Buffyplusangelequal4ever: Thanks

endiahna: Well if by better you mean more slash then yes. If you mean less Spike torture...well, we'll see.

SciFiRN: I really became a Dracula (from the Buffyverse) fan when I read Spike vs. Dracula. I know he appeared in the Buffy comics but I don't like how he's written there. In the IDW comic series he actually IS a good threat, not a joke. So I wanted to expand on that--the good threat part not the joke. As for who Spike is with, he'll have "moments" with both. Thank you!

Pita: Sorry it takes me so long to update lately. Work has tired me out but here's a new chapter.

metaimp22: One thing I always wanted to see was a character trying to woo Spike. The problem is that most of the love interests aren't the romantics he is. Their not willing to put themselves out there or over come with their own emotional issues. One of my chief worries was being able to develop Dracula into a real love interest from a rival that wanted Spike to suffer. With his pride it's not an easy thing to do but like Spike he is a fool for love. Thank you. :)

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He watched his fathers' eyes narrow as he read the sign. What it said he could only guess. Any mercy Angel would have shown had been drained from him. The man was unable to ask for death but Connor could see that he wanted it. He hesitated a moment to ponder if he could grant the man a quick death. whether it would be considered the right course for their group of redemption seeking champions. It seemed the right course to take. His hand got no further than grasping the handle of his dagger when Angels' hand closed over his.

"Leave him."of

"Shouldn't we--"

"No. He should feel it all. " Angel sounded frighteningly like Angelus then. Like he liked the picture the tortured human presented. "At least he knew how to get the job done right. I know I had my doubts--" Yeah, he WAS admiring the handy work. This was bad.

"What jacked up shit is this, Angel?" Faiths' eyes were blazing and Connor couldn't say that he blamed her. Not just for the Angelus behavior either. The vampire hadn't asked their opinion when he made the choice to let the men of Mihai show them to the camp site they had been holding Spike. He had more or less been ignoring all of Faiths' questions of the morality of the situation.

Connor got that, he still looked to Angel as a guide to what was right when he felt lost. It didn't help when their moral compass was pointing in the wrong direction. They had been exchanging meaningful glances behind Angels' back for hours wondering if they should do something. Apparently Faith felt this was their moment to clear the air.

"Faith--" There was a weary warning to Angels' tone that Faith completely ignored.

"I could deal with a little darkness from you, hey who am I to complain, right? But come on Angel, you really want to let someone suffer when--"

"He tortured Spike." Angel stated venomously. Connor could faintly smell the undercurrents of the other vampires' blood though the humans' covered most of the scent.

"How do you know--"

"The tent back there has his tools." He opened his mouth to say more but thought better of it. The slayer reached out uncertainly to attempt to comfort Angel. She had barely made contact with him before he rough pushed her aside to sniff at the air. Frustration lit Faiths' face and Connor knew that a powder keg was about to go off. Her hands were already clenching into fists.

"We need to keep moving. The damn trail has already gone cold maybe if he can get Mihai to--"

"Listen to yourself!" A shove from the side sent Angel flying to land unceremoniously into a puddle of mud. His fathers' stunned face would have been hilarious if not for the danger a pissed of slayer provided. "I just threw my damn life away to go chasing after blondie vamp! And I like Spike! Dudes' got a killer bod, wicked moves, ain't got the usual champion stick up he ass and knows his shit. Mans' all that." She drew herself up to her full height that while was no where near Angels' still gave off the impression of a lioness about to go in for the kill. Especially since Angel had yet to sit up from his murky little pond. "But this mission is wack! We know jack shit about this Mihai guy other than what he says! Which was also the creeps that had him tortured according to you! Are you willing to risk everything on a hunch that he might not being riding your ass?!"

"He knows more about the situation than we do." The calm quality of his tone did little to put Connor at ease. He knew that body language all too well how. His father was preparing for a fight, one that seemed unavoidable now. More than that, though he was trying to be reasonable it apparent that Angel wanted a fight just as badly as she did. Whether he actually would let himself go through with it had yet to be seen.

"All the more reason for not trusting him! Shit Angel, I know you did some shady deal with the devil stuff but I thought you'd learn from it! That you'd find a better--"

"Well I didn't alright!" Angel barked wiping the mud from his face with an anger swipe. "I'd love to tell you that I had some great plan to make everything better, Faith, I really do! But guess what--the world doesn't always work like that! Sometimes you have to make compromises!"

She froze, her mouth forming a small "o" , eyes widen in disbelief. Connor felt unsettled by the remark as well. Angel had always told him there were other paths to take. Was he disheartened or worse yet...had that talk only just been talk? His father was on his feet by the time Connor had asked himself these questions. That was when Faiths' fist met Angels' jaw.

