Spike sighed. He was
getting good at them. Angel would be proud. He
turned and looked Alex in the eyes. "I'm in and yeah he knows I'm a
vampire. He knew before we got here. He also knows a tiny tiny
bit of
this place. Not enough for my liking." The vampire turned to
Ripper. "Look, I know yer all tough on the streets of
don't think you need to come out hunting here just yet, right? Why
don't you stay here with Xander and keep him company?" He made it
clear that his next bit was for Alex, "Of that's all right with Big
Bro there."
Ripper clenched his jaw.
Great, didn't that just make him feel as if
he were back in nappies again. "Fine," he said shortly.
"Fine
by me." Alex grinned cruelly at the young Brit.
"As long as he understands, that if he even remotely
makes Xan unhappy..."
Alex stepped in front of his brother. He turned to
look Ripper in the eye. "I'll hurt him, badly.
Perhaps fatally even."
His eyes narrowed and he
glared at Alex. "I've had better try to
kill me."
Alex snorted and grinned.
"Hellmouth born and raised, Junior G-man.
You don't know what the fuck you walked into..."
He looked Alex up and down, then shook his head. "Fuck this. Spike,
I'll just head back to Wanker's place. It's got to be saner than
this."
Spike rolled his eyes.
"Oh for the love of... knock it OFF you two!"
He stepped between them and faced Ripper. "Look, I didn't mean to
have you get yer knickers in a twist, okay? Honest. If you want to
come along then do. Don't go slinkin' back to Bookboy's place if you
don't want to."
Ripper shook his head. He
didn't really want to go to the older
Giles' home, but he wasn't up to facing down Mr. Testosterone all
night.
He whipped around to face Alex. "And you... Aggressive side's all you
got eh? Well stuff it! You know what it's like 'round here and if you
lay one little mortal hand on Ripper, I'll bite it off. Chip or no.
Got it?" He ignored the slight twinge the blasted thing gave him at
that moment.
Alex growled softly at the
blond vampire, eyes glittering.
"Now to clarify for the both of you..." He said, standing sideways so
he could see them both. "I was thinking Ripper has had a fuck all of
a day here. And so has Xander. Maybe Xander would LIKE it if someone
stayed and kept him company. And maybe Ripper would LIKE to hang
somewhere without a load of crap being dumped on him." He stopped,
realizing he was waving his arms about. "Fuck me, when did I get to
be the sensible one here? "
"Whatever..."
Alex snorted and looked over his shoulder. He
desperately need some carnage, and if he didn't leave, it
was gonna
come out here... In front of Xan. Alex couldn't have that...
Couldn't frighten his twin... Let him see the monster inside. Oh,
he knew that Xan knew, they both had the same memories, but knowing
was different than seeing it. Up close and personal. "I gotta get
out of here... Now."
"Xan?" He turned and gathered his brother into his arms. "Be
back. 'Kay?"
Ripper hung back by
Spike's side. He spoke in very hushed
tones. "Get him out of here, the two of you do your thing. I'll
stay till you guys get back."
Spike, eyes on the twins,
nodded. "Yeah, think I will. Damned
Hellmouth, makes everyone bloody nuts with the presto-changeo"
He hunched his shoulders and went into the living room and sat in a
chair, away from the embracing twins. All Ripper wanted at this
moment was silence, to just disappear. He began plotting ways in his
head to do just that. A flat someplace, where he could bury himself
in the bedcovers and remain so for as long as he wished. Yeah, that
was the ticket.
Spike followed him after a
moment and squeezed his shoulder. "Be
back."
"Oi! Alex! Shift yer arse an' let's go! Things to kill!" Spike called
as he opened the door. <And a bit of attitude adjustment perhaps.
With a fuckin' 2x4 if need be...ow!> He winced as the chip went off a
bit harder. "Bloody stupid thing."
"Yeah. I'm
there." Without even thinking about it,
Alex quickly kissed his twin. "Be back soon, little
brother."
He grabbed his jacket, his keys and a couple of extra
weapons, and headed for the door. "Let hit it,
Fangless."
Xander watched in a state
of shock as Alex and Spike
rushed out the door. This whole conversation had been
whacked out. Alex was threading-no promising bodily
harm if something happened to him. Spike concerned
about his feelings, Alex being tear-up mad and
practically vibrating with contained violence and then
suddenly he’s hugging and soothing. Like a lion
protecting its pride, or a hyena! Alex must have the
hyena sprit. Xander reached back into his mind, where
it was dusty in corners and the hyena’s cage had been.
It wasn’t there. For that matter the solider was
gone too. For the first time in a long time Xander
was alone in his head.
He turned to stare at Ripper, his moth agape in shock,
“I’m alone,” he whispered.
Ripper looked at Xander in
puzzlement. Alone? What the hell?
"Err... Um, no, you're not alone. I'm here," he offered
uncertainly.
Way too much weirdness, he decided. A bit of alone time was
definitely in order.
"What?" Xander
blinked in surprise. "No, I um, I
meant alone, in ya know my head."
"Alone in his head?
What the bloody hell does THAT mean?" Ripper
mused. He shook his head. Maybe he WASN'T prepared for the
strangeness of this place.
Xander headed into the
bedroom, "I'm just gonna check and see who left a message, if we're lucky it was my
boss, or um Alex's boss calling to say works cancelled."
Xander listened to Giles message, "Um.. This is hard
to say, harder still to believe. Buffy is sitting in
my living room. Oz and I found her outside my house.
Um, call me back, please."
"OH MY GOD!"
He jumped up and ran into
the bedroom, stake at the ready, expecting
to see something ready to eat Xander. When he saw no threat, he
stopped short.
"What? What's wrong?"
Xander looked up at
Ripper, pale and shaking. "Buffy,
she's alive!" Xander wrapped his arms around himself,
shuddering. "I mean it's amazing, she's been dead for
a week! She just suddenly came back, it's weird, in
the course of just a few hours, I've been spilt in two,
you've been brought here from an alternate reality,
and now Buffy's risen from the dead!" There was a
slight hysterical note in his voice, but before it
could really get out, it was stomped, suppressed,
buried deep, with a visible effort. "We have to do
something."
"Do what,
Xander?" Ripper asked, the pragmatic face that the elder
Giles always wore coming to the fore. "Find Spike and your twin?
We'd be neck deep in shit, knowing my luck. Go to HIS house and beat
down the door, just to see this Buffy?"
He carefully avoided calling the older man by his name, THEIR name.
That would be admitted that he had a good chance of turning into THAT.
He shrugged. "Your call. Do you want to wait here for the Battle
Boys to return? Or do you want to go see for yourself?"
~What to do? What to do?~
Xander was having a major
panic attack. Alex wasn't there to lean on, it was
even possible that he was out there with the hyena
loose. Although, he hadn't shown signs of it earlier,
it was still a possibility, especially considering the
fact that the Hellmouth was batting a thousand on
'best way to screw us over' scale tonight.
He had a decision to make. Head to Giles, through the
dark and dangerous streets of Sunnydale, or find a
possibly homicidal twin brother and then what? What
if the Hyena was free? None of them were up to
stopping Alex if he was possessed. If he left a note
and headed to Giles then eventually Alex and Spike
would make it there. Giles would know what to do if
the Hyena was lose and he'd get to see Buffy. Now the
only trick was to stay alive. "We go, just let me
leave a note."
Ripper nodded. "All
right. Write your note, then we'll head over."
He shoved aside a bit of concern over the elder version of himself.
Rupert Giles must be having the night of his life. First, the twins,
the wolf-boy, HIM, and now this Slayer returned from the dead.
Xander hurriedly scrawled
a note on the notepad near
the refrigerator. "Listen to the answering machine,
meet us there. -X" Xander glanced over at Ripper.
He began to muse on other things as he waited for the shyer twin.
Like, would Giles let him stay the night? How would he fend for
himself in this new world? Would he want to? Ripper shook this line
of troubling thoughts off. He would find something.
He could almost see the
doubts playing across Ripper's
face. The guy must be reeling, he was completely out
of his element. ~Gods! Why does this crap keep
happening. I can't deal! Okay, Xander calm down.
Breath in, breath out. There that's much better.
Just deal with the emergency's one at a time.~ Xander
turned to Ripper, "Don't worry, we're the white hats,
we take care of people. Right now we have to help
Buffy, some kind of party will happen, be it research
or otherwise. Now grab yourself some weapons from the
chest. We're gonna need protection out there."
Xander grabbed what looked like gun, a couple of stakes.
Ripper thought of the
stake tucked inside his jacket and the dagger
tucked into his pants.
"No worries about the weapons." He shrugged. "One doesn't wander
Then, "White hats? Party?" He shook his head. "Tell me, has the
older me ever gotten to understand Americans?"
"Nope, and one of
these days I'm gonna write a Giles
to English dictionary so we can understand him,"
Xander said with an impish grin. "C'mon time to go,"
Xander glanced regretfully back at note by the
refrigerator. ~So we might get eaten, that's the name
of the game, plus Buffy needs us.~ Xander walked out
the door.
Ripper pulled the stake
from his jacket and carried it at the ready
as he followed Xander. He could feel his shoulders twitch, just
expecting a knife in the back, or fangs at this throat.
"So.. what's so special about this Buffy girl, other than the entire
Slayer business?" he asked. "I mean, you seem really concerned about
her, and last I checked dealing out monster deaths was supposed to be the
Slayer's job."
Xander shot Ripper a
smile, "well, Buffy's been
dead a week after sacrificing herself to save the
world--again." Xander rolled his eyes as he hurried
down the street. "She wa-is always doing that saving
the world thing. Averting the Apocalypse, that sort of
thing. You know I've always wondered about that, why
have more then one prophecy about the end of the
world? I mean, you think one Armageddon would be
enough, but noooo all the bad guys have to have
contingency plans! By the way why is it always a
virgin that's sacrificed? I mean did the people that
come with these things have parthenophobia or
something?"
"Parthenophobia? Oh,
no." Ripper shook his head. "No, it has more
to do with purity of the blood and soul."
He shrugged. "If you sacrifice something pure in the name of evil,
it makes that spell, ritual, or whatever, that much more powerful."
Then he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, too much time spent in the books
the last year or so."
"It's cool,"
Xander waved it away with a hand, "But
really? So like what level of virginity? I mean,
what about masturbation or rape? Does the hymen have
to be intact? What about male virginity does that
count too? You never hear about them sacrificing
males, well not really. Not that I want to give them
ideas or anything, being a male." Even while rambling
Xander continued to keep a close eye on their
surroundings and took a slightly longer route to
Giles' to avoid going by one of the many cemeteries in
Sunnydale.
Ripper grinned at the
questions, and at the care Xander was taking in
choosing their path.
"Well, first off.. Rape victims aren't technically pure of soul
anymore. They've learned to hate, to fear.. Sometimes, they give up
on hope. Emotions like that eat at the soul, make you a little
harder, more jaded." Ripper spoke quietly, trying not to show how
close the subject hit home. //Well, at least you're not up for
sacrifice any time soon..//
"As for masturbation, I would figure that the less that a potential
sacrifice indulges in, the better a prospect they are. If one
doesn't masturbate, and is still a virgin, then one is less aware of
the pleasures of the flesh. And males being sacrificed.. Well, in
an odd way, women work better as sacrifices. They bear life, sustain
it for nine months. In general, giving life is considered one of
those purely GOOD things in the world. It's all in the different
ways the genders are raised too.. Generally speaking, men are taught
to fight and destroy, to be harsh, unforgiving, and competitive.
