The Gift

Chapter Five

Xander counted to two hundred before Spike stopped him. "Enough pet. It's dark, let's go. I am ready to get out of this bloody town." Xander climbed off the floor and wiped himself down with a damp cloth. The sit-ups were not fun, but he liked the results.

He pulled on the shirt that Spike tossed at him and buttoned his pants. "Where are we going?"

"I have no idea, love. I just know I have to find him. Can't you feel it?" Xander nodded and the two men walked out into the night.

*****

Angel was thirsty. He had never felt thirst like this before. It wasn't hunger, a desire to feed, it was blinding in ittenstensity.

In addition, he could feel Spike. His childe was near and the fear he felt because of that was incapacitating. He had sent them away so that they would be safe! He could also feel Xander's life force tied to Spike. Obviously their mating had been successful.

He heard something drop on the floor next to him, but he did not respond. There was no way he was going to drink anything else that they gave him. No way in hell.

*****

Spike looked around the cemetery warily, a lit cigarette in his hand. There was no way that he could keep doing this. "Xan, love, I can't..." He moaned and dropped the still burning cigarette to the ground as Xander swallowed around hick. ck.

Xander pulled away with a pop. "Can't what, Spike? Come?" Xander smirked evilly and returned to sucking Spike off.

Buffy raced towards the center of the cemetery when she heard an inhuman roar, Tara and Willow trailing behind her.

Spike panted as Xander stood and pulled his pants back up, deftly buttoning the fly. Xander grinned as his mate continued to draw in unneeded air. "You are such a faker." Xander leaned in to kiss Spike and was abruptly pushed away.

"Hey..." Spike's cool fingers latched over Xander's mouth and he was unceremoniously dragged behind a crypt.

Spike's rough voice whispered in his ear, "Slayer."

Both men stood silently, waiting for the danger to pass. They watched as Buffy ran past, her head swiveling as she searched the familiar landscape for anything out of the ordinary. Willow and Tara passed by slower, but with the same attention to detail.

"Still hunting in a pack, I see." Spike snarled after them.

"So do you, Spike." Xander grabbed Spike's hand and they strolled out of the cemetery heading in the direction that their senses were leading them.

As they approached the campus of Sunnydale University, both men could feel a tingle along their spines. "He's here," Xander muttered quietly.

"Yeah, pet."

They crept through the campus silently, feeling for their sire. Xander stood above a grate in the center of a field and pointed down. "Here."

Spike nodded and ripped the grate from the ground, tossing it to Xander before dropping into the hole. "Come on down, Xan. It's safe." Xander dropped through and together they lifted the grate back into position.

"I hope nobody tries to walk over that." Xander laughed.

"I bloody well hope that they do." Spike took Xander's hand again and the two lovers strolled underneath the university, not knowing exactly what they were looking for.

The drainage tunnel ended unexpectedly at a white door. Spike and Xander examined it, not finding any way of entering it. Spike looked around the door as Xander scrutinized the walls on either side.

"Look, Spike." Xander pointed to an almost invisible crack in the wall. They spent several minutes manipulating the area before it opened, exposing a keypad. Spike snorted.

"Well, fuck. See if you can get the panel off, love, I'll hotwire it." Spike stripped off his duster and tossed it to the ground before he began studying the wires that Xander had exposed.

Xander stood and looked around the tunnel carefully. "I don't think this door is ever used, Spike. Look at our footprints." The route they had taken was clearly marked with two different sizes of distinctive tread cutting through the dust on the ground.

Spike glanced down and growled. "Lovely, means I got it all over my pants as well. There." He jumped up as the door swung open and Xander lifted the black duster, following behind his mate.

The corridor that they entered was immaculate. No sign of the dust filled space that they had just left remained. The door swung shut behind them and Spike allowed his game face to come forward, peering through the dark.
t'st's stronger, Spike. He's that way." Xander pointed to their left and the two stealthily made their way to the end of the hallway. What they found stole their breath.

They were looking down on a large room that was filled with what looked like cages. They could see demons of all kinds trapped behind invisible walls. In the center of the room, several demons were strapped down on tables as people in white lab coats did all kinds of unspeakable things to them.

Xander's stomach rolled and he leaned back against the wall, wrapping his arm around Spike and holding him close. He reached through their link and sent his fear and dread through to his lover. Spike leaned in and pierced Xander's throat gently, drawing lightly on the wound, comforting him.

