Recombination

A/N: Thanks for the review MarzBar grins I’ll be writing and hugs to Dragon for reviewing *Rules of engagement’ and thanks to everyone who did the stars *hugs*

A/N: Thanks Mia :)

The Scooby Gang

*One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand…wait for it* Xander thought unable to repress the slight smile that curved his lips.

"Oh dear lord," Giles breathed hanging up the phone. He paused for a second obviously contemplating something, which gave Xander enough time to smirk at Spike, who rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath about fixed bets.

"So how's it going for them in the city of shit and stiffs?" Spike asked as he put down the book he'd been looking through and walked over to the table feigning an air of nonchalance.

Giles rubbed his nose. "Please don't call it that Spike," he murmured obviously still deep in thought.

Xander grinned; since Giles and Willow's return most of the gang had been able to patch things up. Sure some things were still better off not said or carefully stepped around but for the most part they were able to put the past behind them. Although Tara's death was (obviously) still a sore point for Willow, she'd surprisingly been able to look past it and was struggling to resume a normal life. Xander couldn't help but admire her for it and was relieved to see her slowly returning as the Willow he knew and loved.

As he'd told her before he wasn't bothered whether she was hell-bent on destroying everything or the girl who'd burned down the house next door so he could see fire trucks (he still firmly believed this); just as long as she was still his best friend. Since her return she'd been doing very little Wiccan magic, spells and manipulations instead she was concentrating on staying more in tune with nature and the balance of the earth.

Xander had no idea what she was talking about with `connections and powers and the earth humming' but as long as it wouldn't hurt her and it seemed to be doing her the world of good he was all for it. When Willow had left Sunnydale, a grief stricken wreck, he'd wanted to go with her to help her through it but Giles had advised him sadly that he'd done the best he could and only Willow could help herself.

Taking her to England gave her time away from the constant reminder of Tara and a chance to meet the coven whose power she'd 'borrowed' on her rampage. Now she was different but in a calmer and a more ‘together’ way. He'd seen the fear in her eyes when Giles had brought her back, the deep pain that she'd been through and the fear of rejection. After a few weeks of settling in, both he and Willow were closer than they had ever been; although she was sill a little too shy and hesitant, she was slowly building her confidence back up.

Their reunion was nothing but tearful; Buffy had been cooking dinner, Dawn was due back from school and he was helping Buffy put up some shelves for Dawns new schoolbooks when the doorbell rang. He'd had to answer the door because he wasn't `trying to perfect a masterpiece' and when he'd opened it he had had to do a double take.

After about 5 minutes an exasperated Buffy, smelling suspiciously of smoke, had come out to find out what was going on and found the two of them almost in tears and hugging. After a mad Buffy hug which had had them both gasping for breath they'd made their way into the living room and had spent the next four hours talking.

Xander smiled slightly remembering the closeness they’d felt that night; Dawn had been a bit miffed to come home and find the house stinking of smoke after Buff's masterpiece exploded but once she saw Willow everything was forgotten and Willow yet again got the breath squeezed out of her and a barrage of questioning.

As for Spike, he'd been completely different. When he'd got back he had been half crazed and running away from all of them. At first they had been a little confused but after a confrontation involving him, Anya, Buffy and Willow, Anya had clicked on to what was wrong.

Spike had a soul; in fact not only did he have a soul, he no longer had the chip in his head. Xander unconsciously rubbed his eyes.

That had messed up everything for a while; Spike was back and he and Buffy was trying to build a kind of friendship although neither was willing to get into a relationship again. Whilst they'd both been dealing with that Xander had been trying to reconcile with Anya; not on relationship terms but as friends or even co-Scooby members. He missed talking to her and luckily she admitted that she had missed him as well even though she was still pretty pissed off with him.

