Luke handed the cab driver his fare, and turned to look at the entrance to the bar. He doubted anyone would be there at this time of day, but he had to try. When his first tentative knock was met with silence, he knocked louder. No one answered, and out of frustration, Luke pounded on the door with the side of his fist a few times. He turned to walk away, and heard the door creak open.

Turning at the sound, Luke had to squint into the darkness of the building to see the woman who'd opened the door. She had bleached blond hair, her skin was a sickly pale, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Luke thought she might be in the late stages of cancer.

"Hi, I was looking for a friend of mine. His name is Noah Mayer. He was here last night."

"I'm sorry, I'm just the cleaning lady, and no one else is here. You'll have to come back tonight."

Luke didn't think she was telling the truth. She didn't appear strong enough to do any cleaning, and she was wearing designer clothes. "Do you think I could come in for just a minute and take a look around? See if Noah left anything here?" He saw her frown and quickly added, "I'd only be a minute."

Her eyes darted behind her, and Luke saw fear on her face. She inched out into the sun and pulled the door most of the way closed behind her. Luke thought she looked even more ill in the sunlight. Her sleeve road up as she closed the door, and he caught a glimpse of some scabs near her wrist. She whispered to him urgently, "Don't go in."

"I'm sorry?" He said, confused.

"You won't…"

A voice behind her hissed, "Gina!"

The door to the nightclub was open a crack, but Luke couldn't see who was speaking.

Gina nervously smiled at Luke, and changed her tone. "Of course you can come in and take a look. Right this way." She gestured to the door for Luke to go first.

Luke stayed where he was for a moment. He thought about Angel basically ordering him not to come here alone, and he thought about the nervousness he'd felt in the club last night. Taking a small step away from the door, Luke said, "You know what, I think I'll come back tonight instead."

"Luke?" Noah's voice came to him from the dark interior of the nightclub.

"Noah?" Luke asked, not quite believing Noah would be in there, but there was no mistaking his voice. Luke took a step closer, trying to see into the blackness.

"I'm sorry about last night. Come on inside, and we can talk," Noah said.

Any reservations Luke had had flew out the window with those words, and that tone of voice coming from the man he'd been in love with for three years. Relief rushed through him, and he was certain that his guess had been correct. Noah had been on drugs, and now that he'd sobered up, he was sorry about the things he'd said. Luke walked into the club, eyes connecting with Noah's within seconds.

Luke's first instinct was to hug Noah, but as his body moved forward, he caught the expression on Noah's face, and stopped in his tracks. There were no traces of guilt or repentance, or even love in that expression. Noah had an unfriendly smirk on his mouth, and his eyes were squinted into a glare. Luke heard the front door shut behind him, and the room was enveloped in blackness. Unable to see much of anything, Luke said, "Noah?"

Luke felt someone grab his shirt near the back of his neck and propel him forward. "Hey! Get off me!" he said. He dropped his overnight back while shoving at the person holding him to no avail.

"Get off you?" Noah's mild tone came from behind Luke. "Why would I do that, when you came all this way just to see me?"

Unsure how Noah had gotten behind him so quickly, Luke craned his neck to see Noah's face. Noah smiled at him, but that only served to make Luke's stomach lurch. Noah's smile grew, and he stuck his face close to Luke's shoulder and inhaled deeply while they walked. "You smell like fear."

They walked into the main bar, where there were a few candles lit, and Luke could see a little better. Noah stopped walking, but held Luke in place. There were about twenty people in the room with them, and all of them were staring at Luke.

A woman took a step towards them and addressed Noah. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes."

She looked Luke up and down once, "Why all the fuss over one scrawny boy?" Noah didn't answer her, knowing it was rhetorical. A shiver went down Luke's spine as the woman scrutinized him. She turned back to Noah and said, "Angelus is not to be trifled with. If he comes for the boy, he'll kill you, and we will not try to stop him."

With a glare, Noah said, "You've made that very clear, Sire. But Angelus won't come, and Angel has no real claim on him. He's mine. No one will be coming to rescue him."

"You are a stubborn one," she said. "Were you not listening to me when I told you who Angelus was?"

"Yes Sire, I was listening. And everyone we spoke with said it was Angel, not Angelus."

"Angel isn't to be trifled with either."

Noah didn't comment. During the pause, Luke asked quietly, "What's going on, Noah?" He knew he sounded desperate, but at this point he was too worried to care. Noah kept his eyes on the woman, and didn't respond.

The woman waved him off with a hand and said, "Very well. It's your funeral."

