~Part: 1~

Cordelia patted down her wet hair as she walked out of the bathroom wearing only a plain black towel. Thankfully the towel was oversized and covered everything and more. Moving in with Angel had been a tough decision but she had made it. She had nowhere else to go unless she was willing to live with Doyle, which was totally out of the question.

With a sigh the brunette dropped onto the couch, making sure that her towel was tightly secured around her body, before searching through a duffle bag that she was sure contained her blow drier. As she pushed through the bag she let her mind wander. The last time she had experienced a shower where the water stayed warm for more than thirty seconds and the walls around her didn’t groan seemed like a lifetime ago. The first few months that she had been in LA had been horrific. Especially since she had lived in “Apartment Buildings: Brought To You By Hell.”

She let gave a silent shout for joy when she had found the blow drier and immediately plugged it into the nearest outlet. She hummed softly as the machine worked its magic on her hair. In minutes her hair had just the right amount of shine and that slight curl that she loved.

Her makeup would be another story though due to the lack of a proper mirror being present. She wasn’t as worried as one would suspect mostly because she had spent the last few months in an apartment where the only mirror had a permanent bloodstain on one side and a large crack through what had been left of it. Fifteen minutes of shuffling and silent bitching and she figured that if anybody saw they wouldn’t be completely disgusted by eyes wrapped in dark circles and taunt, hollow cheeks.

All that was left for her to do was pick out her clothes for the day. She sighed as she surveyed the three duffels placed at the end of the couch and the two suitcases stacked against the wall. All that was left of her once luscious lifestyle was down to five bags.

A promise she had made to herself was what had stopped her from unpacking when Angel had said that she could stay as long as she needed to. She would never let anyone try to help her take care of herself. The only thing she needed Angel for was a job that she could come to every day and a nicely sized paycheck to go along with it.

At the moment she was bunking with him because he wouldn’t let her go back to her apartment but that didn’t mean she was staying. As soon as she found a good place that wouldn’t cost her a fortune she would be gone. Until then, she’d be stuck living out of her suitcases.

Pushing her dreary thoughts aside she dove into the first bag that she knew held a various assortment of suitable work clothing. The first thing she came across was a pair of stretch jeans. They weren’t something she would usually wear to work but they also weren’t something she would have to iron. Pleased with her selection she moved on to find the perfect shirt to go with it.

She was so content on finding her treasure that she didn’t hear the person walking into the room behind her – not that she would have even if she had been listening for him. Angel couldn’t help but smile at the sight she made. Sitting on the couch, her makeup done, hair perfect, jeans on but with a huge black towel for a shirt.

His grin disappeared though, when she moved to pull the towel away without even checking to see if she was alone. He backed up a step and deliberately stepped on the part of the floor that squeaked badly.

Cordelia glanced over her shoulder, screeched and grabbed the towel to cover herself. “Damnit, Angel! Warn a girl before you scare her like that.”

Angel snickered slightly at her remark before continuing on to his previous destination – the kitchen. “Sorry Cordelia, but it’s been a long time since I’ve lived with anyone let alone anyone female. Even if I knew what it was like living with a female, you are one of a kind and I still wouldn’t – don’t know how to act.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” the brunette asked as she carefully pulled her shirt on, being sure not to flash the dark vampire. Her cheeks were burning at the thought of having almost been seen half naked in front of her handsome boss. “Cause if it was, you know… it really is having a hard time showing itself.”

Angel threw a grin over him shoulder before tossing his “dinner” in the microwave. “It was barely dawn an hour ago, why are you up so early?”

“I’ve got a game plan,” Cordelia declared as she sat down with a cup of the coffee that she had made before jumping into the shower. “If I get the office earlier than – well I ever have before – I can work on house searching when I have no Work work to do. I figure, that way, I get work done for you plus some personal work done for myself.”

Angel sighed as he dumped the warm blood into a mug and sat down across from the girl. “Cordy, Doyle offered to ask around for you. He’s got some pretty good connections as far as I’m concerned. Why don’t you let him look for you?”

With a shake of her head the girl stood. “What do you take me for, Angel – one of your cases? I’m not hopeless. I’ll do this on my own even if it kills me. I won’t let you and Doyle take care of me no matter how much you want to or I want to let you.” By the time she was finished, Cordelia was shaking with panic, shame, and anger.

She jumped when Angel’s arms came to hold her around the shoulders. After a moment she relaxed in his embrace and let his silence calm her. When she looked up at him she couldn’t help but wince at the turmoil that rolled through his features.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want you to think that I see you as another hopeless, faceless, customer. I need you. Don’t you think anything other than the fact that if you weren’t here all the paperwork this kind of business takes would be in utter chaos.”

Cordelia smiled through tear-filled eyes then suddenly backed away from him and waved her hands in her face. “No, no, no, no! I can’t cry. I spent to much damn time with the stupid handheld mirror to start crying.”

With a smile and a slight shake of his head at Cordelia’s antics, he sat back down and finished his dinner.

~Part: 2~

Angel glared at the screen in front of him. The latest evil was extremely… slimy. There wasn’t any other word that he could use to describe the demon. He tilted his head to one side in an attempt to make anything else out of the picture that Cordelia had presented him with. Though this angle provided him with was a raised eyebrow from the brunette sitting behind him before she went back to her work.

The Mooragh demon was described to be seven feet tall, three eyes, and extremely racist. It had a knack for using black magic to help it obtain its victims though usually it just used its bulk. It could only be destroyed using a pure iron tool, which had to be put through its middle eye. Getting near it was the hard part because the only time it approached a vampire was when it needed a new toy to play with.

The word out on the street was that the demon had a Master vampire in its possession. Angel hadn’t wanted to go after the demon at first mostly because in killing the demon he would also have to fight a vampire that would most likely be as strong as he if not stronger. The only thing that had convinced him to start hunting the demon was Doyle’s vision. That and the fact that Angel was getting more and more vampire callers about the demon roaming into their territory. Even though rumors said that it already had a vampire they still wanted it destroyed – just in case.

Usually vampires took care of trespassers themselves but not many vampires had the Internet or the smarts to go to an occult bookstore to find out how to kill these things. Finding someone else to do the nitty-gritty had much better appeal.

Now Angel was stuck with trying to figure out where the demon was holding up. So far “sewers” was his only lead. That gave him two choices. Either he did it the hard way and tried to track down the demon by scenting it, which could take days or speak with other vampires in the LA area and find out where the demon had been spotted over the past couple weeks and narrow down his search.

He glanced over his shoulder at Cordelia who was turning the page in the newspaper. He knew that she wasn’t looking for reports on sightings of strange characters. Her mind was set on getting out of his apartment.

He stood. “Cordy, I’m going to call it a night. Are coming?”

Cordelia looked up from her newspaper and smiled weakly. “Yeah, I guess it’s getting late. You going to start tracking the Mooragh tomorrow?”

Angel nodded an affirmative. “First thing I plan on heading into the sewers. Going on what Mirak and Ans have already told me I think I’ll be able to start out somewhere near our demon – if I’m lucky.”

Standing, the brunette gave him what he guessed was supposed to have been a helpful ‘you’ve-got-me-if-you-need-me’ look. She gathered some papers before following him to the elevator. “I hope we get this thing. The last thing this world needs is another racist group.”

~Part: 3~

The silence crammed into the room in a way that people never could. There was nothing for either of the room’s inhabitants to say to each other. The underlying agitation that filled the room made the silence almost destructive. Dark blue and green bruises displayed in the shapes of fingers that brought forth questions that weren’t asked nor would they have been answered if articulated.

Time dragged on and tension grew. The hum of the computer as it was turned on, the clicking of the keyboard once the typing began, the crinkling of the newspaper as the strained, broken silence overcame curious wonder, and the sound of footfalls on linoleum. It was the normal morning routine.

Finally Doyle couldn’t take it any longer. “Are ya gonna tell me wha’s goin’ on then?” He kept his accented voice low as not to startle the girl. “I mean, wi’h the shapes of yer bruises… sometin’ had to’ve ’appened.”

Pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Cordelia watched the skinny, dark haired man from where she stood. She was trembling slightly and her face was tightly drawn. Her lack of makeup revealed dark shadows under both eyes caused, not by fists but loss of sleep, and the hollowness of her cheeks due to her deficiency of an appetite since moving out of her apartment. “It’s… it’s a long story.”

Doyle shrugged. “Don’t got much else ta do wha’ wi’h Angel not bein’ ’round.”

Lost in her memories of the night before the girl didn’t notice the growing worry on Doyle’s face. He truly despised seeing her in such a state.

The sound of the telephone ringing slowly drew the attention of the brunette and she picked it up. Her face was lined with what only could be described as dread as she stated, “Angel Investigation, we help the hopeless.”

Her pause only caused the tension in the room to thicken even more. “Can you describe the demon for me? … Yes, it sounds familiar, could you tell me more about it? …You’re dealing with a Vakh. …Nothing dangerous, we dealt with one not too long ago. …They usually stick to dark and dreary places. Do you have a cellar or basement? … Easily taken care of. If you leave offerings of Telhken grass – …Which we can provide you with if you come by some time today …And a bowl of sour milk out every night for about a week it should move on… Don’t worry they don’t make nests, they’re travelers. …Yours is most likely resting or pregnant those are the only two reasons they stop moving for more than a couple days… You’re welcome. I’ll see you when you come by. …Okay …Okay, bye.”

Cordelia sighed and hung up the phone. The click sounded more like bang of a shotgun and, even before she could remove her fingers from the receiver, it rang again. “Angel Inves– …Angel!”

Her body slumped slightly and she limply handed Doyle the phone before dropping bonelessly into her chair. Her face was blank but her eyes held a deep sorrow that the half demon didn’t dare speak to her about. “Angel, man, where are ya?”

~Part: 4~

“Ah-CHOO!”

“Oh, ya, now I’ve really scared them. Watch out evil creatures of the night, the big bad ‘Ah-Choo’ is out to get you!”

The sound of dragging feet echoed down the long corridor. The magical tinge in the air drew out certain demons but none approached the obviously pissed vampire that was its source. The glow surrounding him almost appeared to act as a halo. They all knew who he was and the fact that now he looked like his namesake they didn’t want to bother him. Many knew what would befall them if they challenged this angelic champion.

“Ah-CHOOY!”

Angel glared into the darkness in the direction that the slight snicker had originated from. He knew that he wouldn’t seek out the pitiful excuse for a demon mostly because he really wasn’t up to being teased about his sneeze. Vampires didn’t sneeze. It came with the not having to breath deal but Angel had always been overly sensitive to the magicks. He had never been able to not breath around it and when he did he sneezed. Since he was the one with a magic-blanket he would be sneezing for a while before his finally got used to it.

“AHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOY!”

Angel shook his head and pushed forward his human mask. Having lost face notified him that there would be no more sneezes.

~Part: 5~

Blue eyes shot open at the sounds that drifted to him from the main chamber. Little other than the sound of clashing claws and the snarling of two battling demons reached him. The stench of the sewer could not mask the smell of the vampire’s blood and the acid that acted as the Mooragh’s life giving liquid. Metal banging against concrete and the roar of a very pissed off vampire gave him the strength to move.