Women are taught to rebuild, to value life, to be empathic, and
share."
Ripper laughed. "Maybe that's what I'll do with my life here,
teach."
Then he fell silent and thought about it. "That would make me an
awful like the older me, wouldn't it?"
Xander laughed freely and
openly. "Like that would be
a bad thing? Giles is alot of things, but most of
them are good things. Sure he can be a little stuffy,
okay a lot stuffy, but he's one of the coolest adults
I know. He doesn't ignore all the stuff that happens
around here, he's opened his home to us, helped us
survive and fight the evil that we see everyday. As
far as things to turn out as, there are a lot worse
things then Rupert Giles, trust me I know," Xander
said somberly. "If ya decide not to go the teaching
route I can set ya up with a temp job at the
construction site, if ya work hard ya can make a
pretty decent living off it. This I also know,"
Xander grinned ruefully.
Ripper looked at Xander,
startled at this kind offer. For a moment,
he was speechless.
"I-I would appreciate that. Even if I do decide to go into teaching,
I'll need money for my schooling.."
"Yeah that whole
learning thing can be expensive. One
of the many reasons not to go to college."
He shrugged. "As for the older Rupert Giles, maybe it wouldn't be so
bad to turn out like him."
Xander snorted,
"That’s for sure."
He laughed softly. "It's really odd, seeing how I would have turned
out if things had been different for me. The Rupert Giles you lot
know got the better end of the deal."
Xander looked quizzically
at Ripper, the way he said
that was odd. "So things were pretty different in
your reality? It doesn't matter you know. Thinking
about the past. You can't change it, the only thing
the past is good for is learning from your mistakes.
It's hard ta just forget, but if ya let the 'what ifs'
eat at ya, they win. You learn what you can, try your
best not to repeat your mistakes, and attempt to put
the past behind you. Then your half way there. Half
way to living."
Ripper quirked a sardonic
smile. "Things were very different."
Then he thought about the rest of what Xander had said. The shyer of
the twins was proving to be a font of inspiration. "Thank you,
Xander. Amazingly, that helps a lot. Maybe if I keep telling myself
that, I won't wake up every day wishing that I hadn't woken up at
all.."
Xander jerked a bit in
surprise. ~Well, this is
certainly a surprise. Just how different were things?
Maybe I should loan him some Patsy Cline that always
helped me when I was contemplating taking a long jump
off a short building, or wait is that a long walk off
a short pier? I can never remember.~ "What did that
character in that book say? Ya know the one that's
all futuristic? Oh! I remember! He said, 'I survived
life to live.'"
He peered down the street, recognizing it now as the one the ex-
Watcher lived on. "Eyagh.. Who's that on Giles'
porch?"
Xander broke away from his
external and internal
musing's to squint at the porch. "Deadboy?!" Xander
exclaimed in surprise.
He stepped aside to let
Angel in, and saw Ripper and one of the twins
over his shoulder.
"Where's the other Xander, and where's Spike?" he asked.
Hearing that familiar
voice, Buffy looked up and realized Oz was blocking
Angel's view of her. But, truth be told, she had know, deep inside, that he
was in Sunnydale. Standing up, she moved into full view.
Like a shy schoolgirl, she gently leant her head to the right, and said
quietly,
"Hi, Angel."
Angel stopped in mid
stride and mid question and stared. "Buffy?" What the
hell was going on? She was supposed to be dead. The fact that Giles had a
twin, or something similar, failed to fully register, as he stood there
looking at someone he had thought he'd lost forever. "Buffy?" He took
another
step, speechless. Really, what could he say. "I...um...You're...alive?"
Giles stepped around Angel
and went to meet Ripper and the twin.
"Where are Spike and the other Xander?" he asked. "And which one are
you?" He peered at the twin, trying to determine if this was the
more aggressive or the shyer of the two.
"This is Xander. Alex and Spike went to go kill things." Ripper
shrugged. "We got the message after they left."
Oz stood back and watched
everybody. Angel and Buffy both looked so
anxious. Giles looked about to collapse; Xander seemed ready to follow
while Ripper actually looked concerned for his older self.
He cocked his head to one side. "Are you all right? You look like
you need a stiff drink."
Ripper could recognize the signs of too much strain in himself? And
Giles looked about ready to fall over.
The older man shook his head. "Unfortunately, I need to be sober for
this. There's still so much we don't know."
"Why don't we go
sit?" Oz suggested. "You too, Giles. You sit, I'll
go raid the kitchen."
/Let me take care of you. Looks like this is not going to be a night
for sleeping after all./
Giles and Ripper both
flashed Oz identical smiles of gratitude.
Well, they would have been identical if one of the faces hadn't been
more age-lined than the other.
"Thank you, Oz," Giles said quietly as he headed for the kitchen.
From the looks of things, Angel and Buffy needed some time alone, to
talk.
Ripper looked to Xander. "Feel like sticking around? Or, would you
rather I walk you home?"
Xander considered his
options, stay here and possibly
pass out on the couch from exhaustion or walk back
*again* to his apartment through Sunnydale at night
and pass out there. "I'll stay thanks." Despite
popular belief Xander did know, ~well occasionally
knows~ when to shut up. This was defiantly feelin'
like one of those times.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ripper studied the blonde girl and the
male stranger. The girl was attractive, if one was into the petite
blond thing. The stranger was disturbing.. There was something so
very melancholy about him.
Meanwhile, Giles sat down at the kitchen table, and propped his chin
on his hands. He watched the dark-haired vampire and the Slayer
closely. It wasn't really Angel he was worried about.. After having
been tortured by Angel's demon, he was rather inclined to keep as
much distance between them. It was Buffy that concerned him. Why
was she back from the dead? How? Why?
Ripper smiled. "All right, then, come on. Let's go raid the old
man's refrigerator. I haven't eaten in hours!"
He took Xander's hand and pulled him along. He snuck a glance behind
him, to see the girl Buffy utter those oh so fateful words. "We need
to talk."
The younger one just nodded. Something was rotten in Sunnydale, but
he didn't know what. And didn't know enough of the people here to
voice his opinion. Little did Giles
know but these very same thoughts were running through Xander's head, with a few quires
about
Alex tossed in there for good measure.
Ripper smiled. "All
right, then, come on. Let's go raid the old
man's refrigerator. I haven't eaten in hours!"
Making her fingers click, then cringing when she remembered Angel hated that, Buffy sat down
and patted the sofa in a gesture for Angel to sit.
"We need to talk."
He took Xander's hand and pulled him along. He snuck a glance behind
him, to see the girl Buffy utter those oh so fateful words. "We need
to talk."
Huh. And how often had those self-same words ripped his heart out?
Ripper could list at least five times, and that was just the serious
relationships.
In the kitchen, Ripper took a seat opposite Giles. "So, that's
Buffy."
Giles looked at him wearily. "I see you've heard a few things about
her already. But, yes, that is Buffy, the Slayer."
Ripper nodded. "I take it from your reaction that you've no ideas as
to the hows and whys of the resurrection thing."
The older man shook his head. "None what so ever."
The younger one just nodded. Something was rotten in Sunnydale, but
he didn't know what. And didn't know enough of the people here to
voice his opinion.
Oz sighed and looked at
Xander and the Englishmen, before turning to
rummage through Giles cupboards again.
/Two Giles, two Xanders, what was next? Two of me, two of Buffy?
Aha!/
Smiling to himself, he found a large tin and opened it to find
cookies. He could have used his sense of smell but hunting like this,
figuring out where Giles put things, was fun. And listening to the
halting conversations was as well.
Angel shook his head, just
not sure what to do or say. Everyone else was carrying on, like nothing of interest could
be found in his discovery that Buffy was alive...and right in front of him. "Giles.
How did this happen? What...something must
have..."
The vampire stopped in mid sentence, as a new look dawned on his face.
"What?" His eyes went from Ripper to Giles and back again, as he took in the
new information. "Is it just me, or there two Giles in here?"
"Buffy?" At her
words, the rest no longer mattered. Another Giles, though younger...another anyone, just
didn't matter. Buffy, for whatever reason, was alive.
Angel quickly sat down, looking over to the one he had thought he lost,
and had mourned in his own particular way. "Are you ok? When did you come back..." What could he ask? Angel wasn't sure. "Is here...anything
I can get you?"
Ripper smothered a grin.
Even there being two versions of Rupert
Giles wasn't enough to distract a man from his.. mate? He mentally
shrugged. Whatever the Slayer and the stranger were to each other,
it was their deal, not his.
However.. He leaned across the table. "All right, who's the
melancholy bloke?"
Putting the tin on the
table in the middle of the three men sitting
there already he grinned slightly when they jumped a little. Going to
the fridge, he brought out a jug of milk and put that next to the
tin, before sitting down next to Giles and pouring himself a glass of
milk.
Giles looked away. "Perhaps someone else should answer that
question. I'm afraid I'm rather less than biased when it comes to
Angel."
Oz sighed and put his
glass down before speaking.
"I can, a little. Angel's a vampire with a soul. Couple of years ago
he lost it and caused a lot of problems, then got sucked into Hell.
Before that he hurt Giles, hurt Buffy, killed some...people we knew
and did his best to make us all miserable. He got out of Hell with
a soul again and helped Buffy for a while, but then went to LA a
couple years ago. He's Spike's Sire and tends to sit and brood alot.
He's looking for redemption for the thing's he did when he didn't
have a soul. If ever he loses it again and you have the chance, stake
him."
The kettle whistled then and he got up to make Giles a cup of tea
As Oz spoke, Ripper
fetched glasses for him and Xander. He poured
himself a glass of milk as well, and started in on the tin of cookies.
"So, he's an ensouled vampire? Isn't that something of an oxymoron?"
he asked, as he wiped a milk mustache off.
"Yes, well, one wouldn't really expect a vampire to be seeking
redemption either," Giles replied a little sourly. "Oh, thank you,
Oz. I appreciate that a lot," he said when he realized that Oz was
making tea.
Ripper nodded thoughtfully, hands wrapped round the cool glass.
Xander munched on his
cookies and drank his milk
content to listen to the others and half-doze. That
is until a rather unhappy thought occurred to him.
"Umm guys I left a note at the apartment telling Spike
and Alex to come here. And I know that wouldn't be a
big deal, but ya know how Alex has been acting all
protecting and crap, well he got the entire Angel hating
and I don't think it's wise that they meet, not
without Alex getting a little warning." ~This is so
not good. What does a person have to do to get some
descent rest around here?~
Ripper looked over at
Xander, and nodded. "If you want, I'll go find
them. That is, if you tell me where I'd be most likely to find
them. Or I could wait at your apartment. You could stay here and
rest."
Giles raised an eyebrow. "I hardly think you know Sunnydale well
enough to make that kind of offer."
