Immortal Convergence
by Kay

Xander got to his feet as soon as Joe was done explaining what Immortals 
were and what he believed the crazy one was doing in Sunnydale. Again. If 
Buffy wasn’t demanding more information, then it was Giles or Riley or 
Willow. To be fair, the other Immortals had spent over an hour trying to 
get a handle on what exactly the members of the Scooby Gang were. Willow 
being a witch went over fairly easily, as did Giles’s status as a Watcher. 
Xander wasn’t sure that they believed Oz was a werewolf, but since the moon 
wouldn’t be full for another two weeks there really was no way to prove it 
to them. 

And if Duncan said, ‘*you’re* the Slayer?!’ to Buffy one more time, Xander 
was going to dope slap him. Adam had muttered something about taking 
chivalry too far and he was right. If Duncan didn’t watch himself, Willow 
or Buffy were going to lose their patience and unleash some Hellmouth-style 
girl power on his ass and make him shut up with the incredulous comments. 

Xander cleared his throat, drawing all attention to himself. Time to end 
the meeting. He didn’t want to give Giles or Willow a chance to start 
asking too many questions. The sooner he got the two groups separated, the 
better, or else all the secrets he’d been working so hard to conceal would 
be found out. “So now that we know what we’re up against, let’s get going.” 

Buffy stared at him. “Since when are you Gung-ho Boy?” She stood as well. 
“But you’re right. I don’t want this guy running around my town.” 

Xander shook his head in concern as he watched Willow get ready to leave. 
“Wills, maybe you should stay here. He did go after you last time, 
remember?” 

“If he’s messing around with magic, you’re going to need me out there.” She 
smiled at him. “I’ve got Buffy and Oz looking out for me. I’ll be fine.” 

Xander nodded reluctantly. He wanted to be looking out for her too, but he 
had to keep his eye on the other Immortals. He and Wes would be canvassing 
Sunnydale with them, while the Scooby Gang looked over the rest of town. 
The two groups should be able to handle both the Immortal and anything else 
Sunnydale decided to throw at them. 

Buffy cast a dubious look over at the silent vampire standing in the corner. 
“Are you sure you want to take him with you?” 

Xander could feel both Wes and Spike’s eyes on him. He and his lover hadn’t 
confronted Spike about his peek into their bedroom the night before. Of 
course, Spike hadn’t said much of anything to them, either. Xander wasn’t 
quite sure what he wanted to say. ‘So, Spike, did you like what you saw?’ 
‘Do you have any advice that you’d like to offer?’ ‘How about coming on over 
here and joining us.?’ 

He forced his wandering thoughts back on track. Hoping he wasn’t blushing 
as much as the heat on his face told him he was, he settled with, “Yeah, we 
can keep watching him. You guys get a Vampire Slayer, we get a vampire. It 
doesn’t even things up, but it’s better than nothing.” 

As they began to split up, Richie hesitated before speaking up. “I think 
maybe I should go with Giles. And his group.” He didn’t give anyone a 
chance to react before hurrying on with his explanation. “That way they’ll 
have someone with first hand experience with Immortals with them. Plus, I 
can get in contact with Joe right away by his cell. Just so we’ve got all 
the bases covered.” 

Buffy shrugged. Xander couldn’t come up with any reason to object. “I’m 
good with it. G-man, do you have a problem with it?” 

“Xander...” Giles sighed and stopped his usual objection. He just shook his 
head. “No, it sounds like a good idea to me.” He took of his glasses and 
wiped at the lenses. 

That settled, they left Giles’s house, splitting up to search for their 
quarry. Xander watched his friends disappear down a street, then turned to 
face the men he was with. “They’re taking the areas of town that tend to be 
more monster-prone. We’ve got the more populated areas, so let’s try to 
keep a low profile.” Not that a low profile was all that necessary in 
Sunnydale. So long as Spike didn’t drain anyone in the middle of the street 
and Adam and Duncan didn’t square off with their swords, they’d be fine. 
They shouldn’t attract too much attention. 

As they walked, Xander briefly outlined the set up of the town, describing 
its geography and what to expect. As he was winding down, he caught Joe 
staring at him, an odd look on his bearded face. “What?” 

“You said you died your first death last summer. You can’t be more than 
twenty, so when did you find time to do a turn in the military?” Joe raised 
his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. 

Xander blinked. “What makes you think I was ever in the military?” 

“The way you just laid out the town for us. It sounded like the briefings 
I’d get from my CO back in the bad old days.” 

“I was never in the military.” 

“Could’ve fooled me the first time we met,” Spike said. “You were acting 
the part then.” 

“Oh, the Halloween thing. Well, yeah, if you count that, I was in it, but 
only for six hours max.” Wesley nodded; he’d heard the story before. 
Everyone else looked confused. Xander sighed. “More of the hilarity that 
comes with growing up on the Hellmouth. A few Halloweens back, a guy cast a 
spell that made me and my friends turn into our costumes. I was wearing an 
army guy outfit, so I spent that night thinking I was in the army. 
Eventually we all came out of it, but I’ve still got some of the army guy’s 
know-how floating around in my head.” 

Wesley nodded and came closer, moving to stand close enough to Xander that 
their shoulders brushed. “I believe it may have something to do with Xander 
being an Immortal. He has always been susceptible to possessions of that 
nature and the effects of them linger in him when they should not. I wonder 
if the Quickening within him functions as a sort of beacon for possessing 
forces.” 

“And since he absorbs other Immortals’ Quickenings and holds them within 
himself, maybe that causes him to hold onto the possessions longer?” Adam 
chimed in with his own speculations. “That could be.” 

“You’re being remarkably blase about the idea of this guy being possessed.” 
Duncan jaw was set in a hard line. “No offense, Xander, but maybe this 
Immortal we’re looking for isn’t the only one who’s not completely sane.” 

“Now why would I take offense at that?” Xander shook his head. “You didn’t 
grow up here. You wouldn’t understand. No one lives here without having 
their lives brushed by darkness. If they’re lucky, a brush is all they 
experience.” He met the long-haired man’s gaze steadily. “My graduating 
class started out with a little over five hundred students. By the time 
four years had passed and graduation services were over, there were just 
over three hundred and fifty of us left.” 

“Kids drop out, move away -” 

“Get drained by vampires, get turned, are used by black magic workers in 
spells, get turned into fish monsters, are dragged into cults, or are turned 
into zombies.” Xander stopped walking and faced Duncan squarely. “Without 
Buffy and Giles and Willow, the casualties would’ve been worse. So we’re 
going to find this guy, no matter what you think of my sanity, and we’re 
going to take him out so he can’t hurt any of them.” He waited until Duncan 
nodded and then started walking again. Wesley was a warm presence at his 
side and Xander leaned into him, needing to feel him and drawing comfort 
from him just being there. 

He looked up as he felt someone approach them. “What do you want, Spike?” 

“Just wondering if you wanted me to drain him for you, pet.” The vampire 
grinned. “We can leave him in an alley and he can catch up with us after he 
recovers.” 

Xander grinned and heard Wesley laugh. “I don’t think you want to do that.” 

“I’m feeling a mite peckish,” Spike persisted. “It won’t do any permanent 
damage.” 

“He’d probably taste like Angel,” Wesley muttered. 

Xander cracked up. “They do have the same attitude of broody indignation 
and righteousness, don’t they?” 

Spike laughed. “Think of it! I’d have to bite him,” he pointed at Adam, 
“just to get the taste out of my mouth.” 

“What does he taste like?” Xander heard himself as the question and 
couldn’t believe that he let it slip. 

Spike moved closer to him, so Xander was closely hemmed in by Wes on one 
side and Spike on the other. His blue eyes seemed very dark as he stared at 
Xander. “He tastes like beer, actually. Beer and power and age and under 
all that the thick sweetness of life.” His tongue swept briefly across his 
lips. “It’s like human, but more. Heightened, in a way. Those blue sparks 
that come when you heal? It’s like I can taste them in the blood, feel them 
sparking across my tongue, sparking through my veins.” 

Wesley’s hand brushed across the small of Xander’s back. That small touch 
was enough to break the spell Spike had cast over him. He started slightly 
and leaned back into his lover’s touch. “No biting Duncan,” he said firmly. 

Spike shrugged and moved back a bit. “Fine.” That wicked grin came back to 
his face. “Is he the only one off-limits? There’s something to be said for 
the clean purity of human, you know.” His gaze drifted over to Wesley. 

Xander felt Wesley’s hand flex on his back. “You should have eaten before 
we left,” Wesley said firmly, sliding his hand down until his fingers slid 
beneath the waist of Xander’s jeans. Xander shifted a little, placing 
himself more firmly between the two men. 

Spike sulked for a moment and stepped away, leaving them to themselves. As 
they looked around the streets, searching for sign on the Immortal they 
hunted, Wesley’s hand remained tucked in Xander’s jeans. 

“Feeling possessive?” Xander breathed his question into Wesley’s ear. 

“A bit,” Wesley admitted. 

“So was I.” Xander bumped his nose against Wesley’s cheek. “Hard not to be 
when he’s hitting on you. I don’t want to lose you.” 

Wesley pulled him closer. “You’re not going to lose me,” he said 
vehemently. “And I’m not going to lose you, you understand? Not even Spike 
can do anything to us. I love you.” 

“And I love you,” Xander said, not savoring the rush of warmth he felt each 
time he heard and said those words. “But Spike...” 

“Spike is a sexy bastard and you’re right, he is difficult to resist. But I 
can. I’ve got you.” Wesley blinked. “Did I just quote Sunny and Cher?” 

Xander laughed and kissed his jaw. “You did. I’ll pretend I didn’t notice, 
though.” He hesitated for a moment. “But you do want him, don’t you?” 

“I’m English, Xander. I’m not dead. But I don’t *need* him. I need you.” 
Wesley stopped walking and pulled Xander into a tight embrace before 
claiming his mouth. After a moment, he pulled away. “I love you.” They 
grinned at each other, then continued walking. 

Xander glanced over at Wesley. “You know, you can’t always get what you 
want, but sometimes you can get what you want *and* what you need.” 

“Now you’re quoting the Stones?” Wesley’s tone was joking, but there was 
definitely a speculative gleam in his eyes. 

Xander’s reply was interrupted by Duncan’s approach, so he let the topic go. 
He knew Wes would be thinking about it, though. Spike was obviously 
interested...and then he had no more time for thought as the long-haired man 
began to speak. 

“I was wondering about your teacher,” Duncan said. “Not an Immortal, but 
not human, either. You know what you’re doing when you fight.” 

Xander nodded a little. He recognize the conciliatory tone and knew that 
Duncan was trying to smooth over their earlier argument. He realized that 
everyone was listening in, Spike and Immortals both. He glanced at Adam. 
“If you knew Spike, then you probably knew my teacher. Do you remember 
Angelus?” 

“Angelus?” Adam stopped walking. “That psychotic was your teacher?” His 
hand darted inside his coat. “He taught you to use a sword?” 

Spike froze as well. “You were with Angel? You went to him?” His hand 
clenched into fists at his sides.” 

“Who is this guy?” Duncan asked. “Angelus? Angel? What’s his name?” 

“Angelus is a vampire,” Adam said tightly. “He’s even more insane than 
Spike. Amazing in bed, but he’s still a vampire. He exists only for 
killing and torment.” 

“And sex,” Spike chimed in. 

“And sex,” Adam agreed, sharing a nasty smirk with the vampire. 

“Angel is Angelus,” Wesley said. “Angelus was cursed by a group of gypsies 
and his soul was restored to him. He is now a fighter on the side of 
right.” 

“And a great brooding ponce,” Spike said. “All guilt and remorse over 
things he can’t change.” 

“I know the type,” Adam said. 

Xander watched as Duncan glared at Adam. He wasn’t sure what the history 
between them was, but he didn’t want to get caught between them. With that 
much heat in Duncan’s eyes, he’d either get skewered on their swords or end 
up pinned on the ground as they tore at each other’s clothing. 

Spike was still glaring at him. “Angel was your teacher? I suppose you 
spent all your training months with him?” 

What the hell was this? Spike was acting as though he was upset by Xander 
spending time with Angel. It was as though he was jealous. Xander hid a 
grin. Spike *was* jealous. “Of course, Spike. After the car accident I 
was in, I knew I should have been dead. I knew Angel was in LA and that he 
could help me. Once he figured out just what I was, he trained me. I had 
to learn to protect myself. I spent all summer with him. He taught me a 
lot.” He let a little innuendo seep into his tone. 

Spike took a step forward. “Did he, now?” 

“It was sort of a life changing summer. I found out I was Immortal, learned 
to fight, figured out I was bi...” 

“All thanks to Angel?” Spike’s features rippled a little before he got 
himself under control. “And you met up with Wesley there?” He glared at 
Wesley, too. “How long were you in LA?” 

Xander was amazed. Now Spike had himself convinced that Wesley had slept 
with Angel, too. He really was jealous at the thought of them being with 
Angel. It was a sign of how much he really did want them. While watching 
the blond man snarl was fairly entertaining, he didn’t want to waste hunting 
time on taunting Spike. 

They could save that for after they took care of the Immortal. 

“I didn’t have sex with Angel,” he said. He was aware that everyone was 
listening in, but he didn’t let it bother him. "I did not have sexual 
relations with that vampire!" The joke didn't work; Spike was still looking 
ready to kill something...well, more than he usually did. Xander needed to 
get Spike calmed down so they could move past that. “Can you imagine it?” 
He closed his eyes and tipped his head back, leaning back harder against 
Wesley. He exhaled heavily once, then again, hastening his breathing. He 
moaned softly, gradually increasing the volume as he continued to pant. 
“Harder,” he murmured, rolling his hips gently. “Harder, please, more...” 
he panted each word out, leaning harder against Wesley. He moaned louder, 
then caught his breath and cried out in a strangled tone, “Deadboy!” 

Xander brushed his fingers through his hair as he opened his eyes. “Kind of 
ruins the moment, doesn’t it?” He tried to straighten up, but Wesley 
wrapped his arms around his waist and refused to release him. Xander 
blinked, then took a closer look at the men facing him. All of their eyes 
were rather wide, and Spike’s features were rippling once more. 

He’d gotten more of a reaction than he’d expected. He craned his neck so he 
could look back at Wesley. His lover’s gray eyes were dark and hungry. 
Wesley ducked his head and spoke directly into Xander’s ear. “You are going 
to be punished for teasing me when we get home.” 

Xander shivered at the feeling of warm air moving over his skin. He 
smirked. “Yes, sir.” 

Wesley’s arms tightened around him, and then he was pushed away. “Let’s get 
going,” Wesley said, tucking his hand back into Xander’s jeans in a 
blatantly teasing and proprietary gesture. 

Xander wriggled a little into the touch, ignoring Duncan’s irritation and 
Joe and Adam’s amusement. He liked teasing Wes, and loved it when Wes 
teased back. He glanced over at Spike and found that the vampire had 
regained control once more. 

Spike stared at him, then glanced over at Wesley and back to him once more. 
“So if Angel didn’t help you figure out you like it both ways, who did?” 

Xander sighed. It looked like tonight was Relive Your Sexual History Night. 
Of course, Wesley was going to punish him for it later, so it was worth 
it. “A man who works with Angel. His name’s Doyle.” 

“Doyle?” Wesley asked. He’d met Doyle when he’d come to LA, but that had 
been after Xander and the Irishman had ended their brief relationship. They 
hadn’t been in love with each other; Doyle had been too fixated on Angel for 
anything to really develop between them. Besides, his feelings weren’t 
unrequited; Angel had gotten progressively more twitchy the longer Xander 
and Doyle had been involved. 

Xander shrugged. “I told you I can’t resist an accent.” He grinned a 
fondly to himself as he thought about Doyle. He’d initially be drawn to the 
Irishman because Doyle loved to tease Cordelia and would team up with Xander 
to make her furious and make her laugh. That had extended to hanging out 
during downtimes between training and battling the evil in LA. After a 
night when the weather was very drunk out, they had ended up in bed 
together. It could have been wierd, it could have been frightening, but it 
was Doyle. It was laughing green eyes and long clever fingers and teasing 
comments in a lilt, all of which gave him nothing but pleasure and laughter. 
They’d parted as friends and Xander missed him, talking to him on the 
phone on a regular basis. 

The subject was dropped after that, but as they walked through the streets, 
Spike was a constant presence beside and behind Xander and Wesley, never 
straying more than a few feet from them. Xander exchanged a pleased glance 
with his lover. 

Spike was hooked. 

Xander was looking forward to getting rid of the wizard-wannabe more than 
ever. His town would be safe, his secret would be kept, and he and Wes 
would get a chance to see if Spike had anything to back up his attitude and 
reputation. 

Xander started to walk faster. 

*********** 

Interlude One 

Author: Sandy 

Feedback: ssfdu@hotmail.com </cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=F000000001&a=92066af59783ad02865f753ed72b3845&mailto=1&to=ssfdu@hotmail.com&msg=MSG991386499.57&start=214945&len=34875&src=&type=x> <please tell her you loved this so she’ll 
write more!> 


Richie sauntered along the dark tree lined streets of Sunnydale, almost 
tempted to whistle. He wasn’t particularly worried about being separated 
from Mac and the others because surely a little moonlight stroll around town 
couldn’t be as dangerous as the residents implied. 

Besides it wasn’t as though they could kill him. 

Vampires, monsters and demons oh my! 

The immortal snickered quietly to himself, but not quietly enough if the 
puzzled looks thrown his way were any indication. 

If they thought *he* was a bit strange or something they obviously hadn’t 
looked at themselves in the mirror lately. 

Take Buffy for example. Classic blond, gorgeous valley girl type. But he 
could already see she needed to lighten up. Okay, so she had super powers, 
was the chosen one or something like that but not everything was the world 
is going to end next Thursday right after lunch and she has to battle The 
Forces of Evil <tm> to stop it. Or maybe it was and he just didn’t know 
about it before. All the more reason to lighten up and live a little. 

Then there was Riley, Buffy’s boyfriend. He didn’t really look old enough 
but something about him screamed Military...and hick. And from what he had 
seen already, the way those two carried on you would think he was some sort 
of living extension of her, joined at the hip...or was that lips? Anyway he 
didn’t think she was attracted to him for his IQ level. 

They were so cute together it was almost enough to send you into a diabetic 
coma from too much sugar, and he had only known them a few hours. 

The next in the motley bunch known as the Scoobies... Richie paused to roll 
his eyes at that...was the little redhead. 

Willow seemed really nice, and bubbly, and a little...for lack of a better 
term kooky. 

Guess it was all the witch stuff. 

He started humming the Addams Family theme, earning himself more strange 
looks. He just smiled blandly at them and continued humming. 

Of course he didn’t get a strange look from Oz, just a carefully raised 
eyebrow. Oz appeared to be a man of few words, and even fewer expressions. 
Between her steady stream of babble and his silence maybe they managed to 
balance things up. 

Maybe it was a werewolf thing? He wasn’t quite sure he believed that one 
though. 

This was turning out to be one strange town. 

And last, but not least there was Rupert Giles, the one person in the group 
he didn’t feel he had figured out yet. 

The kind of person Adam would call an enigma. 

An enigma with cruel parents. 

Rupert? What were they thinking? 

But strangely enough it kinda suited him. 

