Hello, all!
Okay, another installment on time!
This is a bit of a segue chapter with a lot of exposition, but I tried to at least make it funny. Well, sort of. I thought you could use a break from the angst.
I hope to be on time again next week. We shall see what the future holds. I could really use a crystal ball. :::grabs pink Magic 8-Ball handed to her by Bot:::: Looks good.
Enjoy! And, as always, feedback fuels the muse....
In Peace, Nimue "When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart and you shall see that in truth, you are weeping for that which has been your delight." Kahlil Gibran The Prophet
www.livejournal (dot) com/users/nimuetucker/ AlwaysEveryday (at) yahoogroups.com HowtoMakeaVampireSundae (at) yahoogroups.com
Title: The Brood (Chapter Thirty-two - Meant to Be)
Author: Nimue
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Spike/Buffy (Most major characters included)
Feedback: Yes, please
Disclaimer: All characters belong to someone other than me; they belong to Mutant Enemy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, Fox, UPN, WB, their affiliates, lawyers and all sorts of other folks that aren't me. :::sigh::::
Summary: The Sunnydale and LA forces for good decide to join to kill two birds with one stone. Save Spike and Buffy's child, and take out the Master that threatens them all.
The Brood
By two hours after sundown, the entire entourage had arrived at Casa de Windsor. Despite their best efforts, there was no way to accommodate both sides of a strange, extended family in the one house, so Xander, living less than a block away from command central, offered his house to even the load. Willow set wards around the Harris residence as well, leaving Takina to man the invites. Being half demon herself, she was more likely to detect a glamour – someone pretending to be one of their own.
On the return trip, Willow created an invisible trail between the back yards of the houses that would shield any movement between them. It'd just look like empty back yards, even if they drove a tank down the path. Xander had to give her credit. Since she taken back the reins of magick, she'd put it to some extremely clever uses in the name of the good fight.
Inside, Buffy and Spike divided resources accordingly, Buffy doing more of the ordering as Spike's ability to articulate thought was still fairly raw – he was easily distracted and drawn back into despair. But he told her what he thought, and held the two kids like lifelines as she divvied up the people and supplies.
The Witches and the Werewolf were to stay with Buffy and Spike, both as protection and to retrieve Anya from the Red Mansion, for which they'd need Dawn. Spike had made it clear that he wasn't letting the girl out of his sight until the new Master was dealt with, so Dawn and her beau were assigned Emma's room. Spike had tried to make him sleep downstairs, but Buffy had quietly talked him out of it, letting her little sister and her fiancé be together.
Emma was staying with Spike and Buffy. There were no arguments, no discussions. She'd sleep between them, she'd shadow one or both of them in the house, and she'd never be out of eyeshot. Cyrus offered to sleep on the couch in order to help watch his charge, to which the One agreed.
Giles would lead the others at Xander's house with Wesley, Gunn, Fred and three of the children – Will, Randy and River. As much as Spike and Buffy both hated to part with him at a time like this, he was safer there. Spike and Emma had to go to the place where souls slept. The Master was after Dawn and Emma. Spike and Buffy were the One. All of the negative forces would be drawn to command central and Will was simply safer with Xander and his family.
Besides, Spike thought, it was likely that Rupert would rip the head off of anything or anyone who came within a hundred meters of the kids. And they'd immediately taken a liking to Fred, who was watching them like a tiny, fierce, hawk.
All of this left Angel and his girl.
As much as Spike didn't want to admit it, they needed Angel with them. The great poof may or may not help his grandchilde willingly, although after the recent loss of Drusilla, Spike was inclined to think Angel felt a debt to him, but he would help Buffy. Angel wouldn't allow anyone to harm Buffy, her sister, or her daughter, particularly by another Master. Spike knew that he had a journey to make with Emma, but, if the past was any indication, their corporeal bodies would remain, still and helpless, on this plane.
Spike didn't much care if Angel watched over him. Injured or not, he knew that Buffy would have his back. With himself, he was willing to take the chance that her injury wasn't a liability, but with their daughter...
