling her.  He knew from experience that her raging demon would get in the way of rational thought.

“Relax.” Blue eyes penetrated her being and, taking deep breath out of habit, she nodded. “Now, what happened?”

“Well it’s not normal,”  she began with a whine, “but they have some kind of security program that is activated during decryption.  It accessed the modem and made a call to their server.  I don’t know what it sent, but that call can be traced.”

“So can we trace them as well?”  Spike was thinking of an offensive approach.

“Yeah...maybe... but it’ll probably lead to the same place that had you.  You said the security was high yourself.”

“Okay…”  He cursed mentally.  “Can you tell how far they got in the trace?  Maybe they weren’t tracing at all.”

“No, I can’t tell, and there’s no other reason for the call, other than to give them something to trace.”  She held back the tears burning to form.  She wanted to please him, provide the answers he needed, but it was not possible.  She hated failing him.  Hated the unease she sense through him.
 

“How about magically?  Is there anything?”  He had not inquired about her abilities since she was turned, not being a fan of the black arts.  However, he would use them to his own advantage in a pinch.  There was always a price for using magic; he reasoned that now the benefit outweighed the potential cost.

“Um…” She frowned.  She also had not thought about her former increasing powers.  Her newer preternatural ones had been so fascinating.  “I can’t think of anything…”  Her scowl deepened.  “Can I still do magic?”

“You could before…don’t see why not,” he answered, lighting a smoke.  Cordelia was coming up in the elevator.  She opened the gate and spared a special glare for him which he answered with a blindingly irritating smirk as she stomped over to her desk.  She was careful to stay as far from the blond vampire as possible.  She knew it made no difference in his ability to get her within his clutches, but it was her statement to him, nonetheless.  He chuckled as she gathered her purse and coat.

“Where are you going?”  Willow asked.

The seer turned slowly, totally fed up and exasperated. “I. Do. Not. Answer. To. You.  Either of you,” she spat out through clenched teeth.  Spike was amused again and wondered what this long-legged bitch would be like with her own set of fangs.

“Maybe not, but you aren’t leaving,” Willow stated.  Her eyes were changing, a swirling mixture of the demon’s gold and the human’s green.  “They could be watching us by now,” she admitted to her sire.

“I am so outta here.” She started toward the door.

Willow decided that now was as good a time as any.

“Cerrinde.”

The office door slammed shut.  The seer jumped and gasped, shocked, and jerked around to face the redhead, her mouth hanging open.

“Well, I do believe that Miss Cordelia is speechless.  Call Guiness,” Willow exclaimed in a pseudo-southern accent.  The former May Queen lunged for the doorknob, rattling and pulling to no avail.

“That answers your question about the mojo, yeah?”  The blond puffed on his smoke, his amused look shadowed by the worry that was burrowing its way into him.

“Wesley has book, spellbooks,” Willow advised him.

Spike nodded and marched over to the batcave, bursting in.  Wesley and Angel were on the phone, which was on speaker, glaring at him. “We need to talk.”

“I know,” his sire mouthed.  Out loud to his client he said, “Mrs. Dobbs?  Maybe your husband is not being possessed by a demon.  He might just like to wear dresses.”

“And a matching parasol?  Can you tell me that isn’t demonic?!!”  The woman screeched.

The human was barely holding it together, while Angel blatantly laughed.

“Mrs. Dobbs, we will come to you.  Uh…How about Friday afternoon?”  Wesley managed with minimal giggling.

The woman agreed and they got her specifics before the call ended.

Spike watched the two laugh for a moment before growing, bored.  “Hate to interrupt your girlie giggle-fest, but we have a problem.  How much did you hear?”  He asked Angel.

“Enough.  You’re right, she's could be watching, but I doubt it.  I don’t sense any additional people in or near the building, and outside no one has been stationary.”

Spike kept his gaze cool, but inside he was pleased.  Angel’s vampiric senses were still in top working order apparently, and he was willing to defer to his sire’s superior abilities and knowledge for now.

“But they will find their way here.  Like bloody hounds, they are.”  He grumbled and smashed his cigarette into a never-before-used ashtray.

Willow and an upset Cordelia were standing in the doorway.

“Angel, I want to go home.  Am I being held captive?”

“No, of course not.  Go.”

“Willow has done some weird magic and the door won’t open.”

“Willow did…Hey, your magic still works?”  Angel asked

“Yeah.  But this can wait.  We have to get out of here now.”  Her eyes were back to pure green and the pleading in them was obvious.  She was afraid.  It did not sit well with his demon.  The childer were his responsibility.  She was surrounded by nearly 400 years of vampiric power and fear was something she should never know.  He knew his own boy well enough to know he had a plan.  “What next?”

