Spike watched Angel leave and threw a book at the door. Exactly what the book was doing in his room, Spike didn't know, but he threw it anyway.

Why did he always have to be so... big? Spike hated Angel. You could guarantee that anything Spike could do, Angel or Angelus could do ten times better. All his life Angelus had always been bigger, stronger, faster, cleverer, scarier and more powerful. Angelus had always been the dominant one. Nothing had changed now that he was Angel, except that he was maybe a little less scary.

Spike felt a tear in the corner of his eye and slammed his fist into the wall angrily. Why? Why why why? What had he ever done to deserve this inferiority?

Will cowered beneath the towering figure of his Sire. "Please," he begged, flinching as Angelus raised his arm to run a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean to, it was a mistake –"

Will's head collided with the wall behind him and his eyes swam for a few seconds. He knew he'd been stupid again, and hated himself for it. "I'm sorry."

Angelus' fist came down once more, this time striking his nose with an ugly crack. "What was that, boy?"

"I-I'm sorry," Will sobbed, not even raising a hand to his broken nose.

Angelus' expression didn't change. He hauled Will to his feet and pressed him to the wall, gripping him round the neck. "I told you to look after her. I told you to protect her." He took off his belt and spun Will round to face the wall. "Don't move. I want you to realise, boy, that when I say something, I mean it. Do you understand?"

Will nodded hastily. "Yes Sire."

Angelus brought the belt down with a crack, and Will screwed up his face in pain. "You were supposed to be taking care of her. But you couldn't manage that, could you, boy?"

Thwack!

"Could you?"

Thwack!

"N-no... Sire. S-sorry Sire." Will's voice was cracked with a sob and that just made Angelus strike harder.

Thwack!

"Don't you dare cry in front of me, boy, you're pathetic."

Thwack!

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

It was only when Angelus had put away his belt and turned Will round that his face softened and he wiped away Will's tears with his thumb.

"Don't do it again," he said in a much softer voice, then left Will to crumple on the floor.

Spike didn't remember falling asleep. He opened his eyes... or he tried to. He blinked. Nothing. It was pitch black. Spike felt rather scared. He hadn't been in pitch darkness since before he became a vampire. His vampire abilities meant he could see in the dark, but tonight, he couldn't see anything at all. He got up to turn the light on, and bumped into the wall. He swore under his breath, then found the switch with his fingers. He flicked it. Still nothing. What the hell was going on?

Making it out to the hallway and still not being able to see, he yelled at the top of his voice. "ANGEL!!!!!"

"What was that?!" came Gunn's voice from downstairs, and he came leaping up the stairs two at a time. Wesley, Cordelia and Angel all followed, and Angel frowned at Spike.

"What?"

"What have you done to me?" Spike demanded.

Angel sighed. "Either explain what you're on about or shut up, I don't care."

"I can't see!" Spike wailed.

Gunn laughed, Angel and Wesley frowned.

"What do you mean you can't see?" Wesley asked with interest.

"I mean, everything is black! I've gone blind!"

Gunn raised his eyebrows. "Vampires can't go blind," he said, flicking the dagger he was carrying at Spike's face.

As quickly as only a master vampire can, Angel reached out and knocked the flying dagger out of its former collision course with Spike's unprotected and unaware face. It wasn't without injury though, slicing open half of his hand. He spun round, snarling at Gunn, his forehead rippling as he struggled to control his demon face. How dare that human throw a dagger at Angel's handicapped Childe? Sure, Angel may not like Spike, but Spike was his Childe and that undermined all else. The Sire/Childe bond was stronger than anything, and Gunn had just challenged it with a casual flick of his wrist.

"Don't try anything like that again," he growled, his voice low, before turning his attention back to Spike, whose unseeing eyes were wide and scared. He grabbed hold of Angel's arm and looked up at where he thought Angel was.

"What's happening?" he said in a small, scared voice.

Angel lifted Spike's face so that he was staring into his eyes. Their brilliant blue was gone, replaced with a sort of haze which covered the whole eye. "It's ok," Angel replied softly, shooting a dangerous look at Gunn, who turned and left the Hyperion all together.

"I can't see..." Spike whispered. He clutched at Angel's sleeve desperately.

Angel soothed him and spoke calmly, unaware of Cordy and Wesley standing nearby. "It's ok, Will, listen," he said, using Spike's fledgling name because when Spike was like this, Angel still thought of him as a fledgling. "Listen, take a deep breath, ok? Now, can you still smell me?" Spike nodded shakily. "And can you smell Cordelia and Wesley?" Spike nodded again, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Are they here?"

"Yes, we're here," Cordelia said softly, realising that however much she hated Spike, he was in serious trouble right now.

"Sire?" Spike whispered, so quietly that only vampire hearing could pick it up. "Tell them to go away. I don't want them here."

Angel turned to his friends. "I'm sorry guys. Spike wants you to go."

Wesley looked as though he was about to speak, but Cordelia grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

Angel lead Spike through into his room, where Spike immediately felt less tense. The room was Sire scented and calming. Angel let go of him to sort out the bed and Spike clutched at the air suddenly.

"Where are you, where did you go?!" he said desperately, and Angel turned back to him and took his hands.

"I'm here, Spike, I'm not going anywhere yet."

Spike nodded, taking shaky breaths. "Right. Yeah. Not going anywhere." His voice was calmer but he gripped Angel's hands like a vice. Angel slowly moved one of Spike's hands onto his other arm and smoothed out the bed covers with his free hand.

"Sit down," he said, guiding Spike to the bed. Spike sat down silently and pulled his knees up. He shut his eyes, because they weren't doing any good open anyway.

"Why am I like this?"

"I don't know," Angel replied truthfully.

"I don't wanna be like this. I wanna be able to see, dammit!" Spike clenched his jaw.

"I'm sure Cordelia and Wesley are trying to work it out right now." Angel sat beside his Childe and thought about Spike.

He hated Spike. Spike was the single most irritating thing that had entered his life since 1898. Before that it was dirt and mess that really irritated him. Now it seemed it was Spike. But he also cared about Spike with a fierce possessiveness, and Angel knew that was part of the Sire/Childe bond they shared. Spike was his. Even Spike knew that, as he unconsciously nudged closer to Angel.

Spike's chest was rising and falling far far more than an average human, let alone a vampire. Angel knew it was because he was breathing in the scents around him, namely Angel's, and he smiled as Spike's head fell onto his shoulder.


Thanks for all the support guys! I love you all. Sorry about the flashback but as anyone who's read Fledgling knows, I can't resist Angelus/William. Thanks again!