They waited as the demons were tossed back into their cages and the lab coat clad torturers left. The lighting never changed, it was harsh and unforgiving. After a couple of hours, Spike decided no no one was returning. He and Xander carefully made their way down to the floor.

Xander looked into each cage, flinching at what he saw. There was no way that a human could still be living if they carried the injuries that some of those creatures had. Spike strode along silently, following his instincts until he reached the last cage in the room.

"Xan!" he called out quietly. Xander turned and made his way to his mate, ignoring the pleas of the demons begging for his help. When he arrived at Spike's side, he crumpled to the floor.

Angel was laid out on the floor of the cage, nude, covered in wounds of various sizes. His legs were broken and the bones stuck out of his skin, tearing at the flesh when he moved. Xander looked up at Spike, but his mate was already searching for a way in.

Spike banged at the wall that separated him from his sire. Xander grabbed his leg and pointed at the keypad next to the cell. Spike ripped it off and began tying the correct wires together, silently begging his sire to hold on.

Suddenly, the wall was gone and Spike was by Angel's side. He rolled the older vampire over and pulled his head onto his lap. He tore open his wrist with his fangs and thrust it into Angel's mouth.

Angel slowly began to nurse at the wound. Xander glanced around and slid into the cell next to Spike, straightening Angel's legs, working the bones back into place and wincing when the vampire groaned in pain. Spike pulled his wrist away and Angel moved towards it, following it, begging without words for .
.

Xander slit his wrist with his ring and held it against the searching mouth, allowing Angel to take quite a bit before pulling away. He held out his wrist to Spike, who licked the wound shut before hissing, "Let's get the fuck out of here!"

The two supernatural beings manhandled Angel's bulk out of the cave-like chamber. Spike grunted when he realized how much weight his sire had lost. "He's skin and bones, Xan."

Xander nodded and kept walking towards the entrance. He needed to get his mate out of here. It wasn't safe.

They made it into the drainage tunnel before the alarms sounded. Spike flung Angel over his shoulder and they leapt out of the grate and sped across the campus, running towards home.

*****

Angel moaned and struggled against the strong arms that held him. "Shh, Ang Angel, it's ok." Angel opened his eyes to find that the warmth he was feeling was Xander. He frowned.

"Told you to leave." He coughed violently, spewing blood across the bed. Xander pulled him back into his arms, heating the frozen body with his own. It had been beyond cold in the cage that Angel had been in and Spike had finally conceded to Xander climbing into the bed with Angel in hopes of warming him up.

"Be still, Sire." Spike's voice caused Angel to turn his bed. His beautiful childe sat beside him, a glass of blood in his hands. Angel's demon surged forward and he grabbed the glass, drinking down the life-giving substance as quickly as he could.

"More?" Angel nodded. Spike climbed out of the bed and looked back at his lover. "Hungry, love?"

er ger grinned at him. "Of course!"

Spike smiled and walked to the door, calling for a minion.

Angel flinched as Xander whispered into his ear. "You would heal quicker if you would feed." He shook his head violently, refusing Xander's suggestion.

Spike returned with another large glass of blood. Rodchester arrived and placed a tray down on Xander's lap.

Xander released Angel and dug into the food that the minion had brought him. He looked over at Spike. "So can we go now? Every minute that we stay increases the chances of us being caught by the Slayer."

"I know, pet. As soon as we can get the poof on his feet, we'll go."

Angel was disturbed with the discussion. "I'm fine." He growled, drizzling blood down his chin.

Spike and Xander both snorted. "Yeah, right."

Xander looked around the room. "I like this place. Too bad we can't take it with us."

"I know, love, but we'll bring Rodchester with us, will that work?" Xander smiled and nodded, leaning over Angel to kiss his mate.

"Rodchester!" Spike waited until the minion's head appeared in the doorway. "Pack up, we're leaving tonight."

*****

Giles sat at the research table watching Buffy. She had been feeling something strange for several days, so he was having her meditate to see if she could discover what it was.

"This isn't working, Giles! All I can see is Xander!" Neither could understand the boy's appearance in her waking dreams. He had been dead for over four years; surely he could not have anything to do with her disturbing feelings.

