Chapter Five: Spike. Just when Xander thinks he's going to go insane without a good fight, here comes Spike to grant his wish. Only things don't go quite the way anyone wants them to.

Note: Apologies to anyone who had problems with the summary. The first time around, it was cut off, and prompted several responses telling me that I hadn't given a slash warning in the summary, and so I apologize to anyone who read it and didn't understand it was slash. I also realize that the summary speaks of a romance with Spike, not Angel, which confused some. The events with Angel were simply setting the stage for Spike's entrance, which occurs in this chapter, thus the title. Those who were waiting for Spike's entrance with bated breath, here he is. Enjoy.

Xander sighed and tilted his chair back till his head rested against the wall. "Remind me why I'm here again?"

"Because Giles is in full-on research mode, and you told me just this morning that you were bored out of your mind?" Buffy suggested.

He glared at her. "Research not exactly helping the boredom factor, Buff. In fact, I think I can feel it getting worse as we speak. What I meant when I said I was bored and wanted something to do was more along the lines of a good fight, or something interesting for a change. You have to admit, things have been pretty dead for the past week or two."

She glared at him. "You had to say that. You had to wish for trouble, just when I need Sunnydale to be trouble-free. Parent-teacher night, remember? Pending expulsion? Snyder's got a bug up his butt about me again, and this is his newest hoop for me to jump through."

Xander winced. "Er, sorry. Though if something does happen, I'll kill, and you'll make punch."

Buffy sighed. "Xander, I know you're stronger now and everything, but you're still human."

"Not really," he said. "Buffy, I broke the chain on the punching bag last week. And that was when I wasn't trying very hard. I can handle myself pretty well."

"Can you really? You haven't exactly been in any major battles yet. You haven't even fought a single demon."

He arched an eyebrow. "What, you and Angel don't count?"

She sneered. "No, we don't count, because we're not really trying to kill you. A fight is entirely different when it's in an actual life-or-death situation, rather than just training."

"Hey Giles!" Xander called. "Did you catch that? I think Buffy had actually been listening to you. Some of those words sounded suspiciously like yours, only minus the stuffy accent."

"Yes, thank you, Xander," Giles said, emerging from the stacks. "While it's always reassuring to know that Buffy is listening to me, could you have possibly phrased that in a slightly less insulting manner?"

"No, he couldn't," Buffy said with a little glare for Xander. "He's witty if it kills him."

"Which is hasn't, yet," Xander said, and neatly brought the conversation back to its original point. "And isn't likely to any time soon, since I can hold my own pretty well. Or are you going to tell me that you were pulling your punches?"

"No, I wasn't," she said with asperity, then sighed. "Okay, fine. You can hold your own. Can you not go rushing off into major battle any time soon, though? I like you Xander-shaped, instead of in little itty bitty pieces."

Xander shrugged easily, and ignored the irritation that came from her continued protectiveness of him since she really was just worried about him, and anyway he'd gotten the concession he wanted from her. "Sure, Buffy. When have you ever known me to be rash and impulsive?"

He favored her with a charming don't-you-trust-me smile, and Buffy groaned and buried her face in her arms.

The Bronze was jumping, in the very best way. Xander had discovered, to his delight, that dancing came easier to him now. Willow also claimed that his dress sense was improving, but he took that with a grain of salt, since she could just be trying to make him feel better about his new wardrobe. He'd started buying darker and better-fitting clothes, which were more suitable for the time he was spending out and about after dark, and Willow had been known to lie through her teeth about how good or not his clothes looked.

He liked the band, and when a new song started he decided that it was time to round up the girls for a little group dancing. Buffy objected for all of... three seconds, and between the two of them they managed to drag Willow out to the dance floor.

They were soon interrupted by necessary slayage, though, and so all three of them went rushing out back to save the day. Buffy started pummeling tall, dark, and ugly, and when she called out for a stake Xander immediately started scanning the area for something suitable.

"Spike, help!" the guy demanded, but Xander didn't have time to look around for "Spike," because he was busy breaking off a slat from an already shattered wooden crate and tossing it to Buffy. She quickly dusted the vamp, and then all three of them were startled by the sudden clapping from the shadows.

