Author's Note: This was inspired by the 5th Season episode The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco. There were a million different comments made in the 5th season that had so much potential for Spike and Angel, and so I just had to write something out. Comments and constructive criticism welcome.

Finding his Hope

Angel wasn't surprised when he was attacked by the demon. He knew that the demon targeted heroes, so, in all honesty, Angel was actually expecting to be attacked. What surprised him was that now that the Aztec demon had him pinned to the top of a car with a sword through his stomach, the demon didn't seem to be as interested in cutting him open and eating his heart. Considering the position he was in, that should have been a good thing, but Angel was actually finding himself upset by it.

If the Aztec demon didn't want his heart, that meant that there was something wrong, something that would make him less heroic. Angel had been aware of the fact that lately, something had been off, that he had been distant, that he hadn't been putting his heart into his fighting. He just couldn't see the point. He knew that he helped people, that he was able to save lives, but he just couldn't see the point in continuing on fighting for the side of good forever, when he would never actually get any reward for it. He had long ago given up on believing in the Shanshu prophecy, and without something to look forward to from day to day, other than more battles, he just couldn't see much point in continuing. He had lost his hope, and as far as he could tell, that was probably the most likely reason that the Aztec demon was gazing down at him thoughtfully, trying to figure out whether to bother to cut out his heart and eat it, or to just kill him.

Angel was trying to figure out if he was going to bother struggling while the demon seemed to be in this state of decision making, when then demon seemed to make up his mind. The demon twisted the sword, without removing it from Angel's stomach, and Angel cried out in pain. With his hands pinned above his head by one of the demon's hands, and with the blinding pain raking through him, Angel was unable to struggle as the demon's claws headed towards his chest. He screamed again as they dug in around his heart, and was startled when all of a sudden the blade-like claws were retracted from his chest. He opened up his eyes and saw the demon looking over his shoulder distractedly. Angel shifted his focus from the demon to the area behind him and was surprised to find Spike standing there cursing. Angel saw Spike's fist fly towards the demon's head, only to go right through instead of making contact. The demon laughed evilly as he realized that Spike was a ghost before turning his attention back to digging his claws into Angel's chest.

When Angel screamed as the excruciating pain began once again, Spike cursed before moving forward once again.

"Get your claws off of my sire." Spike growled, putting all of his concentration into his punch this time, and sighing in relief as his fist made contact with the demon's face, the force of the punch throwing him away from Angel. Spike stepped forward and concentrated once again as he grabbed onto the sword that was still pinning Angel to the hood of the car. With a lot of concentration, he pulled the sword from his sire's stomach, wincing as he heard Angel's moan of pain at the action.

"Sorry, mate," Spike muttered, much to Angel's shock.

Angel didn't have much time to recover, either from his shock, or from his wounds, as the demon stood once again and came towards them, rather pissed off. He took a swing at Spike, only to see his clawed hand pass right through Spike. Growling in frustration as the vampire ghost laughed at him, the demon tried once again. This time, however, Spike raised his hand which still had the sword clutched tightly in it, and shoved it into the demon's heart, watching as he disintegrated into dust. "'eh, that was effin' easy."

Angel watched his childe drop the sword, brushing his nonexistent hands together as if to wipe the demon's dust off of them, smirking at the pile of dust on the ground all the while. And it was in his childe's smirk that Angel found his hope. Spike had just managed, through the simple act of saving his life, as well as showing concern over his well-being, to give Angel something to live for. His childe was back by his side, as he had been so many years ago, only this time, their partnership would involve the killing of demons, rather than innocents. And maybe he could convince the younger vampire to allow certain other aspects of their relationship to be restored. Happier than he had been in a long time, Angel started to smile, and then to laugh as he saw the startled and confused expression on Spike's face.

"Ah, my boy, I've missed you," Angel said happily before reaching up and trying to plant a kiss on Spike's lips. Unfortunately, in his view, fortunately in Spike's, his hands and his lips went right through Spike's face and lips.

"Bloody 'ell, you ponce. What do you think you're doin'?" Spike yelled, wiping his hands across his lips, even though Angel's lips had never actually come in contact with his own.

"I was trying to kiss my childe, but I guess that will have to wait until we get you your body back." Angel sighed in obvious disappointment.

Observing Angel's reaction, Spike had to wonder at his sire's behavior. Perhaps Angel had missed their previous relationship as much as he had. Perhaps he wanted to renew the sire-childe bond, and all the other things that came with it. Thinking about these other aspects of their relationship that they had shared, Spike looked his sire over appraisingly, much in the same way as, he noticed, as his sire was doing to him. Apparently, they each liked what they saw, as there seemed to be an unspoken agreement that as soon as Spike had regained his body, they would be exploring all that their new relationship would entail.

"Yea, mate. Guess it'll have to wait until I get my body back." Spike sighed, also disappointed, but smirking at the thought of exactly what they would be doing as soon as he got his body back.

Seeing Spike's smirk, Angel let his thoughts follow much the same lines, and smirked as well, before turning around and walking back to Wolfram and Hart, with his childe at his side and a smile on his face.

And it was a happy and hopeful Angel that returned to his work at Wolfram and Hart. This was an Angel that his friends would all remark was significantly less broody, and also strangely motivated and, in fact, almost eager, to get Spike his body back.

The End