Disclaimer: If I owned these guys there would be a lot more fluff and slash going on.
A/N: YEY! My first Spangel fanfiction! *does the dance of joy!* How I have longed for this moment!
This fanfic was made as a response to Nekid Numbers on livejournal. In this challange you pic three numbers which later gives you a person, an item and a place. All this and the character Spike has to be in the fic. I got Xander, a scarecrow and a crypt and this is what I made.
This had been BETAed by Falsetto and Lotten.
Hope you enjoy my story and remember, feedback is always welcome and will make me adore you!
Happy Halloween!
One of Angel's ridiculously expensive cars, but not the viper, speeded along one of the highways leading away from L.A. Inside, at the moment, was a very smug Spike. He had taken the habit of returning to Sunnydale when he needed to take a break from the whole 'save the world from yet another apocalypse and then maybe you won't go to hell' business or just needed some quiet time ranting about 'the poof'. He seemed to be doing that a lot. It had been a bit difficult at first, the whole Buffy thing, and while he still loved her they both realized that nothing romantic could ever happen between them again. Instead they had opted to for some kind of haltering friendship. So far everything had worked out relatively smoothly, once they had gotten past those first rough times. And with the great ponce being so bloody anal about everything, at least everything that had anything to do with Spike, it was rather nice to have his own little crypt hideout. So far no one on the 'Angel's Avengers' team had noticed where he slipped off to and he liked to keep it that way. This time it wasn't Buffy he had arranged to meet however – busy with a date or whatnot – but Xander, for some much needed catching up. And since they were now in the season of scary, he had a little trick-and-treat he wanted to play. Luck had, for once, seemed to have been on his side as he was now enough ahead to set his plan in motion. And he had already managed to collect everything he needed. Angel might wonder, and probably complain, about all the straw in the car, but what the hell. It wasn't like he cared about what Mr Higbrowness thought anyway. Finally arriving at his old crypt Spike jumped out off the car and hurriedly dragged the content from the back-seat behind him, a huge grin on his face. This was so going to be fun.
About half an hour later a very unsuspecting Xander opened the door to the crypt and found himself face to face with... A very unmanly screech escaped his lips and he tried to back away again but found that someone or something had gotten in his way. He turned around and stared with horror at the very it-like clown with razor-sharp teeth that was grinning down at him. Frozen in place he could do nothing as the monster in front if him advanced the short distance between them. It stood there for a while, still grinning, watching him and, when it seemed it could hold it of no more, gave sound to a very familiar bellyaching laugh. Spike. As soon as that realisation entered his mind all feelings of fear and terror melted away to give make room for annoyance, irritation and some more irritation for good measure. He desperately regretted having told the vampire, in a weak and rather drunk state, of his insane fear of clowns. He should have known that something like this would happen sooner or later. He turned to see what it was that had given him the fright in the first place and could not hold back a small groan of frustration.
"A scarecrow, Spike?" he asked, "isn't that a bit over the top, even for you?" The blond, who by know had removed the clown-mask and reverted back into his human face, only smiled and shook his head.
"Happy Halloween, mate!" The mask was cast aside in a corner and Xander readily accepted the glass of Jack Daniels that was offered to him. They settled down on an old leather sofa Spike had found god knew where, and began chatting the late evening away. After maybe an hour or so of quite harmless chit-chat Xander, still a bit miffed about the clown thing and a bit loosened up by the alcohol, chose to enter the dangerously thin ice that was Spike's grand-sire. He entered the subject safely enough, it usually didn't take much to put the blond into total rant mode and tonight was no different. He listened patiently for a while but when everything began sounding far to similar, probably because he had already heard it about five times before, he decided that it was time to interrupt.
"But you are aware of that you totally like the guy, right?" Spike, who at that moment had taken a deep drag of his ever existing cigarette, choked and began to cough violently. Xander looked a bit concerned and placed his hands on the other man's shoulders in a calming gesture. "Spike, it's okay. Everybody knows, alright?"
"Everybody knows what?" Spike almost shouted, having once again more or less gained control of his voice.
"That you like Angel."
"Like... like like?" The incomprehension was still rather evident on the vampires face.
"Yes, Spike. Like as in like like." Xander said in a painfully patient voice.
"But I don't!" Spike claimed, waving his arms around franticly, and when the only reply was a not very convinced look, he continued. "Look, mate. It's all very simple; I hate him. He hates me. Has been like that for centuries." This did not seem to persuade the dark haired man any more than the choking and waving had done. If anything he looked even more doubtful than before. Still, Spike tried once more. "Look. What in all the bleeding hells have made you think that I would... you know.. like him? Let alone like like him!" Xander made a mock gesture of contemplation.
"Hmm, well let's see. Could it be the fact that when you come here you're able to leave everything from L.A behind except for our famous deadboy? Or maybe... call me stupid, but the fact that whenever you speak of him you sit there with a happy little smile half of the time is kind of giving you away." The subject of Angel and Spike had been discussed over and over again by the Scoobys when they'd had nothing better to do and they were pretty much agreed by know; Spike liked Angel. What Angel thought about the matter was a bit more difficult to figure out, especially since they didn't have any contact with him any more. Though it seemed to them as if there was a pretty good chance that he liked Spike back. At least they hoped he did. Spike had been love's bitch for enough time now to deserve some happy-ever-after and if nothing else, it would hopefully make him stop bitching so much about the older vampire.
