*****
Part 14:

All eyes turned to the door as they entered the break room and silence greeted them. The room was considerably larger than Rupert's office and the humans were having coffee around a long, cheap table. Spike tensed, waiting for Angel to attack. Giles was standing by the coffeemaker and seemed far too calm to know that the chip had been removed. Red and the poof began to compete for Xander's attention. Since his Sire was largely ignoring him, Spike assumed that the witch had kept her mouth shut about the chip.

Once they had gone over the plan, or lack thereof, Xander put Cordelia in charge of the base and left the witches and the Watchers to sort out the magical details. He took Spike, Angel, and Angel's newest minion, along with two of the runners to send back with orders, and they went to explore the remnants of the school. Angel and his minion fretted out loud about defensive liabilities and the quality of the forces they had at their disposal. Xander paced the dilapidated corridors of his old school and looked grim and determined. Just as the minions were beginning to eye the outsiders with concern and showed signs of mounting terror, Xander clapped his hands once and said, "Okay this is what were going to do."

The minions' attention was immediately focused on the calm young man who kneeled down to diagram his strategies in the dust on the floor. He pointed out where explosives would be placed and indicated three separate lines of defenses. Xander's minions scribbled frantic notes on clipboards. Angel and is minion looked on in stunned silence. Xander countered most of their previously voiced apprehensions and had obviously considered a great many more details than they had. The boy used his knowledge of the school's layout and each perimeter he established had an evacuation contingency planned. The fact that one of their own was in charge and showed no intention of throwing their lives away reassured the minions. When Xander sent them back to the parking garage with orders for Jonothan and Cordelia their eyes burned with a light of determination.

Xander showed Angel and his minion the ins and outs of the library, and noted the changes the area had gone through since the last time they had defended it against demons. Then, leaving them to start setting up a defensive barricade, Xander and Spike headed back to the base. After a brief conference with the magic users, Xander had Spike escort them and their supplies to the library. Xander stayed with the Rennies, readying and directing the placement of the explosives.

Spike hurried back to the parking garage, having been reluctant to be separated from his mate for even such a short time. He hoped this tense attachment was due to the upcoming battle. If Xander ended up having to be trapped in his tiny office every day with a stir crazy, over-protective vampire he just might start to regret their involvement.

The tunnel access was two levels above the one that housed their makeshift army. As Spike emerged from the stairwell into the deserted infirmary, he heard Xander's voice resounding in the parking area. Spike was drawn toward the sound and once in the vast pillared space easily spotted Xander standing on a table surrounded by his minions.

Public speaking obviously wasn't the boy's forte, but he wasn't babbling and he didn't stutter. He was honest to the point of bluntness. He told them just who and what the Initiative was and detailed how dangerous the upcoming battle could be - along with the expected results if they did and if they did not fight. Without offering false hope he managed to convey his belief that they had a chance of succeeding.

To Spike's surprise Xander wrapped up his impromptu speech by offering every one of them the chance to back out. A demon would have leveled threats and perhaps killed the first to look hesitant as an example, and would still have lost at least half his force to desertion as soon as a losing battle was engaged. Xander said he understood fear and the need for self-preservation but he wouldn't have asked them all to be here if he thought that hiding anywhere would have been safer. He pointed out that each of them would be depending on the others to hold their position and stick to the plan. The only way the tiered evacuations of each perimeter would work would be if each of them could trust the one behind them to watch their backs, and he would rather anyone who was going to bolt do it now than when others were staking their lives on them. Spike shook his head in amazement; not one left.

Spike had slowly made his way to he back of the crowd as his boy spoke. When Xander clapped his hands and dispersed his troops Spike closed the remaining distant to the table. Looking up, he was blessed with Xander's smile. Before Xander could jump down on his own, Spike reached up and placing both hands firmly on the boy's hips, slowly lifted him down.

"You're such a romantic." Xander whispered and kissed him softly. Then he pulled back and placed both hands on Spike's shoulders. Spike watched as he visibly shifted from lover to leader and added, "How are the witches holding up?"

"Nervous but optimistic. Red's hoping this can be solved without bloodshed." Seeing Xander's grimace, Spike asked, "Not likely, eh?"

"Spike, you've seen the way they operate. Thinking things through isn't their strong point. They react, and usually on the basis of incomplete or inaccurate information. Take Adam," the boy shook his head with disgust, his warm hands dropping down from Spike's shoulders to his chest. "They fucked up - I can't begin to list the ways. I keep asking myself why."

Spike tightened his hold on Xander and pulled him closer. "Not going to disagree with you, Pet. But why does it bother you? Any mistake they make is - what do you lot say - of the good."