Blue eyes locked on to the form sitting against the wall not far from him. Forcing air into century dead lungs to imitate the human’s sigh he used what little strength that war cry had given him and stood over her. After a moment he realized that the human was a virgin and he sneered softly in the direction of the Mooragh. She had a gash across her brow and strand of drying blood trailed out of it. He forced back the urge to drop the girl and dragged his tongue across the liquid.

Blue eyes dilated, as he tasted his first bit of blood in weeks and virgin’s blood at that. The urge to tear open the girl’s neck and drink till she was dry was stronger than ever. In fact, the urge was so strong that he put her over his shoulder and tore into his own arm, causing beads of dark red blood to trail down his arm from multiple bites. His demon screamed in rage. The abomination of drinking his own cold, dead blood caused his demon to thrash wildly in an attempt to break free of its newly risen cage.

Blue eyes took in the sight of the two still fighting figures as he rounded the outside of the chamber. One was covered in blood not its own and the other was slouched and only on the defense. A grin touched his lips as he watched the fight as it slowly drew to a close. Not paying attention, his foot caught and he noticed the broadsword lay at his feet. The sound of his stumble alerted both demons and now he had two sets of eyes on him, one, bright amber the other misty, blood red. Without a second thought he placed the girl against the wall and grasped the weapon in his good left arm. His right arm hung limply at his side as he walked towards the Mooragh and the vampire.

Blue eyes turned golden as he raised the sword, handing it to the other vampire. With only a second’s hesitation, the vampire took the sword and braced himself as the Mooragh came towards him. At the last moment he drew the sword up and pushed it clean through the hidden third eye that lay beneath grease laden locks. He pushed the sword until the hilt rested against the demon’s forehead. He tilted his head to one side and took a step back. Glowing purple blood poured out of the wound and the Mooragh slumped to the ground.

Blue eyes met astonished brown before it all went black.

~Part: 6~

An eye cracked open and more darkness came into Spike’s field of vision. He took a deep unneeded breath and the scent of his Sire crashed down on him, that and the smell of some kind of flowers. He couldn’t hold back the snicker that escaped from his lips. His amusement didn’t do anything to relieve the twisted nausea of his stomach. His dreams had been quite pleasant but for some reason reliving all those glorious memories of blood and pain caused that white-hot agony to travel across his forehead and then down his spine.

With a tortured moan he sat up fighting the urge to vomit. “The bloody pillock truly is a pouf!” he muttered softly as he ran a hand through his hair. He brought it away and grimaced at the dirt that covered his hand. His eyes sought out a certain item and when he saw his duster draped across a chair in reasonably good shape he sighed in relief. It was about as dirty as the floor of a sewer tunnel but that was fixable.

Standing, he yawned widely and stretched his arms above his head, cracking his back with the motion. Scowling at the soiled blankets he stripped the bed and dumped them on the floor outside bathroom. Intent on having a good, long, hot shower, he shifted through the closet in search for towels and something clean for him to wear until his clothing could be washed or burned and replaced.

It didn’t take long to find a towel but the search for something to wear wasn’t as fortunate. With a soft growl, he exited the washroom and decided to move his search to the rest of the apartment. Upon exiting the washroom he pulled his once black t-shirt over his head. He threw the shirt on top of the blankets and found a door at the end of the hallway. He opened it and found what could only be the laundry room.

Grinning, he swiped a pair of drawstring sweats off the dryer and stalked back to the shower. The hot water on his abused skin was probably the closest thing to heaven he would ever get and he didn’t care in the least. To finally be clean after over a month of scavenging and then two straight weeks in a sewer tunnel was better than eating fresh human blood at the moment.

He reluctantly turned the water off after all the hot water was gone and he had pretty much scrubbed to the bone. His skin still crawled and his hair still felt stringy but at least he didn’t smell bad. Stepping onto the bath mat he noticed the mirror above the sink. He shook his head and just patted himself dry before pulling up the sweats.

~Part: 7~

Cordelia stared at him wide eyed. Distantly she realized that the vampire was babbling trying to convince her about what he had suggested. She figured she hadn’t blinked yet so she better do that and next, she took a breath… not that it did any good. Those four measly little words were stuck and repeating themselves over and over and over and over and well…

“He’s staying with us?” she finally asked and tilted her head to the side briefly. Yeah, she was willing to admit that she was having a blonde moment but all females are allowed to at one point or another. Considering the situation she figured she was allowed – more than allowed, expected.

Silence followed. Angel met her gaze and held it. “Yeah.”

The room felt like it was closing in on her and Cordelia plopped down into the over stuffed chair that Angel kept in his bedroom. She sighed and ran a hand through her long dark hair. “Isn’t he evil or something? Didn’t he recently try to kill you?”

A small grin touched the vampire’s lips. He crouched down in front of the girl and took her hands in his. At first he didn’t speak, he just looked into her eyes. “Yeah, he is evil and yeah he did try to kill me but something happened to him back in Sunnydale. I don’t know why yet but he went back there. Some ‘soldier boys’ captured him and they did something to him. They made it so he can’t kill or hit or do anything remotely evil anymore. That’s why he didn’t fight back while he was with the Mooragh.”

“So he can’t hurt anything?”

Angel shook his head slowly. “Don’t worry about it. He can stay out on the hide-a-bed and we can share my bed; it’s got room enough for at least three anyways.” He sighed and pulled the girl into his arms. “He’s my Childe, Cordy, I can’t turn him away. I couldn’t even if I had wanted to. Not now or ever.”

Cordelia plucked at a loose thread on Angel’s shirt. She cuddled into his chest and whispered, “So how long will we have to act like we’re lovers?”

Complete unprepared for the question, Angel looked into the girl’s eyes. He saw the uncertainty there but deeper than that he saw lust and maybe even love. Slowly, so as not to startle her, he brought his lips to hers. The kiss barely began before he pulled back and looked into her eyes again. “We can stop acting at any time.”

The desire that flared up in her eyes had him gasping and he moved to kiss her again. At first he kept the kisses short and almost chaste as he gauged just how much she wanted him. Silently, he stood and guided her to the bed, gently laying her down.

He met her with a soft kiss and finally he couldn’t take it anymore and let his tongue drag across her top lip and lightly bit her bottom lip while his left hand found one of her breasts. When his hand came into contact she gasped and his tongue shot forward. With a moan, his tongue tangled with hers and passion flared up.

Desperate for more, Angel nudged her legs apart and rested his thigh between them. His hands began to pull at the buttons of her blouse but soon he gave up and tore his lips from hers. “How much do you like this blouse?” he asked in a husky voice.

A whimper and then, “Lot less than I like the feel of your hands on me.”

Angel growled, then the sound of buttons flying across the room and hitting the walls reached the brunet’s ears. He was greeted with pale skin and a silky black bra. With a feral grin he raised an eyebrow at the brunette before swooping down and capturing one of those silk covered mounds between his lips. He licked and sucked and hummed against her skin while his hands went to work at unhooking it at the back. Above him, Cordelia was reduced to whimpering and moaning.

Finally he pulled the brunette up and pulled off her shirt and bra in a single movement. Placing her back down, he just looked at her. When she let out a sound of frustration his lips again found her left breast. He rolled the nipple between his teeth while his hand crushed and fondled her right one. After a few minutes he switched and by the time he was finished he had her babbling uncontrollably.

Moving down he paid special attention to her navel. He licked and kissed and nibbled his way across her stomach distracting her with his mouth as his hands opened the button of her jeans and dragged down the zipper. As he slowly tugged off her jeans and panties he touched, kissed licked and nipped at every bit of skin that he uncovered.

By the time her had her completely nude she was a trembling mess begging him to touch her where she needed it most. Angel planned to, but first he quickly undressed himself. He stood over her and looked at her quivering form and stroked himself a few times before kneeling between her knees and leaning toward her already wet opening.

Cordelia cried out when Angel first touched her clit. He didn’t really touch it; he just dragged his tongue along her weeping hole and up that sensitive bundle of nerves. She had never felt such strong sensation and then he thrust a finger into her without warning.

“Oh God, Angel!” she screamed and began to rock against his finger and tongue. Soon he had three fingers inside of her and she couldn’t stop babbling, begging him for the bliss that she knew was just out of her reach. He brought her to the edge again and again and when he finally let her fall over she saw stars.

Before she had a chance bathe in the sensations of it all he was inside her. He set up a strong and steady pace and before she knew it, she was at the edge again. She moaned and whimpered, encouraging him to go faster and faster. When she went over the edge again he was there with her howling her name as she moaned his.

They spent many minutes just holding each other until Angel slowly pulled out of her body and dragged the blanket to cover them as they spooned against one another. He felt the brunette sleeping in his arms and held her close to his body; unable to stop the purring that vibrated from deep within his chest. Just as he felt the urge to follow her into deep slumber, she stirred and stiffened.

He frowned and pulled back to look at her face. “Cordy?” he asked softly at the perplexity that covered her countenance. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

A sigh fell from her lips as if of its own accord and she made a move to leave. He kept his arms around her and held on tightly until she gave up. He fought the urge to growl and, instead, began kissing the back of her neck. “Tell me.”

“I guess I wasn’t all that good huh?”

The question felt like a slap in the face to Angel. He sat back a bit and looked at her with nothing short of horror marring his face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Silence fell and suddenly Angel clued in. He chuckled softly and pulled the brunette against him. “Your mad that I didn’t lose my soul, huh?” When she didn’t reply Angel knew he had hit the mark. “Cordy, the spell that Willow used to re-ensoul me didn’t have a clause. I had a nagging feeling about it shortly after I got the strength to think straight. Before I left Sunnydale, I spoke with Willow. I made her swear that she would never tell Buffy when I found out. I wanted Buffy to believe that there was no possible way for us to ever be together.”

Cordelia processed all this but she didn’t relax. “So, Buffy has to live without you and not love you and be happy having a family and yet you will drag me into the darkness?”

“Never.” Angel turned the brunette around so that they were facing. His finger touched her chin and she looked into his eyes. “I want Buffy to have a normal life, yes you’re right. I found a way for her to believe that we can’t be together but if I thought I could convince you to find someone who could give you what you needed – someone human – to live your life with I would.

“The reasons I wanted Buffy to think that we didn’t have a chance were mostly selfish reasons. I’m a vampire and she’s a Slayer. We are born enemies and nothing will change that. When I first met her my demon wanted little more than to tear her to pieces but soon my demon’s infatuation with her manifested itself in my soul in the form of lust. I know I said I loved her but I was confused. I never did. We could never really be together anyways. You couldn’t imagine how hard she tried to make me forget about my demon.

“She wanted the man, the body, but she didn’t want everything that came with it. She believed – and still does – that Angel and Angelus are two separate beings but that’s not how the world works. Angelus is what I’ve named my demon. The soul controls it. Let’s say that it acts as a leash. I – Angel, the demon with the soul and Angelus, the demon without the soul – am still one creature.

“I look in your eyes and I see something that I never saw in Buffy’s. You don’t mindlessly open a blind during the day or ask if I’ll take you out for a picnic or speak of a future that might never happen. You look at today and try to make the best of it – whether or not I want to do anything other than brood.”

Cordelia couldn’t help but giggle softly at the last part. She looked deep into Angel’s eyes and finally she came to a silent decision and relaxed against his chest. After a few minutes she said tenderly, “I love you, Angel.”

