Author's Note: Greetings! Sorry about the delay: semester just ended, which means I have brand-new classes to pretend to pass. This chapter is for those who requested more Spike/Xander. It may not be all that detailed, but I try to write sex scenes tastefully, which is less detail for me. Enjoy!
Chapter Eight
Giles' battered old Citroen pulled up next to Spike's DeSoto on the side of the road. In the back seat, Willow pulled out the first-aid kit and redressed Xander's wounded hand, which had proved to be more serious than either teen had originally thought. With an expression of disgust, Willow stuffed the used, blood-soaked bandage into an empty plastic bag.
"You're going to have to get that checked out by a doctor, Xan" Willow said, concern colouring her voice.
"I'll be fine" Xander said dismissively. He gritted his teeth at the pain as Willow tied a fresh bandage around his sliced palm. Closing his eyes, he focussed his mind and reached for the pain centres in his brain, knowing when he found them by feeling the pain in his hand recede to a dull ache. With his pain under control, Xander turned his attention to the damaged tissue in his palm. He mentally sent energy to the shattered nerve and tissue endings, causing the healing process to speed up. When his palm began to itch, Xander stopped the flow of mental energy and opened his eyes.
Both Willow and Giles were looking at him with identical curious expressions on their faces. "Are you okay? You kinda spaced out for a minute" Willow said.
Xander nodded. "I'm alright, Wills." He glanced out the window at the abandoned mansion that Angel called home. "We should go in. It'll be dawn soon, and I know Spike will want to be back before then." Willow and Giles exchanged dubious glances, but followed Xander out of the car.
As soon as the trio entered Angel's mansion, Xander found himself with an armful of bleach-blonde vampire. Spike gingerly touched the healing wound at Xander's hairline and took the young man's bandaged hand in both of his.
"How bad is it, luv" Spike asked anxiously.
Xander unwrapped the bandage and held out his hand to Spike. The vampire took it and gently brushed a finger down the scabbed-over wound. The edges of the gash now had sensitive new pink skin and the wound itself looked at least a week old. Willow gasped in shock and Spike looked up at the young telepath for an explanation.
Xander carefully flexed his hand and met Spike's concerned blue eyes with a faint smile. "Remember when I was ten and I broke my arm falling off of that horse" Spike nodded. "Remember how it healed in about four days? I did the same thing to heal my hand."
"Was it Damien" Spike asked, his eyes matching the ice in his voice.
"No, but I think he organised the attack. It was Aiden."
"Aiden" Spike repeated in stunned disbelief.
"He caught me off guard, but I managed to dust him." At Spike reproving stare, Xander helplessly held up his hands. "I had no choice! If I didn't dust him, he would've killed me right then and there." As he spoke, Xander telepathically sent Spike the memory of Aiden's attack.
The vampire's eyes had a glassy quality to them as he received the information. Letting out an unneeded breath, Spike shook his head. "Bloody 'ell. I'd like to 'ave gotten some information outta 'im, but that's shot to 'ell now" he muttered. "I'd also like t'know how Aiden got hold of that damper; I've never seen a personal one like that before. Pity you smashed it, Xander."
Xander gave Spike a sheepish smile. "I was angry. Smashing it just kinda felt like the thing to do."
"Xander, could you possibly give me everything you remember about the attack, including anything that happened right before" Angel asked, obviously uncomfortable in the presence of his Childe's lifemate. "I want to be as accurate as possible tomorrow during the Council meeting."
Xander looked at Spike questioningly. The vampire smiled and squeezed his lover's good hand before giving a slight nod. "Alright, Deadboy. This might hurt a little though" Xander said with a grin, enjoying the confused reaction the nickname had elicited from Angel. He took the Irishman's hands and reached out for the other man's mind. Skillfully skirting past the vampire's natural mental barriers, Xander located the area he wanted and quickly transferred the memory. This done, he slowly withdrew his mind and let Angel's hands drop.
Angel winced as the mental link was broken. "Does that always give you a headache" he grumbled, taking a seat between Buffy and Giles. The Slayer rubbed his temples sympathetically.
"Only if you're not used to it, mate" Spike sniggered.
Angel shot the blonde an exasperated look and let out a half-hearted growl. Buffy laughed and stroked his hair affectionately. "I think you two have had enough of each other for one night." She looked at the clock on the wall and made a face. "Also, I should head home; my mother's going to kill me as it is."
Willow too, got to her feet. "Do you mind if I stay at your house? I kinda told Mom that we were studying for the chem test on Monday."
"Looks like I'm going to have to make that up" Xander said ruefully. "The Challenge is set for Monday."
