Rome, Late 1881
"Really, my dear? Well, if you insist. I'll see you at home, then. Try to get in before sunup." Darla gave Drusilla a kiss on the cheek, and left the shop they had been perusing to go attend the opera with Angelus.
They didn't often take part in such cultural activities, but Angelus had developed a fascination with one of the singers. He said he wanted to see her sing one last time before deciding whether to kill or turn her.
"I will, mummy. Have fun." Smiling to herself, Drusilla made her way to the back of the shop.
She browsed for a few more moments before deciding on a particular red dress she wanted to try on.
"You'll look great in it, pet."
"I always do, William." Drusilla smiled widely at the scraggly vampire before her. He hadn't done well on his own the past few months. He was dirty and looked near starved. "You'd better be careful, Angelus wouldn't be happy."
"Please, Dru, just… Come with me. I love you, Dru." William stared into those mysterious eyes, wondering how sane she was at the moment.
"Sweet, sweet William. I love you, too! So hurry and make up with Daddy, otherwise I'll have to get a new love." Drusilla closed the gap between them, but didn't touch him. Ghosting her hands over his face, she tilted her head and considered him with a faraway look in her eyes. "You remember how to make up. You saw it before, when we presented you." Withdrawing, she gave him another meaningful smile, and left the shop.
William looked down at the dress she left behind, and pondered her words.
Sewers of London, 1880
"It's good to see you again so soon, Darla. Everything worked out with your boy, it seems. And you've been busy." Darla smiled sweetly at the bat-like demon, and allowed herself to be embraced by him.
"We have, Master. He isn't official, but this is William, newest member of our family. If he lives long enough, he may enter our order." Darla leaned in conspiratorially to the creature, and added, "I wouldn't count on it."
The creature smiled widely, and motioned for William to come closer to him. William ignored the request, but was brought up to him by force by the minions which stood at attention nearby.
"William. I see." The old vampire looked at William studiously, searching for who knows what secrets within his face. "He has potential. A bit on the small side… but that's nothing new." The vampire's eyes flicked quickly to Angelus and then back to William.
William stayed quiet, waiting for the vampire before him to get bored.
He didn't have to wait long. The Master turned away from him and walked up to his throne, but didn't sit in it.
"Well, are any of you coming back for good this time?" The Master seemed to know the answer to his question before asking it, but deemed it necessary to ask.
"No, Master. Just paying respects while in town. We'll be in the country for a little while though, bringing up the fledge, if we're needed." Darla smiled sweetly again, and William held back a gag. The whole night had been filled with pomp and circumstance, and was leaving a bad taste in his mouth.
Then, for no apparent reason, the Master and a few other vampires looked up towards the door, as though someone had walked through.
William followed their gaze, but couldn't see or hear anything for several seconds. Then, he heard the sounds of a struggle draw near.
"It's a night full of prodigals, isn't it?" The Master mused, watching with interest as a man was brought before him.
"Found him sneaking around in the sewers, Master. Shall we kill him?"
"No, not yet anyway. James, my dear boy."
William backed up from the Master and stood beside Drusilla, watching with interest at the scene before him.
"I thought I'd exiled you for good. Whatever possessed you to return?" The Master stood before the man, looking for the world like a cat with a mouse.
Without saying a word, the man knelt to the ground and pressed his forehead to the Master's shoe. The Master didn't move, and the whole room seemed to be holding a breath.
"I, James, Childe of Marte, of the order Aurelius, humbly beg The Master to be allowed entrance into his presence and good graces, as minion and servant." Then, lifting his head and baring his neck, the man looked pleadingly up at The Master.
"What a change. I expect it to last, James." Bending down, The Master lifted James up and sunk his teeth into his neck. Just as James seemed to be on the brink of passing out, The Master pulled away and let him sink to the floor.
"There will be no exile next time, James, because there will be no next time." James humbly looked down, and fell into rank with some other vampires
William felt a chill go down his spine, and was grateful that for whatever reason, Angelus and his group didn't seem to fraternize with this group very often.