To be honest, Spike thought, it didn't have damn all to do with her destiny, or universal peace, or any such. No.One.Was.Hurting.His.Girls. Simple as that. And if he had to rely on his grandsire to make sure that was the case, then pride be damned.
The plan was for Xander, Oz, Gunn, Wesley, and Cordelia to patrol and see if they could find a location on the Master by roughing up some fledges. Spike and Angel were going to throw their own weight around, as Masters, to see if they could find anything out from the demon population. The rest were staying to keep an eye on the kids. As much as Buffy didn't like the plan, she stuck to it, mostly because Spike didn't want to leave Emma without one of them, and he was more likely to get information from Vampires than was the Slayer.
Once the sun rose, and they'd gotten a little sleep, Spike would let Emma take him to the land where the souls slept to see what they could do. And how much more they would lose in the process.
Life is loss.
"Man, they're everywhere," Gunn noted calmly, dusting another fledgling that not only didn't know the Master, but that barely knew his own name. "Always like this around here?"
"Hellmouth," Xander stated flatly, holding a crossbow over another fledgling that Cordelia was questioning relentlessly. "They sort of flock here. Do Vampires flock?"
"I think they're more of a gaggle," Oz answered, sidestepping another fledge as it flew past him, reeling from a kick Wesley had delivered.
The small group of undead had been done away with, obviously having nothing to do with the new player in town, and the living reassembled, dusting off their clothes and returning to their route.
"Ugh. I so don't miss this," Cordelia whined, a spot of some sort of ichor spreading on her top.
"Oh, you know you do," Xander teased back, slinging an axe over his shoulder. "Actually, it's been pretty quiet for years. Not too many of the big guys want to go up against the whole One gig."
Oz nodded his agreement. "Mostly, we get these guys. There's more out there, but unless they're hurting someone..."
"I noticed that you're down with the demon tolerance," Gunn continued. "Is it like a trial to get into your group, man? Have to date a demon?"
"Or be supernatural," Oz answered, grinning.
"I believe it just... worked out that way, Charles," Wesley interjected, strolling next to the group but not quite in the tight circle. "It certainly speaks to the state of civilization that so many factions of the demon population can integrate with..."
"Yeah, we know, demons can be sexy," Cordy chimed in. "And furry," she continued, shooting a pointed glance at Oz before breaking into a grin. "Can you give us the non-Watcher speak version of what the Hell is going on around here?"
"This week?" Xander asked, chuckling.
"How bout the abridged version of the whole thing?" Gunn asked.
Xander and Oz exchanged a glance before Oz nodded his consent to the always- babble-ready Harris to continue. "Okay, well. Buffy dies. Buffy gets brought back. Apparently, Buffy is sad and no one really notices but Spike. Buffy and Spike end up in this sex-o-rama that wasn't supposed to mean anything and that no one knew about but apparently did mean something and we all found out.
How, you ask? Buffy gets in a battle with some demon that makes her skip realities but it wasn't realities so much as it was forward and back in time. Turns out, she has a baby. Spike's baby.
Which, of course, no one understands until we find out she's really pregnant. And it's really Spike's. What with the whole Vampire-dead seed thing, I guess no one thought much about birth control.
Anyway, he's strangely happy. She's strangely happy. They end up together. But nothing is easy. Willow goes all black magick and Spike dies to stop her."
"Spike died?" Gunn asked.
Xander and Oz nodded. "Yeah," the dark haired boy continued. "Kinda when he got it through all of our heads that he was okay. He died saving all of us, including Willow. Buffy was pregnant and he was suddenly gone.
Of course, Buffy sort of never got the whole death thing down, so she went and yanked him out of this hell dimension when she was like, ready to pop, with the help of their unborn child, who, apparently, is some ancient embodiment of Peace and is destined for hugeness in the good guys department."
"Emma," Wesley confirmed.
Xander nodded again. "They make it back, but Spike has a bunch of cool new modifications. Like sunlight and breathing and heartbeat, but he's still a Vamp. Can't do much to play with it because Buffy goes into labour and almost dies, but doesn't, and the world met Emma. The first child of the Scoobies and what everyone thought was the only kid that could come out of the whole Vampire/Slayer combo.
