Disclaimer- I don't own the shoes I'm currently dancing in what's the
likelihood I own anything in Joss' universe? I own the original novels. . .
I bought them in Borders, and I own the DVDs. I don't however make money
off of this I just seem to spend a lot on it. I in no way intend to
infringe copyrights. I'm just entertaining myself, honestly, I'm shocked
that anyone's read it.
Setting: Rm w\ a vu some conversation mangled directly from the ep.
Warning: SLASH Angel/Doyle. Hints at Spike/Xander. Don't like, don't read, don't flame.
Dedicated to Poison for being the fastest Beta I've ever had!
Section rating: R
Part 5/?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bell over the door chimed and without looking up Cordy said "welcome to Angel Investigations. If you'd like to have a seat I'll be right with you."
"Cor?" said Xander softly.
"Oh my God! Xander! First Oz then you this is great! Oh and Anya. . . kinda . . . why are you here?"
"Oh well, Sunnydale is quiet. I mean a house nearly ate us on Halloween but as I have no job right now I thought I'd come see you. Anyway Buffy wanted me to see that Spike hadn't gotten the ring."
The three figures emerged from the elevator Spike smirking said. "No, pet, the poof won't let me have it. But it's ok 'cause he's letting me stay here."
Xander let out an "eepp" at seeing Spike and then Angel said. "It's ok. He won't hurt you. He's behaving himself. Aren't you?" Spike nodded sullenly.
Xander rounded on Angel. "You're evil!" he accused pointing a finger.
"I'm not evil!" he then rounded on Doyle. "Tell him I'm not evil!"
"Well you did run the tap while I was in the shower this morning." He said smiling. "I'm Doyle. And no, Angel isn't evil and Spike is making amends." He said shaking Xander's hand. "You're Xander? Cor, has nothing but nice things to say about you." Suddenly he went ridged. He would have hit the floor if Xander hadn't caught him.
"He's having a vision." Said Spike who was closest and went to help Xander. Angel's eyes shone with thanks at the young boy for catching his lover. "How are you by the way? You look good. I didn't see you when I was in Sunnyhell."
"I'm good," said Xander looking slightly stunned. "So you're really not doing the evil thing?"
"Not currently. It gets boring and lonely." He said talking over the shaking Doyle.
"I get that of course for me it was doing the right thing. So how long are you sticking around here?" Doyle stood up poured himself a drink and took two painkillers. He told Angel where to go but the man lingered. He pointed out that Anya was defiantly mixed in somewhere, not in the immediate sense but there nonetheless.
"Donno, you?"
"No idea I'm jobless. If I can get work here I might be in town for a while."
Angel watched this all with unease. "If you want there is always need for help here. Pay wouldn't be much but I could get you an apartment."
"How come I don't get an apartment?" asked Cordy whining.
"Doyle keeps offering to get you one. Give in." said Angel turning back to Xander he said. "I mean I know you hate me-"
"I don't hate you!" he said a bit too quickly. "I resented you. But I got over that after high school." He added silently that he had always wanted to jump the brooder's bones and had maybe over compensated for it a little too much.
"So?" asked Angel. "I could get an apartment for you and Spike as you both freak out if no one's around. Problem solved."
Xander though rather confused said. "Yeah, that would be. . . of the good."
Spike smiled at him. Doyle looked at the two with a air of bemusement. Angel left. Turning back to Cordy he said. "I'll find you an apartment."
She sighed heavily. "Nowhere with bloodstains on the carpet. If you get my drift."
"All above board I swear."
"Fine. Xander, wanta go out for coffee."
"Sure, my fine work associate."
"You are such a dork."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What's the deal with you and the boy?" Asked Doyle while Spike read the newspaper. Spike sat inhumanly still, a talent that scared Doyle when exhibited by the restless impatient vampire.
He lifted his eyes so slowly it hurt. "There is no deal." He said coldly.
"Oh, please! There's something goin' on in those uncomfortably/comfortable silences, mate."