Angel stuffed a stack of papers into a briefcase and stood up to see the others to their respective cars. Buffy gave her boyfriend a quick kiss and threw her arms around Xander, whispering a quiet "good luck" in his ear before climbing into the front seat of the Citroen.
As Xander was about to get into the DeSoto, Angel's voice made him turn around.
"Xander" Angel called from the doorway of the mansion. "Good luck, kid."
Xander could hear and sense the sincerity in the Irishman's voice and allowed himself to give Angel a faint smile. "Thanks, Angel" he sent as Spike started the car. With a final look at Angel and a quick wave at his friends, Xander opened the door and settled himself into the DeSoto's front seat.
Before he could say a word, Spike hauled Xander across the seat, fiercely capturing the young man's lips in a brutal kiss. Surprised but not disappointed, Xander brought one hand up to cup the back of Spike's head, pulling his lover closer.
"Don't scare me like that again" Spike murmured against Xander's mouth. He tugged at the strand of hemp in Xander's hair; letting the young man's sable locks fall loose around his shoulders. Pushing his lover back against the seat, the vampire let out a sensual purr and tugged at the fly of Xander's cargos.
"Uh, Spike" Xander managed to gasp out between kisses. "I'm, uh, all for sex in the car and everything, but" he tugged Spike's hands out of his pants"I don't want to give Deadboy a free show."
"We'll charge 'im admission then" Spike replied absently, his eyes glazing over with desire. "Poof's so uptight that 'e probably 'asn't 'ad a good wank in decades."
Xander sighed and pulled Spike's wandering hands up and placed them on the seat on either side of his head. "Spike" he said more forcefully, trying not to make his lover's name come out as a breathy moan. Spike simply gave him his trademark shiteating grin and resumed his oral assault on the telepath's neck.
"Spike" Xander tried again, forcing his way through the cloud of desire that fogged Spike's thought process. "I'm serious. Let's continue this at home" he pleaded.
Spike growled against Xander's neck, but sat up, giving the young man a deep kiss as he did so. "Fine" he rumbled unhappily. "You win, cub." The vampire scrambled across Xander's legs and settled himself uncomfortably in the driver's seat.
"Thank you" said Xander, sitting up and pushing the need to touch his lover to the back of his mind.
"I am going to shag you into the mattress when we get 'ome, though."
Xander grinned. "I'm counting on it."
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Spike collapsed onto Xander's bare chest, panting despite the fact that he didn't need to breathe. With an effort, the vampire levered himself up onto one elbow and looked down at his exhausted lover with an adoring smile.
"We missed the bed" Xander sent, still recovering the ability to vocalize. His mind was still closely intertwined with Spike's and he revelled in the intimacy and closeness that gave them.
The vampire looked around, noting with amusement that they had barely made it into their quarters. The pair lay only a few metres away from the door and various articles of clothing were scattered across the room in a wide arc.
"Then I suppose we'll just 'ave to try again" Spike purred, brushing Xander's long sweaty hair back and out of his face. He got off Xander and threw himself down onto the bed, leering at the young man still lying on the rug.
Xander forced himself to his feet and approached the end of the bed. Spike said nothing, just merely smiled and beckoned Xander closer. Images of their previous lovemaking popped into the telepath's head and he closed his eyes briefly.
"You're incorrigible" Xander sent as he crawled up his lover's slight body to press a forceful kiss to Spike's lips.
"I'm surprised you know what that word means" Spike murmured into the kiss, allowing Xander to take control. He ran his hands down the larger man's sides, pulling him closer and eliciting a quiet moan.
"It's one of the only words I got right on last week's vocab quiz" Xander replied, biting into Spike's lower lip hard enough to draw blood. The vampire's hands tightened on his hips as the young man gently licked and sucked at the tiny wound he'd made.
Chuckling to himself, Xander trailed his lips down Spike's neck and flicked his tongue against the smaller male's jugular before biting down hard.
Without warning, Xander found himself on his back and staring into a pair of fierce golden eyes. Spike was having trouble controlling his demon and his eyes continually flickered back and forth between blue and gold.
"You keep biting and this" he punctuated his words with a sharp thrust of his hips"won't last very long."
"What about vampire recovery time" came the cheeky response.
Spike ignored the question and kissed along the broad expanse of Xander's torso, lingering a bit longer at the telepath's Claim mark and navel. Xander could sense the pleasure his lover was getting from tormenting him and he decided that two could play that game.
Xander expanded their already close mental link, allowing Spike to feel Xander's pleasure as strongly as if it were his own. Both males shuddered under the dual sensations and Xander quickly realised that teasing Spike in this way was a double-edged sword.