But no, they're too horny for that.
Oh, and then the whole One thing came up. Some prophesy. Vampire moving toward light. Slayer that wasn't quite what she was supposed to be. Wham bam, the Powers were watching Angel and Spike snuck right in and surprised them."
"Pissed Angel off too," Cordelia mentioned. "Although the Shanshu gig is still up for grabs."
Xander snorted. "Weird Vampires. Anyway. There was some more ooky exchanges of bodily fluids and Buffy and Spike were eternally bonded and got like double the super powers and some weird life span bonuses. Oh, and a kid that's not only cool, but she can totally heal someone who got hurt helping her. That's come in handy on several near death experiences."
He stopped, taking a breath and watching Wesley casually dust a fledge without breaking his stride. Watcher Junior had changed. A lot.
"So, Buffy gets knocked up again. More strange happenings. People trying to kill her including the one we're sort of up against now. Not the Master guy but the one trying to hurt her baby. He's come back a few times. Like Spike's dad once and then Riley the soldier boy. Jackass. But we always win.
Buffy has Will and the rest of us are getting into the game as well. Takina and I got together and my little girl came in not long after Will. Anya and Giles, weird as that is," a little headshake to punctuate, "and out comes Randy. And then, of course, the brood."
Oz nodded languidly. "Yeah, my little pack."
"How'd that come about?" Gunn asked, giving Oz a sly smile.
"I'll never tell."
"But he got them the good old fashioned way," Cordelia surmised. "Lucky furry guy."
Oz gave a wolfish grin, but kept silent.
"Which brings us to now," Xander completed, "of course, skipping over a lot that's happened in the last seven or eight years. Buffy's pregnant and that's never easy. Ever seen a Slayer with bad hormones? And cravings?"
Cordelia shuddered. "Poor Spike."
"And, I'm sure one of the rest of us will get off our asses and make a few more for our army in training," Xander joked. "At least they're better prepared to handle the Hellmouth then we were."
To that, all three who had grown up there nodded. "Ever think about moving?" Gunn asked quite honestly as they rounded out of the last cemetery of the night.
"All the time," Xander conceded. "But this is where Buffy is supposed to be. We've been in it together for half our lives. We won't leave her now. Besides, it's our home. Someone's got to protect it."
"Wanna talk?" Angel asked, striding next to Spike along the sidewalk towards Willie's and the dock.
"No," Spike answered pointedly.
Angel nodded. "I can understand that."
There was silence.
"Just not... don't want to," Spike continued, petulantly. It wasn't so much that he was afraid he might rip Angel's head off for not stepping up and handling the situation he created, but because he wasn't there yet. Wasn't to the anger. And he didn't want to start up the waterworks again.
Not in front of Angel.
Not when he had so much to do.
"Can I say something?" Angel asked, still walking slowly, trying to keep things calm and simple.
"No," Spike answered once again. A short, trite response.
"Going to anyway," Angel intervened, watching Spike roll his eyes. He'd let alone the subject of Drusilla until Spike had some time to grieve. And he'd start training for the ass-kicking his now-much-stronger-grandchilde would likely dole out. But there was something else that needed to be said.
"I won't let you down. Not this time," the dark haired Vampire said quietly.
Spike spun, grabbing Angel by the throat and pushing him against the wall with strength that Angel hadn't imagined. "Don't bloody well care what you do for me. I was never on your top ten list of important playthings, souled or unsouled, but I promise you, if anything happens to Buffy, or Dawn, or Emma, or any of my people when I can't be there to prevent it, I will hunt you down. And white hat or not, I'll feed you to the Vengeance demon and then vacuum you up with the rubbish."
Fear shot through Angel as he was held fast against the wall. Spike meant it. More than that, Spike could do it. Now. With the people who he'd come to love behind him, and who loved him just as much. A small smile broke on Angel's face.
"I won't let you down," he choked out. "Not just for Buffy, but for you."