“I love you too, Cordelia,” Angel whispered in her ear. For the first time in many a year Angel felt his demon calm and his soul loosen its hold without worrying about losing its power over it. The two were both satisfied and content. Even if only for a while, it felt good to find such peace.

~Part: 8~

Footsteps sounded on the floor above and Spike inhaled sharply. His enhanced vampiric senses picked up the smell of a half-breed. Without a thought, he put down the book he had been reading and made his way upstairs. He used the stairs instead of the elevator and found himself in a dark corner. He was on the opposite side of the room from a lanky, dark haired man.

He watched silently as the ’breed shifted through some papers and tucked what looked like a flyer between the pages of the day’s paper. The ’breed then moved over to the computer and tapped at the keys. By this time Spike had figured that this must be the ‘Doyle’ that Angel had been worrying about since the two of them had got back.

It had only been a couple of days but Spike didn’t know how the way things worked at AI. By the way that Angel had acted though, he assumed that Angel’s groupies were expected to hang around the office until he got back from saving the world – again. He wasn’t a complete idiot though. He knew that when stuck waiting to see if the world would end or go on you can’t just sit around. This ’breed had a hyper-ness to him, made obvious by the way he shifted in his seat, that Spike could relate to all too well.

After a few silent minutes, he shifted again and sat with his feet on the seat of the chair while he sat on the desk. His comfortable posture stiffened and he scanned the room, passing by Spike then coming back past him again. The ’breed tilted his head to the side. “You gonna stand in the shadows all day or are ya gonna show yerself?”

Spike chuckled and came over to the desk. He grinned at the look on the ’breed’s face when he realized just who Spike was. “I was going to watch you for a bit, mate, but you aren’t human. Can feel my eyes, can’t you?”

Doyle nodded slowly as he moved to sit in the chair properly so that he could watch Spike. “How come ya haven’t killed me yet? I get the feeling that you’ve been here fer a while.”

Still chuckling, Spike pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He inhaled deeply and thoughtfully blew the smoke back out and in Doyle’s direction. He watched the ’breed silently for a while before answering. “I would just luv to tear you to pieces, mate, but you see, Peaches really wouldn’t like it if I killed my workmates. Wouldn’t look all that good on my resume and all that.”

A brief look of shock crossed Doyle’s face before he smoothed it with a cool mask of uncaring. “So Angel knows yer ’ere. Are ya sayin’ tha’ yer workin’ fer ’im? ’Cause if ya are then I may ’ave ta disappear fer a while an’ get m’self spittin’ drunk. Th’ world prob’ly jes went ta Hell.”

Spike shook his head. “Mind if I join you, mate?”

They were both grinning like fools when Angel stepped out of the elevator. Neither of them looked his way but both of them knew he was there. Without turning, Spike snickered. He could feel the goofy grin that his Sire sported from where he sat across the room.

“Doyle. You’re here.” Angel stated as he walked over to the two of them. He raised an eyebrow at Spike but didn’t say a word to him. They shared a silent look before Angel turned back to the dark haired man. “Where have you been?”

An eyebrow rose and a grin touched the man’s lips. “Doin’ wha’ ya tol’ me ta do. I was house huntin’. Don’t cha remember? Ya said ta find Cordy a place before ya got back. I figured if I wasn’t ’ere then technic’ly I wouldn’t know if ye were back or not.”

Angel frowned then glanced at Spike who was looking at him curiously. “Thanks, Doyle. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off, okay?”

Sensing *something* was going on, Doyle walked out the door quietly. He stood outside it for a moment then walked away with a shrug. The life of a vampire was complicated; especially if said vampire had a soul but still kept in touch with his bloodthirsty, psychotic childer.

Shaking his head at the stupidity of his aged boss, Doyle made his way to the closest bar. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on between Angel and Spike or Angel and Cordy for that matter but he had a feeling that things were going to get confusing. That was just the way the Powers worked.

~Part: 9~

The voices from upstairs brought him out of a fitful sleep. Glad to be awake and away from what had once been beautiful memories, he sat up and leaned against the back of the couch. He ran both hands through his hair and growled softly at the pain in his knotted stomach. He was hungry but he knew he wouldn’t be able to force himself to swallow anything until the pain receded.

Yawning largely, he threw back his quilts and wandered to Angel’s large bookcase. It had been a little over two weeks since he had arrived at Angel’s place. Cordelia was finalizing everything before she could move into her new apartment, Doyle had had a vision and he had reorganized the office’s filing system – four times. It wasn’t that he was bored; it was that Cordelia had no idea how to file. He had spent the majority of his first week doing little more than explaining the merits of properly organized files.

Glaring at the books that seemed to mocking him, Spike pulled out an old demonology tomb. He flicked through a couple pages before he put it back. He muttered softly as he searched the shelves for something other than old, dusty tombs. With a sigh, he realized that Angel probably had all the more interesting books in his room.

He wondered into the kitchen and got himself something to eat before he went upstairs. The cheerleader was going on and on about her beautiful apartment to the ’breed when Spike made his appearance. They both glanced at him then went back to whatever it was they had been doing.

“So… anything to do ’round ’ere yet?” Spike asked as he perched on the edge of Cordelia’s desk. He glanced over her shoulder at the computer screen and found her doing some demon research. “Well?”

Doyle rose and eyebrow at him and shared a look with Cordelia. “Spike, what are ya doin’ up? It’s barely one.”

Spike shrugged and moved over to the desk opposite Cordelia’s and plopped down. In front of him sat a stack of bills and files of previous clients that he had yet to go through. He stifled another yawn and leaned back with the top file in his hands. After only a few moments he glanced up to find both Cordelia and Doyle watching him with something akin to horror. “What’s wrong?”

The two of them shared a look before Cordelia spoke up. “You yawned. I thought it wasn’t possible for non-breathing demon types such as yourself to yawn. Did I miss something?”

Her comment was met with large, obviously fake yawn complete with full body stretch and sound. Spike couldn’t help but laugh at the two of them, standing there with their jaws hanging down to the floor. He sighed and put down his paperwork. “Breathing isn’t about necessity for vampires, it’s about habit. I may be old but I never learned to out-grow it. It makes it easier to blend in with humans but it doesn’t mean that I go around running out of breath halfway through a fight.”

Doyle cleared his throat and stood. In a blatantly obvious way he changed the subject saying, “Well, might as well make the best of yer insomnia. Looks like I’m takin’ the princess out fer lunch, not-so-evil dead. Keep an eye out for me will ya?”

Spike nodded distractedly, already having gone back to his reading. When the door shut firmly behind the two of them – Cordelia chatting away about some thing or another and Doyle doing his best to look interested – he sat back in his chair with a relieved sigh. “Bloody humans,” he muttered softly.

He got through two of the files within the next fifteen minutes after which Angel appeared in front of him. He wasn’t caught off guard and he wasn’t in the least worried by the look on Angel’s face. “’Ello, mate. Have a nice sleep?”

Angel chuckled ruefully and ran a hand through his already rumpled hair. The fact that he had come upstairs without doing his hair told Spike that he had been dreaming – like Spike – of the ‘good old days.’ Not that there was anything good about having dreams that did little more than cause white hot agony to flow through him and knot up his stomach so that he would love to be able to go on without ever having to feed again.

“So where is everyone?” Angel asked softly, dropping into a chair across from Spike. He avoided looking Spike in the eye but made up for it by gently nudging his foot under the table. “Usually Doyle sticks around here during the day.”

“He decided to use me. Thought he’d take the cheerleader out fer lunch. Since I was up, he didn’t have to worry about no one being here to answer the phone and such,” Spike stated just as softly, nudging Angel back.

They shared a grin and suddenly Spike felt the world narrow down to nothing but him and his Sire. That was until someone cleared their throat just by the door. He turned and, with a soft smile on his lips greeted the girl that stood in the doorway. “’Ello. Welcome to Angel Investigations. ’M Spike an’ this ’ere is Angel. What’s up?”

Angel sighed and wandered out of the office, letting Spike take care of the details while he got changed. It seemed as though the Powers would do anything to keep them apart. With a wry grin and a slight shake of his head Angel went and got ready to face yet another baddie.

~Part: 10~

Spike took a long drag from his cigarette and looked at Angel out of the corner of his eye. Yeah, he hadn’t fought but he been there. He had watched as Angel had torn the evil stalker-zombie ex-boyfriend to pieces and had reluctantly held the girl while she had cried at the sight of it all. The fight had been short but gruesome. He hadn’t been able to contain his excitement at the sight of the blood and guts since it had been the first good fight he had seen since getting his strength back.

So here he was, leaning against a cool cement wall with a fag in one hand and a stake in the other. Angel had growled at him and told him that if he couldn’t control himself in front of the girl he should go outside and either calm down or stake himself. With a shrug he had left and now he was stuck in a state of confusion. By the time Angel had joined him he had calmed down enough to know that the stake in his hand would not be used to end his own existence.

On second thought, he was considering it again. Angel was still excited from the fight. The zombie had done little in the way of putting up a fight so the dark vampire’s demon was still rambunctious. From the pheromones that Angel was giving off, Spike had a feeling that ‘Angelus’ wanted to do little more than fall into a sync that had begun over a century ago. Another words: his Sire was horny.

It was painfully obvious but Spike knew better than to say anything about it. If his Sire wanted him to give him a helping hand – or mouth for that matter – all he had to do was ask. There had been too many beatings for him to remember them all. And all of them had been because he had been trying to help the older vamp out.

“So… did the bint pay ya?” Spike asked casually. He flicked the butt of his cigarette away and handed the stake back to Angel. How was he supposed to know if the pain would show up while he was trying to put the stake through his heart? He wasn’t going to risk it.

A sideways glance and Angel smirked as he pocketed the stake. “Yeah, she gave the contents of her purse. I haven’t counted it yet. I think I’ll wait until we get back to the office. The element of–”

“It’s just measly twen’y bucks, y’know,” Spike stated. “Nobody carries more than twen’y bucks on the streets of LA. Yer lucky if you get outta town having only lost yer wallet or purse twice.”

Angel chuckled. “Way to ruin the mood.”

“Don’t think so, pet.” Spike’s eyes were purposely on the bulge in Angel’s pants. “You haven’t lost it yet.”

“Spike…”

“I know, I know. Yer with the cheerleader and don’t want to ruin your still fresh relationship. I’m not bloody stupid, you know.” Spike pushed away from the wall and made as if to walk to the car. Angel’s hand on his arm stopped him short.

They were both quiet as they considered what was going to happen next. It was painfully obvious that Angel was going to come out of this in complete brood mode but at the moment, he didn’t care. “Give a guy a hand?”

A wide smile graced Spike’s face and he stepped into Angel’s personal space. “How ’bout more than a hand?” he asked with meaning.

Angel dragged them deep into the dark ally so that anyone wandering by wouldn’t see them quite so clearly. He leaned back against the wall and pushed Spike down to his knees.

To be in such a familiar position but only with his Sire’s ensouled counterpart caused Spike a moment of indecision. Yeah, he was willing to get the man off but what would Angel do after that? Angelus would yank down his drawers and continue to fuck him dry but he knew that Angelus wouldn’t be making an appearance tonight.

Taking a deep breath, Spike began with opening his Sire’s pants. Once he had Angel’s pants around his knees, Spike looked up at him in silent question. The second that Angel smiled, Spike dove in. His took his Sire’s erection whole and swallowed once before pulling back and licking the tip.

