Title: Total Eclipse: Angelus Ascendant
Series: Part Six
Author: Buffywatcher
Feedback: Constructive comments always
welcome: [email protected]
Pairing: Primarily Angel(us)/Spike
Rating: R, Possibly a bit of romantic NC-17’ish circumstances.
Spoilers: None this story takes place in an
AU setting and will pretty much ignore the current season of Angel.
Warnings: This story will contain instances
of extreme violence, sexuality and character deaths.
Disclaimer: Just borrowing them for a bit of
harmless fun. All characters, recognisable likenesses are retained by their
owner and accredited license holders.
Writer’s Notes: This story takes place in an AU
setting and includes a scene challenge posted by Angela with some minor
artistic changes. Connor has been born, Spike has his soul and isn’t chipped as
well and Angel and the LA Gang have taken over the running of Wolfram &
Hart. However the incident with the first has not taken place and Buffy died
and has been resurrected. As always thanks are going out to GF, MarieC, Luba,
and Mera my most excellent group of Beta/Editors. Very special thanks to Mera,
she got in on the ground floor on this one and chimed in with some big
assistance so dedicating this one to her.
Distribution: If I’ve already been given
permission to archive my work please consider it yours if you want it. If I
haven’t and you would like to archive it please do, all I ask is that you email
me and tell me where it’s going so I can visit J.
Summary: The Powers That Be offer to release
Angel from his destiny as a Champion but they make a critical error that may
well doom their cause forever.
*
Angelus shrugs into his coat, thrusts
his hands into the pockets and waits impatiently for his pain in the ass Childe
to make an appearance. That ill-timed intrusion by Buffy earlier has left him
with a very deep need to find something and kill it. It was Spike’s suggestion
that they patrol and the more he thinks about it, the more he’s growing excited
by the idea. It has been too long since he had the chance to stalk the
nightmares in the darkness beside his beloved Childe.
The sound of voices has him glancing
at the top of the staircase where Spike is poised with one foot on the lower
step and the other on the landing, half turned to face Xander whom he’s
speaking to. Angelus swallows hard and stares. Spike’s still wearing the glove
tight leather jeans from earlier and he’s recovered his boots. Rather than his
usual black t-shirt and red button down shirt, he’s wearing a simple blood red T-shirt tucked into the hip huggers. A
matching black and red trimmed leather vest dangles from his hand and he slips
it on while he’s watching. He closes three silver trimmed buckles over his flat
stomach, tailoring the vest neatly to his lithe form. He turns to walk down the
stairs and freezes to stillness for a moment before slowly walking down the
staircase, dragging one long fingered hand slowly along the banister in a long
sweeping caress.
Spike stops on the second step and
smiles. “‘Ello Baby.” He purrs,
reaching out his hand to draw a fingertip down the side of Angelus’ face. He
laughs softly as Angelus sweeps him off the stairs and holds him against him as
easily as a child.
“New look for you, Spike.” Angelus
growls, looking up at the face that has haunted his dreams for so long; he
sighs with happiness. He sucks in an unnecessary breath as he sets Spike down
carefully and his fingertips drift over his left ear, gently batting at the
small gold earring nestled against his earlobe. He brushes his fingernail over
the small golden angel and smiles.
Angelus backs up and motions to
Spike to spin around and he admires the view. The new outfit manages to be both
tailored and yet untamed. Leather loves Spike; nothing warms to that alabaster
skin and sets it to glowing like fine leather. He drags his palm slowly up the
side if his thigh and back to cup that globe that curves perfectly into the
shape of his hand. The leather is butter soft with the soft texture of rose
petals. “Lovely construction.”
“Nothing feels as good as well made
leather, except for you naked on
top of me. Or under me…fuck just you naked is a bloody religious experience.
What do you say Baby, wanna offend a couple Powers
That Be with me?” Spike says with a quirk of his brow. He chuckles as Angelus
leans forward and rubs his cheek against his chest, turning his head up to look
at him and flutters his eyelashes as well as any heroine from those old
Hollywood movies.
They share a quiet chuckle at
Angelus’ exaggerated acting, but
Spike finds himself swallowing his as Angelus darts in capturing it with his
mouth in a low, but thorough
kiss.
“I figured it out finally, you know?” He breathes against
Spike’s lips, not wanting to lose the feel of them against his own.
“What did you figure out? Always did
think about things enough for any three other people.” Spike says smiling
against the lips brushing his own.
“When you wanted
A look of wonder crosses Angelus’
face and a huge grin breaks out as he gathers his boy to him tightly. “You did…you
came back to check on me!” Angelus spins around as giddy as a schoolgirl,
ripping a peal of laughter from his accidental passenger for the trip. Angelus
is glad he can’t blush as he sets Spike down and tenderly cups his face.