They had talked for almost an entire night both coming to the realization that even before they had been about to get married, they had still been too different to have made it work. Anya's bounce back into vengeance and his desire to establish his own business would have created bigger wedges between them if they’d stayed together. Xander had been a little relieved to find out that Anya had always planned to try to regain her powers and had desperately wanted them back; it was one less guilty wedge between them. The morning had been spent trying to work out where they went from there and Xander had been the first to voice what he wanted.

For a man hating vengeance demon, Anya had been fine about it. A little annoyed but it wasn't like she hadn't been expecting it she wasn’t completely clueless unlike him. She did agree that he did have good taste however and would help him out if he needed it. After hugging Xander had spent the next few nights with Anya at the bronze, talking about their problems and helping her catch the eye of several men. A couple of days afterwards Buffy had herded Spike around to his apartment and asked him if the vampire could stay.

Taking in the detail of Spike’s body Xander unconsciously licked his lips. When Spike and he had started living together he had insisted on getting more blood in. In his opinion, much as he loved the definition of Spike cheekbones, the vampire was looking extremely thin, almost emaciated.

It had been a difficult few weeks, especially with neither of them trusting each other; Spike had to deal with the return of his soul and Xander had also done a lot of soul searching. He'd known since he was in high school, after Larry died at the mayors' hand, that he couldn't hide the truth from himself any longer. He was bisexual, not straight, not gay, not in denial, plain old bisexual. Once he admitted that he found himself a lot more comfortable in his own skin; it didn't matter what sex they were, if he liked them, he liked them.

Unfortunately that's how it had been when he first met Spike. Evil or not, Xander had found himself attracted to and fantasizing after the vampire; the problem was that Spike had no soul and to him soulless meant completely evil which meant he could never have do anything. To his shame he'd started taking out his frustration and guilt on Spike.
The attractions he felt coupled with his deep hate of demons had made him petty, spiteful and not give Spike the benefit of the doubt. Granted Spike had been pretty much a complete arse but he hadn't deserved everything Xander had said and done to him.

So when Spike returned with his soul, fulfilling one of Xander’s deepest fantasies, he had been completely confused as of what to do. If it hadn't been for Anya accidentally blurting out his little secret to Giles in the magic box when Spike was stealing underneath, nothing would have happened.

Instead Spike had come home, stood at the door and asked, "So is she right? Do you want me then?"

At first Xander had been unable to speak. His murmured, "yeah, she is" had almost given him a panic attack especially when the vampire had turned and walked out of the room. After what seemed like forever, during which time Xander had been trying to collect his thoughts, Spike poked his head back through the door.

"Well what are you waiting for Harris? Grab you're coat, you've pulled."

And that was that; they'd gone to the bronze, drank, danced and had a good time. Buffy, Willow and Anya had arrived just as they were leaving, after hearing the news `we're not dating, we're seeing how it goes' Willow had hugged them both. Anya had looked smug, Buffy had grinned and hugged them both but given them a stern warning of `no sex or kinky stuff in front of Dawn'.

Xander yawned, and started slightly realizing that Giles was no longer `dear lording' and Spike was glowering at the flustered watcher.

"No way, no goddamn way," Spike's voice was calm and level but his stance and language suggested otherwise.

Xander sat up with a frown "What's going on? What did I miss?" he asked confused, staring from one to the other.

Giles pulled up a chair for the obviously annoyed vampire to sit on, whilst he thumbed through one of his books. "It’s Angel. He's missing and We-my contact seems to think Buffy could help. Apparently he's been checking in on the other members of Angel investigations and they are in a bad way." He sighed "Cordelia appears to have vanished as well."

Xander’s mouth dropped open. "What when did this happen? He hasn't gone evil again has he?" he asked a spark of worry running through him.

Giles shook his head as Spike sullenly took a seat. "On the contrary, they believe that Wolfram and Hart- the law firm Buffy told you about, has taken him. Apparently they have had some difficult locating his exact position but they know he isn't dead. Cordelia on the other hand…her car was found abandoned on the highway. My contact,"

"Your watcher friend," Spike cut in "thinks that Angel’s son," he held up a hand as Xander's eyes went wide with shock "don't even ask, may have also had a hand in it."