Spike's eyes had darkened to a rich cobalt blue and he breathed in shallow pants. "Xan" he gasped, unable to coherently finish the sentence. Xander picked up the tail end of the thought and reached out to the nightstand, fumbling for a moment until he found the small white tube.
Pressing the tube into Spike's hand, Xander pulled his lover down for a deep kiss, exploring the inside of Spike's mouth. "Spike, now. Need you."
After several agonisingly long moments of preparation, Spike gently slid into his lover's body, every muscle on his whipcord frame standing out as he resisted the urge to pound into the young man. Xander's fingernails dug into the vampire's back as Spike set a slow, gentle rhythm.
Unbeknownst to Xander, the link that bound his and Spike's minds together steadily went deeper as the young telepath began to lose control.
Xander could feel that they were both close to the edge and looked deep into Spike's eyes, whispering a hoarse "I love you" as he let himself go, distantly feeling Spike's hips jerk violently as the vampire followed.
The thin barrier that separated both minds from completely merging snapped and the two halves became whole. There was no 'Spike' or 'Xander;' there was only 'one.'
Images of events past blew like a whirlwind through their joined minds, creating a jumbled, fragmented view of both of their lives.
FLASH
A small, sandy-haired young man holding onto his sickly mother, hoping that this wouldn't be the fit that took her life.
FLASH
A dark-eyed teen grinning at a confused vampire as he turns over a winning poker hand.
FLASH
A young girl screaming for mercy as a blonde vampire tears out her sister's throat.
FLASH
A young Greek mother looking down at her baby with tears in her eyes.
FLASH
A mad vampiress warning her childe about the coming of a golden boy with the blood of a conqueror.
Cooper awoke suddenly with pain sending red-hot lances through her skull. Cursing a blue streak, the young vampiress absently began pulling clothing out of her duffel bag and got dressed.
"Cooper" Ella asked groggily from their bed, coming awake fully as the same wave of pain hit her as well. "Fuck, what is that" She closed her eyes and pressed the heels of her hands against her forehead, trying to make the pain go away.
The younger woman bared her fangs and tossed a pile of clothes at her lover. "I don't know" she said through gritted teeth. "I'm going to check with the others; if it's just affecting us, then it's probably nothing big." Ella nodded and pulled a sweatshirt over her head, following Cooper out of their room and into the main nest area.
Several other vampires were already present and muttering amongst themselves. Cooper noted with a certain degree of grim satisfaction that Damien was sitting in a corner with two of his followers and was holding his head and cursing at the pain.
More and more of the Order arrived in the large atrium as they awoke in pain. Neither of the two Aurelian Masters, however, were present.
"There's Ben" Ella said, catching sight of the stolid male with Starcat and Dalton near the Masters' quarters. Fox stubbornly guarded the door and refused to be persuaded to move, despite Dalton's panicked pleas. Ben simply focussed on restraining the giant Starcat from tearing the guard limb from limb.
"Look, I was told not to let anybody in" Fox growled, a hand straying to the longsword at his hip. "That means you, Dalton."
"They could be injured" Starcat roared, his needle-sharp fangs gleaming in the torchlight. "Do you want to be responsible for not giving them aid"
Fox didn't budge. "It's better than disobeying Master Spike's orders" he replied.
"He's right, Star" Ella said as she and Cooper joined their companions. Ben let Starcat go when he saw them. Cooper was Starcat's closest friend in the Order and the older male knew that she could restrain his childe far more efficiently.
"If Alexander or Spike were truly hurt, we'd know" Ella continued, attempting to reassure the anxious Dalton. "Other than all of us coming down with a splitting headache, no one's really hurt."
"I know, it's just that this isn't normal."
"What is normal about this Order these days" Damien grumbled snidely from his corner.
Cooper aimed a kick at the younger vamp. "Nobody asked you, twinkie" she snarled.
"I'm just saying"
"You have altogether too much to say, fledgling" Ben interrupted. All conversation stopped at Ben's commanding tone. He glared at the assembled vampires. "As Master Spike's second, I'm taking charge until further notice. If he and Master Alexander don't come out in twenty minutes, I'll go in myself; that way nobody else will have to face Spike's wrath."
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Inside the closely guarded room, two pairs of eyes snapped open simultaneously. Both men experienced a brief moment of panic as they struggled to remember both where and who they were. Gradually the feeling of amnesia faded, leaving a confused vampire and an equally stunned mortal behind.
Spike and Xander exchanged glances, both trying to find the words that could adequately sum up what had just occurred. Spike found his voice first.
"Bloody 'ell."