Noah smiled, bowed his head towards her and said, "Thank you, Sire."

Luke realized with horror that Noah wasn't on drugs. It was worse. Noah had joined some kind of cult, and he'd been brainwashed. Luke hissed at the woman, "I don't know what you've done to him, but you won't get away with it."

With a chuckle, the woman said, "Take him."

Grabbing Luke in a tighter grip, Noah walked him into one of the small back rooms, and closed the door behind them. There was only one candle lit in the room, and Luke had trouble seeing much, but he could make out the shape of three beds. Noah gave him a small shove, and let go. Luke stumbled forward and fell onto a bed face first. Before he could get up, Noah had flipped him over onto his back, and crawled on top of him.

They were face to face, with Noah straddling Luke's legs. Luke looked up at his former lover, and pleaded, "Talk to me, Noah. Tell me what's going on."

Getting more comfortable, Noah stretched out on top of Luke, and let his body press the smaller man down into the mattress. While trailing a finger from the top of Luke's head, down to his chin, Noah said, "You remember the last time we were in bed together Luke?"

Luke turned his face away from the touch, not wanting to mix the good memories of the last time they were in bed together with this awful moment. He demanded, "Tell me what's going on. Who are these people? Why aren't you working on your film?"

Noah grabbed Luke's chin, and forced his head back to look at him. "These people are my family now, and I'm never going to make another film."

"What?"

"Why make a movie when you can live one?" While they were making eye contact, Noah allowed his face to change into vampire form. Shocked and frightened, Luke gasped, and tried to push his body away from Noah. Noah tightened his grip and said, "What's the matter Luke? Scared?"

Noah's grip became painful, and Luke whimpered, "What's wrong with your face?"

"Nothing." Noah leaned down and touched his nose to Luke's neck, smelling the blood under the surface mixed with the fear Luke was giving off. "This is my new face. The old Noah is dead and gone, and soon you will be too." Bringing his head back up, Noah smiled and let Luke get a good look at his teeth.

"You're not human," Luke said, more to himself than to Noah.

"Being a vampire is so much better. Soon you'll be begging me to turn you too."

Luke tried to shake his head, but found himself still held tight. "No."

Noah leaned down and whispered into Luke's neck. "You will. I'm going to keep you here with me until you do. Drinking from you each day, keeping you too weak to struggle, until you beg me to end it."

In a panic, Luke lied, "Angel knows where I am. He'll be coming for me."

Noah lifted his head and looked into Luke's eyes. With a small smile he said, "You're lying. That's cute."

Changing tactics, Luke reached a hand up and cupped the side of Noah's face with his hand. "I know you still love me, Noah. I love you too. Please let me go, and I'll find a way to get you help."

Glaring in anger, Noah hissed, "I'll never let you leave." Leaning down, he sank his teeth into Luke's neck. Luke screamed in pain, and tried pushing Noah away.

Before Noah could get a second swallow of blood down, the door to the room burst open. Angel rushed at them with a stake in his hand. Noah jumped up to fight.

Free to move, Luke stood, pressed his back against the wall, and put a hand over the bleeding wound on his neck. Still in shock from all of it, he could only stare at the two men fighting, but felt safer knowing Angel was there, than he had since entering the building.

Noah was no match for the older vampire. Within seconds, Noah found himself shoved up against the wall with his feet off the ground, Angel's hand choking his throat so he couldn't speak. Angel said, "I told you he was mine. Biting him was a mistake you won't get to make twice." He raised the stake up over his shoulder, ready to strike.

"No!" Luke yelled from across the room.

Angel hesitated, and turned to Luke. Luke was still plastered against the wall with fear, and a few drops of blood slid past the fingers on his neck, but he shook his head no. Angel turned back to Noah, and saw that he had changed his face back to human form, and understood. Angel turned back to Luke and said, "He's not human."

"I know but…" Luke didn't know to explain it, but he couldn't let Angel kill Noah, even if it wasn't exactly Noah anymore.

Against his better judgement, Angel whispered in Noah's ear, "You touch him again, and I won't let you live." Angel stabbed the stake into Noah's stomach instead of his heart, and let him drop to the ground.

"Noah! No!" Luke rushed towards them, but Angel caught him before he could get to Noah. Angel said, "He's fine."

Luke stopped struggling and said, "What do you mean he's fine? You staked him!"

"In the stomach not the heart."

Luke looked down at Noah, who was groaning with pain. Noah pulled the stake back out of his stomach, and let it clatter to the floor. "How do you know that won't kill a vampire in real life?"