A man emerged, still clapping slowly, and Xander stared at him for a moment. Lean body, lots of muscle, and... vamp face, right. Xander immediately stopped checking him out, and took to examining more towards "bad guy" criteria rather than "hottie" criteria. His nostrils flared as he caught the scent. This Spike smelled like... Angel, somehow. Not much, but enough that Xander wanted to know what the hell was going on.

He was so caught up in wondering what this vamp's connection to Angel was that he missed the little menacing byplay between the vamp and Buffy. Spike vanished off somewhere, and Buffy was staring, caught up, at the spot where he'd been standing seconds before.

"Go talk to Giles?" Willow suggested, and Buffy nodded her wordless agreement. Xander said casually, "I think I'm going to go home. I'll catch up on everything tomorrow, okay?"

"You need a walk home?" Buffy asked absently, then flushed when he gave her an unamused look. "Okay, sorry, you can take care of yourself, blah blah blibbity blah. Go home, catch up on beauty sleep. We'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll have you know that I'm plenty beautiful as it is," Xander said grandly, then ducked as she threw something at him. "I'm going, I'm going. See you tomorrow."

He waited till he was around the corner, and out of their eyesight, before changing direction to head for Angel's place.

"It's the funniest thing," Xander said the moment Angel opened his door. "There's this vampire that threatened to kill Buffy tonight. He calls himself Spike, and he smells like you. Care to explain?"

"Yes, Xander, come in," Angel said dryly, and shut the door behind him with a sigh as soon as he entered. "He's... not my Childe, but he was turned by one of my Childer."

"Well, that explains that, at least. Did you know he was in town?"

"Not until now," Angel said with a shrug. "I'm not exactly tied in very well to the demon world's gossip hotline."

"Yeah, I get that. What's he like?"

"Persistent to the point of terror," Angel said bluntly. "Once he decides that he wants something, he'll go after it until he's either dust or has eliminated everything in his path."

"That's... somehow less than encouraging. Anything else you want to share?"

"He's gone up against two Slayers in his time. He's killed both of them. Don't underestimate him. Other than that, Giles probably has more information that I do. We haven't exactly been in touch over the last... century or so. Tell him to look up William the Bloody- that's what he went by before he decided to change his name, for reasons I still don't understand."

"Right. William the Bloody, one dangerous bastard. And he's after Buffy? Not good."

"Not good at all," Angel agreed soberly.

"Buffy, relax," Xander said, then wondered why he was bothering to say it at all. There was no way she was going to relax. There was too much at stake, on this night of all nights.

"I can't relax!" she wailed. "The parents are going to get here any minute, and I can't get rid of the feeling that says that I've forgotten something."

"Um, banner, lounge, snacks, punch..."

"Punch!" she exclaimed. "I've forgotten punch!"

"Relax. You get the punch, and I'll finish the veggies."

She gave him a dubious look. "You, cook?"

He sighed. "It's not cooking," he explained patiently. "I'm just chopping and arranging. I think I can handle it. Would you rather me try to make punch?"

"Right, you're on veggie duty." She glanced around the rest of the library, where Giles and Willow were buried in books and Cordelia was unenthusiastically sharpening a stake.

"We'll be fine, Buffy," Willow said absently. "Go do the punch thing."

"Right, I'm punchbound," she said, and made her way out of the library. Xander waited till he heard her steps retreating out of earshot before he turned to Giles.

"So? Spill."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I mean, tell me everything you've learned about William the Bloody. Angel was, shall we say, less than forthcoming."

"Oh, right. Well, this particular vampire seems to be known as a cut above the rest. More vicious than most, and he seems to be the type to actively seek out trouble."

"Such as Slayers," Xander said. "Yeah, that fits. And the feast of St. Vigeous is his night to strike?"

"It seems so, yes," Giles said. "Why are you so curious?"

Xander hunched one shoulder in a shrug as he went back to chopping vegetables. "No reason."