“We leave here.  ALL of us,” he said pointedly, looking at the seer.  She crossed her arms in a pout.  “Wesley, your place won the lottery.”

He’d been quiet until now, hoping to be forgotten and dismissed.  “Aren’t I the lucky one.”

Spike smiled.  His opinion was that Angel surrounded himself with very interesting pets.  This one was droll and utterly entertaining. <Can’t see letting him go to waist as dirt and bones.>

~~~*~~~

His apartment seemed spacious when he signed the lease, but then there was only him.  Now it was stuffed with three vampires and a cranky seer.

She was laid out on the sofa, recovering from a headache, the after effect of her most recent vision.  It was the vision itself and not the persuasive arguments from the vampires that had her in Wesleys apartment of her own free will.  The Powers deemed it necessary to warn them about the commandos that would be crashing into the office unannounced.   So she stopped fighting it and left with them.

Spike and Angel were hashing out a plan...in the middle of an argument ,actually.

“It’s dumb, that’s why!”  Angel yelled.

“So you have a better idea?”  Spike answered calmly.  Getting excited and angry with his sire right now would only fuel Angel’s opinion that Spike was being rash.

“We wait.  Watch the building.  See who shows up.”  He counted these off on his fingers.

“Do we take them?  When they show up, do we take them?”

“Spike…”

“No!  If those…"  He felt the anger rising in him again and had to bury his demon once more.  "If they come here, they are coming to kill us, or worse, take us back to their bloody version of hell.  They have tried to kill me and my childe. Hunted us. The Clan of Aurelius.  Childer of the Master.  I won’t stand for them to live.  So if they come for us again, we take them.  And alive if possible…I want to play.”

“Spike…you can’t torture them,” he tried again.

“I’ll wager I can, Angelus.  What would you have me do?  You read the bloody report Willow pulled.  Would you have that happen to her?  To me?”

“No, of course not…”

“I’m keeping as many as I can.  I’ll decide what to do with them later.”

“Let’s just hope Willow was wrong,” Angel added.

The blond just smiled and looked away.  Angelus was not far away, wanting to help him.  Angel would give him what he wanted when the time came.  “Your seer Angel… Is she ever wrong?”

~Part: 19~

Spike gritted his teeth, beyond angry.  “Get off me.  You weigh a bloody ton.”  He shoved at the larger vampire that slipped while hovering over him to look out the window.   He was off balance again and stumbled back a step.

“Will you stop being so obstinate,” he whispered harshly.  The blond had been disagreeable, mildly put, since they began watching Angel’s office.  They were holed up in a building across the street.  Spike somehow gained access to a seemingly empty apartment.  Angel refused to even think about how.

“Why the fuck are you whispering?”  The younger demon asked, even though now he was whispering as well.  It was a subconscious thing and he did not even know he’d done it.

“Because, if you had been listening after I spoke to Buffy, you would know that she is now DATING one of those guys who tried to neuter you and has the inside scoop.  They have thermal detecting devices that can spot a vampire, even inside a building, night vision and sonar equipment.  This kinda elevates the chances of them hearing your stupid ass yelling at me.”

Spike had the good sense to look discomfited.  “Right.”  He flipped his Zippo and lit another cigarette, stalking to the other side of the room, away from the window, his mood petulant.

Angel felt everything the blond felt.  He was irritated by being forced to wait, but realized it was the best course of action.  The boy was also troubled about the Initiative being after him and his childe.  He was not afraid, not really, not anymore.  The dark vampire knew that the fear dissipated once the childe found refuge with his sire.  But the anxiety was there and the blond would be unpredictable and snappy until this pressure was alleviated.

“Spike…”  When he was ignored, Angel changed his tone, allowing more of his demon to bleed through.  “Spike!”

With an eye roll and a sigh, the younger vampire reluctantly trained his attention on his sire.

“I…you…Look, I know I’ve been a shitty sire.  Really, not all my fault, but it was none of yours, so…I'm just saying that I won’t fail you in this. Not again. We’ll stop them and I won’t stop you from doing what you must to protect her.”

Spike looked down and Angel could not fathom his expression.  “Do you know what I did?  After you left the second time?”

<No.  Not now, Spike.>

“I roamed the city every evening.   Not feeding for days.  Just hunting for you.”

“Spike…”

“NO!”  He swallowed and Angel could hear the workings of his powerful throat as he strained to keep his voice steady.  “I was so bloody happy that you were back, even if you were behaving strangely.  That tension between you and the Bitch Queen, couldn’t have cared less.”

He turned away and Angel suspected it was to hide tears.

“I would have gone with you.  Left Dru and gone with you.  Anywhere.  Done anything other than be alone.”

Now, facing him again, he smiled, not the guarded smirk, but an open, this-is-me smile that Angel remembered so well.  He stretched his arms out from his side, forming a muscular ‘T’.  “So now we’re here, together again.  And you are promising me… things…again.  And I am believing them.  Not because I want to.”  Tapping his chest, he laughed; it was self-depricating.  “No…I would love to have a choice in this, but your blood running through means I have to.  I have to want you, need you.”  He spat the words out.  They tasted bad.  “And if  I do this...let you in, and you are lying to me this time, Angelus…it will kill me.”

He dropped and slid to the floor, tired and drained.

Angel gazed at him sadly, not with pity, his boy was amazing, but anger and regret for all he should have done differently.  He stepped toward his childe, wanting to ease the turmoil, but was halted by the pale hand, motioning for him to come no closer.

So instead he went back to their vigil, watching and waiting.