It wasn’t just that Giles was older that made him seem more interesting, the 
way the others were bickering during the meeting, Richie even felt old. 

There was just something about Giles that was different. He reminded Ryan a 
lot of Adam. Casual and harmless on the outside, but with untold depths. In 
Adam’s case, dangerous, very old depths, and Richie wanted to find out if 
there were more than just the obvious similarities. 

He wouldn’t admit it out loud but he really quite liked Adam. The man had a 
wicked sense of humour and an interesting view of the world and people. 

Another thing the two men had in common was their appearance. 

Not attractive in the usual sense, but... 

Giles was rather cute, okay more than cute, if you went for the older, 
cultured English type, even if from the way he talked you would expect tweed 
rather than jeans, a pullover and a battered leather jacket. Richie had to 
admit it was a good look on him though. 

A damn good look. 

The Immortal wondered if he was easily flustered as the bookish types he had 
met before, deciding that it would be a lot of fun to find out. There were 
much worse ways to fill in his spare time. 

Casually, he moved to the older man’s side. Ignoring the others he asked, 
“So is there anything interesting to do around here, besides killing nasty 
looking things? Y’know fun, like clubs or bars or something?” 

“Fun?” was the incredulous reply. 

The Immortal was impressed, it took real talent to imply so much in one 
simple word. That one seemed to say ‘You are kidding, aren’t you? We are on 
an important mission here, one that cannot fail because it may mean death, 
destruction and untold havoc.’ 

“Fun. The concept of doing an activity that is enjoyable. You do know that 
one don’t you?” 

He had been watching the changing expressions on Giles’ face, mentally 
rubbing his hands together gleefully. The brief flash of something dangerous 
and almost predatory caught him by surprise, and intrigued him. Perhaps 
there was more to the other man than he thought. Besides he’d always loved a 
good mystery. 

Giles rolled his eyes a little. “Yes I am quite aware of what fun is, I’m 
just not sure this is the time or place to discuss it.” 

“Well if I am to believe all the doom and gloom around here we might be in 
for some trouble, so wouldn’t it be better to make plans now before possibly 
getting fried be the would-be Merlin?” 

“Well if you concentrated more on the danger at hand, instead of looking for 
*fun* perhaps you wouldn’t get ‘fried’ as you so delicately put it.” 

Strike one for the older guy. 

Richie thought to himself that this really was turning out to be 
entertaining. Almost enough to distract him from the killer headache he had 
for a while. 

“Don't center on your anxiety Obi-Wan, keep your concentration on the here 
and now where it belongs." Richie stated solemnly, but with a devilish 
twinkle in his eyes. 

“Obi-Wan?” Rupert frowned, looking rather confused. 

Oz had apparently been listening to them because he turned and raised an 
eyebrow inquiringly at Richie and then answered Giles’ question. 

“Recent Pop Culture reference.” 

“Ah.” But it was clear that he didn’t get it. The others continues walking. 

“Haven’t seen the Star Wars movies? What planet are you from?” 

He ignored the indignant mutter directed his way. 

“Looks like I need to expand your horizons a little more than anticipated.” 

“Expand my horizons?” The older man spluttered incredulously. “Now listen 
here Mr. Ryan, I can assure you that my horizons do not need expanding and 
if they did you would not be the person to do so. I hardly know you.” 

“Say the words and I can change that.” 

“And what words would those be...” 

Before Richie could answer they were attacked. 

They hadn’t realised that they had slowed their pace and lost sight of the 
others around a corner until they were jumped by three men. 

Giles spun around and hit out at his attacker and Richie followed suit, 
gasping in surprise at their ridged features and sharp teeth. 

“They’re vampires!” He called out. 

With a grunt and a long suffering sigh the ex-Watcher responded, “I can see 
that.” 

Reaching into his jacket the older man withdrew a stake and went on the 
offensive. Taking the vampire by surprise he quickly staked him. 

“Here, catch!” He yelled at Richie, throwing the piece of wood in his 
direction and grabbing another from his pocket. 

Twisting around while knocking his attacker back, the young immortal managed 
to catch the stake. 

“Through the heart, right?” he asked loudly. 

“Yes!” 

By now the others had heard the fighting and had come to their aid. Buffy 
quickly dispatched the one fighting with Giles as the others helped Richie 
out. 

Soon they were all dust and the group caught their breath. 

Edging over to Rupert once more, Richie proclaimed, “Well that was 
exciting.” 

Buffy shot him a look and muttered something about always attracting the 
crazy ones. 

“Exciting? You do realise that if I hadn’t been with you, you would most 
likely have been killed?” 

“Well, yeah. But you were here and I wasn’t killed,” Richie batted his 
eyelashes and simpered. “My Hero!” 

Giles muttered something about foolish, ignorant children. 

“So about broadening your horizons...” 

“Argh!” Rupert threw his hands up into the air and stormed of to join Buffy 
at the head of the group. 

Richie enjoyed the view immensely. 

***** 

After a few minutes of quite conversation as they led the group, Buffy’s 
voice grew louder. “I think you should go keep an eye on Boy Wonder back 
there. I don’t think his friends would like it if we let him get himself 
killed.” 

“Do I have to?” Was the reply from her companion, sounding suspiciously like 
a whiney child. “Besides I don’t even own a cape so why does it have to be 
me?” 

“Because you are the adult of this bunch and you are always telling me that 
being an adult means responsibilities,” the Slayer replied a touch smugly. 

Willow appeared to be stifling a giggle. 

“If you insist.” With a put upon sigh, Giles turned and walked back towards 
Richie. 

“You don’t love me any more.” Ryan sniffed. 

“Oh shut up, you.” The ex-Watcher glared at him balefully. 

The younger man’s lips twitched suspiciously but remained silent. 

Quiet descended for a few minutes as they continued walking. 

Just long enough to lull Rupert into a false sense of security, Richie 
decided evilly. 

He went in for the kill. 

"Is it true what that say about English men?" 

Giles frowned slightly, then gave him a faintly warning look. "What is it 
that *they* say?" he asked disdainfully. 

"That if you can manage to make them lose control... under all that tea 
drinking and tweed they can be real tigers in bed" 

The older man came to abrupt stop, looking like he either was going to choke 
or strangle him. 

Taking a few deep breaths he tried to regain his composure. 

Unsuccessfully. 

Ladies and Gentleman, we have a winner, Richie thought to himself smugly. 

"Oh well...um.. That is to say... Oh for god's sake man you are starting to 
sound like Wesley..." The last part was muttered to himself, but audible as 
he studied something near his feet. 

Flushed, he took another deep breath and pasting on a Classic Stern 
Librarian Face <tm>, looked up. 

Straight into the blatantly flirtatious expression on the younger man's 
face. 

Giles raised a eyebrow and replied dryly. "Wouldn't you like to know." 

Richie smiled at the tone and answered. "Well that was the general idea. 
So?" He mirrored the faintly mocking expression. 

"I am English, not easy. I'm sure even one of such tender years as yourself 
can understand the difference, even if they do start with the same letter," 
Giles retorted primly. 

“I never said anything about being easy, only being great in bed. There’s a 
difference and I know that, so should you. Well?...” 

“Well, what?” Rupert asked irritably. 

“I asked a simple question, you’re an intelligent man so I’m sure it isn’t 
that difficult to answer.” 

With a weary sigh, Giles faced him. “Look Mr. Ryan, I’m sure this...this 
casual flirtation is amusing you, but I would ask that if you are only 
toying with me for lack of better entertainment that you stop it now.” 

Richie gave him a considering look. “If you let me get to know you better, 
maybe we could turn it into a serious flirtation.” 

“Mr. Ryan...” 

“Richie, please,” The Immortal asked. 

“Alright then, Richie...” 

He gave Giles a lopsided grin and held a hand up to stop whatever the other 
man had planned to say. 

“Okay so maybe I started this as something to do, but what can I say? I like 
you, you’re interesting. It isn’t a crime to show your appreciation if you 
like someone now is it?” 

“Well...no.” Giles looked rather startled. 

“Good then, because I’m enjoying myself, but I’m not trying to be cruel or 
hurt you or anything. I don’t do that,” Richie told him seriously. 

“Oh.” 

Ryan had reduced the man to single words. That was interesting. 

“If it really bothers you, I’ll stop. But then I would be forced to use my 
famous puppy dog eyes on you until I was allowed to continue, or the others 
noticed and asked why I was doing that. Whichever comes first.” 

Richie could have sworn Giles’ lips twitched. 

“That’s emotional blackmail!” The older man accused him. “I don’t want the 
Buffy/Willow inquisition.” 

He was definitely fighting a small smile now. 

“Hey! All’s fair in love and war.” The Immortal winked at him. “So just let 
me continue, simple.” 

“Has anyone ever told you that you are an unrepentant brat?” Rupert asked 
him. 

“You’d be surprised.” 

“No, I wouldn’t.” 

Sometime during the conversation they had unconsciously continued on after 
the others. 

Richie turned his head and pouted mournfully. 

“Heaven save me from wilful children,” Giles beseeched the sky. 

“Children?” Ryan spluttered. “I’m a lot older than I look.” 

The ex-Watcher snorted. “I’m 25. Ask Joe and the others if you don’t believe 
me.” 

“Really?” A speculative gleam entered the other man’s green eyes. 

“Yep. So now that you know I’m way past legal are you going to answer that 
question?” Ryan asked slyly. 

“Oh for crying out loud! We aren’t back to that are we?” 

“Definitely. Inquiring minds want to know. You do realise that if you don’t 
answer, I’ll just assume it’s true and you don’t want to say anything on the 
grounds it might incriminate you” 

Giles carefully raised one eyebrow and gave the younger man a mysterious 
smile. 

If Richie wasn’t hooked before, he was now. 

“I shall answer that question when I am good and ready to,” he replied a 
touch smugly. 

The ex-Watcher increased his pace to catch up with the others. 

“Oh yeah, you’re good alright.” Ryan was impressed, and already a little 
turned on. 

“So about those interesting things to do in Sunnydale, anything you’d care 
to recommend...Tiger?” 

Instead of being indignant like Richie half-expected, Giles laughed and it 
was a wonderful sound. 

Part Eight

A faint scuff teased at Spike’s ears, drawing him down the dark alleyway. 
He leapt upon the source of the sound, dragging it out into the illumination 
of the street lights. He took a look at the struggling figure in his grip 
and sighed in disgust. “Vlertik.” 

The scaly demon fought harder to get away, twisting in Spike’s hands as it 
strained to dive back into the alley, back into the darkness. The vampire 
shook it merciless as he glanced back over his shoulder at the men behind 
him. “Want me to kill it?” 

Wesley shook his head. “It’s just a scavenger, Spike. Let it go.” 

Spike tightened his grip, sneering as the Vlertik squealed in pain. “Easier 
just to kill it.” He smirked as the demon fought frantically, fruitlessly 
as he increased the pressure. Hands closed his shoulders and he was jerked 
backwards. Surprised, he released the Vlertik as he snarled and turned on 
the person who had touched him. “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded 
of Wesley. 

The taller man ignored him. He cast a quick glance at the cowering demon. 
“Get out of town. If I see you here again, I’ll be most put out.” 

“Wyndem-Pryce?” the demon whimpered. The Vlertik scrambled away, moaning in 
abject terror. 

Spike forgot his outrage immediately. The demon was scared shitless of 
Wesley. What the hell was going on? “How did you do that?” 

Wesley smiled mysteriously. “If you behave yourself and restrain your 
homicidal impulses, perhaps you shall find out.” 

Spike growled a little, but Wesley didn’t react. He just walked back to the 
main part of the street and took his place beside Xander. Xander said 
something quietly, too low for Spike to catch, and Wesley laughed and 
rewarded his comment with a hard kiss. 

The groups started moving again and Spike fell in step behind Wesley and 
Xander, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his duster. He watched as 
Wesley’s hand found its way into the back of Xander’s jeans and the two men 
drifted closer to each other. He shook his head. He didn’t know how those 
two had gotten together and he had no idea how they thought they were going 
to be able to keep it a secret. They barely took their hands off each other 
as it was; he wasn’t sure how they’d managed to restrain themselves when 
they were at the Watcher’s. 

He’d never paid to much attention to either of them. He was aware of them 
as the back ups to his main enemy, the Slayer. Not especially dangerous or 
interesting in and of themselves, they were a force to be reckoned with only 
when they were teamed with the rest of the Slayer’s team. 

He wasn’t making that mistake now. He was watching for the loon they were 
hunting, and he kept some small amount of attention on Benjamin -Adam-, his 
stuffy friend, and the older man, but the bulk of his focus was reserved for 
Xander and Wesley. His gaze greedily took in the way Xander had put on 
muscle, on the easy way Wesley carried himself, on the constant touches and 
comments that flowed between the two men. 

He’d given in to his curiosity the other night, creeping over to the bedroom 
door Wesley had shut and listening through the wood. As soon as he’d heard 
the bedsprings creak, he’d eased the door open, peering through the small 
crack to catch sight of the men inside. He’d been captivated by the sight 
of the pale expanse of Wesley’s back as he knelt over Xander, the tight line 
of his ass as he moved over his lover. He had traced the lines of limbs 
that trembled even as they moved in ecstasy. He hadn’t missed the 
expressions on their faces: passion and love and want as they exchanged 
broken words. He hadn’t been able to move or look away until both of men 
had come and lay entwined in each other’s arms. Only at that point was he 
able to slip away and dash for the bathroom, where he was able to relieve 
the erection that was demanding his attention. 

Just like in the bed, on the streets they moved in perfect sync with each 
other, always aware of where the other was, always coming back to move 
together. He knew they couldn’t have been together long, but they acted as 
though they’d been involved forever, their awareness of each other so deep 
as to be instinctive. 

Spike fought down a strong wave of longing. Lust he was prepared to deal 
with; how was he supposed to help himself when confronted with Wesley and 
Xander? The longing, now, that was different. That was dangerous. Spike 
didn’t lie to himself. He might not always pay any attention to the truth 
and usually refused to allow it to stop him from doing whatever he wanted, 
but he didn’t try to deny it. He knew that he wasn’t solitary by nature. 
He was meant to be with other people, needed constant contact with others in 
order to keep himself happy and sane. As much as he’d enjoyed irritating 
the hell out of Darla and Angelus, he had needed to be around them in order 
to do so. Without them around, his life was emptier. It helped to explain 
his attachment to Drusilla. He loved his dark princess, to be sure, had 
devoted his unlife to her without compunction or regret, but he was honest 
enough with himself to admit that his need for her had been as much a part 
of his need for companionship as it had been love. 

He had been separated from Drusilla long enough that he was beginning to 
feel the lack of company. Seeing Wesley and Xander so easy together made 
him more aware of his own loneliness. It made his lust for the two of them 
become something more, something stronger, something dangerous. 

Something that he probably wasn’t going to be able to resist. Spike grinned 
sardonically as he lit a fresh cigarette. So he knew they were probably 
going to complicate his plans more than he wanted. He took in the way 
Wesley’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed, watched Xander’s 
tongue flicker out to moisten his full lower lip. It would be worth it. 

As they turned the corner on to another street, voices carried to them from 
up the block. Spike peered through the darkness, relying on his superior 
night vision. “Slayer,” he said. Buffy and the rest of her merry band were 
walking towards them. 

Xander and Wesley separated smoothly, moving apart as though they were just 
finishing a conversation. “Hey, Buffy,” Xander called. “You find 
anything?” 

“Only a few fledges so inept that the Boy Wonder over there was able to 
stake one,” Buffy said, jerking her chin over in the direction of the 
curly-haired Immortal. 

Spike smirked. Sounded like someone hadn’t made much of an impression. He 
looked over at Richie, approving of the way the man didn’t react to Buffy’s 
comment. Richie just tucked his hands into his back pockets and grinned. 
The vampire raised an eyebrow as he noticed the way Richie’s gaze lingered 
on Giles. Every time Giles met the Immortal’s gaze, he flushed a little, 
but there was definite interest in the Watcher’s eyes. 

Looked like Sunnyhell was going to be even more entertaining than usual. 

“Fledges?” Duncan asked, staring at Richie. 

“Newly-turned vampires,” Giles explained. “They tend to be ravenous, but as 
Buffy said, they are inept. Quick to attack, but they do so with no 
finesse. Ah...Richie did quite will in his first encounter with them, 
actually.” 

Richie was standing closer to Giles than anyone else. The Immortal leaned 
in close to Giles and murmured in a low voice, “Thanks, Tiger. Was it good 
for you too?” 

The former Watcher rolled his eyes and replied in an equally quiet tone, “It 
was adequate. I’ve had better, if you must know.” 

Unfazed by the dismissal, Richie leered at the other man. “You know what 
they say: practice makes perfect.” 

The looks between Richie and Giles got even more interesting as Giles glared 
at the other man, a mixture of irritation and heat. Thanks to his vampiric 
hearing, Spike was the only other person to hear the comment. Spike took a 
long drag on his cigarette. No matter what happened now, he was going to 
have to stay in town. There was no way he was going to miss this. 

His gaze strayed back over to where Wesley and Xander were trying to keep 
their distance from each other. Well, no way he’d miss it, unless he was 
otherwise occupied. As he watched, Xander frowned and shook his head, hard. 

“So we both came up empty,” Buffy said. “Great. Any ideas on where else we 
should look for this guy?” 

Now Richie was rubbing at his temples, even as Duncan shook his head. 

“If he’s into magic, we might want to cruise past the Magic Box again,” 
Willow suggested. 

“Yes,” Giles agreed. “That could work. Or-” 

“Or we could look down the street a bit,” Adam interrupted. His face was 
impassive, but his hand had crept inside his enveloping coat. “I believe I 
saw something there.” 

Spike tossed his cigarette into the street and got himself ready. Adam 
hadn’t visibly reacted, but he was willing to bet that the other Immortals 
had been reacting to the presence of another Immortal. “I think you’re 
right,” he said, even though he saw nothing. “I think that’s him.” No need 
to reveal everyone’s secret, now was there? 

He raised his hands innocently when Xander turned to stare at him. The 
dark-eyed man realized what Spike was doing, and the vampire was rewarded 
with a delighted grin before everyone started moving down the street. Spike 
sighed as he followed Wesley and Xander. The things he did for a nice 
ass... 

As they got closer to the end of the block, Spike realized that he could see 
movement in one of the many abandoned buildings that littered Sunnydale. 
The one at the end of the street was composed of crumbling bricks and 
rotting wood, untouched by care and worn by time. 

Wesley squinted at the building. “If he is attempting to mold himself into 
a stereotypical wizard, perhaps he has sought out a building that conforms 
to the image of the haunted house stereotype to frequent as well.” 

Xander smirked. “If you’re going to attempt to live one bad cliche, might 
as well go for them all.” 

Buffy walked over to the front of the building, moving slowly toward the 
door. Duncan moved up to stand beside her. She glared at him over her 
shoulder. “Do you mind? I need some space.” 

“You need someone to back you up,” he countered. 

“That would be one of my friends, then. No offense, but I don’t know you.” 
She eased inside the doorway, muttering something about another Boy Wonder. 

A few seconds of tense silence passed, then Buffy ran back out the door. 
“Get back!” she ordered, physically pushing Duncan in front of her as she 
fled from the building. Stinking flames filled the doorway behind her and 
spilled out into the street. 