Having had enough, Angel gave the smaller man a small shake, getting his attention. He changed face himself and said, "I know because I am one, which is why I told you not to come here alone!"

Luke tried to take a step away, fresh fear coursing through his veins, but couldn't get out of Angel's grip. Angel pulled him close, so they were nose to nose, and said, "I told you it was dangerous here. I told you I'd bring you tonight. And instead of listening to me, you lied to me! Why?"

Swallowing hard, Luke's voice was barely above a whisper when he said, "Because I didn't believe you."

Angel glanced at Noah, who was now sitting up against the wall. Even though he was in pain, Noah had a smirk on his face. Noah had only been a vampire for a few weeks, and he clearly remembered being human and belonging to the vampire who had become his Sire. Their relationship had been based on terror when he was human. Noah had very quickly, and painfully, learned to obey her every command without question until he was turned. And he could tell Luke wasn't terrified of Angel. Noah muttered, "He's not yours."

Angel knew that Luke wouldn't be safe from Noah unless he put on a show of ownership for Noah's benefit. Regretting that he hadn't pulled Luke out of there before talking to him, Angel changed back to his human face, and focused on Luke. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Luke asked nervously.

"Like it or not, I've claimed you as mine, and in vampire society that means something different than it does in human society. As far as everyone here is concerned, you have no rights. If you didn't belong to one of us, you'd be like a cheeseburger with a sign that said free food. But because I've laid claim to you, you're more like a stray dog with no collar. I say you're mine, but Noah has challenged that claim by marking you with his bite, so I can either kill him, or prove he's wrong by marking you myself."

Luke didn't want to believe the things Angel had just told him, but not listening to Angel had gotten him into this mess to begin with. He looked down at Noah who appeared to be feeling better by the second, and realized Angel had been right about the stake to the stomach. Frowning, he thought about how he'd felt watching Reid die, and knew he couldn't watch another man he loved die, even if that man wasn't human anymore. He turned back to Angel, and let his hand drop away from his neck, showing his trust and willingness. "Okay, then you'll have to mark me."

"No," Angel said, "not like that." He tore a small corner off the bedspread next to them, held the cloth to Luke's neck, and put Luke's hand back up to cover it. "Keep direct pressure on it to stop the bleeding."

Confused Luke said, "Okay."

Focusing on Luke's neck, Angel scowled. "You lied to me about where you were going, and put yourself in danger. Because you're my human, I can't let that go without punishment."

Luke's eyes opened wide with shock. He was barely able to choke out the word, "What?"

Angel turned him, pushed his free arm up behind his back, and walked him towards the wall. Luke struggled and said, "What are you doing?"

"Taking care of two things at once." Angel muttered, and pressed Luke's chest against the wall. Angel held him in place by keeping Luke's arm behind his back, and then used his free hand to smack Luke's butt five times. He made sure that the last swat was hard enough to leave a bruise that would be there for a couple of days.

Luke held his body stuff, and clenched his teeth through the first four blows. But when the fifth one fell much harder then the others, his whole body jerked forward, his eyes watered, and a cry of pain escaped his throat.

Wincing in sympathy, Angel let go of Luke's arm, turned him back around, and pulled him into a quick hug. Pissed, Luke pushed at Angel to get out of the embrace. Angel let himself be pushed away, but kept one hand on Luke's upper arm to keep him in place. Focusing on Noah, he said, "I claimed him first, and now I've marked him. Your claim is null and void."

Noah pushed himself into a standing position and asked with disdain, "That's it?"

With a glare, Angel said, "A mark is a mark. It doesn't have to be a bite."

"No, I mean that's it for punishment? My Sire broke my arm for looking her in the eye before she turned me."

"Just because I'm not cruel, doesn't make Luke any less mine."

Noah frowned, but nodded, and didn't try to stop them when they walked out the door.

In the main room, Luke saw Spike and Connor standing back to back in the center of the room. They were both holding weapons, and cautiously watching every move the vampires in the room made. Angel pulled him along, until they were standing in front of Connor. Angel said, "Connor, take Luke home. We'll meet you there."

Connor nodded, grabbed Luke's upper arm, and pulled him towards the front door. Luke almost stumbled over his own bag in the entranceway. Connor said, "Sorry, I forget you can't see in here." Keeping a hand on Luke, and making sure no one was around to attack, Connor leaned down to pick up the bag, and quickly got them out into the sunlight.