~~~*~~~

It occurred at 5am, about thirty-five minutes before sunrise.  Angel smirked to himself, applauding their timing.  Spike had fallen asleep nearly two hours earlier, so the older vampire had to shake him violently before he roused.

“What?”  His response was flat and devoid of emotion.  When this was over, Angel planned to have a serious…talk with his boy.

“It’s them. Come look.”

Spike darted over, immediately awake and alert.  He counted six commandos, one heading for the roof via the fire escape, three going through the front door.  The other two were posted at opposite ends of the building, guarding the perimeter.

“What's that?”  Spike pointed to a black van.

“They got out of it.  Listen...”  Spike tilted his head back slightly and closed his eyes.

“Two inside, one on a phone.  Can you hear the conversation?  I can’t pick up the other side.”

“Not trying to,” he said as he dialed Wesley’s number.  Spike kept watch, eyes and ears straining.  “It’s me.  They came….No.  There are eight total, six got out, but two stayed in their van.…Have Kate send a unit to harass the guys in the van.  It’s black, sitting right across the street from….I can't see the plate….I DON’T KNOW.  Tell her anything…They have guns.  Tell her that….what?”  He looked at Spike who was looking and listening outside, therefore not hearing Wesley.  “No, tell her definitely not….I…We will.”  He hung up and let out a huge sigh.

“Anything?”

“Nah, the two outside are not paying to much attention and are talking to each other on headsets.  Inside, they are sweeping through the place.”

“Alright, come on.”

Spike followed Angel to the tunnel access and they quickly and quietly made their way to the underground entrance of the apartment.  Sensing that the humans were upstairs, Angel lifted the well-oiled grate.  Spike took off his coat, which had a tendency to make swooshing leather noises and joined his sire in the apartment.  He could hear the men going through files and disks, barking orders back and forth.

Eventually, a creaking on the stairs alerted them to the approach of two soldiers.  Spike grinned at the sloppy attempt at stealth, bringing his demon forth.   The blond was hidden between two concrete columns while his sire was behind the wall in the kitchen.  The humans split up and he heard the harsh breathing and frantic heartbeat of the one that was passing him and heading toward the bedroom.  The night vision googles blocked the man’s periphial view, which was certainly too bad for him as the blond crept out of the shadow along side the oblivious human.  The other human was unable to see them as he turned to the kitchen.

Angel tapped into the bond and obtained his childe’s position and frame of mind.  He was ready to attack, giving Angel the signal to go.  Simultaneously, the descended upon their prey and noiselessly subdued them.  Angel picked up his catch and met Spike at the grate.  The blond jumped down and caught the humans as Angel lowered them.  He removed all weaponry from their persons and used the handcuffs he found on one to bind him.  The other he trussed up using rope passed to him by the older vampire.

They worked in silence, efficiently falling into old, but apparently not forgotten habits.  The cooperation could not have been planned, it was too natural and ingrained in their beings.

Upstairs, a commotion began when one of the soldiers from outside came in to inform the others of a police unit questioning the men in the van.    Spike could pick up on arguing outside and upstairs and then heard a gunshot, and another.

Soon the vampires were privy to a shoot out as the Initiative soldiers tried to retreat and get back to the van.  The screech of tires and two roaring engines signaled the departure of the van with a police chase ensuing.   The pale creatures, smiling in disbelief at their luck, headed for the tunnel.  Angel stopped before dropping down, and pulled Spike away from the opening.  The younger demon immediately heard it too and up they went.  The man on the roof was still posted, unseen and ready to complete his assignment.   They had twenty minutes of darkness left.

Spike felt that two soldiers were enough for his purposes and his demon was violently delighted at the prospect of tearing into this shining example of military dedication with demonic commitment.

