The Highlander Factor

It was the third stripe of the whip that had broken her. When it had landed with a crack across Dawn's face, leaving a bloody track from her eye to her chin, the world had faded around her. And, with an outraged scream she had called on her powers and created the barrier to protect them both, then smashed the chains that held them to the wall.

But that had been many long hours ago and with every passing minute ow cow could feel herself, and the magical field, growing weaker. The past days had been physically arduous with never a chance to recover; virtually every day Angelus had bitten and drunk from her, taking so much blood that she was light headed most of the time. She felt bone weary, so exhausted she wanted to cry, and soon she wouldn't have enough energy left to maintain the barrier, then she would have to choose.

Finally, she understood what the coven had meant. During the eternal hours focussing her will, and drawing on her limited reserves to protect herself and Dawn, their words at last made sense. The magic she used from inside her was safe, so long as she was careful but the line she walked, would always walk and the thing that would set off that chain reaction the coven feared, was when she used power from elsewhere. That was the danger. The ability to channel the natural power of Gaia herself, to draw from the unlimited resources of the earnd dnd direct it to her will. That was what had brought her down and made her nearly destroy the world, and that was what Angelus wanted her to do again.

Willow pinched her leg hard, hoping the pain would help to keep her awake and focussed, it made her jump and Dawn shifted in her sleep. She stroked the girl's hair where it lay in a sheet across her lap covering her sleeping face and crooned softly in the back of her throat. It was better if Dawn slept, it saved her from the constant worry of when they would be rescued and surely Buffy should have been here by now, for Dawn if not for her. From the boasting and gloating it seemed certain that Angelus was expecting her, he had spies out actively scouring the city to stop the Slayer surprising him.

She yawned again and felt the barrier weaken a little more. If Buffy didn't get to them rapidly, the whole question was going to become academic, in another hour her reserves would be gone. Then she would havechoochoose between Dawn and the magics, and Willow knew what she had to do, even if it meant endangering her soul.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They separated into three groups, Spike heading off alone with a warning to give him at least an hour before they tried to storm the lair. As soon as he left, Justine started ragging on the others about how foolish it was to trust a vampire, and how Spike was sure to betray them. Saying that when they got to the warehouse they would find either nothing or an ambush set by their so-called friend. Eventually, it was Gunn that stopped her; something that surprised Wesley as there was no love lost between the vampire and the vampire hunter.

Their strategy was brutally simple, the first group consisting of Gunn, Connor and Faith would attack, distracting and dusting as many minions as they could find, while the second group - Fred, Justine and himself- would find Willow and Dawn and get them out. Fred and Justine had escort duty to get the erstwhile prisoners back to the safety of the hotel and Cordelia, while Wesley would return to the warehouse to help the clean up operation and restrain Angelus.

But the whole thing hinged around Spike's ability to keep the Master vampire occupied while they destroyed his home around him. Wesley found himself dwelling on Justine's words, and comparing her expectations to the behaviour that he had witnessed from the vampire during the time he had been in LA.

He thought it was unlikely that Spike would give up up willing or betray them deliberately, he was more worried that in his current state the vampire might break down and blurt the whole plan out in a fit of depression. Maybe he should have given him a Prozac or something before he left. Wesley wasn't sure what effect such a drug would have on a vampire's constitution, or if it was contra indicated with the potion he was going to take, but surely it couldn't have hurt.

As they were about to leave their temporary base, four blocks from the target, Wesley's cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he snatched it up in annoyance.

"Yes!"

"Wesley? It's Cordy." He could hear the tears in her voice as she spoke.

"Cordelia, is everything all right? Are you crying? What's happened?" When the others heard his words they gathered around him, questioningly. He waved them back and turned away when the Seer spoke again.

"I had a vision. Oh my god, Wesley. Don't let them do it. Stop them, nooo..." Her voice drifted off and Wesley heard the sound of something breaking.

"Cordelia, Cordy!! Talk t, da, dammit. Cordelia, do you need someone to come back, I'll send someone."

After a long silence, and just when he was about to send one of the others off to the hotel, a slightly breathless voice answered him.