"No. Yes. Aragh!" Xander was exasperated. In Spike experience that was always either as a result of no or resulted in an inability to communicate. Spike gave him a gentle shake and waited for him to sort out what he had been trying to say. Xander closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. When he opened them he spoke in the calm, authoritative voice he had used to garner his troops. "I'm not even twenty one yet. I have no training. Why are well-trained, experienced officers making mistakes even I can spot? I keep asking myself are they really this stupid, or are they being set up? Most of them only follow orders - could whoever is directing this want them to fail?"

"All good questions, love. Might want to save them for another day though." Spike offered with a smile, and was pleased when it was halfheartedly returned.

"Spike, do you have any idea how much worse it could have been - even without the whole Adam fiasco? How much higher the body count could have been? We got so lucky. The worst part is that they never knew. The never realized that blind chance and the Slayer kept the whole thing contained."

Xander sounded scared for the first time since he had taken over the operation. He had been worried and sometimes in doubt but this - this was fear. Spike wouldn't let his mate go into battle smelling of fear and attempted to break the mood by oozing charm while seductively saying, "Too right, Frankendemon could have taken out the chip and then they would have had me to deal with."

He wasn't prepared for Xander's frankly stated, "Exactly."

"Pet, joke. Xander?" Spike marveled. Xander's gaze was no longer fearful but he had never seen the boy look at him like this. Xander often looked at him with love, lust, friendship and, yes, exasperation, irritation, taunting amusement and a variety of other emotions. But at the moment Spike felt all his carefully constructed facades stripped away. Xander was looking at him the way he had looked at the blueprints of the garage and the way he had cased the high school. At this moment Spike felt that Xander saw all his weakness - every bad decision and poorly executed plan.

"Spike, you're a Master vampire, smart, street-savvy, dangerous. That whole operation was set up on assumptions - unwarranted assumptions. One that you're an inferior being and that they are smarter, more experienced, and better prepared. Based wholly upon- my guess - dealing with fledges so new hat they still think like humans. Two, that you are all they had to deal with - like a stray dog - again largely true with minions, but that completely discounts that you could be part of a community - one just as likely to have a standing military and defensive response protocols as their own. Three, that each of the species of hostiles is as unlikely to communicate with others as, say, different animal species - suicidally wrong. Think of it. Someone looking to consolidate power could have used this common threat to unite demons species who would never have fought side by side without a shared enemy."

"I love it when you talk like that - let's take over the world together," Spike purred.

Xander dropped his intensely paranoid look, laughed, and shyly lowered his lashes. "Sorry." Then he looked up and cocked his head and said, "Hey! You never want to take over the world. Eat it, fuck it, trash it - yeah. It was always Angelus who was into politics."

Spike snickered. "You know me too well, Pet. Got everything I want - never had the poof's ambitions."

"Or his suicidal tendencies. Did you ever notice, Angelus has the survival instincts of a lemming? With the soul attached he's not as bad, but soul-free psycho boy made some really questionable choices." Spike wished Angel were near to hear Xander assess the Scourge of Europe.

"Crossed me for one," Spike agreed.

"Smartest move he made," at Spike's questioning look Xander added, "If you hadn't double-crossed him....well, just think about it. What sort of 'reward' do you think Acathla would bestow on the one who freed him, hum? The honor of being his first meal? In my experience, Gods, demons or whatever do not let anyone who may have some claim on them stick around to call in debts on their power base."

"Did you know that the Judge wanted to kill me? Said I wasn't demon enough, tainted with humanity." Spike growled and morphed to his game face thinking of that dark time with Angelus and Dru.

"No." Xander leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly across Spike's brow ridges. "You're perfect." Then he added in a teasing voice, "But stay pissed off, we can use you in 'Slayer of Slayers' mode for this."

Spike chuckled and shifted to his human face. "Come on, Pet, let's go check on your minions."

"Ah, Spike?" Xander blinked.

"Yeah, Pet?" Spike said turning and heading toward the exit, sensing Xander fall in behind him.

