The Offering

By SpikedLuv

Chapter Seven

Xander and Willow spent the next four nights at Giles’ apartment. After no sightings of Spike in over a week, nor attempts to contact Xander—since there was no way Xander was admitting to their secret liaison in the library—Giles agreed that it was probably safe for he and Willow to return to her parents’ house. Monday night, after research in the library, Giles dropped them off and made sure they were both safely inside the house before he drove away.

The two of them drank hot chocolate over homework, and then went to bed. Xander couldn’t sleep. He’d been carrying around a boatload of guilt for the last four days, and it continued to eat at him. He hated that he hadn’t told Giles the truth about Spike showing up at the library. Now that he knew Spike could get in at any time, it wasn’t the safe haven it had once been, and he worried how Spike might use his knowledge of the access tunnel.

Worse than that, though, was his reaction to the vampire, and the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about him—about touching him, and being touched in return. Xander was less wigged about the fact that it was naughty-guy touching than the fact that his ‘guy’ was a vampire. A vampire Xander wanted to bite him again.

And there was the crux of the matter! He just couldn’t figure out why Spike hadn’t bitten him in the library. What game was he playing? Xander wondered, as he stood looking out the window of the guest room he was using. He used to sleep with Willow when he spent the night, but he figured they’d probably outgrown that.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and he stared intently out the window. A couple moments later he saw a flicker of light, which flared up and then died down, only to do the same thing a few moments later. Finally, Xander realized he was seeing someone smoke a cigarette. Who would be out in the dark—? A figure stepped out of the shadows, and the moonlight glinted off Spike’s blond head as he looked up at Xander’s window.

Xander’s breath caught. How did Spike know they were back? How did he know this was Xander’s room? He swayed, and felt himself leaning against the window, as if he were trying to get closer to the vampire outside. Xander took a deep breath and pushed himself away from the window, stepping back into the shadows of the room.

He continued to peek out the window and saw Spike put his cigarette out and walk away, towards the front of the house. Xander waited, but there were no noises, and no further sightings of the vampire. Needing to know what Spike was doing—whether he had left, Xander slipped a pair of sweat pants over his boxers and tiptoed down the hall and staircase. He peered out the front window in the living room, but saw nothing.

Continuing to move stealthily, Xander moved to the front door, unlocked it, and pulled it open. He looked out, and then took a hesitant step outside.

"Wondered if you were going to show up," Spike said from where he was standing at the side of the porch, leaning against the railing.

Xander jumped and clutched at his racing heart. "Don’t *do* that!" he hissed.

"Couldn’t sleep?" Spike asked solicitously.

Xander wasn’t sure whether answering that question would be incriminating or not, so he remained silent. Spike turned around and pressed his body against the porch, laying his arms along the railing.

"Thinking about me?" he asked enticingly, tilting his head just a little, letting his tongue peek out from between sneering lips.

"No!" Xander immediately lied, and Spike laughed at him, a sound low and deep that went straight to Xander’s groin.

"You shouldn’t lie, pup. It’s not nice," Spike said with a tantalizing move of his hips.

"What are you doing here?" Xander asked angrily, keeping his voice down so he wouldn’t wake Willow.

"The question is," Spike said, "what are you doing here?"

"I’m staying with Willow," Xander replied, confused.

"No, pup," Spike said. "What are you doing *out* here?" he clarified.

Xander froze. What *was* he doing out here? Why hadn’t he ignored Spike’s presence and gone back to bed?

"You did miss me, didn’t you, pup?" Spike asked, his voice hypnotic, seductive.

Xander shook his head ‘no’, too bewildered to make his tongue work.

"Mmm, yeah," Spike went on. "You miss my touch, like the things we do together, don’t you?" he teased. "You wanna touch me again. Come here, Xan-n-nder," he drawled, his hips moving in small motions that made it look like he was humping the side of the porch. "I know you’re hard for me, pup, I can smell it. I’m hard for you, too..."

As if in a dream, Xander walked down the porch steps and across the lawn to where Spike was still leaning into the porch. He knew it was wrong, that he should just go back into the house and forget Spike was out here, but he couldn’t. There was something calling to him, tugging at him, and he *needed* to go to the vampire.

He stepped up behind Spike and wrapped his arms around him. "If I had a stake," Xander whispered into Spike’s neck as his hand formed a fist over the vampire’s heart. "I could kill you right now."

Spike didn’t reply, just rubbed his ass against Xander’s groin, and Xander moaned. The vampire turned around in his arms and looked up into his eyes.

"Think so, pup?" he asked, moving his hips just enough to cause a light friction as his erection rubbed over Xander’s. "I know where there’s a stake you can have," he added suggestively.

"All my problems would be over," Xander continued, as if he hadn’t heard Spike’s comment.

"I’m not your problem, Xander," Spike said softly, leaning forward as if sharing a secret. "I’m the answer. Freedom. Release. I can make you feel so-o-o-o good," he purred, pressing his groin more firmly into Xander’s, his arms still along the porch railing while Xander’s hands moved over his chest and stomach, exploring him.

Xander tried to think. This was wrong! It was wrong because... Because... God, Spike’s lips looked so inviting! He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Spike’s, and they parted for him, allowing him entry. He kissed Spike while his hands snaked beneath the blond’s t-shirt, moaning when his fingers came into contact with the cool flesh.

He pulled back and stared into Spike’s eyes, then slowly sank to his knees. Spike smiled.

"Good pup," he whispered.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Xander asked as he unbuckled Spike’s belt.

***

"Because you have such pretty brown puppy-eyes," Spike said, brushing Xander’s hair off his forehead, touching him for the first time, unable to resist the allure of those eyes.

It seemed to take forever for Xander to get him out and hold him in his warm hands, and then take him into his warm, wet mouth. Spike couldn’t hold back the moan when Xander began to suck.

"Open your eyes and look at me," Spike commanded. Xander did as he bid, and the sight of the boy looking up at him, lips wrapped around Spike’s rod as it slid in and out of his mouth, was nearly enough to make him come right then. But it wasn’t time, yet, so he forced it back.

He placed his thumb lightly over the bite on the left side of Xander’s neck, and gently rubbed it. The result was electric—Xander groaned around him and his body shuddered at the contact. Spike did it again, and again, and each time he smelled a fresh wave of arousal from the boy. Which was good, because he didn’t think he’d be able to take much more—Xander’s sucking combined with the vibration of his groans were going to set him off soon.

Before long, Spike buried his other hand in Xander’s hair and stared into the boy’s brown eyes as he came in a rush of fluid that the boy eagerly swallowed. Spike let Xander clean him off, and then pulled out of his mouth. His eyes still locked on Xander’s, he rubbed the bite once, twice more, and watched as Xander’s mouth opened in a silent scream, his body shuddering as he came without having been touched.

"Aren’t you my precious boy?" Spike whispered longingly.

While Xander recovered, he tucked himself back in and did up his jeans, then pulled the boy to his feet and propelled him towards the porch steps. "Get inside," he said, and Xander blindly followed his orders, his legs almost too weak to carry him.

Spike watched the boy enter the house and close the door behind him—it wouldn’t do to have some other vamp get a hold of him—and then turned away with a smile. Yeah, the boy was coming along nicely.

***

Xander stood inside the front door, shaking like a leaf. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. Another encounter with Spike—one that Xander himself had initiated! Spike hadn’t coerced him, either with threats against Willow or physical force, yet he had not only stepped outside the safety of the house and engaged in a conversation with the vampire, he’d actually been the one to commence with the naughty touching they’d indulged in!

Unbidden, he’d dropped to his knees and freed Spike so he could take the vampire into his mouth. The only time Spike had touched him, Xander recalled, was to rub the bite mark on his neck, though that simple touch had been enough to make him come. What was happening to him? he wondered. And why had Spike refrained from biting him, yet again?

Xander suddenly became uncomfortably aware of the cooling fluid on his stomach. He locked the door and moved as silently as he could up the staircase. He stopped at Willow’s room, opened the door, and peeked in. She was lying in bed, sound asleep. Xander breathed a sigh of relief, and carefully closed the door. Before returning to his room, he stopped in the bathroom to clean himself off.

Another week went by with no contact from Spike, and Xander was getting twitchy. What was the vampire up to? he wondered. Why hadn’t he shown up again? But the big question was, why did Xander care? Tuesday evening in the library, Buffy finally called him on his odd behavior.

She frowned at him. "Xander, are you all right?"

Xander looked up from where he was nervously shredding a piece of paper. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m all right," he said.

"Are you sure?" she prodded. "You seem kinda...edgy."

"Yeah, Buff," he said, trying to smile. "I’m sure."

"Spike hasn’t come around, has he? He hasn’t bitten you again?" she asked worriedly, glancing at the healed bite on his neck.

"No!" Xander snarled in disgust.

Buffy gave him a weird look.

Xander laughed uneasily. "Stupid vampire," he said. "Big loser," he muttered under his breath after Buffy reluctantly turned her attention back to the book she was supposed to be reading.

The next day, Xander cut out after classes were over, telling Buffy and Willow he’d be back before sundown to help them research, and leaving before they could say anything to stop him. He snuck home and got his bicycle out, and then rode around Sunnydale, looking for an abandoned mansion. On Thursday, Xander visited the public library and looked through the old issues of The Sunnydale Times on microfiche.

Unable to find what he wanted, he sighed in defeat. One of the librarians asked if she could help, and Xander told her that he’d heard about an abandoned mansion, but wasn’t having any luck locating it. His luck changed—the librarian drove past the mansion on her way to work everyday, and happily gave Xander the address and directions. He pocketed the slip of paper, and headed back to the school for research, and the grilling he’d get for leaving without telling anyone.

On Friday, Xander rode past the mansion, but since it was daylight there was no activity to tell him whether Spike was staying there. He was too afraid to cycle up the driveway to see if his car was parked in the back. Saturday morning, Buffy and Willow went to the mall. The two girls had been loathe to leave him alone, but Xander convinced them that too much togetherness was a bad thing, and reminded them that it was daylight out, so Spike wouldn’t be coming after him.

"Besides," he added morosely. "He seems to have lost interest."

"That’s great, Xander!" Willow said, smiling.

"Yeah," Xander agreed with a forced smile in return. "Swell."