Above him Angel couldn’t hold back the whimper that was torn from his throat. Spike – no, William – had been a very adept learner when it came to the art of pleasure. Angelus had been so very grateful at how well the fledge had learned. And now was no different. Spike used every trick in his book just to keep Angel at the edge.

By now Spike had his hands on Angel’s hips to keep him from bucking into his mouth. Oh, he could take Angel’s brutal thrusting but he wanted this to last. It had been so long since the last time he had touched his Sire and he had no idea what would happen after the older vamp got his rocks off.

He licked the underside of the vamp’s straining cock then teased the foreskin before gently sucking the head into his mouth. He swirled his tongue around then deep throated the vamp for only a second. He knew that with all this teasing that Angel wouldn’t last much longer. One long lick from base to tip and a hard suck on the head and Angel was shooting his load into Spike’s needy mouth. Spike looked up at Angel and watched as his Sire bellowed as he came.

Panting harshly, Angel looked down at Spike. “Swallow,” he rasped out.

Spike couldn’t help a grin as he swallowed then continued to lick his Sire clean. With a sigh, he pulled up Angel’s pants and stood back as the man buckled up. He turned to leave but found himself slammed against the wall and being kissed savagely.

When Angel managed to drag his lips away from Spike’s they were both panting for unneeded breath. Angel rested his forehead against Spike’s and just breathed in his Childe’s scent. “We aren’t finished yet,” he growled softly, rolling his hips and hissing as their cocks came into contact.

~Part: 11~

“Cordelia!” Angel jumped up and ran after the streak that had, at one time, been his girlfriend. Once he reached the door he stopped dead and turned back to look at Spike.

“Go you bloody dolt, before she does something that you’ll regret.” Spike threw Angel his slacks then leaned back into the pillows. He had a feeling that he had screwed up again. With a deliberate sigh, he leaned over and pulled out a cigarette. Angel would be pissed with him but for now it would do.

As he inhaled deeply, his hand strayed lower and lower. He had just about reached his destination when Cordelia appeared in the doorway. Muttering to himself, he pulled the covers over to conceal his still aching cock. He brought up a knee and rested his arm on it. “Not runnin’ from Peaches, pet?”

Cordelia shook her head and climbed onto the bed next to him. She sat close but not close enough to be personal and with her body half turned so she was facing him. She took in the way his jaw was tightly clenched and how the muscles in his chest were bunched. “I figure he’ll come back here after he goes to my apartment and then every chocolate, ice cream, or shoe store that’s open. Should give us enough time to have a chat. I have a feeling that what you and Angel had or were recently doing has to do with him being related to you through Dru.”

“Dru…? Oh, yeah, don’t talk to Angel ’bout anything relating to Dru and me, kay? I get the feeling the watcher did some research on me and the books said that Dru was m’ Sire?” Spike paused to take a drag from his cigarette. At the girl’s nod, he continued. “Well, it’s a loada crap. Angelus made it look like Dru was… responsible for me but you see Dru couldn’t Sire a fly. Angelus was runnin’ amuck with a rogue demon hunter ’round the time that I was turned plus Penn had gotten into trouble in the vampire population. He killed somebody in someone else’s territory without asking permission first and well, Angelus was in deep shit. Long story short, Dru took enough to fill her up but not kill me and when she brought me ‘home’ she begged Angelus to turn me for her. Wanted somethin’ pretty and golden.”

The silence that followed wasn’t quite comfortable but at least Cordelia wasn’t thinking about using the stake that Angel kept hidden under the bed ‘just in case.’ Her mind was racing to try and keep up with all the information she was receiving. “But how did you manage to keep it… well, a secret? I know for a fact that vamps – Angel at least – have that smelling thing and the sensing emotions thing.”

A chuckle erupted from deep within Spike’s chest and he caught the ashes from his cigarette and dumped them in an old coffee cup. “Well, pet, Angelus wasn’t exactly well liked back in the day. He had enemies that would do anything to hurt him – which meant, attacking his family. That’s another reason why we were always moving around. Anyways, they may not ’ave liked Angelus but they all knew that he was fiercely possessive. He had rights to take any of his Childer into his bed. Dru’s mark never faded from my skin because, by the time Angelus decided to take me in I was as close to death as a human can get without bein’ dead. Dru had the meal but Angelus did the deed. Though I always smelled like Angelus… I also smelt like family. No scent was stronger than another. Darla was the only one that avoided me. She really hated it when Angelus decided that he wanted an orgy of sorts.”

“So what happened tonight?”

Spike shrugged and stubbed out his cigarette. After moment he leaned forward and took her hands in his. “Listen, pet. What Angel and I have has nothing to do with you. He’s my Sire and I was – still am – hurting. You can’t erase two hundred years of gut instinct. The soul doesn’t make it all go away. The only way demons know how to soothe and love is by physical contact. Ever notice that whenever you or the ’breed get upset the first thing Angel does is touch you? A hand on the arm here, a gentle rub on the back there. That’s how vampires work – albeit usually things get more sweaty.”

Cordelia took a deep breath and nodded. The tears that had been struggling to make an appearance finally made their way down her cheeks. Soft sobbing racked her body and Spike pulled her into his arms. “Don’t cry, pet. Don’t know what to do when ya cry.”

~Part: 12~

Doyle looked up at the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards him. His eyes went wide at the sight of Angel’s undress. In shock, he watched as the man made for the door. “Angel man, where are ya goin’ dressed like that? Or should I say not dressed like that?”

Angel paused and looked down at himself. “Shit,” he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair and began to pace. His face was a mixture of arousal and mortification.

Doyle took in the display of the now slowly moving vampire and couldn’t help but notice a few things. Angel’s hair was wild and tufted out, his face was flushed and lips swollen. It looked like he had come straight from a make out session and by the way that his pants were wrinkled and only zipped up – not buttoned – he had a feeling Angel had gotten further than a few deep kisses. He couldn’t help but cock an eyebrow in a poor imitation of Spike. “Ya wanna tell me why ya came runin’ up barely dressed and–” his eyes wandered low then back up to his boss’ face, “–obviously excited?”

“Fuck!” Angel growled and ran his hands through his hair then dragged them down his face. A haggard look peeked out between his large fingers. He looked as if he was going to swear again but instead he said, “Cordy.”

The Irish man couldn’t help but frowned slightly. “I wou’ think she’s downstairs waitin’ fer ya,” he stated, once again looking at Angel pointedly. “Can’t think of anywhere else she wou’ be at all.”

Angel sighed and dropped into the nearest chair. He slammed his first down on the desk that the chair was conveniently stationed nest to and Doyle could swear he heard the furniture groan. “I screwed up, Doyle,” Angel ground out. “I did something stupid and she ran.”

“Well, she didn’t run my way and I doubt she took th’ sewers so m’best guest wou’ be tha’ she’s still downstairs.” Doyle sat down on the edge of the desk and grabbed Angel’s arm when the vampire made to leave. “Listen to me man. Before ya go all ‘gung ho’ tell me how ya screwed up. There’s nuthin worse than runnin’ in full throttle not knowin’ what yer gonna say.”

With another, more pronounced sigh, Angel sat back in the chair. After a moment of silent deliberation and a few more hits to the poor desk, he spoke. “Me n’Spike–”

“Ah hell!’’ Doyle interrupted. He had a feeling that no matter how the night turned out it would be best if he just went and got something to drink. Anything concerning both Angel and Spike could be enough to drive even a nun to drink.

“–decided to get reacquainted – after we finished up a job – in  an ally,” Angel continued as if not hearing the other man’s comment. “I wasn’t thinking Doyle. I didn’t think about Cordy or how the office was empty or how you could show up with reports on a vision… I just lost myself and well, Cordy walked in on us–”

“On yers an’ ’er bed. With a – lemme guess – somewhat nude peroxide blond vampire.” Doyle’s tone held a hint of sarcasm but he was far from joking. He knew that Angel would never lie about what he was now saying. He also knew that if the man went down there the way he was now he would most likely get the shit kicked out of him. “Angel man, wha’ were ya – oh, thas right, ya weren’t thinkin’.”

Angel hung his head in shame. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees then buried his face in his hands. “How do I make everything right again? How can I make her understand what me n’Spike are?”

“I think she already knows wha’ ya are. Wha’ ya need to explain to ’er is what th’ ‘relationship’ between you an’ Spike is. Explain tha’ what you an’ Spike have or had is an’ how it developed.” Doyle jumped off the desk and grabbed his jacket. “I’m off to th’ pub. If I ’ear from ya… well, at least she didn’t dust ya.”

The smirk that tugged at Angel’s lips couldn’t be helped and he followed the smaller man to the door. A smile and a wave latter and Doyle was gone.

Angel took a deep, cleansing breath and started towards the stairs. Halfway down, he paused and concentrated until the sound of Cordelia’s heartbeat touched his ears. He could tell that she was crying and it hurt him that she was hurting. After only a second’s more hesitation, he continued down the stairs and towards the bedroom.

~Part: 13~

The laughter that escaped from Spike’s mouth did nothing to help Angel as the older of the two continued to flush deeply. His head dropped and his hands clenched into fists as his shoulders shook. When his head rose again, his eyes were sparking with mirth. His lips twitched as he came in and sat on the edge of the bed and took the girl’s hand. “Yeah, Cordy, I guess that’s what I mean,” he said softly. He leaned in and softly kissed her before pulling back and cupping her cheek with his hand. “I don’t want to rush into anything with you yet. I want you to be completely comfortable with Spike and vise versa.”

Cordelia smiled and hugged him. “I love you Angel, I want you to know that.”

Spike made a choking sound and continued to grin even after Angel whacked him upside the head. “Well Peaches, looks like you got yer family that you’ve always wanted… what’re you gonna do with it?” the blond asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Angel and Cordelia shared a look before the ex-cheerleader stood and moved to the door. She stopped at the foot of the bed and turned back, her eyes on Spike. Without warning, she shot forward and claimed Spike’s lips with her own.

After a second of shock, the blond responded wholeheartedly. His arms caught around her waist and he pulled her flush up against him while his tongue begged entrance into her mouth. Once her lips parted, his hand went up to the back of her head so that he had more control over the kiss. His legs parted and she rested between them with his rock hard cock poking insistently against her stomach – still hard from earlier and steadily growing harder. Her hands were far from stationary as her right ran through his soft bleached locks and her left explored his chest. She could feel his hand move from the small of her back down to cup her ass. Finally she pulled back to suck in some much needed oxygen.

“Wow,” she muttered, still leaning against his chest. After a moment she pulled away and sat on her heels. She liked the dazed look on his face, the messy hair, and the way he lay sprawled out under the sheet, his erection extremely noticeable. She grinned and turned to face Angel. He also had a dazed look about him and her grin grew three sizes. “There you go, Angel. He’s ready for you.” And with that said, the brunette stood and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Just before the door clicked shut the men heard her say, “Have fun and try and keep it down, I plan on getting at least *some* sleep tonight.”

“Bloody effen ’ell, Peaches! Where the hell did you find that girl?” Spike muttered as he continued to stare after the girl long after the door had closed. He turned back to face his Sire and found himself lost in the man’s gaze.

