15
Flashes of light exploded intermittently behind
Spike's eyelids. He heard moaning, and
realised it was coming from him. A cool
cloth dabbed carefully at his aching face, making him wince. He could hear voices, but they seemed
garbled, very far away. He couldn't
make out what was being said or who was saying it. He concentrated. The
light hitting his eyes made him squint. He tried again. The world seemed
to be made up of reddish blurs. He
blinked, concentrated. The world swam
into reddish focus.
"He's coming around."
"Be careful. You're hurting him. It's a good
thing he's immortal. Any human would never
have survived this."
"Spike? William? Can you hear me? Open your eyes, Will."
'William?', Spike wondered. 'No-one's called him that since…'
His eyes grew, terrorized. His breathing quickened. The face of his "teacher" came into focus
before his swollen eyes. 'No,' he
mouthed, but it came out sounding like a moan.
"Ssshhh… It's okay. I won't hurt you. See? Cordelia and Wesley are
here too. I'm not him."
Angel hated seeing so much fear in the blonde
vampire's bloodshot eyes. He hated the
memories it awakened of when he did these things to his Childe. Tears collected in the dark lashes
surrounding Angel's soulful eyes. He
cried silently, soothing the broken creature lying helpless in his arms and
wiped away the blood staining Spike's skin with the tears that flowed for him.
*********************
"What the hell did you think you were doing?"
Buffy asked angrily. The group was
gathered in Xander's apartment, which was the only place among them that their
returned enemy didn't have complete access to. She hissed when Giles dosed the wound at her throat with disinfectant.
Xander glared at the Slayer. "Saving your ass is coming to mind," he
shouted, clamping down on a scream when Willow set his broken arm. "Oh, and Will? Good job on that protection spell. That really paid off."
"Hey!" Willow cried, hurt and angry. "You're alive, aren't you? I'd say it was a roaring success, seeing as
how you went out looking to get killed!"
"Buffy?" Giles ignored the bickering young people and focussed on his
charge. "Are you alright? This must have been really hard on you,
seeing him like that again."
Buffy held back the tears that threatened at
the edges of her heart. She
nodded. "I'm fine. I just have to keep reminding me that that
isn't Angel."
Giles nodded too, encouraged at the young
woman's willingness to accept. "Yes,
Angel is dead. You have to remember
that if you are to battle Angelus."
A frown creased the Slayer's forehead. She shook her head and said, "No, Angel
isn't dead. I kept getting the feeling
that my Angel is still alive."
"Oh God!" Xander cried, exasperated. "Haven't we done this once before? Wake up, Buffy! Your boyfriend is dead and gone! If you can't get that through your Angel-obsessed head, we are all going
to die."
Fury flashed in Buffy's hazel eyes. "Don't start with me, Xander! I have enough to worry about without you
lecturing me!"
"Well, somebody's got to…"
"I can handle this!" Buffy stated,
annoyed. She got up and started
gathering her things.
Willow caught her eye. "Buffy?" she asked nervously.
"The sun's almost up. He'll be looking for a place to crash. But Spike's still hurt. I
have to go check on him," Buffy explained.
"Be careful," Willow ordered, hugging her
friend tightly. The witch had a bad
feeling she wasn't going to see her friend again.
*********************
"Angel, maybe we should move him."
Angel rose from the bed where they'd put their
patient. Wesley was right. This was Angelus' first stop for a
reason. The mansion was his home, his
lair. And he would return to it when
the sun rose. That means he would be
back soon.
"You and Cordelia have to take him to
Giles'. Before the sun rises. Angelus will be back soon."
"Of course," Cordelia agreed. She entered the bedroom with fresh supplies
of bandages, water and blood.
The vampire in the bed sat up quickly to
protest, grunting when his body got its protest in first. "Oi! I'm not going anywhere. I have a
thing or two to say to Psycho Angel, and unless you've got a damned good reason
for me not to say them, I'm not moving an inch," Spike said adamantly.
Angel tossed a roll of bandages at Spike, who
caught it easily, but not before letting loose a bellow when his not quite
healed ribs stabbed him in his side.
"Okay, point taken. Now shut up about it and
help me get dressed." Spike glared
good-naturedly at Angel, who hadn't said a word. "Smug asshole."
Angel's straight face broke into a happy grin
at his Childe's grumblings. The two
vampires shared a glance, the memory of the past few hours passing between
them.