After they left, Xander puttered around the house—from the kitchen, where he made something to eat, to the living room, where he tried to watch television, to the dining room, where he attempted to do homework. Nothing held his attention for long. Finally he gave up trying to *not* think about Spike, and sat on the front porch to ruminate on the vampire and the strange connection between them.

Eventually, he pulled the worn piece of paper out of his pocket, having carried it on his person for the last two days, and read it once more. Xander slipped the paper back into his pocket, grabbed his jacket and locked the front door, and then got his bike from where he’d hidden it behind Willow’s house. He hoped that Spike had moved into the mansion.

It took Xander twenty minutes to reach the driveway, another five to bike up it and work up the courage to approach the mansion, and another ten or so to make it to the front porch and up the rickety steps to the door, where he rang the as-luck-would-have-it functioning doorbell. It wasn’t until the door was opened by a vamp in game face that Xander realized Spike wouldn’t be alone. He swallowed hard, wondering how he was going to get past the vampire.

"I-is S-S-Spike here?" Xander asked, standing poised to bolt off the porch and into the sunlight.

***

Spike heard the boy’s heartbeat and smelled his fear long before he heard his voice. He smiled when Xander nervously asked for him. Rising from the chair he was sitting in, Spike stalked towards the front door.

"Let him in," he ordered.

The vamp that had answered the door snarled at Xander, but stepped back at Spike’s command. Xander looked at him anxiously, unmoving. Spike motioned with his hand, and Xander slipped into the mansion, moving quickly past the vamp. Without waiting for Xander to reach him, Spike turned and started up the staircase at a leisurely pace. Xander hurriedly followed him, getting close enough to grab hold of Spike’s t-shirt like a security blanket. Spike smiled again. The scent of fear had been joined by the unmistakable spicy aroma of Xander’s arousal.

At the top of the stairs, Spike led Xander down the hall to the same bedroom they’d used the time Spike had brought Xander to the mansion. If Xander recognized it, he didn’t say. Spike sat in a wingback chair beside the bed, and watched as Xander looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. Xander’s eyes landed on him, and then skittered away.

"Have a seat," Spike said amiably.

Xander looked at him, swallowed hard.

"Sit," Spike said again, pointing to the only other seat in the room—the bed. Xander looked at it nervously, and then moved to sit on the edge facing Spike, staring at a spot on the carpet. Spike waited for Xander to speak, and when he didn’t, said, "Why are you here, Xander?"

Xander jumped, and his heart raced. "I, uh...," he stammered.

"Perhaps you’re not ready...," Spike said as he made a move to stand.

"No!" Xander cried, standing and holding his hand out so Spike wouldn’t get out of the chair. "I, um, I...," he tried again.

Spike tilted his head. "Would it help if I told you that I know why you’re here?" he asked. Xander looked at him hopefully. "But if you want it," Spike continued softly, "you’ll have to ask for it."

Xander paled. Spike wished he could just jump up and take Xander, fuck him into the mattress and then bite him, tasting the elixir that was purely Xander. He was so bloody hard it hurt, and he hadn’t tasted the boy in almost two weeks. But he didn’t want Xander to be able to tell himself that Spike had made him do anything. He wanted Xander to remember how he begged Spike to bite him.

"I, uh..." Xander closed his eyes, and then opened them. "I want you to bite me," he whispered in a voice so low Spike could barely hear him.

"You’ll have to speak up, pet," Spike said.

"B-bi... I want you to bite me," Xander admitted, thankfully unable to bring himself to look into Spike’s eyes, so he didn’t see the grin on the vampire’s face.

"You know you’ll have to earn it," Spike said after squelching the grin.

Xander nodded, still not looking at him.

"Do you know what that means?" Spike asked.

Xander nodded again. "You want me t-to suck on you," he said, shifting nervously from foot-to-foot.

Spike waited a beat. "Wrong, pup," he said, and Xander’s head jerked up, their eyes locked. "I want to fuck you."

Xander’s eyes widened, his breath caught, and he fell over in a dead faint.

"Bloody Hell!" Spike swore as he looked at Xander’s still form lying on the floor.

Chapter Eight

When Xander woke, he was lying on a bed. He looked around, taking in the heavy drapes covering the windows, and the chair beside the bed. All at once, he remembered where he was. The mansion! A building full of vampires! And...

"Spike!" he squeaked when the blond vampire he’d just been thinking of filled the doorway as if he’d conjured him.

"Heard your heart rate change," Spike drawled, "so I knew you were awake."

Xander didn’t speak. He couldn’t make his tongue work.

"When you’ve recovered enough, you should leave," Spike said. "I really don’t think you’re ready..."

"No!" Xander was up and off the bed faster than he could remember moving. When Spike told him to leave, he suddenly recalled why he was here. The bite. He needed Spike to bite him. The vampire couldn’t send him away. "You can’t...please...don’t send me away," Xander begged.

"You’re not ready, pup," Spike said, and started to turn away.

Xander grabbed his arms. "No, please. I’ll do anything. I’m ready. I am," he insisted desperately.

"You remember what I said I wanted in return?" Spike asked.

Xander swallowed hard. Spike wanted to—he could barely even think the word—fuck him. Xander wasn’t sure if he would like that, but he had such a fierce need to be bitten, he was willing to do anything. "Will it hurt?" he asked.

Spike looked at him consideringly. "Could do," he replied. "But I’ll make it as painless as possible for you." He grinned. "You might even find yourself enjoying it," he said, adding in a seductive purr, "It can be *very* pleasurable, pup."

Xander shivered. He looked Spike over. The vampire looked so—sexy. He wore black jeans and a black t-shirt, no red over-shirt, and no boots. Xander moaned. "And y-you’ll bite me, right?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Oh, yeah, pup," Spike said. "I’ll bite you."

"A-all right," Xander said.

Spike just looked at him for a minute, and Xander was afraid the vampire was going to turn him down. "All right," he finally agreed. Spike took a step into the room, forcing Xander to back up, and then closed the door behind him. "Get undressed."

Xander swallowed hard, but started to get undressed, his hands shaking so badly he couldn’t get the button on his pants undone. He turned to Spike who helped him with the button and then let Xander pull the zipper down. When he was naked, Xander self-consciously covered himself with his hands and looked at Spike, who was avidly taking in every inch of his naked flesh.

When their eyes met, Spike grinned. "Now me," he said.

Xander was confused, and he was sure his expression clearly conveyed that to Spike, who just said, "Undress me."

Xander stepped towards Spike, embarrassed when he realized he’d have to move his hands and uncover his manly parts to undress Spike. The vampire grinned again. "I’ve seen ‘em before, pup, now get me undressed before I change my bloody mind."

With those encouraging words in mind, Xander made short work of Spike’s clothing, quickly removing them and tossing them onto the chair. He allowed his eyes to run over Spike’s body, stopping and staring in a combination of fear and excitement when his gaze reached the vampire’s manly parts, which were standing at attention.

"Get the lube out of my pocket, and then lay down on the bed," Spike commanded.

Xander quickly got the lube out of Spike’s jeans and laid down on the bed. Spike stood beside the bed and took a pillow from the head of it. "Lay on your stomach and put this under your hips," he said.

Xander arranged himself, and waited anxiously for Spike to take him, praying that it wouldn’t hurt too much, but desperate enough for the bite to not care all that much if it did.

***

Spike took a minute to savor the sight of Xander lying naked on the bed, his ass raised, knees bent, legs slightly parted. He looked delicious, and just the sight of him made Spike want to climb between his legs, spread his delectable cheeks, and drive himself into what he was certain would be the hottest, tightest hole he’d ever fucked.

Instead, he forced himself to move slow. He climbed onto the bed and bent his head to Xander’s ass, sniffing to breathe in the scent of him, and darting his tongue out to taste his skin. Xander jumped, and Spike gently rubbed his hands over the boy’s hips while he continued to lave his cheeks, and then he parted them and let his tongue run along Xander’s crack and over his pucker.

Xander squealed and jumped, and Spike was overcome with desire. He lapped at the twitching hole, and then pushed his tongue inside. Waves of arousal poured off Xander as Spike stimulated his hole, serving to fuel his lust for the boy. With a growl, he halted his ministrations and reached for the tube held tightly in Xander’s hand.

Spike quickly squeezed a dollop of lube onto his fingers, rubbed it over Xander’s saliva-slicked pucker, and then pressed one slippery finger into him. Xander groaned at the intrusion, and Spike slowly, carefully pushed the finger in all the way. He pulled it back out, and then pushed back in. Xander pushed back to meet his thrust, and Spike grew harder. He quickly prepared the boy, adding another finger and scissoring them to stretch Xander’s muscles, and then reaching for his prostate.

Xander’s reaction to the feel of Spike’s tongue on his hole was nothing compared to his reaction at having his prostate stroked. His squirming and mewling stoked the fire of Spike’s need for the boy. Spike nibbled on his back while he inserted a third finger and made sure Xander was ready to receive him. With little warning, he withdrew his fingers and wiped the balance of the lube on his hard flesh, placed the head of his cock against Xander’s slick hole, and pressed.

The boy whimpered as Spike speared him on his shaft. "Relax," Spike said, barely managing to not growl and scare the boy. He felt Xander trying to obey, grabbed the boy’s hips, and pushed the rest of the way in until his balls were resting against Xander’s ass.

Spike draped himself over Xander’s back, licking and sucking at the boy’s shoulder while he slowly moved his hips, sliding in and out of Xander’s ass, which was just as hot and tight as Spike had imagined. He tilted his hips, searching for the nub that would send Xander flying. When he found it, Spike pounded into it while Xander cried out—his begging intermixed with nonsensical words of pleasure—and writhed beneath him.

He could tell Xander was getting close. Pulling out, Spike easily turned the boy over, and spitted him on his rod once more. He wanted to see Xander’s face when he came, and came again. Spike leaned over Xander and slipped a hand beneath his neck, lifting him so he could reach his throat, and laved the bite. Xander clawed at Spike’s back as the vampire brought him closer and closer to climax.

Spike lifted his head from Xander’s neck, and morphed to the demon. Xander’s lust-glazed eyes locked on Spike’s yellow orbs, and he whimpered. He grabbed the back of the vampire’s head and pulled them together, kissing Spike hard, unmindful of the fangs that cut his tongue. When Spike pulled Xander’s tongue into his mouth and sucked on it, getting a small taste of everything that was Xander, the boy came, shooting load after load of warm fluid between them, coating their chests and stomachs.