“That’s him,” Wesley called as he and Xander moved forward. “Don’t let the 
fire touch you. It seems to be his only trick, but be ready for anything 
else. There’s no telling what he may have learned since we last encountered 
him.” 

Spike shook his head as he moved to shadow Wesley. After watching them, he 
had no doubt that both men could take care of themselves. No matter what 
anyone else thought, they were capable, deadly fighters. But Xander had the 
edge of Immortality on his side, so Spike would stay closer to Wesley. He 
wanted to make sure both of them lived through this. 

As he moved closer to Wesley, he could hear the taller man swearing under 
his breath. Spike knew where is frustration was coming from. There was no 
good way to come at the Immortal. Hidden inside the building, he tossed 
reeking fire at them through the empty windows and doorways, guaranteeing 
that they couldn’t come at him through any of the entryways. At the same 
time, they had him penned down: they couldn’t get in, but he couldn’t get 
out, either. 

“I’m going to try something,” Wesley warned the others. 

“Wesley, are you sure?” Willow asked. “I could-” 

“Let the man work,” Spike said impatiently. Hadn’t they seen how well he 
could direct deadly magic against his enemies? He ignored the witch’s 
startled look and focused on Wesley, waiting to see what he would come up 
with. 

The tall man spoke quietly under his breath, words clear and precise as his 
hands sketched exotic patterns in the air. He spoke for a few moments, then 
dropped his hands and waited. 

After a few seconds passed and nothing happened, Buffy rolled her eyes. 
“That was great, Wesley. Really terrific. Willow, could you try 
something?” 

Willow’s reply was lost in a tremendous roar as smoke boiled out of the 
windows and doors, oily gray and clinging to the bricks as it drifted 
reluctantly into the night air. 

“Nice, Wes,” Xander said, grinning appreciatively. 

“Oh, yeah,” Spike echoed. 

Wesley included them both in his triumphant smile. “This will either flush 
him out or kill him.” 

“Then we can go collect the body after the smoke clears.” Adam’s voice was 
approving. “Quite efficient. Very intelligent.” 

Spike glared at the Immortal, repressing the urge to growl. He settled for 
baring his teeth in a vicious snarl, silently warning the Immortal to stay 
away from Wesley. Couldn’t he see that the man belonged to Xander? Didn’t 
he see that both of them were going to belong to Spike? 

He was distracted from his possessive anger by the emergence of the 
Immortal, coughing and gasping. He was still dressed in the ridiculous 
robes from the other night, but all the wheezing rather ruined whatever 
dramatic effect he may have been attempting to achieve. 

Buffy moved in on the coughing man. “All right. Time for you to stop 
trying to live the dream and just be grateful that I’m going to let you keep 
living.” 

The Immortal raised his hands in a threatening gesture. “Stay away from me! 
I mean it!” 

“Anybody want a peanut?” Spike murmured. He laughed out loud at the look of 
surprise on everyone’s faces. His laughter mingled with Xander’s as the 
dark-eyed man was nearly doubled over in amusement and disbelief. 

The Immortal took advantage of the momentary distraction to grab Buffy and 
slam her into the wall of the building, hard. He released her immediately, 
allowing her to fall heavily to the ground. He then turned his attention to 
Wesley. “You! You’re even more powerful than the witch! I need that 
power!” He lunged towards Wesley, chanting in a voice that rose to a 
shriek. 

Spike moved forward with vampiric speed, placing himself between the 
Immortal and Wesley. At the same time, Xander delivered a vicious kick to 
the Immortal’s midsection, sending him staggering back toward the building. 
As he fell backwards, the energy he’d summoned with his spell went wild; 
rather than heading straight for Wesley, it slammed into the building behind 
him. 

Spike listened in horror as the he heard the wall groan under the force of 
the blast. The entire structure shuddered. Spike had heard enough 
buildings collapse in his time to know what was going to happen next. 
Xander was clear of the wall, but Wesley had moved forward in order to 
counter the crazed Immortal as well as back up his lover. 

Ignoring the voices inside his head screaming that he was a fool, Spike ran 
forward a few steps to grab Wesley by the upper arms and swing him around 
hard, propelling him in a hard arc out of danger. 

He had time to shield his head with his arms before he was buried in an 
avalanche of bricks and dust. 

Part Nine


Wesley spun to the ground, thrown completely off-balance by the force of 
Spike’s shove. He rolled as he hit the ground, carrying himself out of 
danger before rising smoothly to his feet. He watched, horrified, as the 
crumbling front wall of the building collapsed, sending bricks hurtling down 
in a deadly cascade. 

Right on top of Spike. 

Wesley shouted his denial and forced himself to his feet, not sure what he 
could do, but determined to find a way to help. He took two steps forward 
before the rest of the building began to collapse with a hideous roar. He 
threw up his arms to shield his head and was forced back by the choking 
cloud of dust that arose from the wreckage. 

When he could see again, Wesley searched for Xander, relaxing slightly when 
he saw his lover standing unharmed a few feet away. He quickly catalogued 
the others: Buffy was coughing hard as Riley hovered protectively over her. 
Willow and Oz were checking on Duncan and Adam even as Giles talked 
intently to Richie. The Immortal they’d been fighting was nowhere to be 
seen. He must have seized the opportunity presented by the confusion and 
fled into the night. And Spike... 

Wesley swore viciously under his breath in the vilest language he knew as he 
scrambled over the barely-settled rubble to the vampire. Spike’s head and 
right arm were visible; the rest of him was buried beneath the fallen 
bricks. Blood coursed in sluggish pulses down his face from a gash on his 
cheek. Wesley crouched on the bricks near him, not quite daring to touch 
the pale skin. His hands hovering an inch from Spike’s face, he called 
softly, “Spike? Spike, can you hear me?” 

“Fuck...” Spike’s voice was a barely-there whisper. His eyelids drifted 
open, revealing eyes that were hazy with pain. “Fuck, that hurts.” 

A warm hand on his back startled Wesley, and he turned to find Xander beside 
him, face set in lines of worry. “How’re you doing, Spike?” 

“Not so good. I just had a building fall on me, you moron.” Spike glared 
at him. 

“How bad is it?” Wesley asked. 

“Not so bad. I’ve got a few minutes left in me, if I’m lucky.” His smirk 
was tired but it was there. 

Wesley sucked in a deep breath, his mind racing. There had to be a spell, 
something he could do to save Spike. Spike had been hurt pushing him out of 
the way, damn it! He wasn’t going to let him die. Not like this. Not 
before... 

Xander’s hand pressed lightly on his back, pulling him out of the swirling 
morass of his thoughts. “I’ll take care of this,” the dark-eyed man 
murmured, gaze fierce. He stood up and climbed off the rubble. “This guy 
is getting more dangerous the longer he stays in Sunnydale. I don’t want 
him learning anything more that could do more damage. He doesn’t have much 
of a lead on us; you can still catch him.” 

“What about William?” Adam asked. 

Buffy hefted her stake. “I can put him out of his misery.” 

Xander shook his head. “I’ll take care of this,” he said firmly. He held 
up his hand when Adam started to speak. “Look, you just stay close to Buffy 
and try not to die, all right? I’ve got this under control.” 

“Fine,” Buffy said. “Try to catch up with us later, you two. Let’s get 
going before this guy destroys any more of Sunnydale.” She led the rest of 
the group off down the street, relying on Oz and Riley to help her track the 
Immortal. 

Xander returned to Wesley’s side and smiled gently down at Spike. “Are you 
ready?” 

“Where are you planning on sticking the stake? Or did you decide to try 
decapitation?” The vampire’s mocking grin was ruined as his face twisted in 
pain. 

“Don’t be stupid,” Xander said, rolling up one of his sleeves. “I’m not 
going to take your head. What fun would that be? I’ve got plans for your 
head and the rest of your body that don’t involve you turning to dust.” His 
forearm bare, he glanced over at Wesley. “I do hate having to vacuum the 
bad, don’t you?” 

“What the hell are you going on about?” Spike demanded. 

“Why don’t we talk about this later?” Xander held his wrist in front of 
Spike’s mouth. “Now drink up like a good vampire so there will be a later.” 

Spike stared up at him speechlessly. 

“Hurry up,” Xander urged. “You need this if you’re going to survive.” 

“You sure about this, pet?” 

“What, you want me to slice my wrist myself?” 

“No,” Spike said. 

Xander pressed his wrist to Spike’s lips. When the vampire continued to 
hesitate, Xander shook his head impatiently. “Spike, just do it! I’m not 
going to let you die, not after you saved Wes’s life!” His smile was 
strained. “Not before we’ve had any real fun together.” 

Spike’s reply was the shifting of his features as his demonic visage came to 
the fore. He parted his lips and sank his elongated fangs into the soft 
skin of Xander’s wrist. Xander gasped and arched his back, but he didn’t 
pull away. 

Wesley slid himself behind his lover, supporting him by wrapping his arms 
around him. “How is the pain?” He rubbed his cheek against the exposed 
side of Xander’s neck, trying to be as close to him as possible. He didn’t 
like seeing Xander hurt, but this was the only way to save Spike. The 
vampire was badly injured and Immortal blood could heal him, give him the 
strength he needed to recover and free himself. 

“It doesn’t hurt, exactly,” Xander said, nestling in closer to Wesley. He 
moaned a little. “It’s just so intense...” He gasped and arched again. 
“Oh, god...” 

Wesley felt the faint stirrings of jealousy as his lover writhed against him 
as the result of something *Spike* did to him. He turned his faces and 
kissed Xander’s throat. It was foolish. They’d both admitted their 
attraction to the vampire, had been dancing around the idea of becoming 
involved with him. There was no reason to be jealous. He knew Xander loved 
him, trusted in that knowledge as he trusted in nothing else. Wesley looked 
back down at Spike’s face. The vampire’s eyes were closed, his grimace of 
pain replaced with one of pure pleasure as he drank ravenously. 

With obvious reluctance, Spike wrenched his mouth away from Xander’s wrist. 
“No more,” he said. “Any more will be dangerous.” 

“Sometimes I think the bleach you use must have seeped into your head.” 
Xander turned carefully in Wesley’s arms. His face was pale and his eyes a 
little shocky. “You should start to dig him out. If this works like it 
should, we can go after Buffy in a little while.” 

“If it works, I’m taking you home,” Wesley said firmly. Xander always tried 
to make light of injuries he received, even if they killed him, just because 
he recovered so quickly. Wesley knew that the experiences left him a little 
shaky and exhausted. He wasn’t going to let anything else happen to him 
tonight. 

Xander stared at him for a moment, then nodded. “Home,” he agreed. He 
pressed his lips to Wesley’s, yielding easily to Wesley’s slightly desperate 
demands to deepen the kiss. After a moment, he pulled away and moved to lay 
behind Spike, clear of the rubble that covered the vampire. He pressed his 
wrist to Spike’s mouth once more. “All of it, bright boy. You need to 
drink all of it.” 

“I don’t want to kill you, pet.” Spike’s tongue swept across his lips. 

“You have to. You need more blood to heal completely. And it’s easier for 
Xander to recover from the blood loss if you just kill him.” Wesley picked 
up a brick and tossed it aside. His gaze met Xander’s. “I’d rather be 
holding you.” 

“Hold me when we get home. The faster you dig him free, the faster we get 
out of here.” Xander flicked Spike’s ear with his free hand. “Do it all 
ready. Your skinny ass doesn’t need to be on a diet.” 

Spike, already looking stronger, looked from Xander to Wesley and back 
again, wonder clear in his eyes. He licked Xander’s wrist once before once 
more biting into the still-wounded flesh. Xander shuddered and closed his 
eyes, laying his head down on the bricks in preparation for death. 

Wesley forced himself to look away and concentrate on pulling away the 
bricks that covered Spike. He paused for a moment when he saw Xander go 
completely limp. A few moments after that, Spike gently pulled Xander’s 
wrist away from his mouth, face returning to its usual human lines. When he 
freed Spike’s other arm, the vampire began to help, shoving bricks away from 
himself with controlled haste. Finally, Spike was free. He stood up and 
swayed alarmingly. 

“Are you all right?” Wesley asked, watching him worriedly. 

“Give me a minute. I was dying just a moment ago...” his voice trailed away 
as he turned carefully to stare down at Xander’s motionless form. 

Wesley scooted over to Xander’s side. His lover hadn’t died often, but 
Wesley had absolutely hated it every time it happened. He knew Xander was 
going to revive, but that was hard to hold on to when he was lying so very 
still. “We need to get him home,” he said. “I’m not leaving him out here.” 
He stared up at Spike. “I can’t carry you both.” 

“I can walk,” Spike said, standing up straighter. He staggered off the pile 
of bricks. 

Wesley watched him closely, but it looked like Spike was telling the truth. 
He was getting steadier by the minute. The gash in his face had already 
healed. Immortal blood must be powerful indeed. He turned his attention 
back to Xander. Carefully slipping his arms under his body, Wesley cradled 
Xander close and rose to his feet. He picked his way down to the street and 
started walking quickly back toward their apartment. He didn’t want to 
waste anytime. Xander deserved to revive in a safe place. “Let’s go,” he 
said. “He’s heavier than he looks.” Spike at his side, he hurried through 
the dark streets. 

***** 

Willow shook her head, hand pressed to her mouth in horror. She couldn’t 
move beyond a slow, continual shaking of her head in denial of what she had 
just seen. Tears filled her eyes as Wesley carried the dead body of her 
best friend down the street, Spike strolling along companionably at his 
side. As they turned the corner and moved out of sight, tears spilled down 
her cheeks. 

The harsh sob that broke loose inside of her destroyed the paralysis that 
held her immobile and she turned and ran down the street, forgetting about 
the dangers of Sunnydale at night. None of that mattered. All that she 
could think of was getting to Buffy and Giles and finding a way to make the 
horrible thing she had seen not real anymore. 

She caught up with the others not far from where she had left them. Oz was 
already coming toward her, lips parted in alarm as he took in her tears and 
distress. “Willow, what happened? Why did you sneak off like that? Are 
you all right?” He caught her in his arms and held her close. “What 
happened?” 

Aware of everyone gathering around her in concern, she tried to pull herself 
together. Clinging tightly to Oz, she looked over his shoulder and sought 
Giles and Buffy’s gazes. “I went back to tell Xander that we’d found out 
where the guy was holing up. I thought that we could use his help and that 
Wesley would maybe do that spell again so we could drive him out of the 
place he’s hiding now.” 

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” Oz asked. 

“I can take care of myself,” she said quietly. “I just wanted to make sure 
Xander was all right.” The tears came back. “But he’s not all right. 
Buffy...” 

“What happened to Xander, Willow?” Giles leaned closer to her, voice 
concerned. 

“I don’t know why Wesley did it. He must have put Xander in a trance or 
something. I saw Xander lay down by Spike and put his wrist up to Spike’s 
mouth. Spike, he...” She swallowed hard. “He drained Xander!” 

“And Wesley just let this happen?” Buffy asked. 

“He was digging Spike out from under the bricks while...” A sob interrupted 
her words and she burrowed deeper into Oz’s embrace. 

“Then what happened?” Buffy asked. 

“Wesley picked up Xander’s body and walked off with it. Spike was with 
him.” Her eyes widened. “Do you think that Spike is going to turn him?” 

“He’s not going to have a chance,” Buffy promised, face set in lines of 
determination. 

“Ah, perhaps you’re being just a bit hasty,” Adam suggested. “There must be 
some kind of other explanation. Did you see Wesley put Xander in a trance?” 

“No. But he must have! Why else would Xander let Spike kill him?” Willow 
couldn’t believe the man was trying to rationalize what had happened. 
Xander was dead! 

“Hey, Willow knows what she saw. And what kind of explanation could there 
possibly be?” Buffy glanced back at the Immortal’s new hideout. “I’ll deal 
with this guy later. Right now we’ve got to go find Xander’s body. I’m not 
letting Spike turn him. I’m not going to let him do that to Xander.” 

Willow nodded shakily. “We’ve got to stop him.” 

“Look, you don’t want to go rushing into this,” Adam said, hands raised in a 
soothing gesture. 

Buffy silenced him with a glare. “You’re right. It’s a little late to 
begin rushing, since Xander is already dead.” Tears rose up in her eyes and 
she blinked them away impatiently. “But I’m not going to let Spike give a 
demon possession of Xander’s body. He’s my friend and I am not going to let 
them desecrate him further.” She turned around and stalked off the way 
Willow had come, Giles close behind her. 

Willow gently pushed Oz away and met his gaze. “We have to go do this. For 
Xander.” 

He stared at her for a moment and then nodded. “For Xander,” he agreed. He 
grabbed her hand and they hurried after Buffy. She heard the strangers 
slowly begin to follow, but that didn’t really concern her. She’d failed 
Xander in letting him be killed. She wasn’t going to fail him any more and 
allow him to be turned, too. 

***** 

Wesley shifted Xander’s weight again in his arms. Their apartment building 
was in sight, and it felt as though his lover got heavier with every step he 
took. The sparring and training had put new muscle on Xander, muscle that 
Wesley loved to look at but was rapidly beginning to hate to carry. 

“I can take him for you,” Spike offered. 

Wesley was tempted to refuse, to keep Xander in his arms...but he was 
getting heavy and someone needed to unlock the door. He looked over at the 
vampire, examining him critically. He was walking steadily and appeared 
completely recovered from his burial. “All right,” he agreed. 

Spike took Xander into his arms, holding him tightly against his chest. His 
hands were strangely gentle and he held Xander as though he was worried he 
might break. 

Wesley moved a few steps ahead of Spike so he could open the door quickly. 
No need to attract any more attention then they already had. He led the 
vampire up the stairs to the apartment, glancing back every few steps to 
check on Xander. He didn’t know exactly when Xander would revive, but past 
experience told him there was probably another half hour before his lover 
would recover. 

Spike started to take Xander into the bedroom. Wesley reached out and 
touched his arm. “Not in there. Take him to the bathroom.” 

The blond man cocked an eyebrow at him. “Wouldn’t he be more comfortable on 
the bed?” 

“He gets a bath, first.” He flushed a little under Spike’s incredulous 
stare. “Look, he hates dying. He says it’s strange and frightening and 
disorienting when he revives. It helps if he is some where familiar and if 
I’m with him. He’ll never admit it, but he feels better if he’s had a bath. 
Only, it’s not the bath, exactly.” 

“It’s the fact that you took the time to do it.” Spike walked past Wesley 
and into the bathroom. 

Wesley stared after him for a moment. He hadn’t expected that level of 
insight from Spike. He had the feeling that he was going to find out that 
he’d underestimated Spike in a lot of ways. A small smile on his face, he 
followed Spike into the bathroom. The vampire had turned on the water. He 
had Xander propped up on the counter and was pulling his shirt up over his 
head. Spike dropped the shirt to the floor and helped to keep Xander 
upright as Wesley knelt to remove his lover’s shoes. Together they slid off 
his pants and underwear and carefully lowered him into the tub. 

Wesley cupped his hand in the water and ladled it over Xander’s head, again 
and again until his hair was wet. Reaching across the tub, Wesley grabbed 
Xander’s shampoo and lathered his hands with it before working it into the 
dark strands. As he did, he watched Spike carefully soap Xander’s skin, 
washing away the dust from the building’s collapse. 

