Angel looked around carefully as he entered the magic store.

It hadn't taken the dark-haired vampire long to find a magic store, but he was a bit nervous that he had been followed. Both he and Spike knew that Jack would search for the two vampires and do anything to get revenge over the blonde. And although Angel didn't know Spike's Childe, there was something about Jack that just made a shiver go down his spine.

He was just plain creepy.

When Angel couldn't see or sense anything, he ventured in.

"Blessed be," the store owner greeted him, her gray dress waving elegantly around her as she walked around the counter. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

Angel couldn't hold back a smile as he watched her tuck and untuck her red hair behind her ear, reminding him so much of Willow. "I need..."

He reached into his pocket and looked at the list Spike had scribbled down to him, to read the ingredients for the spell out loud to the woman.

"Uh..."

Well, if he managed to decipher what Spike called writing, anyway...

"Five tails of newt, essence of violet, ten white candles - thick, not thin... uh, raven feathers, flint stone... jasmine, sage and bile."

Not saying anything further, the woman quickly collected the requested items from various shelves around the store, before she took the items to the counter and put them in a bag, smiling politely at Angel as he found the correct amount of money among the crumpled bills Spike had given him. Once he'd paid, he scurried out of the shop and started to make his way back to the hotel, making sure he wasn't followed.

When the door closed behind him, however, he didn't see the woman's smile fade or the back door open.

"An excellent performance," Jack said with a light clapping of his hands. "Looks like I was right about the two wonder-Sires. They're up to something."

The store owner looked at the vampire in silent fear as he turned to her and morphed. "Let me show you my gratitude for your help, my dear."

Then he sank his fangs into her neck, ignoring her yelp of pain and her screams as she realized she was dying. Once he had drained her completely, the raven-haired vampire allowed the body to fall to the floor, before he licked his lips delicately and unhurriedly walked out the door after Angel.

*****

"Who is it?"

"It's me," Angel said through the door to the hotel room he and Spike had gotten. There was the sound of three locks being opened, before the door opened and the peroxide-blonde's face appeared.

"I got the goods," Angel said as he entered the room. Closing the door and locking it, Spike turned to Angel and the bag he had put down on one of the beds. Then he stopped and looked around the hotelroom. "This isn't enough space, though. We need a bigger surface to perform the spell on."

"Okay," Spike said with a sigh. "So we go out and find somewhere safe to do the spell, then?"

"Not yet," Angel replied, turning to his Childe. "If I was seen tonight, I won't risk being seen again. If anybody spotted me, I probably shook them off, but they'll be looking. Tomorrow night, okay?"

"What, we have to wait another day?" the peroxide-blonde complained. "Fuck!"

Angel didn't reply, not wanting to start another verbal or possible physical fight with the younger vampire. Instead, he just moved the bag with the magic ingredients off his bed and then pulled off his coat. Kicking off his boots, he lay down on top of the covers and pulled out a paperback copy of Filth by Irvine Welsh, that he'd had in the pocket of his coat.

When Spike discovered Angel had settled down with a book, he threw his arms up in the air and sighed noisily. "Figures!" he complained to himself, before he settled down on his own bed, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling.

It didn't take one minute, even, before the blonde reached for his cigarettes, needing something to do. Once he had one of the Lucky Strikes lit, he watched the smoke curl towards the ceiling, before he turned his head to look at his Sire.

"Angel?" Spike asked quietly.

"M-hm?" the older vampire replied, not moving his eyes from the book. He was awaiting either a snide remark from Spike, or a comment about how boring things were, so the question that came from his Childe threw him completely off track.

"How did you manage to control so many Children?"

Angel was completely silent for a long moment, his eyes locked on the book in front of him. He didn't really register the words written on the pages, though. Finally, he lowered the book and turned his head towards Spike, wondering if the younger vampire was serious about his question.

Meeting the peroxide-blonde's ice blue eyes, Angel searched them for some sign that Spike wasn't serious, but didn't find any.

Finally, Angel placed the book back in his coat on the floor, before turning so he was laying on his side, facing the other bed and Spike.

"I don't know," he replied to Spike's question. "I just did."

"I don't get it," Spike said quietly, taking a long pull of his cigarette. "You raised both me and Drusilla and Penn and Jake and Lara and..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "I can't even remember everybody."

"Penn, Jake, Lara, Ezra, William, Lysette, Drusilla, George, Charlotte and Kym," Angel said, his gaze moving to blank space as memories assaulted him. "In that order. Penn was the oldest. Kym the youngest."

"I don't get it," Spike said with a small shake of his head as he stubbed out his cigarette. "How is it possible to raise that many, and to care just as much for all of them?"

"I didn't care as much for everybody," Angel admitted quietly. "You, Drusilla, Penn and Kym were my favorites. I saw potential in Penn's arrogance, your love for violence, Drusilla's visions and Kym's wickedness. You were my darlings."