The younger man grit his teeth. "I've survived as a prostitute in
goes, since I'll most likely only run into the demonic dangers here."
The ex-Watcher looked down at his folded hands. "I just don't want
you to get hurt," he admitted grudgingly.
/Ripper doesn't seem too
impressed with that./ Yawning again, Oz
thought idly about the differences and the similarities in the younger
and older versions.
/Ripper's both tougher and more vulnerable...more like a lone wolf, or
like he wants to be one. Giles is a leader, but he's actually done the
wolf thing. Wonder if he realizes yet not to worry Ripper too much?/
Ripper snorted. //As if my life for the last year hasn't been about
getting hurt.//
Xander shook his head.
"No, no, Giles is right. There's no reason
for you to risk yourself unduly, geeze ya know that's the
second or
third Giles-type word tonight. Kinda weird, I must've gotten the
vocabulary part of the skills. Anyhoo I think it'd be better if
Angel just left. Easier on everyone."
Oz put down two cups of
tea, one for Giles and one for himself.
Sitting back down Oz looked at Xander.
"Easier for you. If that's really Buffy out there, it may be better
for her if he stays."
"What's up with Buffy
anyway? Shock or something?
And don't think I'm not grateful, but how did you
spontaneously rise from the dead, without being
vampiric or something?"
Looking at Ripper, he continued.
"That said, don't let anyone drive you away. You have more right to be
here than he does."
/Gee, Oz, protective much?/ Yawning once more, he continued.
"Stay. Have a cup of tea. Or," he said, and grinned at Giles as he did
so, "I could look for the rest of Giles hidden stash and we could all
have something stronger."
Xander jerked. "No,
um, I don't think Giles or Ripper
need any, and we're both underage. Drinking is never
a solution." ~Plus it pisses Alex off and scares me
to death. I refuse to become, or let anyone else
become my father.~
/Oops. Forgot about that.
Great, way to go, Oz./
Giles sighed. "I've
imbibed in alcohol far too much this past week
anyhow. It's better that I don't."
Ripper raised an eyebrow at that, but said evenly, "I don't drink."
"Sorry. Just trying
to lighten things a bit. It was a stupid thing to
do. And I sorta ignored the underage thing for a while, forgot about
it, really. I'm too tired to make sense, I guess." Oz picked up his
glass of milk and drank, before he could say anymore.
/...and with the fatigue comes the babble. More babble. Oh god, could
this get any worse? Next thing you know I'll be telling them how
tempting it was to not stop drinking after my last time back here.
And Giles asked me to help him with his drinking problem...hah!/
Looking down Oz stared at the table, deciding to keep his mouth shut
from now on.
He leaned back in his chair to watch the rest of them interact. Sort
of odd that his older self was the leader. He'd been Ethan's
follower, yes, but he was developing a need to be on his own.
The older man smiled at the comment and the posture. It reminded him
of the days when he'd been more cock-and-bull than anything else.
Xander just nodded. He
really just wanted to finish
his cookies and milk and go to sleep. ~Its like my
brain's on overload, one too many weird things
happened and it's just completely shutting down. I
think it needs sleep.~
Giles put a hand on Oz's
thigh beneath the table, giving the werewolf
a weary smile. "I think that we're all a little too tired to make
sense. Things will be just as confusing in the morning. of course,
but at least sleep will make us all a little better at dealing with
them."
Oz smiled back at Giles.
Putting his glass down, he slipped his hand
under the table to rest on top of Gile's and gently squeezed.
/He's right. Sleep will help./
He peered at Xander, who seemed to be about to fall asleep. "Xander,
if you like, go ahead and pick one of the guest rooms to stay in."
He frowned then. "I think though, you'll have to share a bed with
someone. Oz and I can share, but there's Buffy and Ripper here. I
don't know if Angel will stay or not.."
Oz smiled even more, and
felt himself grow hot in the face.
/He wants to sleep with me! Bed with Giles sounds great!/
Giles' ears turned a crisp
shade of red then, as he realized what
he'd let slip. 'Oz and I can share' Gods! What on earth would
Xander think? Would Oz care that he'd let that tidbit trip off his
tongue?
"Giles is right. I
don't mind sleeping with him at all! Err, sharing a
bed I mean!"
/This is why you were gonna keep your mouth shut. But it's truth.../
Ripper looked down at his clasped hands, smiling a little at the gob-
smacked look Giles had on his face. //Didn't mean to let that slip,
did you, Watcher?// He quickly let his face go impassive, not
wanting it to seem that he'd been laughing at Giles.
"Huh? Bed, oh that
sounds good, but I should wait for
Alex to get here. He'll be soon though I'm sure.
I'll just wait here," Xander let out a hugh yawn,
"until he arrives."
Ripper clapped a hand over
his mouth to suppress the giggle that
tried to bubble to the surface. It came out as a muffled 'snerk.'
Giles glared at him. He knew that sound. He'd made it himself many,
many times in the past. "And what are you laughing at?"
His younger self shook his head. "You. It's just so ODD watching an
older me go through the 'getting to know you' phase of a
relationship."
The elder Giles shook his head and said conversationally to Xander
and Oz, "Ignore him. I was an unbelievable prat when I was
younger." He said it with a smile on his face, to show he was
teasing Ripper. The younger man responding by sticking his tongue
out.
"Anyway, Xander, feel free to wait for Alex. Would you like me to
make some coffee?"
The only sounds to greet
the question was a light
snore. Xander had fallen asleep sitting up, his hand
still gripping his glass of milk.
Xander jerked straight,
"I've got it!" He yelled and
jumped up from his seat, rushing toward the kitchen
phone, where he picked it up mid-ring..... on the
first ring. "Alex?"
Nearly falling asleep
himself, Oz jumped when
Xander leapt up suddenly to answer the phone.
/Did he actually pick that up before it rang?/
Leaning against Giles, he frowned as he listened to
Xander speak.
"Giles. I think something funny is going on."
Xander stared at the phone
for who knows how long
before he started to move. He turned back to the
people at the table, "Alex and Spike are coming over."
Looking at the expression
on Xander's face, Oz
recognized it as the look he got when he was trying to
hide something.
/Only he usually does a better job of it. And Xander
smells nervous, too. What is he up to? Or is it what
Alex is up to?/
Xander jerked and then
trotted into the living room.
"They're here!" He called over his shoulder.
Xander threw the door open
and pulled Alex into a
big hug.
Sighing contently, he tightened
his arms, and nuzzled his
brother's neck inhaling deeply. Scenting him. "Hey
you." He whispered into Xander's skin. "You okay?"
Spike staggered back as
Xander and Alex hugged and hugged hard,
nearly knocking him over. He flipped his smoke away and watched them.
He told himself he wasn't jealous. They were twins of a sort after
all. He told himself he didn't want to hurt Xander because that would
piss off Alex. He beat his demon over the head with the fact that
Xander was now family and it better get used to it. The demon piped
up with a hopeful plea for the same sort of 'togetherness' that made
Alex family. He beat it again, just not as hard.
~Alex would have my guts fer garters if I even went there.~
"Right. Move the love-fest aside so someone can get in the bloody
door." He said. "Peaches here?"
Xander sighed and relaxed.
He was safe in his
brother's arms. He wouldn't have to worry about
making anymore hard decisions for awhile. He could
just lean back and let Alex be Alpha for awhile.
~Oooh. We need to talk about that, but in private.
Case how bad it is first.~
"Right. Move the love-fest aside so someone can get in
the bloody
door." He said. "Peaches here?"
"No. He left with Buffy to go somewhere I guess." But
since his head was tucked down into his better half it
came out more like, "mo. E mapht mit luffie ta co
cumflare e leste."
Spike blinked. Vampiric
hearing or not, it took him a second to
decipher Xander's words. "Left. Buffy. Right. Figures. Bloody wanker.
Hope he doesn't do something stupid."
Of course Angel left with Buffy. He probably couldn't wait to get
into her tight pants. No, that wasn't quite right. Probably couldn't
wait to hold her in his arms and stare sadly at the moon, all
Heathcliff and tragic. Bleh. A regular gothic romance on the moors
for those two.
He slid past the Twins, feeling like he was going to vomit. He hadn't
even seen Angel or Buffy and already he wanted to break something. He
threw himself down on Giles' couch, a leg draped over one arm. Oz and
Giles and Ripper were in the apartment somewhere, but he couldn't
care less. Right now, he almost hoped the wolfboy would smell
something and get in his face. That Giles would snap at him to stop
messing up the furniture with his dirty jeans again, like the old
bathtub days. Something, anything to get rid of the thoughts
and ...he sniffed.. smells of Buffy and Angel.
Alex growled softly at
Xander's revelation, and petted
his twin's hair soothingly. Not letting go of Xan, he
gingerly maneuvered them inside, and shut the door. "No
Deadboy, huh? Why am I not surprised? Cryptic
vanishing guy. Grab the dead girl. Err, or former
dead girl... Whatever. Get his own answers and leave
everyone else hanging..."
Still petting his twin, Alex looked to Spike and
frowned. He could feel his mate's uneasiness and
frustration. The rise and fall of his emotions...
~Wow. Okay, he like wasn't kiddin' bout the bonding
thingie... Can I kill Deadboy for this? Well, I could
kill him, but could I get away with it? Well, yeah. I
could get away with it... Not upset the rest of the
pack? Hmmm, probably not.~ He shook his head, and
slapped the sudden surge of anger away. ~Not gonna
help right now!~
He smiled at his twin, trying to lighten the mood. For
both him and Spike. "Think it's the hair gel? I think
it's the hair gel. Rotted Deadboy's brain. Hey
Spike? Better watch you for signs of hair product
induced senility... One 'Mighty Mousse' is enough."
Xander pulled away abit.
Still in his twin's arms
though. Content to listen to banter, he was safe and
while there was a lot to do, it wasn't anything he
could do now. So he might as well revel in his safe-ness.
Spike's head snapped up.
Logically, through the link, he knew Alex was
just trying to lighten his mood. Unfortunately, comparing him in any
way to Angel was not the way to do it. Especially not now. He glared
hard at his mate. Glared until the rest of Alex's feelings caught up
with him.
The bond was close to telepathy being so new. New enough that he
could tell Alex was thinking of killing... for him. This was new. Not
new maybe from Alex, but new to Spike in general. With Dru, he did
the killing. With Angelus, well.. they did enough killing, but never
for each other. Buffy, oh forget it. She wanted to kill him, no
matter how much he loved her.
He stuck his hands in his duster pockets and pulled it close around
him, slouching down deeper into the couch. Right, he was acting a
touch Angel right now. Alex didn't have to point it out though. But
he care. In his own bonded, instinctual way, he cared.
~Or is it just the bond? Would he give a flying fuck otherwise? Would
I?~ Spike knew he would. Stupid as that was, he would. Right? ~Just
felt so damn good to be a part of something...someone... God, I *am*
acting like the Pouf!~
He threw himself up off the couch and stalked to the kitchen. Stopped
on a dime when he saw it was occupied. Spun and stalked back out the
apartment door, passed Alex and Xander. On the stoop, he lit a
smoke , sighed and, in a blurry of motion, punched the cement/stucco
wall. The all cracked a bit. His hand crack a bit more, knuckles
bloodied.
