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Shanna
shannalynn9064@yahoo.com
Angel placed his mug in the microwave and set the timer. He leaned back against the counter, pondering the sense of humor that belonged to the Powers That Be. They finally give him a way to make his soul permanent, to give him a chance to live his life unafraid that one day he would wake up and kill everyone he cared about. And in what form do they send this wonderful gift to him? His ex-girlfriend's best friend who also happens to be his grand-childe's brand spankin' new love of his unlife.
The vampire cocked his head and peered at the ceiling through squinted eyes. "You guys have a sick sense of humor, you know that?"
"Talkin' to yourself Peaches?"
So lost was he in his own thoughts he had never even sensed Spike's presence until the blond walked into the kitchen. Angel took in his appearance. Bleached hair was tousled, black jeans were slung low on his hips, the zipper being only partially closed. That was about it. Muscles rippled over his bare chest while the younger vampire stretched his arms over his head and bare feet padded across the tiled floor as he made his way to inspect the contents of the fridge. .
It was when his grand-childe bent over to look deeper into the back of the refrigerator that Angel noticed the scratches covering the blonde's back. Most were simply raised welts, but there were others that had drawn blood. The elder vampire inhaled, savoring the scent of Spike's blood, but at the same time feeling his worry grow for the person he knew had to be responsible for the marks.
"Where's Willow?"
"Red's in her room. Oh, don't think I'll be needin' my own room anymore." The blond smiled smugly at his grand-sire over his shoulder. "Figure I'll just move in with the witch until we figure a way to get her back to normal."
"Spike, what did you. . ."
"Got any grape juice?" The younger vampire had already turned his attention back to food and drink available on the Hyperion Hotel's menu.
The question, so out of left field, made Angel stumble in his thoughts. "What?"
"Grape juice. Got any?"
"Grape juice?"
The confusion on the dark vampire's face left Spike chuckling. "Yeah, grape juice. Red's got a craving for some. Got any? Prefers the purple kind, she said"
"Uh, no. . .at least I don't think so. Maybe if Cordy or Wesley brought it, but I don't. . . That's not the point here!" Angel tried to take back control of the conversation. "What did you do to Willow?"
The blond waggled his brows at his grand-sire. "Question is, what didn't I do to her, eh mate?"
Angel was halfway across the room but the smell of Willow and sex rolling off Spike hit him like a tidal wave. "Did you hurt her?"
"Well, I did make her scream, but I didn't hear her complainin' a bit." At the elder vamp's look of worry, the blond looked heavenward. "Oh, come on! Bloody poof can't take a joke. Of course I didn't hurt her. Told ya I wouldn't, didn't I?"
"I'd feel better hearing it from Willow myself."
"You never did trust me, did ya? Even as Angelus, never took my word for anything. Always had to check things out yourself. Never had a bit of faith in me, did ya Peaches?" Spike frowned, gripping the refrigerator door tightly as he continued his rant. "Don't believe the witch is fine, you want to ask her yourself, fine! Be my guest, but you'd better knock before you go in, 'cause when I left, my Red wasn't wearin' nothin' but a smile and my mark. And I don't need you oglin' what's mine, got it?"
"Fine, and I think I will go check on Willow. You may have forgotten you're a soulless demon, but I haven't."
"Oh, right. We can't all be as perfect and soul-havin' as yourself, can we?" Spike mockingly praised the man in front of him that had been more like his Sire than his actual Sire. "'Cause you're per-fect Angel. Everyone just looooves Angel." The blonde's voice took on a faux falsetto as he did his best imitation of the blond Slayer. "Angel has a soul, you're nothing more than an icky demon. You're nothing. If you didn't have that chip in your head I'd stake you faster than you could say neutered. You're worthless. I don't know why we keep you around. Can't I just stake him already, Giles?"
Spike's rambling came to a crashing halt when he realized how much he'd revealed to the dark vampire. He could see the surprise mixing with sadness in Angel's eyes as he gazed at the younger vamp.
"Don't look at me like that. Don't need any of your damn pity." Embarrassed, the blond buried his head in the refrigerator again in search of nourishment for his redhead.
"Is it really that bad for you there?" Angel asked softly.
Spike found what was left of the bags of grapes and strawberries and the cheese Willow had been eating earlier and laid them on the counter, going in search of a plate in the cupboards. He heaved a frustrated sigh. "No, mate. Not at all. It's a bloody walk in the park."
"Why did you stay then?"
Spike was about to make another sarcastic remark when he saw the honest curiosity on his grand-sire's face. "At first, didn't have a choice. Chained me in the Watcher's tub, they did." Angel raised his eyebrows at that, but let it slide. "After that, had me tied up in the moron's basement. Didn't have any money. Couldn't bite. Didn't even know at first I could kill demons. Hung around at first because the Watcher would pay me for info on the latest evil to hit the Hellmouth, gave me enough for smokes and blood from Willy's. Also thought while the bastards that did this to me were still around, always had a chance to get it reversed."
The blond shrugged, not meeting the older man's eyes, but instead concentrating on cutting slices of cheese and arranging them on the plate with the fruit. "Almost got them all killed. Bargained with that bloke Adam, some demon/human hybrid the commandos were experimenting with, to get the chip out if I isolated the Slayer, if I got rid of the Scoobies and handed her to him on a silver platter. But he backed out, bastard!" Spike threw the knife he'd been using into the sink.