"But still you raised the others perfectly. Even when you raised George and Charlotte at the same time!" Spike said, a slightly sad frown on his face.

"I always wanted to be like you, Angelus. I always wanted to know how to control things the way you did. I wanted to be as mean as you when you stalked your prey, I wanted to be as charming as you when you attended a party with one of us by your side, I wanted to be able to make love the way you did, yet dominate your lovers so utterly and completely that they didn't even know they were being dominated."

"Don't wish to be like me," Angel replied with a sad smile.

"Angelus, you were my Mentor, my master, my Sire and my everything!" Spike told the older vampire as he sat up in bed and looked at Angel intensely. "I looked up to you more than to anybody else! Didn't you feel the same way with Darla?"

"No," the dark-haired vampire told him honestly. "Yes, I looked up to her, but not on the same level. What made you...adore me as much as you did?" he wondered.

"The way you handled things," the blonde replied quietly. "You never seemed to have a problem with *anything,* for fuck's sake. I sired Jack to prove that I could do it too."

"Only you couldn't," Angel said quietly with an understanding nod.

"Only I couldn't," Spike agreed, sighing. "I had no idea what it meant to be a Sire. Besides, even if I had known, I've never been one for caring and taking care of an stuff, anyway. Non-responsibility, right?"

"Spike's it's not about just taking care of someone," Angel said, sitting up as well. "It's not about teaching them and training them and caring for them."

"Then what is it about?" the younger vampire asked.

Angel was silent for a long moment, before he met Spike's eyes dead on.

"Loving them," he replied.

Several moments of complete silence passed between the two vampires, and Spike swallowed heavily. He could feel his blood rushing through his veins, and his tongue darted out to quickly wet his suddenly too dry lips.

"So did you..." he started to ask, before he trailed off and looked down. Swallowing hard again, he started to pick at his jeans.

"Did you love me, then?"

"No," Angel replied immediately, and a sharp pain immediately chased through Spike's body, before settling in his heart. Trying to hide it, he kept his head bowed as he nodded barely visible once.

"Oh."

"I *love* you," Angel said firmly, one corner of his mouth tilting up when his Childe's head snapped up and blue eyes were filled with surprise and hopefulness and happiness. "You are my Childe, Spike. Soul or no soul, I created you and trained you and taught you, and I love you more than I really like."

Spike just stared at Angel for a long moment, his gaze locked with the older vampire's. Then he was kissing Angel and they were falling back on Angel's bed, pale arms coming up to embrace each other.

As Spike's cool tongue entered Angel's mouth, the older vampire nudged it with his own, teasing and stroking as his hands roamed over Spike's t-shirt, desperately wanting and needing to feel skin against bare skin, and not the feel of t-shirts and suddenly-too-tight jeans.

Pulling at his Childe's black t-shirt, Angel broke off their kiss long enough to get rid of the annoying piece of clothing, before he quickly pulled his own long-sleeved, dark gray shirt over his head.

Letting his lips descend on Spike's again, the dark-haired vampire rolled them over, then straddled the blonde before starting to lick and kiss his way around Spike's jawline to his neck.

When he reached the base of Spike's neck, Angel pressed his tongue hard against the artery, feeling the blood rush and throb just below the surface of the skin. Growling in lust and arousal, the souled vampire's hands wandered to Spike's jeans and tore hastily at the belt and button fly.

There was a fire burning inside Angel, and something indescribable wormed its way around his body before it snaked in circles around his heart and squeezed, leaving a far from unpleasant throbbing in his chest.

It was the perfect imitation of a beating heart, and love and lust and want and need practically shone from his body and his eyes.

Underneath Angel's legs, Spike managed to move enough to kick his boots off and to the floor, before he raised his hips to let Angel pull his jeans and boxer-briefs off him. Standing briefly, Angel quickly got rid of his own jeans and boxers, before he once again joined Spike on the bed, their erections now freed and exposed.

"Angel," Spike moaned as Angel's lips landed on his chest, a cool tongue circling a delicate nipple. Moving up the lean body underneath him, Angel found Spike's mouth again and they shared a deep, passionate kiss as the older man's hand found the blonde's erection.

His hand closing around Spike's rock hard cock, Angel started a slow rhythm at first.

A purr escaped his throat, but it quickly turned into a loud groan when a pale finger tripped coyly over his ass cheeks and found the tight ring of muscles hidden there.

"God, Spike..." Angel panted, his hand gripping his Childe's erection just a little bit harder as the finger in his ass pressed in, just enough for the tip to enter.

Thrusting backwards, wanting more, the souled vampire groaned again in frustration when the finger withdrew for a second. "Teaser," he mumbled against Spike's lips, and he felt the blonde's grin against his mouth.

Then one of them turned them again - Angel wasn't sure which of them - and now Spike was on top and his lips had left Angel. Instead, he was kneeling by Angel's ass and holding his Sire's legs up in the air with one hand, while the other was probing the older vampire's tight asshole.

