A/N: By popular demand and my own unending ideas, I present the tenth installment of this fic! RNR please!

Angel sat on the back porch smoking, he hadn't smoke in a long, long time and he was slowly starting to remember why he'd liked it so much, feeling the smoke coating his lungs, quieting his brain, and calming his nerves.

"My my, aren't you a wreck?"

Angel was up and at Zephyr's throat in an instant, "You! What are you doing here?"

"Down boy," Zephyr muttered, raising an eyebrow at Angel but not reacting beyond that, "I'm only here to talk."

"Then get talking before I start-"

"Temper, temper, Cyprus gave me strict instructions that I'm not to even look at the boy." Zephyr waved a hand and Angel was suddenly on the ground, "He wants to speak to you and William, you're to bring him to the cemetery tomorrow night."

Angel stood and brushed the seat of his jeans off, "I can't."

Zephyr blinked, "That wasn't an invitation, Liam."

"I know it's just . . . " He faltered, should he tell Zephyr that Spike had a soul and was currently vulnerable? Dare he risk it? He knew what refusing Cyprus would mean but . . . "Spike's not . . . himself and I don't want him out of the basement."

"Cyprus knows of his little . . . adventure." Zephyr said simply, "Why do you think he'd want a meeting again? Seems you're not so capable a guardian. I daresay that Cyprus may take him away from you all together, liebling, in fact . . . " He smiled wolfishly, "I'm counting on it."

Angel blinked as Zephyr 'poofed' away with the wave of his umbrella and a puff of smoke, he sat down heavily on the porch, putting his head in his hands and feeling a world-class brood coming on, what would he do if they took Spike away? He trusted Zephyr to keep his word as much as he did for blood to taste like orange juice and Cyprus? No telling what he would do to Spike now that he had a soul . . . but, there would be no running and hiding from the ArchVampyre, he was deadly when disobeyed and he apparently knew Angel's every move somehow . . . what was going to happen next was anyone's guess.

Spike sat in the basement staring at the wall when Angel tromped miserably down the stairs. He looked up with his large, trusting blue eyes and Angel felt his heart constrict,

"Hey Spike, you feelin' better?"

Spike nodded, clutching the blanket to his bare chest, "Mhm . . . wot's wrong, Da?"

Angel licked his lips and sat down next to Spike, "Well . . . I'll be honest with you, Zephyr stopped by and-"

"WOT?" Spike leaped back, his eyes getting huge and he glanced about in terror.

Angel tried to calm him down and pulled him into his lap, "Easy, Terror, easy, he's gone now but he said that Cyprus wants to meet us at the cemetery . . . apparently I'm not doing a very good job of parenting."

Spike pushed up on Angel's chest, "Lies. He's lyin' yer a great Dad, honest."

Angel blinked in surprise at the praise but smiled, "Thanks, Spike, but our opinion doesn't matter to Cyprus."

Spike made a choking sound in his throat and nuzzled back into Angel's chest, "Wot's the bugger gonna do?"

"Zephyr thinks he'll take you away from me . . . " Angel murmured, putting his arms more securely around Spike.

Spike swallowed thickly, "No . . . no he can' do that, yer the only one that knows how to help me, yer the only one that knows wot I need!"

Angel shushed Spike gently and closed his eyes, holding the teenager tightly, "I try anyway . . . "

Spike closed his eyes and took a slow deep breath, "He won' take ya 'way from me, I know he won' . . . "

Angel swallowed and nodded, focusing on a spot on the wall so he wouldn't have to look at Spike and completely lose it right then and there.

Spike clung to Angel's arm, pressing his face into the older vampire's side, he barely glanced up when Angel stopped walking in front of a massive crypt where Zephyr was sitting, swinging his legs and grinning like the deranged lunatic that he was,

"Aw, lookee what we've got here!" He leaped down right in front of Angel, twirling his umbrella leisurely, "You brought my little pal with ya! Hallo there, Willy, want some candy?"

Spike hissed softly at Zephyr and growled, his fingers digging into Angel's arm.

"Zephyr!"

Zephyr flinched and skulked away, leaning on a tall headstone as Cyprus made his way around the crypt, his red eyes glowing dangerously as he stalked up to the group,

"I've warned you, you insolent wretch!" Cyprus snarled and Zephyr cowered, whimpering and crouching like he expected to be attacked but Cyprus merely turned to Angel and Spike, "I assume that it is true what my sources have told me and William has indeed come by the means to restore his soul."

"Yes." Angel said as calmly as he could.

"I see . . . " Cyprus uncrossed his arms from behind his back and rubbed his chin in thought, "William, come here."

Spike's whole body trembled, he wasn't afraid of much but the stench of old bones and cobwebs and dust that came off of Cyprus terrified him more than he could ever explain in words, even still, he shuffled away from Angel's side and stood staring wide-eyed at his shoes until Cyprus grabbed his chin and forced him to look up. Cyprus narrowed his eyes as he stared into Spike's eyes then, after a moment, his own eyes bulged and his mouth opened,

"Is this possible? To achieve something like this? How extraordinary that you would volunteer for penance for a hundred years worth of sins!"