Spike continued pumping into Xander, increasing his speed, the power of his thrusts. He pulled away from the boy’s mouth and lowered his lips to his neck. Xander moaned and tried to push at him. Spike growled and slapped his hands away.

"N-not there," Xander finally managed to get out. "They’ll see..."

"Don’t want ‘em to know?" Spike asked, amused.

"D-don’t want ‘em t-to try an’ s-stop me," Xander gasped.

Spike nearly came at the thought of how far the boy had fallen into his craving for the bite. He growled, and because he didn’t want his access to the boy denied, moved his lips lower, down Xander’s body to his chest, laving the skin above his left nipple. The boy stiffened when Spike’s fangs grazed his skin, panting in a combination of fear, anticipation, and desire from the scents wafting off him.

Spike sank his fangs into Xander’s flesh, and the boy whimpered at the momentary pain as his skin was pierced. He sucked, drawing on blood spiced with the tang of desire, and as he drank the boy began to moan and wriggle beneath him once more. Before long, Xander was screaming out as he came a second time, his release pulled from him in a mixture of pain and pleasure. With the taste of Xander’s blood exploding over his tongue, and the feel of him clenching around his cock, Spike slammed into Xander one last time, and came.

After allowing them both some time to recover, Spike had Xander clean them up. They dressed, and he escorted the boy to the front door. On the porch Xander hesitated, and then turned back to look at Spike. He could smell fear and uncertainty coming off the boy in waves.

Xander opened his mouth, hesitated, and then asked in a small voice, "Can I come back?"

Spike found it difficult to keep his face blank when inside he was crowing with delight at the way his plans had borne fruit. He stared into Xander’s needful eyes, and then nodded.

***

Xander made it home, showered carefully to make sure all evidence of his time with Spike was washed away, and was sitting gingerly on the front porch swing pretending to do homework when Joyce dropped Buffy and Willow off.

"Hey, Xan!" Willow greeted him. "Doing homework?" she asked in surprise.

"I do homework!" Xander defended himself, then smiled. "Well, all right, not really. I’m just sorta holding the book and hoping that the knowledge of math will seep into my brain by ozymandamus, or whatever."

"Oscillation," Buffy corrected.

Willow just shook her head. "Osmosis," she said.

They both looked at her. "Huh?"

"Os— Never mind."

Both girls joined him on the porch swing, and while they chatted, his thoughts drifted back to Spike. At the same time he knew he shouldn’t go back to see the vampire, he was contemplating whether Monday after school would be too soon. Now he not only wanted Spike to bite him, he couldn’t wait to have the blond inside him again. He’d never realized how good it could feel to have another man touch you the way Spike had touched him.

He wondered how he’d explain his absences to the girls? He really needed to move back home, he thought. There was no one there to care where he was, or that an evil vampire was fucking and biting him. He decided to broach the subject with Giles on Monday. He could argue that Spike, who was too impatient to stick with a plan, had obviously grown tired of waiting, and just lost interest in Xander. With that decision made, he tuned in to the girls’ conversation.

When Sunday morning dawned, Xander was once more filled with revulsion and self-loathing. He couldn’t believe he’d gone to Spike and begged the vampire to bite him, and then allowed him to... He shifted in the bed, nope, not a dream, he thought as his ass twinged in pain. During the day, he practically clung to Willow, making sure she was always in the room with him. Though she didn’t understand his sudden attack of nerves, Willow didn’t say anything, just allowed Xander to use her as his security blanket.

At research on Monday evening, Xander took the opportunity while Buffy and Willow were chatting to ask Giles if vampires had the ability to thrall their victims, like Dracula. Giles took his glasses off and polished them, then put them back on and peered at Xander through the lenses.

"Why do you ask?" he inquired.

Xander shrugged, blushing. "I just..."

"You’ve been worrying over your reaction to Spike?" Giles guessed.

Xander shuddered—the other man had no idea how right he was—and just nodded.

"To the best of my knowledge, Xander, they don’t," he said, which disappointed Xander, as it would explain his response without having to admit that he had actually wanted it.

"Don’t what?" Angel asked, and Xander squealed like a girl.

"Don’t...do that," he said, pointing at Angel, who just raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Xander and I were just discussing the matter of whether vampires actually had the ability to thrall their victims," Giles replied, leaving out the bit that Xander had asked him about it, which he appreciated.

"Why?" Angel asked.

"Because it’s a fascinating concept," Giles said, and then prepared to launch into a long and boring discussion.

"Well, as interesting as I’m sure this is going to be," Buffy interrupted, "we really should go patrol." She looked to Angel for support.

Angel glanced at her, and then back at Giles and Xander, who both tried to look innocent. "Yes, we should," he said absently.

Buffy got up and eagerly grabbed her bag of slaying goodies.

"Do you?" Giles asked Angel.

"Do I what?" he asked.

"Have the ability to thrall your victims," Giles replied.

"No," Angel said, and then headed for the door where Buffy was waiting impatiently. "And neither does Spike," he said softly as he passed them, continuing on to Buffy without looking back.

Giles and Xander looked at each other guiltily, and then got back to their research. Well, Giles got back to research, Xander got back to thinking about Spike, and his reaction to the vampire. It was unthinkable that he would be subconsciously attracted to the blond, much less during his waking hours.

This particular bout of self-reflection was due to yet another wet dream involving the vampire. As much as Xander had tried to not think about Spike during the day, as soon as he fell asleep, his subconscious mind took over, and Xander woke that morning covered in his own release. Despite that, he was still determined to ignore the dreams, and stay away from Spike.

By Thursday morning, after three more nights filled with wet dreams about Spike, Xander once more felt like an addict going through withdrawal. All he could think about was Spike biting him, which had been the basis of more than one of his wet dreams, and not a few waking ones, in which he’d begged the vampire to bite him, stroking himself to completion as Spike sucked his blood, sometimes combined with the fucking of his ass, which was almost wiggier than the biting.

Xander cornered Giles in his office at lunchtime and laid out the ‘Spike theory’ he’d developed the preceding Saturday, and then added that, though he loved Willow and Buffy, he really needed some space. Giles, who loved and trusted him, agreed, and suggested that they pick up Xander’s stuff from Willow’s after research and Giles would drive him home. Xander thanked him and left, trying to refrain from looking and sounding too eager.

During research, Giles announced that Xander would be moving back home. Buffy and Willow both immediately looked worried, and Xander felt a stab of guilt.

"Do you think that’s safe?" Buffy asked.

Giles pushed his glasses up his nose. "Spike has neither been seen nor heard from in about four weeks now," he stated. "We’ve learned from past experience that he isn’t one to stick to a plan for very long, and I believe the very fact of his nonappearance may indicate a loss of interest in pursuing the matter on his part."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say ‘huh?’," Buffy said.

Giles sighed. "It’s possible that Spike lost interest in this game he was playing with us when it became obvious that he could no longer reach Xander."

Xander felt another surge of guilt, but resolutely pushed it down. He picked up a book to read, and occupied himself with that for an hour while Willow researched on the computer and Buffy trained with Giles. When Buffy left to meet Angel for patrol, Giles gathered Willow and Xander up and they drove to Willow’s house.

Xander quickly packed his bags, hugged Willow goodbye, and Giles drove him home. Once settled back into his room, Xander sat staring out the window at the dark, wondering if Spike would know he was home—as he had known of their return to Willow’s house—and come to him that night.

Chapter Nine

Spike didn’t come to him that night, nor the next. By Saturday morning, Xander was frantic with need. He snuck out of the house, got his bicycle, and rode to the mansion. This visit he wasted no time in contemplation, but hurried up to the door. He rang the doorbell and fidgeted nervously while he waited. A couple minutes later the door swung open, and Spike stood there.

Xander gaped at the vampire. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and nothing else, and his hair was sleep-tousled. "I, uh, is this a bad time?" Xander squeaked.

***

Spike looked Xander over. He’d had to wait a full week for the boy, which put him in a foul disposition, but now that Xander was here, he could feel his nasty mood drifting away like smoke. Without speaking, he stepped back and inclined his head. Xander entered, and glanced nervously up at him. Spike remained silent. He closed the door and then walked to the staircase, wondering if Xander would follow him.

***

When Spike began to walk away from him, Xander thought he was going to have a coronary at the thought of being left alone in a house full of vampires. He quickly caught up with the blond and closely followed him up the stairs and into the bedroom they’d used before. To his surprise, Spike ignored him, stripped off his jeans, and climbed under the blanket on the bed.

"Close the door," he said sleepily, and then was quiet.

Xander closed the door and then looked around while he waited to see if Spike said anything else. When he didn’t, Xander grew bored. He walked around the room, running his finger over the mantle of the fireplace, rubbing his hand over the cushion of Spike’s chair, then picking up the vampire’s t-shirt and sniffing it. Not knowing what else to do, he laid down on the bed beside Spike.

"Take your clothes off," Spike mumbled.

Xander swallowed nervously, but sat up and did as Spike bid. When he was naked, Spike pulled the blanket back and Xander slid beneath it. He laid on his back, stiff with anxiety. Spike reached out for him and Xander’s breath caught. The vampire pulled him against him so they could spoon, Xander’s back to his front, and then fell asleep. Xander slowly relaxed into his embrace when he realized Spike wasn’t going to do anything else. Sleepless nights took their toll, and Xander soon fell into a deep slumber.

When he woke, it was to the sensation of Spike’s tongue and lips on his neck, and his hand wrapped around Xander’s hard-on. Xander moaned as Spike sucked and stroked him, readily parting his legs when the vampire’s fingers moved to his hole. He relaxed as Spike massaged the pucker, his embarrassment as it twitched at Spike’s touch overridden by his desire for more. Soon Spike was sliding a slicked finger into him, and then two, and Xander was eagerly pushing back onto them.

By the time Spike was fucking him with three fingers, Xander was mewling and gasping, clawing at the sheet with one hand, the other reaching behind him to grip Spike’s hip. Spike withdrew, and then nudged against him with something larger than his fingers, and Xander shuddered in anticipation. He pushed down as Spike pressed in, and then the vampire was fully seated within him.

"Oh, God, Spike," Xander keened.

Spike nuzzled his neck and wrapped his arms around his chest, holding him tight while he slid in and out of him. "Not quite," he whispered.