Wesley watched Spike’s face curiously, wondering what the other man was 
thinking. His hands wandered in gentle circles over Xander’s skin, soft 
touches for a man who could not feel them. His eyes were wandering up and 
down the length of Xander’s body, tracing over every inch as though trying 
to commit it to memory. Once he’d finished Xander’s upper body, he shifted 
down to his feet, lifting each leg out of the water and paying attention to 
every plane and curve. 

Once he finished with Xander’s legs, Spike looked over at Wesley. He 
grinned. “Looks like only the best bits are left.” 

“They’re *all* the best bits,” Wesley countered. “But I will take care of 
these particular bits.” 

Spike bowed his head in acquiesce. He relinquished the soap to Wesley, then 
slid his hands under Xander and lifted his body from the water so the former 
Watcher could finish washing his lover. 

Wesley kept his ministrations fast but thorough. He needed to get Xander 
dry and into clothing soon. He didn’t want him to revive in the bath. With 
Spike’s help he rinsed all traces of soap and shampoo from Xander’s body. 
He let Spike pull Xander completely from the tub and hold him while Wesley 
toweled him dry. He then led the way into Xander’s bedroom. 

He rooted through Xander’s drawers until he found the flannel pants and blue 
t-shirt that Xander loved to wear. He turned around and froze, captivated 
by what he saw. Spike was carefully arranging Xander’s limbs on the bed, 
trying to make sure he was lying in a way that would be comfortable. 
Smiling, Wesley walked over to stand beside him. “Let’s get him dressed, 
first.” 

Spike nodded. Together they pulled the clothing onto Xander’s lax form. 
“Now what?” Spike asked. 

Wesley looked down at his soaked shirt. “Now I change.” He saw that 
Spike’s shirt was the worse for wear from the bath as well. “You should as 
well.” He doubted that Xander’s clothes would fit him or Spike: they were 
both thinner than the dark-eyed man. “Come with me.” He led Spike into his 
bedroom and opened his closet. He pulled out a gray shirt for himself and 
found a black one for Spike. “It’s not as tight you usually wear, but it 
should serve...” His voice trailed away as he turned and found that Spike 
had already peeled out of his wet shirt, tossing it into the hamper as he 
grinned at Wesley. 

“I’m sure it will work just fine, love.” Spike strolled forward, gaze 
sweeping down Wesley’s body and up again. He reached out and pulled the 
shirt from Wesley’s frozen fingers. “Thank you,” he murmured, leaning in 
closer. He stared into Wesley’s eyes for a moment, then slowly leaned 
forward. 

Wesley let his eyes close as cool lips pressed against his own. He parted 
his lips easily to the tongue that probed at them. Spike tasted faintly of 
cigarettes and strongly of whiskey, but underneath it all was Spike, 
something ancient and dangerous and irresistible. The feeling of strong 
hands sliding around his waist shocked him back to awareness. He stepped 
out of Spike’s embrace, shaking his head. “We can’t do this.” 

Spike’s face fell, disappointment and hurt clouding his eyes before he 
turned away. Wesley reached out and grabbed his shoulder. “Now, Spike. We 
can’t do this now,” he qualified. “We have to go back and wait for Xander 
to revive.” He allowed his fingers to play over the hard muscle of the 
other man’s arm. 

Spike turned around and searched his gaze intently for a moment. He nodded 
to himself, apparently satisfied with what he found. He pulled on his shirt 
and headed for the other bedroom. “Come on, love, you don’t want him to 
wake up alone, do you?” 

Stripping off his damp shirt and pulling on the new, Wesley followed him, 
helpless to do anything else. Once inside Xander’s room, he climbed onto 
the bed beside Xander, leaning up against the wall as he pulled his lover’s 
body across his lap, cradling him close. He looked up as Spike moved to sit 
beside him. The vampire didn’t say anything; he just shifted so he too was 
supporting Xander. Side by side, hands stroking over Xander’s hair and 
arms, they waited for him breathe once more.

The disorientation was what he hated most. It was like waking up and being 
hit in the head with a baseball bat at the same time: he was shocked to 
awareness and it was an incredibly unpleasant experience. He gasped for 
breath, lungs spasming back into rhythm as his muscles jerked in helpless 
reaction. Soothing hands stroked through his hair, over his arms and back. 

Too many hands. Xander’s eyes snapped open. “What?” 

Wesley smiled down at him. “Welcome back,” he said, undisguised relief in 
his voice. “We were beginning to get worried.” 

Beside Wesley, Spike peered down at him. “How you doing, luv?” 

“How should I know? I just came back from the dead.” Xander raised his 
head and looked himself over. He was wearing his favorite Clothing of Sloth 
and his hair was damp against the back of his neck. He was laying across 
Wesley’s lap with Spike pressed close beside him. He felt surprisingly 
good, and he knew that a large part of that was due to Wesley. Who else 
would make sure he was clean and in his favorite clothes? He returned 
Wesley’s intent stare, reading the concern in the gray eyes. “I’m not quite 
right,” he said with a sigh. 

“What’s wrong?” Wesley began to look him up and down, searching for the 
problem. 

Xander decided to spare him any more worry. He reached up and slid one hand 
around the back of Wesley’s neck. He tugged his lover down and kissed him 
deeply. He begged for entrance into Wesley’s mouth with teasing licks to 
Wesley’s lips. His lover acquiesced and Xander wrapped his other arm around 
Wesley’s shoulder so he could pull himself closer, needing to reconnect with 
him. Only when his lungs began to protest did he pull away. He smiled into 
Wesley’s eyes. “Now I’m fine.” 

Wesley laughed at him and shoved him off his lap. Xander grinned and sat 
up, crossing his legs and facing the two other men. “What did I miss while 
I was out?” His gaze traveled over the vampire’s body. “Are you all 
right?” 

“I should be asking you that.” The blond spread his arms, putting himself 
on display. “Good as new. Nothing quite like the blood of one of you for 
curing what ails a vampire.” The smirk slipped from his face. “Thank you, 
Xander. If you hadn’t offered yourself up like that, I would have died.” 

Xander held Spike’s gaze. “I owed you. I was too far away and you got 
Wesley out of the way. I couldn’t just stand there and watch you die.” 

“Is that the only reason?” Spike pouted in an exaggerated manner. “And 
here I was, thinking that you liked me.” 

Xander laughed. “Spike, I do like you. I’ve *always* liked you.” He 
fluttered his eyelashes and looked away. “I just never believed that a 
suave, sophisticated vampire like you could ever be interested in someone 
like *me*.” Wesley’s soft laughter in his ears, Xander looked back over at 
Spike. His own laughter faded as he saw the serious expression on the 
vampire’s face. “Spike?” 

“I do like you, luv. More than that, really.” Spike rose up onto his 
knees, placing himself in Xander’s personal space. 

Heat and anticipation curled through the dark-eyed man as Spike came closer. 
He inhaled sharply and his gaze slid over to search out Wesley’s. His 
lover nodded minutely, encouraging him. One corner of Xander’s mind noted 
the slight flush on Wesley’s cheeks and he guessed that something had 
occurred between the two men while he had be incapacitated. 

It was his turn, then. He met Spike’s gaze once more. The blond man was 
waiting patiently, not approaching but instead letting Xander decide what to 
do next. Xander leaned forward, reaching out and fisting his hand in 
Spike’s shirt. He pulled the vampire toward him even as he leaned forward. 
His eyes slipped closed as he pressed his lips to Spike’s. 

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting in a kiss from Spike. He’d thought 
about the man in more explicitly sexual terms, really. Kissing hadn’t 
played a role in any of his favorite fantasies. 

He was going to have to rectify that immediately. Spike’s lips were soft 
against his own, persuasive and working in perfect tandem to coax Xander’s 
lips open. Strong hands slid up his back to pull him closer. He murmured 
happily as Spike’s tongue caressed his, tugging on the vampire’s shirt, 
needing to be even closer. A quiet noise of protest escaped him when Spike 
slowly pulled away with a final lick to his lower lip. He forced his eyes 
open. 

Spike was smirking at him, but his pupils were dilated and his hands still 
rested on Xander’s shoulders. “Oh, I definitely like you,” Spike said. 

Xander opened his mouth to deliver a wise-ass reply, but restrained himself. 
He turned his head to check on Wesley. He’d just made out with another 
man right in front of his lover. With Wesley’s permission, of course, but 
still... 

Wesley was flushed, his lips slightly parted. His breath was coming awfully 
fast. 

“Wes? Are you all right?” Xander leaned away from Spike, suddenly 
concerned. What if Wesley had changed his mind? God, what if Xander had 
hurt him by kissing Spike? “Wes, I-” 

His words were lost as Wesley launched himself at him. He opened his mouth 
to try again and was silenced by Wesley’s frantic kiss. Xander returned it 
with equal fervor, catching his lover’s need and was swept along by it. 
Wesley gradually calmed and the kiss became a series of short hard brushes 
of mouth over mouth. “I love you,” Wesley muttered in between kisses. 

“Wes, are you-” Xander couldn’t get the full question out before Wesley’s 
mouth was on his once more. 

“I’m fine,” Wesley said, still speaking in between kisses. “More than fine. 
The sight of you, with him...” He claimed Xander’s mouth once more before 
reluctantly giving it up. “As you would say...very hot.” 

“Hey, what about me, then?” Spike’s voice insinuated itself into the 
charged moment, joining him in the intensity that surrounded them. 

Xander watched in delight as Wesley’s lips curled upward at the corners. He 
gave a nearly imperceptible nod. Wesley’s smile grew and he turned and 
pounced on the vampire, driving Spike down onto the mattress. Xander 
propped himself up on his elbow and watched with interest as Wesley pinned 
Spike’s wrists to the bed on either side of his head. 

“What about you indeed,” Wesley mused. “What is to be done with you?” 

Spike interrupted his teasing by lunging upward and sealing his mouth to 
Wesley’s. Wesley gave in and returned the kiss with enthusiasm. 

Xander exhaled shakily. Wes was right. This was very fucking hot. The way 
Wesley moved on top of Spike, the sight of both men giving over to the 
passion that drove them...it made him squirm on the bed, wanting to see 
more. Wanting to join them. 

As if reading his thoughts, Wesley broke away from the kiss and 
straightened, kneeling over Spike as he turned to face Xander. “Xan?” His 
voice was soft and thick with need as he reached a hand out toward him. 

Xander scooted across the bed and took Wesley’s hand, leaning against him 
and Spike both. He smiled at both men. “So what’s next?” 

“I think that’s obvious,” Spike said, thrusting upwards against Wesley. 

The gray-eyed man mock-scowled at him. “This is somewhat serious, Spike. 
It’s obvious what we want to have happen next, but...” 

“But?” Spike prompted. 

“But are you going to end up eating us?” Xander said. “And I mean that bad 
kind of eating, not the fun sexy kind.” 

Spike stared at him for a second, then shook his head firmly. “No, pet. 
I’m not going to do that to you. I like you two.” An amused leer spread 
across his face. “But can I nibble a little, sometimes?” 

“If you’re very, very good,” Xander said. 

“Or very, very bad,” Wesley countered. 

“I’ll be very, very bad anytime you want me to, pet.” Spike stretched 
comfortably and one of his hands began to creep up Wesley’s thigh. 

Wesley grabbed the wandering hand and immobilized it, lacing his fingers 
through the vampire’s. He turned to meet Xander’s gaze. “Do you remember 
what we did with the paddle? I do believe that we’ll be needing it.” 

Xander laughed at the look of consternation that was briefly flashed across 
Spike’s face. The blond man quickly rallied. “Didn’t know you had it in 
you,” he said, something very much like respect in his voice. 

Wesley cocked an eyebrow. “But I haven’t had it in me...yet.” He added a 
little wiggle for emphasis. 

Xander grinned. This was looking more promising than he had ever dared 
dream. Spike sounded like he was interested in more than a one time thing, 
which didn’t bother Xander in the least. He loved the way Wes was having 
fun with Spike; anything that made his lover smile like that was fine by 
him. And having Spike around was certainly no hardship for Xander. Not 
when he knew he’d be able to get his hands on the vampire the way he wanted 
to. 

His musings were interrupted by the sound of the front door shuddering under 
repeated blows. “What the hell is that? Have we pissed anyone off lately?” 

Wesley frowned. “No one that we’ve let live.” He climbed off Spike and off 
the bed. 

Xander reached down and picked up the 9mm he hid in one of his drawers as he 
headed out the door, not sure what to expect but determined to be prepared. 
He made it half-way across the room before the door gave way beneath the 
resounding blows and buckled inwardly. 

Xander blinked. “Buffy? What the hell is going on?” 

Buffy strode into the room, a stake clenched in each hand. Behind her, 
Riley, Willow, and Oz quickly followed, spreading out as they had so many 
times before to cover her back. Willow looked like she had been crying. 
Even further back, in the hall, Giles, Joe and the other Immortals watched 
through the doorway. 

“Buffy?” This wasn’t right. “Willow, did something happen? What’s going 
on with the Immortal?” 

“Shut up,” she said, her voice harsh with determination. “Don’t bother 
trying to lie to me. I know what happened.” 

“Yeah, but apparently I don’t, so would you mind filling me in?” He heard 
Wesley and Spike enter the room behind him. 

Her face crumpled a little. I didn’t want to believe that it was true,” she 
said. After a moment, any sign of weakness was gone. Her gaze slid past 
him to the men behind him. “You bastards.” 

“Nice to see you, too, Slayer.” Spike’s drawl was thick with irritation. 

“Buffy, what do you want?” Wesley asked. 

“Don’t talk to me. I know what you did,” she spat at him. “How could you 
do that to Xander? I thought he was your friend!” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Wesley demanded, stepping forward. 

“Willow went back to get you. She see it all. She saw you make Xander let 
Spike feed from him. What did you do, bring him back here and have Spike 
turn him?” 

Shit. His friends didn’t know he was Immortal. Of course that was the only 
explanation that they could come up with for his resurrection. And with 
Spike’s presence in the room, Buffy Spider-senses would be confusing her 
about his true nature. “Buffy, listen. This isn’t what you think.” 

“Shut up!” She raised one of her stakes. “You’re not Xander any more. 
You’re a monster wearing his face. Although not for much longer.” 

The stake waving beneath his nose was beginning to irritate him. “Buffy, 
just calm down and listen to me for a moment. You don’t know the whole 
story. Just give me a second and I can explain it to you.” 

“I’m not going to stand here and listen to your lies.” 

“For fuck’s sake, give the man a chance to talk.” Spike moved restlessly 
behind Xander. 

Buffy snarled. “Maybe I’ll kill you first,” she said, sidestepping Xander. 
“You never should have touched him.” 

Xander took a step back and stepped firmly in front of Buffy. “You’re not 
going to kill anyone. You need to calm down.” Not that she would. She was 
running on anger and passion, good when she was facing down a real threat, 
not so good when she was wrong. It was hard enough to get her to listen to 
reason in normal situations; it was almost impossible when she was this 
upset. 

“Fine, if you want to be the first to die, I’ll take care of you first.” 

“Buffy, would you just shut up for a moment and listen to me? You’ve got 
this wrong. Willow did see Spike drink from me, but it didn’t kill me.” 

“Being vampire means that you’re dead,” Buffy said snidely. 

That was it. He could appreciate that she was upset over his ‘death’. 
Really, he could. But he was sick of only being able to get a few sentences 
out at a time. “Try pulling your head out of your ass and maybe you’ll be 
able to hear what I’m trying to tell you. If you’d consider for just a 
moment that you might not know all the facts just because you’re the Slayer, 
maybe you’d figure out what really happened.” 

She stared at him, and for a moment he’d thought he’d finally gotten through 
to her. “Xander would never say that to me,” she whispered. 

He didn’t give her the chance to attack. She wasn’t going to listen to him, 
not until he had her disarmed and gave her absolute proof that he wasn’t a 
vampire. He’d probably have to sit on her to get her to hold still long 
enough to listen. He wasn’t sure he could take her, but he had to try. He 
thrust upward with his forearm, knocking the stake in her raised fist out of 
alignment with his body. He intended to follow up with a sweeping kick to 
her legs and then use the gun to make her stay down, but he was thrown off 
balance when Riley rushed past him. Xander scowled as he watched the 
soldier move to block Wesley from coming to his aid. He realized that 
Willow and Oz were moving to counter anything Oz might do. 

He snapped his attention back to Buffy, but it was too late. She took 
advantage of his momentary distraction. “Goodbye, Xander,” she said 
quietly, before ramming the stake in her other hand home in his chest. 

Xander stared at her in disbelief, agony ripping through his chest and 
spreading outward throughout the rest of his body. He never thought that 
she’d actually do it. Not his friend. He never... 

Part Eleven  

Quicker than thought, Spike moved across the room. He tossed the witch and 
the werewolf aside with no more effort than a human would expend in tossing 
a pillow, and then he had Buffy by the throat. Snarling into gameface, he 
slammed her back against the wall, her feet dangling above the floor. While 
she gasped for air, Spike snapped a quick look over his shoulder. 

Wesley knocked Riley to the ground with a few vicious blows, then raised his 
hands and began to chant quickly. Flickers of light began to dance around 
his fingers, sharp glints of dark colors that swirled restlessly just above 
his skin. He ended the chat and glared around the room. “I can kill any of 
you with a word now,” he said in a deadly quiet voice. “*Any* of you. No 
one moves.” 

Spike turned his attention back to Buffy. She was clawing at his wrist in 
an attempt to break his hold, but it did her no good. Her face was turning 
a slowly darkening shade of red. “You stupid, stupid girl.” He shook her a 
little, knocking her head back against wall. “He’s a vampire? Xander’s a 
vampire? Then why the fuck hasn’t he turned to dust?” 

Her gaze moved past him to the body on the floor. He watched as her eyes 
widened and filled with tears. She shook her head a little and the barest 
whisper of denial escaped her. “No...” 

Behind him, he could hear Willow shriek from her place on the floor. “Oh my 
god. You killed Xander!” He resisted the urge to echo her with a cry of 
‘you bastard'. 

“Oh, yes, Slayer. Yes. That would be Xander’s body on the floor. His 
*body*! Which means he isn’t a vampire. Which means you just killed him.” 
He loaded his words with contempt and loathing, wanting the full import of 
what she had done to strike her like a hammer blow. She had just killed one 
of her best friends because she wouldn’t trust him, wouldn’t take the time 
to listen to him. Xander had only been trying to protect Spike. 

She had to pay. He could rip her throat out so easily, kill her now when 
her self-doubt and despair had made her completely weak and vulnerable. The 
last emotions that she would ever experience would make her defeat total. 
He flexed his fingers, preparing to destroy her and take vengeance for what 
she had done to Xander. 

“No.” Wesley’s voice cut through his homicidal intentions. “Spike, don’t 
kill her.” Riley made a move to rise from the floor and Wesley gestured 
negligently toward him. A shower of sparks cascaded over Riley’s skin and 
the soldier writhed in silent agony. That display of power quelled all 
movement from others as well. 

“She deserves it,” Spike countered. 

“Xander doesn’t want her dead.” 

With that one sentence, Wesley won. Spike wasn’t going to kill Buffy if it 
would upset Xander. With a disgusted sigh, he released her and stepped 
back, watching in satisfaction as she fell to the floor. She crawled over 
to Riley, carefully avoiding Xander’s body. 