Angel didn’t say a word as he slowly stood; keeping his eyes locked with Spike’s, and drew off the now extremely tight slacks. As his hard cock sprang from its prison Spike’s eyes darted downwards then back up in a silent question. Angel grinned wolfishly but shook his head ‘no’ before yanking the sheet from Spike’s body. He took in the sight of his Childe’s gloriously hard, pale body and couldn’t think of anyone quite as beautiful as his boy.

The urge to rock his hips was so strong that Spike had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from moving. It didn’t hurt but the slight twinge that it caused kept his mind clear enough to recognize that Angel was in control. He wouldn’t do a bloody thing until his Sire gave him permission to do so. He had learned long ago what would happen if he took things into his own hands.

“Don’t cum until I tell you to cum, m’boy,” Angel whispered as he crawled up his Childe’s body. He knew from the way that Spike’s jaw was locked and twitching that he was having a hard time staying in control. It had been too long since they had done this.

Spike nearly jumped out of his skin when Angel’s cock rubbed up against his own. Instead he hissed and clenched his fists so tight that his short nails dug into his skin and caused more blood to trail down and mix with now dry blood from earlier. “Bloody hell, Peaches!” he muttered. He clenched his eyes tight, concentrating on not giving in to the pleasure of his Sire’s touch.

‘Tsking’ Spike softly, Angel licked along the shell of his boy’s ear. “Spike, I don’t want to hear any other words than those three come of your mouth for the rest of the night,” he whispered between licks and nips.

Spike groaned at his words but didn’t say another word other than a tight-lipped “Bloody hell!” as Angel moved from his ear to his neck. His hands moved across Spike’s chest. First rubbing, twisting, pinching his nipples then clawing hard, drawing four long trails of blood down his washboard stomach. A finger dipped into his navel and Spike cried out. There was no coherency to the sound but Angel immediately stopped his ministrations.

“Don’t let that happen again, boy, all I want to hear from ya is: bloody, hell, and Peaches. Do you understand?” Angel’s voice was hoarse and deep. He was slowly starting to let his accent slip into voice and it scared the hell out of Spike.

Nodding his head, keeping his eyes shut and biting his bottom lip until it bled, Spike totally submitted to his Sire. He tilted his head to the side and willingly bore his neck to him. He was surprised when all Angel did was lick the length of his neck before turning back to explore his chest.

Angel nibbled across Spike’s collarbone and moved lower until he found a nipple. It was hard already and he couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face. He remembered just how responsive those nipples were. With a growl, he leaned in a bit down. Not too hard but hard enough for Spike to shout out a *very* loud “*PEACHES*!” and then turn into a quivering wreck as he did his best to stop from cumming. Angel chuckled as he ran his tongue over the assaulted nipple then repeated the process on the opposite nipple.

Finally, Angel reached for Spike’s straining cock and – the door flew open and Cordelia raced in. She stopped dead at the foot of the bed – not looking at them or making a sound. Angel groaned and pressed his forehead against Spike’s abdomen. He was silent for a moment before he turned to the girl that he loved and hated – if for only that moment – and asked, “Cordy?”

Cordelia had been standing there picking at a chipped nail and staring at the floor. Her head shot up at the sound of her name. She blushed and immediately looked down again. “Umm… Doyle’s upstairs. He had a vision on his way to the ‘pub.’ It’s about Sunnydale. He knows who one of those soldier guys is,” she explained in a soft voice.

Angel couldn’t stop the growl that grew from the middle of his chest. Angel’s eyes darted to his Childe but Spike hadn’t heard a word. His eyes were glazed over; his hips were rocking in an age-old rhythm while he whimpered the words ‘bloody hell’ and ‘Peaches’ over and over almost silently. “Cordy, give us a minute.”

She nodded and quickly fled.

“Spike, m’boy,” Angel whispered into his ear as he took a firm hold of his cock, “cum for me boy. I wanna see ya as ya lose yerself ta m’touch. C’mon boy, do it fer yer Sire.” He tightened his hold and fondled the sack below his boy’s cock. The wolfish grin returned to his features as a finger touched the edge Spike’s puckered hole before plunging in.

Spike came with a roar. He screamed himself hoarse as his hips bucked and gyrated into Angel’s grasp. Stars exploded behind tightly closed eyelids and he pried them open so that he could look into his Sire’s fathomless eyes. The last thing he saw before darkness took a hold of him was a raw emotion that churned beneath the surface of those mud brown orbs.

~Part: 14~

Spike came to slowly at the sound of voices in the living room. He realized that he had moved from unconsciousness straight into a peaceful sleep. Now, as he sat up and ran a hand through his hair, he couldn’t suppress the grin that spread across his features. His mind fought to lose itself in the memories of all the sensations and emotions from earlier but he shook his head to clear it, stood and walked into the shower. He was covered in dry blood and semen – something that he had a feeling the others wouldn’t appreciate all that much.

He jumped out of the shower five minutes later already feeling slightly bereft without the cleansing heat soaking into his skin and dressed quickly. He couldn’t believe how well everything had gone even though he couldn’t exactly remember what *had* happened. He felt like he had seen the sun rise.

He could remember almost every single touch and word said right until his brain had shut down around the time Angel had licked his neck. What had happened between them reminded his of nights from over a century ago though they were not the same. Angel’s touch had been gentle though rough. He had brought Spike pleasure though he made sure the blond had been forced to wait until he gave the command to give in to it.

The strain of his muscles had more to do with the fact that he could sense his Sire’s agitation from where he was than anything else. He wasn’t in the least bit uncomfortable when he walked so he knew that something had called a complete halt to things. That could only mean one thing; the ’breed had had a vision and Angel had only hung around long enough to bring Spike off.

That in its self surprised him. Angelus had been into pain and intense blood play. If any opportunity arose for Angelus to wreak more pain and suffering to his youngest Childe, he would take it and tell him later that it was a ‘lesson well learned’ without actually explaining what the lesson was for. But the way the dark vampire had acted earlier had reminded him more of Angelus than any other stunt Angel had tried to pull since the night he had crashed parent teacher night at the high school and Angel had offered the boy to him. That had brought back memories so of many shared kills – even though he had been able to smell the soul in the vampire from across the room.

Stepping out of the bedroom wearing a plain white sweater that he had found in the depths of Angel’s drawers, a pair of plain black jeans that Angel had convinced Cordelia to buy for him and his old docs with his hair hanging in his face and a smile tugging at his lips the group on the other side of the door thought the man had never looked more human. After the moment it took for the three people there to take in his new look; two with outright desire in their eyes and one with surprise but acceptance, he sensed the unease that held the three people hostage jump up another notch.

He sighed and ran a hand through wavy locks. Preparing himself for a hard hit, he muttered, “Don’t bloody cushion the blow, just tell me what you saw.” He met and held his Sire’s eyes for a moment before facing Doyle straight on.

Doyle shifted uneasily from foot to foot, his eyes darting around the room. “It’s bloody obvious that I had a vision just give me a minute to…” he stopped when he finally met Spike’s eyes. His feet stopped shifting and he began to rock slowly back and forth. “Saw SunnyHell, a brat wi’h dark hair – kinda cute – chattin’ with a bloke, a flash an’ th’bloke’s carrying a weapon an’s dressed in fatigues talkin’ ta a bird wi’h a doc’s jacket on. Th’ brat’s hurt bad an’ th’bloke has somethin’ ta do wi’h it.”

Spike broke eye contact and swore softly. Without thinking, Spike’s left thumb found its way to his mouth and he began to chew on the nail. When he looked again at his Sire he saw poorly disguised confusion and a silent question. Before the words were asked he explained, “Picked it up from Dru. I can’t stand the mojo but I thought it would come in handy some time. Guess I was right – would’ve taken the ’breed all week for him ta spit it out. Sorry ’bout that, by the way.”

The Irishman just shrugged and grinned slightly. He ran a hand over his lined face and let out an almost hysterical bark of laughter. “Yer right. Can’t blame ya fer getting’ it outta me.”

The blond nodded. “So…”

“Sorry, don’t have needle or thread handy. You’re gonna have ta ask another time,” Angel said with a wry grin. He poor attempt at lightening the mood caused grins all around. “I figure we’ll head out soon as I can get in touch with Giles. Doyle recognized the ‘brat’ as Xander from a couple of photos that Cordelia was putting away while you were… somewhat unconscious. As far as Doyle can remember, there wasn’t any demon but that doesn’t mean there won’t be. I’m not leaving any of you behind so get your stuff together and be ready to go. Hopefully we’ll be outta here by sunset.”

~Part: 15~

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please with sugar on top?”

“No.”

“Please with a strawberry on top?”

“No.”

“A cherry?”

“No.”

“Blood?”

“*No.*”

“A blow job?”

“I had one earlier. I don’t need another at the moment.”

“…A hand job?”

“Spike…” Angel did his best to keep his tone menacing. He even took the chance to throw a glare over his shoulder. Turning back to look at the road, he caught sight of Cordelia barely managing not to laugh. He couldn’t help it: he started to chuckle deep in his belly.

Spike glared at the back of Angel’s head and proceeded to pout. He huffed before drawing himself as close to the door as he could get and faced his death glare out the window. “Spoilsport.”

Silence reigned for the next ten minutes at which point the welcome to Sunnydale sign appeared. “Bloody hell, Peaches! It’s tradition!” Spike roared as they drew nearer to it. He hung his head in sorrow when his outburst was met only with snickers from all around. He plucked at Angel’s sweater that he was wearing and sighed dramatically.

Suddenly, the car jerked as it crashed. The sound of splintering wood reached Spike’s ears along with the tell tale sound of the welcome sign crashing down to the ground. Spike’s eyes flew to his Sire and he looked at the vamp with something akin to awe.

“You better think of a way to pay for any scratches,” Angel muttered as he backed up and started down the road again, ignoring the looks on Cordelia and Doyle’s faces.

Spike leered at him. “Don’t bloody worry ’bout me payin’ ya back. By the time I’m finished with you, you won’t be able to walk for a week!”

Minutes later Angel pulled to a stop in front of the Bronze. He turned so that he was facing all the occupants of the car. “Okay, this is how we’ll do this. I asked Giles to have the Scoobies meet us here. Doyle, I want you to go in first. Scope out the place and see if you recognize any faces from your vision. If you see any of the Soldierboys I want you to get Xander out of there as fast as you can. If you can figure out a way to let me know who the guy from you vision is, do it!”

Doyle nodded an affirmative and got out of the car, heading toward the doors.

The crowd was thick but he managed to push himself through and sit down at the bar. After ordering his drink, he let his eyes roam over the many faces. The first familiar sight was the blond hair of Angel’s ex-love. To the girl’s left was a redhead and behind her was the dark haired youth from his vision.

He grabbed his drink, stood and took a sip from the cup all without losing sight of the boy as he danced with the redhead. That is if you could call what the man was doing dancing. What he was doing was more along the lines of a heart attack without having to worry about dropping dead. He chuckled as he made his way to a table not far off from the boy’s and his friends’ own and got comfortable.

He was working on his plan of ‘The Great Xan-Escape’ when Angel appeared at the table with Cordelia at his side. He could sense the tension surrounding the group from where he sat and he felt sorry for both Angel and Cordelia. They were talking to Buffy in an obvious attempt to break the ice when Spike sat down next to him.

Doyle threw him a look before he went back to his Xan-watching/planning. “Angel actually let ya come or di’ ya jes’ invite yerself ta th’party.”