Xander was nothing but nerve endings. Everywhere Spike touched him sent little jolts of desire coursing through his body on a straight line to his groin. Spike licked and worried the bite mark on his neck and plucked at his nipples, then moved his hand down to teasingly stroke Xander’s aching cock while he continued to leisurely thrust into Xander’s ass.

Suddenly he pulled out and rolled onto his back. "Come here, pup," he said, and helped Xander to straddle his hips. "Ride me," he whispered, and with a groan, Xander sank down onto the hard shaft pressing against his hole, taking Spike in farther than before.

"Feel good?" Spike teased, but Xander was beyond thought. "You feel so good, pup, so hot...and tight...like a velvet glove squeezin’ me. Move a little, pup..."

Xander moved, and cried out as he stimulated his prostate. Placing his hands on Spike’s chest, he began to lift himself up and then lower himself, moving faster, taking Spike deeper with each brush of a finger against the bite marks on his neck and above his nipple.

"That’s it, pup," Spike encouraged him, rubbing a little harder on the bite marks, then pinching them.

"Ahhh, God," Xander managed to get out as his body stiffened, and his release shot out to land on Spike’s chest and stomach.

Spike switched positions again, rolling them so Xander was on his back and Spike was between his legs. "Still want me to bite you, pup?" he asked.

Xander, who could barely think, nodded.

"Need to hear you say it, pup," Spike said softly.

"Please, Spike," Xander said. "Please bite me."

Spike did, and Xander came so hard he passed out, managing to whisper, "Thank you," before darkness enveloped him.

***

For the next four weeks, Xander slipped off to visit Spike whenever he could get away. At first it was every couple of days, but soon the need grew so great he had to see Spike every day. Some days, if he was in a bad mood, Spike would make Xander suck him off, and then refuse to bite him until Xander had nearly begged himself hoarse. Other days they had sex and Spike would bite him, and sometimes the vampire would allow him to stay afterwards and cuddle. He liked those visits best.

So far he'd managed to fly under Angel's radar, avoiding the dark vampire when possible, and keeping plenty of space between them when forced to be in the same room. It wasn't difficult, since Angel mainly met Buffy on patrol unless he was needed at the library for research. When his friends asked him where he went after school, Xander made up a lie about a note from school and his parents making him go home to study.

This last visit to the mansion had been kind of creepy because, though he’d caught glimpses of the dark-haired female vampire Spike called Drusilla, they’d never met or spoken. Today she glided up to them as Spike walked him to the door. She reached out and touched his face, running her fingers into his hair. Xander was freaked, but he didn’t pull away, afraid of angering Spike.

"Don’t worry, puppy," Drusilla whispered in a sing-song voice. "The stars tell me everything will work out for the best."

Xander just stared at her, and then looked at Spike who shrugged. He turned his gaze back to Drusilla. "Um, okay," he said with a weak smile.

Drusilla smiled in return, and then drifted away, talking to herself.

"Wh-what did she mean?" Xander asked.

"No bloody idea, pup," Spike replied.

Xander nodded, and then turned to leave. He had to hurry or he’d be late meeting the gang for research. He turned back to Spike as a sudden sensation of doom swept over him with the memory of Drusilla’s words. "I-I’ll see you tomorrow?" he asked.

Spike stared at him for a long moment without answering, and then said, "Yeah, pup, tomorrow." He grabbed Xander behind the neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Oh, God," Xander panted when Spike let him go, rearranging his erection in his pants. He hoped it went down before he reached the school.

Spike just grinned at him. "Think of me, yeah?"

Xander groaned, and then left. By the time he got to the library, everyone was already there, including Angel, which was odd, especially since the sun hadn't set yet. Everyone looked up and stared at him when he pushed the doors open and entered the library.

"Hey!" he greeted them with his usual goofy grin.

No one smiled back at him.

"Uh, what’s wrong?" he asked.

"Xander, why don’t you come have a seat?" Giles suggested, pushing out the chair from the end of the table.

"O—kay," Xander said, and walked over to sit down. He glanced around the table. Buffy was staring at him as if she couldn’t believe what she saw; Willow was avoiding looking at his face; Angel was worriedly regarding Buffy. He turned to Giles, who was gazing right at him. "What’s up?" he asked nervously.

"Xander," Giles began softly, "where have you been going after school?"

Xander’s heart pounded in his chest. They couldn’t know. There was no way they could know, he thought. "Home," he replied aloud—the same lie he’d been telling them for the past several weeks.

"And what about this afternoon?" Giles asked.

"Home," he said again.

"I stopped by...," Buffy began.

"And then the grocery store," he interrupted. "We were out of...stuff. Grocery-type stuff."

"Oh, Xander," Giles said sadly, and Xander felt like crying as his world slowly crumbled around him. He’d been worried that they would find out, hadn’t wanted them to, and now that they had, he didn’t know what he was going to do. Didn’t know what they were going to do.

"Giles, I..."

"Angel asked me the other day if I’d noticed anything weird about the way you’ve been acting lately, and I told him ‘no’," Buffy said with a voice that had no inflection, staring at the table as she spoke, absently scratching it with her nail. "And then I thought about it, and I realized we really didn’t see you as much as we used to. I talked to Willow and we decided that maybe you felt—I don’t know—embarrassed to be around us because we knew about Spike. I wanted to talk to you about it, but you left this afternoon before I could catch you. So I walked to your house."

Xander’s heart dropped, and tears gathered in his eyes. He swallowed hard. Oh, God, they really did know!

"When I got there, you were just leaving. I was curious, so I followed you." She looked up at him. "You didn’t go to the grocery store," she said. Strangely enough, there was no blame in her eyes, just disappointment, which made him feel even worse.

"Buffy–"

"Why, Xander?" Willow asked.

He looked at her, but had to turn away from the betrayal in her eyes. "I...I needed it," he moaned. "I’m sorry, I...I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t want you to know."

"Did you think we would never find out, Xander?" Giles asked incredulously.

"I hoped," Xander admitted weakly.

"Would you rather we found out when he turned or killed you?" Giles asked acerbically.

"No!" Xander shook his head. "H-he wouldn’t do that. Not now."

"He’s a vampire, Xander. He’s *quite* capable of doing that."

"No, you don’t..."

"Do you think he cares for you?" Angel asked.

Xander turned his attention to the dark vampire. There had been no censure in his voice, only curiosity.

"He does...," Xander said.

"Oh, dear Lord," Giles muttered unhappily.

"He’s a soulless demon, Xander," Angel said, keeping his voice even.

"Have you been letting him bite you?" Giles asked.

Xander refused to answer. They wouldn’t understand. Heck, sometimes he didn’t understand, he just knew that he needed it.

"Oh, God," Buffy said, and then stood and marched around the table. Before Xander realized what she was going to do, she leaned down and ripped his shirt open, sending buttons flying and exposing the bites on his left breast. He didn’t even attempt to cover them.

Willow gasped, and placed her hand over her mouth. "You’ve been hiding this from us?" she asked, sounding pitifully lost.

"This has to stop, Xander," Giles stated.

"I need him...," Xander tried to explain.

"You *don’t* need him!" Buffy insisted.

"Yes, I *do*!" Xander yelled. "I do! I need him!"

"What is wrong with you?" she asked sadly.

"It’s the bite," Angel said. "Vampire bites can be...addicting."

"Addicting?" Giles asked. "You never said..."

"I didn’t think I had to," Angel replied, seemingly unperturbed at Giles tone. "First of all, anything that makes you feel good can be addicting—it’s like a drug. Secondly..." He turned to look at Xander. "...I didn’t now it was an issue, because I didn’t know that Spike was still biting him."

Xander had the grace to look ashamed.

"So, you’re saying Xander will need help breaking this addiction?" Giles asked. "We’ll need to wean him from relying on the bite..."

"How about cold turkey?" Buffy suggested angrily. "Now that I know where Spike’s lair is, staking him will be a piece of cake. No Spike, no biting," she said.

"No, Buffy, you can’t!" Xander cried. Oh, God, this was getting so out of hand! How had this happened? One minute he was... He recalled his uneasy feeling when he’d left Spike earlier.

"I can, Xander. I’m the Slayer. I’m also your friend, and I’m not going to let Spike continue using you, or let you do this to yourself. If you can’t stay away from him, I’ll make sure he stays away from you—permanently."

Xander saw red at her casual dismissal of Spike. "No!" he yelled as he stood, pushing his chair back to fall and slam loudly against the floor, punctuating his statement. "No!" He turned to run from the library.

He hadn’t gotten far when strong arms wrapped around him from behind, halting him. Xander fought, but was no match for Angel’s strength.

"Xander, stop," Willow pleaded. "You’re going to hurt yourself."

Xander didn’t care. He had to get to Spike, to warn him. He twisted futilely in Angel’s arms.

"We have to end this now, while we still can," Angel said, not sounding at all as if he was holding a struggling teen.

"What do you mean?" Giles asked worriedly.

Xander wondered if he’d fallen into some kind of weird world where he didn’t really exist as everyone talked around him, ignoring his feeble attempts to get away from Angel’s grasp.

"The bites on Xander’s chest? Some of them are new, but some have scarred. Spike’s probably been biting him all along. We’re just lucky that he hasn’t claimed Xander, yet," Angel explained. "If he had, it would already be too late to save him."

"Let’s get the weapons," Buffy said, her voice a mix of pain and resolve.

All Xander could think about was Spike. "Noooooo!" he wailed, and then darkness blanketed him.

Chapter Ten

As Xander gradually returned to consciousness, the drone of soft, indistinct murmurs echoed in his ears, and slowly resolved into Willow and Giles’ voices. His head ached, but he held back his groan, not wanting them to know he was awake yet, though not completely certain why that was. Xander slitted his eyes and surveyed what he could see of his surroundings. He was lying on the hard floor inside the weapons cage. His head pounded when he tried to remember why he would be there, and then everything came rushing back to him. Spike, everyone finding out about the biting, and...oh, God, Buffy! She was going to stake Spike!

It became paramount that he find out where Buffy and Angel were. Tilting his head a little, he saw that no one occupied the lower level of the library with him. That meant Willow and Giles were either in the office, or up in the stacks—probably in the office. There was no sign of Buffy or Angel, and if Angel was here, he’d already know Xander was awake. That meant they’d already left to go after Spike. He had to get out of here and warn Spike! He only hoped it wasn’t too late.