Giles cleared his throat gently. “Is Xander...” 

“Dead?” Wesley finished for him. “For the moment, yes.” Spike could tell 
that Wesley wanted to go to his lover, but the spectacled man stood tall and 
dispassionate, concentrating on the people he faced. 

Spike was fighting the urge to pull the stake from Xander’s chest. He 
wanted the other man to revive, wanted to hear him laugh and speak again, 
wanted to have a chance to welcome him back to life with a kiss and reassure 
himself that the dark-haired man really was all right. He held himself 
still, though, waiting to follow Wesley’s lead. For now, he’d content 
himself with watching the other man’s back. 

“For the moment?” Giles had removed his glasses and now wiped his hand 
across his eyes. “Don’t play word games with me, Wesley. Is there a 
chance...” His voice trailed away, filled with barely-there hope. 

Spike felt a moment’s pity for the man. He knew the Watcher cared about the 
young people under his care, had heard the exasperation he used to hide the 
depth of his affection for Xander. Giles hadn’t done anything wrong, 
besides failing to properly train his Slayer. 

Wesley sighed. “He will recover.” He stared down at Buffy as she rubbed 
Riley’s back, he gaze full of loathing. “No thanks to you. Did it feel 
good to slam that stake into his chest? To make the choice to ignore his 
friendship and loyalty and everything he has given up for you and just kill 
him?” Buffy turned her face away from him, pressing her face into Riley’s 
shoulder. 

Spike cheered mentally when Wesley dropped into a crouch, speaking directly 
into Buffy’s ear, his words sharp and cutting. “Look at him. Look!” After 
she turned her head so she could see Xander, he continued speaking. “He has 
made the choice that he was going to stay here and risk his life so he could 
try to keep you alive longer. He came back because he cared so much about 
all of you, your lives were more important to him than his own. And how do 
you thank him? How?” 

“I didn’t know,” she whispered. 

“You never gave him the chance to explain. You are arrogant, Buffy. You 
are the Slayer, not a god. You are not infallible and your refusal to admit 
that you can be mistaken has killed the best friend you will ever have.” 

She turned away with a sob, burying her face in Riley’s shirt, unable to 
look at Xander any longer. Wesley slowly rose, a sneer distorting the lines 
of his mouth as he stared down at her. 

“Please, Wesley,” Giles said, voice hoarse with emotion. “Please explain 
what you said.” 

“Please?” Willow echoed. “Wesley, you said ‘for the moment’.” 

“So I did.” Wesley glanced down at his hands, still alight with magic. 
“Xander isn’t exactly human,” he said quietly. “He’s like the man we’re 
hunting. He’s an Immortal.” 

Spike knew the admission was difficult for Wesley to make. He knew the 
other man had to hate telling Xander’s secrets, but the truth had to come 
out now. He noticed that Wesley wasn’t looking at the other Immortals. 
Apparently, he wasn’t going to out them just yet. 

“He can’t be,” Willow said, but Spike saw her sit up straighter as hope 
fired in her eyes. “I’ve known him since we were both little.” 

“That doesn’t matter. It’s not something that you can see by merely looking 
at him. He himself didn’t know until this summer. That’s how he was able 
to give blood to Spike and recover from blood loss.” Wesley looked up and 
met Giles’ gaze. “He will recover once more. With time.” 

Giles sagged a little in relief and the red-haired Immortal was immediately 
at his side, speaking quietly into his ear as he laid a hand on the 
Watcher’s back. He was definitely going to have to keep an eye on those 
two...when he wasn’t keeping an eye on *his* two. 

Spike turned his attention back to the Slayer, knowing that she had heard 
Wesley’s revelation. She raised her head quickly, lashes wet with tears. 
“He’s not dead?” A small smile appeared on her lips. “He’s going to be all 
right?” Spike opened his mouth to yell at her, to destroy the relief his 
could hear in her voice. 

Giles beat him to it. “How can you think he’s going to be all right?” he 
demanded. “Buffy, you just murdered him, stared into his eyes as you killed 
him. How can that possibly be all right?” 

“But he attacked me!” 

“He was only reacting to your attack on Spike. For god only knows what 
reason, Xander didn’t want you to kill him for no reason. Xander was only 
trying to protect Spike who, for the first time in history, was actually 
innocent. And could you have truly believed you were in any danger from 
Xander? Did you forget about all of us here, ready to support you and guard 
your back?” 

Spike’s first instinct was to object, but he didn’t want to interrupt Giles 
as he was just hitting his stride. 

Buffy shook her head. “Giles-” 

“Buffy, there can be no excuses. No explanations. Tonight you have failed 
your calling as a protector of humankind. You killed a man who wanted 
nothing more than for you to listen to him for a few moments. I don’t know 
that you’ve ever acted so rashly, so callously in all the time I’ve known 
you.” Giles removed his glass and stared down at them, sighing deeply. “I 
had thought you more mature, finally. I had believed that you were 
comfortable in your role, that you were ready to ascend to a new level in 
your training and abilities.” He met Buffy’s gaze. “I was wrong.” 

The Slayer’s eyes filled with tears once more as she stared at Giles. Spike 
grinned viciously. Stupid bitch was only getting what she deserved, after 
all. He watched in irritation as her lower lip began to tremble. He 
recognized that move; Dru had always used that tremulous pout to try to 
guilt him into doing whatever she wanted. No way Buffy was going to make it 
work for her this time. He looked at Wesley and raised an eyebrow. 

Wesley nodded minutely, then turned his attention to everyone else in the 
room. “Leave.” 

“What? No,” Willow protested. “I want to stay and make sure Xander is all 
right.” 

“Why? So Buffy may take another crack at killing him? Not tonight. All of 
you are going to get out so that I can tend to him.” He raised his hands 
when Willow began to protest again. “If I must remove you by force, I 
shall.” 

Oz’s hand on her shoulder, Willow nodded, but her eyes were mutinous. “I’m 
going to check on him later,” she warned. 

“Because that worked out so well this time,” Spike commented. He smirked at 
her glare and raised an eyebrow as if he couldn’t understand the reason for 
her animosity. She didn’t say anything else as Oz ushered her out the door, 
but her gaze remained pinned on Xander until the last moment. 

Joe and the Immortals left slowly, almost as though they were afraid to 
leave the apartment. Spike figured they were worried about having to reveal 
their own secrets. Although from what he remembered of Adam, the man was 
going to find a way to weasel out of telling anyone anything. 

He returned his attention to the three members of the Scooby Gang still 
remaining in the room. Buffy had pulled Riley into a sitting position and 
wrapped her arm around him protectively, while Giles stood just inside the 
doorway. “What part of get out didn’t you three understand?” 

Riley clenched his jaw and spoke in an overly even voice. “I'd get up if I 
was certain Wesley wasn’t going to zap me again.” 

Wesley stared mildly down at him. “That depends entirely upon you. Are you 
planning on doing anything else foolish?” 

Riley exhaled sharply, but limited his response to, “No.” 

“Then you may go.” 

With Buffy’s help, Riley slowly climbed to his feet. As the two of them 
passed Giles, Buffy reached out the older man. Giles shook his head. 
“Outside,” he said shortly. Buffy let her hand fall and headed outside. 
Giles lingered, his eyes on Xander’s motionless form. “You swear he will 
recover?” 

“From death? Yes.” Wesley waited for the older man to meet his gaze before 
continuing. “From being killed by one of his friends? I don’t know.” 

Giles nodded. “Take care of him.” He sighed and left, closing the door 
quietly behind himself. 

Spike relaxed, finally sure that no one was going to try to hurt Wesley or 
himself, or do any further damage to Xander. As he watched, the sparks of 
light flickered and died, disappearing from Wesley’s hands. “What now?” 

“Now? Now we get him cleaned up and wait for him to revive.” Wesley 
sounded grim as he knelt beside Xander. 

Spike sank down beside him, staring in wonder at the body. He watched as 
Wesley gently touched Xander’s cheek as though the other man could feel it. 
“He’s dead,” he said softly, still hardly able to believe that Xander could 
just open his eyes and breathe once more. He knew the young man was an 
Immortal, but he was so still and quiet that he could barely trust in 
Xander’s recovery. 

“Ooh, look who knows so much, eh? Well, it just so happens that your friend 
here is only *mostly* dead.” A small smile touched Wesley’s lips. “It’s 
one of his favorite movies,” he said quietly. “And one of mine, now.” He 
reached out to wrap shaking fingers around the stake still embedded in 
Xander’s chest. 

Spike placed his hand on top of Wesley’s. “Let me, love.” He gently 
removed Wesley’s hand, not wanting him to have to tear the piece of wood 
from his lover’s chest. Wesley stared at him for a moment, then nodded 
slowly, leaning back and leaving the task to Spike. 

The vampire grasped the stake firmly, steeling himself a bit. He wasn’t 
squeamish, but this wasn’t just any human. This was Xander, a man who had 
died twice for Spike, a man who Spike had come to respect and desire 
fiercely. Jaw tense, he pulled hard on the stake, pulling it loose from the 
resisting flesh. He tossed it easily into the trash, not wanting to look at 
it, not wanting Wesley to have to see it. He glanced back down at Xander, 
slightly disappointed not to see any change. “How long is this going to 
take?” 

“I don’t know,” Wesley admitted. “He hasn’t died so often that I have much 
to compare it to.” He brushed Xander’s hair back from his forehead. 

Spike didn’t like how quiet he was. “So what now? Another bath?” 

A bitter life escaped Wesley. “I don’t know if a bath can fix this.” 

How was Xander going to handle how he’d died? How was Wesley? Spike pushed 
his worries away with the ease of long practice, focusing on the present and 
what he could actually control. He slid his hands under Xander and pulled 
the lax body into his arms, standing as he did so. “Let’s get the blood 
washed away, at least. Get him some fresh clothing.” He watched the other 
man, waiting for his response. 

Slowly, Wesley stood. “Let’s take care of Xander,” he agreed. 

Spike smiled and leaned in to Wesley, rewarding him with a swift kiss. The 
rest, all the decisions, all the worry, it could wait. Right now, they just 
needed to focus on Xander. Cradling Xander as though the other man could 
feel him, he carried him back to the bathroom. 

Part Twelve  

Xander gasped as he revived, desperately pulling air into lungs that 
abruptly began to work once more. He had no chance to try to orient himself 
or figure out how he had died before he was pulled into strong arms. His 
eyes flew open and he had time to see the expression of pure need on 
Wesley’s face before his lover’s lips were covering his own. He didn’t 
understand what was driving Wesley but he didn’t fight the sensual assault; 
he gave himself over to the kiss, trying to give Wesley whatever it was that 
he needed. Laying on top of Wesley, he relaxed and became utterly 
compliant. 

The feeling of curious hands on his back told him he and Wes weren’t alone: 
Spike was still there. Xander wanted to remember what had happened, wanted 
to know what had so upset his lover, but the taste of Wesley and the way he 
was moving desperately against him drove all thought from his mind. When 
cool lips pressed against the back of his neck, he moaned and thrust harder 
into Wesley. 

When Wesley tried to end the kiss, Xander murmured unhappily and followed 
his mouth, not wanting the pleasure to end. Wesley indulged him for a few 
more moments, then pushed hard on his shoulders, forcing him away. 
“Xan...Xander! Please, I need to talk to you.” 

Xander opened his eyes and nodded reluctantly, swayed by the serious look in 
Wesley’s eyes and his own question. “What was all that about, then?” 

“I just needed you to know I love you,” Wesley said quietly. He looked past 
Xander. “We both wanted you to know that we’re here.” 

The presence at Xander’s back slid over to the side, so Spike could see both 
Xander and Wesley. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said quietly. 

The concern in Spike’s gaze rattled Xander more than the worry in Wesley’s. 
“Guys, what’s going on? Did I miss...” His voice trailed away as the 
memories crashed in on him. 

Reviving the first time... 

Finally kissing Spike... 

Arguing with Buffy... 

The stake... 

“I can’t believe she did it,” he said, feeling numb. “I never thought she 
really would do it.” He’d been so sure that he’d be able to get her to just 
shut up for a few minutes and listen to him, that he’d be able to explain to 
her what he was. It was going to be hard to give up his ‘normal guy’ 
status, but he knew he was going to have to do it. At least he would’ve been 
keeping one less secret from his friends. 

He pressed his face into Wesley’s chest, inhaling deeply to catch the 
comfort of his scent. “What happened after...after?” Two hands, one warm, 
one cool, rubbed slow circles on his back. 

“After Spike picked Buffy up by her neck?” 

Xander’s head shot up at Wesley’s words. He stared at Spike. “You didn’t 
hurt her, did you?” 

“I told you,” Wesley said, his remark clearly directed at the vampire. 

Spike shook his head. “I didn’t hurt her. I wanted to, but Wes told me 
that you didn’t want her dead.” 

Xander cocked an eyebrow. “And that stopped you?” He hadn’t thought 
anything could stop Spike from killing Buffy if he had the chance. 

The blond man leaned in toward Xander, gaze locked on Xander’s lips. Before 
Xander could ask him what he was looking at, Spike captured his mouth in a 
searching kiss. Xander could taste lust and relief in the kiss, as well as 
affection and something deeper that he couldn’t quite believe. 

When Spike broke the kiss, he caught Xander’s lower lip between his teeth 
and worried it for a moment before pulling away completely. “Course it 
stopped me,” he said with a serious expression. That expression was soon 
replaced with his usual smirk. “After all, I wouldn’t want to do anything 
to put you off, now would I?” 

Xander couldn’t help smiling back a little. There was just something in the 
spark in Spike’s eyes, something in the absolute deviltry that never quite 
disappeared from his gaze that was irresistible. He relaxed back onto 
Wesley’s chest, this time with Spike’s fingers stroking through his hair. 
“So after you didn’t kill Buffy?” 

“And after Wes floored Riley and threatened to kill the next person that so 
much as moved with the whirly bits of light surrounding his hands?” 

Xander thumped Wesley on the chest with a loose fist. “What were you 
doing?” 

“Stopping them from doing anything else stupid. Buffy had used up all of 
their quotas for the next year.” Wesley’s arms tightened around Xander’s 
waist. “I wasn’t going to let them do anything else that could hurt you.” 

Xander tilted his head and kissed Wesley’s throat. “I understand,” he said 
quietly. “So then what happened?” 

“I attempted to make Buffy aware of the gravity of her actions and then I 
explained to everyone why you hadn’t turned to dust.” 

“So they know I’m Immortal?” 

“Yes. There was no other way to explain that you would return. After I 
told them about you, I asked everyone to leave and Spike and I waited for 
you to recover.” 

“You left out the part when Giles tore the Slayer a new one,” Spike said 
with a low laugh. He caught Xander’s questioning look. “He was more than a 
little angry that she killed you. She’s not going to be able to flutter her 
eyelashes and get out of this one.” 

Xander sighed and rubbed his cheek against Wesley’s chest. Buffy was his 
friend; she had saved his life more times than he wanted to admit. He was 
pissed as hell with her for killing him, but there was no way he could just 
write her off. It was going to take time, but soon he’d be able to get past 
this. He had to. He was part of her support and he wasn’t going to back 
down from the role he had decided to play as the Slayer’s backup. With 
Giles obviously angry with her, he rather thought this time she was actually 
going to learn the value of listening and thinking before she acted. “Now 
what are we going to do?” 

“You can call Giles tomorrow,” Wesley said firmly. “Perhaps Willow as well, 
as she seemed to be most concerned about you. But for right now, you are 
going to rest.” 

Xander wriggled a little on top of Wesley. His lover was ordering sleep, 
but Xander could feel Wesley’s erection digging into his pelvis, could feel 
the barest hint of trembling tension in the arms that were still locked 
tight around him. Wes was clearly in no mood for going to sleep away. 

Good. Neither was Xander. He’d felt this before, after an intense fight: 
the adrenaline rush refused to fade until he found some way to release it. 
Sex was definitely the most effective, and most fun, way to do so. Reviving 
after dying produced the same restless need within him; he needed to find a 
way to be rid of it or he’d lie awake until he finally gave it to 
exhaustion. He raised his head. “Could I have a goodnight kiss?” he asked 
innocently, resisting the urge to bat his eyelashes. 

Wes smiled at him. “Of course. Anything like you want.” He slid one of 
his hands up Xander’s back, bringing it up to cradle the back of Xander’s 
head and he pulled him closer for a kiss. Wesley brushed his lips against 
Xander’s, a gentle caress no doubt intended to soothe him before he slept. 

Too bad Xander had other plans. He slipped his own hands up to wrap his 
fingers in Wesley’s hair and refused to end the kiss. Instead, he deepened 
it, insinuating his tongue between Wesley’s lips, sweeping it into the sweet 
mouth he had come to crave. He planted his knees on either side of Wesley’s 
hips on the mattress, refusing to be dissuaded by Wesley’s hands pushing 
against his shoulders. He rocked against Wes, sweet friction for both of 
them even through the clothing they both still wore. Finally the need to 
breathe forced Xander to release Wesley’s mouth. He stared down at his 
lover, panting. 

“Xander...” 

He kissed away Wesley’s protests. “You said whatever I wanted, remember?” 

“You need to rest!” 

“I need you more.” As Xander leaned back down to claim Wesley’s mouth once 
more, he felt the mattress shift as Spike stood up. 

“It looks like you two are going to be busy,” the vampire said, staring down 
at a point somewhere off to Xander’s left. “I’m going to find a place to 
stay before the sun comes up.” 

Xander stared at him. Didn’t Spike know that they wanted him there? That 
they wanted him to stay? He looked back down at Wesley. He caught his 
lover’s exasperated grin and shared it. As one, they reached out and 
grabbed Spike’s arm, jerking him back down onto the bed. 

When Spike tried to protest, Xander leaned over and stared into his eyes, 
his lips a hair’s breadth from the blond man’s. “And what makes you think 
that you get to go anywhere?” He watched as blue eyed darkened with desire 
as each word sent warm breath brushing over Spike’s lips. “We’ve got plans 
for you.” He licked Spike’s lower lip slowly, wetly. When the vampire 
reached for him, Xander backed away. “Aren’t you a little overdressed?” 

“So are you,” Wesley said. 

Before Xander could respond, his shirt was jerked up over his head. He 
fought free of the material, gaining control of it and pulling it away from 
Wesley, who stared unrepentantly up at him. Xander balled up the shirt in 
preparation to toss it to the floor. He glanced at it briefly and froze. 

“What’s the matter?” Spike asked, his own shirt in his hands. 

“This isn’t the shirt that I was wearing before. Does that mean...” 

“Sorry, Xander,” Wes said. “It was ruined.” 

He loved that shirt. The cotton had been so soft and worn and it had fit 
him perfectly. “I’m going to miss that shirt.” 

“I know,” Wesley said in a soothing voice. 

“Let us take your mind off it,” Spike suggested. 

“I think you’d better,” Xander laughed. He reached down to grab the hem of 
Wesley’s shirt, but the other man batted his hands away. “Wes, you have to 
get naked for this.” 

“I know, but you’re not going to help. This is about you, Xan.” Wes hooked 
his fingers in the waistband of Xander’s pants. 

“No, it isn’t,” Xander disagreed. He reached out and started to play with 
the button of Spike’s jeans. “It’s about us.” 