"Sorry for that bit of business, Darla. I have noted your respects. Please, visit again." Darla gave a polite curtsey, which was mirrored by Drusilla and ignored by Angelus, who had been silent almost the whole night. He'd made his opinion of seeing the Master quite clear.
The four of them finally left, and William vowed to himself to never go back to those sewers again.
Sunnydale, Present Day
When it was finally sundown, Spike wasted no time getting to his DeSoto. He had to go carefully-who knows what might be lurking about after sundown.
He made it to his car without any trouble, and turned the ignition swiftly. He was already starting to lose his nerve, but he knew there was no other choice. He would definitely get killed if he stuck around here. Sooner or later word was going to spread that little Spikey had one foot in the grave. Half of Sunnydale knew where he lived, and it wasn't the harmless human half.
He was out of Sunnydale before long, and headed to the only place he could think of.
Rome, Early 1882
William had been watching them closely for a few weeks now. They seemed to be tiring of Rome and looked like they were making preparations to leave. He'd have to do it soon. He might lose them again as they travel, or they might go somewhere colder. William hated the cold, and could only imagine how awful it would be to be on his own somewhere that snowed or iced over in the winter. He'd probably freeze to death. Can vampires freeze to death? Well, William didn't want to find out if they could.
He decided he couldn't wait another night. He was on the verge of starvation as it was. Every time he tried to feed, it seemed like someone was on to him. He'd been chased by mobs almost endlessly, and there seemed to be an order of priests and nuns spreading crucifixes and garlic to their flocks.
William watched as Angelus and Darla entered their house. Will had watched earlier as Drusilla had entered on her own. He'd wished for a moment that he could catch her alone and convince her to leave with him, but the sole encounter with her during his exile had proved to him she would never leave of her own will.
William watched the house, grounded to his spot on the roof adjacent. There were just two hours before sunrise.
He knew Drusilla wasn't coming to him, so he'd have to find a way back in. And that way was through Angelus. He was the man on top.
He'd figured it out just as he was exiled, what Drusilla had been trying to tell him in her own special way. He'd finally understood when he remembered what Darla had taught him once, about sires and the different relationships between vampires. William had assumed Angelus had sired Darla and Drusilla, but he was wrong. Angelus had sired Drusilla, but more importantly he'd claimed her-and he'd claimed Darla, who was his own sire. William didn't know everything about claiming, but he knew that the one claimed promised something like fidelity or loyalty and the one doing the claiming promised protection and responsibility. Something like that. Either way, William knew what he had to do to be with Drusilla again, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.
And not only that, there'd be an audience. He'd wanted to do it while Angelus was alone, but he never seemed to be far from one of the girls.
William continued to stare at the door until he realized his time was running short. Not long now before sunrise.
Now or never. Bracing himself, William jumped down off the roof and stood before the door, wondering if he was making a very poor choice.
He opened it slowly, almost expecting to find they had all disappeared and he'd have to track them down again, like when he'd first arrived in Rome weeks after they had.
But instead, he found them all in the front room, casually going about their business. Darla was brushing Drusilla's hair, humming sweetly a tune he didn't recognize. Angelus was standing by the fireplace, reading some ancient tome, probably in a language William hadn't heard of. None of them looked up when he entered.
Okay, William. Go on. Just think about Dru.
Swallowing hard, William forced one foot in front of the other until he was in front of Angelus.
"I want the two minutes, Angelus."
Angelus held up a finger, silently telling William to wait, until he found a stopping place in his book. Then, replacing a bookmark, he closed the book and set it down on the mantle.
"Two minutes?" Angelus raised an eyebrow at William, and waited for him to expound.
"In London, you said I could have two minutes to convince you not to, uh, throw me into the sunlight. I want those two minutes."
Intrigued, Angelus tilted his head in curiosity. Realizing this was the closest thing he'd get to permission, William took a steadying breath.