"You might not want to call them that."

~~~~~~~~~

Spike shadowed Xander as he paced the defensive lines and reviewed the positions the explosives had been planted in. The minions, while leery around Angel, accepted Spike. Spike was surprised at how many he recognized, not just from Buffy's memorial service, but from around town. Spike often accompanied Dawn, Xander or the witches when they went anywhere after dark. Now the girl from the video store was dispensing weapons and the young man who was manager of the local Cineplex was carting around a cooler of soda for the troops. It was strange. They were food. Yet, he knew that the black man listening so intently to the Rennie lecture about explosives worked at the vets and had let them in after hours when Willow had been sure her cat was poisoned after eating some spell components. All of this fearful food rushing about acknowledged his place at his mate's side and this helped to calm his blood lust, which was strained by the anticipation of battle.

They ended up outside of the library. Angel and his minion had erected a barricade, which left room for a single person to go in or out at a time. Xander updated them on the troop placement and outlined the most likely scenarios of attack. His mate's beloved rocket launcher was inside the library, Xander having opted instead for a dart gun with tranquilizers. In answer to the speculative looks of both Angel and his minion, Xander had simply said, "Oz," and left Peaches to explain to his boy. Spike enjoyed their looks of confusion almost as much as he had the shock on Angel's face when Xander had earlier snapped open the crate of shells and with quiet, practiced efficiency loaded his portable cannon.

"Xander?" Angel had asked. "I always wondered, where did you get a rocket launcher?"

"It's Buffy's." Xander said and Spike had stepped close to glare at his Sire for distracting his mate with dark thoughts before the battle.

"Yes, I remember. Where did Buffy get it? I don't think the Watcher's Council has these in their training kits."

"I got it for her - birthday present. You got her the Judge. She liked my present better." Spike watched regret seep into Xander's eyes at the reminder of Angel's soul-free vacation and Xander added, "Cordy and I heisted it from an Army base. Willow and Oz worked lookout from the getaway van." Xander smiled at Angel's minion and said, "Dating, Hellmouth style. It was actually one of Cordy's and my better dates - probably because it was so much like shopping."

Spike was surprised when Xander wanted the four of them to hide, since if the Initiative made it this far they would be well aware of the resistance. Xander explained that they were hoping that the Initiative's history of overestimating their superiority would work in favor of the Children. Since this plan had him pressed close against Xander's warm back, Spike was all for it. Even his trademark impatience didn't plague him as he listened to his mate's steady heartbeat.

Time passed and soon the only thing Spike found himself fighting was the impulse to throw the boy against the wall and shock the hell out of Peaches and his new pet. After the sounds of the battle being engaged began, Xander's scent changed abruptly and he tensed. Spike wondered if the boy had picked up the sign of intruders on his own or if the bond between them gave him access to the information Spike's enhanced senses were providing. It was the runner's foot falls which had alerted Spike, and Xander, being human, shouldn't have reacted until the sound came closer. One of Xander's minion rounded the corner and brought word of the struggle. It seemed as if they had been waiting for hours, and Spike knew he would never have been able to stay still this close to so much mindless violence without the sunlit scent of his mate. The runner reported that, so far, there was no loss of life or serious injury among the Children. Spike felt his boy sag with relief once he knew his minions were safe. His mate had the makings of a fine Master vampire. Xander sent the runner off with orders and visibly steeled himself for what was about to happen.

Seconds later it was all Spike could do to keep himself from ripping into the humans Angel and his pet had so quickly pinned to the wall. Two commandos struggled to escape from their captors, but both familiar-smelling solider gits who had chipped him were instantly out of the action. The one thing that kept him from ripping them out of the care of Angel and company was Xander's predatory prowl towards the helpless men. Spike had never sensed the emotions that churned through Xander's scent, but he knew one false move on his part just might send Xander spiraling into a berserker rage. Xander's voice was cold and dripped with sarcasm when he said, "Well, well, well. Riley Finn."

*****
Part 15:

Spike's sweet, gentle boy had torn into the commando with a cold, manipulative rage that did him proud. With a few calm sentences Xander reduced the all-American soldier boy to a sobbing heap. When he asked Finn to not make him break his kneecap in a seductive whisper, Spike shuddered. How much of this was Xander and how much was some demon-born taint to the boy's heroic soul? Was his association with Spike turning him into what he had fought against for so long? Spike worried this thought over and over in his mind until he and Xander left the captured commando with his Sire and went to change the objective of the mission.

Xander seemed to think Rayne a greater threat than Spike did, but Xander was better at these things so Spike followed and waited for orders. He was almost giddy with relief when the two of them stopped briefly before reaching the back of the first perimeter and Xander let the mask of indifference slip. This wasn't a tainted soul; this was his boy, his loving overburdened boy. His boy was sick with what he had done and what he might have to do. But the sight of that clenched jaw and white-knuckled grip on his weapon told Spike that Xander was prepared to do whatever it took to protect the people he loved and felt responsible for.

So they made the rounds, Xander supervising the evacuation of his troops while keeping careful tally of the Initiative's dead and wounded. A Buffy-like blond ran up to Xander and grabbed his arm, prompting a growl from Spike, and said, "Jeff got zapped."

"Shit!" Xander looked ready to kill something.

"No, well, yeah - but Kayla says he'll be okay. Anyway, the guy that shot him told Cordelia that the three ranking officers just dropped in their tracks for no apparent reason. We have them back at the infirmary under guard - well, they're still unconscious, but, you know. Is this magic? Cordy wants to know if we did it?"

"No." Xander looked around and flagged down a fresh runner. "Do this," he said to the girl. "Stay here and speed up the evac - get everyone out. Have our people watch out for each other first, but if at all possible remove the Initiative's dead and wounded." He addressed the runner, "Tell Cordy that I commandeered Amy to run the retreat. Tell her we didn't put the whammy on the soldiers, that Ethan Rayne has turned the tables on his captors and is making a power play and to act accordingly - she'll know what to do. Go!"

"But if this guy is their enemy..." Amy started to ask.

"This guy is no one's friend; these people are his fall guys. Don't give any of them a chance to hurt our people but don't kill any of them if you don't have to." Xander handed the tiny blonde over to the front line leader and made sure that they were clear on what to touch and not touch on the way out. The back door Angel had arranged was off the boy's locker room under what was left of the gym. The last of the minions to leave was to shift a row of lockers to hide the tunnel should anyone try and follow.