Xander climbed slowly and silently to his knees, his body still not wanting to obey his commands, and pulled on the door. It wouldn’t budge. They’d locked him in! His heart rate accelerated and he became frantic. He hoisted himself to his feet and shook the door hard in an attempt to force it open, but all that did was draw Willow and Giles’ attention, and they came running out of the office.

"Xander, stop that this instant, before you hurt yourself," Giles commanded.

"Let me out of here," Xander growled, shaking the door once more.

"I can’t do that," Giles replied sadly, but firmly.

"Will..."

Willow turned her face away from him, but her eyes darted back. "It’s for your own good, Xander," she whispered.

"They’re going to kill him!" he yelled. "How can that be for my own good? I need him! I need him! You can’t let them kill him! God damn it! Let me out of here!"

"I am sorry that you’re hurting right now, Xander. I promise you it will fade with time," Giles spoke reassuringly.

"No," he whimpered. "Please, please don’t let them..."

Willow’s face crumpled. Giles noticed and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe you should go home," he suggested. "I know this isn’t easy for you."

Easy for her? Xander thought wildly. What about him? He was the one stuck in a cage while they went off to stake his lover! Besides, Willow couldn’t leave, she was obviously the weak link here. Xander stuck his hand through the cage, imploring Willow with his eyes. She looked like she would relent, but then her shoulders straightened as she stiffened her resolve.

Crap! Xander thought, and then inspiration struck. He gasped in pain, and doubled over. "Oh, God," he whimpered. "My stomach." He fell to the floor and rolled himself into a ball, rocking and moaning.

"Oh, Giles," Willow said, full of compassion. "Do you think he’s already started going through withdrawal?" she asked worriedly.

"I suppose it is possible," Giles replied dubiously, "though highly unlikely if he was just bitten this afternoon. It could be psychological..."

"Can we at least give him some aspirin for the pain, or something?" she asked.

"Yes, I guess we could," Giles said. "I’ll go get it. Don’t go near the cage," he warned, and then turned to leave.

Interfering old busy body! Xander raged. Okay, so that didn’t get him out. What else? Come on, think! Rolling away from Willow, Xander stuck his finger down his throat and gagged, but refused to stop until he had thrown up.

"Oh, God, Giles, he’s throwing up!" Willow cried. "He’s really sick. We have to help him!"

And just as he’d hoped, Willow’s compassionate side took over, and she moved to the cage and unlocked the door. Xander jumped to his feet and pulled the door open, causing Willow to lose her balance. He dragged her into the cage.

"Sorry, Will," he said, "but I have to save Spike. I love you." He quickly locked her in the cage and raced out of the library, wiping his hand and mouth off on the cleaning rag he’d grabbed off the floor of the weapon’s cage, and then dropping it as he ran. Behind him he could hear Willow yelling for Giles.

***

Xander briefly hesitated when he reached the sidewalk. How was he going to get to the mansion? It would take him twenty minutes to cycle out, but Spike might not have twenty minutes. He didn’t know how long he’d been out, and how much of a head start Buffy and Angel had on him. What was he going to do?

He noticed a car idling at the curb, probably a parent there to pick their child up from practice. The fog of uncertainly lifted, and Xander’s purpose became clear. He needed to get to Spike, no matter what. He strode over to the car, pulling his ripped shirt closed, and knocked on the window. The man inside the car lowered the window a couple inches.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Are you Bob’s dad?" Xander asked, his voice dripping with concern and the need for haste. "Someone saw me leaving and told me to find Bob’s dad, he’s been hurt, or something."

"You mean Billy?" the father asked worriedly.

Xander hid his surprise. "Uh, yeah! That was it, Billy..."

He stepped back as the man hurriedly turned the car off and pushed the door open. As he proceeded to rush past him, Xander grabbed the keys out of the distraught father’s hand and gave him a shove, then climbed into the car and locked the doors. He struggled to stick the key into the ignition with shaking hand, and only then remembered that he didn’t know how to drive. Oh, well, he shrugged, trying to ignore the man pounding on the window, he’d seen other people drive, that would have to be enough.

Xander started the car, shifted into ‘drive’, and then stepped on the gas, peeling away from the curb in a cloud of smoke and the smell of burning rubber. By the time he got to the mansion, missing the turn to the driveway and having to get out and hoof it back rather than attempting reverse, Xander had run three stop signs, barely missing a pedestrian at one of them, and possibly given himself whiplash jerking to a stop at the other two due to on-coming traffic.

Once the car had lurched to a stop, Xander jumped out without bothering to put it into ‘park’, and as he ran up the driveway, the car slowly began to roll down the road. Xander didn’t pay it any mind, all his attention focused on the mansion and the sounds of combat he could hear clearly from the road. His heart jumped into his throat, but instead of becoming more clumsy, he put on a burst of speed and raced towards the mansion.

The front door was open and, as he got closer, Xander could see the fighting taking place inside. Racing up the porch and through the doorway, Xander found himself in the thick of the battle. Adrenaline was rushing through his body, and he roughly pushed one vamp aside as he urgently scoured the room for Spike. Angel was fighting a group of four vamps, Drusilla stood halfway up the stairs, swaying to some music only she could hear, and—Xander’s breath caught—Buffy was fighting Spike!

Xander sped through the chaos, intent on keeping Buffy from staking Spike, or Spike from killing Buffy. Before he could reach them, Buffy gained a slight advantage, and her stake arm moved in for the fatal blow.

"No! Buf-fy!" Xander screamed, trying to make himself heard over the raging battle.

Buffy’s stab went wide, striking Spike’s shoulder instead of his heart, and she glanced over at Xander in annoyance. "What are you doing here, Xander?" she yelled as she pulled the stake out and prepared once more to drive it home.

Spike took advantage of her momentary distraction and shoved her away from him. Xander rushed up to Spike, unaware that Angel had fought free of the vamps he was battling and saw Spike toss Buffy aside. Just before he reached Spike, Angel threw the stake he was holding towards the blond vampire. Xander reached Spike and pulled the vampire to him just moments before the stake arrived.

"Spike...!" he cried, happy to have gotten to the blond before he was dust, but the cry was cut off by a gasp of pain as the stake embedded itself in his back. "Ow," he said, his eyes glazing over in pain and confusion.

"Pup, what in Hell are you doing here?" Spike asked, his arms going around Xander, his hand finding the stake in his back.

"N-needed to w-warn you," Xander said. "Th-they know..." His legs gave out, and only Spike’s arms kept him upright.

***

Spike looked over Xander’s shoulder at the continued fighting. Suddenly it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except the boy in his arms.

"Knock it the Hell off!" he yelled. "Everyone get out!" He turned his attention back to Xander. "Xan, don’t you bloody die on me, pup..."

"Sorry, Spike," Xander said, his fingers scrabbling for purchase in the vampire’s duster even as his eyelids fell shut.

"Oh, God, Xander," Buffy said, horrified. "What... How..."

"I saw Spike going for you," Angel explained. "I never saw Xander..."

"He needs a hospital," Spike said. No one moved. "He’s not dead, yet!" he yelled. "Get him to a bloody hospital!" He lifted Xander and held him out to Buffy.

"I’ll carry him," Angel said, taking Xander into his arms and speeding towards the front door.

Buffy turned to follow him, then looked back at Spike. "This isn’t over," she threatened, and then ran out after Angel and Xander. Outside he heard the additional voices of the redhead and the Slayer’s Watcher raised in concern when they saw Xander’s injured body, and then everything was silent.

It better not be, Spike thought as he dropped to his knees and stared at the blood on his hands. It bloody well better not be over. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. The boy was his, was going to be his forever after he claimed him, and now he was hurt, badly. He shouldn’t have played his stupid game, making Xander come to him and beg. He should have taken the boy. Taken him and claimed him, and then gotten the Hell out of Sunnydale.

"Spike?" Dru softly called his name.

"Dru?" He reached for her.

Drusilla knelt beside him and pulled him into her arms, rocking and crooning, "It’ll be all right, my Spike. It’ll be all right."

***

Spike was concealed in the shadows outside the hospital when Angel and the rest of Xander’s friends left. He watched as the humans climbed into the Watcher’s car and drove away, and then waited for Angel to find him. It didn’t take long.

"What are you doing here?" the dark vampire asked.

"How is he?" Spike asked, ignoring Angel’s question.

Angel sighed. Odd, Spike thought, since he didn’t breathe. "He’s alive."

"But?"

"His chances aren’t good. He lost a lot of blood, and the stake...the stake punctured a lung and severed blood vessels close to the heart...I didn’t catch much of the lingo..."

"What are his chances?" Spike asked.

Angel hesitated.

"What are his chances, Angelus?" he repeated.

"Thirty percent," Angel replied.

Spike’s stomach heaved, his chest constricted. "You’ve seen people die," he said. "Hell, you’ve killed them. Will he make it through the night?"

Angel didn’t answer right away, but Spike didn’t rush him this time.

"No," he finally said.

Spike pressed his lips together and glanced away to hide his reaction from Angelus. He didn’t want that wanker seeing his pain.

"Get out of town, Spike. Take Dru and leave. Tonight. If you stay, Buffy won’t rest until you’re dust," Angel warned.

Spike pursed his lips, and then nodded. He turned and walked away, heading towards the mansion. When he was out of sight of Angelus, and out of sensing range, he slipped into the park where he had hidden his car. He waited for a couple minutes to make sure that Angelus had left, and then drove out of the park and down the road, parking on the street in front of the hospital.

Spike entered the hospital with a purposeful stride and followed the signs to the ICU, where he presumed a dying Xander was being held. He silently slipped into the critical care area and read the names on the wall. When he was confronted with a nurse who had just stepped out of one of the rooms, he quickly covered her mouth and pushed her back inside. He didn’t have time to drain her, so he snapped her neck and dropped her body to the floor on the other side of the occupied bed, careful to make no sound.

When he found Xander, he was shocked by the boy’s appearance—pale and fragile. He entered the room on silent feet, with the stealth and grace of a panther. The machines beeping around Xander were too loud to his sensitive ears, and the boy’s heartbeat much too sluggish. He leaned over the bed and looked at Xander’s wan face as he reached for the brunette’s cool and clammy hand.

