Angels Bad Night

Angel fell back onto the couch and just looked at Spike in shock. Spike had come here to see him? It didn't make any sense, but at the same time, it made perfect sense. Spike's lurking outside his home for hours, giving him back the items which had been his most important possessions because he'd wanted to cheer Angel up, telling him he didn't kill innocents anymore...

As Angel was contemplating these things, Spike had reached the door. "Happy Birthday," he mumbled and turned to go.

*And how the hell does he know Liam's birthdate?* Angel wondered. He looked up to see Spike had turned to the door. "WAIT!" he yelled. He realized he couldn't let Spike walk out that door. Because if Spike HAD changed... it was something Angel had wished for, ever since he'd regained his soul. He'd given up on having his entire family with him, but maybe it was at least possible to have one of his childer with him again.

But he wasn't sure of that, either. Expecting Spike not to kill innocents was like expecting fish not to swim. Even if Spike had given it up temporarily, how was Angel to know he wouldn't change back again to the evil Master Vampire Angel had run into again in Sunydale?

Spike turned to look at him questioningly. "What," he sighed.

From the look in Spike's eyes, Angel knew he was expecting more humiliation. Strangely enough, Angel discovered he wasn't interested in that. "Stay, for a little while. Have a beer. For old times' sake?" He stood and walked into the kitchen, to get the beers.

Spike shrugged and followed him. He stood in the doorway and asked, "Which 'old times' would that be?"

Angel winced. He knew Spike was referring to when he'd lost his soul in Sunnydale. He turned and looked at Spike. "Not those times," he replied softly as he threw Spike a bottle of beer. "Spike, I--

Spike caught the beer and cut off Angel's impending apology with a growl, "I swear, don't you fucking go all broody," he warned. "What happened, happened. It isn't like I didn't already get revenge, for the shit you put me through back in Sunnyhell." He smirked and went back out of the kitchen again.

Angel couldn't believe Spike's audacity, daring to give him another reason to stake him, by reminding Angel of how Spike had tortured him a year ago. He got himself a bottle of beer out of the refrigerator and followed Spike back out into the lobby.

But then again, Spike had never been all that interested in wasting time being afraid of him, Angel remembered, when he saw his childe lounging on the couch. Spike looked about as worried as he ever did, which was not at all. Angel knew that, in Spike's case, though, appearances were just that, appearances. In reality, Spike was prepared for whatever could happen. He could go from relaxed to fighting mode in a fraction of a second, if he needed to do so.

Angel wasn't interested in fighting, however. He was tired. He just wanted to sit and relax. The fact that he was sitting and relaxing with Spike didn't even strike him as all that odd, when compared with everything else that had happened in the last few weeks.

Angel walked into the room and sat in a chair next to the couch. Spike watched him warily, still not sure what the hell was going on. Then a possible explanation hit him. *Maybe he's lonely, just like me.* He frowned at the thought. He didn't want to feel sorry for the pouff.

Angel watched Spike drink his beer in silence. He finally got up the nerve to ask a question he'd been wanting to ask all night. "How's Buffy?"

Spike growled. He should've known that was really why Angel wanted him to stick around. To get information about the slayer.
"She's just bloody great, Angelus, what with her mum being dead," he replied.

Angel nodded, "I know about her mom; Willow told me. I just thought it would be better if I stayed away."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. She's tough, I don't have to tell you that. She'll be fine. But since we're catching up...how's *DARLA*?"

Angel spit his beer out in shock. He hadn't guessed that Spike knew he'd had any contact with Darla.

Spike burst out laughing at Angel's reaction. "Oh, now that was worth the trip here, just to see that," Spike said. He gulped down the rest of his beer and watched Angel in amusement as the older vampire tried to recover from his surprise.

"Darla and I have had a few... run-ins," Angel replied once he recovered from the initial surprise. Surely Spike didn't know what had really happened, between himself and Darla.

Spike burst out laughing again, harder this time, at Angel's choice in words.

"WHAT!" Angel yelled. He wasn't drunk enough to understand what Spike found so humorous. But then again, the likelihood of Spike's humor being a result of being drunk was rather rare. So he actually dreaded knowing what was so amusing to Spike.

"run-ins... funny ... way of ... sayin," ," Spike gasped as he tried to stop laughing so hard. He finally regained control of himself and shook his head. "I've talked to Dru, Angelus. I know you shagged the bitch; so you can stop trying to pretend otherwise," he said with a grin.

Angel frowned and looked away as he downed the rest of his beer. What had happened with Darla shouldn't have happened, and being reminded of it only made him feel guiltier about it. Even if he hadn't lost his soul, he shouldn't have risked it. He shouldn't have done most of the things he'd done in the last several weeks. *STOP IT!* He ordered himself. *There's NOTHING you can do about it, it's DONE!* That having been settled, he stood, muttering something to the effect that he needed something stronger to drink.