Squinting, Luke held his hand up to block the bright sun while his eyes adjusted. Connor let go of his arm a few feet away from the club, and Luke followed him to a car. Connor got the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the passenger side first. Luke looked at the seat with a serious frown. Connor tossed Luke's bag in the back seat, and then walked to the driver's side. Before he got in, he looked at Luke across the hood and said, "It won't be as bad as you think. Once you get in, roll to the side and sit on your hip."

Turning bright red, Luke said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Connor rolled his eyes, "Oh please. Angel's my father, and even if I couldn't have heard everything that went on in the backroom, I would already know. You ran off and did exactly what he told you not to do. Been there, done that. Get in the car. Trust me, it won't be as bad as you think."

"Angel's your father?" Luke said, not understanding that at all.

"Get in, I'll tell you about it on the way."

Feeling slightly less embarrassed, Luke watched Connor get in, and then carefully got in, too. It wasn't pleasant to sit, but he found that Connor was right, it wasn't as bad as he'd been expecting. Once they were buckled up, Luke shifted to the side, and then said, "Okay, tell me about it."

During the ride home, Connor told Luke his story, and inadvertently gave him a lot of information about Angel and Angelus.

# # #

After a short threatening conversation with the female leader of this particular nest of vampires, Angel and Spike left the way they'd come. On the way to the bar, they'd run through the sewer tunnels, but now that the emergency was over, they walked single file, with Angel leading the way.

Angel couldn't stop thinking about what he'd done to Luke, and the more he thought about it, the more he regretted it.

When they were half way home, Spike heard Angel sigh, and knew he was brooding. "The guilt's set in then has it?"

Angel's hand balled into a fist. "He could have gotten himself killed!"

Spike's only response was a thoughtful, "Mmm."

Angel whirled around. "What the hell does 'Mmm' mean?"

Spike leaned against the sewer wall, and lit up a cigarette. "Yeah, he could have gotten killed, but he didn't know that. All he had to go on was your word that it was dangerous, and he barely knows you. He didn't know how serious it was until it was too late."

Pacing back and forth in the tiny tunnel, Angel growled, "I didn't have a choice! If I hadn't marked him, they wouldn't have let me take him without a fight!"

"Mmm." Spike took a long drag on his cigarette.

"You think I shouldn't have?"

"Doesn't matter what I think. You think you shouldn't have."

Angel growled in frustration, and punched the tunnel wall, putting a small hole in the concrete. He shook out his hand, and felt the anger leaving him.

"You had to mark him, yes. You didn't have to give him a smacked bottom, you could have bitten him." Spike pushed past Angel and took the lead in heading back home, and added. "You need to suss out why you made that decision."

Angel followed along behind, trying to answer that question. When they were close to the house Angel said quietly, "Why do you think I did it?"

Turning, Spike said, "We both know why you did it, you just don't want to admit it to yourself."

Crossing his arms in irritation, Angel said, "Well you seem to have all the answers tonight, so enlighten me."

"How many people have you bitten over the years?"

"What?"

Spike just raised an eyebrow and waited for an answer. Angel looked away, already knowing where this train of thought was going. "A few thousand."

"Right. And how many people have you smacked repeatedly on the arse?"

Glaring, Angel lied, "I don't know."

Spike scoffed and held up one finger, "Connor." He put up another, "Dru." He put up a third, "Me." He wiggled them under Angel's nose. "Any others I don't know about? The Slayer maybe? Little Bit? One of the Scoobies?"

Angel winced at the accusation, and shoved Spike's hand away, "Of course not!"

"So that's a yes. Okay we'll guess 4 or 5 people in total, and they were all people you considered family. Odd way to show your affection, but…"

Angel brushed past him and said, "Shut up, Spike!"

Spike wore a satisfied smirk the rest of the way home.

# # #

The sewer entrance was in the basement, and as soon as Angel opened the door, he could hear Connor's voice up in the living room. "No, he never spanked me back then."

Angel froze, not wanting to alert them to his presence in the house yet, and Connor continued. "Before I had my new memories things were different between us. I tried to kill him more then once. I physically attacked him every chance I got, and he was forced to fight back. He's stronger, so he always beat me."

"Beat you?" Luke's voice asked.

Connor's voice said, "Took me down by any means necessary. One time he broke a couple of ribs, punched my face until it was a bloody mess with one eye swollen shut, and tossed me out a second story window."

"Jesus!" Luke exclaimed.

Angel felt sick. He had nightmares about that day, and often wished he could go back in time to do things differently. He felt Spike's hand squeeze his shoulder in comfort.