Spike dropped his grandsire unceremoniously to the ground, wiping his hands on his jeans as if he'd contracted some gel-induced skin condition from touching the great poof. Angel just rolled his eyes.
They were silent again for a long moment, only the sound of their boots clacking against the pavement breaking the monotony.
"You know, Spike, reformed or not, you truly are the Master of Sunnydale now," Angel commented as they passed under street lamps.
As much as Spike didn't want to gratify Angel with any response at the moment, his interest was piqued. "Not really much of a Vampire, anymore."
"But you are," Angel continued. "You're still a Vampire, just one who made some choices. Good ones, in my opinion. But you have your own childer now. Your own minions."
Spike snorted. "Tell them that and the whelp's likely to do the aforementioned for me."
"I didn't mean it in a derogatory sense, Spike," Angel corrected. "You're their leader. Well, you and Buffy. Maybe more Buffy...."
A chuckle Spike couldn't hold back. "Leads me round like a pet poodle."
"I would have at least given you a Lab or something. What's an annoyingly tenacious English dog?" Angel chided in return.
An eye roll from Spike. "We got a job to do, is all. They do their part. I do mine. Buffy and I... well, we know what it is we're round for." Angel smiled. "But you had a choice not to. You chose to stay and help. You choose to join with Buffy. You choice to take the destiny you were offered. And you chose to lead them well. You're what a Master should be."
Spike thought for a moment, not wanting to admit that he was actually kind of touched by the words. Angel had never given Spike any credit for doing anything right – not that he had for most of his unlife. But hearing it now, somewhere, meant something.
Of course Spike couldn't let the great gelled one in on that little tidbit.
"You done being a walking Hallmark, or should I ready the insulin?" Spike asked, swinging open the door to Willie's and standing side by side in the doorway with his grandsire.
"You want Willie, or to start with the patrons?" Angel asked, sizing up the room full of shaking and scattering demons, most of which the two Vampires wanted nothing to do with.
"Think the barkeep has a soft spot for you, Peaches. I got the crowd," Spike commented before diving into the madness.
Angel smiled and headed to the bar.
To be contd.
Okay, another installment on time!
This is a bit of a segue chapter with a lot of exposition, but I tried to at least make it funny. Well, sort of. I thought you could use a break from the angst.
I hope to be on time again next week. We shall see what the future holds. I could really use a crystal ball. :::grabs pink Magic 8-Ball handed to her by Bot:::: Looks good.
Enjoy! And, as always, feedback fuels the muse....
In Peace, Nimue "When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart and you shall see that in truth, you are weeping for that which has been your delight." Kahlil Gibran The Prophet
www.livejournal (dot) com/users/nimuetucker/ AlwaysEveryday (at) yahoogroups.com HowtoMakeaVampireSundae (at) yahoogroups.com
Title: The Brood (Chapter Thirty-two - Meant to Be)
Author: Nimue
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Spike/Buffy (Most major characters included)
Feedback: Yes, please
Disclaimer: All characters belong to someone other than me; they belong to Mutant Enemy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, Fox, UPN, WB, their affiliates, lawyers and all sorts of other folks that aren't me. :::sigh::::
Summary: The Sunnydale and LA forces for good decide to join to kill two birds with one stone. Save Spike and Buffy's child, and take out the Master that threatens them all.
The Brood
By two hours after sundown, the entire entourage had arrived at Casa de Windsor. Despite their best efforts, there was no way to accommodate both sides of a strange, extended family in the one house, so Xander, living less than a block away from command central, offered his house to even the load. Willow set wards around the Harris residence as well, leaving Takina to man the invites. Being half demon herself, she was more likely to detect a glamour – someone pretending to be one of their own.
On the return trip, Willow created an invisible trail between the back yards of the houses that would shield any movement between them. It'd just look like empty back yards, even if they drove a tank down the path. Xander had to give her credit. Since she taken back the reins of magick, she'd put it to some extremely clever uses in the name of the good fight.
Inside, Buffy and Spike divided resources accordingly, Buffy doing more of the ordering as Spike's ability to articulate thought was still fairly raw – he was easily distracted and drawn back into despair. But he told her what he thought, and held the two kids like lifelines as she divvied up the people and supplies.
