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Chapter 12

To wake up to the smell of cooked bacon and coffee was an anomaly in the Summers household. Buffy rolled over and found the left side of the bed empty. The smell wafted again and her stomach growled it's own appreciation for the delicious aroma. Buffy tossed back the covers and yelped.

"What are you doing in here Angel?"
" Need to see you, talk to you, "

God he looked half starved, pale and thin, his eyes had sunken and dark circled his sockets.

"Come on, she held a hand out to him "Lets get you back downstairs and get you fed, you look ill "
"Spike "
"What about him?" Buffy frowned
"He glows" Angel laughed maniacally "Dru knew"
"Okay so not being on board with the crazy speak, so how bout we feed your brain and see if the cuckoo flies the nest"


"Don't ask!" Buffy said as she entered the kitchen and saw the look on Spikes face. He served up the pan of eggs and put a fork on her plate.
He slammed a pouch of blood in the microwave and stood against the sink as Angel sat next to Buffy, never taking his eyes off Spike.
"First thing I'm doing is getting a soddin bell to go round rain man's bloody neck, that or a noose"
Buffy nearly choked on her eggs and smiled at Spike "Give him a break, and that's not funny" she giggled
"Then why do I see and hear you laughing eh pet?"
Changing the subject she pointed to breakfast "This is good, could get used to this"

The microwave tinged and Spike served up the blood, sitting the mug in front of his Grandsire. Angel looked at it and snarled, his feral features came forward and he drank greedily.

By the time Buffy had finished, the rest of the house were waking up and coming downstairs. Spike served up dishes of bacon and eggs for everyone else, while he remained out of the way with Buffy. Angel was ushered back downstairs.

"How are we going to deal with him? He seems worse now than he was back in L.A"
"No idea love, course we could just stake him"
"I'll have a chat with Wes and Giles , see what they suggest. So...."
"So...."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. Spike rested his chin on her head and relished the feeling of having her close. "Do you ever think about what would of happened if I hadn't been sent back ?"
"No, don' wanna think like that. I got lucky , let's just leave it at that" he kissed her and walked out of the hug.

"I'm gonna go and see how he's doing, see if I can't get some sense out of him" Spike picked up a stake and tucked it in the waistband of his jeans. He opened the basement doors and heard the sobs. Rolling his eyes and sighing, he took the first step down and then shut the door.


It was dark and Spike could vaguely make out Angels form, huddled on the cot against the far wall. The chains hung loosely to the side of the cot, apparently Buffy felt he didn't need restraining, Spike huffed, and ran his fingers through his hair. Slowly he approached his Grandsire and tilted his head.
Angel had his knees to his chest and had rested his forehead on them, sobbing like a child. Spike felt it , his sadness. Being in close proximity to his elder was now renewing the bond between them. He hoped that maybe Angel was feeling it too and that this may help towards Angel getting his sanity back. Familial bonds between vampires were known to help in some strange ways , he hoped that this would be one such case.

"Sire?" he said softly, the sobs hitched and he heard Angel sniff.
" Go away William, nothing here that you can take, nothing left that you can take from me"
"Is that what this is about? That I have Buffy now?"
"And my calling, don't forget that"
"Look Buffy didn't set out to do anything like change history, well maybe stop me from gettin sired I guess but she didn't know it would do this"
"She knew, don't be so bloody naive. She got involved with William cos of her own stupid wants. "

Spike looked at him and frowned. Right at that moment he was so much like Angelus, he was the most in control and sane that he had been since arriving.

"Yeah, you work it out Spike, she arrives, finds you somehow, plays with the romantic idiot William, marries him and then returns where you are, and now your playing house and husband with her like it's normal"

Spike sat down heavily , she had manipulated him too. Sure, he had feelings for her but before she left she made it clear that he was nothing more than a tension relieving fuck.God he was still that fool William inside.

Angel laughed "I lost her because of it, sure I still had the fling, but I was a substitute for you Billy boy" his laughter died away " and as for my path to redemption, well she set you on that so now your the champion, good luck there"

Spike furrowed his brows , whatever happened to the cocky ,arrogant Slayer of Slayers that he was , proud to be? Why the hell couldn't he just snap her neck and move on to the next?

'Because the girl isn't just a Slayer she is The Slayer, his Slayer, even more so now that she had undergone changes. She is your equal, she deserves a mate, a champion worthy of her and your the lucky sod' his subconscious screamed at him.

"Shut it you git, you know sod all bout us" he yelled back at Angel "I came down here to help you out and all you can do is to spout your insane bloody mouth off " his fist connected with his cheek, forcing Angels head back into the wall behind him.
Spike paced the basement waiting for Angel to come round. He'd taken worse from Spike before now ,so he knew he wouldn't be knocked out for long. As if he had heard his thoughts, Angel woke.

