But I Love You?
by TJ
Part One  Part Two  Part Three  Part Four  Part Five  Part Six  Part Seven  Part Eight-Twelve  Part Thirteen-Twenty-one  

19 December 2000

They were officially snowed in and had been for 2 days
so far. Xander and Spike were both bored beyond
belief. The tv was on almost constantly as was the
wood heater. Even though the main room was warm, the
temperature in the two bedrooms and bathroom was
noticeably colder. It had been a mutual descion to
swap the couch for the two mattresses, the couch now
being in the first bedroom.

The two males had just sunk to a new low. They were
playing Snap. Xander couldn't even bring himself to
pretend to enjoy the game anymore. He was feeling
tired and grumpy almost constantly now, in direct
contrast to the boundless energy displayed by the
bleached vampire. Cards dealt for another round, the
brunette sighed and gathered up his stack as the blond
leered at him. Xander knew with just one more minute
in the vampires company, he could finally be labled
crazier than Drusilla. It was taking all his effort
right now not to punch the other male.

A month ago, he had broken some of the blonds bones in
an attack that had left the vampire cowering from him
for days. The brunette had gone so far as to break a
promise to the blond as well. In a fit of pure rage,
Xander had virtually raped the other male in the very
position that he had promised never to try. The rage
had been a combination of things. Anger that the blond
had tried to run from him again, disgust at learning
what Baxter stood for, embarrassment that he was
considered niave by his workmates and determination
never to be made the butt of other peoples jokes
again.

He had blindly thrust into the pale body with absolute
no regard to preparing the male and had rammed as hard
as he could with each thrust. The brunette had set a
punishing pace and hadn't taken any notice of the
whimpering beneath him. It was only when he had
pulled out and noticed the blood on his penis, that it
had hit him that this time an aplogy wasn't going to
make it all better. He had stared open mouthed at the
abused ribs, they had taken only moments to bloom into
huge black and purple swirls.

Xander had sat back on his heels, jeans still around
his thighs. The vampire's hand taken up, he winced as
he tried to pull the horribly bent finger straight. He
had kicked at the hand while Spike was trying to
protect his already damaged ribs. The blond had just
looked up at him with big blue eyes, full of tears.
With a washcloth, he had cleaned the cum and blood
from the torn anus all the while trying to ignore the
vampires cringing. He just hadn't known what to say,
sorry being so inappropriate for what he had done.

The brunette knew that he had a vile temper but it had
gone beyond a simple slapping and into Riley
territory.
Once he had bandaged the vampire up, he had helped the
other man into bed, slowly walking across the cabin
floor due to the heavily bruised thighs. It had taken
almost four days for the blond to stop cringing from
him whenever he approached. Xander had been suprised
that Spike hadn't suffered from any nightmares during
that time, the brunette had refrained from touching
him in bed.

Xander had been ready to almost cry in relief when he
had woken up on the fourth morning with the blonds
head nestled firmly on his chest, the rest of the cool
body, clinging like normal to his own larger frame.
They had taken it slow that morning and again in the
night, Spike iniating for it to go harder the
following days. It had been a fight between himself
and Stan over a mouldy patch of wall that had made him
lash out at the blond again, a week ago. He had come
home cranky and annoyed that the dark haired man was
blaming him for the wall not being dried properly
before being smoothed over. Spike had playfully
slapped at his hand when he had grabbed a carrott
stick from his plate before the dinner was fully
ready.

In less than a second, the blond had found himself on
the floor

Part Two 

25 December 2000


RING

RING

RING

RING

"Aaahhh!" yelled Xander. Half stumbling, half rolling
out of bed, he made his way towards the phone.
Receiver snatched up, he bellowed an annoyed hello at
the person on the other end of the line. The brunette
winced as squeals of 'Merry Christmas' came from
Willow. With a hand run through his thick hair, he
waited until the red head gathered a breath before
attempting to answer her questions.

Watching the brunette talk on the phone, Spike wished
that Xander had been able to finish the hand job
before answering the phone. He was lying on his back
in the middle of the bed, legs spread, arms crossed
above his head. The blond didn't dare move from the
instructed position, it would only make the youth more
cranky than usual. Ever since the snow had started
and the days had gotten shorter, Xander had been in an
almost constant state of annoyance. The vampire was
the complete opposite, energetic and when he wasn't
getting a slapping, happy.

The vampire wasn't happy at being on his back but he
had decided that it just wasn't worth the effort
anymore. After Xander had laid into him in the
kitchen and then 'raped' him, he knew that he could no
longer trust the younger man not to do it again. He
loved the brunette but he was saddened by the fact
that he didn't trust him. It had taken a few day's
thinking about why he loved the youth, only to find
out that he really didn't know. He was grateful for
being taken in, was full of pride when he saw Xander
defend him and whenever the brunette smiled at him, he
was full of soft glowy feelings that came straight
from the bottom of his stomach.

He was also embarrassed to be classed as disabled,
horrified that he deffered to a human and humiliated
to be used as a punching bag by someone other than his
Sire or Claimant. It seemed that the more he was
beaten, the further he was falling into love with the
youth. He was a Master Vampire in his own right and
by any laws and traditions, the only one who had any
right to lay into him was his Sire or Claimant. Until
the former soldiers claim wore off and Xander did the
claim properly, he was really just getting laid into
by a human. A human that he was in love with.

~ I love him. My own fault that he smacks me around
anyway, if I thought instead of doing first, then he
wouldn't need to do it. ~

With a big grin at the youth coming back towards him,
Spike thrust his hips up in anticipation. He desperate
for his hard on to be dealt with. Still lying in the
required position, he closed his eyes as a large warm
hand wrapped around his cock.

~ God, this is just great. Keep going Pet. ~

Small grunting sounds filled the main room of the
cabin as Xander thumbed the tip of the white penis,
sliding his fist up and down the solid length. He
still was hesitant about giving hand jobs but the
youth was definitely turned on by the way the vampire
reacted every time he received one. Smiling down at
the squirming male beneath him, he took in the lush
dark lashes that fluttered onto the smooth white skin.
With his one hand pumping the panting vampire, he
reached a hand up to one of the finely chiselled
cheekbones, gently running a finger along the length.

Spike snapped his eyes open as he felt the hot digit
run along his face. He smiled up at the youth, who
was getting flushed and breathing heavily himself.
The vampire wished that he could tell the boy to go
harder, he wanted more pressure on his cock and a
faster wank.

~ Beggars can't be choosers. Damn lucky that I get
this from him...Aaahhhh! Good, better, great ~



Spike snapped his eyes open as he felt the hot digit
run along his face. He smiled up at the youth, who
was getting flushed and breathing heavily himself.
The vampire wished that he could tell the boy to go
harder, he wanted more pressure on his cock and a
faster wank.

~ Beggars can't be choosers. Damn lucky that I get
this from him...Aaahhhh! Good, better, great ~

A harder grip on his cock had any thoughts leave his
mind, letting him concentrate on the pure pleasure of
cuming over himself and Xander. He eagerly licked the
thick residue off the boys fingers, careful not to
slice a digit with one of his fangs. Almost finished,
he was surprised to see Xander suck the rest of his
cum from his index finger. With a quiet snicker, he
smirked at the expression of slight distaste on the
brunettes face.

~ Bit different from just kissing with it to actually
taking a gob full, vamp cum is tasty compared to your
crap. Be glad you don't have to swallow that ~

Fingers shoved quickly back into his mouth, he
proceeded to give the large digits a few swirls of his
tongue to clean them. Sniffing, he could smell how
aroused the boy was and wondered how it would go this
time.

"I want you to sit on me, facing me."

Spike nodded as he moved over so the brunette could
lie down on the bed. With a swift movement, he threw
a pale leg over the youths hips and settled himself on
the toned abdomen. He could feel the erect cock
nudging his backside and reaching behind him, he gave
the thick organ a few strokes with a cool hand. The
vampire bent down towards the other mans face,
showering the flushed skin with small chaste kisses.

Thrusting his hips upwards, Xander grabbed the back of
the blonds head and drew him close into a hot wet kiss
that had both males groaning. Their tongues danced
and wove their way into each others mouth, the
brunette claiming dominance over the vampire. Slowly,
Xander allowed the cool tongue to slip from his hot
mouth. Delicately he traced a trail of heated
touchings along each perfect cheekbone with his
tongue, laughing as it made the bleached blond squirm
on top of him. With a fumbled motion, he grabbed the
lube from beside the bed and placed the tube into the
cool hand reaching out for it and waited impatiently
for the vampire to prepare himself.

~ Almost empty again, gonna have to start buying this
stuff in bulk. Randy little sod ~

"Spike, if you don't hurry, I'm going to cum anyway!"

A nod and the blond sped up his preparation, swirling
two fingers inside of himself in an effort to spread
the cool gel throughly. Shifting backwards, he got a
firm grip on the massive thickness, running a wet
finger around the hot head. Smirk firmly in place, he
leant forward for a moment before rising slightly.
Once he felt the heat just outside his puckered
entrance, he slowly started to push down onto the
thick rod.