Spike growled and pounced on Xander, knocking him off to the side of Wesley. 
Between his and Wesley’s efforts, they soon had Xander naked and giggling, 
his clothes removed by teasing, tickling fingers. He squirmed on the 
mattress, protesting through his laughter at their refusal to let him 
reciprocate. 

Wesley stared down at him from his right. “You want us to be naked as 
well?” 

“Yes!” Xander reached up, but his hands were once more knocked away. 

“You just keep your hands to yourself,” Spike said from Xander’s left, 
managing to sound prim. That was ruined by the way he leered at Wes as he 
jerked the gray-eyed man’s shirt over his head. Wesley was an eager 
participant, raising his arms over his head to help. He then reached over 
to unfasten Spike’s jeans. 

Xander watched open mouthed as the two men stripped away the last of their 
clothing. He looked from one to the other and back again, greedily taking 
in the sight of lean muscles and pale flesh. He began to pant as Wesley 
slid one hand around the back of Spike’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss, 
their lips meeting above Xander’s body. The kiss deepened as their hands 
began to roam over each other’s body and Xander whimpered, loving what he 
was seeing and wanting to be a part of it. 

Wesley turned his face to the side and stared down at him, arching his neck 
as Spike nipped and sucked at his ear. “Was there something you wanted?” A 
soft teasing smile played at the corners of his mouth. 

“Please,” Xander said, clenching his hands into fists at his sides to stop 
himself from reaching out. “Please, Wes, I want you. I want you both.” 

“You must do better than that,” Wesley chided. 

Xander licked his lips. “I want to be inside you. I want to stare down 
into your eyes as I fill you and I want to hear you say my name every time I 
thrust into you and I want to feel you come and taste your scream when you 
do. Please, Wes; I want fuck you.” 

“Since you ask so nicely,” Wesley said, his breath coming faster, “you may.” 

Xander reached out a hesitant hand and skimmed it up Wesley’s thigh. When 
his touch was allowed, he scrambled to sit up and wrap his arms around Wes, 
kissing him with desperation and need. He pushed Wesley down onto the 
mattress, his lips wandering over his face as he fumbled with the drawer, 
forcing it open and finding the lube. His hand was shaking too badly for 
him to open the tube with just one hand, but he didn’t want to stop touching 
Wesley with the other. 

His problem was solved when Spike plucked the tube from his fingers. “Let 
me help you, pet.” He opened the tube and emptied a portion of its contents 
onto Xander’s fingers. 

Kneeling up over Wesley, Xander managed to stop stroking the other men’s 
sweat-damp skin for a moment and reach out to Spike. He cupped the pale 
man’s cheek and drew him close for a grateful kiss. He sucked suggestively 
on Spike’s tongue, then released him with a grin and a teasing promise: 
“Later.” 

A pinch to his nipple made Xander gasp and glare down at Wes. “Aren’t you 
forgetting something?” Wesley asked, elegantly raising an eyebrow. 

Xander frowned and looked up at the ceiling. “Hmm. Got rid of 
clothes...found lube...made out with Spike...” He gasped as Wesley tweaked 
his other nipple. “Oh, yeah. What was I thinking?” He leaned down and 
brushed his lips over Wesley’s, then quickly made his way down the body 
beneath him. He paused at Wesley’s nipples and scraped his teeth over them 
in a playful gesture of vengeance. He continued downward, stopping only 
when his mouth was hovering over the erection that jutted so pleadingly from 
Wesley’s body. Gaze locked on Wesley’s face, he exhaled heavily, drinking 
in the sight of Wesley’s face screwed up in pleasure. He slid his lubed 
fingers beneath Wes even as he moved his other hand over the soft flesh of 
his inner thighs, down to his balls and then back again in a teasing caress. 
As he slowly pushed on finger inside of Wesley, he lowered his mouth over 
his erection, humming in delight as he tasted his lover once more. 

Wesley moaned and thrust up into his mouth, hands landing hard on Xander’s 
shoulders and fingers digging into the muscles there. Xander bobbed his 
head up and down, then crooked his finger within Wesley’s body. That move 
caused Wesley to push himself back onto his finger. With a few deft twists 
of his finger and clever manipulations of his tongue, Xander soon had Wesley 
bucking beneath him, straining to reach the pleasure offered to him but not 
sure which to try to reach first. 

Xander slid a second finger inside of Wesley and almost choked in surprise 
as lubed fingers breached his own opening. Soft lips caressed his spine as 
Spike slowly stretched him as he prepared Wesley. He was barely able to 
concentrate on not letting Wesley come with the sensation of skilled fingers 
teasing him with maddeningly random movements. 

Satisfied that Wesley was ready, Xander slowly released his lover’s hardness 
with a finally reluctant lick. As he sat up, Spike withdrew his fingers and 
moved to lie beside Wesley, a look of avid interest on his face. Xander 
slowly slicked his own erection with lube, gaze darting from one man to the 
other. As Wes wrapped his legs around his waist, Xander pressed himself 
within his lover, sighing with pleasure at the feeling of slick heat 
welcoming him home. 

He held himself still within Wesley, refusing to move for a moment, just 
absorbing the feeling of being united with his lover once more. Finally, he 
could ignore Wesley’s protests no longer and he thrust slowly, the smooth 
glide sweet to his senses. His eyes slid shut as he gave himself over to 
the pleasure. Something intruded on the haze in which he was losing 
himself, adding to it, making it different from what he had known before. 
He opened his eyes and stared into Spike’s as the vampire skimmed his hand 
down his back. He smiled invitingly and Spike moved closer, raising his 
other hand to explore Wesley’s chest. 

After a few moments they had found their rhythm: Xander driving into Wesley 
with ever-increasing speed as Spike kissed whatever skin was closest to his 
lips as his hands did magical things to Wesley’s cock, judging by the sounds 
Wes was making. Passion pushed Xander farther into ecstasy, pushed him with 
the willing help of Wesley’s undulations and Spike’s caressing tongue. 
Beneath him, Wesley cried out sharply as he came, warm seed spattering 
Xander’s chest and Spike’s hands. The sight of Wesley’s completion, the 
feel of him and Spike’s delighted laughter drove Xander over the edge and 
into his own orgasm. He shuddered above Wesley, panting as he came down 
from the heights and lowered his head to kiss Wesley deeply. As he slipped 
from Wesley’s body, cool hands urged him down to lay between Wes and Spike. 
He obeyed their suggestion and sank down onto the bed, still exchanging 
needy kisses with Wesley. 

Xander could feel the siren call of lethargy that always followed an intense 
orgasm, but Spike was moving restlessly behind him, reminding him that the 
vampire had been left behind. For the moment, at least. He was gathering 
his willpower to fight the drowsiness when Spike’s fingers circled the 
entrance to his body. Before Xander could say anything, Spike was pressed 
up tightly against his back, one hand still playing up and down the cleft of 
his ass while his other arm wrapped around Xander’s chest to hold him close. 

“You’re warm,” Spike murmured, speaking into Xander’s ear in a husky murmur 
that sent shivers down his spine. “You’re both so warm.” 

“One of the many fringe benefits to being alive,” Xander said, arching back 
into the touches with an amused grin. “We also get to breathe and enjoy 
food for reasons other than grossing out humans.” 

Spike nuzzled closer to him, embrace growing tighter. “But you weren’t warm 
a little while ago. You were as cold as I am.” He nibbled at the nape of 
Xander’s neck. “So cold and still that I could barely believe that you’d 
ever move again.” 

Xander met Wesley’s gaze. He knew what Spike was feeling; the vampire 
wanted to reassure himself that Xander was truly all right, that he was 
whole and healthy and alive. Xander felt the same urge himself; every time 
Wes was endangered he experienced the same need to reaffirm his lover’s 
life. Wesley nodded, his gaze sharpening with interest and desire as he 
gave silent permission. 

Sure that Wesley wasn’t going to object, Xander relaxed completely into 
Spike’s caresses. The vampire reacted to his unspoken agreement by 
increasing his attention to Xander’s neck, sucking avidly at the pulse point 
beneath his lips. Xander should have been frightened; vampires and necks 
were a deadly combination. Instead, he lolled his head to the side, giving 
Spike better access to his neck and murmured in approval as blunt teeth 
scraped across his skin. 

Xander twisted in Spike’s arms, wanting to have his mouth again, wanting to 
feel the skillful passion that had surprised him so much before. He slid 
his hands around Spike, reaching down to cup his ass and pull him closer as 
he lapped at the blond man’s mouth with his tongue, teasing darts across 
soft lips. Spike didn’t suffer the teasing for long: with a muffled snarl, 
he crushed Xander’s lips to his, tongue probing ruthlessly into the young 
man’s mouth. His hands wandered down Xander’s back and soon his fingers 
were teasing the entrance to Xander’s body, dipping within and continuing 
the stretching that Spike had begun earlier. 

When warm arms crept around his chest and fingers brushed over his nipples, 
Xander began to thrust in earnest against Spike, needing relief from his 
renewed arousal. To his displeasure, Spike easily pushed him away. 

Blue eyes sparked with mischief and want. “I’m not going to let it be over 
so fast, pet. I’ve got other plans for you.” A twist of the fingers within 
Xander left no doubt as to what those plans were. 

Xander moaned and shoved himself backwards, loving the flashes of pleasure 
that ripped through him as Spike’s fingers found his prostate. “If you’ve 
got the plan, then hurry up and act on it.” 

Spike grinned and kissed him hard, then pulled away from him completely, 
even taking away the fingers that were doing such wonderful things to 
Xander. Before Xander could protest, Spike used his greater strength to 
flip him around and was pressed up against his back. 

Xander found himself staring into Wesley’s eyes. He reached out mutely for 
his lover and was gifted with a tender kiss. The kiss intensified as he 
reacted to the feeling of Spike’s hands on hips, heavy and possessive. He 
groaned into Wesley’s mouth as Spike’s hardness pressed within him, coolness 
stretching him, filling him with pleasure. 

“So warm,” Spike said, his voice full of wonder. “You’re so warm.” He 
thrust carefully into Xander, as though frightened that he might break. 

With Wesley’s fingers trailing over his erection in a teasing pattern that 
denied him any real friction, Xander was in no mood to be coddled. Release 
was dancing just out of his reach, need for it burning through him. He 
shoved himself back against Spike. “I’m not going to break,” he growled. 

Behind him, Spike froze for a moment. His grip on Xander’s hips tightened 
painfully for a moment, and then he pulled out of him, taking away the cool 
source of pleasure that had speared him so perfectly. He hauled Xander to 
his knees and plunged back into him. 
Xander arched his back with a wordless cry, ecstasy driving his breath from 
him. Spike thrust into him again and again with increasing force. 
“Perfect,” the vampire panted. “Both of you...” 

Xander shuddered and looked down at Wesley. The gray-eyed man slowly rose 
to his knees and knelt facing Xander. His eyes dark, his lips wet, he 
reached down and firmly wrapped his fingers around Xander’s erection. There 
was no more teasing; Wes stroked him firmly, expertly. Wesley watched 
Xander eagerly. His gaze slid past him, looking over his shoulder. An evil 
little grin twisted his lips, and the wonderful friction slowed down and 
stopped. At the same time, Spike’s thrusts lost their frantic pace and 
power, until the vampire was buried inside of him, unmoving. 

“Noooo...” 

Wesley shushed Xander by brushing the back of his fingers against Xander’s 
cheek. “Shhh,” he whispered, leaning forward, licking his lips. At the 
last moment, he moved past Xander, ignoring the dark-eyed man’s parted lips 
and kissing the vampire behind him. 

Xander whimpered piteously as Wesley pressed closer against him but 
completely ignored him in favor of kissing Spike. Loudly. Wetly. Xander 
could hear it all, feel the effects it was having on each man, but wasn’t 
allowed to participate. Spike was holding him immobile, refusing to allow 
him to thrust either backward or forward. Wesley was sweaty and hot and 
delicious against him, but he wasn’t doing anything else except leaning 
against Xander. 

Wesley’s moan of pleasure pulled another whimper from Xander. He dropped 
his head and ran his tongue over Wesley’s shoulder, stealing the traces of 
sweat there. He watched with desperate eyes as Wes raised one of his hands. 
A hitching sob escaped him as the hand by-passed him and reached over his 
shoulder for Spike. He couldn’t turn far enough to see what his suddenly 
evil love was doing, so he kept his gaze pinned on Wesley’s face as the 
Englishman pulled away from the kiss. Wesley was still looking at Spike as 
he nodded encouragingly. “Do it,” he said, his voice irresistibly husky. 
There was a pause and then Wesley’s mouth dropped open as he inhaled 
sharply. His eyes widened for a moment, then his lids drooped in hazy 
pleasure. 

Soft sucking sounds teased Xander’s ears. He twisted his head but couldn’t 
see anything. He looked back over at Wes, staring greedily as his lover 
began to pant a little. “I didn’t know,” Wesley murmured. “I never...I 
didn’t know.” 

Son of a bitch. Spike was biting Wesley. Wesley had offered his wrist to 
him and the vampire was sucking at it right then. Wes was getting off on 
it, and judging by the tiny involuntary thrusts that were just frustrating 
the hell out of him, so was Spike. 

It wasn’t fair and Xander wasn’t just going to sit there and *not* take it. 
He jammed his elbow back into Spike’s side. Spike grunted in startlement, 
and Wesley pouted as his wrist was released so Spike could begin to demand 
an apology. Xander didn’t spare a moment to listen. He shoved Wesley down 
onto the bed and moved to follow him, falling forward. With his arms still 
wrapped in a vise-like grip around Xander, Spike had no choice but to follow 
him. Glaring down at Wesley as he propped himself up over him, Xander 
growled. “That wasn’t nice.” 

Wesley stared at him for a moment, then his lips quirked in that sexy evil 
smile and he thrust up against Xander. 

All his righteous indignation disappeared. All that mattered was the 
friction he so desperately needed was back. He thrust down against Wesley, 
everything forgiven. His movement got Spike back with the program and soon 
the vampire was once more pistoning his hips, driving himself in and out of 
Xander. When sharp teeth scraped over his shoulder, Xander cried out. 
“Yes! Spike-” He didn’t have to ask twice. A sharp pain sliced into his 
shoulder and then he felt the same amazing sense of connection as before, 
the same fainting pleasure that burned its way through his veins. 

He dropped his head and kissed Wesley deeper. Wes thrust harder up against 
him a few more times and shouted as he came. The feeling of Wesley’s come 
on his skin was the final bit of stimulation Xander needed. He arched his 
back as he came, gasping as pleasure crashed through him. He relaxed down 
on top of Wesley, holding him close as Spike thrust into him frantically and 
licked at the bite on his back. After a few moments Spike came as well, 
sprawling across Xander’s back as he relaxed into a boneless heap. 

After a moment, Xander worked up the will to shove himself over to the side 
of Wesley, causing Spike to roll off of him as well. Xander immediately 
half-crawled back on top of Wes, wanting to be close to him. He sighed in 
absolute contentment as Spike moved to spoon up behind him. “Oh, yeah. I’m 
so keeping both of you.” 

Spike laughed. “Just try getting rid of me.” 

Xander shared a grin with Wes. Looked like they were going to get to keep 
the vampire around for a while. A yawn caught him by surprise. 

“Sleep,” Wesley said firmly. 

Xander wasn’t going to argue. He was sticky and sweaty and completely 
exhausted. He was sandwiched between the man he loved and a man he was 
coming to care very much about. He had no plans on moving anytime soon. 

***** 

“I still think we should at least have called Giles,” Xander said, checking 
the alley in front of him for any hidden dangers. 

“No,” Wes and Spike answered in unison. Spike scowled. “Telling the 
Watcher is as good as giving Buffy a ring. Rather not have to kill her 
tonight.” 

Xander stopped walking. “Spike, are you feeling all right?” 

“Fine. Why?” 

“You did just say that you didn’t want to kill Buffy,” Wes pointed out. 

“I don’t want to kill her *tonight*. Xander would get all upset and it 
would take forever to get him calmed down and there’d be no way to actually 
get him into bed at all.” Spike heaved a tragic sigh. “No help for it, is 
there? I’ll just have to let her live to slay another day.” 

Xander grinned at him. As much as he knew that they should call Giles, 
should let everyone know that he was recovered, he didn’t want to. Doing so 
would mean that he had to deal with his friends and he wasn’t quite ready 
for that. Not just yet. He wanted to be sure that he had a handle on his 
own anger toward them first. Their friendship was important to him and he 
didn’t want to lose them because he didn’t give himself enough time to calm 
down and sort himself out before seeing them again. He resumed walking, 
carefully staying aware of the area around him even as he strained to catch 
a hint of the buzz that would warn him of another Immortal’s presence. 
Between Wes, Spike, and himself, they should be able to take out the crazed 
man on their own and leave the Scooby Gang completely out of it. 

Xander approached the next alley and glanced down it. Movement caught his 
eye and he snapped his fingers a few times to signal that he was stopping. 
He entered the mouth of the alley cautiously. Maybe it was a cat. Just a 
cat. He didn’t have to bother a cat. If it was an unlucky homeless person 
who hadn’t heard the warnings to stay away from Sunnydale, he’d take the 
person to the police station and leave him or her with a firm warning to 
stay out of town and as much cash as he had on him. If it was a vampire or 
some other malevolent demon...his hand tightened on the stake in his belt. 
“Hello?” 

“Funny,” chuckled a low voice. “I didn’t call for take out.” 

Xander rolled his eyes. “What, is there some sort of lame-ass threat manual 
that they hand to you guys as soon as you come popping out of ground?” 

“What?” 

“I’ve only heard that line a few *hundred* times. Could you at least extend 
yourself to the point of being original, maybe?” 

The vampire came out of the shadows He was obviously a fledging and overly 
enamoured of the whole evil-creature-of-the-night deal. He was dressed all 
in black leather, fully in game face as he slinked out of the shadows. “I 
thought it was pretty good.” 

“It probably was pretty good when someone came up with four years ago. Now 
it’s just tired.” 

“Like you could do any better,” the fledgling sneered. 

“Listen, pal, I have done better under far more trying circumstances.” 
Xander took an aggressive step forward and poked the vampire in the chest 
with his finger. 

“Prove it!” 

“Fine. Is that a stake sticking out of your chest or are you just happy to 
see me?” 

The fledgling glanced down at his chest. “What the hell are you talking 
about? There’s no-” His words cut off as he turned to dust. 

Xander grinned down at the stake in his hand. “Moron.” He turned and 
headed back into the street. 

“Everything all right?” Wesley asked. 

“Just doing my part to raise the collective IQ of the Hellmouth.” Xander 
put his stake away with a sardonic grin. He moved to walk past Wesley, but 
his lover caught him by the arm. “Problem?” 

“I think you’ve got a bit of ash on your cheek.” 

Xander recognized the gambit. He didn’t make Wes play the game; instead, he 
fisted his hand in Wesley’s shirt and jerked him closer, taking his mouth in 
an aggressive kiss. He found no resistance and Wes responded eagerly. 
Trusting in Spike to watch their backs, Xander slid his hands around Wes and 
pulled him close, sliding his hands down to cup his ass and caress the warm 
flesh as he brushed his groin teasingly over Wesley’s. Long fingers twisted 
in the hair at the back of his head as Wes expressed his appreciation. 

