Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Chapter 2

Xander was a mess.

And not just in the emotional sense, but he was definitely that too.

He was covered, what literally felt like head to toe, in blood: Noah's blood. In reality, a good half of his shirt was soaked, and there was still some residual left under his fingernails. But otherwise, he was fine.

The Hum V had gotten there mere seconds after the teen lost consciousness. He was now pacing in the medical ward of the castle, waiting outside the surgical wing for Fred and the other medical team to come out and tell him what's going on.

Being that most of the girls are runaways and sustain multiple injuries multiple times a week, they needed a state of the art almost-a-hospital-but-doesn't-require-official-ide ntification-or-insurance place to bring them when they inevitable got critically battered. Thus they built one. It has everything a working hospital would.

Especially since two resident doctors with access to steady supplies from the local hospital both live in the castle and work in the medical wing.

"You need ta si'down, pet," Spike said around a lit cigarette.

Shooting his lover a dirty look, he snaps, "Do they even allow those down here?"

Shrugging, Spike takes out of his mouth and flicks the ash out onto the stone floor. "Seeing as I'm buggering the boss, don't really think it'd matter?"

Xander knew the vampire was trying to lighten the mood, but all he was doing was pissing him off. "Really, Spike?" he barks. "A kid is fighting for his life, and you want to be belligerent to rules, and use me as your excuse?" Scoffing and shaking his head, the watcher rolls his eyes angrily, "Shouldn't expect any less from you though. Blame Xander, he knows how to – "

"Hey," Spike calls, "enough o'that, yeah? I'm sorry. I was just joking." Stubbing the butt out with his boot, the vampire leans back in his chair assessing the man in front of him with a slight wary eye. "What's got you in coils, luv?" he asks gently.

Blinking rapidly, Xander adjusts his eye patch and sighs deeply to stop a sob from escaping. "It's my fault," he tells his lover. "Noah, he…he knew something was there, and I – "

The other man hushed him. "It's shite luck, Xan. Not your fault," Spike told him soothingly.

Shaking his head, Xander knew Spike was wrong, but he was just too emotionally wrung out to even begin to explain to him why. He knew he needed to though. To talk it out and get all his guilt off his chest. He needed his man to take him to their suite and wrap him up, telling him he wasn't the reason Noah could be dying. Right now. Behind the swinging doors over in the corner.

But he knew he didn't deserve it.

Noah had been his responsibility and he didn't listen when the kid was telling him someone was following them. He stopped and argued with him, didn't immediately call for help or start running.

He felt Spike's presence against his back, and like it was as natural as breathing, he just fell back into the vamp's chest. Letting the comforting smell envelope him.

"Xan, cor," he whispers in his ear, "it's okay. Noah is going to be okay."

Biting his lip, Xander's head fell into his hands. "God," he mumbled into his palms.

Spike kissed his neck and pulled back. "I'm gonna scrounge up some treats to perk your spirit up, aye?" he smiled at his lover. "Be back in a bit."

Xander gave him a drawn smile in return and let him go; but quickly was lost in his thoughts again.

*Noah looked over to the older man with concern, causing him to stop his tirade. "Do you feel that?"*

Xander sighed. No he hadn't felt anything, and he didn't think the boy could either. He wasn't even thinking about his demon-faerie-whatever senses.

*"I just," he stops and looks behind him, trying to see better in the darkness what was lurking in the black woods. "There's something…following me," he tells his friend and steps closer to the woods.*

The man closes his eyes and shakes his head, trying to clear it of the memory. Why didn't he listen? How did this –

Even after the night he's had, being thrust up against a concrete wall still was a giant shock to his system…and the back of his head.

"How did this happen?" Angel growled in his face, while still pressing him against the wall.

Once he got his bearings, Xander pushed at the mountain of a man in front of him, "Aye-ee. Ouch," he said. "Let go, Deadboy!"

"Not until you tell me why the hell the kid is in surgery," He shouted again. "What the fuck were you thinking, Xander? Leaving the group, leaving protection, knowing he's vulnerable. Knowing he's being hunted!"

"Hey," the watched shouted back. "I'm sorry, okay? I know it was stupid, but we – "

"No buts," Angel responded. "You put him in harm's way. We all agreed that he wasn't to go out anymore at nighttime."

"I did?" Xander practically screeched. "I put him in danger? What about you? Where were you? Why weren't you there? Huh? He's your responsibility first! And you've been avoiding him like the plague for over two weeks. Why is that, huh? Not cool enough for you anymore?"

"Shut up," the vampire snarled. "You have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh, yeah? Well why don't you let me down and you tell me then?"

After a brief staring contest, Angel gave one last inhuman growl and then did just that.

Adjusting his shoulders, the watcher huffed as the other man turned away. "What the hell, man?"

"I'm sorry," the guy responded, massaging the bridge of his nose.

Looking at him for a moment, the one eyed man deflated against the wall. "I am too," he conceded.

There was a silence that settled between them, until Angel finally took the initiative to clear his throat. "So what did actually happen?"