"Then, I don't know why I stayed after that." He looked thoughtful as he took out some orange juice and poured a glass. "Didn't have anywhere else to go. Wasn't the Big Bad anymore. Can't even step on a bleedin' human's toe without this damn chip goin' off."
"And Willow?"
Spike paused in his action of putting the juice back, a small smile twitching at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, Red. She always stuck up for me, ya know? Always told the Slayer she was bein' too hard on me. Told Chubs to lay off. Even stopped me once from stakin' myself." He laughed suddenly, surprising Angel with his mood swing. "Shoulda seen the day Chubs was layin' into me. Witch asked him how fast he could run, 'cause one day when my chip shorted out, 'as all electrical equipment is prone to do'," he quoted his redhead, "moron'd better hope he could outrun me, 'cause he'd probably be at the top of my hit list, treatin' me the way he was."
Angel chuckled, imagining the petite redhead defending the big evil master vampire's honor. She was so shy and quiet in high school, but he knew she could be a little firebrand. He remembered her laying into he and Giles about their treatment of Buffy that time she lied to go to a frat party with Delia. He'd never forget her words. 'And *you*! I mean, you're gonna live forever! You don't have time for a cup of coffee?' That was the first time he'd ever heard her raise her voice to anyone. It didn't happen often, but when it did, well, he was just glad he was rarely in her line of fire.
"She's something all right. It's still hard for me to imagine that shy, quiet Willow at seventeen had the strength and power to restore my soul."
"She's filled with power. I can feel it. Can you?"
Angel frowned as he nodded. "I feel it. It's mostly untapped, but it's there just the same. She could become a formidable force with the correct training."
"Watcher's tried to teach her some control and how to know her limits, but my witch sucks up every detail she can in those spell books. Always eager to try them out. Got a friend of hers, Tara, who's a witch, too. Spells go better when they work together, but alone, they never seem to go right." Spike shivered with revulsion as he remembered the results of Red's will be done spell. "Was really bad right after the wolf left her. She was all emotional and what not. Couldn't concentrate enough on anything else but the pain."
"Giles mentioned Oz had left, but he didn't go into much detail. I was surprised, to be honest. They seemed so happy the last time I saw them. . .except for the ascension of course."
"Wolf was a bigger moron than the moron. Bastard slept with a bitch. . ."
"Spike, how do you know that she was a bitch? She could have been . . ."
"Bitch was a bitch, literally. She was a wolf too. He locked them in his cage during the full moon. Red showed up the next day to let him out and found them naked and all scratched up from a rough night of doggie style. 'Bout broke her heart. Then the bitch tried to kill her. Changed into the wolf and attacked, but dogboy was there. He turned all Fido and ripped the bitch's throat out, but then he went after Red. If the Slayer hadn't shown up he probably would have shredded her into kibble. Told her he needed to find the line between him and the wolf and just up and left her."
"Wow. Poor Willow." Angel couldn't imagine how hurt the fragile redhead must have been. He remembered how much she had cared for the musician. It was obvious with ever look she ever threw his way. Buffy used to look at him like that.
Both vampires paused, sensing an approaching heartbeat. Since all of the other humans were gone for the night, they assumed their coming visitor was Willow. Her soft voice preceded her into the kitchen. "Spike, did you get lost? I know it's been a long time since you've been human, but, hello, hungry here. My tummy's a rumblin'."
She entered the room wearing a calf-length pink chenille robe with white bunnies on the lapels. Her hair was as tousled as Spike's and her lips looked bruised and swollen, the result of too much vampire smoochies. Her face was flushed and her eyes bright as they focused on the blond standing there holding a plate of food and glass of juice for her. Angel thought he'd never seen her look more beautiful.
"Willow, are you all right?" He eyed the fresh bite visible on her neck.
The redhead jumped, spinning to see the dark vampire standing next to the microwave. She held her hand to her pounding heart. "Angel! You about scared the pants off of me!"
"Not wearin' any pants, luv," Spike teased.
"Oh, . . .you! Hush!" The wiccan blushed brightly, knowing Angel could probably tell what had occurred between she and Spike. If he hadn't heard her screams of pleasure, she knew with his super vamp sniffer he had to smell the sex. Heck, she could almost smell it. Her nose was still full of the aromas that were Spike. Tobacco, leather and a hint of soap and sandalwood.
"Willow?" Angel prodded, still waiting for his answer.
"What? Oh, I'm fine. Why?"
"I just wanted to make sure. I mean it's Spike and. . ."
"And I've done nothing to harm her, have I luv?"
"He didn't hurt me, Angel. Honest."
The elder vampire set the microwave to reheat his forgotten mug of blood. "I just wanted to be sure. Spike, do you want something to eat?" He waved his hand, indicating the warming blood.
The blond handed his witch her juice and wrapped his free arm around her, turning Willow to guide her out of the kitchen. He gave his grand-sire a cocky grin over his shoulder. "No, thanks mate. I'm stuffed. Couldn't eat another bite." He leaned over and nibbled on the redhead's pale neck, causing her to giggle.
"Spike!" She squealed happily.
Angel shook his head as the couple headed back to Willow's room. He never thought he'd see the day. It's like Shakespeare, maybe some Greek tragedy or a bad B-movie. Romeo and Juliet. Zeus and Alcmene. The Hacker and the Vamp. He hoped their story had a happier ending than the other two.
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