Kindness, Love, and Acceptance

Part 19

Spike and Xander watched warily as Connor and Angel walked away from the group. Both of them were worried about Connor, but were willing to wait and see what happened. Not that Spike had much choice in the matter; he had been bitten - made to submit to Angel - so he had to do as he was told. The only thing keeping him sane was the knowledge that neither Connor nor Xander would abandon him - even if he were the one to leave. Plus, from the way Angel looked at him he was pretty sure that he had made his point - that he wasn't playing here, that these humans meant everything to him.

Xander shot a dirty look at the rest of the group, except for Willow and Giles. He watched with a sneer of disgust on his face as Buffy fussed over Robin. Spike noticed the look and made the connection immediately. He smirked at his lover and nodded his head toward the slayer's broken boyfriend. "You do that, pet?" Xander smiled and nodded. "Good job, love."

"He called Angel. I don't know how he figured it out, but I know he's behind it. Maybe he'll learn to stay out of things that don't concern him in the future." Xander glared over at the man who looked back at him defiantly. He snorted in disgust and pulled Spike into his arms. "Then again, maybe I'll just follow through on my threat to inform the local demon population of what his mother was. Should keep both him and Buffy too busy to bother us anymore. With any luck, they'll either kill him or run him out of town."

Spike looked andernder and smiled proudly at him. He knew better than to underestimate his lover, and apparently Wood was just beginning to understand that Xander Harris was not a man you wanted to be on the bad side of. Hopefully, Buffy would pull his head out of his ass for him before he screwed up too badly; then again, Spike thought it might be a spot of good entertainment watching him run screaming into the night with a bunch of nasties chasing him down. "Likely kill 'im. Far as I know, he's one of a kind. No other slayer ever had a kid - bet a lot of vamps would like to see if he tastes as good as his mother. Lot of other demons too, I'm sure."

Robin blanched slightly and then turned his head sharply as Cordelia spoke up. "That's the least of his worries. If Wolfram and Hart get wind of this, they'll chop him up into iddy biddy pieces just to see what makes him tick." Cordelia looked pointedly at Robin and gave him the patented Chase glare. "I love Connor, he seems happy here; if I find out you hurt him - you do anything to hurt him - I will inform them myself. You got that?"

~!~

"Was that little display really necessary?" Angel frowned at the remembered image of Spike and his son in a passionate embrace. He could have happily lived forever without seeing that.

"It wasn't my idea. You know how Spike is." Connor thought about that and then grimaced. "Let’s forget I just said that, okay?" He really didn't want to think about the fact that his father and the blonde vampire had been intimate when they were both unsouled.

"Good idea. In fact, I'd be happy if we never discussed your involved with Spike again. Or Xander, actually; how you managed to get involved with the two people who I dislike the most, I'll never know."

Connor raised his brow and looked at him. "You dislike Spike and Xander more than Lilah? More than Gavin or Lindsey? How about Justine or Wesley?" Connor smiled as Angel scowled.

"Point."

They continued to walk in silence before finally Connor stopped and just waited for Angel to speak. He didn't have to wait long. "So. You're really happy here? Xander treats you well?" He already knew where Spike stood as far as Connor was concerned, but he wasn't sure about Xander.

"Yes. I am happy here. Xander has been more than good to me; he's gotten me a job - trained me in construction, he's taken me into his home and his life. He loves me." Connor really hoped that Angel understood what he was trying to say. "I love him, father. He makes me happy - they both do."

"Okay, I believe you. But will you tell me how you and Xander got involved in the first place?" Connor nodded and they began walking again as he told Angel the story of how he met Xander in a seedy bar in L.A.

~!~

Spike looked at the cheerleader with dawning respect. He was sure that An's f's fan club was going to be one more obstacle to overcome, not an allied force. Unfortunately, Robin had no idea who he was dealing with.

"Please. You're no better than they are. I see you for what you are, a vampire's whore." Robin sneered at Cordelia and then continued. "You make me sick. Demons are evil, vile creatures; they should be destroyed, not coddled, protected, and loved." His superior attitude was making Xander sick. He wondered if anyone had told him about Buffy's past lovers.

As Robin spoke, the others moved farther and farther away from him. They could see what he couldn't - a very pissed-off Buffy standing behind him. "The very idea that a woman such as yourself would allow a thing like that to touch you... it makes my skin crawl. You're no better than the filth that pay vampires to feed off them for the thrill of it."