"Jesus! Go slow, go slow. Sooooo good."

Xander moaned as he felt the coolness envelope his
cock. He never lasted long with the blond in this
position. Another swear bounced off the walls as the
vampire sat fully on the brunette, the full length
firmly inside. The youth raised his knees to give the
blond some support for his back. A firm grasp on the
slender hips and he indicated for the other man to
start moving.

~ Hate this fucking position, not as bad as the other
one though ~

Gently, Spike slid himself up and down the hard shaft.

The blond knew that it would only take a few minutes
until the younger man came hard up into him, it was
about the only good thing he could find about this
particular position. With a gasp, he opened his eyes
and looked down to see a large hand playing with his
hardened nipples. The brunette was getting more
adventurous with exploring the pale body, something
that the vampire was really enjoying. He let out his
own grunt/swear as the circling fingers were taken
away only to be replaced with wet ones. Spike could
feel himself getting hard again as his slow bouncing
motions ensured that his prostrate was hit each time.

One hand gripping tightly to the slender hip, Xander
traced his wet fingers around the pale nipples. He
was delighted to find that they became hardened nubs
with only a few touches. The brunette was finding
that he wanted to touch more and more of the cool body
that belonged to him. At first, it had been only
about sex but he was genuinely attracted to the male
vampire now. He found himself kissing and licking more
of the cool skin as the weeks passed by. Xander
wondered if getting rimmed was as good as he had read
about. The whole idea was still a bit icky but after
gathering up enough courage to get another gay porno,
he had read a subscribers letter that extolled the
virtues of getting a tongue around the back entrance.

This time, he hadn't hidden the magazine and both
males had lay in bed one morning and had jerked off
together in between breakfast and coffees while going
through the articles. He had told the vampire of his
interest in rimming and had been relieved when he had
gotten a huge smirk and a few sentences that told the
brunette that it was as good as it sounded. Xander
was still not sure that he wanted to receive it but
one day he was going to get the vampire to do it.

"Almost....keeeep going! Yes Ahhhhh, god yes!"

Screamed the brunette as his cum gushed up into the
blond. Leaving the hardened nipples, he grabbed the
hard cock that was leaking onto his tight stomach.
With firm swift strokes, he jerked the vampires pale
length. Thumbing at the weeping head every few
strokes, he told the blond to place his hands on his
head, well away from his cock.

~ Damn! Good grip, harder.....harder, faster. Please?
~

Spike was panting for all he was worth. His own hands
were tightly wound through his ungelled hair as the
tugging was getting faster. Tongue run over his fangs,
he sliced the pale skin. He swallowed the tiny
trickle of blood as he squirmed on top of the
brunette, still with the flaccid cock buried deep
inside of him. Giving his tongue another deeper
slice, he gave a booming grunt as he cam hard over
Xanders muscled chest.

Told that he could remove his hands, Spike dove down
and kissed the brunette deeply. The two men leisurely
ran their hands through each others hair. With a few
thrusts of his hips, Xander told the blond to get off
him. The vampire reached behind him, rising slightly
as they both moaned when the spent cock slipped from
the tight confines. Xander lay his legs back down on
the bed, spreading them slightly.

The happy vampire spread himself along the exhausted
boy, letting his legs slip in between the longer ones.
Chest to chest, they continued to kiss and nibble at
each other until in one swift movement, Xander rolled
them over. Spike was now underneath the brunette, his
knees nudged apart until he was in the very position
he hated the most. Tensing, he lay rigid as the youth
continued to lick and nibble his way along the
vampires collarbone.

Xander felt the blond stiffen as he lay the other man
in the traditional missionary position. The brunette
still harboured guilty feelings over the attack but he
couldn't deny that he had liked the feel of the
position. He wanted to try it again but without
scaring the blond, he just wasn't too sure how to go
about it. Hopefully with enough incentive, the
vampire would eventually give up resisting it.

"I want to do it this way again. I know I promised
you never to do it but I will go gently next time,
ok?"

Looking up into the serious chocolate eyes, Spike felt
himself nod as his heart broke a little more. He
didn't really have a choice anyway. Even though the
thought was repulsive, there wasn't much he could do
about it. He couldn't fight the other man off and he
was too afraid of ruining the brunettes good mood by
indicating his unhappiness with the idea. Ever since
the phone call from Willow over an hour ago, the youth
had been noticeably happier and that was definitely a
good thing. If he closed his eyes when the time came,
maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

~ Yeah, sure whatever. I don't fucking trust you not
to hurt me. Sodding well addicted to you though. ~

" I'm sorry but I can't keep my promise, not when it
feels so good like that"

Another nod and the blond was kissed deeply for being
so good. A discarded t-shirt was plucked from the
floor, allowing the brunette to wipe at both of their
sticky chests. Standing up, Xander told the vampire
to shower first as he made a few calls to Giles, Buffy
and Cordelia before showering himself. They had been
invited to Mac's house for the day and were due to
leave in just over an hour. A slap to his buttocks
while passing the brunette and the blond made his way
to the mildly warm bathroom.

Hearing Xander connect with the ex-watcher and making
sure that he wasn't looking towards the bathroom,
Spike allowed the first tears to pour down his face.
He just couldn't believe that the brunette would be so
heartless as to deliberately ignore a promise he had
made to the vampire. Ordinarily the blond would be
able to cry properly in peace while in the shower but
after running from the younger man over a month ago,
the brunette had out done himself by removing not the
lock on the door but the whole door itself. The door
in question was now residing in the spare bedroom
along with the vampire's correspondence course on
woodwork.
With the cold weather, they hadn't been able to get
any timber until the wood mill opened again in early
February. The leaflets and instructions were neatly
stacked to one side, the bathroom door leaning beside
them.

The only privacy he got these days, was to turn his
back to the open door way and hope that the brunette
didn't catch him crying into the stream of warm water
that flowed over his body. He was thankful that
Xander seemed to be in a better frame of mind than he
had woken up in but if the past was anything to go
with, that would probably change without warning. The
vampire was just going to have to play it carefully
and try to ensure that the good mood lasted as long as
possible. Once again, his hopes for being able to
resume trusting the younger man had been dashed.

Letting the tears flow, he quietly sobbed into the
warmth as he rinsed off the chamomile shower gel that
they both favoured. He jumped in fright, almost
slipping as a warm body moulded itself to his back.

"You're upset with me aren't you?"

He hesitated before nodding, his head rubbing against
the toned shoulder of his protector. Spike waited for
the slapping to begin. Instead, gentle hands ran
themselves over his tense back, kneading at the
knotted muscles. He let himself relax into the
comforting motions, listening to Xander say that he
was sorry for all his beatings, apologise for the
attack in the kitchen. The blond stood underneath the
water and just took it all, not believing a word of
any of it. If it made Xander happy to apologise and
kept him in a good mood, then the vampire was happy to
accept it.

"You do believe me don't you? I like you, I like you
a lot. It's not love but it's more than just.... I
don't know. I can't explain it"

Spike felt his dead heart lurch. Was there a
possibility for the brunette to ever love him?
Beatings be damned, if it was possible for Xander to
fall in love with him in the future then he would put
up with it all. Once Xander did fall in love with
him, the brunette would probably stop the slapping
anyway. He wouldn't hurt what he loved, would he?

Turning around in the embrace that had enveloped him
during the brunettes words, the vampire hugged the
youth tightly, head buried in the crook of the neck.
He was crying but now it was in happiness, so far it
was the closest declaration of love he had ever
received and he was going to grab at it with all he
had. Xander ran his hands down the pale back, trying
to soothe the sobbing male in his arms. It was true,
it wasn't love but it was way past plain like. His
feelings were lust, possessiveness, pride that he
owned such a beautiful male intermingled with his need
to show dominance and discipline. He was fearful that
the Scooby gang would find out about their
relationship but after coming out to his work mates
and basically the whole of Pennington, it wasn't such
a big deal as it once had been. Giles had been
understanding and that had been a big help in letting
him deal with his feelings towards another male.

Xander let go of the grinning blond so that he could
lather himself up only to start laughing when the gel
was snatched out of his hands. He stood with arms
spread wide, letting the vampire rub his small hands
all over his well muscled body. The brunette groaned
as a soapy hand gently teased his twitching penis.
After a minute of soft stroking, he had to tell the
blond to stop as they were going to be late to Macs as
it was. He swooped down into a hard brutal kiss at the
pout displayed on the other mans face. Xander pulled
the vampire hard against him, grinding his cock into
the cooler one a few times before gently shoving the
man out of the shower.

The brunette rinsed the last of the foam off him,
turning the water off. Towel grabbed, he ran from the
bathroom while trying not to slip, towards the wood
heater. Jostling for room with the vampire, the two
men made sure that they dried themselves off
thoroughly. The brunette hoped that he had done the
right thing by telling the blond about his feelings
and judging by the smile that was yet to disappear, he
had. With one hand, he grabbed at the slender male,
pulling him towards him for a deep kiss. Towels flung
over the two bar stools so that they could dry, the
men started to dress from the pile of clothing that
surrounded the bed.