Squirming, Angel took a hold of his own legs and drew them up to his chest. Immediately the finger in his tight entrance was joined by a second one, and they both probed deeper, searching for *that* spot.

Then Spike crooked the two digits, and Angel howled and arched off the bed in pleasure, his hard cock dancing against his abdomen.

Angel let go of one of his legs, then instead gripped his erection, jerking himself off as Spike's fingers continued to move within him. He was burning from the inside and outwards, and the world around him felt liquid as he moaned and thrashed on the bed. The pleasure seemed to reach unbearable heights, and when a second hand joined his own on his cock, a thumb swiping delicately over the weeping tip, Angel couldn't hold back anymore.

Howling, the dark-haired vampire felt his semen spurt from his cock and land on his stomach and chest, and the orgasm just went on and on...

Spots danced in front of his eyes, his fingertips tingled, his toes tingled and his breathing was coming out in short gasps and loud moans. Even as he came down from the great waves of bliss that had washed through his body, the cool fingers did not stop moving inside him.

As Angel's vision started to return to normal and the tingling sensation settled a little throughout his body, he slowly became aware that Spike had removed his fingers and was now looking at him from where he was kneeling on the bed.

Meeting Spike's eyes, the older vampire immediately understood, and he nodded mutely, not only letting Spike know he approved, but that he *needed* this.

Turning over to all four, Angel bowed his head an waited.

Only mere seconds later, the fingers returned to his ass, this time coated with saliva. As they squirmed inside him they nudged his prostate and every time they did so, Angel felt small sparks flow through him. He was still basking in the post-orgasmic glow, but he was already working up another erection.

Behind him, he heard Spike spit once, twice, and then the fingers were removed and replaced with something else. Something bigger, something softer yet harder, something thicker and longer. As the head of Spike's cock pressed past the tight ring of muscles, Angel gritted his teeth and panted hard.

It hurt, but it was a good pain.

Concentrating on the thought of how good he knew it would feel eventually, Angel didn't even realize Spike was all the way inside him before he felt the peroxide-blonde's balls press up against his ass cheeks. The younger vampire rested there for a little while, feeling his Sire's muscles clench and unclench around him.

Then he started moving. Slowly at first, but quickly building the tempo, thrusting into Angel in hard jerks. His cock nudged the older vampire's prostate, and the tight channel fit so snugly around him that Spike had to bite his cheek repeatedly not to come immediately.

"G-god...damnit...Angel..." Spike moaned with his thrusts, his hands gripping Angel's hips hard enough to leave bruises even on vampire skin. "I...love...you..."

Leaning forward, the blonde reached around his Sire to grasp the once again fully erect cock and slide his hand up and down the stiff shaft in time with his thrusts. Angel mewled and groaned and thrashed beneath Spike, bucking back to meet each of his thrusts and moving forward to press himself into the younger vampire's palm.

Finally, the dark-haired vampire shuddered all over as white-hot flames seemed to engulf his body, and he climaxed a second time, his seed shooting out over Spike's hand. The walls of his channel clamped down hard on the blonde's cock, and the tight ring of muscles quivered in a fast rhythm.

Then Spike came, coating Angel's inner walls with his dead semen, and he growled and snarled loudly in pleasure. When the last of the orgasmic spasms finally drifted away, Spike went limp over Angel's back, and the two fell down onto the bed, exhausted and deeply satisfied.

Slowly pulling out of Angel with a wet slurp, Spike moved to embrace his Sire. Then he used one hand to pull the blanket halfway around them both, before he closed his eyes, wanting to sleep.

Angel's body slowly calmed down as he snuggled up against his leaner Childe. It had been a long while since he had felt this... content. But for some reason, he wasn't afraid that his soul would wander off, because there had been a pain to their lovemaking...

A deep, hidden pain for all the years lost and for the things that had come between them and for everything they both knew could never be.

Angel couldn't describe it - not really - and he couldn't explain it. But it didn't really matter.

All that mattered to him right now, was that he was here, with Spike, they had made love, and that he didn't have to worry about his soul taking a vacation. Closing his eyes, the dark-haired vampire sighed deeply in contentment and a slight smile played over his lips.

"Spike?" he asked quietly.

Opening his eyes into thing, sleepy slits, Spike looked down at his Sire. "Yeah?" he replied in the same quiet voice.

"Thank you," Angel whispered.

"No," Spike whispered back, a smile spreading across his own face. "Thank *you.*"

Then he closed his eyes again, hugged Angel closer and they soon drifted off to sleep.

*****

"...careful...alive...up..."

His eyes opening slowly, the voices Spike heard became clearer and he heard exactly what they said instead of just a word here and there with every fourth sentence. "...my kill. Hey, watch it, he's awake! Take it quietly, I don't wanna wake the other one!"