“His Poufiness may be able to boss you and the cheerleader around but he doesn’t have any control over me… outside the bedroom that is,” Spike said with a shrug. “Anyways, he wanted me here just in case something went down. I have to get Cordy out if bad turns to worse.”

The half-demon nodded in understanding as he followed Xander’s path from the dance floor back to the table. He winced slightly as his enhanced hearing picked up the barb that the youth threw at his ‘boss.’ He shook his head and risked looking away from the boy long enough to catch the grin on Spike’s face. “Care ta divulge wha’s so funny?” he asked, quickly flicking his gaze back.

Spike laughed out loud as Xander insulted Angel yet again. “Luv to have that one around just so I could learn every single thing that kid knows about rilin’ the Pouf.”

Doyle smirked. “He’d prob’ly come up wi’h new ones fer ya an’ make th’both of yer unlives a livin’ ’ell,” he predicted. He stiffened as a very large sandy haired man joined the group. “Fuck!”

Spike immediately knew that there was trouble. He shared a look with the ’breed and watched as Doyle’s eyes flecked to the new comer and back to him. “Bloody *fuckin’* ’ell! Tha’s him, isn’t it?”

“I’ll send Cordy your way,” Doyle said softly as he stood to go. The hand that grabbed his arm stopped him and he looked at Spike with a mixture of curiosity and panic.

The blond paused and his eyes darted back and forth between Doyle and the group not far from them. When Doyle nodded in silent knowledge, he sighed and ran a hand through his gel-less hair.

Doyle approached the group with a cocky smile on his lips and a sway of his hips. A moment before materializing between Xander and Cordelia, he caught sight of Angel watching him discreetly while the Slayer talked about one thing or another. He made his presence known by clearing his throat and grinned wider when he was met with suspicious gazes. Ignoring everyone but the three he was risking his life for, he began his act.

He turned to Cordelia and replaced his cocky smile with one that was as sweet as sugar. “’Ellow sweet. I wanted to let ya know, me buddy over there,” Doyle pointed to his table, “wants ta dance wi’h ya. ’E isn’t one fer makin’ th’first move so I did it fer ’im.” The look he shared with her held answers to all her question and she nodded so slightly that he barely caught it.

“Oh my God!” she said trying to get a look and making a show of half standing in her chair. She grabbed Doyle with her eyes and metaphorically cornered him. “Does he have an accent like you?”

“Sorry luv, ’e’s English. Kinda rough ’round th’edges bu’ good on th’eyes.” Doyle winked at her and watched as she jumped up without another word and stalked towards her ‘prey.’

He chuckled softly and took in the look of the group. His eyes landed on the Soldierboy and he fought back the urge to take him out. There were some demon instincts that he couldn’t ignore and his instincts were telling him that the boy – no man – in front of him was a killer. “Hell man. Yer at a club no need ta stand at attention. Th’soldier routine is so old,” he stated with a raised eyebrow.

He sensed rather than heard Angel’s growl and silently praised himself for a job well done. Now was the hardest part. According to Cordelia, Xander was a strict het’ so he would have to act like he had never acted before.

He leaned against the boy’s arm and almost moaned at the rippling muscle that he felt there. The hand that the group couldn’t see made its way to sit at the base of the boy’s spine. Doyle felt him stiffen slightly and silently swore. Eyes from the group were still on him and he knew that they were wondering why he was still there.

“’Nother reason m’ here is cause I saw ya from ’cross th’dance floor,” Doyle whispered, facing the boy. “Couldn’t help bu’ wunder wha’ ya wou’ say if I asked ya ta dance.”

Xander swallowed audibly and unconsciously leaned into Doyle’s touch while trying to ignore the fact that Doyle was practically purring in his ear. He was silent for a long time before he felt the man pull away.

“Guess ya don’ wanna dance,” Doyle said with a large pout. He was thinking desperately for a plan B but he was drawing a blank. That was until his eyes sought out Angel. He purred as loudly as he could and racked his gaze over Angel. He knew that Angel was clued in to the fact the guy next to Buffy was the Soldierboy but he still had a message to pass on.

Pushing himself flush against Angel’s back, he whispered into the man’s ear, “Ya do anythin’ stupid an’ Spike will have yer balls fer lunch.” He ran his hand along Angel’s arm and cocked and eyebrow as if in silent question.

In a last ditch attempt he turned lust filled eyes to Xander and sighed in relief when the boy stood. The looks on Xander’s friends’ faces were remarkable. Doyle would do it again and again if it meant that he could see the Slayer do that fish impersonation. “Change yer mind luv?” he asked in the deepest voice he could muster.

Xander shrugged. “Nope, just recovered from the shock. Let’s dance.”

Angel watched the two take the dance floor with a sigh of relief and eyes full of surprise. He couldn’t believe that Doyle had managed to convince the boy to go anywhere with him but he had done it. “I always thought that Xander was straight,” he stated just to see if Buffy would do that thing where her whole face seemed to wrinkle up.

Sure enough, it did and Willow answered in a hollow voice, “Well, he’s always been bi but he never really accepted it, ya know?”

Angel looked at the girl. Okay, she was perceptive – he had to give her that much. He was a vampire and he had barely noticed the boy’s reaction to other men… then again he had been more interested in Buffy at the time. Turning his gaze to Soldierboy, he committed his face to memory before considering his next move. He hadn’t really expected for things to play out so fast.

~Part: 16~

Angel bit back his demon as he listened to Buffy introduce Soldierboy as a ‘friend.’ He couldn’t believe that she couldn’t sense something off about the boy. He could recognize the smell of six different types of demon blood on the boy plus a few that were obviously mixed breeds. From the way that Buffy spoke he knew that she had no clue as to what Soldierboy did under the mask of darkness.

He rested his elbows on the table and hid his head in his hands. He pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes and silently made a deal with the demon inside him. The battle that was coming up against the Initiative was going to be fierce. If his demon just let Angel get through the next few minutes without ripping out the throat of the man that had destroyed his boy’s life he would give it free reign.

~Part: 17~

The situation that Xander had managed to get himself into seemed somewhat surreal. He couldn’t remember what had convinced him to accept the offer to dance with the dark haired man. There was something about him that made Xander wonder. Suddenly he realized that a complete stranger – a *male* complete stranger – was attempting to kiss him.

Xander firmly placed his hand on the chest of the man and started to apply pressure. When Doyle didn’t move away at first, Xander forcibly pushed the man away. “Okay, I think I’ve already voiced my opinion about the kissing of me by you. Maybe it wasn’t all that clear to you but what I said came along the lines of a ‘Hell no!’ You are starting to freak me out and I think that you may have some kind of thrall ’cause before I met you I was thinking about the greatness that is the female body. In fact I was getting a very nice visual of B– uh… some very good-looking females that would make me have to come up with an excuse for not dancing, which I always do.

“I don’t enjoy having a sudden urges to be someone’s butt-monkey. I think this is all some kind of evil scheme to get to either Buffy or Angel. At the moment I’m leaning towards Buffy ’cause Angel really doesn’t like me all that much. Now what kind of demon are you and what have you done to mess with my mind!?!” By this time Xander had Doyle pressed against the opposite wall from where he had been pinned only moments before.

A pout graced Doyle’s features and he sighed. There was no convincing this man that his was desirable by not only females but males as well. The fact that he was half demon had nothing to do with it. “Ya prob’ly already answered this bu’: why da ya think ’m a demon again?”

~Part: 18~

“Xander, I’ll put it this way: your choices are very limited and no
matter what you chose you will walk down the path that the Powers
created for you.” Angel was holding the boy by his forearms and
staring into his eyes intently. “Doyle has been living with these
visions for a while now and he understands them. He’s the only one
who can see what is in the visions and I trust what he tells me.”

Running his hands through his hair after pulling out of Angel’s
grasp, Xander looked from Angel to Doyle and back again. He walked a few steps away, ending up against the wall of the alley. “I can’t believe this. Not… a few hours ago I was reasonably well off with a job that I was actually good at, the possibility of a new apartment and friends that finally started to pay attention to me again. Suddenly I get a call from Giles saying that you were on your way to town and my world goes to Hell. No, scratch that – I already live in Hell. This is worse… this is the Bronze on Karaoke night with drunken freshmen and Buffy and Willow on chocolate highs.”

The look on Xander’s face tugged at Angel’s heart and for once he
pressed his hatred for the boy to the farthest reaches of his mind
and approached him again. He grabbed the boy’s chin and pulled it up so that Xander was looking into his eyes again. “Xander I know what you’re going through. So do Doyle and Buffy and everyone else who has ever been asked or told they need to fight for the Powers.”

He paused and turned to Doyle, nodding at him to come forward. “The choice that you are given is simple. You can accept that there’s more to you than there seems to be and that Powers know exactly what it is. You can embrace the good fight and be known as a warrior of the Powers,” Angel said, looking back to the boy. He spared Doyle another glance and considered hugging the man. The support that shown in Doyle’s eyes was almost enough to give him wings. Angel masked his glee that he had such a worthy friend as Doyle and continued to tell Xander what he needed to hear.

“That or you can walk away much like I did at first. You can pretend
that you really are the Zeppo and the donut boy. You can keep up your façade as a dimwitted pizza delivery boy that follows the Slayer
around doing little more than providing some comic relief during the
latest apocalypse. You can wait until the day that the Powers send
someone to you to force you to see exactly what it is you’re needed
for.” Angel stepped back and let his hands fall to his sides, limply.

His face reminded Xander of when the vampire had been dating Buffy. The angstful, kicked puppy, ‘I’m all ridden with guilt because the blood of so many innocents is on my hands’ look. “I’m not going to force you into this Xander. I will remind you of what you are meant
for. I will come back as often as I can to ask you if you’ve changed
your mind but I won’t make you do anything.”

And Xander watched as the vampire turned his back and walked away.

Doyle stood and stared at him for a moment before walking away as
well but before turning the corner he threw one last look over his
shoulder. Xander stared after them and did his best to sink into the
wall behind him.

He still couldn’t believe Doyle’s words from minutes before. His
simple: “The Powers want Xander in LA” had nearly ripped him apart.

He and Angel had never gotten along and according to Doyle, Spike was working for Angel alongside Cordelia. The Powers needed him to work with the only three people outside his family that hated him just for being Xander Harris. Well Spike had a reason but Xander figured that him being a friend of the Slayer wasn’t much.

He sighed.

“The Powers want Xander in LA. He’s working in our office and
fighting at your side.” Doyle’s words were still ringing through his
head and he pushed himself away from the wall and walked in the
direction that Angel and Doyle had gone.

~Part: 19~

Angel gripped the steering wheel with one hand while his other arm was wrapped firmly around the woman beside him, his hand on her hip. He absentmindedly drew patterns on her skin with his thumb while he brooded. That was the only good of car rides anyways. He had never been the type to strike up a conversation just to fill the silence and in his opinion car trips were meant for people other than the driver to fall asleep.

In the backseat he could hear Spike talking excitedly. He wasn’t at all surprised that Spike was being completely ignored by Xander – who Angel had a feeling was probably cowering against the wall of the car – while Spike went on and on about the hordes of demon friends, or just demons that owed him a favor, he was going to get to help him take down the ‘Bloody fuckin’ Soldierboys and their idiot scientists who’re playin’ God’.