Connor said, "To be fair, I was going to kill him and his friends, and I don't hold it against him. In fact I'm grateful he stopped me from killing one of them."

"Grateful?" Luke asked.

"I can't imagine how much worse the guilt would be now if I'd managed to kill one of them. I can hardly live with myself as it is when I think about that time."

There was a lull in the conversation, and Angel closed the sewer door loud enough for Connor to hear it.

Connor's voice from upstairs said, "We're in the living room, Dad."

While Spike and Angel came upstairs, they heard movement above them. Angel came in first, and saw Luke standing uncertainly next to the couch, while Connor sat in an armchair. There was an awkward pause, until Connor stood and said, "I cleaned out the wound and bandaged it up. It didn't need any stitches, and from what I can tell he didn't lose much blood."

Angel smiled at him with love and pride. "Thanks, son."

"No problem."

Thinking that Angel would like to spend some time talking to Luke alone, Spike looked at Connor and said, "Buy you a pint?"

Angel scowled, "It's barley noon."

Spike waved him away with a hand. "I'm on London time. What do you say Connor? Have a beer, maybe play some pool?"

Connor looked at Luke, wondering if he'd want to be alone with Angel so soon after that confrontation at the bar. Luke's eyes were glued to the floor, his heart rate was up, and he kept tapping his thumb on his thigh nervously. Connor made eye contact with Angel, who gave him a small smile and a nod. Reassured that Angel would do everything in his power to help Luke, Connor smiled at Spike, and said, "Sure, but you'll have to buy me lunch too, I'm starving."

Spike gave him a theatrical groan as they two of them headed back to the sewer entrance. "You eat enough for three people your size. You need to learn to drink more and eat less."

"No thanks, I'll leave the heavy drinking to you. I have to study tonight."

"Such a Boy Scout. Haven't I taught you anything these past three years?"

Connor chuckled. "Yeah, you've taught me all kinds of things not to do."

"You get your sense of humor from your father. Meaning you haven't got one."

Their conversation was cut off as they shut the door to the sewer.

# # #

Angel and Luke stood in silence for a few seconds, neither one exactly sure what to say. Angel took a tentative step towards Luke and asked, "Have you taken anything for the pain yet?"

Surprised, Luke met Angel's eyes, "What?"

Angel took a few more steps and said gently, "Have you taken any painkillers?"

Every instinct in Luke's body told him to take a few steps back to keep out of the vampire's reach, but he forced himself to stay put. He tilted his chin up a notch and said, "I feel fine. I don't need anything."

Angel could hear Luke's heart pounding, increasing in tempo the closer he got. He took the last step that separated them, and put a hand on Luke's shoulder. Squeezing gently, he said, "It would make me feel better if you'd take something."

Any residual fear he'd felt towards Angel went away with the gentle touch. The word, "Okay," slipped out of Luke's mouth before he could stop it. Once he realized what he'd said, he frowned. He hated the way his body reacted to Angel's mere presence.

Angel gave him a soft smile and said, "Why don't you lie down and relax for a few minutes, while I get you some Tylenol."

Luke watched Angel walk down the hall, and then looked over at the couch. He didn't want to admit it, but lying down was exactly what he wanted to do. He hurt all over. The pain in his neck and rear end weren't the only problems. His muscles ached from struggling and being manhandled by both Noah and Angel. His knees felt wobbly with the effort to keep himself up when he thought about vampires being a reality, let alone thinking about Noah being one. Before Angel came back, Luke gave in and went back to the same position he'd been in before Angel had arrived home.

When Angel came back carrying a couple of pills and a glass of water, he found Luke lying on his side on the couch, with his eyes shut tight. Angel sat on the coffee table by Luke's head and said, "Here. Take these."

Luke propped himself up on one elbow, and held his hand out for the pills. Once he'd swallowed them, he handed the glass back to Angel, and lay back down. "Thanks."

Setting the glass down, Angel rested his elbows on his knees and said, "We should talk."

"Okay." Luke eased himself back down and looked up at Angel expectantly.

"I'm not sure what Connor already told you…" He looked down at his hands, and thought about what he'd overheard.

After a pause, Luke said, "You're a vampire, you were 26 when you were turned, but you've been a vampire for over 250 years. When you were first turned you called yourself Angelus, and you were evil. Then you were cursed with a soul, and became Angel."

Luke stopped and searched Angel's face to see if he'd confirm Connor's unbelievable story. Angel nodded, "All true."

"Then five years ago you got your Sire… I forget her name."

