White Knight, Black Knight

White Knight, Black Knight Chapter Seventeen


Xander rushed around the kitchen doing last minute things for dinner as Spike sat at the bar and poked fun. He’d gripe at his lover, but Spike had helped a lot. That is if you counted chopping things and complaining that Xander was turning him into a ponce as help, which Xander did. It was Spike after all. He hadn’t even expected the help with the chopping.

Then again when did Spike give up a chance to play with sharp objects?

The past few days had been…weird, even for Xander. He’d had conversations with Buffy and Willow, Buffy throwing his attitude towards Angel back in his face even though he’d been a kid at the time. He tried to explain things to her but in the end she had hung up on him.


Willow was entirely different. She wasn’t so much upset about Spike; but she didn’t understand how he could trust Spike. Then again she never could even when they were friends. No, she was mainly upset that he was ‘rejecting’ her gift of normality. If Willow had her way he’d be away from the Hellmouth with Anya with a house and 2.5 kids, a cat and a dog.

He hated watching ”Leave it to Beaver”, he sure as hell didn’t want to live it.

This time it was Xander that had slammed the phone down in anger, and Spike had just handed him his sword and they left early for patrol through the sewers. He didn’t want to be normal, never had, and she was upset with his refusal and he was upset that she was trying to run his life for him. All through the conversation she had been on the edge of tears and talking about how she’d sacrificed for him.

He really tried not to think about hat, he was afraid of the mental images he’d get. He’d pretty much washed his had of magic after than messed up love spell, but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand some things, didn’t understand how much of yourself you gave away when you worked with the stuff Willow had been playing with in his name. It made his skin crawl. He hadn’t even talked to Tara.

He hadn’t talked to Giles that much either, mainly just confirmed with him the time for dinner. Xander was just glad that his mentor was at least giving them a chance. He knew it would have been a lie if Giles had come out all supportive, so in a way this was better, more honest.

He’d gone a bit nuts with the dinner plans, hence Spike’s heckling that he was tuning out.
He’d made a Beef and Guinness Pie, salad with spring greens and chocolate mousse. He was hoping that a semi-sophisticated dinner would make Giles think of him as an adult and not the fifteen year-old he’d been.
“…then I’m gonna paint myself purple and run into the Magic Box at noon and ask Rupert for a fertility charm.”

“Hmm? I really don’t think we need a fertility charm Spike, and purple? So not your color.”

“You haven’t been listening to me.”

“I’ve been listening, sort of. It’s just going in one ear and out the other.”

“Xander calm down. It’s not as if this is life or death, we did that the other day. This is just…”

“This is as close to having my parents coming to dinner as we will ever get considering I started ignoring them even before I left the Basement of Doom and I am so not talking to them. Just wait, you’ll have your turn. One of these days despite Cordy’s phone acrobatics Buffy is going to get through to Angel and we’ll be having your family over.”

Spike snorted. “Yeah but I don’t give a damn what Peaches might think.”

Xander really doubted that but he wasn’t going to point that out right at this minute. It was bad enough that Cordy called screaming Thursday night and was still continuing to block the frantic calls to Angel to have him come down and dust Spike. Of course she was angrier about not knowing he and Spike had gotten together than playing phone tag with Buffy, but she promised she’d back him up when Angel finally did find out.

He really wasn’t looking forward to that, but one crisis at a time.

“Its just…I just want my friends to be happy for me, for us. Is that so unreasonable?”

“Unreasonable, no, but unlikely maybe. You knew that at the start luv.”

Xander sighed and sat down next to Spike at the bar. “I know. I guess I’m just happy and I want everyone else to be happy all at the same time.”

“Well I’m happy and you’re happy. Got to count for something, don’t it?”

Just then the doorbell rang and Xander got up to answer the door. He stopped and planted a wet, slobbering kiss on Spike’s cheek, the kind that made him splutter. “It counts for everything Spike. Everything.”