Xander shrugged. "I don't know, we were walking back from Pine's and then he said he felt something was off. Like someone was following him, and then we're talking and then…bam! Arrow in the back."

Looking at the other man in disbelief, "He told you someone was following him, and you didn't call for help?"

Shaking his head, the man just sighs and slides down the wall. "I know, okay?" he mutters. "You can't beat me up any more than I'm beating myself up."

Spike walked in carrying a few bags of chips, a couple candy bars, and a soda. Seeing the other vampire, he stopped in the doorway and looked between his boyfriend and his grandsire suspiciously. "Everything alright?" he drawls.

"Copacetic," the watcher replies in a tone that said everything was anything but.

Nodding doubtfully, the vampire walks further in the room and plops down ungracefully in one of the chairs again, dropping the snacks in the one next to him.

"What did the arrow look like?" Angel asked.

Shrugging Xander replies, "Like an arrow. It was black. Feathered." He scuffs his shoes, "You know, an arrow."

"Still," the vampire continues to prod, "you told Fred that he started having violent tremors. Could it be – " he stops, trailing off.

The other vampire in the room opens his Cheetos. "Could it be what?" he asked around a mouthful of chips.

"I don't know," Angel replies annoyed. "Something had to have been different about it? When something sharp is in your back, you tend to lie still. Not rocking back and forth like you are having a seizure."

"The arrow was poisoned," Fred says as she steps into the room; still in scrubs, holding a chart, and looking exhausted.

The three look up and snapping into action Xander and Angel step forward closer to her.

"Poisoned," Angel says as he crosses his arms. Biting his lip he looks over at the one eyed man briefly before looking back at his longtime friend. "Poisoned how? I mean, with what?"

Fred takes a deep breath and opens the chart before handing it over. "Looks to be liquefied clover, toad stool, unidentifiable blood, and a common flower. Dandelions."

Pulling a face, Xander replies, "What? What does that add up to…I mean besides gross."

Spike walks up and interjects, "Bereginya-otpoba."

"Bulgarian for Faerie bane," Angel says and pauses before looking back at his grandchilde incredulously. "How did you know that?"

Spike, looking affronted, replies, "What? Only you're 'llowed to speak a dozen languages?" He scoffs, "I'll have you know I happen to be fluent in – "

"Babe," Xander cut in. "I think Angel meant how did you know what the poison was?"

"Oh," he sniffed. "Well I had a friend of a friend who was hunting a Faerie princess…or maybe she was Faerie princess' slave." The other looked at each other before the vampire shrugged. "Who knows, anyhow he was sloshed and kept going on and on about this wench his pal was trying to find. And," he chuckles, getting lost in the memories, "he told me about this one time he – "Seeing that the other weren't amused, he stopped and cleared his throat. "Well he basically just told me about the guy's search for the clan that was nearby or something, so they could kill them."

"And he mentioned Faerie bane?" Fred asked.

Spike nodded. "'s the only true way to kill a Fae."

Xander's eyes bug, "Wait. Kill? It's going to kill Noah? Oh, god."

Angel sucked in an uneeded breath to calm his rising panic. "Why are you waiting till now to tell us about this? This information would have been valuable months ago when we realized Noah was a target."

Spike, getting defensive, says, "Hey, now, mate. I just forgot, alright?"

"I think what we need to focus on, Angel," Fred interrupts as she adjusts her glasses, "is that we don't have an antidote. And also no idea how long it take for it to – well you know."

Chewing his lip, Xander felt his eyes begin to swell. "What are we going to do?"

"Spike," the elder vampire says, "what else did this guy say?"

Spike, looking seriously glum, shrugged. "Nothing, mate. Just that you can't kill a Fae unless you inject them with Bereginya-otpoba. Something about their magical energy, and resilience to iron or some such rot. Oh and how their blood could was potent enough to cause a vampire to become human again, or give humans eternal life. Nothing pertinent to saving them from the poison."

"Wait, what?" Xander gasped.

Angel growled lowly in frustration. It was typical Spike to just conveniently forget important details like that. "I guess that gives a clearer picture as to why they are hunted creatures."

"Yeah, and why they are so secretive," Xander agrees, then smacks his boyfriend's shoulder. Hard.

"Bloody hell!" Spike shouts and rubs the offending area. "Why did you – "

"That's for withholding this information!"

Sighing, the dark eyed vampire looked to Xander. "We need to get everyone on this. There has to be a way. I mean – "

"We are going to do everything we can," Fred said gently. "He's out in an induced coma now, but you can come see him if you'd like. Maybe sit with him for a little bit. We're going to be waking him up soon, and I'm sure he'd like it if you were the first person he saw."

Angel feeling his dead heart throb at the thought of the boy nodded and looked back to Xander and Spike. "Just – just find the antidote. Please."

Smiling wanly at vampire, the watcher nodded and let him follow Fred through the door to the recovery room.

Noah wasn't going to die.

He'd make sure of it.