"Darla."

"Right, you got Darla pregnant with Connor, even though vampires aren't supposed to be able to have kids."

Angel nodded.

"A guy from your past named Holtz took Connor from you when he was a baby, and took him to another dimension, so you didn't see him again until he was eighteen. But Holtz hated you and tried to make Connor hate you too."

Looking away, Angel nodded again. Luke could see the pain in Angel's face and decided not to go into detail with the rest of the story. "And for the past three years you've been fighting a war against evil." When Angel made eye contact again, the younger man said, "That's all."

"Sounds like you got the basics," Angel said. "Now, I want to talk to you about Noah."

"Okay."

"Noah is a vampire. That means he has no soul. He may look like Noah. He may sound like Noah. He may even have the same memories as Noah. But he is not Noah, because his soul is gone. That means he's dangerous, especially to you."

Luke shook his head. "How can you be sure?"

"Be sure of what? That he has no soul, or that he's dangerous to you?"

"Both."

"Over the years I've met hundreds of vampires. None of them had souls, and all of them had strong reactions to the people they loved when they were human. They either hated the people they loved, in which case they tortured and killed them. Or they loved them so much they couldn't be without them, and turned them to vampires as well. Either way, you're in danger."

Luke bit his lip not wanting to believe Noah was lost to him forever. "But how can you be sure? You haven't met every vampire."

With understanding, Angel said, "I know, because I've talked to other demons, and humans who have studied vampires through history, and everyone has found the same thing. I know, because I've changed humans into vampires, and it's always the same. I know, because I remember the things I did as Angelus, and I am incapable of doing the things he did."

Luke closed his eyes, and tried not to cry. He felt Angel's hand on his upper arm, and heard his voice. "I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could say, or something I could do to make it easier for you."

Ignoring his pain, Luke sat up and looked Angel in the eye. "I can't accept that."

Angel let his hand drop. "What?"

"I can't accept that there is nothing I can do to help Noah. There has to be something!"

Angel's eyes narrowed, and leaned in towards the younger man. "There's not."

Luke pushed his back up against the couch, away from Angel, and said, "Three months ago I was in love with a man named Reid. We had just started a relationship when he was ripped away from me in a car accident. I can't lose Noah too. I just can't. I won't."

Angel's eyes softened. He'd tried to deny his growing attraction to Luke, but after hearing that, he couldn't do it anymore. He cupped Luke's face in his hands and said, "After everything that's happened, you still want to help him." Luke nodded. Angel leaned in and kissed his forehead, and then locked eyes with him. Angel said sincerely, "I'm sorry for your loss. For both of them."

Luke had been ready for anger, and had no defense for the gentle kiss, or the kind understanding Angel had just given him. Feeling his eyes fill with tears, he bowed his head.

After smelling the tears, Angel pulled Luke into a hug, and this time Luke didn't pull away, but wrapped his arms around Angel too. Keeping his arms around Luke, Angel situated himself onto the couch, so that he was sitting next to Luke, and held him while he cried.

Quite a while later, when the tears tapered off, Luke was too exhausted to move off of Angel's shoulder. Angel handed him a few tissues, and after he'd wiped his face, Angel said, "Close your eyes and rest for a while."

Angel felt him drift off to sleep within a few seconds of closing his eyes, and shifted to get the two of them more comfortable, with Luke using his upper chest as a pillow. While he held the warm body, Angel gave himself a list of all the reasons it would be wrong to start a relationship with Luke, but found himself unable to let go.

# # #

Half an hour later, Spike and Connor came home through the Sewer entrance. Not wanting them to wake Luke up, Angel whispered, "Luke's asleep."

Spike and Connor went up the stairs silently, but when they saw Angel on the couch holding Luke, Connor frowned and whispered, "What happened?"

Rolling his eyes, Spike whispered, "Don't be daft. Angel has a type too."

Angel glared at his grandchilde, and refused to comment.

When Connor turned to him, Spike said, "Petite, strong willed blondes."

"Gross." Connor's face showed his distaste.

Spike saw a flash of hurt in Angel's face, and felt the need to defend him. He said to Connor, "You're disgusted? You don't get to be disgusted, you slept with Cordelia."

Connor winced as if Spike had punched him, and turned away from both of them.

Angel hissed, "William!"

Luke stirred in Angel's arms.

"What?" Spike said loudly, "It's true!"

Angel glared at him, letting him know he didn't approve.

Luke opened his eyes. Disoriented, he pushed away from Angel's chest. Angel let go of him, and scooted forward to concentrate on Spike.

