Part Five
The road was long and it was hard but Buffy would walk it. But then she mused was there anything she wouldn’t do for her angel. It had been 4 months since his return and he had said nothing of his time away or who had taken him. Riley had stopped coming and Angel seemed to be getting better. At least everyone but Buffy thought he was but they didn’t see what she did. They didn’t see him in the middle of the night dripping with sweat after waking from a nightmare in which he was still in that place. Wherever that place was. Emily had taken to her father straight away. Will was still a little frosty around him. Buffy knew that it hurt Angel and tried so hard to reassure them both. She couldn’t understand what was holding her son back. Spike and she had both spoken to him on several occasions and they knew he liked his father on a person-to-person level but never showed anything more to them or to Angel. Until one day when everything came spilling out in the worst way.
It was their 9th birthday and the first birthday they were celebrating with their full family. Giles and Willow had come for a visit and Xander, Anya and the kids had come to stay in Sunnydale. The party that was being thrown was more for Angel’s homecoming than the children. Cordelia and Gunn were coming, Fred was staying in LA to care for Wesley who had been injured in a fight with a particularly nasty demon with a grudge. The children were playing now after opening presents and eating. The cake was coming after Willow, Buffy and Cordelia had cleared some of the mess. The men were sat in the garden and Anya was watching the kids. The men sat in the shadows so to include Spike. Emily rushed to the door hearing a knock hoping it would be her grandfather who’d promised he would find a way to be there, mostly so he could meet Angel, he felt the need to give his approval even though it clearly wouldn’t matter.
“Hey Emily.” Emily’s smile wilted as she let the ex commando in. Since her dad had come home it had been better, Riley had stayed away. He shut the door behind him and went to join the garden festivities. Buffy, Willow and Cordy having finished clearing away were sat with their partners talking when Emily, followed by Riley, came through. All eyes turned towards him and Buffy felt Angel’s hand portray his fear. Buffy remembered the day in the magic shop and knew Angel hadn’t been afraid of the punch but of the man. The day on the porch he’d heard Riley’s voice and ran. She gripped Angel’s hand and turned to face Riley.
“Riley what are you doing here?”
“It’s the kids birthday why wouldn’t I be here, seems I’m a little late though.” Buffy glanced at Angel and he said nothing but she knew. She just knew. She stood.
“Riley get the hell out of my home and if I ever see you near any of my family again I will break every bone in your body do you hear me. The sun had set by now and Spike moved to help Anya get the kids in.
“What’s wrong Buffy?”
“You bastard!” Everyone stared at Buffy wide eyed. Buffy never used language like that and even if she did she would never do it in front of the kids. Will came to stand by his mother and held her hand. Emily jumped into her father’s lap.
“I know what you did Riley and I hate you. You even had the audacity to come and try and replace him. But how could replace a man as wonderful as Angel.”
“He’s not a man he’s a freak.”
“Don’t call my dad a freak Fish Boy!” Will stepped towards the commando as if his words gave him more power than he already had. Something inside Riley snapped.
He started to rant.
“Buffy I love you. Always did you were gonna marry me until that jerk just waltzes back into your life and takes over everything. You’re mine! But then you had to fuck that freak over there and have his kids. Even when he wasn’t here I could feel him whenever I was near you. How could I forget looking at them? So like him. They’re brats, I bent over backwards trying to make them like me. Did everything anyone could possibly do and even then they didn’t like me, they hated me for not being him for the same reason you didn’t love me. You’re kids are evil. Evil!” Buffy drained of colour slightly and Riley took this moment to backhand Will who flew to the ground. Spike moved quickly and almost unseen grabbed Riley by the throat and held him against the wall.
“You touch him again and you will wish she’d killed you.”
“Spike if you’re angry now just wait. All the years you spent looking for Angel. And you’d come back and say you knew he was but when you got there he was gone. That’s cos commando boy was always there when you came back to listen to what you had to say, cos he’s the one who took him. He had his scientist friends poke and prod him and he took pleasure in it. He beat him and let men more men than anyone could handle hit him and beat the crap out of him and if that wasn’t enough he taunted him with little pieces of information about me and his kids.” Spike grabbed one of the commando’s hands and amazingly broke every finger one by one while still holding him by the throat.
“Bastard!” Will had stood during this. He faced the man who had invaded his life since the day he was born. A man he hated a man who now had done something so awful Will couldn’t think of any word to describe what he felt towards him. Will launched himself at Riley punching and kicking him.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You ruined my life it wasn’t enough for you to take my father away but you had to come in here and try and replace a man a million times better than you. When he came back I couldn’t love him because of you. I couldn’t love him when I hated him for leaving and being away for so long and it’s all because of you.” Tears were streaming down Will’s face as he blindly let loose his rage and his anger. The emotions that had been inside for nearly 9 years. The emotions he’d grown with. The emotions that he’d been given by the man he was pummelling. Angel spun his son round by the shoulder. He hated Riley but if his son continued much longer Riley would be dead. If that happened Angel would gladly take the blame but he could not let it go that far. He couldn’t leave his family again. He wrapped his arms round the small and vulnerable boy. He realised now what had held his son back. His fear. His son was afraid and he had every right to be. But it would change he would show his son his love and his understanding he would show his son not to be afraid and to do that he had to stop being afraid. He needed to get over his fear and really return to his family. A family that didn’t know any normality and didn’t know any love. A family that needed him and missed and loved him. He held his son and wished that he could remove his pain but he couldn’t all he could do was be his father. Angel could do that he knew he could. Riley was still standing as Spike let go. He grabbed his collar and dragged him away. At the front of the house Spike had his own message.
“Now Fish boy you listen to me and listen hard cos you only get the chance to hear this once and if it don’t penetrate then you’ll find yourself in deep shit. You ever touch that kid, my little brother again and you’ll wish Angel had let him carry on pummelling you. You go near Buffy or her kids and I swear to God I will make you so sorry that you had ever been conceived let alone born and finally I know you think that vampires are trash well we’re not. Believe it or not I am a vampire and I love everyone in that place. Buffy the kids and Angel they’re my family. Now believe me you hurt any of them you’ll regret it but my last words to you will be if Angel ever gets bothered by any military again then I might just be tempted to return to William the Bloody and Angelus’ favourite pastime. An art they perfected. Torture.” To demonstrate his point he snapped every finger on Riley’s other hand and ground his foot into Riley’s, who screamed in pain at ever bone crack. Spike went back inside.
“I don’t think Fish boy will ever be worrying ya my friends.” Buffy pulled Spike aside.
“It didn’t hurt you.”
“What?”
“Hurting a human.”
“Can you really call Riley a human?”
“No but the person who planted that chip does.”
“A couple of months. I only noticed in by accident got in a bar fight. Thought it was a vampire at first so when my game face went on and he finally noticed it he turned and ran screaming. That’s when I knew.”
“You didn’t tell me because?”
“Just in case you…”
“Spike you’re my kids big brother and thinking about it that means Angel’s your dad so when me and Angel finally get married I’ll be your step-mom but anyway we’re family. We all love you and we know that you wouldn’t hurt us. You’d hurt anyone who hurt us but you would never hurt us.” Spike smiled and they hugged.
“Thanks Slayer.” Buffy smiled at the use of that name. She’d not really done that much slaying lately. Besides it was a name Spike hadn’t used in quite a while. And it made Buffy remember the times when she’d been so dependant on him. The times when their friendship was just starting a time when after all they became best friends. Even with Angel home Spike would remain her best friend. She would always make him feel wanted in their home.