The voice sounded so very familiar to Spike, but by the time the blonde vampire had recognized the figure standing next to his bed with several vampire minions, it was too late. He didn't even have time to blink before something hit his head and everything went black.

*****
Part 6:

"Spike?" Angel mumbled sleepily as he woke up the following evening. Rolling over, he found that his Childe was not in bed with him, and he immediately became wide awake.

"Spike?" he asked again, standing up and walking to the bathroom. When he found that Spike was nowhere in the hotelroom, he stopped and leaned against the doorframe to the bathroom, uncaring that he still was completely naked.

"No," he mumbled, a deep frown settling upon his features. There was no way Spike would leave the room on a whim, deciding to just go for a stroll, grab a beer or anything like that. He knew just as well as Angel that they needed to be careful, so he wouldn't leave, not even to try to get blood, no matter how hungry he was.

Which meant he was probably *taken* from the room.

Cursing under his breath, something he rarely did, Angel grabbed his pants and boxers and dressed in a hurry. Less than five minutes later, the dark-haired vampire had left the room.

Well out on the street, Angel stopped and hesitated. Where should he go? Which way? Standing perfectly still and not caring about the strange looks he got from bypassers, the dark-haired vampire closed his eyes and sniffed the air, stretching his vampiric senses as far as he could while he tried to catch a whiff of Spike's scent.

A weak smell hung in the air, and Angel immediately knew it was his Childe. Opening his eyes again, Angel followed the scent down the street. He silently prayed to whatever higher powers there might be that he would be in time to save Spike from whoever had taken him.

Angel knew it was probably Jack who was behind the kidnapping, but he was pretty sure he hadn't been followed the night before so he was careful not to jump to any conclusions.

~Dublin, 1899~

Jack knew he was being followed. He could feel someone's eyes poking him in his back, he could feel someone lurking in the darkness, watching over him and... waiting? Jack didn't know what that someone was waiting for, but he knew he didn't really want to find out.

That was why he was hurrying home, walking down the pavement at a fast pace, hoping to meet someone he knew, hoping to see *anybody* so his hidden stalker wouldn't dare to do anything. Not much frightened Jack, and with good reason. Already wanted in Ireland, England and Spain for murder, theft, robbery and just general trouble, he had seen his share of dark things.

However, nothing had scared him - truly *scared* him. But he was scared now.

Hurrying down the street, the dark-haired man continued to glance nervously over his shoulders, half expecting to suddenly see a face right behind him, or when he turned his head back around, in front of him.

A small part of him actually hoped to see that face, so it all would be over and he would get to know who had been following him for the past five weeks, watching him and waiting in the darkness.

He didn't know which face he was hoping to see, but he was hoping to see one. Because living like this made him insecure and jumpy. He swore deeply that when his stalker finally showed himself, he would pay dearly.

Suddenly, two cool hands reached out of nowhere and pulled him into an alley.

Jack was slammed up against the side of a building with such force that spots danced in front of his eyes, and he barely got a glimpse of a sable-haired head, before those same, cool hands turned him around and a body pressed up against his.

Strong fingers curled around his dark locks, and then his head was slammed brutally against the hard bricks of the building - not hard enough to make him pass out, just to daze him.

Through the throbbing in his head and his muddled brain, the criminal registered that his attacker was pulling his pants down, and then he screamed in pain as something blunt and thick forced its way into his dry channel.

He tried to lash out with his feet, tried to hit with his hands, tried to grab the knife in his belt, but his attacker was stronger.

A low growling could be heard from behind him, and now Jack was more than frightened - he was terrified. He tried to scream, but the instant he opened his mouth, one of the cold hands that held his wrists in an iron grip, formed a fist and moved to his mouth, effectively gagging him.

Then the stranger started pumping in and out of Jack, and he screamed around the fist, biting together with everything he had as he felt the tender tissue in his anus tear and start to bleed because of the violent fucking.

The dark-haired murderer bit hard enough to draw blood and probably crack a bone, too, in his attacker's hand, but the stranger barely seemed to notice it.

Instead, the growling increased in strength and the pounding grew more frantic, hurting Jack more than he thought was possible. Suddenly, the stranger growled loudly, animalistic, and then something sharp penetrated Jack's skin over his neck.

He lost control of time, he lost control of space, and everything that existed in his world was he, his attacker, the pain in his anus and the incredible sensations that streamed through his body, starting in his neck.

When he finally registered that the stranger were no longer holding his wrists together, the raven-haired human also registered that his mouth was wide open, so his attacker's bloodied hand had been freed. Instead, the stranger had now wrapped both arms around Jack's waist, holding him up only with his still stiff cock and the weak grip on Jack's hips.

His head falling back as the sensations became to much to bear, Jack couldn't help but lift a hand and cradle the head of the stranger, which was pressed to the side of his neck.

His entire body tingled - even his cock spasmed to life - his skin curled over his knuckles, his head swam and his toes itched in a very pleasant way.