****

The dinner went off well, despite the fact that Xander nearly vibrated through the floor. All weekend Xander had been worried and when the time had finally come for the dinner Spike watched as he almost effortlessly charmed the Watcher. A small bit of talk before dinner over brandy about Buffy and Willow, but that was all. The dinner was spent on other things, like the fact that Giles was shocked silent that Xander had actually knew how to cook, much less cook something nice that didn’t go in the bloody microwave.

There was a lot Giles didn’t know about Xander, and Spike couldn’t help but be pissed off. Yeah he was glad he had time with Xander with none of the others sticking their nose in where it wasn’t wanted; but his friends should know things about Xander. The girls hadn’t even mentioned the fact that Xander had a cat to the older man.

It was as if the whole group never talked to each other anymore.

It was beginning to change. Right now he was out in the living room trying to fiddle with music or whatever and give Xander some privacy in the kitchen. Of course he was still evil, so when he heard his name mentioned he did eavesdrop.

“Xander about you and…and Spike.”

“Yeah Giles?”

“He seems to genuinely care for you.”

“Not to sound rude or anything Giles, but duh. Even before we became lovers we’ve been friends. I’ve told you guys that much.”

“Yes, well, I must admit it even then I had a difficult time believing that Spike wasn’t…”

Xander’s laugh was bitter. “Using me to get to Buffy?”

“Precisely.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Spike was torn between anger on Xander’s behalf and finding the Watcher’s embarrassed spluttering amusing. He moved over to the stereo and started looking through CD’s, trying to make it at least look like he wasn’t listening in.

“I’m sorry Xander, but it just seems such a different course for your life to take. We all thought you were happy with Anya.”

“I was, till she tried to change me. You guys seem to forget that even though she was in a human form, her brain for over a thousand years was a demon’s. I could take the stories of evisceration and vengeance, but the white picket fence and station wagon thing scared the shit out of me.”

“Little chance of that now is there?”

“Nope, the only use Spike has for a white picket fence is for possible weapons, and a station wagon isn’t his style.”

“Xander, you do realize that he isn’t going to want to let you go…ever. Not even to death?”

“Once again with the duh statement there Giles. I assure you I’m not an idiot, I only play one on TV.”

“And have you given any thought to what happens then? When the years add up, or when you get fatally injured on patrol?”

Spike found himself holding unneeded breath. They hadn’t talked about this yet, and he was curious as to what Xander would say. The CD he was holding in his hand cracked from the pressure.

“Then you find a way to stick a soul on without the side effect of not being happy. Or I go soulless. Either way I’m not leaving him.”

*****

“Did you mean it?” They were patrolling after dinner. Xander was afraid if they even took one night off the Initiative would take advantage and Spike couldn’t fault his thinking. He’d been thinking of the conversation he’d overheard for hours now and he just had to know.

“Huh?”

“What you said to the Watcher…about us, there in the kitchen. Did you mean it?”

Xander stopped and leaned on one of the cars they were walking by, and Spike was finding it hard not to move around. How this mortal not even a fifth of his age could get him so flustered he didn’t know.

“What, about us loving each other? You know I did.”

Spike snorted and pulled out his cigarettes and light one. “Don’t be daft pet, it doesn’t suit you. About if you were hurt.”

“Oh, that. Yeah I guess I did. I hadn’t thought about it really, and I don’t want to loose who I am. But if we could find a way…wouldn’t you want me?”

The words had barely left Xander’s lips before Spike grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him. Usually they kept their distance on patrol, but the thought of Xander being with him not for the next fifty years or so but for the next fifty centuries? It was too much, he couldn’t tell Xander what he thought, he had to show him. He let his tongue roam inside Xander’s mouth as if he could taste the words of devotion.

Xander moaned into his mouth and warm hands cupped his ass and pulled him closer. Finally Spike pulled away, partly so Xander could breathe but also because if they didn’t stop he was going to throw his love on the hood of the car and shag him right then and there.

