Swan Song

Spike arched a scarred eyebrow at the sight of Gabriel's car. Proper tinting his arse, his Childe's dark blue corvette has no tinting at all save a slight bluish sheen to the windows.
"Don't travel much during the day then, do you, mate?"
"On the contrary. They're light sensitive. More sun there is, darker they get until they're black as night." Gabriel laughed softly as he opened the passenger door for his sire with a flourished bow. Spike just rolled his eyes and slid in, settling into the black leather seat and eyeing the stereo system. A hawk flew over the mountains on a digital display that just screamed "Sharper Image" at the least.
"Well off, then, luv?" He smirked, trying to figure out what button to press to turn it on. Another throaty chuckle from his Childe, who reached over and snapped a plate onto the front. Ah, there were the missing buttons. A little poking and fiddling as the car started with a roar and a purr that settled to silence. Soon the only sound was the noise of the highway mixed with the classic rock station. Spike stared blankly out of the window, watching the city go by, and occasionally feeling his gorge rise as Gabriel crested and descended a hill too fast. Normally it would have been a thrill, like a roller coaster, but today he wasn't well grounded enough to feel any sort of rush. Too many emotions were swirling in his mind, several he didn't want there. He quickly turned to his Firstborne as emotions over what Angelus had spent the last few months doing to him started to rise strongly, threatening to unhinge him.
"S-So, what have you been up to this last hundred years, luv?"
"Oh, the same as always. Writing, traveling, drinking blood, and amassing quite a bit of money over the years. All earned mind you. Quite proud of that." Spike turned his head towards the window as he listened to Gabe's voice more than his words. He still had his accent... and Spike found that an immense comfort, but he didn't know why. "Ever meet John?"
"W-What?" Spike turned his head with a start at the question, blinking slightly. Gabriel laughed as he realized his sire hadn't been listening to a word he was saying.
"I was asking if you ever met John Lennon. I spent a week or two with him in India, popped by a few times in New York. I offered him immortality a time or two, but he just smiled and turned it down. Shame. He was a good man."
"Woulda changed, luv. Vampires aren't good. Nothing about us is good. We hunt and kill and maim and... torture."
"I've never killed a human."
Spike sat up at this. If he'd been driving, he'd have gone right into a post. "Wot?"
"I've never killed anyone. I refuse to. I preyed on them, but I've never drained anyone to death. I usually get volunteers..."
"Blood dolls? Don't tell me you've gone all Anne Rice on me?" Spike flinched in surprise as Gabriel's face split into full-blown laughter. He had to pull off onto the shoulder to keep from wrecking "W-Wot?"
"W-Where do you think... she got the idea... for poor, lamenting Louis and his beautiful, blonde, brat prince of a sire...? O-Oh, granted she changed the story, embellished, b-but... Oh, I can't be mad at her; she's such a dear!"
Spike could only really blink. He and Gabriel were the basis for Lestat and Louis...? The idea of it made his head throb, and not in any sort of good way. He had become enough of a laughing stock without having this hanging over his head... His expression was hangdog as his Childe got himself ther,her, becoming more serious.
"You don't want to kill around here, unless you WANT to be dusted by the police. There's really no need for it. Just look for people wearing teardrop rubies. They don't care if they're preyed on. It's a kink for them."
"Takes the fun out of it, luv... the spice out of the blood..." And yet he remembered those first months of being a fledgling... having to be taught to love the kill... not to apologize for biting someone, and leaving them unconscious, sat up or draped neatly on a crate or bench somewhere. By the time the skin of Will had been shed, revealing William the Bloody, and then Spike, Gabriel had been long gone for fear of Angelus' rage, further fueled by Darla's... bitchiness. It was a lesson he'd failed to pass on: that final severing of the soul from the body. And yet there were times, especially in the past few weeks, he felt like his was still there, making his unbeating heart burn with the pain of betrayal, the need to be loved, and the agonizing fear of abandonment. Hunching up his shoulders slightly, he turned his head to look out of the window again as they continued.
Gabriel watched his sire with growing worry. He'd never known Spike to be distant and withdrawn. He'd barely laughed since they reunited, and most disturbingly, he flinched away reflexively when touched. Before catching himself and forcing hif tof to relax. He was sure at first it was the shock of seeing him again, but now he wasn't so sure. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong...

When Gabriel said he and Hanako were roommates, he figured typical vampiric nesting... Not a house. A VERY expensive looking well-maintained townhouse.
"Who the bloody hell did you kill...?"
"All on my own. All that money I had as a gentleman in England? It's old money now. Passed down through the generations to my *ahem* descendants. I'm Gabriel Delancy IV." He put on his most posh accent for the last bit, smiling as he pulled into the driveway. Spike was shocked to silence that any vampire could have managed so well... and the part of him that was still William, long buried and now rising again, rejoiced that it was his beloved Childe that had done it.

Watching Spike explore the house and it's luxuries caused a feeling of joy and contentment that the younger-yet-older vampire hadn't felt in decades. Physically, Gabriel looked the older; a full head taller and darker than his sire. Val Kilmer in stark comparison to Spike's Billy Idol. Likely, he'd been 27 when he was turned in comparison to Spike's just -barely- 21. Only a month and five days separated their deaths. All of that combined threw a strange spin on their relationship as Sire and Childe. It felt rather... reversed. Even now, as Spike investigated the surround sound system, Gabriel felt like a father -or older brother- showing off his new home to the youth that idolized him so.
"This place must cost a bloody mint."
"And a half. It's good to be rich. Make yourself at home." A trip to the wetbar was in order, and Gabriel was more than happy to show off his skills as a bartender "So what's brought my beloved Will to the City by the Bay, and how long is he staying?" As soon as the words left his lips, Gabriel saw Spike's expression of amusement crumble then rise again like a temporarcadecade. It was followed by a nonchalant shrug.
"Exploring. Decided it was time to be on my own for a while. Staying until I get bored, I feature."
"That may be a while. This IS San Francisco."
"Yeah, maybe..." another stiff shrug, "Guess I'll just hole up here until I move on."
"As long as you like. You ARE my sire, after all." The smile that statement got from Spike made him feel like his still heart actually beat for the first time in a century.

Spike stared at the plate of linguini for about five minutes, then looked at his Childe for an even amount. Blood dishes were also new to him. Black pudding was one thing, but sauce using blood instead of tomatoes was another. Gabriel had to suppress another chuckle.
"I'm not trying to poison you, love. You'll get used to it. Chem's down on... well, I can't recall since they deliver, makes an AMAZING blood-based lo-mein and egg flower... are you well?"
"Yeah, it's... Bollocks, luv, how... I mean... If this place is such a vampire's paradise, why isn't every demon in the world here?"
"Because if they were, it wouldn't BE a paradise. It's a well-kept secret. The old traditions would destroy this city for us."
"I get it, mate. Keep my gob shut."
"I do rather like my home here. It's all paid for in a Slayer-free city."
Slayer... Slayer... Spike wondered how Angelus was faring against his ex. He silently hoped the tiny Slayer would find it in her woman-scorned heart to torture the bastard a bit before dusting him. On the other hand, maybe he'd have the joy of it reaching his ears that they'd killed each OTHER. What a good day that would be... and that made him feel pleasantly warm inside.
While he wasn't sure what brought about the Mona Lisa smile on Spike's face right before it vanished behind a huge forkful of linguini, Gabriel did know that this time he wasn't going to let his beloved go quite so easily. He took a smaller, more polite forkful of food and as he chewed thoughtfully on the noodles, watching his sire do an impression of a starved hyena, he sighed to himself in anticipation of many more pleasant dinners to come.