The Witches and the Werewolf were to stay with Buffy and Spike, both as protection and to retrieve Anya from the Red Mansion, for which they'd need Dawn. Spike had made it clear that he wasn't letting the girl out of his sight until the new Master was dealt with, so Dawn and her beau were assigned Emma's room. Spike had tried to make him sleep downstairs, but Buffy had quietly talked him out of it, letting her little sister and her fiancé be together.
Emma was staying with Spike and Buffy. There were no arguments, no discussions. She'd sleep between them, she'd shadow one or both of them in the house, and she'd never be out of eyeshot. Cyrus offered to sleep on the couch in order to help watch his charge, to which the One agreed.
Giles would lead the others at Xander's house with Wesley, Gunn, Fred and three of the children – Will, Randy and River. As much as Spike and Buffy both hated to part with him at a time like this, he was safer there. Spike and Emma had to go to the place where souls slept. The Master was after Dawn and Emma. Spike and Buffy were the One. All of the negative forces would be drawn to command central and Will was simply safer with Xander and his family.
Besides, Spike thought, it was likely that Rupert would rip the head off of anything or anyone who came within a hundred meters of the kids. And they'd immediately taken a liking to Fred, who was watching them like a tiny, fierce, hawk.
All of this left Angel and his girl.
As much as Spike didn't want to admit it, they needed Angel with them. The great poof may or may not help his grandchilde willingly, although after the recent loss of Drusilla, Spike was inclined to think Angel felt a debt to him, but he would help Buffy. Angel wouldn't allow anyone to harm Buffy, her sister, or her daughter, particularly by another Master. Spike knew that he had a journey to make with Emma, but, if the past was any indication, their corporeal bodies would remain, still and helpless, on this plane.
Spike didn't much care if Angel watched over him. Injured or not, he knew that Buffy would have his back. With himself, he was willing to take the chance that her injury wasn't a liability, but with their daughter...
To be honest, Spike thought, it didn't have damn all to do with her destiny, or universal peace, or any such. No.One.Was.Hurting.His.Girls. Simple as that. And if he had to rely on his grandsire to make sure that was the case, then pride be damned.
The plan was for Xander, Oz, Gunn, Wesley, and Cordelia to patrol and see if they could find a location on the Master by roughing up some fledges. Spike and Angel were going to throw their own weight around, as Masters, to see if they could find anything out from the demon population. The rest were staying to keep an eye on the kids. As much as Buffy didn't like the plan, she stuck to it, mostly because Spike didn't want to leave Emma without one of them, and he was more likely to get information from Vampires than was the Slayer.
Once the sun rose, and they'd gotten a little sleep, Spike would let Emma take him to the land where the souls slept to see what they could do. And how much more they would lose in the process.
Life is loss.
"Man, they're everywhere," Gunn noted calmly, dusting another fledgling that not only didn't know the Master, but that barely knew his own name. "Always like this around here?"
"Hellmouth," Xander stated flatly, holding a crossbow over another fledgling that Cordelia was questioning relentlessly. "They sort of flock here. Do Vampires flock?"
"I think they're more of a gaggle," Oz answered, sidestepping another fledge as it flew past him, reeling from a kick Wesley had delivered.
The small group of undead had been done away with, obviously having nothing to do with the new player in town, and the living reassembled, dusting off their clothes and returning to their route.
"Ugh. I so don't miss this," Cordelia whined, a spot of some sort of ichor spreading on her top.
"Oh, you know you do," Xander teased back, slinging an axe over his shoulder. "Actually, it's been pretty quiet for years. Not too many of the big guys want to go up against the whole One gig."
Oz nodded his agreement. "Mostly, we get these guys. There's more out there, but unless they're hurting someone..."
"I noticed that you're down with the demon tolerance," Gunn continued. "Is it like a trial to get into your group, man? Have to date a demon?"
"Or be supernatural," Oz answered, grinning.