Giles nodded, "Wesley told me what has been happening recently and I believe he's right. Connor, Angel's son, his adoptive father was killed by a woman named Justine. The manner in which he died suggested to Connor that Angel carried out vengeance on the man and now Angel has gone missing. Wesley believes that he has done something to him." He sighed. "However due to the unfortunate accident which allowed this man to get hold of Connor, the rest of Angel's team will no longer listen to Wesley. He believes very strongly that Connor did not kill Angel but is possibly holding him hostage somewhere or has buried him to die unpleasantly."

"Living skeletons," Spike spoke softy, his eyes distant as he replayed an old memory. "So Giles here and the other one want us to help them find him."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Okay…this is all a bit confusing but I guess Buffy's going to want to go, right? I mean I…" he paused and shuddered, "I wouldn't wish that on any one."

Giles nodded. "Quite. Anyway, I've phoned Buffy and she and Willow are preparing to head down to LA, but,"

"Neither of them can drive?" Xander interjected, he sighed "Or have a car. Much as I love Buffy there is no way I'm letting her drive my car, so I guess I'm in."

Spike sat up straighter. "Well I'm not staying here on my own, with Giles, sorry mate," he cast a look at the surprised (and possibly slightly insulted) watcher, "and Anya. Before you know it they'll have me advertising this place and being number one at customer service. I'm not seeing him though." His face brooked no argument and Xander didn’t need to ask who ‘he’ was.

Giles placed his book carefully down on the table. "Actually that's quite a good thing, Spike. In light of you and Xander’s new living arrangements I was hoping you could do me a favour."

Spike raised an eyebrow whilst Xander flushed hotly. "What kind of favour?" he asked suspiciously, "if we're not going to help Angel what do you want us to do? Find Cordelia?"

"No, not quite" Giles answered hurriedly. "According to Wesley there is nothing to suggest foul play in Cordelias' case. I want you to pick something up for me, but you mustn't inform any of Angels friends what you're doing. Buffy and Willow both know but seeing as they will be busy in the hotel keeping the boy at bay they will be unable to help."

He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Wesley has been taking care of something. Something quite important to him. He won't tell me what, he even asked me to come up, but unfortunately work dictates. For some reason he won't tell me over the phone just muttered something about `bugs' and never knowing who your friends are. I'm guessing something or someone could be listening in."

Xander shrugged. "Sounds like it, but then again he always did seem a little paranoid."

"Maybe he has good reason to be," Spike drawled playing with his fingers. "Might be worth going up to take a look at this secret of his."

Both Xander and Giles faces were a mixture of confusion and amusement; Spike shrugged "It’s better then sitting here or seeing that lot again," he reminded them. "Besides you've got me interested now."

"Once he gets set on a task, he's like speedy gonzolas, nothing stops him." Xander laughed ignoring Spike’s glower in his direction.

"All I'm saying is rather than searching for Angel, we could swing by the guys place and take a look, couldn't hurt could it?" the vampire pouted slightly trying to convince both humans.

Giles sighed. "Much as I hate to admit it, I do agree with you Spike. So if you two could do that then Buffy and Willow can try to help the others; I'll just phone him back to let him know." He made his way out the back of the shop leaving the two of them at the table, one grinning, one scowling.

After a staring contest of about 3 minutes, Xander finally broke the ice. "So why don't you want to see him then?" he asked curiously, Spike had only recently started explaining his past to Xander but his history with ‘deadboy’ was off-limits as far as conversation went.

"Never did get on did we, soul or no soul." Spikes scowl deepened and he ran his hands through his hair. "Except when I was first turned, we got on for a while, we clashed but it was fun. Then he got the soul and he didn't want anything to do with any of us. Then after a century of soul-boy, he loses the soul and proceeds to steal my girl and insult and humiliate me." His fists clenched at his hair. "And then the wanker has the nerve to get his soul back and ignore me again!" He sighed. "It's complicated with him. You hate him, but you can't help wanting to be with him. It's a vampire thing”.