Not liking Angel's expression, Spike sighed dramatically. "Fine. I'll apologize." He turned to Connor, and saw sorrow etched in his downcast face. Feeling bad about it now, he said softly, "I shouldn't have brought her up. I know you loved her."

Needing to be alone, Connor mumbled, "It's okay," and escaped down the hall to his bedroom.

Luke was wide awake now, and everything he'd gone through that morning came crashing back into the forefront of his brain, while he listened to the heated conversation going on in front of him.

Angel stood and said, "What the hell, Spike?"

Spike was uncomfortable with Angel's tone of voice, especially now that Luke was awake to hear it. He mumbled, "First the beating comment, and now the homophobic rubbish. I just wanted to remind him that none of us are free from guilt."

"Do you ever need a reminder that you were William the Bloody?"

Spike felt his cheeks flush, and wished he hadn't had that A positive at the bar. He mumbled to the floor, "No, Sire."

"Sire?" Luke said.

Neither vampire answered him. Angel went over to Spike, put a hand on his shoulder, and said quietly, "I'm glad that we're close now, and it's nice that you'd want to defend me like that. But Connor just needs some time to get used to it. Making him feel bad about the past isn't going to help."

Spike nodded to the floor. Angel squeezed his shoulder, and turned to Luke. "Feeling any better?"

Sitting up straight, Luke said, "Spike's a vampire too?"

"Yeah," Angel said.

"I don't get it," Luke said. "Both you and Connor told me that all vampires are evil, because they don't have a soul, and that you're the only exception because you were cursed, but Spike is living and working with you."

Before Angel could answer, Spike said, "I went through the Demon Trials to get my soul back."

Luke stood up and said excitedly, "That's the answer! Noah can get his soul back, too."

Spike and Angel both shook their heads and started to talk at the same time. Spike said, "I barely lived through…" And at the same time Angel said, "It's not that easy to…"

They both stopped, and Spike gestured for Angel to go ahead. Angel said, "Noah was just turned. Spike had over a hundred and fifty years of fighting practice before attempting the Demon Trials, and he was willing to do whatever it took to complete them. Noah isn't anywhere close to ready for that, and it's doubtful that he'd even want to."

Unwilling to give up on the idea of Noah getting his soul back, Luke said, "Okay, forget the Demon Trials for a minute. What about your curse?"

"What about my curse?" Angel asked.

"Connor said that the first year he was here, you lost your soul for a while, but then got it back. How did you get it back?"

Angel said, "It doesn't matter…" But at the same time Spike said, "Willow."

"Willow?" Luke asked, "What's that mean?"

The two vampires exchanged a glance, and Spike said, "Best to get it all out in the open now."

Reluctantly, Angel agreed. He turned to Luke and said, "Willow is a friend of ours, who happens to also be a witch."

"A witch?" Luke asked. "Are you kidding?"

"No, she's a powerful witch, and she cursed me again after I lost my soul."

"Well that's the answer!" Luke said, "We can have Willow curse Noah too." Angel started to shake his head, so Luke added, "I can pay her."

"She's a friend," Spike scoffed. "She'd be sad if we offered her money to do us a favor."

"Okay then let's give her a call," Luke said.

Angel shook his head. "We can't just curse someone because you want us to."

"Why not?" both Spike and Luke asked in unison.

Angel glared at both of them in turn and said, "I don't even know if the curse would work on anyone else, or if more than one vampire can be cursed at one time. What if we curse him and that lets Angelus out?"

The more Spike thought about it, the more he liked the idea, and wondered why none of them had thought of it before. "Yeah, but it's worth a phone call to find out. If Buffy gets a whole army of Slayers, I don't see why we can't have an army of Vampires with souls."

Exasperated, Angel crossed his arms and said, "Great! So now it's not just Noah, but an army of vampires."

Spike turned to Luke and said, "I'll give her a quick call, and let you know what she says."

"Spike!" Angel growled.

Facing off with his grandsire, Spike said, "What!"

"We should think about this first."

Shaking his head, Spike said, "I'll follow your lead in battle, and I'll even still let you play Sire when I've done something I'm ashamed of, but you don't get a say in who I can and can't call. Willow is my friend, and was even before I got the soul back. I talk to her at least once a week, and I'm not going to hesitate to call her just because you don't like what I might have to say."

"You're right," Angel said, feeling like a jerk. "I'm sorry, I just… don't like jumping into this without thinking it through."