Xander’s eyelids fluttered, and then slowly drifted open. The corners of his lips turned up in a parody of his usual goofy grin. "Spi—," he said.

"Shh, don’t talk, pup," Spike said, placing his finger gently against dry lips.

Xander, as usual, didn’t listen to him. "Sor—," he began.

Spike silenced him again. "Not your fault, pup," he said.

"Buf—follo—," he said, continuing to try and speak despite Spike’s admonition not to.

Spike couldn’t take it any longer. He kissed Xander to shut him up, and because he was already missing the taste of him.

"Love you," he whispered against paper-thin lips.

He watched them twitch. "Know—," Xander said. He tried to lift his hand to Spike’s face. Spike saw him struggling and took the hand, pressing Xander’s palm against his cheek. "Leave—," he said.

Spike swallowed hard. "You want me to leave, pup?" he asked.

Xander rolled his head in a negative gesture. "No—" he said. "Me—" He struggled to speak. "Don—wan—die—here," he finally got out.

"You-you’re not gonna die, pup," Spike lied.

Xander’s expression softened. "U-used—lie—be-better," he said, his eyes searching Spike’s face.

"You wanna leave this place?" Spike asked, his decision made.

Xander nodded hopefully. Spike placed Xander’s hand on the bed, and walked over to the window. With a few well-placed punches, he knocked it out of the frame to land softly on the grass below. He returned to Xander’s side, pulled the monitoring pads off his chest and the I.V. out of his arm, then wrapped the blankets around him and picked him up. He moved back to the window with his too-light burden, and looked down at Xander’s face.

"Wanna fly?" he asked with a grin.

Xander nodded and attempted to grin in return.

Spike tightened his hold on the boy, jumped up onto the window sill, and then leaped out. He landed lightly on his feet and carried the boy around the hospital to his car. Spike drove to the mansion to pack up his meager belongings and tell Dru they were all leaving. He carried Xander to the bedroom they had used, wanting to turn him before they left, and to do it in a spot that was familiar to them both.

Xander looked around the room and smiled. "Die...here," he said.

"Yeah, pup," Spike said, laying down beside him. "Love you," he said, kissing Xander one last time, and then morphing. Xander shivered, and offered acceptance in his facial expression in lieu of difficult words.

Spike tilted Xander’s head and lowered his face to the boy’s neck. He licked the old bite marks, marks that hadn’t been revisited since Xander started coming to him at the mansion, and then sank his fangs into them and sucked. Xander’s blood filled his mouth, and the normally sweet ambrosia tasted bitter.

Spike drank until Xander’s heartbeat was nearly silent, then slit his wrist and offered it to Xander. The boy looked at him as if he hadn’t expected this, as if he thought Spike was merely easing his way to death’s door.

"Need you, pup," Spike said, and Xander began to drink.

Chapter Eleven

6 months later

Xander’s return to Sunnydale was as uneventful as his departure, but it didn’t go unheralded. He parked the car he had stolen for the drive—a little bit of irony in that, he thought—and got out. He looked around him, his eyes narrowed. It wouldn’t be long until they knew he was back. Xander strode around the car, across the sidewalk, and over the small strip of grass—his expression resolute, his long, black coat billowing behind him, and nimbly jumped the fence surrounding Sunnydale’s most popular cemetery.

He walked among the gravestones, finally finding a tomb upon which to sit and wait for Angel and Buffy’s arrival. It wasn’t a long wait, but when Angel arrived he was alone.

"Xander? What are you doing here?" Angel asked.

Xander turned his head to watch Angel’s approach. "Where’s Buffy?" he asked.

"She’s not here," Angel replied. "Just me, I’m afraid."

Xander nodded. "Thought you and the Slayer would be out...slaying," he said. "But that’s all right, you’ll do."

"Where’s Spike?" Angel asked, looking around as if he thought he might spot the other vampire.

"Still in Albuquerque, I presume," Xander said. "He’s got a nice following there, set himself up as Master. Partly in thanks to yours truly," he added facetiously.

"Are you here for a visit?" Angel asked warily, obviously becoming suspicious at Xander’s strange mood.

"Not exactly," Xander said, heaving a deep sigh as he looked around. "I came to see you. Granddad." He locked eyes with Angel. "I figured I could thank you for everything you’ve done for me, and end it, where it all began," he said with overdone dramatic flair.

"End what?" Angel asked, confused.

"My miserable existence," Xander replied, hopping off the tomb. He spread his arms, exposing his chest. "Time for you to keep that promise you made Xander."

"Xander..."

"Don’t call me that!" Xander snapped, dropping his arms.

"Aren’t you Xander?" Angel asked.

"You know I’m not," Xander replied. "We all know I’m not. I’ve got his memories, but I’m just the demon that inhabits his body." He waited a beat. "Look," he said, "if you don’t have a stake on you, I’ve got one you can borrow." He pulled a stake out of his jacket pocket and tossed it to Angel. "In fact," he said, "I made it special for this occasion. Even carved your name on it. You can keep it when we’re done. Kinda like a memento," he offered sarcastically.

"I’m not really looking forward to Spike’s reaction when he finds out I killed his only childe," Angel drawled as he studied the stake.

"Trust me, that won’t be an issue," Xander said.

Angel raised his eyebrows. "Not the impression I got six months ago," he responded.

Xander’s eyes narrowed dangerously. "Impressions can be deceiving. Spike doesn’t want me around," he growled, "because he *wants* the boy you killed."

Angel’s expression turned to one of grief, and then he shook it away. "I’m sorry about that, Xander..."

Xander waved his concern away. "Not Xander, remember? At least, not that Xander. Not the right Xander." After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he asked, "Look, can we just get on with this?"

"Why do you think Spike doesn’t want you?" Angel asked. "You’re his childe, and the sire-childe bond is very strong..."

"Yeah, I know all about it. In theory, anyway. I read about it...well, Xander read about it. Haven’t seen it in practice so much," he added, biting his lip to keep from crying.

Damn him! This wasn’t supposed to be so difficult. All the bastard had to do was shove the damned stake through his chest! He gestured towards the stake Angel held. "You out of practice, or something? I mean, I could always visit the Slayer. Xander didn’t want her to have to do it, but I don’t care if she has to stake her best friend’s body and watch it disintegrate to..."

"That won’t be necessary," Angel said, his face tightening at the mention of Buffy’s name.

"Good," Xander said. "Trouble in paradise?" he couldn’t help asking.

"Buffy and I aren’t..."

"Seeing each other?"

"...friends, anymore," Angel finished.

"Wow," Xander said, raising his eyebrows. "What could have happened to break the two of you up?" he asked rhetorically, and then had a thought. "Don’t tell me she blamed you for this?" He pointed at himself.

"Not exactly," Angel replied.

"Then what?" Xander asked with morbid curiosity.

Angel sighed. "Buffy didn’t take it too well when I took Dru in."

Xander grinned. "Drusilla is living with you?"

"Well, technically, I’m living with her," Angel said. "The apartment would have been too small for Dru and her tea parties, so I moved into the mansion to take care of her."

"Well," Xander said with a little laugh, "isn’t that special?"

"Can we get back to you now?" Angel asked, obviously uncomfortable with this line of questioning.

"Absolutely!" Xander said, standing up straight and holding his arms back out to his sides. "Try and hit the heart on the first attempt, ‘kay?"

"You still haven’t convinced me that Spike won’t come seeking revenge," Angel said.

Xander slumped, and sighed dramatically. "Oh, for Hell’s sake! What? You want the whole tawdry story? Well, here it is, so listen close, ‘cause I won’t be repeating it. I’m not Xander. Not the Xander he wants. You know, the warm, living, breathing version, not the undead demon version."

Angel started to interrupt, but Xander held his hand up to forestall him.

"I had all Xander’s memories, but none of his...goodness," Xander said. "I knew how much Xander’s death hurt Spike, because I could remember it, even though it wasn’t me who was really there. So I tried to be like him. I acted goofy and happy and wore bright shirts and baggy pants. I looked like a freak!" He looked down at himself dressed in black, and then over at Angel. "Hell, I’m still a freak," he muttered.

"Anyway," he continued, "that didn’t work. I gave it some thought, and realized that Spike had been corrupting Xander’s goodness, so I figured, maybe he didn’t want goody-Xander, but the Xander he was turning into. I fought harder and killed more than any minion in the clan, helping Spike consolidate his position as the Master of Albuquerque, but that didn’t work either."

"Xander..."

"Do you *smell* him on me?" Xander yelled.

Angel studied him, and then sniffed the air. "No," he said, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Don’t you think you should?" Xander asked. "You want to know how I know he won’t miss me? Because he hasn’t touched me since the night he turned me. Not for sex, not even a pat on the back, and most especially not to share sire’s blood." Xander angrily wiped a tear away. "Now. If you don’t mind, I’m on kind of a tight schedule here," he said. "I’d like to get this done before midnight."

"Why?" Angel asked.

"Because today is Xander’s birthday. Fitting, don’t you think?"

"Xander...," Angel tried again.

"Look," Xander said, holding his hand up. "I’ll make it easy for you." He flicked his wrist and a stake shot towards Angel, slicing his arm as the dark vampire lunged out of its path. "Kill me, or I’ll kill you," Xander said, plucking another stake out of his pocket and attacking.

Angel defended himself from Xander’s assault, but Xander could tell that he wasn’t putting all his effort into the fight.

"Kill me!" he yelled. "You promised! Hell, can’t you even do this right?" he taunted. "Damned vampires with souls," he muttered derisively, and redoubled his efforts. He flicked his wrist and sent a second stake hurtling through the air, and then reached into his boot and drew a knife that he threw at the other vampire, forcing Angel to go on the offensive. "There ya go!" Xander shouted encouragement.

Finally Angel had Xander pinned to a tree, his stake hovering over the younger vampire’s chest. "Do it!" Xander hissed.

"No! Angelus, don’t!" Spike yelled as he raced across the cemetery towards them.

"Kill me!" Xander yelled, attempting to free himself from Angel’s hold so he could impale himself on the stake.

"Xander, please...," Spike began.

"Don’t call me that!" Xander ground out, turning flashing eyes on Spike.

"Why not?" Spike asked.

"Because that’s not who you see when you look at me," Xander replied. "You see the demon that replaced your precious human boy." He turned to Angel. "Finish it!"