They were on their way back to the library, skulking along the eerily quiet corridors when Xander cautiously approached a fallen lab-coated figure. Just as the boy reached to check the body's pulse Spike grabbed Xander and pulled him away.

"Ouch!" Xander rubbed his upper arm.

"Sorry," Spike said absently. "It smells wrong - like magic."

"You hurt me," Xander said.

"I'm sorry, Pet," Spike said, paying more attention and making eye contact.

Xander grinned and kissed him and said again, "You. Hurt. Me."

"I'm sorry..." The chip. The chip hadn't gone off. He had hurt Xander and the chip hadn't gone off. Spike had known it before but now - now it sank in. He had hurt his sweet boy - albeit mildly - but still the chip was gone. He could kill Xander. What if he did? He was impulsive. He was a demon. What if in the heat of anger he destroyed the one person who had ever loved him?

Worried brown eyes broke into Spike's train of thought as Xander gripped his shoulders and gave him a mild shake. "Spike? I'm happy for you but this is not the time to zone out. You have to pay attention. Promise me you won't forget you can fight back. Remember, you hold a piece of my heart, and I'm counting on you to keep it safe - keep yourself safe." Xander gave him a soft kiss and added, "Come on, let's head back to the library."

Just before they entered the library Xander stopped Spike and kissed him hard. "I'm going to tell you to do something you don't want to do; you're just going to have to trust me." Spike offered the boy a skeptical look but waited to hear him out. "I know if there's a melee your instinct is going to tell you to protect me. I'm asking you to trust me to survive on my own - I've made it this far." Xander clamped a hand over Spike's mouth to prevent the inevitable comment. "I need your first objective to be to protect the witches. Going up against Rayne - they are our best shot at defeating him - I need you to see they stay safe long enough to do something."

Spike didn't like to admit it but Xander was right. Still, that didn't stop him from tracking his mate's every move once he had taken up a position inside, watching the door along side Angel's new boy. As a card-carrying evil undead bastard Spike had never given much thought to karma, but the almost instantaneous reward he received for his obedience had him pondering the concept.

After checking in with the others upon entering the library, Xander was once again drawn into a confrontation with that sniveling soldier boy Finn. Xander not only pointed out just how much danger Finn had put them all in, but defended Spike's action in revealing the weakling's addiction to Buffy and outed the blood whore to his commando partner and the fang gang. Angel of course was all concerned for Buffy's castoff version of Angel-lite, but Spike wondered just where that interest came from. He was willing to bet that the gelled one had paid for it more than once since he had had that soul slapped on him.

The actual endgame wasn't much of a dustup. Spike had had far more vigorous workouts playing slap and tickle with the Slayer. His sweet brown-eyed boy hadn't even gotten to fire his rocket launcher. That moment though, when Xander had flown into the wall and hit the floor dazed - even seeing the tall, silent commando taking up a guarding position over the boy - it had been all Spike could do to follow Xander's orders. He had killed the demon/soldier instantly. Rupes might have said to try to spare them but Spike wasn't wasting time, he wanted to be free to defend his mate should the commando fail. Then, in a flash of blue light, it was over and all that was left was to sort through the dead and the wounded.

Xander wanted level the high school. Spike told him he could have all the explosions he wanted but the witch and the Watcher said that no, he couldn't. Since Xander's lower lip did not have the same mysterious persuasive power over them as it did over Spike, the remains of the school were left intact. Spike thought they would never get out of there. Xander's extended pack all seemed to need to touch and be acknowledged by their alpha male. It was downright wrong to hear humans saying 'let's do this again sometime' when they were referring to the events of that night.

They evacuated the parking lot base as if they were leaving a covered dish picnic, although the leftovers they were discussing the distribution of were mostly weapons and bombs. One bright soul worked in a self-storage warehouse and volunteered space until the surplus could be sorted out. Xander asked Jonothan to take the U-Haul and see to it and asked if he would mind returning the truck for him later. Spike held back a snicker; the boy looked at his Xander with such hero worship the vampire though he might faint when Xander shook his hand and said, "Thanks. We couldn't have done this without you."

Xander was kind and generous to all his minions, and had expressly forbidden Spike calling them that as rule number eight. When Angel approached Xander and asked if they might have a word, Spike was torn between mentioning that Angelus could take some pointers on how to treat his minions from his Xander and ripping out the poof over-gelled hair. He settled for growling and wrapping his arms around his mate's broad chest from behind. Xander laughed, turned his head and kissed Spike's cheek. Spike was catching on to the fact that Angel looked more disturbed when Xander's displays of affection were conducted when Spike was in game face than when he at least looked human.

Xander reached out and shook Angel's hand, further confusing the poof's tiny little mind, and said, "Thanks. I know you're more of a loner, but you really came through for the team. Did you really mean it? Can Riley be helped? Is it a death wish? I gotta admit, five years of trying to stay alive in this hellhole has me questioning his sanity."

Well, that obviously wasn't where the souled one thought the conversation was going to go. From the baffled look at the snarling vampire Xander was currently wearing as a cape, his Sire might just launch in to a pot and kettle speech. Spike snickered and shifted to his human guise. "Oh, believe me, Pet, Peaches really wants to help our Riley." Spike leered. Xander ignored him, and Angel glared.

"Actually, Xander, I was more concerned about your relationship with Spike..." he started.

"Oh God, Deadboy, I am so not prepared to have you as a father-in-law." Xander giggled - quite a bit. He continued until Spike started to worry that he might have to snag one of the humans to do mouth to mouth. Angel looked irritated.

"You're loopy, Pet. I'll admit he's a riot, but this isn't like you." Spike rubbed his boy's rippling abdomen, and waited for him to stop gasping.

"I'm sorry. Really. I'm fried. Really fried. If you want any sort of serious conversation, I need sleep first." He leaned back against Spike.

Angel sighed and looked contrite. "No, you're right, this isn't the time, but we do need to talk."

"Cordy has my number, just give me the weekend to unscramble my brains."

If Spike had need proof of just how few brain cells were functioning for his Xander he had it when the boy didn't even flinch when the brooding one almost touched him. Xander's eyes had begun to flutter shut as he leaned against Spike. Angel reached up with tentative fingers that hovered less than an inch from Xander. Spike glared at Angel. Angel glared at Spike. The standoff broke when Angel's boy summoned him to the Watcher.

Right. Time to get him marked good and proper and keep the bloody competition away!