"Um, before I do, what's the uh-what's the name of the order? The one with the bat-face guy?"
Angelus snorted at that, and didn't hide his glee as he turned to Darla for her to answer.
"Aurelius, William." Darla shot a begrudgingly amused glare at Angelus, who turned back to William.
"Alright, William. You've got a minute thirty seconds now."
Looking around the room and wishing again for privacy, William looked down at the ground, unable to meet the gaze of anyone in the room.
He dropped to his knees quickly, without any grace, and mimicked what he'd seen in the sewers of London just a few months after he was turned.
He swiftly pressed his forehead to Angelus's shoe, waited a few beats, and then sat up.
"I, William, Childe of Drusilla of the Order Au-Aurelius, humbly beseech Angelus to allow me back into his presence and graces as-um, as…" William trailed off, not sure what he was supposed to say. He caught Drusilla's eye, who mouthed a word to him. "As Childe?" Hoping that was right, William paused for a moment before closing his eyes and baring his neck.
Either this would be enough for him or it wouldn't. The sun was up now; Angelus could throw him out there and he'd be in flames in a second, young and flammable as he was.
There was silence in the room as Angelus seemed to consider the proposition. William could feel Angelus's amusement at William's behavior, and it drove him mad. It took every ounce of self control he'd managed to cultivate, but William didn't move from his spot on the ground.
"Well done, William." Angelus grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and pulled him to his feet. Spike remembered with some terror what it had been like when he was sired, and the fear of being the prey instead of the hunter. He swallowed his terror though, and tried not to look at Angelus's yellow eyes and terrible Demon visage.
He was done draining William in seconds; there wasn't much blood in him to begin with. Instead of just dropping him to the floor, though, as William had seen The Master do, Angelus used one of his nails to open a vein on his own wrist. Then, he held it up to William, who drank gratefully and deeply.
"Responsibility in return for obedience, William, that's what this trade is. You're now my Childe as surely as Drusilla is." Angelus paused, thoughtfully regarding William. "She may have Sired you, but I've been your Sire since the day you were turned." Angelus removed his hand from William, and held him upright. Boring his eyes deeply into Williams, he made sure he had his attention before continuing. "I don't expect you to be a groveling minion or a sweet obedient childe like Drusilla. But when I do get around to giving you a direct order, you'd best make sure to follow it." Angelus released William roughly, and pushed him over to Drusilla's arms. "I'll leave you two to get… re-acquainted. Darla? Let's leave the childer to play, shall we?"
Darla had abandoned the brush she'd been using on Drusilla's hair, and stood from her seat on the couch to join Angelus.
As they left, William could hear Darla's surprise that Angelus had decided not to kill him after all. William gulped, realizing just how close he'd been to eternal rest. Or, unrest as some had speculated.
"Welcome back, my sweet." Drusilla pulled William down onto the couch, smiling deviously.
Well worth it.
LA, Present Day
"Angel… I want a raise." Cordelia punctuated her last word by dropping a gooey axe onto the table, and proceeding to make a great show of peeling the blue goop off of her hands, raising her eyebrows at Angel.
"Sure thing, Cordy. Expect it in your next check." Angel smirked, setting his own sword down. Luckily they were in no short supply of weapons, so he wouldn't have to clean this one anytime soon. That demon had been full of surprises, one being very sticky-and prolific-azure blood.
"I'm not gonna get a disease, am I?" Gunn spat into the sink again, making sure it was all gone from his mouth. "That stuff is naaaasty."
"Well, you shouldn't catch anything but if you do let me know, it'd be fascinating to study." Wesley rubbed his eyes, briefly wondering how much banter he would have to participate in before he could find a bed and try to sleep this one off.
"Does anyone want tea or coffee?" Fred asks sweetly, the only one who had managed to completely avoid any kind of goop or slop. This had made the others pretty frustrated, and she wanted to assuage any angst as quickly as she could.