"No!" Spike countermanded.

Xander turned on him. "Why not?" he asked angrily. "Then you won’t have to look at me and wish I was him, and I won’t have to see the disappointment in your eyes...every..." He swallowed hard. "...single time—when it’s not."

"That’s...Xander that’s not..."

Xander turned his face away, ignoring Spike’s entreaty. Spike angrily shoved Angel away from him, and Xander took the opportunity to leap towards the stake Angel still held. Spike growled and batted the stake away, and then slammed Xander back into the tree.

"I don’t hate you," Spike snarled. "I hate...I hate that I *do* want you, even though you’re not... It feels like I’m betraying him," he explained haltingly.

Xander snorted. "I don’t believe you," he said.

Spike backhanded him. "Don’t disrespect me, Childe," he said.

Xander licked the blood off his split lip, and grinned bitterly. "That word is meaningless for us," he said. "I’m nothing more than a meal you decided to pick up one night, then turned into a minion and discarded."

Spike slammed him into the tree again. "He wasn’t just a meal!"

Xander looked at him knowingly. "And he’s not me. Why don’t you just let Angel finish what you’ve always wanted to do, but didn’t have the guts for?" he asked.

Spike looked at him incredulously. "You think I wanted to dust you?" he asked.

"You couldn’t even bring yourself to look at me half the time, much less touch me. You didn’t even want to...bite me," Xander responded angrily to cover the hurt he felt. "What was I supposed to think?"

***

Spike pushed Xander into the tree with his body, grabbed his face with both hands, and forced his head to the side. He pressed his mouth against Xander’s ear and hissed, "You thought wrong, Xander."

The blond vampire lowered his lips to Xander’s neck. He licked and sucked at the old bite mark that hadn’t been touched by him since the night he’d turned the boy, and Xander shivered at the contact. He morphed, and rubbed his ridges over the bite. Xander groaned. Spike lifted his head and looked into Xander’s brown eyes-turned-amber.

"Never should’ve waited," he whispered, and then lowered his mouth to Xander’s neck. "My Childe," he stated, just before sinking his fangs into his childe’s flesh and drinking. As he drew on Xander’s blood, the boy whimpered. He sucked until Xander was too weak to stand without his help, and then pulled back and offered his own neck. Xander morphed and stared at him hungrily, but didn’t make a move towards him.

"Drink from me, Childe," Spike said. "Taste my blood. Take me into yourself as I have taken you into me..."

At those words, Xander dove for Spike’s neck with a strangled, "Sire!" Spike moaned, and ground his groin into Xander’s as his childe drank from him.

When he felt that Xander had taken enough, he commanded, "Enough." Xander pulled back and looked at him, eyes glassy, high off the taste of sire’s blood. Spike couldn’t resist leaning in and licking a drop of blood off Xander’s lip, and then kissing him. Xander groaned into his mouth and kissed Spike back as his arms went around the older vampire. Both were moaning and grunting as they thrust their hips together.

"Maybe you should finish this somewhere else," Angel suggested, breaking the mood.

"Sod off!" Spike pulled back long enough to say, and then latched his lips back on to Xander’s.

"There’s plenty of room back at the mansion for this," Angel continued. "Besides, it’ll really be a mood-killer if Buffy comes along and finds you. She’s still a little pissed about you stealing Xander from the hospital."

Spike reluctantly pulled back. "We’ll head back to Albuquerque," he told Xander. "Find a nice spot along the way to finish this," he added in a promising tone. Xander just nodded compliantly.

"No way!" Angel said. "There is no way I’m letting you leave Sunnydale without seeing Dru!"

"Dru’s still here?" Spike asked mockingly. "Thought she’d have left town when she couldn’t find her ‘Daddy’."

Xander snickered. "Angel’s living in the mansion with Dru," he informed Spike.

"‘S that right?" Spike asked, amused, and turned to look at Angel. "You taking good care of Dru, Angelus?" he asked mockingly. "Or should I ask if Dru’s taking good care of you?"

"Shut up, Spike," Angel said, "and let’s go." He turned to begin the walk back to the mansion.

"I’ll drive," Spike said.

"Oh, God," Angel groaned, and then gave in ungraciously. "Fine."

The three vampires walked out of the cemetery and over to Spike’s car, which was parked haphazardly in the road. Spike opened the driver’s side door and Xander slid in. Spike got in after him, and Angel climbed in the passenger side so that the three of them were squeezed into the front seat.

"What about Xander’s car?" Angel asked.

"Xander doesn’t have a car," Spike replied absently.

Angel waited a beat. "Then how did he get here?" he asked.

Xander glanced at Spike guiltily. "I stole a car," he replied.

Spike grinned. "Good boy! What about the owner?"

Xander paused again. "I was hungry," he admitted.

"Oh, shit," Angel swore. "I hope you at least dropped the body wherever you killed him and weren’t stupid enough to stick him in the trunk and bring him to Sunnydale."

Xander looked guiltier. "It’s not like I planned on staying long," he softly reminded Angel.

"Did you at least remember to clean out his wallet?" Spike asked.

"Spike!" Angel groaned, and then grabbed for purchase as Spike pulled away.

A couple minutes later, Xander whispered to Spike, "I’m hungry."

"I thought you ate?" Spike asked, and then took in the hopeful look on Xander’s face. "In the back," he said. "Angel, reach back there and grab Xander something to eat."

Angel twisted around and looked into the backseat. "Where?" he asked, taking in the debris filling the back seat.

"Paper bag on the seat," Spike replied.

"Just tell me it’s not body parts," Angel muttered as he stretched to reach the bag. He turned back around and set the bag on his lap, then opened it and peered in. "You have got to be kidding me!" he said.

"What?" Xander asked as he reached into the bag and pulled out a Twinkie™. "Good stuff," he said, waving the sponge cake at Angel, and then opening the package and taking a big bite. "Mmm, thanks, Spike," he said with his mouth full.

"Welcome, pup," Spike said, placing his hand on Xander’s knee and rubbing it. "Don’t talk with your mouth full," he added automatically.

"Don’t call me ‘pup’," Xander retorted.

What a fool he’d been all these months, Spike thought. He had turned Xander so he wouldn’t lose him, and had nearly lost him anyway, due to his own stupidity. What had he been thinking? Making Xander strong enough to be a childe, and then not claiming him had been beyond lunacy. He had seen how hard Xander was trying to be what he thought Spike wanted. How could the boy have known he already was exactly what Spike had always wanted, a childe of his own?

He couldn’t have, and Spike hadn’t told him, showed him, because he feared that it would be a betrayal of the relationship he was forming with the human boy whom he had intended to claim as his own. Well, that ended tonight. This Xander was his, in every way, and he would make sure the boy knew it. Spike tuned back into the conversation to hear Xander telling Angel, "They’re good, you should try one," as he opened another Twinkie™ and shoved it into his mouth.

When Spike parked the car in the driveway outside the mansion, Xander was licking the cream off his lips. Spike grabbed his head and pulled him close, then licked the remaining cream off for him. "Mmm, you’re right," he said. "That was good." Xander just stared back at him with a dazed expression. Spike laughed happily and got out of the car. "Come on, pup. Let’s go see Dru."

Spike and Xander followed Angel into the mansion, where Drusilla was waiting for them.

"Spike!" she cried, and flew into his arms. Spike swung her around and she giggled. When he put her down, she turned to Xander. "Hello, puppy," she said, placing a formal kiss on his cheek. "The stars told me you were coming. I told you everything would work out for the best." Dru stepped back and clapped her hands. "Your room is ready," she said. "And I’ve got tea..."

"We’d love to, Dru," Spike interrupted, "but I’ve got a boy needs more instruction on the sire-childe relationship." He smirked as Xander’s eyes widened. "Maybe we can do tea tomorrow, yeah?"

"All right, Spike. Daddy and I will have tea," she said agreeably, and Angel groaned.

"Come on, pup," Spike said as he turned away and headed towards the staircase.

Xander looked like he was going to argue Spike’s use of the nickname, then changed his mind and raced after him.

Chapter Twelve

The next evening, before they began the long drive back to Albuquerque, Xander convinced Spike to stroll through Sunnydale with him so he could take one last look at the town his human counterpart had been born and grown up in. Spike argued that it was dangerous because of the chances of running into the Slayer, who was not pleased that Spike had stolen Xander from her.

"Don’t worry about Buffy," Angel said.

Spike looked at him suspiciously. "Pup told me..."

"Spi-i-i-ke," Xander whined in protest of the nickname. Spike just smirked at him before continuing.

"...that you and the Slayer weren’t friends anymore."

"We’re not," Angel admitted. "But we’ve got a ...truce."

"A truce?" Spike sneered.

Angel ignored the gibe.

"What kind of truce?" Spike asked, unable to resist the temptation to bait Angel.

"We don’t kill humans, and she leaves us alone," Angel said. "And if a murderer or rapist happens to be found dead with puncture wounds in his neck, she lets it slide."

"Big of her," Spike drawled sarcastically. "So, how do you live?"

"Animal blood," Drusilla hissed.

"I know why Soulboy does it," Xander said to Dru, grinning at Angel’s look of irritation, "but why do you?"

Drusilla looked coyly at Angel from beneath her lashes. "Daddy says I must," she purred.

"Ahh, like that, is it?" Spike teased with a suggestive lift of his eyebrow.

"Shut up, Spike," Angel replied.

"Can we go, too, Daddy?" Drusilla asked, slipping her arm through Angel’s.

"Go where, princess?" Angel asked.

"For a walk with Spike and his puppy," she replied dreamily.

"Would you people stop calling me a puppy!" Xander said, annoyed.

"Let’s go," Spike said, grabbing Xander’s arm and dragging him towards the door. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get back home. Pup."

"Spike!"

They walked through the town, taking notice of the spots Xander remembered—the high school, The Bronze, the park, the cemeteries, Willow’s house. On their way back to the mansion, they ran into Buffy. Before they spotted her, Xander sensed her.

"What’s that?" he asked uneasily.

Spike was also scenting the air. "Slayer," he growled.

Buffy stepped onto the sidewalk a dozen yards ahead of them, and Drusilla hissed like a cat sprayed with water. "Angel," Buffy greeted the dark vampire, her tone conveying her obvious hurt, anger, and disgust that Angel had chosen Drusilla over her.