Xander was in less than a good mood. The evening had been going fairly well, by all accounts. Willow had stalled Mrs. Summers rather brilliantly for most of the night, but things had started going downhill when Snyder had finally managed to get ahold of her. And then...

And then there was Spike.

So here was Xander, knocking on Angel's door for the second time in as many days, and praying as hard as he could that no one that he cared about would be killed in his absence. He would have prayed for no deaths at all, but after hearing what he had about Spike and seeing the size of the group of minions he'd brought with him, well, he figured that no deaths was a bit too much to hope for.

Angel opened the door, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants and gleaming with sweat. "Xander, what's wrong?"

"Spike, minions, school. They've got everyone pinned down in a couple of rooms. I got out through the stacks to get you. I don't know what the death toll is, but Buffy looked like she got most everyone in one of the classrooms with her. What were you doing?"

"Huh?"

"Half-dressed, covered in sweat. What were you doing?"

"Oh, that," Angel said, looking like he was having trouble switching his train of thought. "Tai Chi."

"You do Tai Chi? Cool. Get dressed, will you? It's a bit of a life-or-death thing at the moment."

"Yeah, hold on a minute," Angel said, and vanished in his room to find a shirt and shoes.

Less than a minute later, they were on their way to the school, as fast as they could run. Xander was pleased to see that it was pretty damn fast, and that he was keeping up with Angel without any apparent trouble.

Trouble showed itself when they hit school grounds, and saw the group of vampires that was guarding the way in and out. Xander let out a yip of joy and dove into the fray, distantly aware that Angel was right on his heels.

Oh god, this was what he'd been looking for. This was what his body was meant to do. This was heat, and speed, and the smell of blood and dust on the air as he and his Sire worked their way quickly through the too-few number of guards Spike had set.

Xander grinned at Angel, unaware that the look in his eyes was wild and feral and less than sane at the moment. "Oh god, that's incredible," he said. "What a rush."

"Xander, focus, will you? We've got more problems."

Xander shook his head when Angel's words sunk in. "Sorry. Sorry. Okay. We still have to deal with Spike, right? Do you have a plan?"

"I do."

"Mind filling me in?"

"I'm evil. You're my Consort. I'm handing you over to Spike as a goodwill gift. Hit him very hard, preferably in the face. Then we fight. Any questions?"

"Yeah. What's a Consort?"

"It's complicated, and I'll explain the whole thing to you later, but for right now- it's a human who's had vampire blood, which you have. You're going to smell like my Consort to him anyway, so we might as well go with that rather than trying to pretend you're a meal, which he'd never believe in a million years. So can we go?"

"Sure," Xander said, and they grinned at each other as they sauntered through the open doorway.

Spike was in the hallway with one of his minions, poking at the ceiling tiles with a long metal pole. He turned when he saw Angel, and a grin spread over his face, displaying his fangs even more prominently.

"Angelus! I'll be damned." He dropped the pole and strode over, wrapping Angel in a hug. "Haven't seen you for decades, mate."

Angel, also in game face, hugged him back and then stepped back, putting a proprietary arm around Xander's shoulders. "Feels like longer."

Spike gave Xander a measuring look. "Seems like some things have changed. It's not like you to keep a Consort, Angelus. Usually you just kill them, or turn them if you like them enough."

Angel smirked and pulled Xander closer to his body. "Have you ever had a Consort's blood, Spike? It's a rush. Besides, there's all sorts of things he can do for me in the daylight, where I can't go."

Spike clucked his tongue. "Gotta admit, that's useful. Just... the Slayer's boy? You used to have better taste."

"What can I say? Keeps her off my back. She thinks I'm sweet on her boy here, and so she's never coming after me when I feed."

Spike shook his head admiringly. "That's you, always thinking ahead. But I have to ask- why are you here, anyway?"

"Well, much as I like my boy, I've got bigger plans. Say, the Slayer?"

"You've got stones, mate. I'll grant you that. Bit of a problem with that, though. I'm killing her, tonight. Don't plan on leaving much for you to play with."

"Spike, Spike, always stuck in the here-and-now. Why not just catch her and... keep her, for a while? No reason we couldn't share."

"What do I get out of this deal?" Spike asked warily.