Spike tried to glance back at Angel for reassurance but he couldn't wrench his eyes away from Cyprus's penetrating stare, he felt naked, exposed under those ruby red eyes that seemed to look through him. Then he was released suddenly and now he was facing Angel, with cold dead hands on his shoulders,

"So . . . what are you going to do?" Angel asked fearfully, his eyes flicking about to try and plan out escape routes.

"Do? I plan to do nothing whatsoever," Cyprus shrugged, "While there is much I know I could learn from William, I don't believe now is the time and his mental state is not stable, I fear I would not quite know how to handle him and his fragilities. We will continue as we have."

Spike felt Cyprus give him a slight push from behind and he stumbled forward into Angel who caught him to his chest, hugging him tightly.

Zephyr cowered at Cyprus's feet when the tall vampire moved to him, grabbing him by the hair and bringing him around to face him,

"Take us home, Zephyr."

The hapless Childe nodded miserably and then with a snap of his fingers they vanished.

Spike waited to the count of five then breathed out slowly, "So . . . so I can stay then?"

Angel nodded, running his fingers over Spike's shoulders, still glancing about as he turned them toward the entrance, "Yeah . . . come on."

Spike sat in the living room watching cartoons with Dawn and trying to ignore Angel's heated argument on the phone with Wesley. The blonde hugged a pillow tightly until Dawn had to take it away from him or risk it ripping into pieces,

"Easy there, fella, we're running short on pillows since the eternal slumber party started here." She said gently, passing the pillow over to Andrew who was on the couch.

Spike blinked at her and nodded, "Sorry, Nibblet . . . "

He glanced over to the hallway where Angel was pacing,

"Wesley . . . yes, I got the package but- No, I understand that I'm needed but Spike- Well . . . yeah, there's almost a dozen of them here but . . . Wes, I don't want to leave him alone and I can't take him back to LA it just isn't . . . hmm, that's a pretty good idea I guess . . . alright, I'll talk to you later."

Angel hung up and looked up in time to see Spike scurrying down to the basement,

"Spike-!"

SLAM! The door shook the house practically with the force of Spike's emotions.

Angel rolled his eyes and ran into the kitchen, wrenching open the door and going down the stairs right when Spike threw himself down on the cot face-down. Angel sighed and sat down next to him,

"Hey, Will, I know you heard everything back th-"

"G'on an' leave then." Spike mumbled, glaring at the shelves of cleaning supplies in front of him, his chin pressed into his crossed arms.

Angel blinked, "Will, c'mon, don't be that way-" He tried to roll Spike over to look at him but Spike's hand snapped out and swatted his hand away.

"No! Yer gonna go 'way 'gain after ya promised me ya wouldn'! Well fine then, go, ya did it b'fore when ya promised why should now be different?" Spike's tirade ended with a choked sob and he turned his head toward the wall.

There was silence while Angel tried to find the right thing to say to fix this but he kept coming up blank, he swallowed and gently put a hand on Spike's back, slowly, hesitantly stroking with his fingertips, moving from between the shoulder blades down to his waist,

"Please don't act like I want to leave you," Angel murmured, feeling Spike shudder underneath his hand, "I wouldn't leave you alone if I could help it but . . . I don't want to put you in danger in LA where I don't know who to trust but I can't leave my team to handle this stuff alone for too long . . . please, baby, try to understand . . . "

Spike bit down on his lip, "'s not fair!" He sputtered out through clenched teeth.

"I know, I'm sorry . . . " Angel leaned forward, putting his nose in Spike's gelled blonde hair, " . . . wait, I have something you might like."

Spike sat up, wiping his eyes while Angel stood and dug into his blazer pocket (Spike couldn't understand why every outfit the brunette wore seemed to have a blazer) and pulled something on a long chain out.

"Wot's that?" Spike asked, his curiosity piqued as Angel unwound a necklace with a large gemstone pendant.

"We don't really know for sure but," Angel held it out and sat back down, "It's meant for a champion to wear, a vampire with a soul. I figure since I can't be here for everything, then I need my right-hand man to do the job."

Spike's eyes widened and he took the necklace, fitting it over his head, "I dunno, Da, kinda makes me feel like Elizabeth Taylor, yanno?"

Angel chuckled and kissed Spike's forhead and held him close, "Be my eyes and ears around here, okay? I'm counting on you to keep everyone safe, can you promise me that?"

Spike closed his eyes, enjoying the close contact, "Yes, Da, I can do that."

Angel nodded, "Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can, stay out of trouble."

Spike smiled innocently, "Course! Ya know me, Daddy, straight-flyer, golden boy scout, tha's me!"

Angel's Viper peeled out of Buffy's driveway, but he couldn't help but feel like something very bad was going to happen . . .

A/N: Okay if you have NOT seen the last episode of Buffy then you don't know what's going on. If you have, then you know what that necklace is and you know why Angel's got that queasy-uneasy feeling in his gut. RNR please!