New Beginnings

Disclaimer: I don't even own my car.

Author's Notes: Words in *'s are emphasized, words in 's are thoughts, words in ~'s are dreams and words in ^'s are flashbacks. For any other notes, see chapter one.

Chapter Five: Explanations

Angel stared at his wayward childe, his demon screaming at the scene before him. Spike was standing next to his son, with his friends unmoving beside him. He took a deep breath, trying to convince his demon to give the younger vampire a chance to explain before he ripped him to shreds. However, when his gaze fell on the crumpled form of Cordelia, Angel quickly lost control.

With a snarl, he charged across the room, fully intending on staking the peroxide blonde.

Spike instinctively took a step back, his eyes going wide. All of his normally cocky banter was forgotten as he saw the look of pure rage on his sire's face. At that moment, the souled poof was looking very much like a pissed off Angelus.

"Peaches, this isn't how it looks," he said quickly. However, Angel wasn't listening.

"I should have staked you a long time ago, boy. That's one mistake that I fully intend on rectifying," Angel growled, closing in on him, his fist drawn back to strike. He never saw what hit him.

One minute, he was stalking towards his once favored childe, the next, he was hitting the far wall with enough force to knock him to the ground.

Angel blinked, confusion outweighing his anger. Suddenly, his eyes landed on the young blonde woman standing beside Spike. She was staring at him with wide blue eyes, fear rolling off her in waves. Upon closer inspection, he could see that she was shaking.

"S-Stay a-away from him. H-He didn't do this, I did," she stammered, shrinking against her companion as the souled vampire let out a low growl.

Finally, her heartbeat reached his ears. She was human?

Instantly, Angel was calmed. He took a deep breath as he stood, forcing his true features away. The return of his human face did nothing to lesson the girl's terror.

In a much calmer voice, he asked, "Who, exactly, are you? And, why are you with Spike?"

She made no move to speak, instead looking pleadingly at the bleached blonde. Apparently, they were close. He decided to question that entire scenario later.

"Peaches, this is Tara McClay. You called Sunnyhell and requested a witch, so the Slayer had me bring her. Tara, luv, this is Angel, my souled poof of a sire," Spike said, lighting a cigarette to calm his frazzled nerves. While outside he was maintaining a calm appearance, inside, he was a quivering mess, tinged with indignation. Not only had he had real fear of *Angel*, but alsoere ere human had been forced to save him.

Angel blinked. "What happened to Willow?" he questioned.

Tara looked away, sadness filling her face. Spike growled softly, glaring at Angel. "Red doesn't practice anymore."

Angel was confused. Why wasn't she practicing? However, common sense told him not to ask. Instead, he turned his attention back to the scene before him. "Okay, this is what we're going to do. You," he pointed to Tara, ignoring the fact that she seemed to shrink away from him, "Are going to do un-freeze my friends. Then, we're going to wake Cordelia up, and talk about this. I want to know what in the hell is going on around here…"

******

Tara was terrified. In fact, she had never been more frightened in her entire life. She looked sideways at Spike, dreading what was about to happen. Angel had just asked Spike to leave. She prayed to the Goddess that he didn't listen.

Spike shook his head, smelling Tara's fear. "Not going anywhere, mate," he stated, eyeing Angel. He didn't care that he was deliberately disobeying siresire. He wasn't about to leave Tara alone with him.

Angel glared at him. He had asked Tara to step into his office, and Spike had followed. Now, his wayward childe refused to leave. Just great.

Angel turned to face the petrified Tara. "I don't know what Spike has told you, but I'm not going to hurt you," he stated, trying to read her face. Nothing but fear. What in the *hell* had she been told about him?

"I haven't told her a bloody thing, you wanker," Spike growled low in his throat. "You just aren't exactly a favorite topic in Sunnyhell. The Slayer won't mention your name, the Watcher trusts you about as far as he can throw you, and the Whelp probably hates you more than he hates me. Come to think of it, I'm probably the closest thing you've got to a friend in that whole bloody town."

The former Scourge of Europe blinked, clearly shocked. When had everyone in Sunnydale started to hate him? Or, the better question: Had they ever really liked him, or had they just tolerated him for Buffy's sake? Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

"Willow!" he exclaimed. "What does Willow say about me?" He smiled triumphantly, waiting for a response.

Spike frowned slightly, turning to Tara. "Good question. What does Red have to say about the Poof, luv?" he asked.

Tara looked at the ground, her face covered by her hair. When she spoke, they both had to strain to hear her.

"W-Willow says that I should be careful. T-That you can be trusted, but n-not like Spike."

Angel gasped, his eyes wide. "Like Spike? Spike can't be trusted! He's soulless!" he roared, instantly regretting his outburst when Tara flinched. "Alright. This is insane. Tara, I'm not going to hurt you. I swear. Please, look at me."

However, she refused to raise her eyes, instead choosing to stare at the ground.

The souled vampire sighed. This was getting them no where. "Tara, look at me," he ordered, his voice much more authoritative.

Instantly, her head snapped up, her eyes meeting his. He felt his demon rattle it's cage, demanding the opportunity to claim her. Her submissiveness was simply intoxicating.