"Well, that went over
well..." Alex growled softly,
and pressed his forehead to his twins. Spike's blow to
the wall wasn't subtle. It didn't take enhanced
senses to hear it or feel it rattle the pictures on
the wall inside. But none of that really registered
to Alex. No, he could feel it on the inside, through
himself.
He sighed, kissing Xander gently on the forehead.
"Get whatever you need, 'kay? I'm gonna talk to
Spike, and then we're for home..." Reluctantly, he
released his twin, and smiled reassuringly. "Be right
back in."
Silently, Alex moved outside with one final grin at
his 'little brother', and shut the door behind
himself. He slid one arm around his vampire, and
grasped the Spike's wounded hand. Purring softly, he
raised the bloody knuckles to his lips and kissed the
wounds, licking lightly at the blood. "You wanna give
this party a miss? Head for home? Cause we can do
that. Right now."
Xander stared for a moment
at the closed door.
Something besides sex had occurred between the two,
that was for sure. He had a feeling that he wouldn't
be able to find out about it until he got home. So he
headed for the kitchen. He grabbed his implements of
doom, and turned to the others at the table. "Alex,
Spike and I are leaving. We'll be around, if
something comes up, call, if we aren't there leave a
message. Umm," Xander turned his gaze to Giles and
Oz, "you guys have fun. And that's all I have to say
about that." Xander turned and left with a smile on
his face. Just goes to show that anyone with eyes
could see that those had some kind of chemistry going
on between them. Xander sat on the couch giving Spike
and Alex a few more minutes in case they needed it.
Spike couldn't stop the
shudder that went through him. Alex's lips,
his tongue licking at his bloody knuckles... His eyes closed, lips
parted as he hissed softly. Finally, he let his eyes flutter open and
leaned in to rub his forehead to Alex's. "Yeah, I do. Don't think I'm
quite up to dealing with Angel or..." He could barely get the name
out of his mouth, "Buffy right now. Not looking forward to a huge
over-protective blowout, if you know what I mean." ~Not looking
forward to dealing with her now period. Or her great soddin' lover.~
"Got a clue. Too
much. Too fast. All now. Yeah,
got sumthin' of a clue." Alex grinned ruefully, and
kiss Spike softly. "We deal... Later."
Yeah, he knew he was being chicken shit but didn't care. He *knew* he
wasn't up to facing the woman he'd proclaimed his love to, or the man
who's arms he'd spent so much time in, just now. Not while this...
thing... this bond with Alex was so fresh. They wouldn't
understand. They get angry, pull stakes,
throw him about, all in
the name of protection. Of protecting Alex from him. Never mind the
flood of emotions that as sure to come when he laid eyes on either of
them. The last thing he wanted was Alex to get confused and think
that he, Spike, didn't want him.
"Get your twin an' lets' bail." He said, pulling away and taking a
drag off his smoke.
Nodding, Alex turn and
placed his hand on the
doorknob. He turned back hesitantly, and paused.
"They couldn't you know... Separate us. Not now. Not
ever after. I'd kill them." He shifted his gaze and
stared into space testing his own thoughts out loud.
"Even Buffy. I- I think. Wouldn't want to... But I-"
He shrugged unable to finish the sentence. ~Your the
only one who could end this, Spike... And you'd better
kill me to do it. Cause I will you... Break my heart
and I'll stake yours.~
He turned the knob quickly, and opened the door.
"Xan? You ready? Let's make with the leaving, 'kay?"
Xander jumped up from the
couch. "Yeah. Cool, k.
Byes guys!" Xander shouted into the kitchen. Xander
thought about babbling, not meaning to babble but with
the knowledge that if he really started talking about
anything important that he would also start to babble.
So he choose to keep his mouth shut. See what
unfolded. And he slammed the door on the way out.
Giles propped his head on
his chin, listening to the activity in the
living room. He chose to remain silent. Xander's behavior had been
decidedly.. ODD. Something brewing beneath the surface there,
something he hadn't wanted the others to know about.
The door slammed shut, and Giles knew that Xander, Alex, and Spike
were gone. The fact that Spike had arrived with Alex was
interesting..
"Well, that leaves the three of us. I need to get to bed. I've got
to open the store in the morning." One hand snuck beneath the table
to once again rub Oz's knee. Xander's parting comment to them. The
boy was more observant than he wanted anyone to believe.
Ripper shrugged. "I'm not really ready to hit the sheets. Do you
mind if I watch TV or something?"
The Watcher shook his head. "There's plenty of books, and plenty to
watch on the television. And when you are ready for bed, there's two
guest rooms upstairs. Take your pick."
[Oh yeah, both are
definitely available for you to
use. I intend to spend the night with Giles. Well,
sleeping, anyway.] Oz thought to himself.
"Right then." Ripper moved into the living room and began perusing
the books.
Giles turned to Oz. "Xander WAS acting oddly, right? I'm not just
being paranoid?"
Oz shook his head.
"No, you weren't. There was something odd about when
he was on the phone, too. He smelt pretty nervous when
he hung up. Something's going on."
Giles shook his head.
"I'm not going to try and figure out what's
going on in the twins' collective mind. At least, not right now.
NOW is the time for this old man to head for bed. Unlike you
children.. er, younger people, I can't function on less than five
hours of sleep."
[You still look good to
me, Giles] Opening his mouth, Oz spoke.
"Good point, I'm tired too. But I think you could run us 'younger
people' ragged, usually."
He looked over at Oz. "Your choice. Guest room or my room?"
Oz stared back at Giles
and thought for a minute. [Once I do this,
that's it. That big step. I've only been back in Sunnydale a day, seen
Giles for a few hours. Am I ready for this?]
He took and deep breath and stepped up to Giles. [Yeah. Let's give it
a shot.]
"Your room I think."
Giles smiled shyly. He'd
hoped that Oz would reply that way.
Admittedly, he didn't expect anything to happen--he WAS dead tired,
and this -thing- between him and Oz was still so new.. But he
thought he might be able to sleep better knowing there was someone he
cared for next to him in the bed.
Oz smiled back. It'd be
nice to get to bed at last, and somehow he
just knew he would feel rested for the first time since hearing about
Buffy from
He took Oz's hand, then, saying, "To bed then. Gods know, I need
sleep." He then led the young werewolf through the living toward the
stairs.
Oz curled his fingers
around Giles and felt himself begin to unwind.
Closing his eyes, he trusted Giles wouldn't let him walk into
anything.
"Goodnight, Ripper," he said as he passed his younger self.
"Night." Oz said
in turn, opening his eyes to half smile at the
younger Giles.
Ripper merely grinned as he looked up from the book in his hand and
waved. Oddly enough, he was pleased to see his older self with a
spark of happiness in him.
Giles returned the wave
with his free hand and continued to lead Oz
up the stairs.
Ripper yawned as he paged
through a copy of a Watcher's journal from
a hundred years ago. Not very interesting reading, so far. The
author of this particular diary had been more interesting in running
experiments to test the limits of Slayer strength than fighting
demons.
He slid the book back onto the shelf, taking a glance at the
television. Hmm.. No, he though not. At least, not right now. He
wasn't sure he wanted to mess around with the TV. It was a far cry
from the ones he was used to, and didn't want to chance breaking
something. At any rate, he really was quite tired, now that he had a
chance to think about it.
Ripper rubbed the back of his neck, considering taking one of the
guest rooms. //No. I don't know if that blonde girl, the Slayer, is
coming back. She'll probably like being in a bed. And I've slept in
worse places than that couch.//
With that thought, Ripper shrugged off his jacket and draped it over
a handy chair. Then he shucked his shoes and laid down. It was more
than warm enough in the house for him to sleep without a blanket..
Soon enough, he was drifting off to sleep.
Angel lightly knocked on
Giles door, but no one answered. Was anyone home?
Trying the knob, Angel heard a tiny click and he realized that the
door was unlocked. Pushing lightly, he entered the home, and looked
around. "Giles?"
Ripper sat up with a
start. He shook his hair out of his eyes and
looked around wildly. For a brief moment, he didn't know where he
was. Then it sunk back in. Sunnydale. Far from his time and
home. His
older self's flat and couch. And who was this looking around?
"Er, hello?" He hated being caught confused like this. His
coat and
its weapons where over on the chair. Damn.
Poor Giles. He didn't look quite himself. Angel walked
over to the man, examining him "Are you ok?" Giles looked slightly
confused to Angel, which didn't make the vampire happy, not to
mentions his choice of clothing. Since when had Giles started dressing like...that?
Angel let his eyes go over the outfit, and he noted that Giles, though
seeming confused, also looked pretty damned good in his
clothes. Not that Angel would care, but it was interesting. "Are you ok? You look a
little disoriented." The vampire looked around, but didn’t see anyone else.
"Are you the only here?"
Ripper frowned and barely
stopped himself from crossing his arms
over his chest to ward of the look he'd just gotten from this man.
Whoever it was knew his older self and had him confused. ~Bugger that!
~ "I'm fine." He said, stepping out from the tall, and he admitted to
himself, handsome and looming man. He searched his coat pockets and
pulled out his cigarettes. "Now, if you don't mind, who the bloody
hell are you and what are you doing in Rupert's home?" Didn't anyone
lock the bloody doors around here?
Angel frowned, confused about the way Giles was talking. And come to think
of it, this guy didn't exactly look right, apart from the clothing. "I'm looking for
Spike," he stated just as bluntly, still looking the other over. "and the door was open, so I came in."
Something just wasn't right. Either Giles was losing weight, or he'd lost
some age, because...he just didn't look right. Then, it hit him, or at least an idea did.
There had been two Xanders earlier. Could the same be said of
Giles as well? Angel narrowed his eyes, and took a breath to get the other mans scent. It
was Giles's smell, but there was something different about it as well. Something
fresher, and wilder. Something he could not quite put his finger on, but made him
just as sure, that this was not the man that he knew. "Who are you?"
Ripper sighed, taking an
agitated drag of his smoke. The man
had just *sniffed* him. If it wasn't day outside, he might think this
person was a vampire. Or was he? Stay out of direct sun and
they could get around easy. And he was looking for Spike. Then
again, judging by some of the reactions the blonde vampire had
gotten, that might just mean loan shark. Or Hunter...
Blast.
And, on the other irritating hand, this person knew Giles.
"Never mind who asked first? Right, we could stand around all
bloody day doing this. I'm Ripper. You want to know where Spike
is? Tell me who and why." Ripper took another step
back. "And
don't sniff me again."
Angel
frowned again, getting annoyed by this person that looked almost light Giles, but who was
now. "Ripper. I see." He looked around again, as
though hoping someone who wasn't insane would pop up. "How do you know I
was...*sniffing you? Maybe I have a head cold and I was clearing my...passageways."
Ripper snorted. Between
Spike's weird behaviors around the
Twins and Oz being a werewolf, never mind the things Ethan did,
it was obvious to him that this man was... well never mind.
Angel turned back, and he shook his head. Why in the world was he even
talking to this guy? Didn't matter. He wanted to find Spike, it
seemed he'd have to go through this *Ripper* person. "My name is Angel. Spike is
a..." a what? Angel took a deep breath, wondering why he had to tell Ripper anything.