The boy had always loudly voiced his opinion about the vampire population and Angel and Spike in particular. He hated them, plain and simple. The fact that Xander had even bothered to ask Spike the details as to how the blond had come to work for – which had been quickly corrected and changed to with – Angel and his crew had utterly astonished the ensouled vampire. The uneasy acceptance of Spike’s answer Angel had found somewhat disconcerting but Cordelia had informed him that Xander would be asking her about it later.

The silent truce that Doyle and Xander had come to was something Angel was grateful for. He knew that Doyle liked Xander mostly because of the casual acceptance his seer had of the brunet. Doyle accepted the boy without question of his abilities or necessity to the group. Plus Doyle had told Angel that he was bi and Xander was attractive. Even Angel was willing to admit it. He just had to look past the boy’s hate of him and his gaudy fashion sense. He figured Doyle had a chance with Xander since the boy had no clue as to which team he swung his bat for – another tidbit that he had earned from Cordelia. His brunette girlfriend didn’t seem to have many hang-ups about talking about private conversations from previous relationships.

The drive back to LA was beginning to feel like it would never end. Angel was slowly starting to come to realize that Spike had no more reason for staying with him. His Childe wasn’t helpless. He wouldn’t need his Sire now that he knew he could defend himself – at least against the demon population.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Angel pulled to a stop in front of Doyle’s apartment building. His seer jumped out of the seat next to Cordelia and gave Angel a half salute before walking towards the doors. Angel nodded his head at the half-breed. At his side, Cordelia stirred from her light slumber and gave a soft farewell that Spike seconded. Xander waved hesitantly and smiled in return to the other man’s grin.

Ten minutes later, Angel stopped the car once again, only this time, outside of “Cordelia’s” apartment to drop Xander off. He and Cordelia both followed the brunette to the door, Angel to speak with boy and Cordelia to unlock it. After the door was open, she dropped the key into Xander’s open palm. “Angel has a spare at the office,” she said softly, “just in case anything happens. I’ll see if I can talk Spike into having the place put under your name tomorrow.”

Xander smiled and gave his ex a hug before turning to the brooding man that stood next to her. “Well Deadboy, looks like we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

Angel nodded distractedly. “I’ll have Doyle come by tomorrow. He usually shows up at the office just before noon so you’ll have time to do whatever until then. Cordy will take you to get a new wardrobe in a couple days. There’s already some furniture so you can make do – at least for a while. There are linens and stuff in the closets and Cordy had couple boxes stored in the spare room. I haven’t set up cable so you’ll have to do without television and if you want to call anybody you’ll have to wait until you get to the office in the morning.”

Nodding at the information, Xander stifled a yawn. “You know… Spike’s real loyal,” he stated after a moment of thought.

Angel stood there not quite sure what to say to the former Scooby.

Taking a deep breath Xander spoke again, “The way I see it is… he was with Dru for, well as far as I can tell, ever. I don’t know and I don’t wanna know what’s going on between the three of you but I can tell that whatever it is, it’s intense. I saw the three of you together and I’m not ashamed – maybe embarrassed but not ashamed – to admit that you look hot together. To say the least: you were tense during the whole ride so I guess finding out that Spike can hit… demony people isn’t exactly the best of news in your book. Sure it’s a big yay! cuz he can take his frustration out on the demons instead of being a complete asshole and getting on everyone’s nerves (which I’m guessing happens… often?).”

Angel cocked an eyebrow at the boy and cracked a slight smile. Well, Xander had grown a pair since he had left, which was surprising, but not at all unexpected. He agreed with the boy’s words but stayed silent and didn’t acknowledge them out loud.

As he and Cordelia walked to back to the car, he silently thanked Xander. That was – until he saw the empty back seat of his convertible. His eyes shot up and down the block but he couldn’t see a sign of his Childe.

“Dammit,” Cordelia said softly and glanced at Angel. She winced at the look on his face and squeezed his hand that she held. “You okay?”

Angel’s shoulder’s slumped slightly and he ignored her words. “Let’s get home,” was all he said.

~Part: 20~

Being woken from a deep sleep that included a dream where Angel had been walking in the sunlight and Spike had been doing that thing with his tongue against her neck wasn’t on Cordelia’s list of the greatest things *ever*. In fact, waking up at any time between one and nine a.m. equaled as bad and a glance at the bedside clock told her that it was just past two. Waking to the sound of snarling and crashing wasn’t on that list either. Though technically, the snarling had followed the crashing. Either way, she was now awake and fearing for the life – or rather – unlife of her vampire boyfriend that she had a feeling was the cause of all the snarling.

Jumping out of her warm and comfy bed, she ran into the living room completely oblivious to her nudity. That was where she found her lover, covered in blood holding down an equally bloody Spike. She stood slack jawed as she watched the two vampires attacking each other. Then it clicked that they were both nude.

Not only were the vampires scratching and biting, but they were also stroking and kissing. Angel seemed to be in total control of Spike, not that the blond looked all that put out about it. The older vampire had his Childe pinned to the couch and was licking at a bite that he had inflicted on the blonde’s shoulder. He slowly laved the spot until every last trace of blood was gone and Spike was trembling with arousal. As Angel moved down to suckle on an erect nipple, Spike began to pant.

Cordelia felt her knees weaken and let out a soft groan when Angel bit Spike once again. Both vampires paused and looked in her direction. Cordelia could see the conflicting emotions in Angel’s eyes and winced. She knew that he was worried that his feelings towards his Childe would somehow make her end their relationship. She also knew that Spike had no intention of getting between her and his Sire. Either way it was her reaction now that would ultimately lead to how their relationship would end up.

One word and she could either have Spike leave and Angel all to herself or Spike stay and the three of them stay together. Out of all of her relationships she had never had this kind of say. Of course she had been the one to say whether there was a relationship or there wasn’t, but she had never had to choose between two men before. It had always been this one now and that one later.

She had a feeling that, with these vampires, it would be Angel or both because Spike wouldn’t stick around to find out if he could have her later. She knew that he had done that once before with Drusilla. She also knew that he had been hurt by the insane vampiress too many times because of Angel to want to try the same thing with her.

A moment later and she was across the room and kissing Angel with all her might. Pulling back, she smiled at him then turned to Spike and slowly brought her hand up to caress his cheek. “Can I join you?” she asked softly.

Suddenly she found herself caught up in an embrace. Angel was kissing her with an intensity that was different from any other time that they had been together. She shuddered and pressed against him, trying to give back as much as she was getting. His hands trailed down her back and across her shoulder blades. Spike moved himself so that he was flush against her, the evidence of his arousal pressed against the small of her back.

Angel’s kisses wandered across her jaw and down her neck. He nipped lightly at her pulse point before whispering into her ear, “Of course, love.” She could hear a touch of awe in his voice at the fact that she seemed to accept *this* so easily.

Spike’s fingers found her center and pushed inside of her. “You’re always welcome between us, pet.”

~Part: 21~

The huge smile that had been on Cordelia’s face since Doyle picked her up half an hour earlier was threatening to crack the rest of her face it looked so large. Doyle was positive that the brunette was going to hurt herself if she didn’t give it a rest and soon. He shook his head at the energy running through her that was the obvious cause of her bouncing.

He knew better than to question her though, so he shrugged and knocked on the door. When it opened, the face of a man who had barely gotten a single moment’s rest the night before for reasons, which obviously weren’t as good as Cordelia’s if the bags under his eyes were any clue, greeted him.

Cordelia’s smile somehow managed to kick it up another notch when the door opened and she held out her gift. “Cactus! A housewarming present from *my* favorite blonde vampire. Spike seemed to think that it would be perfect for you. Angel sends his love in the form of his gold card and a grumbled ‘whatever’. I convinced him that it wouldn’t be a good idea for you to be going back to Sunnydale for a while,” she said as she looked pointedly at the bandage on his forehead. “I also brought a cell phone so that you could call the Scoobies sometime today and let them know what’s going on.”

“Um– Hi... Uh... Thanks?” Xander said weakly. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Look, there’s something about the apartment that I need to tell you–”

“Th’place looks great. Yah worry too much,” Doyle said overenthusiastically, cutting Xander off as he slipped in past the younger man. He managed to brush shoulders with the teenager and a small shiver ran down his spine at the minute contact. He silently berated himself for acting like a teenage boy, nearly swooning at the slightest contact from his crush. His eyes caught the sight of a chair with a shattered leg lying in the middle of the floor. He frowned slightly as he glanced over his shoulder to say grimly, “I dunno wha’ yah ’ad ag’nst tha’ chair tho’.”

“Ah, the Chair,” Xander said in feigned fond remembrance. “It tried to fool me with promises of being comfy though it was anything but. We fought many a battle, that Chair and I. However, I managed to triumph over its great and evil sorcery and foiled its many evil schemes.”

Doyle chuckled. He kept an amused eye on Xander as he made his way over to the front bay window. Once he hit Cordelia’s wall of boxes, he had no choice but to remove his eyes for the sight that was Xander. “Yah’re one ov a kind Xander.”

Cordelia’s smile wavered as she noticed the cord from the curtains seemingly flying through the air. It lost whatever life it had in it as Doyle reached the window and picked it up. Her eyes went wide. “Oh my God, don’t touch that!”

Both men turned and stared at her.

“What? ’m jes openin’ them so tha’ we c’n get a li’l bit a sunlight in ’ere. This place is darker th’n th’office,” Doyle said defensively. He pulled the cord and the curtains opened spilling sunlight into the room. He raised an eyebrow at her in a playful, though pitiful, imitation of Spike.

“Oh– okay,” she muttered softly from where she stood next to Xander.

“This is nice – how ’bout a toor?” Doyle asked as he walked through the maze that was Cordelia’s boxes, ending up by the fireplace.

“Uh, sure. Over there is the kitchen, that’s the living room, I’m assuming that’s the wall that Cordy wants knocked out, and behind door number three is the bedroom,” Xander said, pointing to each item out as he listed it. He glanced Cordelia. “Tell Spike I said thanks for the cactus.” His voice held an edge of sarcasm but the slight smile tugging at his lips softened his words.

Cordelia nodded, smiling, and handed said cactus over to him.

“I still can’t believe Angel is willing to pay for this place. Looks like the rent would cost a fortune,” Xander muttered as he walked over to stand next to Doyle and lean on the mantle tossing the cactus from one hand to the other. As he walked away from Cordelia, a pair of scissors went flying across the room directed at his back.

Cordelia caught them before either Xander or Doyle noticed and quickly walked over to a desk that sat against a bare wall. She went to drop the scissors into one of the drawers, but was caught by the sight of the indentations of a face pushing through the woodwork. She slammed the drawer after dropping the scissors and turned fast to meet Doyle and Xander’s confused looks.

She grinned widely. “Knowing and having dated you Xander, I bet you’re starved! There’s this place down the street that I’ve been dieing to tr–” She cut herself off with a gasp when one of her trophies flew off the mantle towards the back of Doyle’s head.

Xander caught the thing before it caused any damage, but Doyle looked over at Cordelia in confusion after he gasped, “Dear, swee–!”

“Wow! That mantle must be... really... uneven,” Cordelia stated as she illustrated with her hands. Her face looked tense, as if she knew that they knew that she knew what was going on even though she still insisted on trying to cover it up.

Doyle looked at her, flabbergasted. “Tha’ thing lunged at me!” he exclaimed.