"It's cold out there, a flanny will probably be the
best way to go"

~ Great, hillbilly Christmas here we come! Bet we get
roast Spam and tinned cranberry jam. ~

The youth knew how much the vampire hated the
flanlette shirts they had both resorted to wearing in
an effort to keep warm. He loved to tease the blond
about if he just grew a goatee, the slender man would
truly belong to the white trash society. Telling the
pouting blond to wait on the bed, he strode across
towards the spare bedroom and opened one of the duffel
bags stored in one corner. Brightly wrapped packages
were taken from the dark green bag and carried back
into the warm main room.

Spike stared at the gaudily wrapped that the youth
dumped onto the bed. He knew that Xander had gotten
him one present but he wasn't expecting the rest. The
vampire had only gotten the brunette a few small
things while shopping in the Mall two days before.
They had battled their way through the crowds. The
place had been full of desperate people trying to shop
for last minute presents before getting snowed in
again.

"These are from Joyce and Giles. A couple from Willow
and Tara as well. Buffy sent the card with the money
order a couple of weeks ago, you know we bought the cd
player with it."

A few wrapped presents were shoved at a startled
vampire. He hesitated before ripping the paper off a
bright green one. Giles had sent him a cd that
featured the best of British punk rock.

~ All right! Crusty's not too bad with the present
giving, wonder what I got from Joyce? ~

The vampire picked up a solid heavy package that was
undoubtedly a few books, ripping off the paper, he let
a huge grin cross his face. One book on woodwork that
featured how to carve words and pictures into wood as
well as how to make chairs and tables. The other had
detailed boxes and gift items. The Slayers mother had
included a note hoping that he would find these to his
liking. Spike made a mental note to write back as
soon as possible thanking her. He was surprised to
find that he actually cared that Joyce liked him and
thought it was a pity about her daughter.

Concentrating on his own unwrapping, Xander discovered
a cd from Giles and Anya. The best of the 90's rock,
Willow and Tara had sent him a selection of photos
that featured the Scooby gang and instructions to get
some good photo frames with the money included. He
was touched that they had gone to the effort to
include a photo of Xanders old work mates. Barney had
sent him a few tins of Nescafe for Christmas as well
as a box of Freddo Frogs in various flavours a few
weeks ago.
As much as he was starting to settle in Pennington, he
still missed everybody from Sunnydale. Cordelia had
paid for a whole year's subscription to an internet
cafe that had just been set up in Pennington's Mall.
He would probably have to call Willow for her address
before attempting anything.

A glance at the quiet man beside him and he saw that
the vampire was pretty well off as well, something
that he was pleased with. He unwrapped his own
present from Joyce, a book on touring Alaska. How he
was going to be able to that with a vampire in tow was
beyond him but it was the thought that counted. He
was shaken out of his ponderings by a gasp from the
vampire.

With a gasp, Spike looked down at the voucher in his
hand. It was from Willow and Tara, a voucher that
entitled him to attend a sign language course at
Fairbanks major college once winter was over. Looking
over at Xander, he waved it in front of the grinning
brunette who explained that he had already organised
the time off from work so that they could both attend.
It was a four day intensive course that went from 9am
to 5.30pm, Monday to Thursday each semester. Xander
happily told the vampire that they were booked into
the first one in Spring. He had already called the
college and informed them of Spike's phobia and they
were willing to organise a windowless room for the
class.

The vampire flew across the bed, enveloping the
laughing brunette in a cool hug. They spend a few
minutes kissing before getting back to the rest of the
presents. Xander opened his from Spike, the ripping
of gaudy paper revealed an assortment of white
chocolate. He moaned in delight as he saw the brands
unwrapped. Lindor, Nestle, Guilyan and Red Tulip.
None of these were cheap and he hoped that the other
man hadn't spent too much of his pay on him. His
other present was a bottle of chocolate flavoured
massage lotion and strawberry lube.

"Very nice, maybe we should try this out now?"

Xander leaned over, licking a hot trail from the pale
collar bone to the delicate ear lobe. Sucking on the
cool flesh for a moment, he pressed a soft package
into the vampires hands before leaning back to allow
the other male to unwrap his present. Spike tore at
the gold and silver paper. Wrinkling his nose, he
held up a flanlette shirt in solid red. With a look
to Xander, he gestured at it in puzzlement.

Laughing, the brunette told him that he had to get it
dyed especially as they didn't come in solid colours.
Two more packages were thrust at him, both revealing
more solid coloured flanlette shirts, one in a deep
blue and the other a plain black. Spike was happy
with that. He liked the warm feel of them but he
hated the look of the hideous shirts and only wore
them out of sheer necessatie. They were about the
only shirt that kept the cold out. He was feeling all
glowy and warm that Xander had gone out of his way to
get them dyed for him. Ripping off his red and white
chequered shirt, he pulled on the red one, doing up
the buttons with a huge grin on his face.

As he finished, he found one more small present
pressed into his hands by a serious brunette. Slowly
he unwrapped the small item. Underneath all the
layers of paper was a jewellery box. Once opened, it
revealed a silver chain. It was shorter than normal.
Spike sat down beside the quiet male and gently kissed
him on the cheek, holding it out so that Xander could
put it on for him. The vampire was stunned, he knew
that the chain wasn't cheap. He had been eyeing it
off for a while now but hadn't been able to afford to
even put it on layby. Every cent he had was to go
towards his blood for the Summer. It was one of the
new types of jewellery for men that was just starting
to come into Alaska. The chain was the silver type
that was seen mostly on heavy metal bands and surfers,
it was not as chunky as most but still thick enough to
be considered tough and grungy. It was pretty plain
with no pendant but Spike was overjoyed that the
brunette had taken notice of his wanting it.

The clasp firmly done up, the vampire turned so that
Xander could see him. Smirking at the brunettes
approval, he wished he could have a mirror just for
once.

"Still the trendiest vamp in Alaska. Quick, blood for
you and then we go. We're late as it is"

Xander dressed as the vampire heated up his breakfast.
They were late already for Mac's lunch but he figured
they wouldn't be the last to show up. Both Spit and
Fitzy were going to be the last arrive, they were
almost always an hour or so late to everything. The
only exception was the yearly woman auction. Lucas
and Josesse were going to be there as well as
Stephanie and the two Chinese demons and partners.

He put on his thick check jacket, thankful for the
fleece lining. Fridge opened, he quickly fed Twatcat
as the vampire finished his drink. Jacket grabbed,
Spike shrugged on the coat noting that the red on both
the jacket and shirt matched. He was almost beside
himself with happiness. It had almost been a shit day
but everything was just perfect now.

Part Three 

26 December 2000.

4.32 am

The vampire gently stroked the exhausted boy's hair as the
brunette snored. Xander had finally succumbed to the lure of
deep sleep. It had been a really good day for them both, Spike
had actually enjoyed the lunch at Macs, as had the youth. They
hadn't been the last to arrive, Spit and Fitzy staying true to
their nature and arriving almost 40 minutes late for the lunch.
Mac hadn't worried about delaying the meal and waiting for them
to turn up, he had just set aside two heaped plates covered with
foil and kept them in the oven until they had arrived. From the
lack of apologies, the vampire had figured that they did it each
year.

It had been a quick round of greetings and discussion about what
everyone had received that morning first up. Xander had blushed
furiously when the blond had wrote Stephanie about the lube and
massage oil, quietly grunting along to the laughing and whoops
of 'You go boy!' that had erupted around the table. A quick
look at the brunette before joining in the laughter and he had
been reassured by the non appearance of anger, encouraging him
to start grunting. The only uncomfortable moment had been when
the vampire had noticed Lukas watching him intently during the
little exchange.

Lukas had been distracted by Mac thumping a huge roast turkey
onto the table in front of him, closely followed by large pots
holding buttered potatoes, roast pumpkin, mixed peas and beans
as well as cauliflower in cheese sauce. Everyone on the table
began to dribble at the same time, the smell had been almost
divine. Nothing else was said about the two mens bed habits as
each person shovelled down what they could from the generous
spread. Spit and Fitzy had turned up just as the last dishes
were being cleared away to make room for dessert. The two men
had plonked themselves down next to the chinese demons wives and
in between eating and swigging on their beer, had regaled the
table about the results from the latest dog sled race they had
participated in.

Spit was a slender brunette, about five inches taller than Spike
himself while his brother, Fitzy, was more like the usual
Alaskan male. Tall, dark headed, built like a wall and with a
grizzly Adams beard. Both men were professional racers,
handling one of the largest dog pens outside of Fairbanks.
While waiting for dessert, Helen and Ling Mai had the best way's
to guide a dog over thin ice explained to them. Xander had
rolled his eyes at the vampire who had almost been in hysterics
himself. Truly a Deliverance dinner he had thought. A few loud
swears from the kitchen admist breaking glass, had everyone
retire to the living room as Mac told them dessert just wasn't
an option for the moment.