"I'm okay, or I will TheyThey're going to try and kill them. In my vision, I saw them...Spike and Angel, and then they were dust, both of them. But I couldn't see who it was, I couldn't see." She was sobbing again and Wesley thought he heard the sound of a bottle of water being cracked open. Not wanting to upset her any further, he offered what comfort he could.

"We're going in soon. I'll be careful, nothing will happen now you've warned us, but what about you. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes." Her voice was calmer, but there was a hesitant note in it that suggested things were far from all right. "It's just...The vision, Wesley. It hurt like it did before. I-I don't think I'm a demon any more."

In the silence that followed, Wesley tried to reassemble his thoughts and work through the implications of what she had said. Cordelia had been dying from the visions when the Powers had made her part demon, now she was human again and still a Seer. She would die, maybe not tomorrow or the day after, but within the next few months they would lose her, the visions would tear her head apart and she would die. He wanted to go to her, hold her, comfort her, but there was no time and the only one who could help her, the only other one who could fight on her behalf was gone. Until they captured Angelus and brought Angel back, there was nothing anyone could do.

"Cordelia, listen to me. We'll talk about this, when we get back." He couldn't let the possibility of failure cross his mind, so it had to be when, not if. "Angel will find a way to help you. You have to believe that."

"I do. I believe it." She was still shaky, but Wesley could hear the steel as it entered her voice, and his heart leapt as he recognised the staunch nerve and determination never to give up that Cordelia always managed to find in hin herself.

He switched off his phone and put it away, then looked at his watch. It was time for the assault to begin; at his signal they started to move out.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Less than a block from the lair, Spike slipped into a doorway and pulled the bottle of potion from his pocket, breaking the seal and taking a short nervous breath before swilling the lot down. This was the part he hadn't mentioned to Wesley, the wildcard in the pack. He could get Angelus to drink, yes, but from him and he was hoping to god that the potion would linger in his bloodstream the same way alcohol and drugs did. If it didn't, he was either going to be a raving madman, so not much change there, or possibly a pile of dust.

He set off again, faster than before, there was no way of knowing how much time there was before the potion started to work, and being slightly coherent when he arrived would be helpful. The minions at the door proved interesting and Spike was glad he hadn't tried to smuggle anything, in when they searched him thoroughly, prior to escorting him into Angelus' presence.

The room was just as he remembered the first time he had visited the lair, but now minions lined all the walls bar one, where, Spike realised with a sudden surge of relief, two female figures lay, partially obscured by a magical barrier. One lifted its head and he recognised the Witch, but how different from the last time he'd seen her. So pale he could trace the path of the veins beneath her skin, her red hair darker and hanging lankly around her face and her eyes, no longer emerald green but burning blackly deep in their sockets. She looked disconcertingly the way she had on the night of the car wreck in Sunnydale.

As their gazes met Spike heard a distant, tired voice in his head whisper his name. Willow was talking to him, as she had during their battle with Glory and the summer that followed, and it still had the power to make his skin crawl but he answered anyway. 'Yeah, it's me. The others are on their way, so you and Little Bit just hang on, okay.'

He dragged his eyes away from the girls, and approached Angelus who was seated in on a carved wooden chair in the middle of the room. Dropping to one knee in front of him, he waited silently, eyes downcast, until he was offered a hand, which he kissed reverentially on the palm.

"Spike, my boy."

"Sire." He remained kneeling, trying to discipline his body into remembering how to play the subservient childe. It wasn't a role that had sat easily even in the early days, and the intervening years hadn't helped.

"What are you doing here? And so much your old self, William. You only need the glasses to make the illusiomplomplete."

The glasses, he'd forgotten the glasses. They were suddenly a lump in his pocket, lost and forgotten in his worries over the potion and the upcoming confrontation. The question was, would Angelus still buy it?

"I...um, haven't worn them in so long." With a laugh, Angelus dragged him to his feet and caught him up in a rough embrace.

"Will, always the same - excuses, excuses. Have you seen my new toys?" The demon indicated his prisoners.

"Yeah, I noticed and don't get me wrong, I get keeping the little one, her being the Slayer's sister and all. But what's with the Witch? You don't need both of them and she's a bit dangerous to keep around for a quick shag."

Angelus waved his finger under his Childe's nose then slung an arm companionably round his shoulders. "You don't get it, do you, boy. The Witch is far more valuable than the girl is. In another few hours she'll turn to the dark powers, then she'll be mine, the most powerful Witch in the western world under my thrall."

