More of Chapter 6 "He does," Xander chuckled, wiping powdered sugar of his nose, "but sometimes he needs some 'me' time away from his books." He peered up at Buffy, "what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be with hell-boy."
Buffy winced at the term but said nothing, "he had a little visit from Dru and it shook him up. He said he needed some alone time," she said, trying to make it sound casual.
They stared at her.
"What?" She demanded, as the silence in the dimly lit library became too oppressive.
Cordelia glared at her and Buffy steeled herself, the May-Queen's sharp tongue was not a pleasant thing. "I think what we're trying to say is: 'And you let him?!'"
"Well I couldn't very well force myself on him!" The Slayer retorted without thinking.
"No," Oz agreed quietly as Buffy flushed a bright red, "that would definitely be of the bad."
Cordelia took a deep breath and Buffy winced, the pretty brunette was not through, "what if he goes psycho again?" She demanded, her voice shrilly grating on Buffy's nerves. "What if he starts after you again?" Her soft brown eyes widened as another, more hideous possibility suddenly occurred to her, "what if he starts after me again?" She cried, her voice climbing several octaves.
"Then we kill him," Xander stated coolly, "prophecy or no prophecy."
Buffy's eyes narrowed dangerously, "hold on rebel without a clue," she said acidly, her eyes flashing bright anger. "Angel's fine. He's just adjusting, that's all."
"To what," Xander challenged, "life in the fast lane? An all you can eat Sunnydale till the Slayer says stop."
Willow gasped, "Xander, stop it. We're not going to get anywhere this way."
They were both beyond reason, though, "were you always this jealous of him?" Buffy asked softly as her friend glared at her. "Because you've hated him even before he gave you reason too."
He barked a tense laugh, "yeah, all I ever wanted was my own personalized tombstone."
"That can always be arranged," Spike said smoothly, an amused expression on his face.
"You know," Xander said wearily, "this place has really been loosing its charm as Slayer headquarters lately."
"I'm just glad he didn't bring miss psycho killer along," Buffy muttered.
Spike's eyes flashed with annoyance, "lay off Dru, Slayer. She's more of a woman than you'll ever be," his eyes narrowed at Buffy's audible snort. "She's rad, bad..."
"And completely mad," Buffy added, a malicious grin spreading across her face.
"Really," Xander asked, a grin plastered on his face. "And all this time I thought she was slutty, smutty and totally nutty."
"Ooh, can I play?" Cordelia squealed as everyone but the seething vampire giggled around her, the tension that had engulfed them thankfully broken.
"Lazy, hazy and a whole lot of crazy," Oz contributed. "Well I do write songs, you know," he added depreciatingly as they grinned at him.
"Oh, I got one," Willow squeaked. "A snore, a bore and a total who..."
"Willow!" Buffy gasped, her eyes shocked.
"Well she is," Willow muttered sullenly.
Spike's eyes flashed, "that's right, kiddies," he snarled, his nostrils flaring. "Piss off the bad ass vampire. Think about that next time you walk into a dark ally at night." He turned his back on the giggling teens with disgust and stomped off out of the library, smacking into his sire in the process. "Of course it'd be you," Spike growled, his hand rubbing his cheek where it impacted roughly with Angel's shoulder. "The Slayer's laughing it up over there."
"I came to see you," Angel said softly, his eyes darting nervously around the room.
"Were you now?" Spike drawled, contempt and curiosity battling for dominance across his features.
Buffy watched the two vampires standing at the library doors. One dark and tall, his expression a heart wrenching mix of pleading and distress. The other paler, shorter, slimmer, his confident smirk enough to make anyone break into a cold sweat. The contrast between them was intoxicating.
"I need you," the dark vampire whispered, his arm leaning on the doorway for support, "to tell me who I am." His voice was almost soundless, his stance filled with despair. Buffy ached to rush over to him, to support him, but he had asked her not to touch him and he had not come here for her.
Spike's eyes narrowed, "what're you talking abou..."