The two brothers, restraunt owners, Josessi, Spike and Xander
had sat and watched some sledding videos of various dog races
while playing cards. The women had claimed the couch and along
with Lukas, they had discussed how Stephanie's pregnancy had
been progressing. The vampire had been tempted to join in on
the conversation, the videos had been that boring. It was when
the tapes had been replaced with a few more ice hockey videos
that he had pepped up and had sat with his eyes glued on the tv
screen, almost whining at the thought of being able to inflict
violence again. He had ignored everything until a large hand
had tapped his shoulder, Xander indicating for him to return to
the table.

Spike had taken a seat next to the youth, grinning madly as his
upper thigh had been squeezed, crotch delicately brushed
against. A glance at the male sitting next to him and he had
seen that the beer had loosened some of the brunettes concerns
about touching in public. Not really the whole "lets fuck to an
audience" thing but a huge step for a tipsy youth. Xander
usually only drank extra light beer, having a few of the full
strength ones was catching up to him really quickly. A swig of
his own beer and he had almost leapt out of his chair in an
effort to get at the plum pudding. After pouring a huge amount
of brandy custard on the dessert, he had been in 7th heaven as
he had slowly eaten the pudding. The one human food he loved
the most and it was plum pudding. Freshly made, half baked,
tinned or old fashioned recipe, he didn't care.

He had had two massive servings of the favoured dessert,
waggling his eyebrows at a slightly swaying brunette. After
dessert had been done, the women had started the dishes, shooing
Mac out of the way in the process. Told to sit, the red head
had brushed aside everyones thanks for a great dinner and had
started to teach the vampire a new card game, Canasta. It
hadn't been really easy until the blond had just read the rules
and instructions rather than listen to Mac's ramblings. Once he
had gotten the hang of it, he had really enjoyed the game. The
vampire had made sure to thrust the box cover at the laughing
brunette on the couch, Spike wanted a set of the cards.

Later in the afternoon, Spit and Fitzy had drunkenly acted out
Mary and Joseph's trip to the stable. Tears had run down the
blond's face as the bearded Fitzy had gone into labour all the
while keeping a tight clutch of his beer. Helen and the rotund
Ling Mai had gotten in the spirit, pretending to be the two
Always Right Wives, and had gifted the newly born pillow with
the ability to grow a decent beard, a life time supply of
flannel and the wisdom of how to open a Spam can. He had glanced
over at the brunette youth, only to see that Xander was also
weak with laughter. More beer all round and the festivities had
continued. Mac had invited the brothers, Xander and Spike to
come with him when he next went to Chena Hot Springs resort.

Intrigued by the opportunity to see some sights outside of
Pennington and Fairbanks, Xander had agreed for them both, Spike
just nodding along. He wouldn't mind the opportunity to get
around as well. Stephanie had been the first to leave after a
quick flurry of gift giving, everyone had exchanged small token
gifts. Chutney, jams, jars of peanuts and other various items
had been handed around. Josessi had also taken the opportunity
to leave stating it was now time to call his family back in
Nadi, Fiji. After seeing them off, Mac had broken out the
heavier alcohol, pouring scotch for everyone. That had been the
cue for the Chinese demons to be dragged out by their wives.
More waving and that had left Mac, Fitzy, Spit, Lukas, Xander
and Spike. The conversation had drifted onto ice fishing and
where the best site was at the moment.

Spike had grown bored again quite quickly, he hated fish in all
forms, the only ones he had any respect for were the great white
shark and pihrana. He really hadn't cared how to cut a decent
hole into the thick ice along the banks of the Tanana River.
The whelp had looked just as disinterested and had asked Mac
more about the hot springs during a lapse in conversation. The
talk had turned to how hot they were, the whole conversation had
been clean until Spit had piped up with just how many girls he
had done in the hot tubs. From there, the conversation had
turned into a dirty comparison of who had done what and where.

The vampire had just sat back and watched as the brunettes face
had gotten redder and redder as more crude language and
descriptions had flowed on around him. Time had flown by as the
topics had ranged from sex to hunting deer and to the upcoming
wedding of Cyril to Amanda. A glance at the clock during that
topic and Spike had been shocked to see that Christmas day was
technically over. Lunch had been around 2pm, dessert had been
later, almost 5.30.

With a gaze at the brunette almost asleep on the couch, he made
the descion to go. He had gathered Xander up, shaking him to
wake him up. It had been a case of too much beer and a hot
house. Lukas had promised to call around the next day, Mac had
also told them that he would make a booking for the hot springs.
A quick goodbye to everyone and with Xander placed comfortably
in the passenger seat, Spike had roared off down the road. He
had been forced to go slow after almost skidding off the road
due to the clumps of ice scattered across it. Once home, he had
prodded the boy awake again and guided the half drunk, tired
youth into the cold cabin.

After dumping him on the bed, he had raced around to the
woodpile and started the wood heater going again. The vampire
had been asked if anyone had called for him. A glance at the
answering machine and he had shaken his head at the brunette.
It had been then that Xander had started to sob, startling the
blond. With his arms around the weeping boy, Spike had listened
as his claimant spouted off at how he should have know his
parents would never call. Apparantly the boy had eventually
sent off a few letters with his address and phone number, a
Christmas card as well.

Sighing, Spike looked down at the slumbering male. He was
disappointed for the youth, he knew that even though Xander
tried not to be upset about his parents, he still held out hope
that maybe one day they would give him a phone call or even a
letter. Unfortunately tonight he had just gotten his dreams
crushed again. Xander had confessed his dislike of his parents
and uncle numerous times but deep down inside, he was still a
little boy seeking a kind word or even a hug from them. From
what he had gathered from snippetts of conversation and from
actually hearing the fights overhead when living in the
basement, he knew that such things had been rarely given. Not
all of his bruises had been caused by patrolling, something that
the brunette had taken great lengths to hide from the others.

The vampire had held onto the drunk boy until he had cried
himself to sleep. The display had frightened the blond, he was
meant to be the weepy one, not the brunette. He only hoped that
things would be better for the youths birthday but he doubted
it. It was going to be up to the demon to make it special for
Xander. How? He had no idea at the moment but he would think of
something.

Part Four 

~ Oh my God! How humiliating. ~

Spike sat and stared at the brochures Lukas had left for him.
The other demon had stayed true to his word and had come over
for coffee that morning while Xander was out getting another
load of firewood with Spit. Lukas hadn't minded dragging out
the couch from the front bedroom so they could sit down. The
vampire and
Kava demon had talked about the various going ons in the local
demon world, the black man telling Spike that the Veronkif's
were due back any day now. Aparantly their yearly ritual of
challenging each other to snog a polar bear was almost finished.
The vampire had been in hysterics when the taller man had
described that usually only half of the pack came back each
trip, the bears maiming and eating the clumsier ones. With the
weaker males culled out, it inevitably lead to major fucking and
pregnancies all round for them.

Lukas had laughed when he told Spike that the Veronkif's were
hermaphrodites and that without fail, each one produced an
offspring each year even though they referred to themselves as
males. The blond had been flabbergasted at the thought,
thanking god that he couldn't get pregnant, although there was
probably a spell or two out there that would be able to knock
him up. He had told Lukas that he would give his testicles to
see his Sire pregnant, prompting a fresh round of laughter. The
other man had heard stories of Angelus from Rhonda and said that
he wouldn't mind seeing that as well, although losing a testicle
would be a bit too much for him.

More coffee and tinned plum pudding later, Lukas had turned
serious and had pulled a few bits of paper from out of his
trouser pockets, thrusting them at a curious vampire. Spike had
sat there, horrified by what was being suggested. For a few
minutes, he had done nothing until he had finally fanged out and
had written for the other demon to leave. Lukas had complied,
telling him that he was there to help if Spike needed any. With
a shake of his head, the blond had slammed the front door,
leaving Lukas to walk to the car himself.

~ No fucking way am I a 'battered woman'! ~

~ Just who the fuck does he think he is? What gives him the
right to stuff around and make assumptions about my life and the
whelp´s? ~

Pacing up and down the main living room, he swooped down to pick
up Twatcat, pressing her against his cool chest. The purring
kitten soothed his emotions, allowing the tears that threatened
to fall, to stop pricking at his eyes. He just couldn't believe
that someone he considered almost a friend would try to
interfere in something he had no idea about. None of those
brochures applied to him. He wasn't a woman. He wasn't even
human. Only humans got into stupid relationships like that, not
vampires, not him.

With the cat snuggled firmly against him, Spike strode into the
kitchen and pulled a beer from the fridge. Cap firmly placed
between his teeth, he gave the bottle a twist before spitting
the cap into the sink. He smiled as he rembered the first time
that the brunette had seen him do that. Xander had been worried
that he was going to chip a tooth and had started harping on
about how their weren't any vampire dentists in Sunnydale.
Actually there had been but she had been drained after a vampire
had been unhappy with his new braces. Willy's had been almost
shaking with the amount of laughter that had gone on after the
demon population had found out about a vampire trying to get his
teeth straightened.