*********************
"Master? I don't understand," Spike had asked the crying vampire. His voice was weak, his cheeks sunken from
the massive blood loss he'd suffered.
Hearing the title on the bloodied vampire's
lips made Angel cry harder. "Don't call
me that," he'd begged, regret heavy in his deep voice. "I'm not your Master, and I am so sorry for
everything I did to you when I was."
"Spike, this is Angel. The Angel with a soul," Cordelia tried to
explain. "The Angel that did this to
you isn't Angel. He's Angelus."
"I know the bloody difference between the two,
you twit!" Spike growled, anger making his voice strong. "But their both still the same guy! Him!" He tried to jerk his thumb at the dark-haired vampire holding him, but
had to settle for pointing with a shaky finger.
Wesley chimed in with further facts to the
bizarre story, "Not anymore, no. A
spell split Angel and Angelus into two physical beings. There's two of them now."
Spike searched the pained visage of the other
vampire, looking for confirmation that what the humans were saying was indeed
true. Angel nodded, 'Yes, it's true.'
"Bloody hell," Spike swore. The world started spinning again. His eyes rolled back in his head as the
darkness claimed him once more.
"What do we do?" Cordelia asked
frantically. "He's lost so much
blood." The Seer couldn't help but take
in the room around them, the blood splattered as high as the ceiling, pools of
the red liquid glistening in the firelight. "Oh God, I think I'm going to be sick."
Wesley thumped the cooler down next to
Angel. "There's another 5 pints left in
there. That should help him."
Angel shook his head. "Save them. I know what
he needs now."
Wesley and Cordelia gasped as Angel slashed
open the vein in his throat with his dagger and brought the ailing vampire to
meet the flowing crimson blood.
Spike's nose flared at the scent of familial
blood and vamped out, sealing himself to the gushing fount with his fangs and
gulping down the rejuvenating fluid. Angel closed his arms around the vampire attached to him in a crushing
hug, reveling in the pain and thrill of feeling the blood being drained from
him.
A wave of dizziness passed over him, but Angel
shook it off. His Childe needed more,
and he would give it. Spike grabbed
onto his Sire's body, tangling his fingers into Angel's dark hair. He pulled the dark head back and bit in
deeper into the willing throat of his Master.
Wesley's cries, Cordelia's shouts slowly found
their way past the rushing thunder in Angel's ears.
"Enough," he said, trying to dislodge the
feeding vampire. Spike wouldn't
relinquish his hold on the wonderful feast burning its way over his
tongue. "Enough!" Angel growled,
closing a fist into the blonde vampire's hair and yanking him free.
It has been a lifetime since the elder vampire
had fed his Childe like this. Angel
watched as Spike ran his tongue over his bottom lip, catching the last of his
Sire's blood still clinging there. Black eyes met golden, turned cerulean. In the glance that passed between the two immortals a new bond was
formed. The chipped vampire and his
soul-having Sire was family once more.
Now it was perhaps half an hour before the sun
would rise over the horizon, effectively trapping the vampires inside the
mansion, and for the unlife of him Angel didn't want to be separated from his
family, human or otherwise. But it was
necessary.
"Okay, Blondie, up you get," Cordelia grunted,
slinging Spike's unbandaged arm over her shoulder.
Spike yowled at the rough juggling he was being
subjected to. "Hold up, lady! Jeez, you're killing me here!"
"You're already dead so stop your whining,"
Cordelia countered.
"Angel? Aren't you going to do something? Stop her! She's hurting
me." Spike threw his Sire an adorable
droopy dog look.
Angel couldn't help but smile. "Cordelia strongly believes in tough love,"
Angel answered, but gently stepped in between the dark-haired woman and the
whining blonde. Spike let Angel help
him to his feet, pulling on the coat held for him, without any further protest.
"There's no answer at Giles' apartment," Wesley
spoke up from the door. He'd been
trying to get the other ex-Watcher on the phone for the past 10 minutes.
Cordelia frowned worriedly. "You don't think…"
"No, love," Spike soothed the woman propping
him up. "Xander would have warned
them."
"Call Xander," Spike and Angel said in unison,
the idea hitting them simultaneously.
Wesley cocked his head questioningly. Why would he call Xander of all people?
"Xander's is the only place Angel… or Angelus
hasn't been invited into. Unless
there's something you neglected to tell me?" Spike said.