"Oh," Xander was silent for a second before asking "What about your soul? Do you like him more or less now?" he asked inquisitively.

Spike shrugged. "About the same to be honest but I don't want him knowing about it, thinking I need to be looked after or taught. I'm doing okay on my own." He avoided Xander’s eyes as he leant back on the chair. "And I don't want him thinking any less of me," He confessed.

"Why would he? You're the same now. I mean besides the fact that he broods and has no fashion sense, but you’re both kind of the same, aren't you?"

Spikes lips quivered into a small smile. "Nice of you to compliment me on my clothes Xander." His smile grew a little wider and Xander found himself smiling back. "Maybe we can do something about yours though you have been making more of an effort recently. I have to say I like a man in uniform even if it is only a suit."

Xander stood up and moved slowly in front of Spike. "Uniform huh?" He clicked his neck and his grin widened "You should have been paying more attention the first Halloween you got here then. I was soldier boy remember?"

"How could I forget?" Spike asked one eyebrow raised. "Course you were also less built and more girlie back then."

Squatting down, his face level with Spikes chest, one hand on each of the vampire's legs Xander mimicked Spike’s raised eyebrow. "Girlie huh?" he asked a twinkle in his eyes.

"Really girlie, all high pitched screaming and `help help, evils going to get me'." Spike replied trying not to laugh.

Xander innocently ran his hands along Spikes legs "Really?"

Spike shifted uncomfortably "Really."

Xander rocked forward onto his knees running his hands slowly up the vampire’s legs and slipping them under his shirt. "Still girlie?" he asked inquiringly.

Spike clenched his jaw. "Um, Xander. Giles will be out that door in about 30 seconds and I really don't think he's gong to want to see this, remember what he threatened last time?" he asked trying to stall the man.

"A cold shower for the both of us," Xander murmured his hands lightly running over Spike’s flesh, occasionally grazing a nipple. "A lot of other nasty things too if I remember."

"Umm hmmm." Spike nodded, casting a look towards the door "Yeah. Lots of nasty things, lots of very, very…" he trailed off as Xander’s hands began to make their way towards his belt. "Xander," he growled warningly as the door shot open.

Xander’s hands shot back and he fell backward almost dislodging an entire bookcase of supplies. "Contact lens, no can't find it…" he babbled red-faced as Giles entered the room. Spike grinned, seeing the `why me' look on Giles face.

"Xander please sit down" Giles addressed the boy, "I can assure you no one has lost any contact lenses and much as I'd like to I can't wear them. Solely on the principle that I can't take them out every five minutes to avoid looking at what you are all doing."

Xander scampered to his feet. "Just checking," he smiled brightly and settled himself in the chair. He cast an evil look towards Spike who could barely contain his laughter.

Giles peered out of the shop window. "Buffy just called, she's expecting you two in an hour. So you'd better go home and get ready. The sun’s gone down now and if you drive carefully, it should only take you a few hours."

"If I drive you mean." A cheerful Spike jumped up and smirked down at the still red-face Xander. "Considering the git here, drives like an old woman."

Giles rubbed his temples ignoring the filthy look Xander gave Spike and almost threw them out of the door, pressing a piece of paper in Xander’s hand. "Wesley's address, give me a call if you need anything and try not to cause too much trouble."

As he shut the door behind him he could hear them bickering over who got to drive and thanked every deity he could think of that he and Anya had an overload of work to do. He wouldn't wish anyone to be stuck in a car with the two of them for one hour let alone three. He mentally noted that he'd better ring Buffy and Willow back and remind them to take along a lot of their own music, unless they wanted the tortures of listening to Spike and Xander singing their way through the Rocky Horror show.