With brutal, unnatural speed Doyle's face was crushed into the desk. "There is nothing going on, mate. Drop it." Said Spike with a warning note as he let go of Doyle's neck. Doyle righted himself and sat on the desk. "At least not on his part." He said and went back to the paper. "'A string of grisly murders reek havoc in LA', that awful." He said with mock horror underscored by his smirk.
"It's not one sided, man, he practically sagged with relief when he heard you weren't in the game."
"Because I won't break his neck. He's not in anyway interested."
"Which is why he's staying here with you as a roomy. I'd kill myself before willingly becoming your roomy. Look even I could sense it and I was on the floor twitchin'." Spike swept his legs out and kicked Doyle neatly off the desk. Doyle just laughed. "So why is Mr. High school loser getting you hot?"
"You. Don't. Know. Him." Said Spike coldly. "You know nothing about him but what Queen C has told you. And that is nothing."
"Then inform me." Said Doyle getting to his feet. Why wasn't he more afraid of the livid vampire he was currently baiting?
"He is the strongest person you will ever meet."
"Yeah? So how do you know this?"
"I was trying to kill his best friend and someone once told me to kill the target destroy her family. I made it my business to know."
"And by someone you mean Angel."
"Us. Don't leave off the us. Angelus taught me everything I know and then some."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Much later that day the foursome were sitting in the living room. On the phone Angel was trying to find an apartment for Spike and Xander. "So it's got sewer entrance and an underground car park? And you're sure it's strictly human? Thanks, Carl." He hung up. "Got it." He looked at Doyle who'd been twitching all day and he had a fairly good idea why. "I've gotta go meet a guy." He said and walked up the stairs. He waited a few moments and then called down. "Doyle, There's a big guy here to see you. I'll tell him you'll be right up, yeah?
"Oh, that's great," he called back
Angel quickly walked to the back door where the second stairway let out. He met a running Doyle.
"You know it's not nice to trick people!"
"You're going to tell me what's going on?"
Doyle sighed, "All right, look, here's how it works: I owe some people - other people owe me. I do a favor for some guy and the debt goes away. It's a system of checks and balances."
"And some of your checks didn't balance." Said Angel with a nod it was a statement not a question.
"Well, it'll work out. It just takes a little diplomacy- the kind of thing you're so good at, actually. Say, maybe you wouldn't mind taking a crack at it?"
"You know I will." Said Angel running a hand down Doyle's face. "I just wish I didn't have to."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel looked at the demon he was currently beating up. The thought that this guy even touched Doyle made his dead blood run even colder. " I can get Doyle to pay you the money. You have my guarantee." He said between gritted teeth. It was taking all his willpower not to kill the guy. But if he killed him, Griff, it wouldn't make Doyle's debt go away.
Griff laughed slightly not realizing the danger he was in. "I saw what I saw, right? - You're a vampire." He said meaning the moment Angel's face had glimmered when the ambrosias noise of Griff's breaking fingers hit his ears. "How come you're helping some little demon half-breed?"
Angel pulled his head back and then slammed Griff's head back into the wall. "It's a good offer. You should take it. On the other hand you're making me want to fight some more. You get lucky you might last ten minutes. Really lucky and you're unconscious for the last five."
The demon looked sort of scared then. "You get Doyle to pay, and he's safe."
Angel smiled a cruel smile "Thanks. - Good meeting." He said as he walked away. Thoughts in his mind swirled around in turmoil. The guy had said that he wasn't there for the money, that he was there to kill Doyle as a message to others that might not pay. That scared Angel, that he could so easily lose the man. Forget about mortality, he could only live to next month if he kept living this way. Of course Angel knew that Doyle had survived before he met him, that Doyle could get by on his own. That didn't stop him from dreading what could happen if he didn't protect the boy, his boy. Oh god, he wasn't already getting possessive was he? That was the thing that most reminded him that he was not that different than Angelus. I viewed loving someone as owning someone. There was a thin line between the two but his mind was cloudy as to where that line laid.