"He's just a friend, and I want to see where he is. Do you know where he is, or
not?"
"A vampire yes...
Oh..." God, he must be tired to just let that out.
But he had to be excused seeing how his life had gone to date,
right? He ran his non-smoking hand through his hair. "Well hell.
Right, Angel is it? Friend of Spike's... Consider myself that." he
looked up at Angel. "You think we could start over? Been a
right
wank of a day."
Angel wasn't
sure what to say. He had started to be angry at the blurting out of what Spike was...but
now he wasn't sure. This Giles’ look alike seemed to want to make up for it, and that
was fine with Angel. Not that he couldn't argue the point a little
more, but after Buffy, did he really want to?
"Forget it," He said, shaking his head. "I guess my days been
less than great, too." Angel took a deep breath then and sat down. He watched Ripper
smoking his cigarette and suddenly had a craving for one himself. Stupid, he knew, but it
made his hand itch for some strange reason. "So...You're Ripper. What are you? Giles' twin? His split double?" He
thought of Xander again, thinking that might be it. "Or something else? "
"Er, that would be
something else." Ripper said, sitting down
himself, "I'm Rupert Giles from the past. A past
anyway, maybe not
this one's exactly. I got hit with a spell and brought here." He
looked at Angel. "And it's made me a bit tetchy, sorry. Out
of time
and place. Spike found me and brought me here. I hope this isn't too
confusing. It sure as hell is to me."
Ripper sat back and sighed. "Giles is at his.."
He made a face, still
not believing he was going to turn into a shop keeper, "Shop. With
Oz, I believe. Spike took Alex and Xander, um... the twins, home. I
don't know the address, but if you aren't going to stake him, I could
show you." He was tired, but Angel looked like he'd had the same sort
of day Ripper had.
Angel took
in Rippers words, and he rolled them in his mind. It was all confusing, but he understood
the basics of it. "you mean The Magic Shop?" He'd
only heard a little tiny bit about the place, but had yet to have gone there. It was
interesting though, Giles having his own place again, and good as well.
Angel made himself more comfortable, and then nodded at Ripper's offer.
"I'm not going to stake him. Sometimes, he probably deserves it, but no..I don't think so." Angel was
grinning as he said that, showing a certain fondness that he'd not realized he possessed.
"When can we go?"
"Hm.. Magic Box I think. Not to sure."
Ripper shrugged. He still had trouble
wrapping his mind around seeing himself as a shop keeper. It beat hustling,
but seemed so... boring.
He watched Angel's grin. Looked like this bloke would be glad to
see Spike.
And it looked like he wouldn't get much more sleep. "Right now, if you want.
Just let me a cup of coffee or something. I'm knackered."
Angel
nodded, thinking that it was fine. "Sure. I can wait." He wasn't sure what he
would say to Spike anyway. Long overdue sentiments, wasn't really his thing, and Spike
would most likely just make fun of him. They seemed to have that tradition to squabble.
"Just...tell me when your ready. I'll just, sit on the couch..waiting."
"Right."
Ripper got up and headed to the kitchen area. He had to
admit this Giles had a slightly posher place than his in
Made sense, but wasn't enough to make Ripper want to be a
shopkeeper.
He fiddled around with cold coffee and the microwave. ~Punch
the buttons until it starts. There we go...~
And in the mean while, he could try and figure out how to get to the place
without revealing that he was also a vampire. Though, since Ripper was a younger version
of Giles, he might have sensed it, or something. And, he didn't seem to be too upset that
Spike was one. In fact, he seemed to like Spike, though Angel wasn't sure where he'd
gotten the impression exactly. Well, better to find out now. He was tired of hiding
anyways. "By the way...we'll have to use the tunnels. It's kind of sunny outside,
and...my skin burns really easily."
Ripper stopped and looked
out the little kitchen nook window.
Angel was almost as pale as Spike. ~But he had an invitation to
this house. He could get in.... bloody hell.~
"Yeah. Noticed." He took a sip of coffee and
nearly burned his
tongue. "Fuckin' hell..." He muttered. "You
got in so I take it you
had an invitation. Which means Rupert trusts you. I'm still a bit
muddled on good vampires versus bad, they're all bad back
home. But Spike's a descent bloke and if you can get in here, I
guess you must be."
Ripper gulped the last of the hot coffee and got his leather coat.
He still had a stake in there. "Not sure if I can find the place
through the tunnels, but I'll know it when I see it."
Angel
snorted a little, thinking of Spike as being decent. Well, each to
his own. Plus, from some of the things he'd heard, maybe the blond vampire had
changed. Who knew? "Ok. Sounds good." Angel paused
and then thought it over. He remembered a magic shop, but it was always getting raided and
killed by the supernatural creatures of their lovely town. He wondered if this was the
exact same place. After all, he'd been gone for a little while. Maybe Giles had bought the
shop.
Walking over to the door then, Angel prepared himself
to go out. "There's a tunnel entrance just outside. We'll go there, and then you can
lead the way." He shrugged and added as well.
"I have an idea where it is too, if it's the place I'm thinking of. I think we should
be able to find it within a short time." And having said that,
Angel waited for Ripper to lead the way.
Ripper shrugged and headed
for the tunnel Angel indicated. At
the entrance, he paused and got his bearings. The twins
apartment should be... Ah yeah. He went in and let his eyes
adjust, trusting Angel to follow.
The most disturbing thing was the lack of noise the tall vampire
made. A few times, when Ripper stopped, Angel being right
behind him made Ripper jump. He had to keep reminding himself
that, thus far, Sunnydale vampires didn't act normally. That and
keep a hand on the stake in his pocket.
Several times, he poked his head out to see where they were.
~Ruddy good thing direction sense works underground. think....
hhmmm... ah! There!~
"The entrance is fairly shaded. I just wonder if anyone's up. The
twins and Spike seemed to have a helluva night." He
looked at
Angel closely. If the man didn't seem to have a permanent frown
etched on his face, he'd be handsome. ~Not that the Lord Byron
bit doesn't have it's place... and perhaps serious after
Ethan....
No... enough of that, Ripper. You really need sleep.~
Angel
nodded, understanding, though his thoughts were distracted. He wished things had worked
out better with Buffy, but it was not meant to be, it seemed. "Hmm?
Oh. Sorry." Angel focused on the place them wanted to go and nodded. "Do you
want to tell them I'm here first, or should we just go on in?"
"I think I'd better
go knock." Ripper said. "Not sure anyone's
awake." He stifled a yawn. "Be right back."
~Bloody messenger I am.~ Ripper squirreled up out of the
tunnel and
went to the door. Angel should be able to make it if he covered his
head. The doorway was nice and shady. He raised his hand and knocked.
Angel stood
where he was, watching the other go over and knock. He waited
for a moment or two and then decided he didn't want to wait anymore. Taking his chances,
the very pale vampire, ran across the bright area, and managed to make it to the door.
Luckily, his coat was good enough for such a short distance.
"Sorry," he said to Ripper then, giving half a grin. "I got
lonely." his words lilted, showing it was a joke, before he turned to face the door. "Anyone home?"
~I'd better learn to stop
nearly pissing my pants...~ Ripper
grumbled to himself. ~Oh... lonely... don't I wish that was
for
me...~ "I haven't heard...."
Alex wrenched the door
open and felt his
amusement flee. "Oh look, the world must be ending..." he muttered
to himself, then sneered. "Deadboy and G-man jr. What the hell do
you want?"
Ripper shrunk back a bit,
Alex's distain was like a hammer blow.
What exactly had he done to piss this twin off? It was getting
tiresome. "Look, Alex. I don't know what yer goin' through, cuz I'm
not you. But, I've had a helluva day as well, so don't
bite my
bloody head off right? Swear, try t' do the soddin' right
thin' an'
they piss on you. Angel here is lookin' for Spike.
Everyone else
buggered off to God knows where so I got fuck all to work with. "
Ripper's low rent Cockney came pushing through, street kid all
the way. The fact he sounded like a very irritated Spike didn't sink
in. He was tired and confused and just trying to do something
right. Part of him wanted to punch Alex, the other wanted to cry.
A
smirk quirked Alex's mouth. He liked the little
Giles' xerox flinching. Made him all
warm and tingly.
He hadn't missed the little prick's sniffing around
Spike last night. How all buddy-buddy they'd been
acting. Toward his mate! A cold rational thought
intruded...~That was before we were joined.~ And he
sounded like Spike... Like Spike upset and hurt. That
wasn't good. Was it? It confused him for a second,
but he shrugged it off. ~Sounds like Spike. But not
pack. Smells like food.~
Angel
frowned at Xander, not liking the way he was talking. "Is Spike here," he asked,
trying to get to the reason he'd come though Ripper had stated it. "I want to see
him." He moved forward, but was sure that he would not be able to come in. Damn the
invitation clause. It was stupid and annoying.
Lounging against the
doorframe, Alex watched Angel
move forward, amused. They both knew he couldn't get
through the door. Not without an invitation from him.
And that soooooo wasn't gonna happen. The smirk grew
and he didn't even try to hide the snarkiness from his
tone, "he's asleep. So sorry."
Oh, wait. This was the other one. Not Xander, but Alex. That was what Ripper had
called him. But, Angel wondered, was the difference? Well, this one smelt more
confident, if you could go by smell alone. He smelt of something else too, but Angel
wasn't sure...or he was and didn't want to be sure of. Something,
animalistic about him? Didn't matter. Angel gave Ripper
a solid pat on the back, but kept his eyes on the boy. "Can you tell him I'm
here?"
"Uhm,
that'd be no." Alex made a show of furrowing
his brow in thought. "Nope, still no. Not gonna wake
him for you.." He casually scanned the way for
observers wondering if he could get away with dusting
Angel. He'd never liked the big brooder, even before
the split. Now, that feeling was only intensified.
It rolled around deep in his gut, sharp and hot.
~No. Not now... It'd make Xan unhappy. Can't make Xan
unhappy... Besides witnesses. Jr's
right here.
Though he'd make the tasty snack. Hmmmm.
Nope,
there's Mrs. Peterson. Old busy body. She'd see and
can't kill the neighbors. Not a sound tactical
maneuver. Nosy neighbors guard the perimeter.~
"So." Alex sighed to himself mentally, never loosing
the fake look of congeniality. "Unless world save-age
is needed..." Alex smiled brightly, showing his
teeth, "Why don't you go grab a tan, Deadboy?
Beautiful day. Later, Junior."
He nodded at ripper
and started to close the door. "I'm going back to bed."
After his outburst, Ripper
hung back. Until Angel clapped him on
the back. A small grin spread at that. It helped diminish the idea
that, yet again, Rupert Giles had screwed up. Not that Alex's
attitude was any help. It had to be a product of the split. Ripper
couldn't help but be fascinated by the concept. Too bad Alex was
way too feral to let Ripper ask questions. Maybe Xander or
Spike...
And there was the vampire in question. Half dressed and looking
sated. Well bugger. Why did he suddenly have the feeling that
things were going to get bad quickly? He fingered the stake like
a charm and tried to figure out how things were going to go. And
nearly missed Spike's question.