<Too bad for him!>

~Part: 20~

After assuring Kate that everything was fine and getting her to have an undercover team watch the building for more commando visitors, Wesley thanked her for assisting and hung up the phone.   He ran a shaky hand through his hair and glanced at the young seer, deliberately avoiding the observant eyes of the redheaded vampire on the floor.  She seemed to be reading and taking notes, working on finding a proper barrier spell, but Wesley also knew she was there to keep them from leaving.

Angel had not come right out and said they would not be allowed to leave, but the ex-watcher read enough into what was not said.

“How are you doing? Are you okay?”  He asked her, his concern evident.

“No…How long is this gonna last?”  She looked to Willow who squirmed, but did not acknowledge that she had heard a word either spoke.

“I don’t know.  Angel is in there with him.  I suppose that will keep Spike from going too far,” he offered, trying to quell her worries.

“Too far?!  I don’t care if he goes too far.  I hope he does go too far.  Angel would just smack them on the hand and let them go.  That vision, Wes…they staked Willow and took me.  So he can do whatever to them.  I’m just tired of hearing it.  I can’t get to sleep.”  She flopped back on the couch.

Another scream, muffled and most likely not even audible outside of the apartment, poured from the bedroom.  He could hear the deceptively soothing tones of Spike’s voice as the vampire practiced tried and true methods for making one talk.

“I can give you something,” Willow chimed in, still not looking away from her studies.

“What?”  Her former schoolmate asked.

“To help you sleep.  A charm?  See I put a spell on the charm and you put it under your pillow.  And presto sleepo!”  She finally deemed them worthy of her attention, peeked up through fallen red tresses.  Her smile was as devious as it was lovely.  Cordy was not impressed.

“Don’t try it on me. I’ll sleep without your wicked assistance.”

Willow pouted and huffed before shifting her eyes to Wesley. “What about you?  You must need sleep after all the…”

“No..no I’m fine.  I think I’ll make some tea.  Cordelia?”  He inquired.

“Right.  Please give me a huge dose of caffeine so I can stay up even longer enjoying the easy listening sounds of our very own serial killer at work.”  She turned on her side and smashed the pillow over her face in mock suffocation.

Willow smirked.

~~~*~~~

Please make this end.

That was the mantra of the Initiative agent unfortunate enough to be conscious.  There were three of them, two were out, blood loss and pain taking their toll.

However, Daniel was wide awake.  He was the agent on the roof.  Spike discovered they called themselves agents.  That bit of information was given relatively easily, since it made no difference, he supposed.  He was rapidly, almost too rapidly for the blond demon, gathering more important data.

The other two he had plans for.  This one he could damage.  He was a present to his demon and when he was done he would give what was left to Willow.  She had been a good girl and needed some fun.

“Look at me, Daniel.”  The young man, no older than twenty-five, gazed at him with dull eyes.  Spike grabbed his head pulling on one ear and letting his nails scrap over where the other ear should be.

“I know you feel this is all so very horrible and that I’m the bad guy, but this is all your own fault.  I was minding my own business when you came after me.  Stupid move, a rabbit chasing the fox, but you did.  Then you tried to hurt my girl.”  He walked around and took the knife that he abandoned earlier in hand.  “That was naughty.”

He shook his head, trembling and arching to get away from Spike, but the chains held him well.  “It wasn’t just me!  What about them?”  He nodded frantically toward the his sleeping comrades.

The vampire chuckled, amused by his betrayal.  “I have other things in mind for them.  Some will say you got the better end of the deal.”  The knife sliced through muscle of his bicep and Spike clamped his hand over the mouth as the scream fell from it.  He latched his lips onto the cut and drank deeply, pulling the blood from the man’s veins forcefully to create more pain.  He stopped before the man could pass out, licking his lips.

“Angelus, you should taste him.  Thick with fear and despair.”

The dark vampire calmly peered up from his reading and smiled.  “No thanks.  This is your show, Spike.  You play.”

~~~*~~~

“Have they checked in yet?”  Walsh asked the dispatch commander.

“Not yet.”  He was aware that she was expecting him to say more, but there wasn’t anything else to add.  She turned to the other man in the room, Agent Finn.

“What about the police?”

“They only have five in custody.  Madison went to the station.  None of the guys saw the other three once the shooting started.”

“The morgue?”

Finn shook his head.

“Could Hostile-17 have them?”  After a small investigation, it was determined that the hostile was the only thing that left the building undetected, therefore he may have been the one to take the disk.  The professor was extremely distraught, considering the nature of the data encrypted.

He shook his head. “No, no vampire presence in the building at all.  They were nearly done with the search.  I want to send another team…”

“No,” she interrupted.  Her instinct told her that Riley was wrong.  Somehow the hostile was responsible.  “Too much of a risk right now.  We should hold off until he isn’t laying in wait for us.”

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