He leaned against the cold sink, Twatcat now draped across his
shoulders, her warmth soothing the tension that had built up in
his neck. Shaking his head Spike wondered if he could convince
the whelp to start buying blood from somewhere else.

~ My own fault the brat hits me anyway, don't think enough
before I do something stupid. Bloody claimed me, he had every
right to or least he will when it gets done proper. ~

Taking a swig of the cold beer the vampire smiled to himself
as he thought of the day he would be free from the soldiers´
claim. That would be soon, only a few years away now. Nothing
to an almost immortal being. The cat chirped at him as he
gently tugged at the flapping tail that was tickling his neck.
A glance around the small kitchen, Spike frowned as his gaze
fell upon the brightly coloured brochures again. Better get rid
of them before Harris got home.

Twat placed on the floor, the vampire immediatly missed the
furry warmth of the small creature. He walked over to the
couch, picking up the embarassing forms. In one swift movement,
he opened the grate on the heater and threw the offending
articles inside. Spike stood and watched as the paper smoked
along its curling edges before bursting into flames, closing the
grate when all evidence was gone.

~ Not going to hit me for much longer anyway. He's going to
love me soon, just have to make sure he will. ~

~ No one hits what he loves. ~

Sitting on the couch, Spike bent to haul up the climbing kitten
only to gasp when a familiar flash went off behind his eyes.
Not even a millisecond later, he was lying sprawled on the floor
between the bed and the couch, out cold.

Part Five 

FLASH

The blond collapsed onto the floor again, not quite out of it
this time. His head was groggy, stars were floating in front of
his vision. Whining, Spike desperatly begged for Xander to come
home. Twatcat was rubbing up against him, meowing at him to
move or something. The vampire wasn't sure what the hell was
going on this time, he had only been unconcious for about ten
minutes that last time, judging by the time on the clock. A good
deal less than the hours he had been out of circulation last
time. He had woken up on the floor beside the couch, feeling
nauseous. Spike had waited for a few minutes before getting up
but he was on the floor once again.

~ Pet, please. Please come home. I need you, want you. ~

Laying completly still on the hard floorboards, Spike had no
idea just where he had been trying to stagger to. Was it the
bathroom, kitchen or even one of the empty bedrooms? On his
back, he stared at the ceiling, taking in the cracked paintwork
and flaking chips that were yet to start falling. Idly he
wondered if they were frozen like the icicles hanging of the
guttering. A few minutes of panting, and he felt a little
better, not as nauseous as before.

~ Ok, just slowly Billyboy, easy does it. ~

Spike slowly turned onto his side, resting for a moment, afraid
of setting off the flashing again. When that didn't do
anything, he carefully got onto his hands and knees, again
waiting for a minute before moving.

~Fuck Whelp, where are you when I need you? ~

Guilt rose quickly much to his distaste. Xander might beat him
but he *had* saved his arse twice already. With a sigh, the
vampire shook off the revolting feeling and prepared himself to
stand. On his knees, he swayed a few times, the stars getting
brighter. One swift movement and he was standing in the middle
of the common room. If only he could just talk to Giles about
what was currently happening. The ex-watcher may be a sodding
git but he was the closest to a vamp doctor he had.

Taking a step, he headed towards the bathroom. A shower would
get rid of the grogginess. Two steps into the open room and he
felt a pressure around his head, hard as if it was being
squeezed in a vice.

FLASH

The vampire rubbed at the sides of his head frantically in an
effort to somehow relieve the agonising hold on his skull.
Sliding down onto his knees, he started sobbing in fright over
what was happening and the fact that his claimant was no where
close. Squeals of agony reverberated through the small cabin,
bouncing off the walls.

~ Aaaahhh! Gotta do something...ooohhhh, this hurts. Hurts so
bad... ~

Hands clenched almost into fists, rubbed firmly into the blond
hair as the squealing continued.

~ Neighbours, a million quid for nosy neighbours. For fucks
sake, someone find me. ~

Spike let himself fall completly to the floor, not even noticing
the thud of his chest onto the hard wood. Rolling onto his
back, he circled his hands in opposite direction to each other
as the stars danced before his eyes. A few minutes of trying to
ignore the piercing pain, and the blond found that its edge
was lifting, allowing him to quieten his squealing.

~ Xanny, I need you, please just hurry. ~

He knew that it was going to be hours before the other man was
going to be home, but that didn't stop him from begging. The
vampire was ashamed to be so helpless and dependant on another,
even if it was someone that he loved. Minute by minute, the
pain was drifting away. Spike didn't know if it was from his
rubbing or from something else and he really didn't care as long
as it went. Fuck, the only person he could actually call for
help was Lukas but he sure as hell didn't want the other demon
in the house again. Laying on his back, the bleached blond
acknowledged that he was both exhausted and plain terrified.

~ Gotta call Crusty, he'll know what to do. Gotta be somthing
in those sodding books of his. ~

A bitter laugh/grunt went through the cabin as he thought of
just how the hell he was going to do that. Have to do it bloody
fast, was the thought. Heaving himself up on shaky legs, he
looked around the room to see if there was anything around the
room that would help him. The sobbing started again as he
realised that there was nothing that was going to help him.
Dizzy, he made his way back to the couch and sat heavily,
ignoring the kitten patting at his thigh.

~ What the fuck do I do until the boy gets back? Watch tv or
listen to the wanky cd and hope that next time I sodding well
wake up? ~

Tears pouring down his face, Spike wondered if a few loud
chorus' of 'God save the Queen' by The sex Pistols would cheer
him up. One of his favourite songs on the cd the old
ex-librarian had gotten him for Christmas, a british punk
classic. He was still suprised that he had even been thought of
by the other man.

~ More like God save the useless vampire. ~

~ Maybe I should just play that and grunt down the phone at him
and hope to hell he hasn't had all his brains shagged out by the
demon bint just yet? ~

Actually, that wasn't such a bad idea he thought. Watery smile
breaking through the streaming tears, the bleached blond
hesitantly made his way to the cd rack, fearing another flash at
any second. With each step, he panted a little harder, it
wasn't easy navigating his way around the multitude of stars
that were swimming infront of his eyes. Cd's grabbed, held at
odd angles and then tossed onto the bed, he hoped he had the
right one in his hands. Looked like the right colours, black
and red with newspaper print all over the cover. Once it was
shoved into the cd player, he fumbled his way over to the
kitchen bench. Portable phone in his hand, he tried to remember
which speed dial the older human was listed on.

~ Shit! Just press anyone I suppose. If Cunty gets it, hanging
up pretty much says it all. ~

Button pressed, he hoped it was the right one. Spike listened
to the ringing at the other end of the line, praying that the
big mouthed slag wasn't going to answer the phone, for Anya to
start in with her attitude was all he needed at the moment. As
it rung, he realised that the song wasn't even playing.
Grunting in frustration, he made his way to the cd player,
slipping over the slick cd covers strewn over the bed. He
jabbed at the 'play' button on the second hand stereo, thankfull
for all the midnight fumblings that both he and the whelp had
put into practice over the few weeks since they had gotten it.

~Why the hell can't I see straight? This had better not keep
up, bad enough being sodding well mute. ~

He groaned as the dial tone rung out on the other end, pushing
the hang up button, he punched the next button for auto-dial
numbers. Spike jumped as the Pistols launched into a deafening
rendition of their best known song, hurridly turning it down so
that he could concentrate on the ringing of the phone.

" Ah, hello. Rupert here"

~Thank fuck for that! ~

"Ack, grrngt, cough"

Spike held the phone to the stereo for a moment before putting
it back to his ear only to hear the ex-watcher demanding to know
who was on the phone. The vampire grunted into the phone again
before holding it to the stereo. He held it there for a few
seconds. Once again he held it to his ear only to hear a dial
tone instead of a pissy store keeper.

~ Sodding well damn it! ~

He stopped the song and pressed what he hoped was the redial.
After two rings it picked up, the annoyed voice on the other end
declaring that he wasn't interested in crank calls. Spike felt
his tears forming again as he grunted down the line, his sobs
breaking free as the music started up. He couldn't help
himself, he really wanted his claimant to come home so that he
could just cuddle into the strong warm arms. The vampire barely
listened to what the other man was quietly hissing down the
phone.

" Is that you Ethan, because if it is, you know I've told you
not to bloody well call here or the frigging shop "

" Wheeze, sob, sob, acrk...snuffle "

"Ethan, I'm going to beat the living daylights out of you, you
almost had me believing your crying. Look, I've got Anny around
at the moment, it's just sheer luck that she hasn't picked up
the phone yet. I'll call you, ok? "

Spike could feel himself start to panick, between the dancing
spots and the worry over what was causing the bright flashes,
the nausea rising once more. He tried his yes and no grunts in
a final attempt to get the man to recognise him. As the cd
changed songs, he could hear the other man prattle on about
meeting up later on that week.

~ I don't care who your shagging Rupie, just use your sodding
noodle for once and LISTEN! ~

There was silence on the other end as Spike repeated his trade
mark grunts for all he was worth, throwing in a 'Xander' grunt
for good measure.

"Ah. Um. Oh dear, is that you Spike?"