~~~~~~

Xander tripped three times on the stairs up to their apartment. Spike gave up all pretense of trying to appear human and carried the boy up the last few flights. He stood Xander against the wall and fumbled for his keys. Once the door was opened, Xander grabbed him and pulled him close. "Need sleep. Need you. Come sleep," Xander mumbled against the side of Spike's neck.

"Very poetic, Pet." Spike carried Xander to bed and spent the better part of the next twenty-four hours wrapped tightly around his mate. Xander made three trips to the bathroom and one to the kitchen to chug a quart of orange juice, but Spike was sure the boy would have no memory of the events since each time he was asleep again before his head hit the pillow.

Keeping a watchful eye on the boy, Spike paced while fretting over the need to mark his mate, and in general behaved like the bloody souled-one. Angel had been right about one thing; the sharing of blood they had been playing at singled Xander out to any of the night breed. Once marked the boy would be safe from any attacks from all but the most irreverent of challengers. Once the mortal was bound to Spike the only acceptable way to kill him would be to go through Spike. Given his own careful adherence to protocol and demon lore Spike wasn't willing to bet Xander's life on such conventions, but a little insurance never hurt.

Red called to see how Xander was and to leave an update on the Nibblet. Dawn wanted to see them both and after Willow explained separation anxiety in an endless stream of babble, Spike told her that Xander was practically a corpse and wouldn't be able to speak in complete sentences until at least dinnertime. She giggled and said they would bring Chinese.

The talk of food sent Spike to the kitchen. Given his restraint since the chip was removed he opted for two units of O neg as a reward.

"Should I keep restocking that?" Spike turned to see Xander leaning in the doorway. He looked delicious and tussled. All that tanned flesh covered by a tiny pair of raggedy, cutoff sweat pants - which had a disturbingly misplaced bulge next to the one Spike was focused on.

Dragging his gaze away from the distracting boy, Spike considered what Xander had just asked. Could he be having second thoughts now that the chip was gone? Had Spike let his guard down to soon? This was it. Well, fine. If the bastard didn't want him Spike would... Would what? What could he do?

"Thinking of chucking me out, Pet?"

Xander's heartbeat skyrocketed. The scent of fear filled the air. Spike was crushed. How could Xander think Spike would harm him - in any way. "No, dipshit. I thought... I figured you might want... to start..."

Spike pinned Xander to the wall. Spike wanted to hurt him - hurt Xander like he was hurting him. Spike inhaled the fear and pain, and yet this warm, blood-filled human didn't smell like prey. Even in his rage part of him screamed `MINE!' and prevented any physical violence. That part didn't prevent him from snarling out in full fang, "What? Thought I'd start culling the herd?"

Xander's thick dark lashes were wet with unshed tears but what he gasped out was the last thing Spike expected to hear. He didn't beg for mercy, he didn't say he had expected this turn of events given Spike's demon nature. The boy whispered "I don't want you to leave. I don't want to lose you."