Maybe another time, when there wasn’t soldier boys running around trying to catch them with their, snerk, pants down.

“Spike!” Xander’s chest was pumping like a bellows and Spike actually had to tear his eyes from his mate. “Patrol. We’ll go kill things and then I am going to show you just how much I love you and how much that turned me on.”

“Right, let’s go kill something.” Spike thought he could kill a legion of demented hell gods at that very moment. Xander loved him enough to stay with him forever. He wanted to howl, to fight…

To take Xander home and make it extremely hard for him to sit down.

The nest of fledges they found in Restfield Cemetery didn’t know what hit them.

*****

The phone call came the next morning after he answered he could have sworn the room temperature go down with the first ring. They had only been asleep for two hours and he had muscles ache that he didn’t know about before.

Spike of course, slept like the dead he was so it was left to Xander to crawl out of their warm bed and stumble into the living room to answer.

“What!”

“Well good morning to you too sunshine. Wake up on the wrong side of the vampire this morning didn’t we?”

Xander ran a hand through his hair and tried to wake his brain up enough to talk. “Cordy? It’s like morning!”

“No! Is that why the sun was coming up in the east! I didn’t know!”

Thank god it was a cordless phone. He could stumble into the kitchen for coffee and still bitch at his friend. “Funny Queen C, very funny. What’s so important that you’re calling me during the middle of my night?”

“Aww, you’re so grouchy in the morning. What else would I be calling about but her Slayerness? She called this morning and if she doesn’t hear back from Angel today she’s coming to visit. I do not need to tell you how bad that would be for you and your honey now do I?”

Xander laughed. “That’s not even going into not letting her near your Angel, right?”

“Damn straight. Well I am at least. It’s going to have to be today Xander, I can’t stall any longer. As it is I had to tell Fred, that girl I was telling you about, because she was covering the phones the other day.”

He poured a cup of coffee and wandered back into the bedroom to shake Spike awake. It didn’t work. Bastard.

“Yeah, and it’s not fair to you either. Call when Angel’s awake and I’ll talk to him.”

“He’s awake now so no more putting it off.”

“God can’t he keep night hours like a normal vampire?”

“Hey it’s taken me over a year to train him to be awake sometimes during the day so back off!”

“Yes Ma’am!” Only Cordelia could talk about training a man like some people talked about training a dog. He stifled his laughter at the thought of his ex taking Angel out on a leash.


“Don’t use that tone with me mister!! Remember I may very well be the only one standing between your honey and a piece of oak through the heart.”

Xander walked back into the living room and settled in the most comfortable chair. “Thanks Cordy, really.”

“I expect gifts Xander, preferably flowers or jewelry.” He could hear a fumbling with the phone. “ANGEL!! PHONE!!”

If Cordy’s voice made his ears ring it must have been hell for Angel. Which was why Xander was going to cut him some slack. He couldn’t help but think that Spike had better appreciate this.

“Hello?”

“Hey Angel, it’s Xander.”

“What? Xander?”

“Yup it’s me. Need to talk to you for a second.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing’s wrong, in fact it’s right. Very right. I know that Buffy is going to try to get a hold of you, and you wouldn’t believe anything Spike would say so I thought I’d give you a call. See I’m with Spike now and he’s claimed me. Thought I’d say hi to the head of the family and all that.”


Complete silence on the other end of the line and Xander found himself grinning. Being nice to Angel was just about as fun as snarking at him because the other man was so confused. He could almost hear the hamster fall off the wheel in the vampire’s brain.

“You’re joking, right? This is just a new way to bother Deadboy.”

“Nope, 100% serious. True love, with dating and everything.”

“You…and Spike!?!”

“Me and Spike.”

Xander’s grin got even wider as Angel, also known as Angelus, one of the Scourge of Europe, whimpered.