Jack knew what was happening, but his brain wouldn't register it. He knew he was being drained - killed - by a vampire, but at the same time there was just something about the feeling of being sucked dry!

His blood didn't just leave his body, it *flowed* from his body in a steady, erotic stream, tingling every nerve it passed on the way, before it finally disappeared through the small holes in his neck and into the stranger's mouth.

When his vision started to disappear and the darkness finally threatened to overwhelm Jack, the stranger's lips left his neck, and only a few seconds later, a wet wrist was pressed to the dark-haired human's mouth.

Jack drank.

Not because he wanted to - the tiny part of his brain that was still working, was screaming 'NO!' with all its might, but somehow, it just felt *right* to drink. So Jack drank the blood offered to him, and the second he swallowed the first mouthful, the stranger gave one final thrust, and Jack felt his climax. Cool liquid soothed his torn passage, but he didn't care anymore.

All he cared about was the blood.

~London, 1924~

"AAAAAGH!"

Spike's scream stopped and was replaced with a groan as he hit the metal door for the eleventh time. His shoulders were aching, his head was hammering, his arms were numb - and the door hadn't moved one bit.

Moving back to the other side of the room, Spike ran towards the metal door and threw himself at it for the twelfth time. "AAAAAGH!"

Sighing and rubbing his sore shoulder, Spike was about to throw himself at the door once again, when it suddenly opened and Jack appeared.

"There's no use making all that noise and struggle like that, Spike. For the first, this door won't break, no matter how strong a vampire you are. Second, if you do get out, there are over ten guards here who will rip you apart immediately. And third, try not to hurt yourself too badly - that's my job."

Red coated Spike's vision, and blinded with rage, the peroxide-blonde stormed towards his Childe. Before he could reach the younger vampire, Jack just shook his head and walked quietly out the door again, closing it only a second before Spike reached it.

The blonde vampire just stopped, before he sat down. Then he remained sitting motionless on the floor for several minutes, before he slammed both hands down in the concrete floor, hard enough to break a few fingers. Growling loudly, he thought to himself that simply killing Jack in 1967 hadn't been enough - he should have tortured him a bit first, too.

It hadn't been a planned fight, and it hadn't been something Spike had wanted. To kill his own Childe didn't pain him, because he never loved Jack like Angelus had loved - and still loved - William. But it hurt him in another way, because it was the final proof that he failed his task.

He had left his Childe, leaving the young vampire by himself, thereby driving him insane, which led to their meeting in 1967, which again led to Jack's final death.

Spike had been walking down the street with Drusilla when he'd heard a scream behind him, and as he turned, Jack had thrown himself at him. His eyes had been wild and his mouth wide open, as he had bared his fangs and snapped after Spike, uncaring of the many humans around, who watched with a mix of fright and terrified amazement.

So Spike had fought. He'd fought with everything he had, but for a while it looked really ugly for him. Jack was an excellent fighter, a very strong vampire, and he had attacked Spike in a fit of rage and hatred, which made him even stronger.

But just when he was about to crush Spike's head with a heavy trashcan he'd found, the blonde had managed to shove a very short and very little splinter into his Childe's unbeating heart, and Jack had disappeared with only a weak 'poof' as his body turned to ashes.

Sighing miserably to himself, Spike's blue eyes darkened as memories of his and Jack's time together assaulted him. They had shared everything, Spike had given him everything; advice, support, punishment, a good position in the vampire clan, access to his bed...

And still, he had failed.

Well, it wasn't just his fault, he decided, since Jack was and still is a complete looney!

His thoughts were interrupted as the door opened again and Jack entered with some minions. "String him up," Jack demanded, smiling evilly as the minions grabbed Spike, despite the blonde's struggling. Snarling and biting and snapping his jaws after the minions, trying to get free from their iron grip, Spike was lifted and his head was being held still by two strong hands.

Then a chain was slipped neatly over his head, the heavy links forming a noose. Struggling wildly, Spike tried to kick the vampire who was tightening the chain around his neck, but it was useless.

His hands were slipped into a set of manacles and then they were pulled straight out, before his legs received the same treatment. All the chains were secured in the ceiling and on the walls with large bolts and hoops, and the blonde immediately knew he wasn't strong enough to get free.

"Enough," Jack finally said, just when Spike suspected he might break something if the chains were tied any tighter. "Let him go."

Spike opened his mouth to scream 'No!' but the chain around his neck effectively stopped all speaking. In fact, it hurt just to try.

The minions let go of Spike, and for a small, horrifying second, the blonde thought his neck had snapped. But it hadn't. He was strung up in the middle of his little cell, dangling between heaven and earth, the noose the only thing holding him up. The chains around his hands and feet were pulled straight out, thereby spreading him eagle, a few inches off the ground.