Spike had to fight back a sudden urge to laugh, his Sire really was the most predictable creature in the universe, and arrogant. Angelus never doubted for one moment that his plans and schemes would succeed, and that was where Spike felt he had the advantage. Angelus rarely had a back up plan if things went wrong, Spike, on the other hand, rarely had a plan at all and tended to go with the flow, making things up as he went along. Granted it didn't always work, but it gave him a healthy ability to think on his feet.

And right now he had to get Angelus to drink from him, before the potion kicked in and he gave everything away. Settling on challenging, which his Sire always found difficult to resist, he raised a speculative eyebrow and raked his eyes up and down Angelus' body. The minions around the walls were a pretty hideous lot, so with any luck his Sire would be more than willing to adjourn to the bedroom for a while.

"A couple of hours, huh. Whatever will we find to fill the time?"

"Not so fast, I think." The arm, which had been slung loosely round his neck, tightened and Spike quickly found himself held neatly in a headlock. Angelus chuckled and ground his knuckles hard into the top of his Childe's head, eliciting a slight wince.

"The last time we met I seem to recall a most inconvenient stake, which not only hurt like hell, but also put paid to the fun I was having with Connor." He didn't think Spike had come back to kill him, even he wasn't that stupid, but there was certainly something going on and he'd known his Childe long enough not to take anything he did at face value. Still, he had one way to be sure, the minions may have searched the body but there was still his mind.

"I'm feeling polite, so I'll give you the choice. Either you submit properly and let me drink from you, or you can join my guests until I have the time to deal with you properly."

This wasn't quite how the scenario was supposed to play out, there should have been passion not suspicion when Angelus drank for the first time, but given the choices... Spike managed to force his answer out past the arm wrapped around his throat and braced himself for the assault, this was not going to be pleasant and to make it worse he was pretty sure the potion was starting to work.

When Angelus released him, Spike fell to the floor, feeling oddly hot and not entirely certain which way was up, but it was something like being drunk and he was good at dealing with that. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind, if his Sire was going to drink and it'd better be soon, he would need to hide all the details of the plan.

As the minions dragged him to his feet and held him fast, Spike buried all his thoughts behind the one which, when he let the tight reign he kept over his demon slip, always surged to the fore. The overwhelming frustration at being chipped and how the soul finally released him from its sadistic technological col. ol.

Angelus regarded his Childe through hooded, suspicious eyes. There was certainly something going on, Spike looked flushed as if he had recently fed and yet there was no smell of fresh blood, just something that bizarrely reminded him of a baker he'd once eaten in Newcastle. There was one way to be sure however, so he pulled the collar away from the bared neck in front of him and ripped untidily into cool familiar flesh with his fangs.

The first draught was all soul and the alien taste of it within vampire blood made him want to spit. Then he saw, trapped beneath the soul, released from its cage of plastic and wire...Spike, family, the demon rejoicing and no longer impotent, constrained only by conscience which could easily be overcome now his Childe was home, where he belonged.

Satisfied with he he had tasted Angelus withdrew his fangs and laved briskly at the messy wound he had left at Spike's throat before offering his wrist in return. He kept one warning hand on his Childe's neck while he drank sparingly, then pulled him back into a tight embrace.

"William, yer truly home."

"Just like I said, Sire." Thank god, the stupid pratt had fallen for it, now all he needed to do was get him away from the others, rapidly. "So, a couple of hours?"

His query went unanswered, verbally anyway, as Angelus clamped a large hand around his neck and led him towards a metal door set into the back wall of the warehouse. The room inside was obviously set up to be private quarters with sets of bookshelves, a comfortable chair or two and a bed bed, draped in a blood-red coverlet, which dominated the small space. It was scrupulously clean and devoid of any of the 'human' touches Spike now associated with his Sire, the photographs and sketches he'd seen on the walls of Angel's suite. What was it the Judge had said? That he was clean and had no humanity in him? It was the most accurate summation of Angelus he had ever heard.

"What are you waiting for, boy? Strip."