Spike wanted to call Xander stupid, he really did. And he wanted to argue, it was just that... just that, well he didn't really know what it was but that still didn't make it true. He did not like Angel! But by some reason he could not find any argument to prove this fact, at least none that he hadn't already used. It was just... natural, like breathing... which he didn't do, but anyway. You didn't explain breathing, you just did it, or in his case didn't do it, and that covered his liking for Angel as well. He didn't do it. And it didn't need explaining. It just came natural to him. But by some reason he had a feeling that Xander would not see it his way, at least not right now. So instead he chose to sidetrack into some other subject, any other subject. Just to be safe.
Dawn had already broken by the time Xander left for home leaving Spike alone with his thoughts. The blond lay down on his bed and let his mind wander as he was trying to go to sleep. Unfortunately it seemed to constantly be returning to Angel and no matter how many sidetracks he tried to throw his brain onto, it wouldn't stop. As soon as he stopped concentrating hard on some other matter it jumped straight back to the big man. Spike tapped his fingers on the sheets and sighed, slightly annoyed. It wasn't all that weird that the other vampire always was close in his mind. The man was his sire after all. He snorted, okay, so maybe that was stretching it a tad bit to far. If he had been close to any of the other vampires it had been Dru, who he had loved. Or at least as much as he could, being a demon. He hadn't minded Darla. Actually, she'd been rather good at keeping Angelus in check and when it came to the big man – or was it vamp? – himself... well... Spike sighed. It could not be denied that he had, during their evil, soulless years together, been in awe of the other vampire. It had lessened a bit after he had caught him with Dru but as long as she was left out of the equation, he and Angelus had gotten along just fine. But Angelus was long gone now and Spike couldn't really claim to miss him. In his place was Angel and, even though he would never admit it to anyone, Spike preferred it that way. And even though the souled edition could be highly annoying and generally a pain in the blond vampire's well shaped arse, he would not have Angelus back for anything in the world. Which of course brought his thought back to Angel and it took him almost five minutes to realise that, yes, he had indeed been lying there with a stupid grin on his face. BUGGER! The ponce had been right!
He took a peek out of his crypt. The sun had already begun to wander it's damned way across the sky. Oh, bollocks. He hurled a blanket over his head and made a run for it. It was steaming by the time he got to the car which, thankfully, was completely sun safe.
The drive back to L.A had been unusually short. Then again, he had pushed the speed limits to the extreme. It was still very early and even though Wolfram and Hart already was busy and alert Spike felt pretty certain of that most of "The Team" were still snoozing in their beds. Just as he felt certain of that Angel the broody vamp could be found in his office, wide awake.
Angel jumped to his feet, startled, when his office doors slammed open and suddenly found himself face to face with Spike. He blinked in confusion. The blond vampire wasn't supposed to be back for many hours, a day at least and probably more, from wherever he disappeared to when he needed his "lone time" moments. Not that Angel complained, mind you. A day without the blond, peroxided, annoying... thing was a day spent in heaven as far as he was concerned. He opened his mouth to ask what the hell was going on when Spike pushed him up against the nearest wall and kissed him.
None of them was entirely sure on how long it lasted, it could have been anything from minutes to mere seconds, and it took Angel a while to gather his thoughts when Spike finally backed away.
"What?" was still all he managed say. Spike didn't answer, instead he only looked at him, expectantly, like he was supposed to do something. Angel really didn't get it. What was the deal? Why had the man just kissed him like that? Didn't Spike remember that they didn't like each other, that they were enemies? Had been for, like, hundreds of years. Okay, so maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but still. One didn't just throw that sort of thing away. Spike only watched him, intently. Angel usually kept a very guarded face but at some times, like when he'd just had a big shock, everything, every little thought, were visible, and Spike could read it all like an open book. He saw it. He saw it all. His shoulders slumped. He didn't exactly know what he had been expecting but whatever it was, this was not it. This had all been a mistake, from the beginning to the end. He turned to the door and began to walk away.
"Forget it." It came out harsher than he had intended but he didn't care. Right now all he wanted to do was to drive back to Sunnydale, lick his wounds and come back in a day or two acting like nothing had happened. And that whatever had happened didn't bother him. Which it didn't. Not at all.
"Wait!" Angels' voice made him halt his steps and the hand that had just been on it's way to grasp the doorknob stilled. He looked over his shoulder, scared and absolutely terrified of the small burst of hope that that one word had ignited. Angel didn't know what to say, he just knew that for some reason he didn't want Spike to leave. Not like this... and not after that... whatever it had been. There was something there, it was him... and Spike.... and, and that something. He only had to find the words, any words, that would make the other man stay. If he didn't, Spike would leave and that, that something would be gone with him, possibly forever. "I... I didn't... hate it..." Spike turned around, his gaze fixed on Angel's face. He paused, then took a step back into the room, and another one, and another one. Angel let out an unnecessary breath of relief. They stared at each other for a couple of minutes, both trying to find the answers they needed in the others face. Then Angel slowly began to move towards Spike, growing a bit more secure with each step. He held out his hand towards the vampire's cheek. He had done this gesture many times before, in anger and frustration, never quite touching. This time however, he did, gently and hesitantly. Spike closed his eyes and took the final short step forward, leaning on the other man's chest, holding him close. They stood like that for some time, revelling in the feeling of being close.
Then they kissed again. It was Angel who took the first step this time and this kiss was different than the other one. It was more tender, both of them taking their time. They knew that they had a lot of history and bad blood to work through. Dru, Buffy and god knew who else lay between them like a sore thumb. It would be difficult, it would take time but right then it just didn't seem to matter. They would deal with that later and it would be okay. Anything else wasn't an option. But right at that moment it was only them and that something, growing bigger and clearer by the second, and that was all that mattered.