The chain around his neck hurt like hell, and every little movement Spike made, sent beams of pain down his spine, so he tried to stay still, but it was hard. He knew he couldn't choke because he had no need to breathe, but that didn't mean he was immune against pain.

The minions left the cell, and Jack took a few steps closer to Spike, a humorous smile playing across his lips. "You know, Spike, I don't think I ever really thought about it, but you are kinda handsome when you're pissed off."

Spike tried to say 'Fuck you!' but all that came out was some small gurgling noises. Jack threw his head back and laughed, before pacing back and forth a few steps.

"Now, you... You have done so much for me, and I was really wondering how I could make everything up to you. At first I was considering staking Drusilla, but nah... she'd probably see it coming in one of her visions and warn you."

Jack continued to talk as three minions came in with a small box of bricks on wheels. It was filled with charcoal, and a fire was just going out. They also carried with them long pokers and some wooden stakes.

Closing his eyes, Spike tuned out Jack's many ways of getting back at him, and instead cursed silently. It had a certain dramatic irony, he had to admit, that less than a year earlier he had tortured Angel using hot pokers, and now someone would use the same method on him.

"...useless, don't you?" Jack finished, looking directly at Spike.

Opening his eyes, Spike didn't even attempt to reply, knowing that it wouldn't do any good and that he would only get new jolts of pain shot through his body from his throat.

Trying to look out into space, Spike hoped Angel would find him - soon.

*****
Part 7:

Angel moved quickly through the streets, each little breath of air bringing him a tiny bit of Spike's scent, pointing him in the right direction. As the scent got stronger, Angel's hope grew.

He didn't know Jack, but the dark-haired vampire gave both Angel's demon and Spike the creeps, and that was enough to convince Angel he was more than dangerous.

Following the trail to several abandoned warehouses, the souled vampire moved quickly, but carefully, staying in the shadows and staying alert for an attack.

Angel just knew that this had to be the place Jack kept Spike, but he strongly doubted there wouldn't be any guards around.

Suddenly, Angel could feel a presence, and he melted further into the shadows. Scanning the area around him, he soon spotted two vampires standing by a large door into one of the warehouses. A small trickle of panic seeped into his veins, and Angel cursed it. He couldn't afford to panic now.

Then, a plan started to formulate in Angel's head.

Taking in his surroundings once more, making sure to memorize as much of the warehouse itself as possible, the souled vampire shot one last, worried glance towards the old building, before he turned and headed back towards the hotel room at full speed.

He needed to get a few things.

*****

Spike's eyes fluttered open when the hand slapped his face, causing him to stir in his chains and sending fresh jolts of pain through his naked and bloody body. Holding back a choked groan, the peroxide-blonde met Jack's eyes, and silently pleaded him to either let him go or just kill him now.

Jack had cut the clothes off Spike's lean form, watching gleefully as the knife he'd used had slipped every now and then and made crimson lines in Spike's skin. The younger vampire had thrown the now shredded clothes aside, then turned to the pokers his minions had brought in.

Five pokers were now standing out of Spike's body, two through his kneecaps, one through his stomach, one through his heart and one through his arm. When the blonde's insane Childe had been tired with the pokers, he'd brought in a box full of railroad spikes, asking Spike if he was proud that the younger vampire actually had paid attention in class.

Railroad spikes were driven forcefully through Spike's hands and feet in a horrific mockery of a crucifixion, and two more of the heavy metal rods were forced through his shoulder blades.

Sweat trickling down his forehead, Spike's bloody hand twitched on its own, and Jack smiled evilly. "What's the matter, *Sire*?" he asked, spitting out the word as if it left bad taste in his mouth. "You're starting to look a little pale."

Picking up a large hunting knife, Jack sighed deeply, playing with the sharp steel edge. "Don't grow weak on my now, *Daddy.* I'm far from done with you."

As Jack turned and walked to the still open door of the little cell, the peroxide-blonde allowed his eyes to slip shut again for just a few moments.

Dealing with the pain was hard enough, but it was also a great shame to him that his Childe had left the door open so all the minions scattered around wherever they were could hear his choked gurgles of pain. The only thing he was grateful for, was the chain that prevented him from screaming out loud.

"Everybody in here!" Jack bellowed, his sharp voice echoing in the warehouse. "Now!"

Spike opened his eyes again as the dark-haired man turned back to him, knife swinging loosely in his hand. An evil smirk appeared on his face, and he waggled his eyebrows. The expression in his eyes didn't bode well for the blonde.

No, Spike thought, no, it wasn't possible. There was no way...

Jack's minions scattered into the small cell, lining up along all the walls, all their eyes focused on the two men in the middle - one of them chained and bleeding, the other cocky and raising his hands in a triumphant way as his minions began to cheer.

When the cheers settled, Jack turned to Spike, a deadly look in his eyes. "Remember how you turned me, Sire? How you grabbed me off the street and raped me?"

Swallowing, Spike closed his eyes. No, he thought again. No...