"Son of a bitch!" Her foot rose to kick the bent man when Angel twisted it to send her tumbling. A quick twist however saved her from hitting head first.

"We don't have to do this." The vampire warned.

She snorted, "Yeah, we really do."

Faster than Connor could blink Faith launched three quick hits at the vampires' abashment, only one of which had been deflected. Her kick was dodged but it was plain to see that she had the edge. She was lighting quick while Angel was sluggish. Connor worried that maybe Angel hadn't recovered as well as they had hoped he had. It hadn't even occurred to him that there could be another reason for his distraction.

"Guys we're--"

"Stay out of this, Connor." Angels' voice is firm, his attention never wavering from the slayer before him. "Just keep an eye on Illyria, alright?"

Connor hesitates as Faith and his father trade furious blows with on another without missing a beat. The only thing that keeps him from intervening is one simple question. "Where IS Illyria?"

Faith couldn't take it anymore. Not that anyone had been stupid enough to mistake her for the level headed type. That was more Bs' thing but damn it if she hadn't tried. Guilt had made her feel that she owed it to the Sunnydale group to join their little effort in "changing the world." Whether she had added anything to the mix had been a constant question in her day to day life. Big Sis didn't trust her enough to handle the big jobs by herself. Faith hated herself a little for seeing Careys' point about Buffys' friends getting too much control. How the hell did that little shit Andy (or whatever his name was) get to take command over his own group of slayers? That boy didn't even know which end of a stake to hold up much less how to do it without complaining about a splinter. She tried not to let the little things piss her off but they had been piling up for a while now.

Maybe she had been deluding herself with Robin thinking that the normal June Cleaver crap was her sort of life. It made her lose her edge, let people take advantage of her and doubt herself. Faith had thought that Angel at least would have been different. That all her problems would disappear when her vampire sponsor showed up needing help for a righteous mission. She was finally needed. Her, not Buffy.

It was becoming clearer to her that Angel wasn't as focused as he had once been. No prob, she would do her part to set him right like he did for her. Except that Angel was not accepting her help. He wouldn't tell her anything and it was so much like the fucking Council that Faith wanted to kick every inch of his ass. Angel should have known damn well that she wasn't the "yes, sir" type. She would give him a reminder though.

"Don't go all soft on me now! Being in L.A made you tougher, what's making you wimp out on me now?" Faith taunted. The fight was pretty much one sided at this point. He wasn't letting go yet and that could cost them if whatever crawled up his ass kept him from the mission. Damn, she couldn't help loving the feel of skin on skin, fists and blood. Only thing better was taking the guy for a ride after. Or during. "Last time you were this easy B had your ass whipped. Not that I blame you, must suck not to get off that stream with the bumpity bump."

Angel caught her punch before it landed, tightening the hold painfully. "What's really bothering you, Faith? That I want to use Mihai to find Spike--that I don't give a damn about that asshole who tortured him--or that I didn't ask for your permission?"

"I'll take 'you're acting like a prick who needs to get his headout of his ass' for five hundred, Alex!" She snapped ruining the mocking tone her answer had started with. "I didn't question a lot of things I know I should have. Not why we got to trust blue girl, not what is up with that kid with the powers, hell not even why we're winging this whole half-ass rescue mission! I just know that you have to get it together man! You're letting it get to you and acting all crazy just like B..." A light of realization seem to hit Faith then and she stared at him. Really looked at Angel for the first time.

Buffy had always been protective of her honeys. Angel, Riley and even Spike who she claimed she hadn't been interested in by the time Faith had rolled back into town. Like with her other boys she raised hell about anything that threatened him. Denying it all the while. Why was Angel this stressed over getting back Spike? Faith had written it off as Angel needing to redeem his own actions by saving the other vampire. There was only so much loss of his team that the guy could take. And she always assumed that the vampires had the sort of relationship her and B did. At least how it was from her side. Feeling responsible for someone they had wronged and needing to look out for the one person who might have an idea what it was like. Maybe not.

"...Well Damn."

"Faith? What--?"

"You and Spike?" Fear crept into Angels' face then but Faith barely noticed. Her mind was already drifting off to try to fully register Angel and Spike being together. She figured she'd be thinking about that for a long time in any case. Because damn, was all she was able to process then.

The barrier called out to her like a beacon in it's present shattered state. Pieces attempting to reform together to form the feeble protection that kept all those who dwell inside safe. At least they assumed they were, none had encountered her kind before. Illyria almost smiled at the thought. Perhaps she would take over this land at a later date to smell the blood splattered on the green in the morning dew. She could wait though, for now she would be content on following the energy to her pet. If any had dared harm her Spike further then they would face the wrath of the god-king themselves. Only she and when she permitted it, Angel, could harm the white haired one. He would only make noises for one her say.