Lycanthrope, Vampirism, and Magick

Fred had a slight concussion, nothing serious. What was worse was Wesley’s shoulder. The stubborn ass had refused a hospital, leaving it up to Spike to make sure it got back into place correctly. Gunn was okay, just a few cuts and bruises, and the only problem with Spike right now was the overwhelming need to beat every stubborn idiot he knew about the head with something heavy.

He watched as Gunn tended to Fred, and Lorne got painkillers for Wesley. Knew he couldn’t beat either of them up just yet for their stupid move. Bloody idiots should have waited for him and Gunn.

He could see Lorne looking at him out of the corner of his eye. The empath was probably getting a headache just from hearing him breath needlessly, if he were to hum the poor bloke would probably hit the floor like a sack of flour.

Wesley made a move as if to say something and Lorne just shook his head. Spike was pacing in the lobby of the Hyperion, he was filled with a manic energy and while the fight had been good it hadn’t been enough to wear him out. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag. Somehow or other, he’d become the unofficial leader of this little group of white hats when Angel wasn’t around.

In Sunnydale, Dawn and Anya had been his only friends, and after his ball up of his relationship with Buffy, Dawn had started to pull away. Anya was the only one who understood how hard it was to change; she’d had to do it herself. Two demons trying to fit into the human world around them and more often or not failing. Anya had died fighting The First. He missed her still.

Other than those two, he’d been the pet vampire on an electronic leash for most of the time. There at the end he and Buffy had made amends, but not enough so that when he came back to the world of the living and got a body back, that he’d stayed here. In L.A., where his Sire was going crazy with guilt, and his friends were nearly at war with bloody lawyers. Should do like Shakespeare said and kill ever last one of the fuckers.

At least he was needed. Right now he needed to tend to the injured, and figure out what was the next move would be. He’d bet dollars to blood bags theots ots wanting the chalice was Wolfram & Hart, the law firm had gotten to be even more of a pain in the ass according to Gunn.

“Right, Gunn, take these two up to their roand and put them to bed. I’ll deal with them later. Lorne, see if you can figure out what will be on these git’s shopping list next.”

“What are you going to be doing Babycakes?”

Lorne from the looks of him knew what he had planned, so Spike just glared at the demon. After Connor died, all of the humans had moved into the hotel to be there for Angel. He waited till the two left the lobby, Gunn taking his charges up to their rooms with Wesley protesting that he didn’t need help the entire time.

Once they were gone, he went about finding the pain in his ass. From what he could sense Angel was in the basement training room. Good, Spike would have plenty of weapons down there to shove up the prick’s ass. It was all well and good to feel guilty when a loved one kills themselves, but this was getting out of hand.

There was no way he could hide his presence from the older vampire, so Spike didn’t even try, he just marched down the basement steps and looked right into his Sire’s eyes. There was no way he could hide his demon, nor did he want to. He needed to get through to Angel.

What he saw saddened what little part of his brain that wasn’t furious. Angel looked so sad and lost. Part of Spike wanted to comfort him, just a small part. The rest of him was taking a swing at the poof that connected solidly, sending his Sire across the room end over teakettle.

“It’s time we had a little talk about your behavior Angelus. And how it’s going to change.”

Spike didn’t give Angel time to gain his feet; he jumped right in with a few kicks to his ribs and legs. None of the places that would seriously hurt, just the right places for pain. He knew how well that worked, Angelus himself had used that tactic with Spike when he was a fledge.

“Two of our friends got hurt tonight Angel! Because you were too lost in your damn self-pity! Fred’s head got bashed in and Wesley’s lost the use of his arm for a while! If you would have gotten off your sorry excuse for an arse that would not have happened!” ngelngel had finally made it to his feet, but he was only blocking hits, not returning them. Spike knew there was a part of Angel that wanted the beating, needed to feel as if he was being punished. He’d been there himself not too long ago. Despite that, Spike didn’t quit, didn’t stop hitting the taller man, in the face, in the gut, making him bleed.

Finally he stopped. Even though he didn’t need to breath he was almost panting. Now that hopefully he had Angel’s attention he could get through to him.

“Angle, I can’ say I know how it feels to loose a child, not a human one anyway, but you can’t keep on like this. It wasn’t your fault, you’ve been played like a bloody violin for years!”

“What do you know about it Spike? Huh? How I let my child down, how he was captured by my enemy, taken from me and raised to hate me? Do you know how I let Cordelia be used? That if I had figured it out sooner this would have never happened? Cordy would be alive, not in some coma upstairs?”

Angel turned away from Spike and picked up the throwing knives he’d been using and started up again.

Spike let him, trying to think of the right thing to say.

