The door clanged shut as Cordelia came in brightly with bags of shopping.
"Okay!" she grinned at Fred, Wesley and Angel, who weren't really doing much. She set down the bags and began to unpack them. "Right. Now we have a bunch of comfy clothing for Spike," she said, tossing a bundle at Angel. "I'll leave that for you to deal with... and... blood," she threw four or five packets at Wesley, who then put them into the fridge. Providing a running commentary, she took items out of the bag and laid them on the table. "Sausages, aspirin, vinegar, light bulbs, toilet roll, new glasses for Wesley, AND... ta da!" she produced a pair of dark sunglasses from the bag. When the three of them looked at her blankly, she sighed. "For Spike? For the blindness, ya know? So people don't notice he has funky eyes."
"Ah," Wesley and Angel said together, and Fred smiled.
"That's real thoughtful of you Cordelia," she said shyly. "I'm sure Spike'll like them."
Cordelia smiled happily. "I know." She picked up the remainder of the bags. "I'll be upstairs. In my guest room."
"Uh, Cordy?" Angel started. "What exactly is in the rest of the bags?" he asked, nodding at the three bulging bags she carried.
"Huh? Oh, new outfits. I figured since you forgot to pay me last month's bonus, you wouldn't mind me spending the rest of the money you gave me for that lot." She flashed another smile, and departed upstairs.
Angel sighed and muttered under his breath. "She didn't have a bonus last month..."
Fred picked up the glasses. "You want me to take some blood up for Spike? I'll take these too."
Angel nodded. "Thanks Fred." He glanced at the door, where it was now dark once more. "Hey Wes, do you mind if I go out and catch up with Gunn? I haven't seen him since..."
Wesley nodded. "Of course. I might go out too, if that's ok with you Fred? I may have a lead on what caused Spike's... problem."
Fred nodded as she emptied a packet of blood into a mug and put it in the microwave. "Sure. I'll see you guys later then."
Angel and Wesley left, and when the blood was warm, Fred took it upstairs with the glasses, and knocked on Spike's door.
"Spike? Are ya there? It's me, Fred."
"Come in," was the muffled reply. "'cept I think Angel locked the door."
She tried the door, and came in. "Nope, door's open." Spike was sitting on the bed, and she sat beside him. "I gotcha blood," she said, handing it to him carefully. "An' Cordy got these for you. They're dark glasses, to stop people noticin' you got funky eyes. Eh, not that you got funky eyes, that's just what Cordelia said. I think she meant your eyes being all outa focus an' having that filmy stuff over them an' all." She paused, and looked at Spike to check she wasn't freaking him out, but he seemed perfectly content to sip his blood and listen to her. "Anyways, Angel's gone out to find Gunn, I don't know why, and Wesley reckons he's got some lead on what might've happened to ya. He thinks its some kind of psychological spell, which means that it's to do with your inner feelings being channelled and stuff. It's really interesting actually..."
Spike smiled, and held the mug in both hands. He liked listening to Fred talk, it was almost comforting. It filled the empty silence, and even before he was blind, he liked the idea of someone actually enjoying and wanting to have a conversation with him. As she went on about the science and supernatural thesis, Spike began to drift off, thinking of Drusilla, and of Darla, and of Angelus.
Everything was so much simpler back then. It was easy, clear. Of course, it took him a full ten or twenty years to learn it, but being a vampire was more or less about status. Angelus may have seemed the leader of the group, but that didn't make him in charge. Darla was the highest ranker, simply because she was the oldest. Angelus sometimes forgot that, but Darla reminded him if he needed reminding. Then, at the bottom of the ranking, there was Spike. In fact, back in those days, he wasn't even on the rank, he was so low. He was right down in the dirt beneath them all.
Not that he realised any of this at the time. If he had, then years of beatings and torment could've been prevented.
Angel had tracked Gunn's scent to this building. There were other people in there with him, members of Gunn's crew most likely. If they were living there, then he wouldn't be able to enter, but he had a suspicion that they weren't. There was the smell of other vampires around the place. Angel guessed it was a lair, and the Gunn and his guys had come to clean them out. He decided to wait around for them, leaning on the wall opposite the house.
It was roughly two minutes before Gunn and his crew came out, high fives and grins all round. Angel stayed out of sight until they were all on the van, then stepped out of the shadows just as Gunn was about to get in. Gunn spotted him first, and walked towards him slowly, stopping about ten yards away.
"Angel," he nodded a greeting warily.
One of the guys called out. "Hey Gunn, you gonna be ok?"
"Yeah. You guys go on, I'll catch you up."
The guy turned back to the van and soon Angel and Gunn were left alone.
"Listen, Gunn, what I said to you the other day... I may have over reacted."
Gunn looked away. "You think?"
"But what you did could've seriously hurt him." Gunn opened his mouth to protest, but Angel carried on. "Spike's my Childe and I have to protect him. You get that right?"
Gunn frowned. "You wanna protect an evil vampire, just because you made him? I don't think I do."
"He's chipped," Angel replied lamely.
"So what?!"
"Plus, he's changed. Spike's special. He can... feel things."
Gunn scoffed. "Great," he muttered, staring at the ground. An awkward silence filled the gap. "Look, Angel," he began finally, "I know it was stupid of me to throw it at Spike. But I've never really liked the guy, you know that, and I hate the way he always wants attention."
Angel nodded, not wanting to turn the conversation into a debate about Spike. "I know. But I just wanted you to know that I overreacted. And whenever you're ready... Fred, Cordy and Wes miss you." He turned to walk away, but didn't miss what Gunn said next.
"When I'm ready."
