Breaking away

((I know I keep alternating between childe and grandchilde as well as sire and grandsire. Hover I use sire as a term that applies to anyone that was created before you. Basically it means that your sire's sire is your sire as well. The same goes for the term childe.))

Angel kept shooting glances at him throughout the drive home. This weary acceptance worried him. Spike had always been a hyper childe. Always moving, exploring and landing himself in messes. He had been forced to come to his rescue on more then one occasion. And more then once he had been forced to grab him by the scruff off his neck to pull him out of a fight against opponents far stronger than him. His childe had always glared at him in response, hissing like and angry kitten being pulled out of the path of a rabid bulldog and furiously swatting at him in an effort to get him to let go. It had been rather cute, although he certainly hadn't thought so at the time.

Again he took in his childe's starved appearance. He could feel Angelus rattling in his cage whenever he turned his gaze on his grandchilde. The last time he saw a vampire this thin he had gone comatose from starvation. When someone had finally gotten blood in him he HAD woken up but his mind had been completely gone. He felt sick just thinking about it. The Scooby gang had promised his childe would be taken care of yet they hadn't called him to tell him that he had left. And from what he had seen and heard he and Dawn had been awfully close. Spike wouldn't just leave. Not without a good reason. What the hell had those Scooby’s done to him.

It must have had something to do with his ex-girlfriend. He still caught a few traces of her scent on him. He forced down the anger that came with the image of the two of them together. He had yet to figure out whether it was the fact that Spike had been with Buffy that made his blood boil or if it was the fact that Buffy had been with Spike. It sounded the same on the surface but it really wasn't. And then there was the fact that Spike had been desperate enough to lower himself to be used by mere humans. The Spike he knew would rather have starved to death.

He felt a twinge of sorrow and guilt wash over him over the fact that the blonde vampire hadn't trusted him enough to come to him instead. It was probably his own fault anyway but it hurt damm it. No matter what had happened he was still Spike's sire. He had trained him. Had been his mentor and his lover for twenty years. He knew he had abandoned him and the younger vampire had been hurt by it but he hadn't know the distrust ran that deep. "Although the Angelus debacle probably hadn't helped." He muttered darkly, wincing at the memories of what he had done to him while the blonde had been stuck in that wheelchair. Surprisingly he felt a similar twinge coming from Angelus.

He sighed as he parked the car. He closed the door, walked over to the passenger’s seat and swung his childe up into his arms. The blonde didn't wake up and that worried him. He steeled himself and headed up the steps. "Oh my god... Is that Spike. What is he doing here, can we stake him?" Cordelia asked quickly, grabbing a stake while she spoke. Gun, Wesley and Fred jumped up at the sound of her voice. "No one is going to stake him. He can't hurt any of you so leave him alone." He said, injecting a hint of steel into his voice.

Wesley shuffled forward carefully. "But he can still hurt you. Are you sure this is wise." He asked cautiously. Angel sighed as he pulled Spike's duster away from his torso and pulled the shirt up, showing off just how starved the blonde vampire was. "Somehow I don't think that will be a problem." He said darkly. "And even if it were, that would be between me and him." He glared darkly at the man that questioned him.

"But Angel. This is Spike. Hot pokers remember." He snarled at Cordelia, going into demon face for a moment. "This is NOT up for debate. Spike WILL stay here and you will NOT hurt him. IS that clear?" Cordelia shivered and took a step back. "Angel?" She asked in a small voice. He just glared at her until she nodded. He then glared to each of the others in turn until they nodded their consent as well before heading up the stairs.

He went into his bathroom first. Running a bath he set about stripping his grandchilde and cleaning him up. Angel growled quietly as he washed the scent of the ones that had touched him of his childe's skin. He repressed Angelus's demand that he go out and kill the ones that had dared to use his child in such a manner and tried to focus on his task. He dried him off and put him in bed.

Tucking Spike in carefully and kissing his forehead he wished him sweet dreams. Through this all his childe hadn't moved. Spike had always been an active sleeper. Angelus had always joked over the fact that William couldn't seem to keep still even while he slept. This stillness worried him. He wasn't even breathing like he usually did. 20 years with Angelus and 100 years with Drusilla hadn't broken that habit. So why didn't he breathe now? He tiredly rubbed his face and turned to go downstairs. He had to go and allay his employee's fears. Not to mention the fact that he still had a phone call to make.