As he walked in he heard the emptiness of the office and the sole heartbeat. Doyle was sitting nursing a cuppa. "Where is everyone?"
"The great apartment I got Cordy? Yeah, it's haunted. Xander and Spike thought it was time to earn their paychecks. Or rather, Xander thought it was time to earn his paycheck and Spike was getting stir crazy so he tagged along. So how'd it go?"
"You have three weeks to pay."
"I have to pay? Man, I should have just handled this myself. I mean, I don't have the money. And you can't get blood out of a stone."
"They can get blood out of you. - There's a price on your head Doyle, they weren't even looking for money any more. Anyway the money isn't an issue."
"Thanks man, - you probably saved my life." Said Doyle looking up at him.
"Can I ask you something? - Why do you live like this?"
"Why not live like this? I mean, what's wrong with it?" Angel just looked at him waiting for him to go on. With a sigh he said. "Yeah, well, I guess, it's the kind of life that keeps your expectations from getting too high. Seems like you'd understand that."
"I do."
"Yeah."
"I just don't know why that's important to you.- This kind of life - sort of picked me. You don't have to do it this way." He said softly sitting down next to the boy. "I get your past as much as anyone who hasn't lived it, but has lived for some 200 years, can. I get that you feel some need to repent, or that maybe you feel you don't deserve a good life. But that's bull shit plain and simple."
At that moment Spike and Xander came in through the sewer entrance. They appeared to be covered in some sort of dust/plaster substance. "How'd it go? Do I need to start house huntin' 'gain?" asked Doyle dropping the heavy conversation completely and adopting his easy- going face.
"There was a creepy old lady who tried to get Cordy to kill herself. And she says, "hang yourself, bitch" and Cordy goes, "I am a bitch!" knocks down a wall, finds the woman's dead son and now the old lady's gone but the son is sticking around as a roommate." Said Xander.
"Do you normally have more of that making sense thing goin' for ye? 'Cause right now, you don't." said Doyle.
"The bitch. . . the dead one that is, is gone." Said Spike. "And Cordelia has a man to boss around. . . albeit a dead man. I think we've put in a day's work. I'm taking the whelp home, he's got a wound that needs seein' to."
"You got hurt?" asked Angel filled with concern.
"Not badly." Said Xander trying to play it down. Spike rolled his eyes and pulled Xander's shirt up roughly. The movement made Xander hiss. There on his abdomen was a three inch deep six inch wide gash.
"Psycho bitch, again the dead one, sent shit flying around the room. A pencil, or glass, or a knife must have caught." He said clinically
"You sound like a doctor in a lecture hall doing an autopsy." Said Xander in a flippant voice. The wound must have hurt like a bitch but the boy was blowing it off. Doyle started to understand what Spike had been saying before. Or, at least, he thought that he understood.
"Do you do workmen's comp, Angel?"
"I pay medical bills, I pay your rent, and buy your blood. Does that count, Childe?"
Xander snickered as Spike's eyes narrowed. "Can the bleeding party be excused? Only, I'm starting to see spots?"
Spike looked back at him taking his eyes off Angel, his worry apparent to everyone who wasn't Xander. "Maybe we should take you to a hospital."
"You said nothing vital was hurt." The childish turn of phrase made Doyle smile at Angel but Angel was still sporting pensive face. "I hate hospitals."
"Nothing was, pet, but you've lost a lot of blood." Said Spike soothingly.
"I just wanta go to bed."
"Commo then." Spike went to take his arm but Xander recoiled.
"I can walk." He said. Spike quickly masked his hurt with a sneer.
"He's fallen bad." Said Doyle with a sigh when the pair had left.
"If anyone can fix him it's Spike."
"I didn't mean wound-boy. Spike, he's going crazy."
"Spike is crazy, it's a thing of mine to get them crazy and then turn them."
"Soul-boy, you're clueless. Spike is falling for the boy so hard it almost hurts to watch."