Soon, they were all gathered around the table, laughing about the events that had led to the demon hunt.
Angel sipped on his warmed blood, glad they were all on good terms at the moment. Things could get awkward with a group like this.
"Well, I'm about to pass out from exhaustion. Anyone else? It's been real, everyone." Cordy stood, leaving her cup of cold tea, and headed for the stairs. She was soon followed by Fred and Wesley, but Gunn stayed back.
"Too keyed up to sleep-don't know how they do it. Guess you'd be up anyways." Gunn took another sip of his drink, watching the retreating figures of his coworkers.
"Yeah, hardwired to be nocturnal and-"
But Angel was cut off by the sound of Fred screaming.
Jumping up, Angel and Gunn ran up to her room.
"Fred, what is it?" Gunn yelled up the stairs.
"A vampire! There's a vampire in my room!"
Pulling out stakes, Gunn and Angel rounded the corner to Fred's room.
"Move aside, Fred!" Angel threw Fred back into Gunn's arms, and kicked open the door to her room.
"Good morning to you too, peaches."
Angel almost dropped his stake in surprise, but soon regained composure and regarded the vampire before him.
"Spike." They stared at each other for a moment longer, Spike sipping on a mug of blood, and Angel wondering why Spike wasn't attacking. It took him longer than it should have to notice all of his injuries. "What happened to you?"
Before Spike could answer, Gunn released Fred and stood beside Angel.
"What, you know this one?"
"Yeah, he uh… Give us a minute?" Angel gave Gunn a measured look, and motioned to Fred. "Keep her somewhere safe, will ya?" Gunn relented, and gave Angel a 'you're the boss' look.
Closing the door behind him, Angel entered Fred's room.
Spike still remained silent, slowly sipping at his cup of blood, as if it hurt every time he swallowed.
"What are you doing here, Spike?" Angel lowered his stake, but didn't drop it.
"Just lookin for a place to hole up and heal. Couple of demons got the drop on me, can't go back home until I'm fightin-ready."
"And home would be…" Angel trailed off, waiting for Spike to answer.
"Buckingham Palace." Spike sneered, then answered when Angel didn't take the bait. "Yes, I'm still in Slayer-dale. Bad for my health, I know, but I just can't kick the habit." Spike set down the cup, and leaned up against the headboard of Fred's bed.
"Right. And… why should I let you heal up here? How did you think this would be a good idea?"
Spike stayed silent for a little while, as he gathered his thoughts. Then, looking back up at Angel, he wondered how much of Angelus was still kicking in there.
"Got two minutes?"
Angel's face remained blank, so Spike took a different approach.
"Look, I got no other choice. I won't hurt your pet humans, I won't tell all your demon enemies where you sleep, and I won't tell everyone about that time you wore a dress."
"I never-"
"Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. Who will Willy's pub believe?" Spike smiled humorlessly, and tried to get comfortable on the bed. "I'm willing to change rooms. This was just the first one that didn't smell like sweaty human male. Do your pets bathe regularly?"
"They're not my… Spike, you're drinking pigs blood."
"I had noticed, Captain Forehead."
"Why."
It wasn't really a question, it was a command. A command to spill his guts and not leave anything out.
Spike had sworn obedience once, but that was a long time ago.
"Just tryin something new. It's a-whaddya call it, it's a token. I'll live by your rules while I'm here or whatever. Come on Angel, look at me." Spike glared at Angel, seemingly angry that Angel didn't understand that this is the last place he'd be by choice. "I'm no threat. Can't even stand up. Fell down those stairs when I first came in and broke my already sprained ankle." Spike tore his gaze from Angel and stared at the ceiling. "Just a few weeks is all."
Spike had come dangerously close to pleading. Realizing this, he turned away from Angel and regarded the cup once again.
Angel watched the blond for a moment as he tried to drink the pigs blood, realizing what was making him struggle.
"Is that why you're half-starved?"
Spike looked at him, confused.