After a brief, uncomfortable pause, Xander asked, “Did I forget to mention that this place is haunted? Ahh– yes, actually I *was* about to say something before I was so rudely interrupted by Doyle.”

Doyle grinned sheepishly; glad he wasn’t the type to blush.

Cordelia seemed to be searching for the perfect answer to all this. Suddenly her face brightened. “You’re right, it’s probably not the mantle. That trophy has always been a pain!”

They all quieted as the room began to fill with moans of the dead, though not rested. A look of horror crossed Doyle’s and Xander’s faces and Cordelia turned to see a word forming in what looked like boiling blood across the wall behind her above the desk.

“C’mon,” Xander said, grabbing Cordelia’s arm.

Another whispered “Dear, sweet–” escaped Doyle’s lips.

“I am *not* letting you give up this apartment!” Cordelia ground out as she pointed a finger in Xander’s face.

“It’s haunted,” Xander stated, exasperated.

“It’s rent controlled,” Cordelia shot back as if that solved everything.

“Cordy, it says ‘die’!” Doyle exclaimed.

Pulling away from their hands she launched into a babble fit. “Hey. Maybe its not done yet? Maybe it’s ‘die’-et? That’s friendly, a little judgmental, sure– I mean, Xander has absolutely no excess body fat from what I can tell.” She drew in a deep breath and faced Xander, “You are not giving this up. It’s perfect for you and gorgeous and so – well – me, but I can make it so that it will fit your style... if I dub that you actually have any style. You *need* this place, you *deserve* this place.”

“He doesn’t need it,” Doyle said as he pulled her towards the door, “it’s jes ’n apartm’nt. He’s more th’n that.”

“How!?” Cordelia demanded, reeling around to face Doyle. “Exactly how is Xander more than that?”

“We can do a witch-y exorcist thing,” Xander said suddenly. He turned to Doyle in a moment of panic. “We can try, can’t we? Find out why whoever’s here is here, then solve their problems so they can rest or whatever.” Turning back to Cordelia, he said, “Like we tried to do at the high school during Sadie Hawkins.”

“Can we?” Cordelia begged, once again turning to face Doyle.

“We c’n try,” Doyle said, urgently trying to direct them out the door. “We ’ave ta go now. We’ll fig’r it out at th’office.”

“Okay,” Cordelia breathed.

As they dragged the girl out the door, she turned back to face what looked like an empty apartment. The sounds that were building made it hard for them to believe their eyes as the moaning grew louder. “Listen good, Casper!” she called out. “You haven’t won a thing. He’ll die before I let him give up this apartment. He’ll die!”

~Part: 22~

Spike jumped up on the desk and grinned as the rest of the gang walked in through the door. He kicked his feet against the wood in a tattoo beat and exclaimed, “That was fan-fucking-tastic! A bloody marvelous fight!”

Xander stared at him for a moment before dropping to the floor in disgust, leaning against the desk next to his feet. He groaned. “*You* – are more extremely evil than when you were trying to kill us all back in high school,” he stated, eyes closed. “How can you consider *any* kind of clean up duty fun?”

Spike shrugged and muttered, “We got to finish killing it didn’t we?”

Cordelia moved to stand between Spike’s knees leaning against his chest. She was completely oblivious to the demon blood covering Spike’s shirt and jeans – although, amazingly enough, not his duster. “Does giant tentacle spew come out with dry cleaning?” she asked curiously, glancing down at her green splattered t-shirt. The garment was nothing that couldn’t replaced, but *was* one of her more comfortable shirts.

Angel walked out of his office and smiled when he saw Spike holding Cordelia. “You’re back,” he said with a grin, love coloring his words. He wrapped an arm around the both of them and kissed Cordelia lightly on the lips. Without looking at Xander as he pulled away, Angel said, “Xander, you need to–”

“No.” Xander pulled himself to his feet and glared at the vampire. “I don’t care what the fuck it is, Deadboy. Britney *friggen* Spears is running for presidency; Jar Jar is taking over the Oprah Winfrey show; Buffy is attempting to prevent *another* apocalypse... You haven’t even thanked us yet.”

“You put ‘Jar Jar’ and sodding ‘Britney Spears’ in the same category as an apocalypse?” Spike asked curiously.

“Hell yeah,” Xander groused. “That *thing* is freaky – reminds me of a demon that I read up on once,” he said, purposely not specifying which one – Jar Jar or Britney – he was talking about.

Angel just stared at the scruffy brunet for the minute that he spent talking with Spike before saying, “Call Giles back. Your mother is harassing him, he wants to lecture you for an indeterminable amount of time on responsibility and loyalty while rubbing a hole through his glasses and what *are* you two talking about?”

Standing there, arms spread and jaw slack in disbelief, Xander gasped out, “Do you happen to remember walking out on us, expecting us to clean up after a Calamine demon? I mean: at least Buffy had the decency to stick around until the demon was dead and buried.”

“Calamari. And it was giant,” Cordelia offered, still held by Angel, but frowning nonetheless.

“Yeah, and Spike was there with you, plus you’re all here.” Angel didn’t seem all that concerned about it. Confused, he pulled away from his lovers and grabbed a cup of coffee. “What does any of this have to do with Buffy?”

Shaking his head, Xander muttered, “Yeah, we had Spike.” His voice was laden with sarcasm.

“Oi!” the blonde exclaimed. His remark was more for show than anything else; he and Xander had secretly joined forces in an attempt to learn just how easily they could piss Angel off. Spike mostly liked the lack of tension in the room whenever he and Xander bantered.

“But him being there has absolutely nothing to do with my point!” Xander exclaimed, acting as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

“You have a point?” Angel asked, looking as if the world was coming to an end. His grip on his coffee cup tightened and he could see Spike’s shoulders trembling with mirth at his antics.

“Being that: ‘it’s possible for *some people* to go into brood-mode and still show a little interest in the feelings of others’,” Cordelia said helpfully. She sighed when Spike rested his chin on her shoulder before adding, “He bitched about the ‘indecency’ of your actions from the moment you left the sewers.”

Spike nodded, his face stony, but eyes full of laughter. “The whelp has a few interestin’ names for you that I don’t think can be repeated unless in the presence of a larger audience. Right potty mouth he has.”

Angel looked towards Doyle for help. The half demon had just wandered through the door, lagging behind in an attempt to stay out of the way of Xander’s wrath. He winced and realized that he should have gone straight to the pub when Angel’s gaze landed on him. “Oh, he thinks yer ‘completely insensitive’ an’, not ta bring up th’ ir’ny, bu’ c’nsider th’ source.”

“So I’m a little reserved–” Angel tried.

“Bollocks!” Spike exclaimed. “Reserved, my ass!”

Xander grinned at Spike. “You’re judgment is a little biased, Deadboy Jr.,” he stated, “what with you being a permanent fixture in Deadboy’s bed.” He paused and shuddered. “Bad images,” turning to Doyle, “remind me not to think of things that will give me nightmares.”

Doyle nodded, but seemed to deflate a little once Xander turned away from him. He could always dream, but some dreams were near impossible to achieve.

“So do not need to think of how Peaches is technically Spike’s dad by vampires’ warped definition,” Xander finished with a shudder and Doyle once again had hope.

Wincing, Angel finally said, “– So I’m reserved *outside the bedroom*. It doesn’t mean I don’t care, not saying I do,” he said glaring at Xander, “but I don’t. Not care that is. And don’t call me that! Or Spike that! – Actually, go ahead and call him that, I don’t care. *Not to imply that I don’t care!*”

“Give it up, luv,” Spike said, grinning at Angel. He shifted his hold on Cordelia, putting more of his weight onto his feet then the desk behind him. “We know yah care, just not for the whelp.”

“And I don’t want you to!” Xander exclaimed. “Supposedly you *care* for those two and some times Spike comes up here covered in bruises, rope burns, and bite marks that I know aren’t from the latest baddie!”

Angel lifted an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”

“’Cause he *tells* me!” Xander yelled. He finally appeared to deflate a little and sat down on the desk next to Doyle, sending a grin in the seer’s direction. “Bleached Wonder here, brags about your little love bites. He purposely waits until he can show me before he does whatever it is he does to make them all disappear.”

Cordelia pulled away from Spike and dropped into a chair, sending Xander a disgusted look. She caught her hair up in a ponytail and declared, “He acts like you don’t have a pulse.”

“I don’t.”

“He doesn’t.”

Both teenager and vampire spoke simultaneously. Mirrored looks of horror crossed their faces at the realization that they had had the same thought. Finally Xander managed to spit out, “I think that it’s time you spend a little time listening to how we – the living – interact.”

“Ah yes, ‘the living’,” Angel mused. “Before me stands a living, breathing, and, by certain definitions, human male. I watch and listen and yet he appears worse than many demons I have run with over the years. There is a chance that he’s worse than *Spike* in some aspects.”

“Oi!” Spike called out, truly offended this time.

Doyle cleared his throat pointedly and Xander shrugged. “Consider how I interact with Doyle, Spike – *Cordy*,” he stated.

“Hey!” Cordelia exclaimed and Spike preened in reaction to Xander’s statement. Cordelia started up her computer as the door opened and a blonde walked in, standing just inside the door, looking uncomfortable.

Angel’s eyes widened and he glanced quickly at Spike before saying, a little too loudly, “Kate!”

The blonde’s eyes ghosted over all the faces she knew; paused at Spike’s and stopped at Xander’s before she looked at Angel again. “Angel,” she finally said. One more sweep over their faces and a long look up and down Xander’s body and she continued, “Got a minute?”

“Sure,” Angel replied quickly. As they walked towards his private office, he asked, “Coffee?”

She shook her head. She cast one last look at Xander over her shoulder as she said, “I’m fine.”

Angel nodded and closed the door behind them.

Spike was the first one to bite, face pinched but voice level. “What the bloody hell was that about!?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Spock need to mind meld now,” Cordelia muttered, voice bitter, as she flipped through a magazine, waiting for the computer to boot up.

Xander cocked an eyebrow. “I’m just guessing here, but I think that she might be a bit of a sore spot.”

“She’s Kate,” Doyle said, voice just as – if not more so – bitter as Cordelia’s. “She has a thing fer th’tall, dark, an’ handsome types.”

A wolf-grin cut across Cordelia’s face, reminiscent of high school days. “Was eyeing you up pretty good, Xan.”

Xander shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, glancing nervously to the closed door of Angel’s office. “What kind of demon is she?”

“She’s not a demon, she’s the chick I was telling you about a few days ago,” Cordelia stated as she put down her magazine and clicked her mouse a few times before staring to type a report on the Calamari. “Just a cop.”

Spike walked over to the coffee pot, and therefore closer to Angel’s office. He glanced through a crack in the blinds and strained his ears to try and hear what was being said between his Sire and the blonde while pointedly pouring himself a cup off coffee and adding ingredients even though the other knew exactly what he was doing. “Isn’t bein’ a cop sodding demon-ish enough?”

“Yer thinkin’ lawyers, but I fig’r, cops aren’t too far down th’ladder from lawyers,” Doyle muttered as he watched Xander, jealousy causing his eyes to shift from green to red and back again.

Xander shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. “You positive she’s absolutely human?” he asked as he walked over to stand next to Spike, trying to catch sight of the people on the other side of the window.