Heaven and Hell. Heaven and Hell - Good and Evil! How could he have been so blind? Spike had told Red, but not once since the chip had come out had he told Xander that he still felt the same. It was so easy to forget how young Xander was. From the very beginning, Xander had been the aggressor; even with his limited experience, he had been the one to take all the risks - to plunge forward blindly and bravely. The fear - the sadness in his scent - he was afraid he would lose Spike. Spike knew his own romantic history left him with a 'strike first' attitude toward rejection - but was Xander's former love life any better? In his short life Spike's boy had been abandoned as much as Spike had been in over a century. It was time to show some trust, time for Spike to be an adult and take a risk. All his brooding over how to approach Xander about marking him seemed silly. He knew the boy was head over heels in love with him. *Interesting picture that, getting Xander's long, strong legs up in the air while pounding into his hot tight body is definitely on the to do list for today.* At that lovely thought Spike dove forward and scraped his fangs across Xander's neck, careful not to hurt him, but delighting in the anticipatory shiver that moved though his boy. "I'm not going anywhere - not ever! We clear on that?" Spike morphed to his human form and forced Xander to look him in the eyes.

Once again the boy hit him with an unanticipated question. "Are you going to turn me?"

*Bloody hell!* "Do you want me to?" As a Childe, Xander would worship Spike, but Spike was rather flattered that Xander wanted him - loved him - without that coercion.

"Do you want to?" *Great he's angry, guess that's better than afraid. What's the right answer here, hum? If I say no will it seem like I'm rejecting him? Shit, if I say yes, will he think I just want to shag his demon-possessed corpse into a blood-soaked puddle? Oooo, lovely image.*

"Xander." *I just can't win this one, by all that's unholy I swear sometimes my boy has PMS.*

Before Spike could let go of the boy, Xander warm hands pinned Spike's slim fingers in place and he said, "I need to know what you want. I need to know...how you feel."

Was that the solution? Should he just tell him the truth? Novel approach. "I want you. However I can have you, for as long as I can have you." There would be time later to mention that this might be longer than Xander thought even without the turning. "If Red can find a way for you to still be you - then fine, but otherwise...I can bag it for your lifetime."

A glimmer of hope crossed Xander's expressive face followed by a touch of awe when he stroked Spike cheek. "And Dawn's?" he ventured almost reluctantly.

He asked so little and offered so much Spike couldn't help but smile. This man - this good man loved him. Him, William the bloody awful poet, the Big Bad, fuck up, psychopath - an odd term of endearment but it suited him and when Xander said it, it seemed lovely - in all of Spike's freaking incarnations Xander loved him. "And Dawn's," Spike agreed.

Oh, wasn't his boy beautiful when he smiled. Xander must be the sun god's favorite bastard - seasons changed, night became day and the world was reborn in his darling boy's smile. "I have something for you." From defiant, to awed, to inexplicably shy in the space of a moment, now Xander's scent shifted to anticipatory.

An intriguing proposition when he reached toward his shorts, but it was the other bulge he removed. Xander pulled out a small box - the kind that held jewelry. Skunked again - his boy had knackers - always in the lead that one, absolutely fearless. The last love Xander had bought jewelry for had run out of his llife at the next sunrise. All the while Spike had been worrying over Xander's possible refusal to the visible marking of mate and here the boy was offering some sort of human equivalent. Spike worked on staying calm as he reached for the box and tried to distract his love's attention by joking, "That better not be an engagement ring, Pet."

The chip - it was the chip. Mounted on a silver pendant, the back of which was engraved with an `X' that had the letter `S' wrapped around it like a lover. *How the hell?* Spike had been hovering about his boy almost nonstop since the chip had been removed; when had Xander arranged this? In all that chaos, with everything - everyone - he had to worry about Xander had somehow found time for this. Spike wanted to say how much that simple fact meant to him. He wanted to somehow express what it meant to have been thought of, for the first time in his existence, ahead of all others. Instead he said, "What's this?

*Why do I do that? Why do I strike out first? With anyone else it makes sense to hurt them before they can hurt me - but this is my boy - my Xander. I want him bound to me forever, yet I never trust him enough to let down my guard.*

Spike marveled when Xander, as he did with everything else, let his snarkiness roll right off him and mimicked Spike's accent while saying, "What do you mean `What's this?'?"

"What does it mean, Xander?" *Hold on, that didn't come out exasperated. And how come I sound breathless when I don't need to breath? Couldn't be the thought that this might mean he'd agree to be mine - all the way - blood bond, flesh marked, mated human to vampire, whatever that entails?*

Without a blush or a trace of teasing Xander looked him firmly in the eyes and said, "It means....It means, I greatly esteem you."