" 'Yes grunt' sniffle, accrgk, sob, 'Xander grunt'"

" Good lord! Is Xander alright, whats wrong? Sod it, hang on,
I'll ring you back in about 15 minutes alright?"

"'Yes grunt' snork, sniffle"

Almost swaying with relief, Spike pushed the hang up button and
waited by the stereo for the other man to ring him back. He
listened to the thumping music in the hopes of distracting
himself from worrying too much. The vampire sat counting the
minutes until he would get a phone call from the ex-watcher.

Part Six 

~ Fucking hurry up! Ring you cunt, come on, RING! ~

Trying to stop himself from starting to pace, Spike instead took
out his worry on the completly innocent phone. He had no idea
of just how he was going to explain to the watcher about the
flashes. The vampire tried to tap his feet in time to the loud
music but gave up after he started kicking at the wall, Xander
would not be impressed by a hole in the wall.

~ Ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? ~

~ Oh fuck, the day I start singing ABBA is the day I deserve to
be shot. ~

He winced at the memory of a whole nights driving with Xander
yelping along to ABBA Gold. The vampire had been ready to jump
out of the moving car. Things had gone better when he had
'accidently' crushed the tape under his Doc Martens while on a
pitstop for more cheezels and Reeses Peanutbutter cups. He was
jerked out of the memories by the phone actually ringing by his
side. Snatched up, he had to relax his hold as the plastic
creaked and groaned around his hand. With a viscious jab, he
connected with the person on the other end of the line.

"Spike, it me. Oh, um. Silly really, it's Giles."

"Yes grunt, eertgk, cough."

"I'm going to ask you questions and what I want you to do is
either cough for no or grunt for yes. Do you understant that?"

~ Yes. Mr. Giles. I'm in third grade and understand how to wipe
my own sodding arse as well. Fuckwit! ~

"Yes grunt"

"Right, right. Er..ok, here goes then. Is Xander hurt,
incapacitated at the moment or in danger?"

"Cough"

"Oh thats so good. Relief actually. Did you call me by
accident?"

~ I bloody well wish Mate! ~

"Cough"

"Is something wrong with you? Are you hurt, isn't Xander around
to help you?"

~ Nope, off getting more wood so we don't sodding well freeze to
death in the middle of the night. Should have taken the Vegas
job. Would have made a killing at Blackjack ~

"Yes grunt. Cough"

"Yes and no. Well, which is it? Your'e either hurt or your'e
not."

Spike banged the phone into his forehead a few times, only
stopping when Giles started yelling down the phone line at him.
He grunted 'yes' down the phone until he was told to stop and
hang up. The watcher was going to do the spell that would allow
him to see the vampire. Until the older human rang again, Spike
was to sit as still as possible. Relief flooded over the blond
as he disconnected from the shop keeper once again.

~ Jesus Xander, just get home qui......Ahhhhh! ~

FLASH

Rolling around the bed in agony, the blond took no notice of the
sharp cd cover edges digging in his back as the pain in his head
struck again. Both hands were clenched into fists, rubbing at
the sides of his aching scalp again. The stars dancing across
his eyes bloomed into a fireworks show, there were colours of
all hues bombarding his vision. Pink, purple, grey, electric
blue, black, gold, the list was endless. Spike could feel
himself fanging out, his sensitive canines making contact with a
cd, sending him rolling back the other way. Great heaving sobs
wracked the pale body as the waves of pain bombarded the
vampire.

~ Oh god. Please, bloody fuck. Just strike me down now. ~

As quickly as it had started, the pain dissipated, leaving a
sobbing blond curled up on the bed. Not quite daring to stop
rubbing above his ears, Spike wondered what was going on. He
realised that the stars and colours that had been plaguing him
for the past forty minutes were starting to dull. The snuffling
tapered off and finally stopped as the vampire took in what had
happened. Spike slowly panned his vision around the room before
settling on the meowing kitten. He smiled widely as he stared
at the image of heat being thrown off the small creature. No
humans and only a handful of demons knew that when vampires went
into gameface, their whole perception of seeing, hearing and
smelling prey changed as well. Before they changed, vampires
could smell a single drop of blood from almost a 1 mile radius,
hear a heart beating clear across a crowded room and had better
taste and sight than the average human.

Once they changed however, then everything got a lot better.
They could smell blood from further away, actually seperate and
acknowledge different types of heartbeats and even keeps tabs on
when someone was moving around. The elongated canines acted as
a warning if something was wrong. A little nick before draining
told a vampire what sort of blood type their prey was, if the
prey had any diseases that would taint the blood if it wasn't
detectable by sight or smell. The eyes though, that was the
best. The dilated pupils somehow allowed a vampire to see the
heat being thrown off other creatures, including humans. Just
made it so much easier to see where their latest meals were
running off to.

His eyes were back. He could see the subtle flares of heat
being thrown off the black kitten as she moved her head up and
down, grooming herself. There was no blood to tempt his
gameface out, but he could see again in his true vision. Bloody
marvellous, thats what it was, bloody marvellous. The elation
dropped like the preverbial lead balloon as he realised that he
was still useless. His fangs slid back into human guise as his
chin shook. With a shake of his head, he tried to put his pupils
back into their human disguise only to grunt furiously as it
proved that they were stuck in demon state.

~ Fuck! First my eyes come back and now I'm bloody well stuck
with them. ~

With that, the phone rang again beside him. Picking it up, he
grunted down the phone as Giles informed him that he could now
see the vampire. He slowly turned his vision to look up at the
front door, all the while listening to the shop keepers
breathing. Spike smiled weakly at the door as Giles swore at
being able to see the golden eyes looking through the scrying
bowl. Having an idea, Spike held his hand up to the door in the
universal sign for 'hold on/wait'. Phone put down for the
moment, he carefully wrote what had happened in large letters in
his notebook. Once finished, he picked up the phone again and
with it held to his ear, he held the note pad up towards where
he thought the ex-watcher would be able to see it.

At the other males indication, the vampire flipped the page over
so that the older human could continue to read. He continued to
turn the numerous pages as Giles read about the flashes and how
Spikes eyes had returned, leaving out the nightvision talent of
course. Just wouldn't do for Buffy to find out about that
little gem, might give her an unfair advantage. Spike couldn't
help but snort at the image of a Slayer wearing icepacks danced
into his thoughts. Cow would be stupid enough to try it as
well.

He shook his head when asked if he had had any sort of sexual
contact to bring the flash on, leering slightly as Giles
stuttered into the phone. Another head shake at the question of
any emotional upset or injury. There was not a chance in hell,
that Spike was going to tell the other male about Lukas and his
fucking brochures. He suspected the embarrassment of what Lukas
had suggested had brought on the first flash, his panic probably
bringing on the others. Spike nodded as Giles told him that he
really didn't know what to think. As he was listening to the
ex-watcher babble on about not saying anything regarding Ethan,
he felt his pupils return to normal. A few grunts stopped talk,
letting Giles see the now blue eyes of the vampire.

Spike tried to get his eyes to go demon again but much to his
annoyance, they stayed human blue. A minute later and he was
dropping his fangs just to check that he could still do that. A
gasp from the phone and he realised that the whelp must not have
updated the other man about his condition. He answered the
following questions as best as he could, writing an answer when
needed. After a few minutes of silence, the arkward goodbyes
were said and grunted, both hanging up at the same time.

The vampire was happy, cautious, but happy at the latest turn of
events. All that was needed now was his hearing, smell and face
ridges to come back. The face ridges would probably come back
at the same time as his accelerated sense of smell, Angelus had
always had the theory of the ridges pushing down across the
bridge of the nose being the cause of the ability. His Sire had
waffled on about pressure to the glands and tissues resulting in
the ability for vampires to smell better when in gameface.
Spike had been in too much pain at the time to really take any
notice, his little game of continually asking 'why?' had taken a
nasty turn with his Sire, resulting in Spike being whipped for
being a pain in the arse.

Jerking himself out of the memories, the vampire cautiously got
to his feet to make himself a cup of coffee while he waited for
his claimant to come home.

~ Whelp, do I have some news for you! ~

With a large grin, Spike switched the automatic jug on only to
find that the electricity had gone off again. During his time
speaking to the ex-watcher, he hadn't taken any notice of the
music stopping, putting it down to the end of the cd. A shrug
and he pulled out the candles, hurricane lamp and stovetop
kettle from under the sink. With the cold weather, the two men
had quickly discovered that although their cabin was hooked up
to the power grid, it wasn't a sure bet that they would alwasy
be guaranteed electricity. Henceforth, the candles and
hurricane lamp. The third time it had gone off, they had bought
the stove top kettle, both unwilling to go through the withdrawl
of coffee while waiting for the power to turn on again. The
generator out the back was the biggest piece of shit that either
of them had seen, Xander had once tried to get it started but
after almost catching alight from the sparks coming from it, he
had given it up as a bad job.

The company constantly assured them that someone would be out
soon to fix it for them. As Xander's workmates had said, don't
hold your breath. One of them wasn't and the other couldn't.
While waiting for the kettle to boil, Spike tried to make his
eyes yellow again.