The brunette smirked and then in true Cordelia Chase fashion, pointed to Buffy before addressing Robin. "A whore? etteetter than filth, am I? Well, if that's what I am for loving a vampire, a vampire I've never even slept with, what does that make your precious slayer then? Seeing as she's slept with both Angel and Spike? What does that make you? Since you're involved with her? Not so simple now, is it?"

Robin turned to his girlfriend, a look of shock and outrage on his face. "Is this true?"

"Yes. It is. I loved Angel, and he loved me. Spike, well Spike was a different story. He loved me, but I used him. I was going through a difficult phase and he was there for me." Buffy looked over at her ex-lover and one of her dearest friends and couldn't believe the way she had treated them lately. "Xander, Spike, I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me."

Xander covered Spike's mouth before he could reply; he just knew that the vampire was going to say something rude, having to do with parts of Robin's anatomy that Xander would rather not think about. "I know, Buff. We'll talk later."

Buffy turned back to Robin and shook her head sadly at him. "You know, I can understand your hatred of vampires, of Spike in particular since he killed your mother, but the things you just said to Cordelia were very ugly. Is that how you feel about me now that you know about my past lovers? Am thinthing more than a vampire's whore?"

Robin looked at Buffy with disdain. "No, you're worse than that. You're the slayer; you're supposed to kill demons, not fuck them." He sneered at Buffy and then continued. "You make me sick; you're an abomination - you sully everything my mother stood for. You aren't worthy of being the chosen one. They should have left you to rot in your grave."

Buffy looked like a broken little girl at his harsh words; her lower lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. Xander and Spike stepped toward Robin, intent on making him pay for hurting Buffy like that. They never got the chance.

Giles’ fist flew out and connected with the principal’s already broken nose. He smiled a very "Ripperish" smile as the man howled in pain and dropped like a stone. "You will never address my slayer in such a distasteful manner again. In fact, you will never address her again - period. I want you out of Sunnydale by daybreak, that is if you live long enough to make it home."

Giles looked off into the distance where he knew there was a group of vampires who had watched the fight between Angel and Spike. They were still there, and now fully informed of just who and what Robin was. He doubted very much that the man had a hope in hell of defending himself.

Giles led Buffy back into the shop and the others followed. As Xander passed Cordelia she placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "The same thing I said to him," she pointed to the bleeding man on the sidewalk, "goes for you, as well - both of you. I don't want Connor hurt." Spike growled at her, but Xander merely nodded. "Not a problem. We don't want him hurt either."

~!~

Angel was still processing the fact that his son was apparently gay, living with two men - one of them a vampire - and had been claimed by Spike, willingly. It was a hard pill to swallow, seeing as Connor hated him because he was a vampire. He just didn't understand why Spike was accepted and he wasn't - and he said as much to Connor.

"Because Spike isn't like you. You were cursed with a soul, a soul you didn't want, and every time it goes away you turn into a monster. Spike asked for his soul. His demon wanted it. I know that he can't lose it, but that even if he did, he would still love me. He would still love Xander, and he would still fight for the good side. He is a demon, but he isn't just a demon. Even without his soul."

They were back at the shop by this time and Angel was saddened by the fact that this was the longest, least hostile conversation he had ever shared with his son, and now it would be over. He would have to go back to L.A., and Connor would stay here, in Sunnydale, with Xander and Spike. The question was, would he see him again?

~!~

Connor entered the shop alone and went directly toward his two lovers. He quietly told them that Angel was outside and wished to speak to Spike. Spike nodded, kissed Connor and Xander and then went out to meet his sire. Xander took Connor in his arms and together they waited for Spike to come back in.

Buffy and Giles were in the back room of the shop, Willow and Kennedy had gone on patrol, and Cordelia and Fred sat at the table waiting for Angel to come back. Every now and then, one or the other would look over at Connor and then look away again. Eventually, Connor rolled his eyes and went to sit with them. "What?"

Cordelia looked Connor over and then offered him a genuine smile. "I'ad yad you have a place where you’re happy, people who love and accept you. I just... I'm going to miss you." Fred smiled at him and then spoke up as well. "Me too. I, I realise we didn't always get on so well, but I'll miss you, too."

Xander overheard the conversation and went to stand behind Connor's chair. He placed his hands on his shoulders in support. Connor took in the sincere expressions on their faces and sighed. "I'll keep in touch."

~!~