"Yeah, ragged out." He shrugged. "Giles is lettin' me stay. Bloody
weird though." ~Why does Alex keep looking at me like that?
The ruddy hell'd I do now? Almost snarling at me...~
"Hang on a mo."
Spike said, stepping out into the living room. He
crossed over to Alex and leaned against him. This should really
get to The Brooding Hulk, Spike in borrowed sweats and nothing
else, leaning on a Xander type. Naughty and bruised and bit and
happy the both of them.
"Ripper, this lug botherin'
you?" He jerked a thumb at Angel.
"You look like you needs some sleep, Ducks. Rupes not give you
a place to kip?" Ripper did look worn out. It bothered Spike
almost as much as Angel's proprietary hand on Ripper. ~Right,
Rip's not yours, Alex is. But if Angel plays him, I'll carve it outta
his hide. Been through enough, he has.~ He turned his eyes to
Angel. "Wot yer want?"
Something in Angel's posture, his eyes nearly rocked Spike
back. The elder vampire did look like he came for a fight, he
looked... Spike had no clue. Maybe Angel was just playing him,
or... he'd have to wait and see.
And then heard Spike and Ripper talking and it brought him to his
senses. Spike was the one he'd come to see, not this snot nosed brat before him. Angel
turned his gaze away from the taunting teen, and fixed them on his Grandchilde....and all
the anger went from him. He was just tired then, but there were other feelings as well. He
wanted to come in and to touch Spike, and that was just wrong. Angel clenched one hand,
feeling it tingle. "I'm not bothering him, Spike. He showed me how to get here."
The vampire glanced toward Ripper and gave him a fleeting smile, before he let the hand
drop and moved one step closer to the door. It was about as far as he could go, but that
was fine. He wasn't even sure what he was doing here anyway. "Spike..."
Ripper nodded and stepped
back out into the light to give Angel all
the shadow there was. As irritated as Alex was, this was obviously
something for Angel and Spike to work out.
"Did he?" Spike drawled and waited for Angel to continue. Ripper
didn't know the deal with Angel and him. No way could he hold
animosity for it.. 'cept to Angel.
Angel licked his lips, thinking in his mind.
~William~ before he continued. He noted the state of dress of the blond vampire, but only
in a cursory way. He also noted that Spike was leaning against Xander. In fact, that
burned into his brain, bringing out another low growl.
Spike's scarred eyebrow
shot up at the growl. It resonated through
him, like the possessive growls of Angelus of old. Goosebumps raised
along his spine, as he fought not to submit out of habit. The lip
licking didn't help.
No. No. No.
What Spike did with other people...even if it was Alex...even if he *was bare from the
waist up...and even discolored from something rough...it wasn't Angel's business.
Angel looked down then, as images of another time filled his mind. Going out hunting with the other. Good times. Past
times. Angel sighed and looked up again, locking his eyes onto Williams. "Can
we talk?" He wanted to say more, but it was all so sudden. Spike would never believe
it. Hell, even Angel didn't believe it. What would he say? That he'd had a sudden yearning
for his Grandchilde and that they should catch up on old times? That the hot pokers had
made him realize how much he missed the blonde's sense of humor? Well, no not
really. That was sarcasm. But still, he wanted to say something, and so he said again.
"I just want to talk."
A deep rumbling growl had
begun in Alex's throat... A
primal response to Angel's. Another alpha on his
doorstep, on the brink of his den, sniffing around his
mate... Ripper was forgotten in a bloody rush of
possessiveness, immediately downgraded to a lesser
threat.
Spike's blue eyes got
wide, seeing something in Angel's dark ones.
Something that didn't say 'I'm good, you're evil and now I have to
stake you'. Something he'd waited to see ever since that damn Gypsy
curse happened. Something that nearly screamed 'Spike, I need
you'. "Hang on a mo'. Ripper keep him outta the sun, eh?"
Spike pushed Alex back into the hallway. Before he said
a word, he
kissed his mate savagely. "I don't
know what's goin' on, but I think
I'd better talk to the Pouf." He nuzzled Alex's
chest and neck. "Not gonna lie to you, he's got me confused." Spike
looked up into Alex's eyes. "You're my mate. Period,
right?"
The bond was alive with emotion and images... Images
that made Alex grit his teeth and growl. Soft
feelings for Deadboy... Soft words for Ripper.
Another alpha and food! Both sets of honor and
instinct agreed this was not to be tolerated.
Threats... Threats that needed to be eliminated.
Alex pushed Spike back against the opposite hallway
wall, growling harshly. The door was open, and he
knew at this angle, both Angel and Ripper could see
everything. ~Good...~ He kissed his mate quickly and
brutally. With his hand in Spike's hair, Alex
wrenched the vampire's head to one side, growled
"Mine," and savagely latched his teeth into his mate's
throat.
Spike nearly collapsed on
the floor. His nails scratched the wall to
his sides as he fought to keep from going limp. The pain was
exquisite and beautiful. ~God, Alex... No..not
now...~
Drawing back with blood on his lips and eyes flashing
green, Alex stared hard into his mate's eyes still
growling, "He doesn't come in here... Not welcomed.
Not here. No invitation ever. We go somewhere else."
Making it clear, he was going along.
Spike's eye were glazed until the flash and growl registered. Alex
was asserting is dominance here in his den. Expected, but Spike
wasn't sure he liked being ordered around like a pup. His eyes
narrowed and he started his own growling. ~Not. Fucking. Now. Spike.~
Gritting his teeth, he jerked his eyes away from Alex's and to the
bloody lips. "Right, He doesn't come in here." He said, one thumb
wiping the blood off. "Elsewhere's good, but I'll need a shirt and me
coat." Blue eyes raised back to strangely flashing
ones. "Unless you
want me to be a big charcoal briquette."
~Somewhere else... Where I can kill them both with no
witnesses... Somewhere away from Xan... Sewers?~
The killing thoughts
flashed across Spike's mind again, vivid and
final. "No killing." He snarled quietly. "Not Angel, not Ripper. He's
not challenging and Ripper's not food." ~Angel won that challenge
years ago. He was my Alpha. Don't do this, Pet.~
Angel was grateful for the
added shade, and he quickly took
advantage of it. Moving into the little darkness that he could find,
the vampire leaned against the wall. He gave Ripper a nod, and then
sighed. Spike's actions only brought more confusion, and the question
he'd asked, made Angel worry slightly for his willing British helper.
What relationship they all shared, was beyond the brooding vampire,
but now his interests were beginning to be aroused. "You said you
came from a different time?" he asked, not wanting to just stand there
and stare into the air.
Making conversation might put the other at ease as well, and that
wasn't a bad thing. "Tell me more about it." he
said, interested in a
way, when you're waiting and don't want to think about the fact that
you're waiting. "I'm...curious to know."
Ripper lit a cigarette and
leaned against the wall, smoke blowing out
his nostrils. "Yeah,
street when someone started chanting in my head. Next thing I knew, I
was here. More than 20 years in the future and bloody continent
over."
He sighed and looked at Angel. "It's absurd really, thinking I'm
helping me figure out who did it. That and the disappointment in
turning into a ruddy shopkeeper and Watcher." Ripper snorted. "Not
the path I thought I'd take. Though Shopkeeper there seems to have
had a bit of a different past. *He* did what Dadums
said, poor bloke."
Taking another drag , Ripper turned sideways, body draped
insolently, hip cocked, falling unconsciously into a street hustler
stance. "So, what's the deal with you an' Spike? I mean, Alex got his
wind up right awful there at us both."
Angel
listened intently, even as a part of his mind was completely some place else. He was
thinking back to 1880, when he and Darla were having their own fun, and a timid angry man,
had brushed by them in the crowd. That night that Dru had gone
off to make her own playmate, and bring a new member to their slowly growing family.
"Hmm. Sorry." Angel shook the memories
away, and tried to focus on the moment at hand. "Spike?"
What had the question been? Oh. Yeah. Spike. "I...took
care of him, you could say." Angel smirked, wondering why he'd said it that way. It
was true though. Well, Dru had never been much on teaching
things, unless she thought they were pretty, or whimsical. Or at least, that was as far as
Angel could tell. Angel had done the hard things though. Taught his grandchilde to hunt, though his soul often pained him for it many
years later.
"We go way back," Angel added, hoping to change the subject from
something that might become more personal than he'd care to tread on at the moment. The
vampire then smirked, and snorted as well. "Alex! Or Xander.
Let's just say we've...never been very good friends." Though the
boy did have his moments. Even Angel could admit that, though not willingly by any
means. "I don't think him splitting into two people is going to change that."
and that was just fine with Angel. The boy was a punk when Angel lived here, and he saw no
reason for that to change. But...there was still that whole leaning against Spike thing..and come to think about it, what
was taking Spike so long anyway? He wished the other would hurry up so they could leave.
Angel blinked and then he gave Ripper a shake of his head. "Sorry. Did
you say anything else?"
Angel took care of Spike.
He didn't say anything about siring Spike,
which was what Ripper had suspected. No, he took care of him. The way
Angel said it and the look on his face made Ripper suspect the care
had been similar to some of the older, more Quentin Crisp
type gay
men around
hustlers. Showed them the ropes, took them in for hot meals and,
finally, made them their live ins. Not the Angel looked
like an old
flamer, Ripper smiled to himself.
His eye was caught by movement in the apartment. Thinking Spike and
Alex were coming back, Ripper opened his mouth to say something to
them and stopped. Alex... had just... Good Lord...
"I think someone else is taking care of him now." He whispered, wide
eyed.
Angel had
heard the conversation that was going on inside the house, but he had done his best to
ignore it. None of his business, though with the images coming to his mind, it wasn't too
much of a surprise really. Still, when Ripper pointed out just what he had suspected, a
very real anger flared up, and Angel found himself turning
Angel
launched himself against the barrier without thought, and was
pushed back just as quickly. Feelings that he would never have expected himself of feeling, came flooding up at the way he'd seen Xander holding the
other, and they were not good. But, it didn't matter. He couldn't get in.
"Spike!"
Ripper shrank back into
the sunlight again. This was getting to be
too much for the tired young man. Confusion he expected but this...
Angel hurling himself against the vampiric barrier, Alex's
savagery
on Spike... He took another step back, wishing all the spells he knew
didn't take circles and rituals.
Angel found himself growling. Not sound of mere
annoyance, but a deep anger that rumbled up from deep with in. Angel pushed himself against the invisible barrier, as though sheer will alone, he
could force the rules to bend. "Leave him alone!" he demanded, forgetting that
Ripper was there at all. The world narrowed to three things: Spike, Alex, and the distance
that separated them all. He had to get in, that was clear. After that?
The dark haired vampire hadn't thought that far at all. He only knew that it was true with
every fiber of his being.
The
rage. The frustration. Angel
bouncing of the
barrier. It was all to perfect. Alex let go with a
eerie high pitched giggle. With any luck Angel would
bounce right out into the beautiful day, and do all
the work for him. One threat dusted... and by his own
actions.