Part Seven 

New Years Eve, 

The Vestal Gardens 

11.15 pm 


The decent sized restaurant was packed to the gills with loud 
music, singing, alcohol and a multitude of drunken Alaskans. The 
owners of the Gardens, Helen and Mi Wai as well as Ling Mai and 
Quong De, were hosting the noisy gathering as an apology for the 
resteraunt being closed for two weeks over the Chinese New Year. 
So far, it was the first time it had been hosted in Pennington 
and all was going well. The half demons had opted for a totally 
unique Alaskan theme for the night. The Gardens was decked out 
with various stuffed animals, curtesy of Cecil, and two huge 
Native Alaskan handwoven rugs. 

Both Spike and Xander were huddled close to the trestle table 
that was so loaded with food, it was almost groaning. There was 
spam sandwiches, Pilot bread, smoked salmon, chum pate, whale 
blubber in three forms (raw,pickled and boiled) and lastly, 
Eskimo icecream, something that Xander had taken to with a 
relish until Spike had told him what he could smell in the 
mixture. As tasty as it had been, the brunette hadn't been able 
to work out why the vampire was horrified each time he had tried 
to to get the blond to eat some. Finally, Spike had written him 
that the mixture contained at least four different animal fats 
and that finely shredded stuff wasn't coconut, it was some sort 
of meat. Spike was certain that it was caribou, his blood had 
the same smell. Xander had shoved his half empty bowl onto the 
nearest table on his way to the bathrooms, displaying his green 
face for all to see. Spike just grinning and nodding at the 
queries of if his boyfriend had tried the icecream, the next 
question was if he had just found out what it contained. 

Laughter all around and numerous mutterings of 'cheechako', an 
Alaskan term for tenderfoot, and the attention was diverted 
again by Helen setting up a display of towering champagne 
glasses. Each tier was watched closely, applause thundering 
around the silk screen panneled main eating room as she placed 
the last glass, completing the 12 tier stack. Spike glanced 
around the room, not too worried about where Xander was at the 
moment. He was still a little nervous about being with such a 
lot of people even with Xander by his side, his last party 
experience leading to being shaken by Stan. Thankfully the 
arsehole wasn't anywhere around tonight. 

A few of the gathered were the same people he had been 
introduced to at Mac´s house on the night of the Auction. Both 
he and the whelp had gone around the room together, shaking 
hands and nodding at the familiar faces from the previous party. 
The vampire was amused that Xander and himself were considered 
part of Mac's group of friends. The whole group contained the 
restaraunt owners and wives, the Fitzmaurice brothers (Spit and 
Fitzy), the two Fijians, Stephanie and now the vampire and his 
claimant. He was sure that the other humans would die of shock 
if they knew just what they partied on with on a regular basis. 
Then again, this was Alaska, home of the weird. They just 
might take it all in their stride along with an offer of a Spam 
sandwich. 

~ Fucking Spam! Better than that whale shit though. ~ 

Xander and the vampire had been flabbergasted when much to their 
horror, everyone bar them, had rushed the table in an effort to 
get at the traditional food. Thankfully, Helen and Quong De had 
put out some Spam sandwhiches as a joke. Everyone had just 
smiled at the two men when they had gone straight for the Spam 
and bypassed everything else, Xander only going for the icecream 
in the mistaken idea that it was made only with dairy products. 
The brunette had dared the vampire to eat some of the boiled 
whale blubber and Spike had taken him up on his dare, taking two 
huge bites before placing the still full plate on the floor 
underneath a chair. Mac had seen the smaller man try the whale 
blubber and in sympathy for a first winter newcomer, had tried 
to feed him some Pilot bread to soak up the oil. The red haired 
man had wandered off laughing when his offer was refused, 
something that was starting to worry the vampire. 

Not quite ill this time, Xander continued to hang his head over 
the porcelian bowl, just to make sure that he didn't embarass 
himself by throwing up in the party. After a few minutes, he 
straightened up and flushed the toilet, proceeding to wash his 
hands in the unisex bathroom. He was feeling both a little 
queasy and annoyed. The brunette had really liked the taste of 
the icecream but had been instantly horrified at what Spike had 
said he could smell in the combination. He had thought that it 
really was coconut, still appalled that it was shredded moose 
meat. At that thought, his stomach roiled again in rebellion of 
what he had just eaten. 

" As if Spam wasn't bad enough. Oh well, at least I didn't eat 
the whale." 

Xander snickered at the memory of what the vampires face had 
looked like when biting into the gelatinous mess. The youth had 
been sure that the blond was going to run straight to the 
bathroom. Spikes face had been a cross between him trying to 
sneeze and cough at the same time. Two bites and the plate had 
been discreetly hidden out of the way. Mac had come across with 
tears in his eyes at the scene and had told Spike to eat some 
Pilot bread so that the excess oil would be soaked up but after 
the whale blubber, the vampire was having none of that and had 
steadfastly refused. It had been then that Xander had started 
to try and get the blond to eat some of the delicious icecream. 

Hands dried, the brunette made his way back into the main room, 
the noise hitting him full force. Almost wincing at how loud 
the party had become, he admired the large tiered display 
sitting in one corner. Making his way back to the opposite side 
of the room, he glanced at the clock, nearly 20 to 12. He 
sighed as he reached Spikes side, taking his beer from the other 
man. The party was loud but somehow it was lacking the 'fun' 
from last year. He had Bronzed it with Buffy and the rest of 
the Scooby gang, leaving Spike at the apartment. The blond had 
been teary all day, in the end Xander had welcomed the 
opportunity to just get away and forget about him for an 
evening. 

Mi Wai caught everyones attention again as she hollered over the 
music that it was five to twelve. The petite half demon popped 
the cork on a bottle of champagne, the room bursting into loud 
cheers and clapping as the first of the golden liquid was poured 
into the top glass. Xander rested his right hand just above 
Spikes buttocks as he watched the flowing fountain. He hoped 
that it wouldn't taste too bad, the brunette really didn't see 
what the great fuss was with champagne. It had only ever tasted 
bitter and smelt little better than urine on the few occasions 
he had had the chance to consume some. 

The vampire pushed back into Xanders warm hand, he liked that 
his claimant was touching him in public even if it was ever so 
discreetly. He was also watching the pouring, thankful that at 
least something moderately interesting was happening. Ever 
since Xander had beaten up Stan at Mac´s house, the few other 
people he did know were a bit hesitant to come over and make a 
conversation with him if Xander wasn't anywhere near. The memory 
of an unconcious Stan was still fresh in everyones mind, those 
who hadn't seen it, had heard about it the next day. While the 
brunette had been in the bathroom, he had almost run from an 
approaching Lukas and had headed straight for Stephanie and her 
gaggle of work mates, joining in the conversation about the 
latest Fisher Paykel toys for toddlers. The vampire had just 
nodded and smiled along with the various comments, frowning when 
it was indicated that all should do so. 

Almost purring from the feel of the large hand, he hoped that 
all the 'excitement' wasn't going to set off another flash. It 
had been hard enough to convince the brunette to go the party, 
almost two days of pleading and finally, a few lines of how it 
wouldn't look too good to refuse an employer's invitation. He 
was flattered that the youth was worried that he would collapse 
or worse yet, collapse and then get another bit of his game face 
back in the middle of the party and be unable to hide it again. 
After getting off the phone to the Watcher, he had been alone in 
a dark cabin for four more hours until the weary whelp had come 
home. The dark hadn't bothered him as he had turned off the 
lights when Lukas had informed him his type of demon was more 
accustomed to the dark, it had been the sheer time wasting of 
waiting and wondering if he would have another more serious 
flash before the youth got home. 

Xander had been happy for him and after a phone call to Giles, 
he had been constantly worrying about another series of flashes. 
After a thorough discussion with the shop keeper, it had been 
decided that Spike shouldn't drive and for him to stay out of 
any stressful situations until all of his gameface was back. 
Spike had been upset at that until he realised that if he had a 
flash when driving, he would most likely kill both himself and 
the whelp. The brunette had decided to get a beeper once the 
shops were open again so that the vampire could call him if he 
had an 'episode' while Xander was at work. The vampire had been 
repeatedly told that if anything happened, he should call, no 
matter what. The excuse would be complications from the car 
accident that the blond had been involved in. 

The golden waterfall finished after three giant bottles of 
champagne and Spike wondered if it would taste like crap. 
During the 'roaring 20's', Dru had developed a passion for the 
stuff, the blond vampire had never seen the charm himself. The 
filled glasses were handed around, both men taking a small sip 
before hurridly joining in the countdown. 

8 
7 
6 
5 

Xander slid his arm around the slim waist, clutching his adored 
tightly, pleased and flushing when the vampire nestled against 
him firmly. 

4 
3 
2 
1 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!! 