With catlike grace the dark vampire lunged at his childe, all semblance of weakness gone. "Blood runs true," Angel hissed as he grabbed the pale vampire by the shoulders, shaking him like a rag doll. His eyes glimmered golden, but his face kept its human mask, "I need you to tell me who I am!"
With a quick twist Spike freed himself from the older vampire's grasp, "why should I?" He demanded, his face inhuman as he lost himself to rage.
Angel grabbed him again, this time his hold was unbreakable. He dragged his resisting child so close their faces nearly touched. "Because I am your sire," he hissed.
Spike stopped struggling, but managed to laugh in his sire's face, "and here I thought the in thing to do these days was to stake your sire in the back. I'd be happy to do that," he growled just as menacingly as Angel.Angel pushed his childe away as he grimaced with remembered pain, "then do it because you need me sane." He muttered, all at once reverting back to weakness.
"He's gone nuts," Xander whispered.
Spike seemed to have the same idea, "you're loosing it," he assessed as he looked the older vampire over.
Angel ran a trembling hand through his unkempt hair. He tried to chuckle, but a sob filtered through instead, "tell me I haven't already."
"Your conscience getting to you, Peaches?" Spike asked with false sympathy. "Remembering the merry old time you had as a bad ass and it hurts you down deep? Tell me, what was hell like? Repent much?"
The dark vampire's eyes narrowed dangerously, his lips curled as a snarl rolled from deep in his chest, "oh, it was a real divine comedy," acid dripped from his words. Willow gasped, her lips forming a startled O as she seemed to realize something, then thought better of it and clamped her mouth shut. "You are going to do this for me, Spike. One way or another I'll find out what I need to know."
"I'm not afraid of you anymore! I'm not some cripple you can stake in a heartbeat!"
A wicked smile spread across beautiful pale features, "no, but Dru is."
Spike's eyes widened with disbelief, as for a single solitary moment the only sound in the library was the soft purr of neon lights. "The guy still knows how to brighten up a room," Xander noted to no one in particular.
"You bloody wanker, you wouldn't," Spike said, the tone of his voice indicating he wasn't entirely sure.
"Not if I didn't have to."
Sire and childe glared into each other's eyes, lost in a battle of wills. Finally the younger vampire turned his head away, "then let's do this already," he muttered. Angel nodded, visibly relaxing as he began to unbutton his shirt. "What are you doing?" Spike demanded suspiciously."You always were a sloppy eater. I don't plan on letting you destroy what little wardrobe I have left."
Buffy gasped. Sloppy eater? "What's happening?" She demanded, her voice coming out shriller than she intended.
Spike cast an almost amused glance at his sire, "didn't you ever tell her about this?"
Angel shook his head. "Never saw any reason too." His shirt had come off, revealing to the relieved Slayer a pale torso cleansed of all bloodstains.
"Of course you didn't, you old Poof." Spike said contemptuously, his confidence returning, as he seemed to gain some semblance of control. "You were always too busy brooding in the dark, pretending to be something you weren't, to look back at the prettier side of what you were." Angel's eyes flickered with annoyance, but he said nothing.
"And you," Spike turned to the Slayer, humor in his eyes, a sly smirk on his face, "you should really find out as much as you can about who you're so dedicated on destroying. After all, there's more to us then just killing and feeding."
"I'll have to keep that in mind," Buffy murmured, her attention clearly elsewhere.
Spike's glance followed the direction of her look, his eyes skimming over his sire's perfect torso with little surprise, "show off," he muttered. "There's a special bond between sire and childe," he lectured, his voice ripping the teenagers' attention away from the walking miracle. "A bond made of blood and trust. Do you trust me, Angel?"
Buffy swallowed hard, a cold sweat breaking across her body in reaction to Spike's words. Angel crossed his arms across his chest, his legs firmly braced against the polished hardwood table, a true icon of power, "I trust the world to end if you go too far. I trust that you'll writhe in agony in hell if you kill me. So yes, I trust you."
The pale vampire nodded as if expecting nothing less, "that bond allows for certain things, certain truths," he continued smoothly. "In other words, pet," Buffy shuddered as the pale vampire's eyes bore straight into hers,