Angel's words, actions
were like a flash of pain to Spike. If Angel
kept up his assault, he could get hurt. Seriously hurt. The barrier
could throw him into the sun, weaken him, or Alex would loose it and
attack. Spike squirmed against Alex, trying to get to the
door. "Angel! Stop it!"
Alex hissed at the flash
of pain through the bond, and
leaned harder on Spike. ~My mate! Mine!~ His
strength was comparative to a vampire now... The hyena
part of him granted that. With the soldier, he had
the skills to back up that strength. He bet he could
even take Buffy now, if he had too... Spike wasn't
going anywhere anytime soon. Not if Alex had anything
to say about it.
Angel heard
the words, but they couldn't seem stop his furious rage. On one hand, though, he knew that
he was over reacting. This was Spike after all and when was the last time that he had
cared enough to break through a barrier, he knew he had no
chance of breaking?
On the other hand, seeing Alex on his former family member, stirred up
feelings he'd though long buried. After the soul, he'd pushed the feeling down, because
every time he'd had them, deep guilt had come as
well. Being with Spike meant killing. Killing brought his soul anguish and it was
something he did not like. But, here he was, pushing and straining against the invisible
hole of something far greater than any creature of the undead. He didn't know why, and he
didn't really even question. He just knew he wanted in and would keep trying until he was
tired out or someone stopped him in trying.
The giggle snapped Spike
out of it. He was acting like a chit in a bodice ripper novel. He got still as Alex
pressed him against the wall, arms hanging to his sides, knees slightly bent under the
weight. Alex was stronger than a mortal and a touch mad, which always helped. ~Brilliant.
How you gonna get outta this without anyone getting hurt?~
Spike could feel Alex's possessiveness and triumph rolling over him. He could vaguely
feel Angel's... pain? anger? Oh yeah, defiantly anger. ~After all these years, a bit of th' bond
is still there. Musta never paid much
attention before. Or I just know Angelus too damn well... and he's right close. Over me. Damn.~
"Got a problem-o
there, Deadboy?" Alex giggled again
and leered at the furious Angel, deliberately
provoking the older vampire. He had a stratagem now.
Provoke the threat to suicide, by his own actions or
by Alex hands... Self-defense was suitable excuse in
any court. He giggled again, shifting his weight
further against Spike. ~Mine... My mate. My den. My pack.~
Spike glared at Alex. He
was baiting Angel into something stupid. "No." He said quietly, eyes boring into
Alex. Let him think it was a challenge. Spike had been under the impression *he'd* cowed
Alex first. That they'd become equal. "Angel, you look about two steps from Angelus.
Stick him back in th' bloody
box." Spike said louder, eyes never leaving his mate.
"This is not
Angel. "He had a claim over me long before you were born. Not sayin' I paid much attention to it for years, but something's up an'
since I can't seem to be top dog in his pack, I gotta listen. "
~Face it, Spike, you're not top dog anywhere. Think Alex just proved that. You lost
the right the moment you got the chip. Be thankful they seem to think yer
such a prize. ~ Spike's jaw worked as he continued to stare at Alex. This would work or
Alex would throat him. Then Angel would lose it more and.... endless loop, grabbing up his
own fear and self-doubt.
Angel
growled again, as Alex's taunting turned up the rage. But then, two things happened. Not
all once, though they felt that way, but still very affective. First of all, Angel
realized how tired he was getting. That was only a tiny part of his brain that recognized
the fact, adding that doing this all day would surely only get himself killed.
The second thing, and one that finally brought his
mania to a cold jolted stop...was Spike. And more importantly...the
words "Two steps from Angelus." And he knew that it was true. He was so
angry at not being able to get through, that all rational thoughts had flown out the
window. The beast had come out and he realized that he'd shifted into demon face some time
before.
And then, Spike was saying other things, and Angel was finally thinking. He
was listening to Spike, though still breathing hard, and still just as angry. No more
pushing though. Only standing very very
still. As still as only dead things can get, even if they really want to grab a
hold of a certain lunatic and ring his scrawny neck. The word, Mate being tossed out,
didn't help...or the fact that Spike didn't want to loose the other, but the rest of
what Spike was saying... rolled over the others and made it easier.
Spike didn't want to fight?...and the other
thing his Grandchilde said. William was admitting that he, Angel...was family. It stirred
something up in Angel, that was beyond the anger, but not the
same thing at all. But, still he didn't move. Angel only listened now and his anger was
finally only a small simmering point in the middle. It made him ill, but he finally had
control. Family. Angel listened, and he waited. Waited to see
what would happen next.
Ripper nearly collapsed
against the wall when Angel finally
stopped. He hadn't realized how badly he'd been shaking until
then. This whole situation was beyond anything he'd seen
before. Not even Ethan at his most insane or possessive had
been like Angel or Alex.
Spike looked... like he was barely holding it together himself.
Ripper didn't understand what happened after Spike and Alex left
last night, but whatever it was, it didn't look... sane. Then again,
one was a vampire and the other a bespelled human. Was
Alex
human? Ripper was starting to believe not and than made him
worry... about a vampire. Two vampires really, and there
didn't
seem to be a damn thing he could do for either of them.
Spike caught Angel
stilling out of the corner of his eye. ~Thank
God. Bloody Dark Avenger finally listened to me. Now if Alex will.~
He kept staring into the feral brown eyes of his mate, listening to
his heartbeat, feeling his breathing, pushing at the bond.
Anything to judge what was going to happen next. The vampire
had a feeling it was going to come to blows soon. Another
dominance display that would wake Xander and get Peaches
fried if he couldn't get in.
If necessary, he had his trump card. Xander
:Don't frighten the
younger ~In mind anyways~ and weaker member. Wouldn't want
him to wake and be frightened. Spike didn't want to use it, but
there was more to winning than physical power. Crafty counted just as
well with hyenas.
Now that
Angel had stilled himself, he was starting to be able to gain a
little more control. He took slow breaths, realizing that Alex had been getting exactly
what he wanted, though not sure why the other had gone about aggravating him in such
a...well, annoying manner. And, since when had Xander, or Alex...or anything about the boy
been interested in Spike? That's what Angel wanted to know
Glancing back at Ripper, Angel sighed. "Sorry," he muttered. "Got
carried away," as though that would explain his near loss of sanity. Angel licked his
lips nervously, wanting to do too many things at once. Unfortunately, it seemed that the
ball was in Alex's...whether Angel like it or not. That didn't
make him happy, but at this moment, what could he do?
Maybe threaten the human even, but Angel wasn't to that point just yet, so he just
waited. He stood there, got a little more control, and waited.
"It's okay."
Ripper said, still staring, fascinated at the display.
He lit a cigarette with shaking hands and waited, watching the trio.
Hoping no one would get hurt.
With a loud growl, Alex
released Spike and stepped back. The need to
destroy Angel was still there. Still strong. But he was
confused
now. Spike was challenging him, but not challenging him. His mate
had invoked family, flashed him a picture of Xan through their link,
claimed Angel as pack. He snarled in the direction of the now calm
older vampire. Alex had been so close. Angel would have killed
himself trying to get in... And yet he soothed to Spike's
words. His
mate's words!
~Mate to Mate. Alpha to alpha. My pack is his... His pack
is mine.~
Alex turned and paced away from Spike still snarling. That was the
way. But it was also the way to eliminate other alphas... Only one
could rule the pack. He turned back to Spike, all outward
appearances
were calm and collected, even though the anger rolled just barely
contained beneath the surface.
Spike didn't relent his stare even as he felt Alex's confusion. Angel
had calmed and that did *wonders* for Spike's nerves. This situation
had rocketed to nearly fatal too fast for his liking. And when did he
care what happened to Angel? Maybe about the time he actually looked
worried for Spike, just a moment ago.
"So be it. You are my
mate. I am
yours." he stepped closer to the blond vampire, "He touches you- I
kill him. He challenges me- I kill him. Truce... for now."
Alex
flicked his gaze over to the door. Locked stares with Angel.
Truce.
Spike's lips pulled back
in a snarl. Alex seemed to barely
acknowledge Spike's ability to take care of himself. He shook it off,
however, knowing this was *so* not the time to get into that again.
~God, why couldn't the bloody Soldier come out instead? Need level
heads here.~
He turned back to his mate. A truce. A truce destined to
fail. Two
alphas warring with each other could only end in death, or
submission. Sooner or later, like oil and water, the truce would
come undone and blood and pain would follow. Alex knew it. He was
sure as hell Spike knew it. He smiled at his mate. He'd honor his
mate's claim to family, to pack, but sooner or later he'd get his
chance again.
Spike didn't smile back,
images of pain and battle flashing in his
mind. ~No, Alex, it doesn't have to be that way. Why can't you see
that?~ It was though the whole little dream Spike had in his mind
after the fight in the graveyard came tumbling down like so many
cards. There would be no belonging, only fighting, blood and death.
That might have done for most things in Spike's life, but not this.
"You are my mate an' I am yours." he whispered. ~And that meant
forever to me, Alex.~
The smile disappeared, as
Alex's eyes narrowed. He
both heard and felt the sadness in Spike's voice. It
sounded almost like a goodbye. He didn't
understand... His confusion became more pronounced.
Didn't Spike get it? He was only protecting what was
his! What Spike had given him, and only what Spike or
another stronger alpha could take away. Spike had
chosen him! Taken him as mate, rather than tear out
his throat last night. Sealed and bound by blood:
forever. Unless Spike, chose another over him.
Unless Spike cast him aside. ~Have I lost you, before
I can even fight for you?~
Angel
growled under his own breath, listening intently. Why the hell
would he touch Spike? Spike didn't want him to touch, did he? But, they were family. How
could he not? God damn it! Angel growled again, wondering where the Hell these thoughts
were even coming from. He just wanted to talk to Spike...not date him. What the Hell was
wrong with these people?
And who the Hell did Alex think he was? Did he really think he could kill
Angel? Did he think that having lived almost 250, wouldn't give him just a little bit of
an edge, over a teen age punk, as Alex was? Or, did this split of Xanders
not remember when Angel had lost his soul and had used all of his evil wiles to do just
exactly as he pleased? ~and still he resisted you, didn't he?~
Angel shook his head, and the memories away as well.
The whole thing was stupid, no matter which way he looked at it. Angel
*did have his soul, and Angel did miss Spike. For whatever crazy mixed up reason, he did.
But, he wasn't going to fight over the other vampire. Not if it meant that in doing so, it
got one of them killed. That was just...crazy. But, still, he wasn't just going to walk
away either. And that left what? Angel didn't know and he didn't want to think about it.
He didn't even know what he was going to say, once Spike did get a chance to talk to him,
so how could he possibly understand everything he was feeling now? It just made no
sense, and that was all that Angel could begin to understand.
Spike turned away from
Alex and looked out at Angel. As stoic as his
Grandsire was, Spike could read the anger and confusion in his eyes.
Angel didn't know why he was here either, and he sure as hell wasn't
going to fight for Spike regardless. Alex would just plain fight
him. ~And yet again, you are shown sterling proof that you have no
place.~ Why did that nagging voice sound so much like the long dead
William the Poet? It always did.