"Buffy," Angel returned the greeting evenly.

"Know anything about a body found locked in the trunk of a car?" she asked. "New Mexico license plates." When they got close enough for Buffy to recognize Spike, she stiffened. "Spike," she snarled, adjusting her grip on the stake she held in her hand. "What are you doing back in Sunnydale? I don’t suppose *you* know anything about the body?"

"Got my own car," he replied, not answering the question. "And I’m here because pup wanted to visit the place where he grew up one last time," he replied casually.

Buffy turned her attention to his boy, and Spike could see the wheels turning in her head. "X-Xander?" she asked hopefully.

"In the undead flesh," Xander quipped, and Buffy’s features hardened.

"He turned you," she spat.

"He saved me," Xander replied, straightening his shoulders and moving closer to Spike.

"No," Buffy denied, shaking her head.

"Yeah, after you and Soulboy here killed me." Xander turned to Angel. "No hard feelings, by the way," he said.

"Gee, thanks," Angel responded sarcastically.

"You’d have been safe if you’d just stayed in the library!" Buffy yelled.

"Yeah, that was gonna happen," Xander retorted. "You went off to kill my lover! What? You thought maybe I’d just sit there and let you?" he asked.

"We were your friends, Xander. We were doing what was best for you..."

"According to you."

"He’s a vampire. He didn’t love you," Buffy insisted. "He didn’t deserve..."

"Even if you’re right, it wouldn’t matter, because *I* loved him. But you’re wrong. He loved your human friend," Xander replied, making the differentiation between himself and the human boy clear. "And I know that better than anyone. You have any idea what it’s like being jealous of yourself?" he asked emotionally.

"Pup," Spike whispered.

"It’s okay," Xander said, turning to Spike, and running his hand over the older vampire’s chest soothingly. "I know you love me, too."

Spike pulled Xander to him and embraced him. "Do love you, pup," he whispered.

"I know," Xander said with a smile. "Really, I do. Love you, too...Sire," he said, and then leaned in to kiss him.

Buffy screamed, and it was filled with anger, fear, and loss. Over Xander’s shoulder, Spike saw Buffy move, and then Xander was looking at him with surprise in his eyes.

"Ow," he whimpered. "Spike?" he called out fearfully, and then dissolved to dust in Spike’s arms.

"Nooooooo!" Spike screamed as he watched Xander’s remains drift away on the night air.

***

Spike sat up with a jerk, coming instantly and painfully awake with the nightmare still fresh in his mind, the agony of Xander’s loss too fresh in his heart. He reached out frantically and found Xander’s back. The boy, his childe, was lying in the bed beside him on his stomach.

"Wassa matter?" Xander slurred sleepily, coming partially awake at Spike’s actions.

"Nothin’, pup," Spike said, laying back down beside Xander on his side so he could continue to look at the boy. "Go back to sleep."

"‘Kay," Xander mumbled.

Spike softly rubbed Xander’s back as he watched the boy sleep, reassuring himself that he was still there with him, still alive—undead. He ran his fingers through dark brown hair that was getting long, and he debated cutting it, or making Xander grow it longer, then pictured the boy with long hair he could use like reins, holding tight to handfuls of hair as he fucked Xander’s face. Spike grew hard.

He skimmed his hand down Xander’s back and over his ass, squeezing and kneading the tempting mounds of flesh, and then slipping between them to trail fingers along the crack and over the tantalizing pucker he knew awaited him there. Spike massaged the area around Xander’s hole, and slid the tip of his finger inside it. The boy was still slick with Spike’s juices. Spike grew harder.

Xander moaned and pushed back against his finger. "Thought I was s’posed ta go back ta sleep?" he muttered.

"Changed my mind," Spike said as he rolled onto Xander’s back, his erection pressing against the soft globes of the boy’s ass. Xander spread his legs, and Spike maneuvered his hips until his cock head was lined up at the boy’s entrance.

Spike pressed forward as Xander pushed back, and was almost immediately fully seated within the boy. He moaned, and placed kisses along Xander’s shoulders. Spike laid his hands over Xander’s and entwined their fingers.

"You know I love you, yeah, pup?" he asked as he moved his hips, slowly thrusting into Xander.

Xander curled his fingers around Spike’s, and turned his head to look back over his shoulder at the older vampire. He smiled saucily. "You went pretty far towards convincing me of that last night," he said, then wiggled his ass. "But I’m always willing to gather more evidence."

Spike pulled out of Xander, and then slammed back in. Xander grunted, and his eyes lost focus when Spike rammed his prostate. "That a fact?" Spike asked with faked nonchalance.

"S-Spike," Xander whimpered, letting his head fall back down onto the bed, pressing his forehead into the mattress as he clenched Spike’s fingers. "Please..."

"Love you, Xander," Spike said. "My Childe..."

He pistoned into and out of Xander’s ass, fucking him with wild abandon as he sought to convince himself that Xander wasn’t dust. When Xander was keening and writhing beneath him, Spike morphed and sank his fangs into the boy’s shoulder, then drank of him.

Xander screamed as he came, and then Spike roared as his childe’s ambrosial blood and clenching muscles dragged him into oblivion.

***

Spike sat at the table and watched Angel drink his blood out of a mug. He frowned, grimaced. "That smells disgustin'," he opined.

Angel didn’t deign to reply.

"If you think it smells bad, you should taste it," Dru muttered, stirring the blood she’d added what had to be unhealthy doses of cinnamon and nutmeg to.

Spike opened his mouth to ask why she drank it, then remembered his dream and snapped his jaw shut. Just then Xander came bounding into the kitchen.

"Hey," he said in greeting. "Spike, I was thinking, how about a walk through Sunnydale before we leave? You know, for old time’s sake."

If Spike’s heart beat, it would have stopped then.

"I don’t think that’s a good idea," Angel spoke up. "It’s too soon after your...disappearance. I don’t think Buffy would handle seeing your vampire self at this stage."

Xander looked hopefully at Spike.

"The wanker’s right, pup," he said with finality, ignoring Xander’s pout. "Besides, I want to get on the road so we can get home. Hard telling what those miserable excuses for minions are doing while we’re away."

"Want something to eat before you leave?" Angel asked.

"Sure," Xander said. "Got anything in a pretty, young blonde?"

Drusilla bounced with glee. "Those are my favorites, too!" she announced.

Angel just glared at Xander.

"Nah," Spike said. "We’ll pick up someone on the way out of town."

Angel turned the glare on him. Spike grinned unrepentantly.

***

"Does he make you happy, luv?" Spike asked as he hugged Drusilla goodbye. "He’s treating you right? I have to tell you, pet, I thought you were bollocksed to stay here waiting for him instead of leaving with us."

Drusilla glanced over at Angel, and then back at Spike. "Oh, yes," she whispered with a giggle.

Remembering the dream once more, Spike said, "Enough said, luv."

While Drusilla and Spike were saying goodbye, Xander stood next to Angel, his arms crossed over his chest. Spike thought the two dark vampires looked good standing there like that, then mentally slapped himself and resolved to get Xander out of there as soon as possible.

"So," Xander said, "now that I know what a sire is, I’m wondering why you didn’t tell us you were Spike’s sire? I mean, Spike mentioned it the one time, but you never explained..."

"Would you want people to know you’d sired Spike?" Angel asked.

"Hey!" Spike said as he released Drusilla. "I heard that."

Angel cracked a smile.

"Come here, puppy," Drusilla cooed. "I want to give you a proper goodbye this time." Xander rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything about the nickname as he moved into Drusilla’s embrace. She hugged him and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I’ve got a present for you," she said, and drew Xander across the room.

Spike stood beside Angel and watched Drusilla and Xander, wondering why all the vampires in his life had dark hair.

"You’ll bring Drusilla to visit, now that we’re settled in?" he asked without looking at Angel, though he could feel the other vampire’s dark eyes appraising him.

"That might be arranged," Angel replied.

Spike nodded. "Next November, maybe," he suggested. "I know it’s a while, and you can bring her sooner, if she wants, but mark your calendar for November."

"What’s in November?" Angel asked.

"We’ll have a birthday of sorts to celebrate," Spike said, his eyes never leaving Xander. "And I’m thinking of taking a consort on the anniversary date," he added quietly. He saw Angel start out of the corner of his eye.

"Xander?" his sire asked.

Spike couldn’t hold back the smile. "Yeah," he said, "Xander."

Angel hesitated as he thought about that. "All right," he finally said, and Spike sagged with relief that his sire had given his implicit approval of the union. "Just let us know when and where."

"I’ll give you a call," Spike said.

"I don’t have a phone," Angel replied.

"Dru’s got a cell," Spike informed him.

"She does?"

"‘Course. How do you think she knew that Xander was coming?" Spike asked. At Angel’s embarrassed expression Spike laughed. "You didn’t really think the stars told her, did you?" he mocked. "I called her on the cell and told her to get your ass out there to make sure he didn’t do anything foolish, like take on the Slayer. Didn’t know *you* were gonna try an’ stake ‘im," he added resentfully.

"I wasn’t..." Angel’s brow furrowed. "I thought you didn’t know Dru was still in Sunnydale?"

Spike smirked at him.

"Ready?" Xander interrupted them.

"What’s wrong?" Spike asked when he saw the look on Xander’s face.

"I just think we really need to get going," Xander said.

"Don’t forget your pressie," Drusilla said, handing Xander a shoe box.

Xander forced a fake smile. "Thanks," he said, gingerly taking the box, and then leading the way to the front door.

"What is it?" Spike asked.

"See ya!" Xander said, giving a little wave to Angel and Drusilla before stepping out of the mansion.

"Xander?" Spike asked as he followed Xander to the car.

"Yeah?"

"What’s in the box?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Xander..."

Xander stopped walking and resignedly held the box out. Spike took it from him and opened it, then nearly choked on his laughter.

"Yeah, you laugh," Xander snarled.

"You should be honored, pup," Spike said. "Miss Edith has always been her favorite."

"Yeah, yeah," Xander said, grabbing the box away from Spike. "Let’s get home, I’m suddenly in the mood for a tea party."

Spike groaned. Xander smirked at him.

"Or you can just fuck me again," he offered.

"Now that," Spike said, taking Xander’s hand and leading him to the car, "is an offer I can’t refuse."

~Fin~