Cordelia cried out as a vision slammed into her. The searing pain preceded the flash of images, sounds, and smells of her vision. For several seconds her entire world were those flashes. When she began to calm she became aware of strong arms surrounding her and the quiet whispers of her friends. Groaning as the pain abated to a more bearable throb in her skull she shifted position and gratefully accepted the aspirin and water held out to her by Xander.
"Are you ok?" Angel asked, moving Cordelia out of his embrace and helping her to stand.
"Yeah, just the searing agony." She said sarcastically. Rolling her eyes at the distressed look on Angel's face she began to tell them what she saw. "Three demons, tall and covered in fur were attacking a group of teenage girls near the college. They had four horns coming out of their faces and were kinda green looking. It was dark out so they weren't very clear." Cordelia sank into a nearby chair and watched as a flurry of activity commenced around her.
"Do you know what time?" Wesley inquired already looking thru one of his books.
"Tonight, somewhere around 2:00?" She glanced up at the clock. "That's in about...5 hours so I hope we find this thing quick."
She watched as Wesley, Angel and Xander all began to look thru books while Gunn went to the weapons cabinet. She was immensely grateful that she was rarely needed to go out anymore with them though she would never tell them that. The pounding in her head was just beginning to ease when Spike came strolling down the stairs.
When Spike had first come to work at AI she had been wary of him. Chip or no chip she didn't trust the demon. Over the weeks that he'd been there however she had started to like him. Sure he was evil and all that but he had an interesting sense of humor and their verbal sparing matches made her feel more relaxed around him. She had also noticed his interactions with the other members of AI.
At first his relationship with Xander was rocky but as they had spent more time together Cordelia had seen them become good friends and she could find them in each other's company more often than not. Alarmed at first she had relaxed when she realized that Spike bore no real animosity towards her former boyfriend. Spike's relationship with Angel had eased a bit though for the longest time Cordelia had wondered if the two would ever stop walking on eggshells around each other. True, they still didn't get along but they no longer went out of their way to be openly hostile and she had even caught them laughing together on a few occasions.
Gunn avoided Spike like the plague and the feelings were mutual. The street warrior had a tenuous relationship with Angel let alone Spike. The two simply avoided each other and so far no serious clash had come about though the former cheerleader had no delusions that it wouldn't one day happen.
Cordelia had discovered however a strange reaction whenever Spike and Wesley were in the same room together. They avoided each other often staying at opposite ends of the room. At first she had attributed the reaction as Wesley being distrustful of the vampire and Spike being suspicious of the former Watcher but as the weeks passed she was no longer be sure that this was the case.
Cordelia was not as self absorbed as she claimed or even showed herself to be. Her observation skills were honed to a fine point and she could definitely tell something was going on between those two. Over the weeks since Spike's arrival Wesley and Spike had gone from the cold shoulder to avoidance to hidden glances and quick retreats. It was almost as if they were attracted to each other and in the first stages of a crush.
Snorting as that thought occurred to her, the secretary got up and made her announcements to leave. She didn't want to be conned into going with them tonight. As she gathered her belongings to head out Spike came down the staircase. Her eyes immediately went to Wesley. At first the former watcher didn't notice the new arrival but when he did his entire body stiffened and she saw his eyes give the vampire a thorough body search before Wesley flushed and averted his eyes.
Narrowing her eyes she saw Spike pretty much do the same thing except without the flush though she was sure he would be if he was capable of it. As unpleasant thoughts began to filter thru her mind she exited the building and made her way to her car. Mulling over all the things she had seen, suspicions began to cloud her mind.
Things were definitely happening and she was going to find out exactly what.
*****
Angel absently mindedly ran his fingers thru Xander's hair as he read a passage in the book in front of him. The new vampire was at sitting on the floor at Angel's feet reading from another book. Xander often took this position when in the same room with his Sire for long periods of time. He stopped reading and looked down at his Childe as Xander started to give a low purr. The boy didn't even realize he was doing it and Angel smiled. Lowering his hand to cup a beloved cheek he let his thumb drift across Xander's lips.
Xander gave a small smile and pressed a gentle kiss to the finger before looking up at his Sire. He sighed contentedly and lent back so he was resting on Angel's leg. The older vampire leaned down and brushed his lips over Xander's, teasing his Childe with faint brushes. When Xander tried to deepen the kiss, Angel let him, slipping his tongue inside his Childe's mouth were they made a lazy battle. They each lost focus with the world around them as the kiss became more involved until they were brought out of their haze by a loud snort.
"Oi! Can't let the two of you in a room for five minutes without you two climbing all over each other!" Spike exclaimed bringing out a cigarette and lighting it before settling down in a chair as far from Wesley as he could.
Angel broke the kiss and sighed then gave his lover another quick peck before straightening and once more letting his hand trail lightly thru the chocolate locks. He glared at Spike who simply rolled his eyes.
"You could make yourself useful and help us do some research." Angel spoke a hint of his ire leaking thru.
"And why should I do that?" Spike asked raising his scared brow. The poof actually thought he was gonna help??
Sighing Angel gave up and went back to reading. Spike sat and watched a moment longer before he felt eyes watching him. He glanced over at Wesley and saw the former watcher look quickly away. He shivered at the intensity of that gaze before mentally smacking himself upside the head. For weeks he had been avoiding Wesley, the strange feelings and thoughts he had making him ill at ease around the human. No small feat that.
Spike's dreams, both awake and asleep, had been filled with Wesley and Spike thought he was slowly going out of his mind. For some reason his brain had latched onto the human and would not let go. Growling to himself he pasted a bored expression on his face when Angel looked up at him. Giving him a suspicious once over, the older vampire once more bent over to his task.
Spike watched as his Sire ran his hands tenderly thru Xander's hair, feeling a sharp pang of loneliness sweep over him. He was alone in this world. He couldn't hunt, feed, or even defend himself. For a long time he had disillusioned himself, making believe that everything was fine. But weeks of being with two fully active vampires, watching them play roughly together, hearing them making love thru the thin walls were beginning to take their toll. The craving for violence and blood were starting to claw at him and there were times when he was teaching Xander a new move where he *itched* to harm, inflict pain, only to have to withdraw.
Shaking his head to try and scatter those thoughts he focused on Xander. The new vampire was coming along well. His body, though already in shape, had developed new muscles over their training sessions. He was faster, smarter, and stronger now and Spike felt a small surge of pride well up in him. But for all the good they were doing Spike knew that they would soon be having difficulties.
Spike couldn't teach Xander some of the rougher things, his chip making him incapable of doing any harm, even when no harm was intended. He thought perhaps Angel could help him now that Xander had settled a bit but the few times his Sire had entered the room had led in Angel either hastily retreating or dragging Xander off to the bedroom. Angel simply couldn't bring himself to be in the same room with Xander without ravaging him.
Spike attested it to the soul, since Angelus had never had that particular problem. He figured since Angel had gone 100 years without sex, then losing his soul, then getting it back and spending some time in hell, only to eventually have it permanently anchored had really messed with his Sire and now he had no restraint.
Spike sighed again before standing up and heading towards the garden. Sitting on a stone bench he looked up at the sky as if it would provide him with all his answers. Why was he lusting after a human? What would happen when he was no longer needed? How was he going to survive like this? Unable to do anything for himself, always having to rely on others for his *food* for god's sakes. Sighing again he restrained the tears that threatened to fall and let the night wash over him.
The End