“Angelus, Sire, listen to me. From what I’ve learned it was Wolfram & Hart that started events in motion. They brought back Darla, they messed with the cheerleader’s visions, and they were ones behind most of what the cock up with the prophecy and your kid being kidnapped. If anything Sire you should get your head out of your ass and make the bloody bastards pay for what they did! Don’t tell me the fucking soul stops you, I know more than any other being in this universe how the soul does and does not change you”

He was getting pissed again; he could feel his face morphing into its demonic aspect. He grabbed a knife out of Angel’s hand. Angel moved to take it back and Spike couldn’t help but feel that maybe he was getting through to him. At the top of the stairs he could hear Gunn asking Lorne if they should stop the two vampires, and Spike prayed the green demon would keep the human out of it.

“You can’t tell me that part of you doesn’t want to find the bastards who did this to your seer, break their spine so they can’t run and then have some fun from there just because you have a soul. Figure out who is responsible for your boy even being born when both you and I know that should have never happened and make them pay in blood for causing your child pain. Hell Angelus, I want to do it to them, just because they’ve reduced you to this pathetic shell of what you used to b


He got up close, right into Angel’s face. He was bleeding from the corner of his mouth and his nose was swollen. Had the beginnings of a pretty good black eye too. He reached out, grabbed Angle by the shoulders and threw him against one of the srts,rts, pinning him there.

“Even with my soul I want to make them pay for what they’ve done to you! If anything the soul is calling for vengeance more than the demon because my fucking soul cares!”


****


Two weeks since the first demon attack and the Manor was in almost a state of siege. Xander was growing increasingly frustrated at being trapped inside, the wolf in him making wanting to roam the area and protect his territory. It was just too dangerous though, the last time Phoebe tried to go to work four days ago and she hadn’t even made it to the end of the road before being attacked. It was lucky that Paige and Leo could orb out to get supplies, but even then after a half hour or so whoever it was that was after them had tracked them down.

“Well whoever it is, they have lots of resources, they can ouslyusly afford to keep watch on the house 24 hours a day, as well as hire demons by the dozen to attack. This is getting ridiculous! We haven’t gotten any closer to figuring out who’s behind all this. They even found us when we tried to hide in the Magick School in the other realm. We can’t keep the boys safe and track down whoever it is that’s doing this.”

Piper, being the mother of the boys and the oldest sister was feeling the strain the worst, although everyone’s tempers were on the breaking point. Too many attacks, too many days spent with each other and not going anywhere. Xander had taken to avoiding everyone but the children; even now he was lying in wolf form in the floor, Wyatt sleeping against his side. Even his control was being strained, the need to attack whatever it was threatening the kids overwhelming at times. Being near the boys helped, and in wolf form he didn’t have to worry about opening him mouth and saying something he might regret later.


“What do yont unt us to do Piper? Cause it’s not like I haven’t tried leading the bastards away by orbing! Whoever it is, there is just too many of them!”

Xander let the bickering flow around him, trying not to get pulled in. The problem was he had an idea, one he really didn’t like, but it was an idea. He carefully slid out from underneath the sleeping toddler and slipped quietly out of the room. He had a theory to test.

All of the demons who had seen him wolf out in the house were dead, and no one had seen him do it outside, he was positive at that. He’d always been careful never to change anywhere in the neighborhood, hell he hadn’t even been outside in days! He bet that whoever it was knew there was a man living with the three witches and their kids, but not that he was a werewolf.

He carefully went out the back door, making sure to stay in his wolf form even to work the door, even though it was harder, and started wandering around. He did a big dumb dog act really well on occasion, he hated it, but he could do it.

Two houses up and he found a surveillance post. He knew for a fact that the Murphy’s were on vacation, so no car should have been in the driveway. He got closer, doing doggie type things to get back at whoever it was. A little pee on tires never hurt anyone anyway.

It was a dark average looking sedan and it fit right into the neighborhood.ere ere were two humans inside, Larry and Curly. Xander wondered where Moe was.

“Why don’t we just go in en mass? We send in enough forces and they won’t be able to stop us!”

“You know the L.A. branch is running this show. The Senior Partners need both the Book and the kids so everything has to be handled just right.”

“Still waiting a couple of days now that we have them off balance is stupid, we should go in now.”

The two idiots never even noticed him; good. He found two more surveillance posts in the area, checking each one out before he made his way quietly back to the Manor. He went in through the back door into the kitchen, morphing into human even as he grabbed a pair of sweat pants he had stashed in a cabinet for just this type of thing.

Leo was rocking Chris, who was crying while Wyatt was fussing in his pen. The three sisters didn’t look much better. Xander couldn’t help but smirk; they hadn’t even missed him. This idea, no matter how he hated it, might just work.

“Time out everyone! I have a plan.”