"Besides the pleasure of the Slayer's sweet body?"

"Besides that, yeah."

"Him." Angel nodded down at Xander.

Spike arched an eyebrow, and this time his slow up-and-down perusal of Xander was a lot more thorough. Somehow Xander managed to keep from blushing, though it took a bit of effort.

"Well, can't say as I object to the thought of the tender mouthful here, but why?"

"Do I need any more reason than getting my hands on the Slayer?"

"No, not really," Spike said, looking thoughtful. "Alright, then. We take the Slayer together, and you hand the boy over."

"Of course," Angel said, and gave Xander a tiny nudge.

Xander took a step forward, already curling his hand into a fist to clock Spike with, but Spike beat him to it and landed a truly sweet one, right between Angel's yellow eyes. "Did you think you could fool me?" Spike raged, and whirled away to pace back and forth across the room, waving his arms. "You were my Sire, man, my friggin' Yoda!"

"Can I still hit him?" Xander muttered to Angel.

"Be my guest."

Xander strode forward, grabbed Spike's shoulder, and punched him in the face.

Of course, Spike punched right back, and his minions charged forward, intent on slaughtering them both. Xander glanced at them, glanced at Angel, and then bolted out the door, Angel hot on his heels.

The minions charged after them, and were dusted in short order. Spike, however, was still back in the school. As soon as the dust settled, so to speak, they could hear voices, and then the sound of fighting.

They glanced at each other, and then both ran back for the doors.

Buffy didn't seem to be having too much trouble. She was more than a match for Spike, to all appearances, anyway. And then Spike pulled out the board, and clocked her with it.

"But not as much as this will," he grinned, lifting the board over his head, and they both leaped forward, ready to stop him, if only they could get there in time...

And then Spike went flying, knocked sideways from the blow that Joyce Summers had dealt him with an axe to the back of the head. "You get the hell away from my daughter," she said, and Xander took the chance to grab Angel's shoulder and pull him outside, out of sight, before Joyce could spot him and wonder what the hell he was doing at the school.

Buffy jumped to her feet and stood next to her mother, glaring at him. "Women," Spike snarled, and threw the board aside, diving through the window.

He paused to glare at Angel and Xander. "I'll be seeing you," he said, threat clear in his voice, and it wasn't clear whether he was talking to Angel, or to Xander.

"Well, that was exciting," Xander said. He was walking home with Angel at his side, since his place was more or less on the way and Angel couldn't exactly go check on Buffy since Joyce was with her. "Sunnydale does Parent-Teacher Night: the Hellmouth strikes again."

"I think I want to feel surprised that Spike wasted the night of St. Vigeous by attacking tonight instead, but I really can't," Angel said thoughtfully. "Spike's always been... rash."

Xander snorted. "Understatement, thy name is Angel."

Angel sort of smiled, and they walked a while more in silence. "Okay, I have to ask. You said that Spike wasn't your Childe, but had been turned by one of your Childer. So what was up with the 'you were my Sire, you were my Yoda' crap?"

Angel sighed heavily. "Drusilla- his Sire- was, well, one of the worst things I've ever done. I killed everyone she ever loved, drove her insane, and then turned her. Her insanity carried over into her unlife, and she was... not fit to train a new fledge, especially not one as headstrong as Spike turned out to be. It fell to me to watch over him, and make sure that he didn't get himself and the rest of us killed. It could be said that I was his Sire in most ways that count."

Xander shrugged. "Makes sense to me." He paused, and looked up at his door. "This is my stop. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, sure," Angel said, and to Xander's surprise clasped him in a quick hug. Xander hugged him back, then stepped away with a grin on his face.

"Sweet dreams," he said, and went into the house, locking the door behind him.

Angel stared at the door for a moment, then shook his head and continued on down the sidewalk, not glancing over to the other side of the road. If he had, he would have seen a shadowy figure, leaning against a tree and smoking.

Spike watched the light in Xander's bedroom go on, and smirked when he saw Xander in front of the window, undressing. "Yeah, pet," he said around a mouthful of smoke. "I'll be seeing you."