"Yes!" Jack snapped, as if he'd read Spike's mind. Stepping over the chain holding the blonde's feet, Jack walked around Spike and gripped his hips tightly, so the blonde inhaled sharply in pain.

Moving a hand to the end of the poker standing out from Spike's back, Jack's grin became just a little bit bigger, before he pushed it slowly out, reveling in the strangled grunts Spike gave. The blonde's tear-streaked cheeks became wet as new, salty tears escaped his eyes at the pain, but it only caused Jack to chuckle.

Pressing the knife to the small of Spike's back with his right hand, the dark-haired vampire started to undo his pants with his left. Making a deep cut with the knife, Jack let the blood run down his Sire's ass cheeks and over the rosebud hidden between them.

"Keep your eyes open at all times, *Daddy.* If you close them, you pay the consequences."

Hadn't he already, Spike wondered?

Then a scream forced its way up his throat as Jack entered him and immediately started to thrust rapidly and harshly. The younger vampire couldn't penetrate Spike very deeply because of their positions, but that didn't mean it still hurt like hell. And it was only pure luck that the peroxide-blonde kept himself from closing his eyes in pain.

Instead, he tried to ignore the many minions standing in the room, laughing and cheering again.

His gaze focusing on somewhere in space, the blonde wished he was beyond pain - he wished he had been hurt so much or so badly that he couldn't feel anything anymore.

But he wasn't.

Every thrust Jack gave set his ass on fire as his tender channel was torn. Blood coated Jack's cock, but still it didn't seem to make it any easier - instead, it seemed to only hurt Spike further.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jack held up a hand and stilled his thrusts, but didn't pull out of Spike. "Witness," he told his minions, his voice breathless, an insane hitch to it. "The ultimate humiliation."

Then he sank his fangs into Spike's neck and started thrusting again.

Tears streamed from Spike's eyes both in physical and mental pain, and he longed for Angel. Praying to The Powers That Be and to all the higher powers in the world, Spike only wanted one thing at that moment - to be in his Sire's strong arms.

Finally coming into Spike's ass, Jack pulled both his fangs and his cock out of his Sire's body, before he fastened his pants nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened. Blood were running down Spike's thighs in thick rivers, mixing with the blood from his knees and feet, before it dripped down onto the floor.

A small trickle of semen joined the red fluid, making an odd streak in the deep color.

Finally allowing his eyes to slip closed, Spike's head lolled as much forward as the chain allowed him to, and he slipped into unconsciousness.

As the cheers from his minions faded off into silence, Jack tilted his head and looked at the unconscious peroxide-blonde, an almost curious look on his face. Slowly, he walked around the bloodied body, before he paused right in front of it, looking at Spike's face. Shaking his head, he turned to his minions, a cruel smile spreading across his lips.

"Fuck him," he simply said.

Then he walked out of the small cell without looking back.

*****

Angel ran quickly through the streets, the box he was carrying not doing anything to slow his steps, like it would have done to a human. The dark-haired vampire hoped he would be in time, and he hoped the spell would work properly, or both he and Spike would die.

Unless his Childe was already dead.

Shaking his head and briefly closing his eyes, Angel forced the thought away, refusing to even contemplate that fact.

Slowing down as he reached the abandoned warehouses, the dark-haired vampire melted into the shadows, not running anymore, but still moving quickly as he snuck into the building next to the one Spike was being held in.

He immediately found an area big enough for the spell, and put down the box, quickly starting to take out stones and chalk, drawing a large triangle on the floor and placing stones in the corners. His plan was to kill all of Jack's minions and chase Jack away, but it wasn't very likely. Angel knew he'd be rushed when he escaped with Spike, so everything needed to be ready when they came here.

As he prepared the rest of the spell, Angel prayed to The Powers That Be that everything would work out fine.

*****

Spike woke up to a cock pistoning in and out of his channel at a fast pace, pain immediately wrecking his entire body.

His eyes finally coming into focus, he saw Jack standing in front of him. Spike's Childe had obviously taken a break to clean himself up, but now he was watching with evil glee as all his minions raped Spike in turn.

The raven-haired vampire didn't allow them to orgasm - he just had them lined up behind the pale body and let them pump into Spike for a minute or so, before the next one took their place.

"Ah, you're awake," Jack chirped, a sophisticated smile settling on his features. "Just in time, there's only a couple of minions left."

Spike's eyes rolled back in his head in pain as the minions fucking him pulled out, and another immediately forced his way in. His body shuddered, but he didn't manage to groan.

"You know, for a while, I was actually considering keeping you," Jack said, pacing calmly back and forth in front of Spike. "You know. Keep you as a pet. A fuck-toy for my pleasure only. Wouldn't that be a humiliation? The entire world would know that William the Bloody was being dominated by his Childe!"

He paused for a moment, watching the horror in Spike's eyes at the inhuman idea. "But then I figured that it would be much more fun to just kill you now, after all."