Angel nodded his agreement. "Spike's right. I've been to everybody's homes, except Xander. Who knew his fervent dislike for me would
actually turn out to be a good thing?"
Wesley dialed the number Spike recited while
Angel and Cordelia helped him out to the rental.
"They're all there. But Buffy's on her way here. Apparently, Angelus attacked her last night," Wesley reported, shutting
the cellphone and delivering it back into his pocket. "She's fine. Xander
intervened," the ex-Watcher answered the twin questioning stares from the
vampires, watching with interest and amusement as twin sighs of relief escaped
their mouths.
"Thank you, Wesley," Angel said, offering his
hand to his colleague and friend. "You've been a friend to me when I didn't deserve it. I will always be grateful for that."
Wesley suddenly had to struggle to utter the
words trapped behind the lump in his throat. His friend was saying good-bye. He took Angel's offered hand and pulled the vampire in for a very
un-British-like hug. "You are a great
man, Angel. I have learned a great many
things about bravery and sacrifice from you." He turned his face away, not wanting his friend to see the tears
spilling over his cheeks, but Angel saw. And wanted to weep.
"What's this? You're saying good-bye like you're not going to see us again," Cordelia
commented when Angel wrapped his powerful arms around her, hugging her
gently. "But you're not, are you?" The Seer saw what it meant for Angel to stay
behind at the mansion to face Angelus. Either Angel defeats his demon and dies, or Angel's demon defeats him
and he dies. Cordelia choked back a
sob. "Angel," was all she could get
out, closing her arms around his neck and holding on with all her strength.
"I love you," Angel whispered to the girl who'd
become a woman, his link to the Powers and, most importantly, his family. He untied himself from her arms and said,
tears streaking down his own cheeks, "Take care of Gunn. Make sure the kid doesn't get himself
killed. And Lindsey. Tell him I forgive him."
Cordelia nodded, crying. She pulled Angel down and kissed him, their
tears mingling.
Spike stood leaning against the car, watching
the ritual final good-byes of people never seeing each other again. He couldn't understand why. Did they think he couldn't beat Angelus in a
fight? He scoffed at the ridiculous
idea. Soulboy's averted the bloody
Apocalypse more than once, and they think he can't handle one vampire?
Understanding dawned on him. But this wasn't just another vampire. This was the very vampire that resided
inside Angel. If that demon dies… Spike understood – and wished to all the
gods he didn't.
"Spike." Angel reached out his hand to his Childe, but Spike ducked it.
"You're leaving me?" he asked, hurt. "I finally get my family back after all
these decades - family that will accept me. And you're leaving me?"
Angel fought down Spike's resisting arms,
holding him. "William, I'm sorry," he
wept. "I have to…"
"Yes, I know," Spike yielded. "You have to do
this. But I don't have to like it, you
wanker." He returned Angel's hug,
taking comfort in the strength of his Sire's arms. "I wonder if she knows just how much you're giving up for her,"
Spike murmured into Angel's chest, noticing the wetness his own tears had made.
Angel pulled away from the younger vampire,
looking him square in the eye. "Will,
you have to promise me, if I don't succeed…" Angel swallowed and hardened his grip on Spike's upper arms. "If he kills me, you have to promise me you
will kill Angelus. Protect Buffy. Promise me."
Spike looked at the man holding him and felt his
heart breaking. Angel was entrusting
the one thing he held dearest to him, dearer even than his own soul, to him,
Spike, a vampire that has hated him for a century and has loved him for an
eternity. "I promise," Spike answered,
and knew it to be true. He would give
his own life to keep the Slayer safe, because it was Angel's final wish.
Angel looked past the blonde vampire at the
horizon. "The sun's almost up. It's time."
"Angel, I'm sorry. For all the things I did, all the times I tortured you, tried to
kill you. For hating you," Spike said,
desperately gripping the elder vampire by his arms. "Can you forgive ever me? Please, Master, I need to know."
Angel pulled his Childe close to his massive
chest, holding him close to his silent heart. "I forgive you, William. I love
you."
He deposited a crying Spike into a crying
Cordelia's arms and escaped back into the mansion, his vision doubling behind
unshed tears. He didn't want to die,
Angel's soul was screaming. Not when he
had so much to live for.
"Where's Spike, you bastard?"
The voice cut through Angel like a knife. He turned to face the Slayer. "Buffy," he breathed.