Spike couldn't stop the snort of derision. As soon as he did it he regretted it. *Wonderful way to seduce him. First force him to be the one to put his feelings into words and then show contempt and disbelief. And you wonder why everyone leaves you? Wanker.*

"I do, you know." Xander motioned hesitantly toward the pendent. "You didn't just survive this. You conquered it." *Happy, Spike? A minute ago he was confident and now he's looking down and biting his lip. Are you proud of your accomplishment?* "I... If I haven't told you, I admire you. Your tenacity, your strength. You've really come through for me, for all of us." *How many times have I wanted to tell him that, but me - The Big Bad - was too afraid to say the words. He's the brave one.*

"Put it on for me, eh, Pet?" Spike didn't trust the steadiness of his own hands to fasten the clasp. Then there was the added incentive of Xander's warm finger lingering over his neck as he adjusted the chain. No one - no one had ever looked at him like this. Not Dru in the alley that last night of his life, certainly never Angelus no matter how hard Spike tried to please him. Xander's gaze was not acquisitive like Drusillia or calculating like Angelus; Xander looked at Spike as if he were a rare work of art or the last sunset the boy would ever see. *Dark one, all I request is a portion of love. Whatever my defects, you are for me a name of raptures. Let the world cast its judgment, nothing changes my heart -- a single word from your lips is sufficient [1]*

"Say something, Pet." Spike said with a laugh, if Xander didn't focus his attention on something beside Spike he was going to find himself thrown to the floor. *Hold on! What's wrong with that?*

It seemed Xander's inner voice were shouting out something similar as his eyes dilated and Spike could swear he heard all the blood in Xander's body rushing toward his boy's cock. Xander's whisper slipped into every corner of Spike's mind when he said, "Fuck me?"

*A request? I can do requests, Dark One.* "Here, or in the bedroom?" Spike asked, raising Xander a good three inches off the floor by holding firmly on his hips, prepared to take him wherever he suggested. Spike hoped once he sated the desperate need to reestablish their physical bond he could broach the subject of marking to Xander with some control.

Any hope of control was flushed when Spike watch Xander's expressive face reveal his turmoil at having to choose one or the other before turning his wide-eyed, oh-so-innocent-seeming gaze on his lover and gasping out, "Both?"

Spike growled as images of tearing into this trusting human battered at him. He leveled what Xander had referred to as his patented-serial-killer-look on the boy as he lowered him with the slow control that vampiric strength gave the shorter man. Without the chip as a safety net, Xander had no idea what a dangerous position he was in. As Spike firmly turned Xander to face the wall the boy's body transmitted desire and readiness in scent and a variety of unconscious reactions. As his growl changed to a purr, Spike felt a moment of fear. What if Xander hadn't responded willingly? Would this be a rape or a murder? How would he have reacted, unchipped, if Xander had given off a scent of fear? It was a moot point at the moment, since as soon as Spike had ripped the shorts off Xander's body, the young man had braced himself on the wall and thrust back willingly spread legs as an offering to his demon lover.

Spike trailed his fingers down Xander's broad, beautiful back as he lowered himself to kneel behind his boy. He needed a moment. Standing put him too close to the tempting mortal's neck. The desire coursing through his demon-animated corpse had little to do with feeding but was not entirely fueled by lust. The thought of plundering his boy and his new found ability to cause pain was far too tempting. Spike buried his face between the muscled orbs of Xander's offered ass. Slowly licking deep into his boy's puckered entrance he inhaled the scent of his lover, hoping to stave off the vision of his own cock covered in Xander's blood. Not that he really wanted to cause his boy pain - well not much, although all those threatened spankings danced about in his chipless head, but that would have to wait. Right now he needed to sate them both before he hurt the boy, and then get him marked.

Oddly enough Xander's heavy breathing and the soft whimper he released as Spike scraped his human teeth over the boy's balls served to calm the demon more than the two bags of human blood. Spike would have sworn Xander was too far gone to offer up more than a `Mhureegl' as he reached for the remains of his snack which could double as lube. So he was surprised by the amazingly coherent cry of "Rule four! Rule four!" coming from over his head.

*Must be doing something wrong if he can still talk.* Lifting his face from Xander's alluring backside, Spike asked, "What was rule four again?"

"No using blood as lube." How that had escaped being rule one had a lot to do with Xander's odd human values. Spike had intended to enjoy the whimpering that resulted from his ceasing his attention to Xander's second favorite hot spot, but realized he was at a point where he had to either bury his tongue or his fangs in Xander.

Choosing his tongue he set the mug down and said, "Need something, Pet," and plunged back in, leaving Xander to produce lube. There was a delightful struggle as Xander attempted to remain in contact with said tongue - as if he had a choice - and rummage around the kitchen. There was a crash and something rolled across the floor just before Xander frantically thrust a bottle of olive oil down to Spike. Spike reluctantly parted from the taste of Xander and began to work the oil deep into his lover. The way Xander's body so willingly yielded to the penetration of Spike's fingers made up for the loss of the tempting taste of him. Spike felt safe enough to stand behind his naked human as he buried three of his fingers in the hot, moist cavern of his mate.