As the last minion finished fucking Spike and quickly left the cell, Jack brought out the hunting knife again. The blade had been cautiously cleaned of all traces of blood, and the younger vampire walked closer to his Sire.

"This is the fun part," he told the older vampire, with barely held excitement in his voice. "Cuttin' off and cuttin' up. Where should I start? Your nose? Your fingers?" He paused and brought the knife down to Spike's flaccid cock. "Your dick?"

The sound of a door being forced open somewhere in the building, and then the sound of several vampires getting dusted, only made Jack arch a brow. "Looks like we have to speed things up a little," he told Spike, then stepped even closer to the blonde, carefully avoiding the pokers standing out of him.

Spike swallowed and closed his eyes.

*****

Angel fought back tears as he staked vampires east and west. Spike's scent was on them all, and the smell of Spike's blood penetrated the air inside the building, a hundred times stronger than outside.

The dark-haired vampire lost himself in the fight, blinded by worry and sorrow and anger, and he barely registered it when he ran out of makeshift stakes and started ripping the minions' heads off with his bare hands.

He wanted desperately to find Jack, to put him out of the game, so he could rescue Spike and still avoid the history changing. He also wanted to give Jack a damn good beating while he was at it.

Suddenly there were no more vampire, and Angel stopped, registering that everybody was gone. He had dusted close to all of the minions, and the few that had survived his attack were fleeing in all directions, only wanting to get out from the warehouse.

Loyalty to their master was long forgotten.

Angel watched as the last minions disappeared around a corner, before he took off running in the opposite direction, following the smell of Spike's blood. He quickly found the small cell, but when he entered it he froze.

Then he turned around and promptly threw up.

Quivering and nauseous, Angel slowly turned back around to face the horrible sight before him.

The pokers and the spikes through Spike's stomach, heart, kneecaps, hands and feet were not the worst.

The blood and the obvious signs of rape wasn't what caused Angel's blood to leave his body and his breath to leave his lungs.

It wasn't the chains holding his Childe, that made the bile rise in the back of Angel's throat again.

A sob escaping the dark-haired vampire, he let his eyes roam over Spike's mutilated body. A railroad spike was sticking out of the blonde's forehead, fresh blood oozing from the wound. The incredible, blue eyes were no more, cut neatly out of their sockets and laying on the floor in a large puddle of blood.

Next to Spike's genitals.

Sinking to his knees, his entire body starting to shiver violently, Angel had to face the fact that there was no hope for his Childe this time. There was nothing he could do to save Spike. No spell, no miracle, no powers on earth could.

He had read about this before, Angel's mind told him, although his numb body didn't seem to absorb the information completely. The Dead Man's Death. A deep coma vampires could fall into, which they never awoke from. It was rare, and the few cases registered had occurred after heavy torture, hypnosis or certain forms for brainwashing, Angel remembered.

Heavy torture...

The souled vampire's body kept shivering, and his teeth clattered in his mouth. Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, Angel let out a long wail for the Childe he'd lost, for the love he'd lost, and for every memory that died with the peroxide blonde.

He didn't know exactly how long he sat there, but finally he got to his feet, his body still shivering and trembling so much his vision was shaking.

After building up enough courage and making sure he wouldn't throw up again, Angel carefully took a few steps forward, quickly finding the locks to the manacles and chains that held the blonde.

Breaking the locks easily, the dark-haired vampire carefully lowered his Childe onto his side, then eased the pokers and the railroad spikes out of him. The horrible sight won over the vampire's attempts to calm himself down, and he had to take a break to throw up again.

Then Angel squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, took several deep and slow breaths, before he turned back around and carefully picked up Spike's still form.

As he left the warehouse, he registered that Jack was nowhere to be seen, and he knew history wouldn't be changed a bit.

Jack would see Spike on the street in 1967, go into a fit or rage because he would think the blonde had survived his torture, and Spike would kill him.

Tears continued to run down Angel's face, making streaks in the blood there, as the souled vampire carried his Childe over to the warehouse where he had set up the spell, and then sat down in the circle, cradling the blonde's body in his arms. Hugging Spike tight, Angel didn't care that he was getting blood everywhere, and finally let himself cry.

His Childe was gone. Angel didn't dare to even try to imagine unlife without the peroxide-blonde's sardonic grins, or the deep, accented voice calling him a bloody poof.

"No," he gasped out, rocking back and forth, his broken heart seemingly bleeding everywhere and coating the world in a sorrowful, deep red that threatened to swallow him whole and never let him go.

Angel's harsh sobs echoed in the warehouse, and his tears dripped from his eyes and down into the deep hole in Spike's forehead after the railroad spike. His thoughts and tears and sobs reaching out to all the Gods and Goddesses in the world, Angel prayed that his Childe would wake up and come back to him and love him.

But nobody heard his prayers.

*****