Shaking his head, and trying to kill any emotional weakness, Spike
walked over to the door. He looked Angel up and down and sighed. "Let
me get my clothes on, mate. Then we'll hit the sewers an'..." He
shrugged his shoulders, "An' talk." He turned away, feeling defeated
before he even knew truly what this fight had been about.
Xander clad only in Snoopy
boxers wandered from the
bedroom with one eye still closed. he shuffled into
the bathroom down the hall. He shuffled out of the
bathroom into the kitchen. The sounds of a cabinet
creaking open and glasses clicking together is heard.
The tap is turned on. Vampiric hearing might even
have picked up Xander gulping his water. The glass,
not at all carefully, was placed in the sink and
Xander shuffled out.
Xander with his one eye half open and sleep-tousled
hair looked at Spike and Alex, blinked at the open
door containing Angel and Ripper. In his state of
more asleep then awake he remained unafraid and
thought only one thing: ~ohh there's
gonna be some
blood spilt~. "Hey you guys be careful, we had to put
a small cleaning deposit down on this place." Then he
shuffled off back into the bedroom.
Alex became more agitated
and confused. Xan. He
couldn't, wouldn't, do anything to compromise or upset
his twin. He turned his back away from his mate and
the scene at the door, and walked to the bedroom.
Leaning against the doorjam, he listened to make sure
Xan had gone back to sleep. His mind whirled. What
was he suppose to do? Instinct said guard the pact.
Guard his mate. How could he do that if his mate
invited the attentions of another alpha? Or worse yet
renounced him?
Angel
nodded, still unsure of where this was going. He glanced over to Ripper and made a face at
the lit cigarette. He still had the urge to smoke one, but it was a
old habit and he hadn't indulged in a very long time.
Ripper raised an eyebrow.
Angel didn't like his smoking? Well tough
on the vampire. Right now his nerves were so jangled, he felt like he
could smoke a whole carton. Sunnydale was as insane as
been, but this time he was watching the soap opera, barely playing
much of a hand. However did his older self cope?
Turning back to the door once more, Angel forced himself
to relax even more. Alex didn't look happy at all, but there was nothing he could do about
it...and why should he? The boy was obviously out of control and maybe even a little
crazy. "good. I'll...just..." Angel paused and
gathered his thoughts. "You do that." And then they could get out of here, and
possibly figure out exactly what Angel expected of his whole little meeting thing. Angel
wished that he knew...and maybe Spike would help him figure it out.
Spike looked partway over
his shoulder. "Right. Back in a mo'
then."
Angel looked and sounded confused. Spike could feel Alex's hurt and
confusion, nearly a mirror to his own. Ripper... well he was just
confused. ~Not that I blame him. Worse than Passions around here.~
He headed down the hall to the bedroom.
Angel sighed
heavily and moved over to Ripper. "I can't believe this." but he let the
sentence trail off, wondering what he'd thought he might tell the younger version of
Giles. "Um...I don't suppose..." Angel glanced at the other, not believing he
was going to ask this, but doing it anyway. "Can I have one?" He indicated the
cigarette, licking his lips. "I think...I could use something to calm my
nerves." Angel shook his head, and smiled. "Smelly habit, I know...but I really
need to have a smoke."
Ripper's 'sod you' look
disappeared. He handed a silk cut over to
Angel. "Of course. Yeah, it's smelly, but there are
worse habits out
there, eh?" He shook his head. "I don' claim t' know what's up here,
but are you gonna be all right?" He asked, looking at Angel from
under his shaggy hair. "Alex seem to have gone barmy
an' I'm not sure
how long a truce'll last with him."
Angel took
the cigarette and looked it over, shaking his head. "Yeah.
I think I'll be ok.' He put one end in his mouth and kind of sucked on it. "Alex...if
he's anything like Xander, will get over it. He's always been a hot head..and a jerk," he added quietly, not wanting to talk
about either of the twins. What his Grandchilde saw in the boy, he had no idea. "Can you..um...light this?" Angel leaned
over toward Ripper, letting the other light his cigarette, and then straightened up once
it was done. "I haven't done this in a long time, "
he admitted, smiling. It was kind of nice, but he was also glad that vampires didn't need
to breath.
Ripper nodded as he
absorbed Angel's words. "I don't know
what they're like in... and this is such a bollocks situation...
whole. I just know Xander's shyer than a virgin on her
honeymoon an' Alex is damn near Mowgli the wolf boy."
He drew back and smiled back at the strangely nervous seeming
vampire. "I can tell. But then no worries about lung cancer,
eh?"
Angel
smiled, taking a long drag. "Nope. Not that I'm aware of. " He glanced toward the house, wondering what was taking the
other vampire. "I used to do it, in my...*tough faze, I guess." The dark haired
vampire shook his head, not knowing just how long the habit had stayed with him. Funny
thing was, it seemed that the nicotine habit was just as
forming with vampires...or at least, in his case it was. "So, once in a while, I get
the urge." He shrugged, but grinned toward the other. "Thanks."
"It's not a
problem." Ripper said. He stayed there, against the wall,
smoking, waiting and watching Angel out from under his lashes. Trying
to picture Angel's 'tough' phase wasn't too hard, just placing the
era. Angel in 50's greaser gear didn't work, though Ripper could see
him in the well fitted suits of a 20's-40's gangster.
The murmur of voices carried on inside, briefly broken by Spike
yelling for Angel to go back to the sewer's, he'd be right there.
Ripper cocked an eyebrow at the tall, brooding ~sexy...dammit~
vampire.
"Angel, " He called over his
should, eyes never leaving Alex's face, "Go on to th'
sewers. Be
there in a bit, right?"
Angel perked
up as he heard his Grandchilde telling him to go. He frowned, not sure that he was ready
to do just that, but not willing to blow the opportunity that he might be getting soon.
Angel took another drag and sighed. "Can...I'll be in the tunnel but if he takes to
long, I'll be back." Saying that, Angel put out the stub and
rushed away from the shadows. The heat was just as bad as before, but he managed to
make it to the safety of the sewers. He didn't like it though. Angel had come for Spike
and now he felt like he was running away. He just hoped that William didn't take very
long.
Ripper watched Angel dash
off and sighed. How strange was this
situation now? He'd been raised to avoid and kill vampires and now he
was... What was he doing anyways? Spike had been nothing but nice to
him and Angel was rather in need of friends it seemed. ~And I am a
sucker for a handsome, broody face I suppose. Or a mischievous
one.
Well bugger...~ He sat down on the stoop, not wishing to intrude in a
place he wasn't wanted. All he could do was hope whatever
was going
on between Alex and Spike wouldn't take long. Angel didn't need to
keep dashing in and out of the sun.
"Ripper! Get in here an' set yer
bum on the couch. Don't let anyone or thing that's not Alex or me in, right?"
Ripper stood, dusting off his jeans and walked in cautiously. "Right.
No problem." He eyed Alex warily. "I'll just sit quietly then. Oh er,
Angel went to the sewers. He's... waiting for you there."
Spike nodded and covered his head close. "Best be off then. Charge
of
the bloody stupid Light's On Brigade." He grumbled and plunged into
the sunlight.
Ripper watched both men
leave and sighed in relief. For a moment
there, he was sure Alex was going to rip his throat out along with
everyone else's. He shut the apartment door and nearly collapsed on
the couch. "How many fuck-ups in one life do you think a bloke gets?"
he asked Xander, not sure he'd get an answer.
Xander turned his eyes away from his brother's
retreating back and to Ripper. "Well if I'm any
evidence I'd have to say infinite." Xander shrugged,
"My whole life has been a fuck-up. The best you can
really hope for is acceptance of the nature of life:
it isn't fair and you're bound to screw it up."
Ripper chuckled. "No life isn't fair so I'll just accept the blasted
consequences and hope I don't get killed. All one can hope for yeah?"
He fiddled with an unlit cigarette. "I just wonder when I'll get
something right. Keep bloody trying, just doesn't seem to work. Maybe
I... no. Last feckin' thing I wanna
be is a shop keeper. No offense
to your Rupert." He giggled. "Right, that sounded bloody strange."
"Well before he owned
the Magic Box he was a
Librarian," Xander offered. "He was quite good at it
too. Knew all kinds of Gilesy things and helped avert
a few apocalypses as well. As far as screwing up
goes ya could do a lot worse."
Ripper raised an eyebrow.
"He was? He did?" Librarian who stopped
apocalypses. Maybe... it seemed this Giles had made a few right
choices after all. He, on the other hand, not only burnt his watcher
and family bridge, he'd blown it into atoms. Rather like the Blitz on
off each other because idiot think-last me doesn't quite
get the
score around here."
He sighed. "Sorry, Xander, a bit of the old feelin' sorry for my
blasted self. Really shouldn't, makes me a whinging tosser for sure."
Xander studied Ripper for
a moment and while
distracted trying to ponder the meaning of the English
slang he decided something. Nodding to himself
wandered into the kitchen and called out, "if we're
going to wallow we're gonna do it right."
After a few minutes of puttering in the kitchen he came
out with a tray laden with Hostess and Little Debbie
snacks as well as chocolate of the liquid and solid
variety. Xander grinned at Ripper, "Nothing like a
chocolate binge and a good wallow!"
Ripper raised his eyebrows
and burst out laughing. He took a Swiss
roll and nodded. "Perfect. Thank you, Xander." He took a bite and
sighed happily as only a stoner could. "Chocolate can cure so many
ills." Taking a sip of chocolate milk, he wiped his mouth with the
back of one hand. "And actually, that's true. I think I remember
seeing at least two spells that had it in them."
He sat back, pleased with the snacks. After a moment of munching, he
cocked an eyebrow at Xander. "So, er... how are you taking the
whole.." He gestured vaguely, "Spike and Alex
bit?"
"Well it was a little
wiggy at first, but think when
Alex and I separated the part that got really wigged
about men and well men got lost in the shuffle."
Xander got a thoughtful look on his face, "it's odd, I
feel everything now and it's normal or no wait,
everything I feel now seems normal but I can remember
when I would have felt something different." Xander
sipped his chocolate milk, "I know I used to be all
wiggy about gay men but I feel like I'm doing a token
wig or something, like my heart really isn't in it.
But in the end it comes down to whether or not Alex is
happy." Xander nods to himself and shrugs, "if Spike
makes him happy, then well I can get over a token
wig."
Ripper nodded. "I can
see that, I suppose. I mean you have to work
with how you are now." He swallowed a huge gulp of milk. "Christ,
didn't know how hungry I was." He muttered. "So... and tell me to sod
off if I'm asking too many questions... how long do you think you
will be... apart like you are?"
"Well Giles says he's
gonna get right on it and I'm
suppose to go over to the Magic Box some time today
and help. Suddenly the prospect of research doesn't
sound so bad. I have a feeling that it's gonna be
awhile. I mean I don't even know if we can get back
together. We seem like two different people now. I
can't always see how we're suppose to fit together."
Xander frowned at the thought of being put back
together. It just didn't feel right anymore. It felt
right to be in his brothers arms. ~And you're all
about the now aren't you Xander? Stop thinking of how
it was and make the best of how it is.~ "Do you want
something else to eat? I think we have sandwich fixin's?"
Butterfly in Chinese is hu die.