"Now, Willow said that I could be trusted, correct?" he asked. Seeing her meek nod, he smiled. "Ok. Then, tell Spike that it's alright for him to leave us alone, so we can talk." There. Now, he had her. She wasn't about to directly go against what he'd ordered her to do.

Tara froze. She looked to Spike, her eyes pleading with him. Then, tears filled her eyes as she heard Angel's next comment. "Willow wouldn't put you in danger, Tara. If you can't trust me, at least trust her."

Spike had enough. "Tara, luv, why don't you wait outside for a minute so my sire and I can have a little chat," he suggested.

She nodded. Not sparing Angel a second glance, the young woman turned and fled the office, closing the door behind her as she went.

As soon as she was gone, Spike snarled, grabbing Angel by his throat and slamming him against the wall.

"Listen to me, you bloody wanker, and listen well. Tara and Red broke up just a bit ago. Seems that Red has gotten in over her head with the magic bit, and she decided to play head doctor with all of us. Tara is heart broken about the whole deal. Now, why don't you quit with the whole bleedin 'Trust Willow' crap, and focus on the task at hand. If you can't do that, then the chit and I will head back home. Understand?" the blonde growled, his face morphing to show his true features.

Angel shoved him back, his eyes flashing gold. "Watch your tone with me, boy. I'm your sire. Maybe it's best that you remember that!" he hissed. Then, he smiled. "You like her."

The younger vampire blinked, shocked. "Of course I like her. She's always treated me right, not like those other gits," he replied, his human features returning.

Angel shook his head, on the verge of laughing. "No, it's more than that. You want to claim her. Hell, if you didn't have that chip, you probably would have by now," he stated. "Not that I blame you. She would make a great mate. She's pretty, strong, and has the act of submission down to a fine art."

Spike glowered at him, resisting the urge to punch that smug look off his face. "You stay the hell away from her, Angelus. I mean it," he warned, taking a step towards him.

The souled vampire raised an eyebrow. "Or you'll what, Spike? Stake me? I don't think so. You know, maybe we could share her, just like the old days. What do you say?" he grinned.

With a roar, the peroxide blonde punched him, knocking him back against the wall. "I say you should have bloody well stayed in hell where you belong, you wanker!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, Angel blinked, touching his cheek. He turned his now brown eyes towards his childe. "What the hell was that?" he asked, confusion written on his face. "Spike, I--I'm sorry. I didn't mean," he trailed off, looking away. "For a minute there, I lost it."

Spike froze, hiding his concern. He lit a cigarette, eyeing his sire. "Yeah, well, just so long as you stay away from Tara," he stated.

Angel got a horrified look on his face. "Spike, something is wrong. Very wrong. I would never say those things. Do those things."

The blonde sighed. He could see how frightened Angel was, and he didn't like it one bit. lax,lax, Peaches. You probably ate some bad pig's blood, or something. I've seen worse." However, his attempts to assure the older vampire sounded forced even to him.

They both stood there, each trying to come to terms with what was potentially happening. Finally, Angel cleared his throat, running his fingers through his hair. "I should tell the others. They need to be prepared, just in case," he murmured, glancing at the closed door.

"Right." Spike nodded, fighting the fear that threatened to consume him.

Angel looked at his childe, his face unreadable. "Spike, I need you to promise me something," he began, pausing until he was certain that he had his full attention. Then, he stated, "If I lose my soul, you are going to have to stake me, before anything happens."

Spike gasped, nearly choking on his cigarette. His blue eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped open as he registered what, exactly, his sire was saying. Slowly, he shook his head. "No way, Peaches. No bloody way. Not going to come to that."

The dark haired vampire growled. "Damn it, this is serious. You know what will happen! I can't take the chance that they won't be quick enough with the spell. I can't risk it, not again. Even you would be in danger!"

The blonde nodded, completely serious. "I know that, sire. But,"

Angel cut him off, roaring in frustration. He stalked towards him, intending on shaking him until he complied. Then, he saw the pain in Spike's eyes and he froze, memories of the bond that they had once shared washing over him. However, he couldn't allow their past to overshadow logic.

"William, please," he whispered, locking eyes with his one-time protégé. "I need your word."

Spike groaned, glaring at him. "Damn you, Angelus," he swore. Then, he nodded. "Alright. If you lose that bloody soul of yours, I'll do it. You have my word."

Before Angel could thank him, a knock sounded on the office door. Slowly it opened, revealing the timid face of Tara.

"What is it, ducks?" Spike asked, walking up to her. He reminded himself to thank her later for the interruption. It was bad enough that he had given his word to do something that he could never do. He certainly wasn't in the mood for a touchy-feely moment with the great Poof.

Tara glanced at Angel, swallowing. "C-Cordelia needs you. She's had a vision. I-It's about someone named H-Holtz," she stammered.

Spike gasped, whirling to glare at his sire. "Bloody hell, Peaches. Holtz is here? Were you planning on telling me, or waiting until he tried to stake me?" he snapped.

However, Angel paid him no mind. Swearing softly, he brushed past them both, heading back into the lobby.

With wide eyes, Tara watched him leave, Then, turning back to Spike, she asked, "Who's Holtz?"

******