"You've got internal damage. Been making you throw up every time you feed."
Spike looked down at the cup and set it down. No, he hadn't realized that. And no, that wasn't the only reason he was half starved. He hadn't fed properly since he got the chip, not even on pigs blood. Something always seemed to happen to him as he was heading home with it, causing it to spill on the ground. Plus, he was broke most of the time. Add to that the fact that he just hated the taste of it… Yeah, he hadn't fed properly in a while.
"Yeah, that's it. Thought maybe I'd healed enough by now to drink, but uh…" Spike put a cautious hand on his stomach, already feeling it reject the offered nourishment.
Sighing heavily in defeat, Angel put his stake in his pocket. He walked over to Spike and motioned for him to stand. Angel helped him over to the door and pulled it open carefully, trying not to jostle Spike too much.
Angel let go of him once they were by the railing, which Spike held onto while Angel went to explain the situation to his humans.
"Okay, so you all are definitely allowed to overrule me and call me crazy."
"Angel, who is that man?" Fred cast a fearful glance to Spike, who was reeling.
"His name is Spike, he's uh… He was part of the group I led as Angelus. Long story. Boring story. He's an evil vampire, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people, very dangerous, cruel, and even a bit cunning sometimes."
"And… recently got a soul?" Cordy asked hopefully. Angel shook his head.
"Nope. Just plain ol' evil."
"And we're not staking him, because…" Gunn was looking dangerously close to taking matters into his own hands.
"He asked me for help."
All four of his employees let out a collective groan, and began the usual name-calling and rehashing of past decisions Angel had made that had gone sour.
"Okay, okay everyone stop. Look I don't know the details, but I've heard rumors that Spike hasn't been the big bad he used to be. I don't know the whole story, and haven't cared to look into it, but I hear he's been helping the Slayer."
"Why?" Cordy asked incredulously.
"I don't know, maybe she pays him. We haven't been sharing our deep dark secrets lately."
The conversation continued for a few more minutes-Wesley sharing Watcher history of Spike, Gunn sharing street history of killing vampires, Cordy reminding him about the fiasco they'd had the last time someone from Angel's history had popped up, and Fred, well… just being Fred.
"Okay, look. I'll put him in the room across from mine and lock it. We'll try this for a few days, and if he does one single thing to make you uncomfortable, I'll throw him out into the sun. It wouldn't be hard." Angel regarded Spike for a moment, knowing he'd heard him. "There's just more to this whole thing that's going on, and… he's my responsibility. Okay? If he's not killing, and he's been batting for the good guys… I can't just leave him."
"Is this because he's being a good little vampire, or because you're his Sire?" Wesley regarded Angel, knowing something of the bond between such vampires.
"I set Drusilla on fire, Wesley. Spike has betrayed both me and Angelus in recent history, and I him. The bond doesn't mean a whole lot these days." Angel kept Wesley's gaze until the former watcher looked away, sighing, and started for his room, giving silent permission for whatever happened next.
"Alright but I want my tone and doubtful expression on the record." Cordy gave Angel a pointed look, and left.
Fred gave a little shrug, and maneuvered around Angel and Spike to get back to her room.
Gunn still looked unconvinced.
"Okay Gunn, tell me straight. Am I completely insane?" Angel asked, knowing the answer.
Gunn didn't answer for a long moment, considering his answer with more care than Angel would have expected.
"Well… I don't like it. And yeah, I think you're crazy. But I get it. If someone from my old crew showed up like that-" he motioned to Spike, "-even if they'd been nothing but trouble before, I'd want to help him. So yeah, you're insane, but… I won't stop you."
Angel nodded, hiding how much it meant to him that Gunn supported his decision.
"And I swear, one step out of line and you can escort him into the afternoon sun. No arguments from me."
Gunn grinned and wished Angel a goodnight before going off to his own bedroom.
Angel went back to help Spike down to his new room, noting grimly that Spike doesn't protest, banter, or argue. Someone or something really messed him up.
