Title: Written In The Stars, Part 14 – En Masse

Author: Xanfan

Rating: R/NC-17 for future chapters

Pairing: m/m

Summary: SLASH. Xander and Spike become friends after Spike gets the chip, they are both hurt and Dru rescues them and brings them to Angel to heal.

Spoilers: BtVS up through season 4 and Ats 1st season. I may however take some liberties with the exact timeline, so, any season from either show is fair game.

Warnings: SLASH

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Original Challenge: Spike has been chipped and taken in by the Scoobies. Just as he and
Xander are beginning to become friends something their both hurt and it's up
to Angel to save and care for them. The twist is its Dru that saves them
and brings them to Daddy.

A/N: I may make take some liberties with timelines from both shows. And Anya was just a onetime thing. Also, Cordy has a spare room.

Last Time:

"Xander likes me?" Angel asked quietly.

"You are such a ponce," Spike said with a smirk.

Angel opened his mouth respond to Spike's insult, but was stopped by a familiar scent: the hellmouth taint.

"Saved by the White Hats," Spike muttered under his breath.

Both Angel and Spike turned towards the smell, waiting for the rest of the Scoobies to make their appearance.

They didn't have to wait long as the elevator door opened to reveal the slightly motley looking crew.

Joyce was first out of the elevator, flanked by Tara and Dawn, followed closely by Riley and a man with military bearing whom Angel didn't recognize, but would have been a fool not to visually appreciate.

They moved purposefully down the hall, followed by a weary Watcher and two sullen girls.

Joyce stopped a few feet away from the two vampires and did a quick once over of Spike to assure herself that he was okay. Without a word she reached into her large tote bag and pulled out a thermos and a little plastic bag and handed them to Spike.

Angel was a little bewildered when Spike opened the thermos and the aroma of chocolate filled the air, and his confusion grew when Spike dumped the contents of the little plastic bag into the hot chocolate and just stared at the little white bits for a moment before taking a sip from the thermos.

"Ta ever so much, mum," Spike said after the first lusty gulp of Joyce's famous hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Joyce smiled indulgently at Spike. "I thought you might need a little pick me up."

Joyce turned her gaze to Angel and demanded quietly but sternly, "Tell me."

Angel gulped and took a deep unneeded breath; he recognized the mama bear instinct and took a moment to send thanks to whatever deity was listening that Xander had someone like Joyce in his life to make up for those waste-of-space parents of his.

"He's asleep right now, they gave him what he called 'happy pills'. He was awake for a little while and we talked for a few minutes…" Angel said before he was interrupted by a derisive snort.

"What did you have to talk about? You hate each other," Buffy said snidely.

Angel's eyes flashed and he growled a bit, but when he opened his mouth to respond, he was cut off by an angry soldier.

"Buffy, I wouldn't talk right now if I were you; you haven't paid enough attention to Xander recently to know how he feels about anything. And Angel was here and helped Xander and Spike, so why don't you let him talk and you keep your mouth shut until you have something helpful to say."

Angel and Spike stared in shock at Buffy's boyfriend, surprised that he had stood up to her and put her in her place in front of the others. They also noted the nods of approval Riley was receiving from Joyce, Dawn, Graham and Tara. Even Giles had a Ripperish glint of approval in his eyes for the man. Buffy, seeing that she would find no support from that quarter, turned towards Willow, who was shaking her head sadly at Buffy with a slight air of superiority.

"D-Don't you start Willow, i-it's not like you've been much b-better," Tara said softly.

Willow bowed her head in shame.

Angel shook off his shock and continued his explanation, "As I was saying, we talked for a few minutes before he was given the sleep medication. He's resting quietly now. The doctors are 'cautiously optimistic' about his condition. I'm not sure what you've been told about what happened, but….."

The group listened as Angel told them about Xander's injuries and treatment. They all teared up when he described Xander's heart stopping and subsequent resuscitation. He also warned them about Xander's battered appearance.

"I would like to say it looks worse than it is, but I'd be lying. He may not act like it, but he's in pretty bad shape and it will take awhile for him to recover," Angel said quietly at the end of his recitation.

"But, he's gonna be okay right, I mean he's Xander, he has to be okay," Willow said, her tone bordering on hysterics.

"He just had major surgery to repair tears in two major organs, among other things. At this point, we just have to wait and see," Angel said solemnly.

"Of course he is going to be okay. We won't accept anything less," Joyce said with conviction, her eyes daring anyone to contradict her, "Now, the real question is whether he has tried to get you to get him out of the hospital early."

Both Spike and Angel turned self-conscious gazes to the ground, each knowing there had been a point when they had almost given in to Xander's pleadings.

Tara tried to suppress her giggle at the sight of two master vampires being cowed by Mrs. Summers.

Spike gave Tara a playful glare before he admitted, "He used puppy-dog-eyes and the pitiful-pout-of-doom. But, we didn't give in, we stood strong! Okay, so there was a near miss or two, but still, we resisted."

Angel nodded in agreement and offered, "It helps if you don't look directly at him."

Joyce just shook her head and shared a look with Tara that basically said, Amateurs.

Dawn didn't even try to suppress the giggles that erupted from her. "Oh come on, Mom, it's not like you haven't fallen for the puppy-dog-eyes. I guess it's just coincidence that Xander gets extra butter on his popcorn whenever he comes over for movie night."

"Movie night?" Willow and Buffy said at the same time as they looked at each other in confusion; they thought movie night had ended when they had started college.

The others ignored Buffy and Willow as they chuckled at Joyce's blushing in response to Dawn's teasing.

"What can I say, the boy is good," Joyce admitted.

After the chuckles settled down, Joyce straightened her shoulders and turned to Angel. "I'm going to go in to see him."

"I'm sure he'd like that very much," Angel said as he opened the door for the woman who had more than earned his respect.

He closed the door behind her when Buffy and Willow tried to push forward to follow her.

"He can't have too many visitors at once and don't even think you'll be allowed in there before anyone else. From what I can tell, the others have more than earned the right to precede you two. And you are definitely not going in there before we have a little talk about your conduct once you are allowed into his room," Angel said, barely managing not snarl at the two presumptuous girls.

Buffy tried to brazen her way out by giving her patented, 'I'm the slayer' look and saying, "Who are you to tell us we can't visit our best friend?"

She ignored the various snorts that came from the group around them. She just couldn't understand why her Angel was talking to her this way.

"Oh, didn't I mention? I'm Xander's new boss. I've hired him and Spike to work for my investigation firm. And since I'm going to be paying his hospital bills, I think I have some rights as to who visits him, especially if I think that person could hinder his recovery," Angel said. He grabbed Buffy and Willow by the arms and dragged them towards the visitor's lounge, wanting privacy for the previously mentioned 'talk' he intended to have with the girls.

He ignored the open mouthed stares coming from the rest of the group, especially Spike.