“I knew you were here, but I wasn’t going to let you know I
was here at first, but then the
opportunity presented itself. I could spend time with you; make sure you were
alright without having to admit why I was really back and getting a stake for
my trouble.”
“I wouldn’t have staked you Spike. I
made sure Buffy didn’t either.”
“I know; I wasn’t sure what to make of that when you did it.” Spike
admits wrapping his arms around Angelus and enjoying the embrace.
“I didn’t stop to think, I just made
sure to stop her. That speech about being never being just friends…that wasn’t
about Buffy and I was it? It was about US. You were talking to ME.”
“Looking back yes but I’m not really
sure what I was thinking at the time. It just ripped its way out of me. I
didn’t know I was going to say it until I heard myself saying it.”
“You’ve always had an uncanny way of
cutting through the bullshit, Wil. I was in love and it did kill us both but I
can’t be sorry about that, not anymore. Death has given me what life never
could have, an eternity with you. It looks like love has just gotten another
bitch.” Angelus swoops in and takes Spike’s mouth for a passionate kiss.
Spike loses himself in the
passionate moment but is abruptly dumped back to earth by a deliciously painful
slap on the ass. He jumps back and rubs the stinging cheek and snarls at the
smirking Angelus.
“IF you’re done distracting me with
your lips, we should get on with the business of finding something to kill.”
Angelus says striding to the front door and throwing it open, snagging Spike’s
coat and tossing it over his shoulder in his direction.
“Blighter.” Spike says with a snarl, catching his duster and wrapping it around his
form and stalking out the door and into the night.
“I just love it when he gets all
feisty!” Angelus laughs and follows his boy into the darkness.
Xander walks down the staircase
shaking his head at the antics of the heads of this oh so strange family that
seems to be forming. He checks the locks on the front door and he’s headed back
up the staircase to check on Andrew, when he stumbles on a step as a horrible realisation hit him.
“Oh my god, I’m the Uncle Fester of
this blood sucking
Xander knocks on Andrew’s door and
waits to here the muffled permission to come in. Xander smiles affectionately
at the young man as he comes in and flops on the end of his bed.
“Did they head out?”
“Yep, though it looked a little
close there.” Xander says with a laugh.
“Angelus got a load of Spike’s new
slaying outfit did he?” Andrew says knowingly, closing the book and notepad and
turning his desk chair to face Xander.
“Yep and they almost didn’t leave.”
The pair shares a quiet laugh. “So you want to let me in on what’s going on
with you and Dawnie young man?” Xander tries to make his voice sound all
parental and concerned but he gives up when it sounds more like a girlfriend
asking for gossip.
Andrew curses the heat he can feel
in his cheeks and knows he’s blushing. “I…I kissed her while we were in LA Xan. I’m still not sure what
happened. One minute we were talking and laughing watching a movie on TV and
then I just…kissed her.”
“Do you love her?” Xander asks,
trying not to smile at the youngster’s blushing, knowing that will just make
him feel even more self-conscious.
“I think maybe I LIKE her.” Andrew
says finally. “I talked to Spike about it some, but that was a little strange. Dawnie looks at him like sort of
an adopted big brother and I thought that was kind of how she saw me but she
kissed me back. I don’t want to rush into anything and Spike gave me some good
advice that I think I’m going to take.”
“And what did Dr. Spike have to
say?”
“He said that it was alright just to
like someone and to take the time to be young even though I don’t often feel
very young, I realised that I
still am. He said the Hellmouth has a way of magnifying everything and that I
should be sure of my feelings before I acted on them.” Andrew repeats from
memory.
“Well who knew this would happen.
Somewhere along the way Blondie done went and grew up on us.” Xander says
proudly.
“Well I think that whole mess with
Buffy wised him up pretty quick. He wasn’t real proud of that whole time in his
life from what we’ve talked about. I’ve read all about Angelus in Giles’ books
and I asked him some things, do you think he’s going to hurt Spike? I have to
admit I kind of like him.”
“If you ever repeat this to anyone,
I’ll strangle you or tie you to a chair and make you watch that Teletubbies
show non-stop, but I think Angelus is different than he was. Spike told me once
that the Angelus that emerged because of Buffy was a stranger; that he wasn’t
the Angelus that he knew. I kind of find myself liking this version too. Maybe
this is the Angelus that Spike was talking about. He may hurt Spike Andrew but
Spike could just as easily hurt him. Relationships are just like that, the
chance for causing pain is just part of the whole experience. I can say though,
I think if anyone does get hurt, I don’t think it will be deliberately. We’ll
just have to wait and see.” Xander says honestly. “I’ve learned my lesson about
butting in on my friends’ love lives.”