"Oh, that's no new news. When he first came to Sunnydale I tried to convince him I was evil by offering him Xander. He declined and said he could sense my soul, and maybe he could. But that wasn't why he didn't take Xander. He'd been keeping tabs on Buffy and her friends long before he got to the scene, reconnaissance if you like. He knew Xander Harris while I had been with the boy and didn't know Jack about him. It wasn't until I lost my soul and went back to him and Dru that I learned the real Xander, Spike told me everything about the boy. And I knew then and there why he hadn't killed Xander and I taunted him for it."
"What is so special about the boy?" whined Doyle. So he didn't flinch at pain big deal. Why was everyone in awe of the scrap?
Angel looked at him for a moment thinking and then shrugged. "He's a strong person." He said laconically but with definite respect in his voice. "Let's go over to your place, it needs fixing they ripped the place apart."
"It's gotten to the point where I rarely put it back anymore." Said Doyle without think then he saw the worry in Angel's eyes. "I got this far." He said softly but with a warning. He wasn't to know he was voicing Angel's earlier thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There. Safe as houses." Said Doyle to Angel over his shoulder.
"You're going to live like this?"
"I don't see adding a deadbolt having a huge effect on my lifestyle." Said Doyle with forced mirth as he slid the blot into place.
"You know what I mean." Said Angel coldly.
"Yeah, there might be - misunderstandings. That sort of thing." Said Doyle trying to ease Angel's worry as he pulled him closer.
"You know I'll help you out."
"For which I'm grateful."
"You can show that gratitude by getting out. Let me get you out. Please, I hate to pull the mother hen thing but I'm worried sick that I might lose you."
"I will, ok? - Just - give me time." He sighed, "The past, she don't let go, does she?"
"Hmm, she never does."
"How do you do. . . everything?" said Doyle his meaning obvious.
"I tell the past to fuck off." Said Angel with a smile and then shrugged. "Then you go home and I sit in the dark and brood."
"I'll give my hair shirt to Goodwill if you'll do the same?" offered Doyle. Angel just smiled a real genuine smile and kissed him.
"Now I've got to do that poultry thing again-"
"But you want me to grab anything I really badly need or want and spend a few days at your place."
"Would you?"
"Yeah. Just don't make this a habit. Me mam does enough worrying after me without you doin' it too."
Setting: Rm w\ a vu some conversation mangled directly from the ep.
Warning: SLASH Angel/Doyle. Hints at Spike/Xander. Don't like, don't read, don't flame.
Dedicated to Poison for being the fastest Beta I've ever had!
Section rating: R
Part 5/?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bell over the door chimed and without looking up Cordy said "welcome to Angel Investigations. If you'd like to have a seat I'll be right with you."
"Cor?" said Xander softly.
"Oh my God! Xander! First Oz then you this is great! Oh and Anya. . . kinda . . . why are you here?"
"Oh well, Sunnydale is quiet. I mean a house nearly ate us on Halloween but as I have no job right now I thought I'd come see you. Anyway Buffy wanted me to see that Spike hadn't gotten the ring."
The three figures emerged from the elevator Spike smirking said. "No, pet, the poof won't let me have it. But it's ok 'cause he's letting me stay here."
Xander let out an "eepp" at seeing Spike and then Angel said. "It's ok. He won't hurt you. He's behaving himself. Aren't you?" Spike nodded sullenly.
Xander rounded on Angel. "You're evil!" he accused pointing a finger.
"I'm not evil!" he then rounded on Doyle. "Tell him I'm not evil!"
"Well you did run the tap while I was in the shower this morning." He said smiling. "I'm Doyle. And no, Angel isn't evil and Spike is making amends." He said shaking Xander's hand. "You're Xander? Cor, has nothing but nice things to say about you." Suddenly he went ridged. He would have hit the floor if Xander hadn't caught him.
"He's having a vision." Said Spike who was closest and went to help Xander. Angel's eyes shone with thanks at the young boy for catching his lover. "How are you by the way? You look good. I didn't see you when I was in Sunnyhell."
"I'm good," said Xander looking slightly stunned. "So you're really not doing the evil thing?"