Ah yes, Angelus, ever the romantic, how he'd missed him - not. Spike shucked off his gear, kicking it into the corner then approached, silently asking for permission to continue. Upon receiving a nod, he deftly unbuttoned and unzipped, divesting Angelus of his clothes almost as rapidly as he had removed his own, but these he folded and placed carefully on the chair. He knew better than to allow them to get rumpled, his Sire's strap had reinforced that lesson years ago.

"Let me look at you." It was an order, not a request and Spike complied, standing as motionless as he could, his head down, trying to sneak a glance at that magnificent body as Angelus prowled around him, occasionally reaching out to run a hand over his skin or hair.

"Acceptable, you've taken care of the body I gave you, I'm pleased. And you've healed well from your injuries." He grabbed Spike's chin and brought their gazes together. "You understand why, yes?"

"Yes, Sire." Unwilling to look Angelus directly in the eye, he closed them, swaying slightly on the spot and heard a smug chuckle as his face was released.

"Bed, then."

Again an order and not one to be challenged if he wanted their time together to go well. Keeping his eyes down he hurried to the bed trying to remember all the little rules that Angelus had for these encounters. It had been so long that his chances of getting through this without slipping up were small, evenhouthout the effects of the potion. Still, he could remember two, the first and the most important, do exactly as you're told, and secondly, don't touch unless given permission, if he followed those he should be okay.

From his seat on the bed he watched as Angelus moved around the room, picking up and discarding various toys and bottles. The sight took him back so many years and Spike suppressed a shiver at what the actions presaged, pulling his legs against his chest and wrapping his arms around them in a subconscious attempt to protect his more vulnerable parts.

When Angelus turned he quirked an eyebrow at the sight of his Childe seated on the bed looking distinctly nervous, maybe he should be gentle with him. Nah, where was the fun in that.

"Put that on."

He threw something at the bed and when Spike looked down he saw it was a leather cock ring. It could have been worse he supposed, there were at least two bottles of holy water around the place, which he had no desire to play with. He liked a little pain as much as the next vamp but Angelus had a habit of taking these things to extremes.

"What are you waiting for?"

Spike jumped, realising he'd been sat staring at the object rather than following orders, and that would bring him nothing but trouble. Hurriedly he put it on, conscious of his Sire's avid gaze as he ensured it was correctly fitted. It seemed familiar somehow and was certainly a good fit, and none of the cheap modern rubbish he'd seen on web sites either. This was old, soft leather with ties rather than buckles or snaps and if put on correctly would prevent him coming for hours. The ties were fiddly and in his current state not easy to do up, it would have been much easier if Angelus could have done it, but this of course was all part of the fun as far as Angelus was concerned. It was never enough that he could force himself on his childer whenever he wanted. No, the real fun lay in making them offer themselves up to him, collaborating in their own indignity; it was all one big power trip.

"Done?"

Spike nodded, and then realised his mistake when he received a backhand swipe across his face that drew bloo hio his lip.

"I asked if you were finished and I expect an answer."

"Yes, Sire. Sorry, I'm finished." Shit but he wtilltill the anally retentive bastard he'd always been.

Angelus grunted, mollified by the apology but still unimpressed by the behaviour. It may have been several years since an encounter of this type with his Childe, but once a lesson was taught he never expected to repeat it. Seeing Spike on the bed, sat passively with his head down, Angelus felt his anger cool and his lust rise, astonishingly fast actually. He was overcome by a sudden desire to be buried in his boy's body as quickly a possible.

Grabbing a bottle from the shelf he strode over to the bed, issuing orders as he went. "Turn over. Present yourself."

Despite the sudden flare of rebellion he saw in those blue eyes, Spike did as he was told, rolling into a kneeling position then reaching behind to grasp his butt cheeks and pull them apart, exposing that wonderful rosebud that Angelus couldn't wait to rip into. Having said that a little patience now would make for more fun later, he cracked open the bottle and poured a small amount of oil into his cupped hand using it to ensure his cock was slick enough to ease his way. His boy was always tight and much as he enjoyed the smell of blood, any serious damage would take longer to heal than he had patience to endure.