All glasses were held aloft for a moment before everyone, bar 
Stephanie, took giant swallows. Xander greedily drank down the 
fairly pleasant liquid before gently pecking at the pale cheek 
of the blond. With a grin, Spike clutched the back of the 
brunettes head, dragging his head down for a deeper kiss. Much 
to the vampire´s amusement and Xander's embarrassment, the kiss 
had been watched by about everyone in the room. Lots of 
catcalls later, the youth felt the heat from the alcohol start 
to seep away as he once more made the rounds of the room, giving 
the women a quick peck and shaking hands with the men. A good 
ten minutes later, he felt like his hand was going to fall off. 
He glanced at the blond who was trailing behind him, Spike just 
finishing off his round of well wishing. With a shake of his 
head, Xander found the sight hilarious. Only two years ago, the 
blond would have chewed off his own arm rather than go to an 
'inter-bred hoedown' as he so cutely termed it. 

Xander took in the sight of the vampire smiling and softly 
grunting in what was his laughter. The brunette was slightly 
amazed at how much the other man had changed. Away from 
Sunnydale, he was no longer so weepy and was actually making an 
effort to get to know people rather than lift the finger 
automatically. The vampire still had his days of crying but 
moving away from the Hellmouth had been good for them both so 
far. With that, he decided that once the snow eased up a 
little, they should have Mac and a few of the other guys over 
for a game of cards. Lukas, Josessi and the Fitzmaurice 
brothers included. 

A cool hand on his forearm shook him out of his thoughts. With 
a smile Xander told the vampire that they would be leaving 
pretty soon. They wouldn't be the only ones. Mac, Spit and 
Fitzy were headed off to Chena Hot Springs at 6 that morning. 
Although both Xander and Spike had been invited to go along for 
the full four days, the youth had made an excuse of Spike´s work 
in the restaraunt being the reason for not spending the full 
time at the camping grounds. The brunette had placated a 
disappointed vampire with the compromise of an overnight stay. 
Xander was pretty sure that with him there, the vampire wouldn't 
get into too much trouble. It would be pretty much a drive 
through Fairbanks, then almost another hour to the camping 
ground, a bit of pottering around then a BBQ for dinner, liquid 
supper with lots of drunken talk. Hopefully they wouldn't be 
too intoxicated to experience the famous hot water springs. 

Spike nodded his agreement to leaving soon, as unexciting as the 
evening had been so far, he just wanted to get home for a shag 
and some sleep before leaving in a few hours. It had been nice 
to just get out of the cabin for a little while. He knew that 
he was lucky the whelp had even given in about the party and the 
trip to Chena. The vampire was disappointed that they wouldn't 
be seeing any bears due to the hibernation of the large land 
dwellers. A spreading warmth squarley on his buttocks and Spike 
decided that it was definately time to go. With luck he would 
get a decent handjob before a nice hard screw. He pushed back 
into Xanders hand and with a jerk of his head, he indicated 
towards the front door of The Gardens. 

Both men made their goodbyes, telling Mac to stop by their cabin 
around 6am so that they could follow in the commadore. Promises 
of people catching up, nights out for beer and a sunday dinner 
at Stephanie´s, the two relatively sober men made their way into 
the oppressive coldness of the night air. Xander unplugged the 
sidewalk engine warmer from his white car and walked around to 
the drivers side, hoping that his tyres hadn't frozen. Both he 
and the vampire had almost had a heart attack when they had 
learned that on some days it got so cold, tires froze onto the 
road´s surface and actually ripped off the wheel rim if not 
thawed out properly. With a nod, Spike gave each tire a kick 
and seeing that they were all pretty much supple, he threw 
himself into the still cold car interior. 

All through the slow drive home, the landscape was painted with 
a myriad of colours from the Northern Lights above them. Spike 
was fascinated with them and occassionaly, with a twinge of 
regret, he thought that Dru would have been in her element in 
Alaska. He wondered what his dark princess would have heard 
from the colourfull display dancing above the earth´s surface. 
He listened to Xanders quiet breathing as the youth shivered in 
the barely warm car. The vampire could feel the car swerving 
slightly in reaction to the shaking hands on the steering wheel 
and hoped that there wasn't too much ice on the road. 

Car parked in its usual spot, Xander wrapped his arms around the 
slender figure, both men sharing a cold kiss before making their 
way into a chilly cabin. Twatcat flung herself at her parents, 
trilling and mewling for some attention. Despite how hard Spike 
was, the first thing to do was to start the wood heater so that 
they didn't freeze in the early hours of the morning. While he 
was doing that, Xander fed Twatcat and refilled her hot water 
bottle, replacing it in her wicker basket. The brunette really 
didn't know just why he bothered, the kitten was usually found 
somewhere in the middle of the bed in the mornings. With a 
grin, he thought back to that morning when the vampire had been 
asleep with the kitten nestled firmly on his white chest. 
Xander had felt his heart jump at the cute sight, it had been 
perfect poster material. If he had only had a camera, he was 
sure millions of teenagers around the world would have paid to 
have such a picture upon their bedroom walls. 

The next task wasn't so pleasant, emptying the kitty litter 
tray. Something that the blond flat out refused to do, not that 
Xander could blame him. Lots of nose holding later, the kitten 
had a fresh tray full of litter placed in one corner of the 
bathroom. Almost running to the heat being thrown off the small 
heater, Xander took in the sight of the vampire laying naked on 
the bed. Spike gently stroked his hard on, thumbing at the 
weeping slit. He was waiting for his claimant to tell him what 
to do, not wanting to make any presumptions that might destroy 
the youth´s good mood for the night. 

Quickly shucking off his own clothes, the brunette crawled up 
the bed until his face was in direct line of the white penis. 
After a second of hesitation, he ignored the solid member, 
preferring to give each erect nipple a kiss. With a smile, 
Xander thrust his tongue into the cool mouth of the blond, his 

hand wrapping around the smaller one. He picked up the speed of 
the strokes on the cool cock, taking over the handjob. The 
youth continued to lick his way down the smooth neck, sucking on 
the Adams apple until the vampire started groaning in delight. 

Eyes rolled, Spike couldn't decide which was the best, the warm 
hand around his achingly hard cock or the wet tongue tracing the 
contour of his throat. He briefly wished that the brunette 
would bite him, the sensation would make him cum harder than he 
had for the past months. Spike gasped in shock as his right 
nipple was rolled between blunt teeth, small sparks of pleasure 
shooting across his chest. Another harder bite and his stomach 
was coated with cool semen, fingers shoved into his fanged 
mouth. The vampire slowly sucked his essence off the warm 
digits. 

Xander was suprised at how quickly the vampire had cum, normally 
he would have lasted at least a few minutes more. He looked 
into the gold eyes, his own cock begging for release. The 
vampire let the last finger slip from his lips and placed his 
hand at the back of the thick brunette hair, pulling down his 
claimant for a long hot tongue duel. He felt himself being 
rolled over onto his left side, looked like it was going to be 
the 'spoon' tonight. The lazy man´s shag as he liked to call 
it. 
Spike actually really enjoyed this position, it was only good 
for a long slow screw, something he didn't mind at times. 

With his eyes closed, the vampire moaned in delight as warm 
fingers spread cool gel over his puckered entrance. One, then 
two large digits swirled the gel into his relaxing hole. He 
sighed as a large blunt head replaced the skilled fingers. His 
right leg bent forward, he opened himself up for Xander. The 
brunette pulled away his sticky fingers, guiding his cock to the 
prepared blond. A fierce thrust and he was buried up to his 
balls in the cool body. Slowly he drew back, eliciting gasps 
from both of them. 

Spike rocked back to meet each slow thrust, his eyes golden as 
his prostrate was hit time and time again. Grunting filled the 
small cabin, Xander pumping into the tight channel, one hand 
wrapped in the soft hair. His other hand was clencing tightly 
to the slender hip, a smaller hand holding onto his larger 
fingers. The vampire had his own two fingers shoved into his 
mouth, running them along his elongated fangs, a few drops of 
blood falling onto his tongue. 

"Fuck Spike, I'm gonna cum! Gonna cum sooo hard!" 

Speeding up his thrusts as much as the position would allow him, 
Xander pounded hard into the slender body, the small whines of 
the vampire encouraging him. In one hard thrust, Spike was 
almost on his front, hissing from the uncomfortable angle. His 
prostrate no longer being hit, he was finding the thrusting 
starting to bruise his insides. The hand in his hair tightened 
roughly as with three more immense pumps, Xander bellowed his 
release to the room, the vampire's whimpering quietening down 
into unneeded pants. 

"Damn, good as always!" 

A kiss was dropped onto the pale cheek as his spent cock slid 
out of the loosened channel. With his arms wrapped around the 
slim body, Xander nuzzled into the soft hair, content to just 
drop off to sleep, relying on the alarm to wake them at 5.30am. 
Spike waited for the brunette´s breathing to even out before 
checking his heart rate to make sure he was asleep. This was 
his own time. For about half an hour after the brunette had 
fallen asleep each night, the vampire completly relaxed and was 
free from the constant worry as to when the youth would have 
another hissy fit and start the slapping. The blond turned his 
thoughts as to the little adventure beginning in only a few 
hours.