“Xan, stop.” Spike’s voice was low, urgent. 

Xander groaned and began to end the kiss reluctantly. 

“Now! Wes, make him...fuck. Never mind.” Spike’s voice was one part 
irritation, one part anticipation. 

Not releasing Wes, Xander turned his head to face Spike. “What’s your 
problem?” 

“Me? I don’t have a problem. I was quite enjoying the show. But I think 
the critics over there aren’t quite as impressed.” 

Xander followed the direction of Spike’s nod. “Shit.” Buffy, Willow and 
Riley were staring at them open-mouthed, while Giles had his glasses off and 
Oz had raised an eyebrow. The Immortals and Joe were looking amused and 
uncomfortable to varying degrees. He’d been so wrapped up in Wesley that 
even when he felt their approach he’d ignored it, sure that they weren’t 
with the Scoobies. 

“Oops,” Wesley murmured. 

“Oops is right.” Xander sighed. “They were going to find out sooner or 
later. You know what this means, don’t you?” 

“Yes,” Wes said. “When Buffy and Riley begin to crawl on top of each other 
during a meeting, I can grope you, too.” 

Xander laughed and rewarded him with a short kiss. “Time to face the 
music.” He stepped away from Wes. “Hey, guys.” 

“Xander?” Willow sounded hesitant, as if unsure that it was really him. 

“Hey, Willow.” He took a step forward in concern as she leaned heavily onto 
Oz. “Wills? You ok?” 

“Yeah, I think so. Are you?” 

He held out his arms. “Good as new.” He shifted his gaze over to Buffy. 
“My clothes were toast, but I’m all right.” 

“I didn’t know,” Buffy protested. 

“You didn’t give me a chance to tell you, did you?” Xander got ready to 
counter her next protest, but was distracted by a sudden sense of knowing. 
“Never mind. We’ll finish this later - after we take care of the bad guy.” 
He pointed over to the left. “He’s lurking over there.” 

Buffy hesitated, then nodded. “Fine. Business first.” 

“Meeting at my house later,” Giles said firmly. His look took in Joe and 
the Immortals as well. “Everyone has some explaining to do.” 

Wesley at his side, Xander lead the way in the direction that he felt the 
deranged Immortal. He studied the collection of small shops. “I don’t 
think he’ll be in the vitamin shop.” 

“And I doubt he is creeping about in search of greeting cards.” 

“That leaves the dry cleaners and the comic book shop.” Xander glanced at 
his lover. “Comic book shop.” 

Beside them, Spike tossed his cigarette into the gutter. “Just hope he 
isn’t looking for ideas for his new costume.” 

Xander shuddered as he imagined the Immortal in spandex. “We’ve got to stop 
him.” He glanced back at the others. “I’m going to try to get him out on 
the street. I don’t want him to be throwing any magic around in a tight 
place.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Buffy said. “We get him out here and kick is ass.” 

“How are we getting him out here?” Duncan asked. 

“He went after Wesley before,” Riley said hesitantly. 

“And Willow the time before that,” Xander said. “We’re not going to use 
anyone as bait.” He was about to ask for more ideas when he noticed that 
Spike was gone. “Get ready.” He and Wesley moved to one side, ready to 
flank the Immortal when he came out onto the street. 

“What do you mean, get ready?” Buffy shifted off to one side even as she 
protested. “What do you-” Her words were interrupted as Spike ran out the 
door to the shop, which he had entered unnoticed. 

“He may be a little angry,” Spike warned as he stood on the other side of 
Wesley. 

“What did you do?” Xander asked. 

Spike was saved from having to answer by the emergence of the furious 
Immortal from within the comic book shop. Still wearing a mis-matched 
collection of robes, the wild-eyed man drew to a halt in the street as he 
realized that he wasn’t just facing one man. He glanced back over his 
shoulder toward the shelter of the store. 

“Not this time,” Xander said. “No running away. This time we settle this.” 

The robed Immortal faced him. “I’ll take your head,” he promised. “And 
then I’ll tear the magic I deserve from the bodies of your friends.” 

As Wesley shifted to stand closer to Xander, Duncan murmured quietly, “The 
Game, Harris. You can’t break the rules of the Game.” 

Xander sighed. “I’m not going to break the rules. I’m not going to fight 
him.” He took a few steps back and watched in satisfaction as Wesley and 
Spike leapt forward, ready to attack. 

The deranged Immortal pulled out a sword and began to work to fend them off. 
Even as he watched his lovers fight, Xander could feel Duncan’s 
disapproving glare. “What? I’m obeying the rules, or the complete lack of 
them. There aren’t any rules about what mortals can do.” 

“He’s right.” Adam’s voice was an unexpected source of support. 

“I don’t like it,” Duncan said. 

“Of course you don’t. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s not breaking 
the rules of the Game.” 

Swinging wildly with his sword, the crazed man managed to fend off both 
Wesley and Spike. When Buffy and Riley jumped in the fight, Wesley fell 
back. “I don’t want to risk a spell; they could get caught up in the 
fringes of it.” 

“Then let’s end this,” Duncan said, drawing his sword. “Fall back!” he 
ordered as he stepped forward. He got the attention of the encircled 
Immortal. “Let’s do this our way. One on one. Let’s leave these mortals 
out of it.” 

The other Immortal nodded. “Let’s go.” 

“I am Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod,” the long-haired man said. 

“I’m the man who’s going to kill you.” With that, the battle was engaged. 

Spike shook his head as he glanced over at Adam. “Is he always this much 
fun?” 

“He can be,” the thin man said with a smirk. 

Spike responded with a dirty chuckle. 

Xander was only vaguely aware of the exchange. Duncan was good. He was 
easily beating back the other man’s attacks. He frowned. Duncan wasn’t 
fighting to incapacitate the wizard-wannabe or even temporarily kill him. 
Duncan was looking to take the other man’s head. “No,” he said. “Duncan, 
you can’t do that!” 

Duncan disarmed the other Immortal as if unaware of Xander’s words. “There 
can be only one,” he said quietly. 

Xander swore as he lunged forward, throwing himself in the path of Duncan’s 
sword. It bit deeply into his side, dropping him to his knees. As he fell, 
he was aware of Wesley firing on the deranged Immortal, killing him with a 
hail of bullets. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Duncan demanded. “This was my fight.” 

“You fucking idiot,” Wesley hissed, dropping down beside Xander. He turned 
his attention to Xander. “How bad is it?” 

“I’m not going to die. I’m just going to wish I would.” He gingerly looked 
down at his blood-soaked side. “He pulled it at the last moment.” 

“Xander!” Willow crouched down near him. “Are you - you’re not going to 
die again, are you?” 

“No, Wills. I’m just going to hurt like hell for a little while.” 

“Do you want me to do something nasty to him for you? I’ve learned a few 
new spells-” 

“Seriously, Willow, I’m going to be fine. I just need a little time.” With 
Wesley’s help, he was able to get to his feet. Spike was immediately there, 
helping him to stand as Wes turned to glare at Duncan. 

Duncan was met the hostile stare with one of his own. “What are you doing? 
You can’t interfere with a fight between two of us. It violates the rules 
of the Game.” 

“Killing an Immortal on the Hellmouth violates the rules of not getting us 
all killed!” Wesley shook his head. “Weren’t you listening at all when we 
explained what it meant to be here? The power of a Quickening could even 
prompt the reopening of the Hellmouth! There’s no way to predict what it 
could do, and no excuse for coming so close to disaster!” 

When Duncan opened his mouth to protest, Adam elbowed him in the ribs. 
Hard. “Shut up, Highlander. Apologize to the boy for almost killing him 
and thank him for not letting you kill us all.” He smiled at Xander. “What 
do you want to do with him?” 

“I don’t care. I don’t especially want his head. If Duncan’s so hot for 
it, he can drive him outside city limits and take it.” He shrugged 
carefully. “That might be the best idea. We can’t have you all wandering 
around here much longer without risking more danger than we can take. Take 
him with you when you leave town and Duncan can stage another duel with him 
there.” 

Adam elbowed Duncan again. “That sounds like the best plan.” He walked 
over to the dead Immortal and knelt down beside the body. He pulled a knife 
out of his coat and slammed the blade home, through the dead man’s heart. 
“That should make sure he doesn’t wake up.” He rose and looked over at 
Xander once more. “I guess this is goodbye.” 

“Oh, no, it’s not.” Giles’s jaw was set. “There’s still a meeting at my 
house.” He looked down at the dead man. “You can store that in my garage 
until the meeting is over.” 

Richie stepped forward and shot a helpless look at Duncan. “It can’t hurt, 
Mac. We’d be better off knowing more about the Hellmouth, too.” 

“Fine.” Duncan smirked at Richie. “Then you can help me carry the body.” 

Xander hissed a little as Spike shifted to take more of his weight. “C’mon, 
pet. Let’s get you over to the House of Tweed and get this over with. Then 
we can take you home and maybe get you in the bath while you’re awake.” He 
kept his voice low as he leered at Xander. “Nummy as you are while you’re 
wet, I bet you’re more fun when you’re conscious.” 

Xander grinned as Wesley moved to help support him on the other side. “This 
meeting had better be quick.” 

Part Thirteen

Once again, Wesley marveled at life on the Hellmouth. Only in Sunnydale 
could they have made it to Giles’s house without being stopped by the 
police. He and Spike had practically carried Xander most of the way there 
until he had finished healing from the sword wound. At the same time, 
Duncan and Richie had been dragging the dead Immortal through the streets, 
bickering the entire time. As it was, they’d made it all the way to Giles’s 
house without encountering anyone, although it was likely that they had just 
scared away everyone else who may have been on the streets. 

Once the body had been safely stowed, everyone gathered in the living room. 
Buffy and Riley claimed their usual couch and Oz and Willow took one of the 
chairs, Oz perching on the arm. Joe took the remaining chair and the 
Immortals stood behind him, Richie leaning against one wall. Giles stood 
beside his bookcase in his usual lecturing place. Wesley pulled Xander over 
to stand in a corner. That way both of them could see the entire room and 
Wesley wouldn’t have to worry about watching his lover’s back. Spike 
drifted over to stand near them, slouching back against the wall as if 
utterly unconcerned with the discussion taking place around him. 

Wesley knew what was coming; Giles was going to insist on getting a full 
description of Immortals for future reference where Xander was concerned. 
Buffy would attempt to justify her actions, Xander would yell at her, Willow 
would make peace, and life would go on. The gray-eyed man watched in 
amusement as Giles tore his gaze away from Richie for about the twentieth 
time since Wesley had been told what to look for. Spike was right; there 
was definitely something going on between those two. That was the one area 
where Wesley had no predictions. Either Giles or Richie could still 
surprise him. 

He noticed Richie was wiping his hands on his jeans again. He could 
understand the impulse; carrying a dead body around was never pleasant and 
usually left him with the distinct desire to wash his hands. Unless the 
body was Xander, in which case he was left with the desire to kill people. 

Before he could say anything, Spike said, “If you want to wash your hands, 
pet, I can show you Rupert’s washroom. I can even give you a guided tour, 
if you like. I know where he keeps all the manacles.” He didn’t leer, 
exactly, but there was definitely something more than casual interest in his 
voice. 

Giles bristled immediately. “He doesn’t need your help. He isn’t a child.” 
He smiled at Richie. “There is a washroom down that hall.” 

“Got it,” Richie said with a warm look. He disappeared down the hall. 

Giles once again forced his eyes away from Richie’s retreating form. “First 
things first.” He fixed Joe with a steady glare. “I am going to need more 
information on Immortals than you have been willing to give me so far. If I 
am to competently help to keep him safe, I need to know about the dangers he 
will face on the Hellmouth.” 

“Uh, Giles? I don’t really need a protector,” Xander said. 

Wesley could clearly here the unspoken ‘another’ in that sentence. He 
grinned unrepentantly at Xander. He wasn’t going to stop trying to protect 
Xander anytime soon. 

“No, you need a nursemaid,” Giles said, but his glare was fond. He looked 
back at Joe. “What can you tell me?” 

Joe sighed. “I guess you people understand the importance of keeping 
secrets. We don’t know the origins of Immortals. They appear as foundlings 
and grow up just like ordinary people. The only thing different is what 
happens when they die a violent death. After they do, they revive after 
death, completely healed. From that point on they are Immortal. They can 
sense other Immortals and are bound by the rules of the Game.” 

“Game? I’d heard something of this before,” Giles said. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” Xander said earnestly. “Like Pokemon, only way more 
violent. Instead of ‘got to catch’em all’, it’s ‘got to kill’em all’.” 

“Essentially, yes,” Joe said. “The rules of the game are simple. No 
fighting on Holy Ground. One Immortal faces one Immortal at a time. Most 
importantly, there can be only one.” 

“Only one what?” Willow asked. 

“Immortal. Only one Immortal. They fight to the death in order to take 
each other’s Quickening and increase their own power.” 

Wesley watched the expressions of mixed fascination and horror that came to 
the Scooby Gang’s faces as Joe explained the concepts of Quickenings and the 
Game, as well as the complete role of Watchers. He saw that Willow and 
Giles took the threat presented by the release of a Quickening so close to 
the Hellmouth seriously, so he knew there would be no further debate about 
removal of the Immortal from Sunnydale to be dealt with later. 

“Wait a minute.” Buffy raised one of her hands. “You said Immortals fight 
other Immortals. So what was Duncan there doing by jumping into the fight 
with the crazy guy? Shouldn’t Xander have fought him?” She blinked and 
looked at Duncan. “You’re like Xander. You’re Immortal.” 

Duncan sighed. “I am. Joe said there was an Immortal on the Hellmouth, so 
I came to help him however I could.” He looked over at Adam and elbowed him 
in a mirror of Adam’s earlier actions. 

Adam glared at him. When Duncan just stared back at him, the thin man 
sighed. “You know, I’m beginning to like this new policy. Instead of 
keeping with the tradition of secrecy that extends back since before memory 
begins, let’s just begin telling everyone everything.” He looked over at 
the people staring at him. “I’m an Immortal as well.” 

Wesley looked over at Richie as he re-entered the room. When the red-haired 
man heard Adam’s words, he caught Duncan’s eye and shook his head quickly. 
Interesting. Wesley wondered how long Richie was planning on keeping his 
secret. He wondered if he was planning to tell Giles at all. 

He ran out of time to worry about Richie and Giles when he realized that the 
general attention of the room had shifted over to himself and Xander. 
“What? I’m not an Immortal,” he protested, deliberately misunderstanding 
the reason for their regard. 

“Yeah, but you were kissing one,” Buffy said. “Is there something you two 
maybe forgot to tell us?” 

“We didn’t forget,” Xander said. He smiled at Wesley. “We just wanted to 
keep this between us for a little while.” 

“So what is it between you?” 

Xander raised his eyebrows. “I’d say there’s about half a foot, maybe?” He 
looked at the distance that separated him and Wesley as though trying to 
measure it. 

“Idiot,” Wesley said fondly. He met Buffy’s intense look mildly. “I love 
him. He loves me.” He left it at that. Anything more was none of their 
business. 

Buffy licked her lips. “You love him and he loves you? You mean in a 
‘you’re my best friend’ or ‘I love you like a brother’ kind of way, right?” 

Wesley rolled his eyes and had to stifle a grin as Xander commented in a low 
voice meant for him and Spike alone, “Last time I checked, this wasn’t 
Alabama.” 

Spike snorted loudly from his place by the wall and sneered at Buffy. “For 
the Chosen One, you have the observation skills of one of those pointy 
sticks you wield.” He pointed at Wesley. “He loves the whelp.” He pointed 
at Xander. “And he loves him back. They truly, maddeningly, sickeningly 
love each other.” He included the rest of the room in his contemptuous 
stare. “For the slower members of the class, that means they shag like 
bunnies on speed.” 

Wesley couldn’t restrain his laughter, and he leaned against Xander as he 
chuckled, loving the feeling of the other man shaking with laughter beside 
him. The Scooby Gang looked as though they’d been smacked in the back of 
their heads. As he regained control of himself, Wesley looked over at 
Willow. The only person whose opinion mattered to him in any real way was 
Willow. She was still a huge influence on Xander and her approval could 
make things much easier for them in the long run. Not that easy mattered - 
he wasn’t going to give up Xander. Ever. 

Willow stared at him measuringly. “Riley, explain the shovel to him.” 

Riley straightened and began to speak immediately. “If you do anything to 
hurt Xander in anyway, Willow will hunt you down and beat you to death with 
a shovel. There will be no mercy and no chances to offer up excuses, only 
bloody death by bludgeoning.” He cast a slightly wary look at Willow, who 
nodded approvingly, and then he relaxed. 

Spike shoved away from the wall and turned to face Xander, his coat swirling 
dramatically around him. “Forget the bloody shovel. You’ve got me to worry 
about. Here I am, travelling half-way around the world to come back to you 
and I find out that you’re cheating on me. You’d better be able to explain 
this to me, pet.” 

Wesley watched in delight as Xander widened his eyes in a show of alarm. 
“Spike, I didn’t know that you were coming back! I hadn’t heard from you in 
ages and I was lonely.” He reached out imploringly toward the vampire. 

“You said you would wait for me,” Spike said forbiddingly, taking a step 
forward. “You promised me.” 

Wesley snuck a peek at the other people in the room. The Sunnydale 
residents had slipped back into a state of shock, while those from Seacouver 
merely looked confused. Giles had removed his glasses and was wiping at the 
lenses furiously. “I don’t want to hear this,” he said clearly, refusing to 
look up from his glasses, “and I am not going to watch.” 

Buffy’s face was twisted with disgust, while Willow was being lightly 
restrained by Oz has she half-rose from the chair. “Xander...you and 
*Spike*?” 

Spike leered cheerfully at her. “Didn’t you know? It’s not as though I 
bite just anyone...no wait - anyway, me and Xander, we’re like *this*.” He 
raised his hand, his first and second fingers twined together. 

Buffy covered her eyes and moaned something about mental images and needing 
a lobotomy to erase them. 

Wesley looked back over to Spike and Xander, eager to see what they would 
come up with next. Spike invaded Xander’s personal space. “How could you?” 
he demanded, managing to sound hurt. 

“I wanted to wait,” Xander said soothingly, ignoring the others’ reactions. 
“But then I met Wesley. How could I resist? Look at him!” 

Spike cocked his head to the side and looked Wesley up and down. “He is 
rather nummy,” he said in a considering tone. Lips twisted in a grin of 
absolutely satanic glee, Spike reached out and grabbed Wesley, jerking him 
forward into a consuming kiss. 

Wesley resisted for a moment before he remembered that he didn’t give a damn 
about who was watching. He relaxed into the kiss, submitting to the demands 
of Spike’s mouth as he allowed his hands to roam freely over the blond man’s 
back in a blatant display of desire. When he was finally released, he was 
panting and Spike’s eyes were somewhat glazed. 

Still holding Wesley in his arms, Spike nodded over toward Xander. “Look at 
him.” Xander was obviously affected by their actions: his eyes dark with 
passion, he licked his lips and had his hands clenched into fists. When he 
reached out to Spike, the vampire shook his head and pulled Wesley away from 
him. “No. You’re still in trouble, pet. You have to be punished.” 

“Spike...” Xander’s voice was thick with want. 