"I believe it just... worked out that way, Charles," Wesley interjected, strolling next to the group but not quite in the tight circle. "It certainly speaks to the state of civilization that so many factions of the demon population can integrate with..."
"Yeah, we know, demons can be sexy," Cordy chimed in. "And furry," she continued, shooting a pointed glance at Oz before breaking into a grin. "Can you give us the non-Watcher speak version of what the Hell is going on around here?"
"This week?" Xander asked, chuckling.
"How bout the abridged version of the whole thing?" Gunn asked.
Xander and Oz exchanged a glance before Oz nodded his consent to the always- babble-ready Harris to continue. "Okay, well. Buffy dies. Buffy gets brought back. Apparently, Buffy is sad and no one really notices but Spike. Buffy and Spike end up in this sex-o-rama that wasn't supposed to mean anything and that no one knew about but apparently did mean something and we all found out.
How, you ask? Buffy gets in a battle with some demon that makes her skip realities but it wasn't realities so much as it was forward and back in time. Turns out, she has a baby. Spike's baby.
Which, of course, no one understands until we find out she's really pregnant. And it's really Spike's. What with the whole Vampire-dead seed thing, I guess no one thought much about birth control.
Anyway, he's strangely happy. She's strangely happy. They end up together. But nothing is easy. Willow goes all black magick and Spike dies to stop her."
"Spike died?" Gunn asked.
Xander and Oz nodded. "Yeah," the dark haired boy continued. "Kinda when he got it through all of our heads that he was okay. He died saving all of us, including Willow. Buffy was pregnant and he was suddenly gone.
Of course, Buffy sort of never got the whole death thing down, so she went and yanked him out of this hell dimension when she was like, ready to pop, with the help of their unborn child, who, apparently, is some ancient embodiment of Peace and is destined for hugeness in the good guys department."
"Emma," Wesley confirmed.
Xander nodded again. "They make it back, but Spike has a bunch of cool new modifications. Like sunlight and breathing and heartbeat, but he's still a Vamp. Can't do much to play with it because Buffy goes into labour and almost dies, but doesn't, and the world met Emma. The first child of the Scoobies and what everyone thought was the only kid that could come out of the whole Vampire/Slayer combo.
But no, they're too horny for that.
Oh, and then the whole One thing came up. Some prophesy. Vampire moving toward light. Slayer that wasn't quite what she was supposed to be. Wham bam, the Powers were watching Angel and Spike snuck right in and surprised them."
"Pissed Angel off too," Cordelia mentioned. "Although the Shanshu gig is still up for grabs."
Xander snorted. "Weird Vampires. Anyway. There was some more ooky exchanges of bodily fluids and Buffy and Spike were eternally bonded and got like double the super powers and some weird life span bonuses. Oh, and a kid that's not only cool, but she can totally heal someone who got hurt helping her. That's come in handy on several near death experiences."
He stopped, taking a breath and watching Wesley casually dust a fledge without breaking his stride. Watcher Junior had changed. A lot.
"So, Buffy gets knocked up again. More strange happenings. People trying to kill her including the one we're sort of up against now. Not the Master guy but the one trying to hurt her baby. He's come back a few times. Like Spike's dad once and then Riley the soldier boy. Jackass. But we always win.
Buffy has Will and the rest of us are getting into the game as well. Takina and I got together and my little girl came in not long after Will. Anya and Giles, weird as that is," a little headshake to punctuate, "and out comes Randy. And then, of course, the brood."
Oz nodded languidly. "Yeah, my little pack."
"How'd that come about?" Gunn asked, giving Oz a sly smile.
"I'll never tell."
"But he got them the good old fashioned way," Cordelia surmised. "Lucky furry guy."
Oz gave a wolfish grin, but kept silent.
"Which brings us to now," Xander completed, "of course, skipping over a lot that's happened in the last seven or eight years. Buffy's pregnant and that's never easy. Ever seen a Slayer with bad hormones? And cravings?"
Cordelia shuddered. "Poor Spike."
"And, I'm sure one of the rest of us will get off our asses and make a few more for our army in training," Xander joked. "At least they're better prepared to handle the Hellmouth then we were."