Willow sighed and tears filled her eyes. "I still miss him." Tara wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and rocked her gently.

"So do I," Buffy responded.

"Beck to your task, please, Buffy. We need to know what is going on." Giles tapped on the table as he spoke, drawing her attention back to the crystal in his hands. She sighed and focused.

*****

Angel moaned as he was lifted out of the seat of the van. Spike carried him into a modest split-level house and laid him on the couch in the living room. Their trip had lasted for well over twelve hours. Angel had no idea where they were, but he could feel the sun rising, so they had to have passed through at least one time zone.

Angel looked up when Xander walked into the room, hauling several labagsbags with him. He ordered Rodchester into the kitchen, and disappeared into one of the other rooms. Angel assumed it was a bedroom.

Xander moved around the house, happy to be someplace where he felt safe. He had helped build this house on their first trip through Texas. When the original owner backed out, Xander had quickly offered to buy the place from the builder. He and Spike had lived here off and on over the past four years. It was the closest thing they had to a home.

He stepped into the shower and smiled when he felt the cool body slide in behind him. "Hey, Spike." He turned and wrapped his arms around his lover, pulling him close and kissing him harshly.

"Now, pet, we're away, no more cause to worry." Xander nodded and gripped Spike tighter.

"Spike, what was that place?" Spike shuddered lightly in his lover's arms.

"I don't know, love, but we're away, we're home." The two men met in a passionate kiss.

Xander slid his hand down Spike's slick body, enjoying the feeling of hot water over cool flesh. He scraped his fingernails over dusky pink nipples, pinching harder when Spike gasped.

Spike wrapped his arms around his mate and drew him further into the kiss, feeling his body respond to his touch.

"So warm, pet." Xander cut off Spike's words as he grasped Spike's heavy erection. Spike tongued the silver loop in Xander's ear, tugging on it gently before releasing it. "Let's move this to the bed."

Xander agreed and they quickly washed and moved into their bedroom. Spike pushed Xander backwards onto the bed before crawling up his body to straddle him.

He rubbed his hands soothingly across his lover's chest, smiling down into the face he loved. Xander pulled him down and thrust his tongue into Spike's mouth, searching for his hidden fangs.

Spike allowed them to drop slightly and Xander deliberately sliced his tongue, flooding their mouths with blood. They both moaned at the taste and Spike shifted slightly so that he could lie in between Xander's legs.

Spike thrust their cocks together, wrapping one strong hand around both erect shafts, jerking hard. Xander writhed underneath him, the brunette never tired of his lover's touch. Too eager to wait, Xander reached into tedsiedside table and pulled out a bottle of lube, thrusting it into Spike's hands.

Spike smirked at his lover and climbed down his body, lifting Xander's legs and placing them on his shoulders.

"This what you want, pet?" He slid a finger into Xander's warm embrace, eliciting approving noises from his lover.

"More," Xander breathed.

Spike quickly lubed his cock and teased the entrance of Xander's ass with the tip.

"Spike!" Xander snarled and pushed up at Spike, trying to impale himself of his lover's length.

"Patience, my beloved."

Xander growled, which made Spike laugh. He thrust into his lover's body, luxuriating in the heat.

"God, yes. Oh, Spike." Xander reached for Spike and pulled the vampire down on top of him. An awkward position at best, but it gave Xander full access to his mate's mouth.

"Love you, yeah, love you!" Xander thrust his cock against Spike's belly, loving the way the rippled muscles felt against his smooth skin.

Spike leaned in and nipped at Xander's ears, drawing blood in several places, enjoying the view that he was being given. He thrust harder, twining his hands in Xander's hair, tugging at the curls harshly.

Xander pushed Spike away and rolled onto his stomach. Spike slid back into him and pulled him up against his chest. Spike wrapped his arms around his lover, one hand caressing and pinching the flesh of his chest and the other stroking him to completion.

Xander cried out and Spike felt warm seed flow over his fingers. Xander's ass clenched around him and he thrust erratically, trying to maintain control. Xander shifted slightly, pulling Spike's sticky hand up to his mouth and began licking his fingers clean.

The erotic imagery was enough to do Spike in. He grunted and thrust again, spilling his seed into hiser. er. They fell backwards, panting, Spike still buried in Xander's depths.

"Love you, Xander."

"Love you, too, Spike."

TBC