“You mean because you didn’t tell
Buffy
“I was wrong to do that Andrew. Wrong on so many levels.”
“It wasn’t really your fault
Xander.” Xander’s head flies up to meet Andrew’s gaze. “It wasn’t you know.
I’ve seen how Buffy treats you and Spike, and every other man she’s around for
any length of time. We’re all means to an end for her and she keeps us all in
the boxes she has carefully labelled
for us. When Giles bought the shop, Buffy quit her job and just let him handle
supporting us all without even a concern for whether or not he wanted to. He
was her Watcher so to her mind that’s what he’s on the planet for, to take care
of her. And as for you…I’m sorry Xander but you were whatever she wanted you to
be, she was just that good at manipulating you. Until Spike took you out of her
box by training with you, you’d never really stood up to her before that.
Though I haven’t met Riley I’m sure he served some purpose in her grand design.
On one hand, Angel was that unattainable romantic love that she could use as an
excuse to avoid ever having to put her heart on the line again. I’m sorry guy
of the minute I can’t ever give you my heart so let me use you until you’ve
outlived your usefulness because I’ve been ruined for all other men by this one
great love. On the other hand, Angel became a weapon for her to use against
Spike, a means to control him and rein him in. I’ll sleep with Spike because it
feels good but I won’t ever love you because you aren’t Angel. You’re beneath
me Spike, because you’re not
Angel. And then there’s my poor abused Spike, my Dad.”
Andrew trails off for a moment and
takes a deep breath to compose himself before he
continues. “I think that he’s been used the worst out of all of us. She’s made
him bleed, she’s made him cry…we know what else she’s made him do and all the
while calling him a monster for it. Getting all of YOU to
call him a monster for it. She’d have used him until he was dust, every
ounce of anything useful drained out of him at her whim, then just as easily tossed aside and replaced. She even uses me.
I’m one of the leashes she uses to control Spike.” Xander looks like he’s going
to protest that. “We both know that I am Xan. I’m young but I’m not stupid. I
see things, it’s easy to when you’ve been outside looking in so long, and you’d
get to be real observant too.” Andrew says softly. “I bet you think Buffy’s
going to be upset about Angelus being with Spike now?” Xander nods. “You’re
right she is but she’s going to be just as mad about losing Spike too.”
Xander knows that the shocked
expression on his face is probably comical to look at.
“Buffy will no doubt convince
herself that Spike is just an aberration on Angelus’ part and everything will
go back to normal, once he’s “Angel” again. Once she realises that Angelus hasn’t lost anything, he’s just found a way
to strike a balance, then she’ll be mad but she’ll be more upset over losing
Spike, mark my words. Angel left her; he walked away from her and her
manipulations but not Spike. He stayed through everything she heaped on his
head, every new way she found to make him bleed, he still stayed and she’s
going to understand just how powerful a feeling that is, once he’s gone.
Through it all Spike has been her line that has never wavered, perhaps the one
constant in her life, to the point that he is the lynch pin in her world. Spike
leaves with Angel and I go where Spike goes. You’ve made your choice to come
with us, and I’m sure even Buffy will recognise
that Dawn is likely to do the same. Not only does she lose Angel again, she’s
lost him to HER Spike and lost us too.”
“I think maybe you’ve seen thing
clearer than anyone Andrew. Now that you’ve told me all of this…I can SEE it. I
can see how she’s been manipulating us and I think I hate her! Almost every
night we go out to hunt the “monsters” and the biggest one of all was hiding in
plain sight!” Xander says angrily. “I’m glad we’re getting the fuck out of this
town!”
“Me too Xan, me too.” Andrew says gladly as he hugs his friend again. “I don’t think any of
us can have a life until we do.”
Spike ducks as an arm flies over his
head. He calmly lights a cigarette and watches as Angelus fairly decimates the
unfortunate Grakloc Demon
unlucky enough to cross their path. He admires the savagery and technique of
Angelus unleashed and admits he’s getting more than a little turned on watching
his Sire kill with such a gleeful expression on his face.
Sadly though it’s too brief; as the
Demon collapses into a pile of spare parts being no match for an Angelus in the
full thrust of his power. He smiles and exhales a slow plume of smoke as his
lover strides over to him and yanks him into a torrid embrace before stealing
his cigarette.
“Was it good for you too?” Angelus
quips taking a big drag of the cigarette and kissing his impudent Childe
hungrily before leaning back.
Spike just smirks and exhales the
cigarette smoke Angelus passed to him during the kiss and grabs his hand
pressing it between his legs and bumping teasingly.
Angelus starts to growl as he tosses
aside the cigarette and leaps, tackling Spike off the tombstone he’s perching
on.
Spike’s laughter echoes into the
night but chokes off into a harsh moan as Angelus’ wicked laughter takes its
place.
TBC