"Not currently. It gets boring and lonely." He said talking over the shaking Doyle.
"I get that of course for me it was doing the right thing. So how long are you sticking around here?" Doyle stood up poured himself a drink and took two painkillers. He told Angel where to go but the man lingered. He pointed out that Anya was defiantly mixed in somewhere, not in the immediate sense but there nonetheless.
"Donno, you?"
"No idea I'm jobless. If I can get work here I might be in town for a while."
Angel watched this all with unease. "If you want there is always need for help here. Pay wouldn't be much but I could get you an apartment."
"How come I don't get an apartment?" asked Cordy whining.
"Doyle keeps offering to get you one. Give in." said Angel turning back to Xander he said. "I mean I know you hate me-"
"I don't hate you!" he said a bit too quickly. "I resented you. But I got over that after high school." He added silently that he had always wanted to jump the brooder's bones and had maybe over compensated for it a little too much.
"So?" asked Angel. "I could get an apartment for you and Spike as you both freak out if no one's around. Problem solved."
Xander though rather confused said. "Yeah, that would be. . . of the good."
Spike smiled at him. Doyle looked at the two with a air of bemusement. Angel left. Turning back to Cordy he said. "I'll find you an apartment."
She sighed heavily. "Nowhere with bloodstains on the carpet. If you get my drift."
"All above board I swear."
"Fine. Xander, wanta go out for coffee."
"Sure, my fine work associate."
"You are such a dork."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What's the deal with you and the boy?" Asked Doyle while Spike read the newspaper. Spike sat inhumanly still, a talent that scared Doyle when exhibited by the restless impatient vampire.
He lifted his eyes so slowly it hurt. "There is no deal." He said coldly.
"Oh, please! There's something goin' on in those uncomfortably/comfortable silences, mate."
With brutal, unnatural speed Doyle's face was crushed into the desk. "There is nothing going on, mate. Drop it." Said Spike with a warning note as he let go of Doyle's neck. Doyle righted himself and sat on the desk. "At least not on his part." He said and went back to the paper. "'A string of grisly murders reek havoc in LA', that awful." He said with mock horror underscored by his smirk.
"It's not one sided, man, he practically sagged with relief when he heard you weren't in the game."
"Because I won't break his neck. He's not in anyway interested."
"Which is why he's staying here with you as a roomy. I'd kill myself before willingly becoming your roomy. Look even I could sense it and I was on the floor twitchin'." Spike swept his legs out and kicked Doyle neatly off the desk. Doyle just laughed. "So why is Mr. High school loser getting you hot?"
"You. Don't. Know. Him." Said Spike coldly. "You know nothing about him but what Queen C has told you. And that is nothing."
"Then inform me." Said Doyle getting to his feet. Why wasn't he more afraid of the livid vampire he was currently baiting?
"He is the strongest person you will ever meet."
"Yeah? So how do you know this?"
"I was trying to kill his best friend and someone once told me to kill the target destroy her family. I made it my business to know."
"And by someone you mean Angel."
"Us. Don't leave off the us. Angelus taught me everything I know and then some."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Much later that day the foursome were sitting in the living room. On the phone Angel was trying to find an apartment for Spike and Xander. "So it's got sewer entrance and an underground car park? And you're sure it's strictly human? Thanks, Carl." He hung up. "Got it." He looked at Doyle who'd been twitching all day and he had a fairly good idea why. "I've gotta go meet a guy." He said and walked up the stairs. He waited a few moments and then called down. "Doyle, There's a big guy here to see you. I'll tell him you'll be right up, yeah?
"Oh, that's great," he called back
Angel quickly walked to the back door where the second stairway let out. He met a running Doyle.
"You know it's not nice to trick people!"
"You're going to tell me what's going on?"
Doyle sighed, "All right, look, here's how it works: I owe some people - other people owe me. I do a favor for some guy and the debt goes away. It's a system of checks and balances."
"And some of your checks didn't balance." Said Angel with a nod it was a statement not a question.