After a short pause, Spike decided to forgive him instead of punching him in the jaw, and got out his cell phone. He hit a speed dial number, and put the phone to his ear. While he was waiting for someone to pick up he said to Luke, "You're a bright one, thinking outside the box. I like that." Spike focused back on the phone and said, "Hey Red, how's tricks?" as he headed up the stairs.

Angel and Luke made eye contact once Spike was out of sight. Angel stuck his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't be tempted to go touch Luke and said, "Are you feeling better?"

Luke stuck his hands in his pockets as well, unintentionally mimicking Angel. "I'm still a little sore, but yeah, I feel better."

"Good." After an awkward pause, Angel said, "Spike's a talker. He'll be a while."

"Okay."

"All you had for breakfast was some coffee. You want some lunch while we wait?"

Luke doubted he could have eaten anything earlier, but now he felt his stomach rumble. He shrugged, "I could eat."

Luke followed Angel to the kitchen. Angel looked in the refrigerator and said, "Looks like we have leftover pizza, or leftover Chinese."

"Pizza sounds good."

While Angel was warming the pizza up in the microwave, Luke sat down at the kitchen table. He frowned when he found sitting somewhat uncomfortable, and shifted his weight around on the chair to find the best position. His frown deepened when he realized there wasn't one. He looked up at Angel with resentment when he brought the pizza to the table.

Having heard the shifting around, Angel knew what the look was for. He set the pizza down in front of Luke, and sat down across from him. He said quietly, "I'm sorry."

Luke's eyebrows raised in surprise, and his face started to heat up. "What for?"

Angel reached across the table, and put his hand over Luke's. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Luke's hand and said, "For earlier today. I know it won't excuse what I did, but I'd like the chance to try to explain."

The gentle touch had Luke's heart beating faster, and his face heating up for something other than embarrassment.

Making sure he had eye contact, Angel said, "The more time I spend with you, the more attracted to you I am."

Luke's eyes opened wide with shock.

Angel said, "I'm not just physically attracted, I'm also attracted to the type of person you are. Coming here to find Noah, even though you're not with him anymore, and going back to the bar to try and help him even after he'd said such cruel things to you the night before, are the acts of an altruistic person who's determined to do the right thing. I find that admirable. But because of that attraction, I also have an overwhelming urge to protect you. When I heard you giving that cab driver the address to the bar, I was sure that you'd be dead before I could get to you."

"You could hear that?" Luke asked.

"Vampires have enhanced senses compared to humans."

Luke turned his hand over under Angel's so they were holding hands on the table, and admitted with a smile, "It didn't even occur to me to wonder how you knew where I was. I was just glad you showed up."

Stifling the urge to lean over and kiss Luke, Angel settled for squeezing his hand once. "When I saw Noah biting you…" Angel broke eye contact and continued, "…I didn't realize it at the time, but I was jealous. And I know I had no right to be, but there it is. I was worried about your wellbeing, I was upset that you'd lied to me, and I was jealous that Noah marked you. Then when you said I should mark you too, I just…" He locked eyes with Luke again and said, "…I treated you like you were already part of my family, instead of a business acquaintance."

Frowning, Luke slid his hand out from under Angel's and leaned back in his chair while he thought that over. Angel leaned back as well and said, "When one of my family members is in danger, even if it's danger they put themselves in, I get bossy and overprotective. But I had no right to treat you like you were mine when you're not, so I'm sorry."

Shifting in his chair again, Luke glared at Angel. "So let me get this straight, if we were a couple, you wouldn't be sorry for hitting me?"

Angel glared back. "Hitting you? If I'd hit you, you'd be broken. I spanked you. You may not believe there's a difference between hitting someone in a fight, and spanking someone, but I do."

Luke couldn't keep eye contact. He did believe there was a difference. His parents had never spanked him, but his grandmother, Emma, on his father's side had swatted him a few times while growing up. And a couple of years ago, his father had laughed for days after Emma had broken up a fight between Brad and Jack at Thanksgiving by giving each of them a few swats with a wooden spoon in front of the entire family. He mumbled, "No, I know there's a difference."

Mollified, Angel sighed. "To answer your question, I'd probably still be sorry, because I didn't give you all the information you needed to keep yourself safe. If you knew you were walking into a room full of vampires, would you have done it?"

"No," Luke said with honesty.

"Then I'm sorry for that too." Angel stood and said, "I've got to go check on Connor. Take your time and eat in peace. There's soda and beer in the fridge if you want it."

Luke nodded, and took a bite of his pizza. Time to think things over was exactly what he needed.