Xander leaned back into him, exposing his long, strong throat. *Such a tease.* Or was he? They had been lovers long enough to know just what buttons to push to crank the each other up. For instance now, Spike was fully clothed - well, barefoot - but Xander was naked. Naked with the better part of Spike's hand inside him. How many times in the middle of a footie match had Xander, in a bid for attention, baited Spike until the vampire grabbed him, threw off the boy's clothes and turned him over his knee? And if the chip prevented him from beating that bottom bloody it never stopped him from finger fucking his human until the match was over. Of course that just insured he would do it again next time, but that was all well and good, eh? Spike had tormented his boy over that peculiar vanilla kink. Xander, in turn, had learned how riveted Spike was to his neck and how sensitive an area it was on a vampire. Biting during sex wasn't the only way his human catered to his demon lover. Spike had lost track of the long, hard sessions of bedsports Xander had initiated with a knowing pout and the words, "Would you kiss my owie?" No one cut themselves that often, but Xander would hold up a pricked finger or small cut beading with blood and the scent of desire pouring off him.

So Xander knew. The human's body shook not with fear but with need. He sighed as Spike licked over the spot he had grazed his teeth on that first night they had spoken of marking. Xander knew what he wanted, what he needed. If they had both been demons it would have been enough. But Xander was human and over a hundred years younger - Spike needed words.

Of course, he should have thought of that before he had his mate teetering on the brink of orgasm. Spike desperately wanted to mark his mate now but wasn't sure `Schpadoinkle' would qualify as an affirmative. Still, he had to ask. "Want you. Want to mark you. Deep in the muscle, leave a scar. Want to claim you," he gasped out while rubbing against the spot, hoping that their previous talks would enlighten Xander to what he wanted.

"Do it!" was Xander's surprisingly coherent reply. Although, to be fair, judging by the clenching around his thrusting fingers, Xander just might have offered up his parents' life's blood right now if Spike would just shut up and let him come.

Oh! It had been so long! The rapture of his fangs sinking into taut flesh and firm muscle - the explosion of scent and taste - the hot blood slipping over his tongue and down his throat. Plunging into Druscilla had never been like this - this was his - this was Xander.

Once, shortly after he was turned, Angelus had had enough of Spike snarking `you're not my Sire' at him and unbeknownst to Darla or Dru, when the ladies were out `shopping', had told Spike to kneel before him.

"Hear me, Garmhac, and know that she who made you is mine as you are hers. I will suffer you as kin for her sake and claim you as my Childe." That was the only time he had called Spike 'garmhac'; usually it was dalta or leanbh og, [2] but then, he had acknowledged the blood ties and Spike had been awed when Angelus had bitten his own wrist and offered it to Spike. A primal memory of the demon's had stirred and he had known that this would bind him to the older vampire much as he was to his dark, mad Sire, but he hadn't hesitated when he had grasped onto that wrist and, carefully not dropping his fangs, licked up every drop of Angelus' blood. The ladies had known what they had done as soon as they had arrived home. Drucsilla, of course, would deny her `Daddy' nothing but Darla had been right pissed.

That moment - that archaic piece of demon blood binding - that came close to this. Perhaps, because - unlike his turning - they both had chosen each other. Xander, even with the signs that this was more than just `kinky sex', had willingly continued the bonding - had chosen Spike as his mate as surely as Spike had chosen him.

The force of Xander's orgasm when it hit splattered the wall and turned his bucking boy into dead weight for a moment. Xander's body felt boneless in Spike's arms and the vampire reluctantly removed his fangs and cut his own tongue to bathe the wound with his scent and blood. Spike held his now-claimed mate tightly and kept brushing his still-buried fingers against Xander's prostate while he watched the mark heal to an angry red scar. In a few days it would be all but invisible, but they could renew it often now. Let Angelus talk all he wanted, Xander was his. Spike wouldn't mind his Seanathair's [3] blessing but nothing short of dusting him would separate the two of them now.

The weight this lifted - the desperate aching need.... Spike hadn't been aware how influenced he had been by the driving instinct to claim his mate. Now that this human bore his mark he felt drunk on the sense of control it gave back to his life. Even more than having the chip removed this reaffirmed him - he was a man, a demon, a master and anyone who went after what was his was going to meet up with the Big Bad, at least for the last seconds of their life.

Spike gently slipped his fingers out of Xander and turned the boy to face him. The sleepy, sated smile that greeted him melted his unbeating heart. Xander draped his warm body on Spike and whispered, "Bed now?" Spike almost laughed out loud. He had forgotten that Xander had requested `both' when offered the choice of here or in the bedroom for his requested fucking. Spike felt a bit like Rhett carrying Scarlet as he transported his long lover to the bedroom. He put his boy into the rumpled bed and sat back, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Xander was finally his.

*****