“No.” Spike’s tone was firm. “I think I’m going to have to take your new 
toy away for a little while. If you’re a very good boy, perhaps you’ll be 
allowed to watch.” His hands wandered down Wesley’s back in a teasing 
journey for both Wesley and Xander. Spike nuzzled at Wesley’s ear. “What 
do you say, Wes? We can teach him a lesson and enjoy ourselves at the same 
time.” 

Smirking at Xander, Wesley cuddled himself closer to Spike. “Sounds good to 
me.” 

“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Giles said. “So why are we being punished?” 

Buffy jumped in. “What the hell is this? Xander, you were involved with 
Spike? Have you and Wesley both completely lost your minds?” Her hand 
inched down toward her stake. 

Xander blinked and reluctantly looked over at her, frowning when he saw her 
hand moving. “No, Buffy. Leave your stake where it is. I wasn’t involved 
with Spike in the past. We were just playing a game because Spike’s, well, 
Spike.” 

“Then what is he doing crawling all over Wesley?” 

“You’ve got to admit it’s pretty hard to resist the urge to crawl on him.” 
Xander waggled his eyebrows. When that failed to earn him any smiles, he 
sighed. “I’m in love with Wes. That’s not going to change, ever if I can 
help it. And for right now, Spike’s going to be staying in town for a 
while. With us.” 

When Buffy began to protest, Wesley stepped away from Spike and stood 
slightly in front of the other two men with his arms crossed over his chest. 
“Your objections really don’t matter. Xander and I are both adults and 
may act as we please. If anyone wishes to dispute this, I’d be more than 
happy to discuss it with you further.” He flexed his fingers and repressed 
a smirk as Riley flinched openly at the reminder of his abilities. 

The silence that followed his offer was remarkably gratifying. 

“Good. If no one else wants to object to something that isn’t any of their 
concern, I suggest we move on.” 

Conversation began haltingly. The men from Seacouver weren’t really 
effected, aside from a bit a shifting by Adam to adjust the drape of his 
coat; Wesley grinned as he realized that the Immortal had been affected by 
the little display he and his lovers had put on. Duncan’s furious glare as 
the long-haired man realized what was going on made Wesley suspicious of the 
relationship he and Adam shared. There might be more their bickering than 
he had previously believed. 

The Scooby Gang was too shell-shocked to just get back to business easily. 
If Giles polished his glasses much more, he was going to wear away the 
lenses. As Willow and Buffy tried to finalize arrangements for 
communication with Joe and the others if they should ever need help with 
Immortal related problems, Giles looked up, unexpectedly catching Wesley 
looking at him. The older man’s stare was fierce and a little strained. 
Wesley realized that he’d been put under quite a bit of strain lately: 
dealing with a threat to the Hellmouth that he knew very little about, 
thinking Xander might have been (permanently) dead, and struggling 
flirtation with a stranger were all adding up. The Watcher’s gaze slid over 
to Xander and then moved back to Wesley’s once more. Wesley had the feeling 
that if the impossible happened he ever did anything to hurt Xander, his 
biggest worry would be Giles and the vengeance the other man would seek for 
the crime of hurting one of the young people for whom he cared so much. 

A quiet comment by Richie pulled Giles’s attention over to the young 
Immortal, a hidden hunger in his eyes that was nearly eclipsed by powerful 
loss. Richie was going to be leaving in a few hours and with him would go 
whatever chance Giles could have had with him. Wesley shook his head. It 
wasn’t right. 

Xander’s hand brushed lightly over his. “What’s wrong?” Wesley explained 
in a low voice to both Xander and Spike. When he finished, Xander had his 
jaw set in determination. “We’re not going to let that happen.” 

“What are we supposed to do about it?” 

Xander’s grin was full of wicked mischief. “Spike, hit on Richie.” 

The vampire chuckled low in his throat. “Pet, you deserve a reward.” 

“I thought I was going to be punished.” 

“If we get home in time, you’ll get both,” Wesley promised him. 

Spike moved so he was leaning against the wall, between Wesley and Richie. 
Everytime Richie made a comment or asked a question, Spike either admired 
what he had to say or rushed to answer him, smiling the entire time with 
obvious promise. 

“That’s a good point, Rich. Very insightful.” 

“Not much chance of that happening. You think of everything, don’t you, 
pet?” 

“I’m sure you can handle it, nice strong boy like you. Shouldn’t be any 
problem at all.” 

“Never even considered that. Glad you’re here, mate.” 

Wesley watched in fascination as Giles’s glower became blacker and blacker. 
He hoped that the older man had never come across the Klertonian spell for 
creating an actual death glare or else Spike was at risk of becoming a 
smoldering pile of ashes. Giles didn’t do anything but glare, though, and 
glaring wasn’t going to stop Richie from leaving with the others as soon as 
the meeting was over. 

Spike shot one last lascivious look at Richie before falling back to talk to 
Wesley. “This isn’t working. He’s just going to watch me, just going to 
watch Richie leave town.” 

Xander licked his lips. “I don’t know, Spike. He’s looking less like 
Giles, mild-mannered librarian and more like Ripper, bad-ass demon 
worshipper. I don’t know how much farther you can push him before he loses 
it.” 

“We need him to lose it,” Wesley decided. “Anything less and he’s just 
going to stay in control and lose any chance he has with Richie.” 

“Right, then.” The demonic glee was back in Spike’s blue eyes. “One out of 
control Watcher coming up.” 

Wesley wasn’t sure what to expect, but Spike falling silent and listening 
intently to the conversation wasn’t it. After a few moments, Spike asked a 
question about magic which Wesley had to answer. As he explained the 
concept, he was further confused by Spike’s complete inattention to what he 
had to say. Instead, he went back to watching Richie with undisguised 
acquisitiveness. Soon, he started poking Wesley, never taking his eyes off 
Richie, hard little jabs to the speaking man’s shoulder. After a few 
moments, he couldn’t take it any more. “What do you want?” 

Spike looked at him with the pleading eyes of a five year old. “Can I have 
him?” he asked, pointing a Richie. “We could take him home with us, have 
some fun, further his education a bit.” His tongue swept over his lower lip 
as he glanced back at Richie. “Please? I bet that he would be delicious.” 

Beside Spike, Xander’s eyes lit up as his gaze locked on Richie. “You know, 
I think Spike’s on to something.” His gaze wandered down the red-haired 
man’s body. “He’s got a great-” 

Wesley watched in fascination as Giles snapped. 

“That is quite enough.” Giles took a few steps forward, placing his body 
firmly in front of Richie, blocking Spike and Xander’s view of him. “If 
there is to be any furthering of Richie’s education, it will be done by me, 
do you understand?” He glared furiously at Spike. “If I catch you so much 
as looking at him, you will regret it.” 

“Looking isn’t a crime,” Spike protested. “Neither is appreciating. Can’t 
help doing either when there’s someone like him about.” 

“The next time I catch you ‘appreciating’ him I’ll arrange a suitable 
chastisement. Perhaps you’ll learn faster if I perform the Searsian 
Persuasion and key it into every time your eyes wander.” Giles took a step 
forward, pushing his way into Spike’s space, looming over him. 

Wesley winced. He had no idea where Giles planned on finding a miniature 
Searsia demon and even less understanding of how he planned on restraining 
Spike long enough to insert it, but it was a dire threat indeed. Spike had 
apparently heard of the rare method of torture; he didn’t back down, but he 
kept his eyes on Giles instead of trying to sneak another look Richie. 

Questioning fingers tugged at Wesley’s shirt and he looked down to meet 
Xander’s inquiring gaze. “What’s a Searsian Persuasion?” Xander whispered. 

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Wesley said just as quietly. Xander 
stuck his tongue out at him, then returned his attention to the 
confrontation in front of him, as did Wesley. 

Behind Giles, Richie cleared his throat. “Don’t I get to have a say?” 

“No.” Giles turned, Spike completely forgotten. The vampire moved with 
controlled haste until he was standing behind Wesley and Xander, the whole 
time acting as though he was doing so for no particular reason, especially 
not to hide from Giles. 

Giles didn’t just loom over Richie; he kept moving until Richie was pressed 
up against the wall. “You don’t get to have any say. You’ve done quite 
enough flirting and teasing.” 

Richie opened his mouth to object, but Giles didn’t give him the chance. He 
covered his mouth with his own, stealing his words and his breath. Wesley 
watched in fascination as Giles pinned the Immortal to the wall with his 
body even as he used his hands to angle Richie’s head so as to better 
dominate his mouth. Richie’s body was stiff with resistance at first, but 
after a few moments he was pliant against Giles and his arms were wrapped 
around the Watcher’s waist, pulling him even closer. 

“I didn’t know Giles had it in him,” Xander said admiringly. 

Wesley shot a concerned look at him. He didn’t care for the way Xander was 
looking at Giles at all. He looked at Spike and found that the vampire 
wasn’t liking it either. He grabbed Xander and pulled him around so the 
younger man could no longer see the kissing pair. 

“Hey, I was watching that!” Xander protested. 

Wesley decided Giles had the right idea: shut’em up with a kiss. He 
ruthlessly stopped Xander’s complaints and swept his tongue across his lips, 
distracting and silencing him at the same time. He kept one of his eyes 
open and watching Giles and Richie, though. He didn’t want to miss that, 
either. A cool body pressed up against his side as Spike slid one arm 
around both his and Xander’s waist. Wesley wriggled happily as the blond 
man’s lips brushed over his jawline; apparently, Spike wanted to take 
advantage of the Scooby Gang’s distraction to get in a few touches of his 
own. 

Giles finally released Richie’s mouth. Richie blinked a few times and 
grinned delightedly at Giles. “Oh, Tiger, you can teach me anything.” 

“I plan on it.” Giles leaned in to kiss Richie one more time, but the 
younger man evaded his mouth. “What?” 

“There’s something I have to tell you.” 

Giles made no move to release him. “You’re married?” 

“No...” 

“Straight?” 

“No!” 

“An exceptionally skilled male impersonater?” 

“No.” Richie laughed a little, but he still looked nervous. 

“Then it doesn’t matter,” Giles said firmly, moving in once more. 

“I’m Immortal!” Richie blurted. 

Giles blinked. “Are you planning on killing Xander?” 

“Of course not!” 

“Are you seeking to harness the power of the Hellmouth as a part of some 
nefarious plan?” 

“No.” 

“Then it doesn’t matter.” One more lingering kiss, and then Giles stepped 
off to the side so that he could see the rest of the people in room. He 
kept one of his arms around Richie as he turned to glare at everyone in the 
room. 

Wesley wanted to back away from Xander, but his lover was bumping up against 
him in teasing brushes that he found irresistible. The added sensation of 
Spike’s light brushes of lips dissolved his will completely. 

Giles pointed a finger at Buffy, who just beginning to get over gasping for 
air and work herself up to talking. “You are not going to say anything, 
except perhaps ‘congratulations, Giles’. Anything more exceeds the extent 
to which this is any of your business.” 

He pinned Willow with his glare next. “You are going to stay out of 
Xander’s love life, and you are going make sure everyone else stays out of 
it as well. He’s old enough to make his own choices, so you are just going 
to let it go. If one of them hurts him, then you and your shovel can step 
in but until then you are not to interfere.” His gaze swept the whole of 
the Scooby Gang. “That goes double for my own life. Understood?” 

Hasty nods all around, even from Buffy. Wesley was impressed. 

Still staring down the seated people in the room, Giles raised his voice. 
“And if you three do not cease to make out inside of my home I will render 
you all impotent and no amount of little blue pills will ever be able to 
help you.” 

Xander jerked away from Wesley as if burned. “Giles, that’s not nice.” 

“It wasn’t intended to be. You will behave in my home or face the 
consequences.” 

“Fine,” Xander sulked. “But the same goes for you then. No making out with 
Richie when you’re at our place.” He stuck out his tongue, a childish 
gesture which Richie immediately returned. 

Wesley sighed. He wanted that tongue to be doing something else. “Well, I 
do believe we’ve covered just about everything we need to tonight. Joe, 
Adam and Duncan will take care of our insane friend Willow, Buffy, Riley and 
Oz can finish patrolling if they wish; I will take Xander and Spike home; 
and Richie-” 

“I’ll take care of Richie, thank you very much.” Giles glared at him. 
“You’ve got your hands full.” 

Not at the moment, but he did have high hopes for the rest of the evening. 
“Ah. Good night, then.” Wesley herded Xander and Spike toward the door, 
wanting to get out before another apocalypse occurred or Buffy recovered 
from her shock. He thought he heard someone begin to speak but he slammed 
the door shut behind them before he could be sure. 

Xander was laughing at him openly. “Would you feel better if we ran?” 

Wesley flipped him off. “Yes,” he admitted, grabbing Xander’s hand and 
dragging him off down the street. “At least for a block or two.” With 
Spike easily keeping pace with them, they made their way to the apartment. 
Only when they were inside with the door locked did Wesley begin to relax. 

Xander pulled off his ruined shirt and jacket. “I’m going to start charging 
the gang for my ruined clothes. Buffy doesn’t go through her wardrobe at 
this rate.” He heeled off his sneakers. “I mean, the others don’t have to 
replace shirts nearly as often as I do. And have neither of you noticed 
that I’m almost naked? Why haven’t I been jumped yet?” 

Wesley laughed. “Because you haven’t let us get a word in edgewise.” He 
reached for Xander and caught him by the shoulders, pulling him forward. 
“You’ve just been talking and talking when there are far better things you 
could be doing with your mouth.” He demonstrated one of them by pressing 
his lips to Xander’s, gently teasing them open with persistent licks until 
the dark-haired man was murmuring happily as Wesley’s tongue swept his 
mouth. Feeling smug, Wesley pushed Xander back until he fell back onto the 
couch. He moved to follow him but was arrested by Spike’s hands. 

The vampire leered at him. “Don’t you think you’d have more fun with less 
clothing?” He didn’t wait for an answer; he just stripped away Wesley’s 
clothing with ruthless efficiency until they were lying in a crumpled heap 
on the floor. 

Warm hands on his hips drew his attention back to Xander. His lover grinned 
at him as he pulled him closer. “What is it with you and my mouth?” He 
leaned forward and sucked the head of Wesley’s erection into his mouth. 

Wesley hissed his pleasure and let his head fall back. He didn’t know how 
Xander could not know what it was about his mouth; not only did the most 
amusing, most infuriating, most wonderful words come from it, but he had a 
way of twisting his tongue just like *that*...Wesley gave up on thought and 
just clamped his hands down on Xander’s shoulder to hold on for the ride. 
As he began to pant in anticipation of climax, Xander pulled away and he 
couldn’t help his moan of protest. 

Xander’s hands ran up and down his thighs in a soothing caress. “Wes, Wes 
listen. I just wanted to make sure that you wanted to come in my mouth.” 

“Of course I want to come in your mouth! Where else would I...” Wesley’s 
irritated protests faded away as he realized what Xander meant. With a 
growl, he jerked Xander to his feet and impatiently pushed his jeans away 
from his hips. He soon had his lover back down on the couch as he kissed 
him urgently. 

“Can you magic up some lube?” Xander asked. 

“Spike!” Wesley craned his neck around in a desperate search until he 
spotted the vampire watching them in undisguised appreciation. 

Spike walked over, holding a tube negligently between his fingers. “Was 
there something you wanted?” His attitude of complete nonchalance was only 
slightly ruined by his lack of clothing. 

“Spike...” 

“Nothing for nothing, pet.” Spike sat down on the couch, leaning back 
against the arm. “What are you going to do for me?” 

Xander wriggled around under Wesley until he could crawl across the couch 
toward Spike. He didn’t bother to say anything; he just began to lick a 
path up Spike’s pale inner thigh. Wesley watched in satisfaction as Spike’s 
eyes slid closed. He leaned forward and plucked the lube from the vampire’s 
nerveless fingers. 

As Spike began to moan steadily from Xander’s attention, Wesley used the 
lube he’d claimed to prepare Xander and himself. He didn’t want to draw 
this out, for any of them. It had been a long day and he just wanted to 
feel both his lovers against him once more before they got some 
well-deserved rest. He wanted to end this day the right way: wrapped up in 
love and lust and the scent of two men he was beginning to care about more 
than he’d thought he’d ever be able to. 

Watching Spike claw at the couch, Wesley slowly pressed himself inside of 
Xander. Xander arched back against him, seeking to hasten the contact 
between them. Wesley obliged, thrusting hard and seating himself fully 
within his lover. Both of them froze for a moment, savoring the sudden 
feeling of connection. 

“Hey! You’re not finished, here!” Spike protested, sliding his hands around 
Xander’s head and pulling him back down. 

Xander grabbed one of Spike’s hand and brought it to his mouth. He sucked 
two of the vampire’s fingers into his mouth. 

“That’s not what I want you to suck on,” Spike protested. 

Wesley held himself still, breathing hard, waiting to see what Xander would 
do next. He wasn’t disappointed. Xander bobbed his head up and down over 
the fingers for a few moments more, then froze. Spike threw his head back 
and groaned, even as his hips thrust upward involuntarily. Wesley was 
confused until he caught sight of red on Xander’s lips. Xander had bitten 
Spike. 

Wesley dropped his head to Xander’s back. “Jesus, Xander.” He couldn’t 
hold back any longer; the thought of Xander doing something so violent, so 
erotic to Spike was more than he could endure. He snaked one hand around 
Xander’s hip to grasp his lover’s erection and moved his hand in time with 
his increasingly frantic thrusts. He could feel completion hovering just 
out of reach, until he caught sight of Xander wrapping Spike’s bloody hand 
and one of his own around Spike’s cock to jerk him off. Pale fingers 
entwined with dark as they stroked wetly, redly over Spike’s flesh. That 
was all Wesley needed; orgasm ripped through him. Shaken, he rested lightly 
against Xander’s back until the other two men also gasped out their 
completion. 

Sandwiched in between the two other men, Xander was the first to move. 
“Erk. Shower.” 

Wesley grinned; he loved the way Xander went pre-verbal when he was well and 
truly worn out. He carefully pulled out of Xander and help him to his feet. 
“I don’t know if we’ll all fit.” 

The only coherent word in Xander’s reply was “fun”. Wesley chuckled and 
nodded as Spike helped him to maneuver Xander toward the shower. As they 
headed for the bathroom, Wesley found himself hoping that Spike was planning 
to stick around for a while. He wasn’t in love with the vampire, but he had 
a feeling that given time he very well could be. Spike meshed wonderfully 
with the two of them, falling seamlessly into the rhythms of their lives and 
love. 

He also believed that they hadn’t seen the last of Richie. Giles wasn’t one 
for casual affairs and the look in Richie’s eyes was far from one of merely 
casual interest. 

With Richie in town, the rest of the men from Seacouver could well become 
regular visitors as well. Wesley approved, in a way. So long as Duncan 
managed to restrain his outrage at the way Xander on a occasion bent the 
rules, he believe that the other Immortals could be quite useful in helping 
Xander to learn more about the rules that governed his extended life and 
help guarantee that he lasted longer in the Game of which he was a part. 

Wesley found himself looking forward to the future; Sunnydale was going to 
be a little more interesting from now on. Not only was Spike going to be 
around, but Buffy had been taken down a few pegs and Giles was definitely 
going to be more fun. 

All that could wait. He had two men waiting for him in the shower. 

Life was good.

End