"So that's how it is, you beat on the poor soul your meant to be saving, tut tut , can't see Buffy liking that "

Enough was enough, Spike knocked him out again and whilst he was unconscious, Spike chained him up and then went back upstairs.


Romania , 1898

"So, Angelus has gotten himself in trouble with some Gypsies huh? And I should care ?" Spike spat at Darla

Later that day

Darla stood in front of an elder of the gypsies. "You took him from me. You stole him away. You gave him a soul."
"He must suffer - as all of his victims have suffered."
"That is no justice. Whatever pain he caused to your daughter was momentary ... over in an instant.. or an hour. But what you've done to him will force him to suffer for the rest of eternity! Remove that filthy soul so my boy might return to me."
"Angelus is gone on away. Where is he?" Dru asked confused
Darla grabbed a hold of the Gypsy's neck "Drusilla, the camp ..go on ... kill things!"
"He shall be very cross if he finds we had a lovely mass slaughter without him." Her eyes unfocussed, she turns towards the mass of people running around trying to flee
Darla closed her eyes for a moment "He'll join us soon. Now do as you're told."
Dru licked one of her fingers and nodded "Okay." She walks off.
Darla turned to the Gypsy "In that wagon is your family. Your wife and daughters will die tonight without my protection." She stroked the man's cheek " but if you'll do as I say, your family can live."
Spike, in vamp face, blood on his chin, stepped out of the wagon and burped. Darla looks at him. "What?"
Darla closed her eyes, turns back to the gypsy and snaps his neck.
Dru sways by the fire "Pretty music, pretty, pretty music." Spike comes up to her and she pulls him into her dance " They cry out for mercy. They cry out for mercy."
Darla walks away , saddened "Show none."

Sunnydale


Buffy sat on the couch, her head was in her hands, her fingers worked through her hair and she sighed loudly. Willow sat beside her and rested her hand on Buffys back.

"It will get easier unno, Angels strong" she wasn't getting any reaction so Willow sighed and tried to reach her again "I c-could try a spell"
It worked , Buffy brushed her hair back as she raised her head from her lap and looked at her, the last tears falling before she wiped her cheeks dry and frowned
"What?"
"I could find a spell that could help, maybe even put things back to normal, kinda"
Buffy almost smiled , then frowned again .
"Do you think Giles would agree to it, I mean we'd only have to get Angel back to normal, everything else is okay, isn't it?"
"I guess, I'll go and talk to Giles, but Buffy, don't go giving yourself a hard time, you didn't know it would end up like this"

Willow left and as the front door shut, Spike came up from the basement, he rubbed at his forehead , his nostrils flared and he caught the scent of her tears.

"What's up pet? Why the tears?"
"Just everything, I caused all this mess, god ." she sighed before carrying on "I'm worse than you when it comes to plans."
"Oi!"
"It's true, I was selfish, this is what happens when Buffy wants something other than lonely nights of slayage "

Spike hated seeing her like this. Hated the self pity, she was better than that.

"So now that you cocked things up your going to sit and bask in your self pity"

His attitude towards her caused Buffy to stare at him, how could he be like this? He sounded like the Spike she had tried to stake years ago.
He got the reaction he expected, there was his Slayer. Time to crank it up a notch, even if it meant a broken bloody nose.

"Well boo hoo Buffy! Your not the only one that feels like that right now! Angels going ga ga , Willow and Xander are walking on soddin eggshells round you and the Watchers curling up with his new best mate , Jack bloody Daniels every night.Don't even get me started on me n you pet!"

Buffy felt the sting in her eyes again , her tears were a mix of sadness and anger, the Slayer clawed at her insides, she was losing control and it scared her.
"Shut up Spike" she hissed through her gritted teeth
"I want you to face facts Buffy, get your head outta that pert arse of yours and focus on what's going on around you"
"That's all I've done, I'm so sick of putting everyone first"
"That why you got involved with William, married him an' is that why your with me now?"
"What? No! I love you, "

Spike's brow furrowed

"Part of it might have been , but listen to me, I wasn't the Slayer there, not really. I had time to be me, I thought that he... you fell in love with me then because of that. I just thought that I was there to save you once I saw Angelus"
"I remember"

Spike sat beside her on the couch and let out an audible sigh. Buffy leant against his shoulder.

"Buffy, don' worry bout us, we'll be fine. What we need to do is get Angel back to normal, just been down there and he was more like his unsouled self."
"Willows working on it with Giles. "
"A spell?"
"Yeah, lets face facts, nobody is comfortable with him being here and now that you say he's more like Angelus it kinda makes it more of a priority"
"Think Red will come up with something ?"
"I'm sure of it"