To that, all three who had grown up there nodded. "Ever think about moving?" Gunn asked quite honestly as they rounded out of the last cemetery of the night.
"All the time," Xander conceded. "But this is where Buffy is supposed to be. We've been in it together for half our lives. We won't leave her now. Besides, it's our home. Someone's got to protect it."
"Wanna talk?" Angel asked, striding next to Spike along the sidewalk towards Willie's and the dock.
"No," Spike answered pointedly.
Angel nodded. "I can understand that."
There was silence.
"Just not... don't want to," Spike continued, petulantly. It wasn't so much that he was afraid he might rip Angel's head off for not stepping up and handling the situation he created, but because he wasn't there yet. Wasn't to the anger. And he didn't want to start up the waterworks again.
Not in front of Angel.
Not when he had so much to do.
"Can I say something?" Angel asked, still walking slowly, trying to keep things calm and simple.
"No," Spike answered once again. A short, trite response.
"Going to anyway," Angel intervened, watching Spike roll his eyes. He'd let alone the subject of Drusilla until Spike had some time to grieve. And he'd start training for the ass-kicking his now-much-stronger-grandchilde would likely dole out. But there was something else that needed to be said.
"I won't let you down. Not this time," the dark haired Vampire said quietly.
Spike spun, grabbing Angel by the throat and pushing him against the wall with strength that Angel hadn't imagined. "Don't bloody well care what you do for me. I was never on your top ten list of important playthings, souled or unsouled, but I promise you, if anything happens to Buffy, or Dawn, or Emma, or any of my people when I can't be there to prevent it, I will hunt you down. And white hat or not, I'll feed you to the Vengeance demon and then vacuum you up with the rubbish."
Fear shot through Angel as he was held fast against the wall. Spike meant it. More than that, Spike could do it. Now. With the people who he'd come to love behind him, and who loved him just as much. A small smile broke on Angel's face.
"I won't let you down," he choked out. "Not just for Buffy, but for you."
Spike dropped his grandsire unceremoniously to the ground, wiping his hands on his jeans as if he'd contracted some gel-induced skin condition from touching the great poof. Angel just rolled his eyes.
They were silent again for a long moment, only the sound of their boots clacking against the pavement breaking the monotony.
"You know, Spike, reformed or not, you truly are the Master of Sunnydale now," Angel commented as they passed under street lamps.
As much as Spike didn't want to gratify Angel with any response at the moment, his interest was piqued. "Not really much of a Vampire, anymore."
"But you are," Angel continued. "You're still a Vampire, just one who made some choices. Good ones, in my opinion. But you have your own childer now. Your own minions."
Spike snorted. "Tell them that and the whelp's likely to do the aforementioned for me."
"I didn't mean it in a derogatory sense, Spike," Angel corrected. "You're their leader. Well, you and Buffy. Maybe more Buffy...."
A chuckle Spike couldn't hold back. "Leads me round like a pet poodle."
"I would have at least given you a Lab or something. What's an annoyingly tenacious English dog?" Angel chided in return.
An eye roll from Spike. "We got a job to do, is all. They do their part. I do mine. Buffy and I... well, we know what it is we're round for." Angel smiled. "But you had a choice not to. You chose to stay and help. You choose to join with Buffy. You choice to take the destiny you were offered. And you chose to lead them well. You're what a Master should be."
Spike thought for a moment, not wanting to admit that he was actually kind of touched by the words. Angel had never given Spike any credit for doing anything right – not that he had for most of his unlife. But hearing it now, somewhere, meant something.
Of course Spike couldn't let the great gelled one in on that little tidbit.
"You done being a walking Hallmark, or should I ready the insulin?" Spike asked, swinging open the door to Willie's and standing side by side in the doorway with his grandsire.
"You want Willie, or to start with the patrons?" Angel asked, sizing up the room full of shaking and scattering demons, most of which the two Vampires wanted nothing to do with.
"Think the barkeep has a soft spot for you, Peaches. I got the crowd," Spike commented before diving into the madness.
Angel smiled and headed to the bar.
To be contd.