"Well, it'll work out. It just takes a little diplomacy- the kind of thing you're so good at, actually. Say, maybe you wouldn't mind taking a crack at it?"
"You know I will." Said Angel running a hand down Doyle's face. "I just wish I didn't have to."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel looked at the demon he was currently beating up. The thought that this guy even touched Doyle made his dead blood run even colder. " I can get Doyle to pay you the money. You have my guarantee." He said between gritted teeth. It was taking all his willpower not to kill the guy. But if he killed him, Griff, it wouldn't make Doyle's debt go away.
Griff laughed slightly not realizing the danger he was in. "I saw what I saw, right? - You're a vampire." He said meaning the moment Angel's face had glimmered when the ambrosias noise of Griff's breaking fingers hit his ears. "How come you're helping some little demon half-breed?"
Angel pulled his head back and then slammed Griff's head back into the wall. "It's a good offer. You should take it. On the other hand you're making me want to fight some more. You get lucky you might last ten minutes. Really lucky and you're unconscious for the last five."
The demon looked sort of scared then. "You get Doyle to pay, and he's safe."
Angel smiled a cruel smile "Thanks. - Good meeting." He said as he walked away. Thoughts in his mind swirled around in turmoil. The guy had said that he wasn't there for the money, that he was there to kill Doyle as a message to others that might not pay. That scared Angel, that he could so easily lose the man. Forget about mortality, he could only live to next month if he kept living this way. Of course Angel knew that Doyle had survived before he met him, that Doyle could get by on his own. That didn't stop him from dreading what could happen if he didn't protect the boy, his boy. Oh god, he wasn't already getting possessive was he? That was the thing that most reminded him that he was not that different than Angelus. I viewed loving someone as owning someone. There was a thin line between the two but his mind was cloudy as to where that line laid.
As he walked in he heard the emptiness of the office and the sole heartbeat. Doyle was sitting nursing a cuppa. "Where is everyone?"
"The great apartment I got Cordy? Yeah, it's haunted. Xander and Spike thought it was time to earn their paychecks. Or rather, Xander thought it was time to earn his paycheck and Spike was getting stir crazy so he tagged along. So how'd it go?"
"You have three weeks to pay."
"I have to pay? Man, I should have just handled this myself. I mean, I don't have the money. And you can't get blood out of a stone."
"They can get blood out of you. - There's a price on your head Doyle, they weren't even looking for money any more. Anyway the money isn't an issue."
"Thanks man, - you probably saved my life." Said Doyle looking up at him.
"Can I ask you something? - Why do you live like this?"
"Why not live like this? I mean, what's wrong with it?" Angel just looked at him waiting for him to go on. With a sigh he said. "Yeah, well, I guess, it's the kind of life that keeps your expectations from getting too high. Seems like you'd understand that."
"I do."
"Yeah."
"I just don't know why that's important to you.- This kind of life - sort of picked me. You don't have to do it this way." He said softly sitting down next to the boy. "I get your past as much as anyone who hasn't lived it, but has lived for some 200 years, can. I get that you feel some need to repent, or that maybe you feel you don't deserve a good life. But that's bull shit plain and simple."
At that moment Spike and Xander came in through the sewer entrance. They appeared to be covered in some sort of dust/plaster substance. "How'd it go? Do I need to start house huntin' 'gain?" asked Doyle dropping the heavy conversation completely and adopting his easy- going face.
"There was a creepy old lady who tried to get Cordy to kill herself. And she says, "hang yourself, bitch" and Cordy goes, "I am a bitch!" knocks down a wall, finds the woman's dead son and now the old lady's gone but the son is sticking around as a roommate." Said Xander.
"Do you normally have more of that making sense thing goin' for ye? 'Cause right now, you don't." said Doyle.
"The bitch. . . the dead one that is, is gone." Said Spike. "And Cordelia has a man to boss around. . . albeit a dead man. I think we've put in a day's work. I'm taking the whelp home, he's got a wound that needs seein' to."
"You got hurt?" asked Angel filled with concern.