As Spike waited on the bed for Angelus to join him, he thought regretfully of what this exacting demon missed out on by playing these games. He would willing have spent hours making love to Angelus' body just for the sheer pleasure of feeling him come alive under his hands but that was never allowed, it was always about this, power. The bed shook as his Sire knelt behind him and he tensed his thighs knowing from bitter experience that he would be expected to take both his own weight and Angelus' once 'fu'fun' started. He took a deep relieved breath as with no more preparation than a single guiding fingertip that hard cock pushed against him, pressing him open slowly enough that he was able to relax into the penetration.

Angelus bit back a moan as he sank into his boy's body, it would never do to let him know just how good it felt and how much he had missed him, anyway there were other ways of doing that. Gently he grasped Spike's hands and enclosed them in his own before wrapping one arm tightly around his Childe's chest and dropping the other to the bed, sharing the burden of their combined weights for the first time. He heard something resembling thanks drop from Spike's lips and blew a soft puff of air across his neck, smirking as ale sme small hairs stood on end and an involuntary shiver ran through his boy's body.

"Ready?"

"S-sire."

That was good enough, he started to move, thrusting lazily, allowing the sensations to build slowly for them both, listening to Spike's breathing slowly change from deep forced breaths to small pants. He was feeling surprisingly mellow and hot, like he'd been drinking a good quality porter and it was an extremely pleasant feeling. The only bothersome thing was that scent, the one he had smelled on Chi Childe earlier. Bakers? Baking? Bread, caraway bread that was it. Enticing and heady it was starting to swirl around him and fill him with a craving for more.

Angelus shook his head trying to clear it and released his grip on Spike's hand, dropping it down to grasp his hip instead as suddenly it all became urgent, the need to spill his seed inside his Childe as soon as possible. Ignoring the small whimpering sounds from below him he started to pound into that willing body, bring his other hand up so he held the boy by both hips, leaving bruises that would last for hours.

"Sire, please. Please let me come, I'm gonna sodding burst."

Spike was desperate. With Angelus pounding into his ass and hitting his sweet spot every time, he wasn't kidding about what he'd said. If he didn't get this thing off soon, his balls were going to explode. Whatever was in the potion that Wesley had used it obviously had an aphrodisiac effect on vampires, which was a very disturbing thought considering how much sex drive they usually had.

"Sire? Please?" He was not ashamed to beg, just please let him take it off while he could still feel his fingers.

With a growl, Angelus stopped his incessant movement and reached round to ease the knots on the leather cock ring, to no avail, they wouldn't shift and neither of them had the co-ordination left to undo them. Spike sobbed, it was dumb and girlie, but he didn't care, the situation was getting critical, he was hot all over, couldn't stop panting and was fairly sure he was in imminent danger of passing out from frustration.

"Godamnit, boy. What did you do to it?" He could have just left it, let the idiot suffer for putting the thing on in such a way that it couldn't be released, but he was feeling generous. Pushing Spike face down into the bed, Angelus slipped out of his ass with a groan then flipped him over and used his fangs to slice through the restrictive leather.

A shudder ran through Spike's body as his cock was freed and he bucked when he fleetingly felt his Sire's mouth so close to touching him, then Angelus was gone, rolling him over again and pulling him up to hiees.ees. He had just enough time to grab two hands full of bedding before Angelus slammed back into him, driving him face first into the pillows and draping himself across his back until Spike could feel gasping breath on the back of his neck. Then they were back to the pounding rhythm he had set before, enough to set the whole bed frame rattling against the wall. And nothing else really mattered, just the delicious feel of that cock inside him and being able to finally get himself off.

Angelus was too far-gone to care when he noticed his Childe wanking in time to his thrusts. Strictly speaking it was against the rules but sod the rules, if Spike felt anything like he did at the moment any attempt to enforce them would result in quick and lethal violence. His orgasm blasted through him with no introduction and he came with a howl, biting down savagely into the shoulder in front of him. And as he shot repeatedly into that tight channel, he felt Spike jerk beneath him and his ass contracted in strong relentless waves, milking every last drop from his shaking body.

They collapsed in a heap; Angelus still locked onto his Childe's neck, drinking deeply from his tempting blood until he felt another shudder and Spike lay still and un-breathing under He He rolled off, catching and stilling his own breath, and watching as the room spun gently on its axis, the blood was intoxicating, the more he got, the more he wanted and the more intense his desire for his Childe. It was an amazing, addictive cycle and one he was quite prepared to indulge.