"Not badly." Said Xander trying to play it down. Spike rolled his eyes and pulled Xander's shirt up roughly. The movement made Xander hiss. There on his abdomen was a three inch deep six inch wide gash.
"Psycho bitch, again the dead one, sent shit flying around the room. A pencil, or glass, or a knife must have caught." He said clinically
"You sound like a doctor in a lecture hall doing an autopsy." Said Xander in a flippant voice. The wound must have hurt like a bitch but the boy was blowing it off. Doyle started to understand what Spike had been saying before. Or, at least, he thought that he understood.
"Do you do workmen's comp, Angel?"
"I pay medical bills, I pay your rent, and buy your blood. Does that count, Childe?"
Xander snickered as Spike's eyes narrowed. "Can the bleeding party be excused? Only, I'm starting to see spots?"
Spike looked back at him taking his eyes off Angel, his worry apparent to everyone who wasn't Xander. "Maybe we should take you to a hospital."
"You said nothing vital was hurt." The childish turn of phrase made Doyle smile at Angel but Angel was still sporting pensive face. "I hate hospitals."
"Nothing was, pet, but you've lost a lot of blood." Said Spike soothingly.
"I just wanta go to bed."
"Commo then." Spike went to take his arm but Xander recoiled.
"I can walk." He said. Spike quickly masked his hurt with a sneer.
"He's fallen bad." Said Doyle with a sigh when the pair had left.
"If anyone can fix him it's Spike."
"I didn't mean wound-boy. Spike, he's going crazy."
"Spike is crazy, it's a thing of mine to get them crazy and then turn them."
"Soul-boy, you're clueless. Spike is falling for the boy so hard it almost hurts to watch."
"Oh, that's no new news. When he first came to Sunnydale I tried to convince him I was evil by offering him Xander. He declined and said he could sense my soul, and maybe he could. But that wasn't why he didn't take Xander. He'd been keeping tabs on Buffy and her friends long before he got to the scene, reconnaissance if you like. He knew Xander Harris while I had been with the boy and didn't know Jack about him. It wasn't until I lost my soul and went back to him and Dru that I learned the real Xander, Spike told me everything about the boy. And I knew then and there why he hadn't killed Xander and I taunted him for it."
"What is so special about the boy?" whined Doyle. So he didn't flinch at pain big deal. Why was everyone in awe of the scrap?
Angel looked at him for a moment thinking and then shrugged. "He's a strong person." He said laconically but with definite respect in his voice. "Let's go over to your place, it needs fixing they ripped the place apart."
"It's gotten to the point where I rarely put it back anymore." Said Doyle without think then he saw the worry in Angel's eyes. "I got this far." He said softly but with a warning. He wasn't to know he was voicing Angel's earlier thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There. Safe as houses." Said Doyle to Angel over his shoulder.
"You're going to live like this?"
"I don't see adding a deadbolt having a huge effect on my lifestyle." Said Doyle with forced mirth as he slid the blot into place.
"You know what I mean." Said Angel coldly.
"Yeah, there might be - misunderstandings. That sort of thing." Said Doyle trying to ease Angel's worry as he pulled him closer.
"You know I'll help you out."
"For which I'm grateful."
"You can show that gratitude by getting out. Let me get you out. Please, I hate to pull the mother hen thing but I'm worried sick that I might lose you."
"I will, ok? - Just - give me time." He sighed, "The past, she don't let go, does she?"
"Hmm, she never does."
"How do you do. . . everything?" said Doyle his meaning obvious.
"I tell the past to fuck off." Said Angel with a smile and then shrugged. "Then you go home and I sit in the dark and brood."
"I'll give my hair shirt to Goodwill if you'll do the same?" offered Doyle. Angel just smiled a real genuine smile and kissed him.
"Now I've got to do that poultry thing again-"
"But you want me to grab anything I really badly need or want and spend a few days at your place."
"Would you?"
"Yeah. Just don't make this a habit. Me mam does enough worrying after me without you doin' it too."