There’s Always a Sneer in Vegas (87/?)
Jan. 20th, 2016 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stillroseTitle: There’s Always a Sneer in Vegas (87/?)
Fandom: BTVS; Spike/Xander
Warnings: Slash,AU, Post Apocalyptic, violence,non-con, slavery, tentacles,
Rating: NC-17
Summary: It’s been seven years since Angelus killed Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Seven years after Angelus opened a portal to hell on Earth. Humans are food, slaves or on the run. There’s hope only in small band of resistance fighters. However, that’s a hope Xander Harris no longer has. It’s been six months since he was taken in a raid. At first Xander thought he was lucky the demons didn’t know who he was; but then that was before he became property to an Azora demon.
As always: Feedback makes my heart go pitter-patter.
UNBETAED
Previous parts here.
*********************************************************************************
“Speaking of? You know where we can get a shower around here? Ya smell like...arenas,” Spike said with teasing smile.
“Oh, way to kill the mood, Master Muttonhead,” Xander snarked then froze. Spike’s eyes flashed gold. He grinned.
“Fuck!” Xander cried and ran.
Spike followed. In the end Xander could barely find the breath to thank his master for his punishment. He hadn’t had the strength to walk back to their little part of the tunnels. Spike had had to carry his wet, satiated and very worn out body.
Xander didn’t have the spunk to even feel embarrassed. Instead, he’d just curled tighter into Spike’s arms breathing in the scent of his master and even stealing tastes with each tiny kiss he pressed to his neck.
*********************************************************************************
“He’s late,” Spike grumbled.
“He’ll be here,” Willow replied.
“Ya really trust that punter?” Spike replied.
“I trust he wants revenge on Angelus,” Willow sighed turning away to look from the direction of the road to look at Spike. “So, yes, I trust he’ll be here.”
“What’s taken him so long then?”
“Traffic?” Xander offered hopefully.
Spike snorted.
“Well, you do have to admit there are a lot more cars on the road again,” Dawn said.
“It’s almost like people forgot there’s been a d..demon Apocalypse for the last seven years,” said Tara.
“Never underestimate the power of people ta be willfully and stupendously in denial of the obvious and quick ta forget,” said Spike.
“For once, I’d have to agree with, Spike,” chimed in Wesley.
“Wait! Did that just set off a new apocalypse?” teased Faith.
Everyone groaned. Xander leaned in closer to Spike as they stood looking for signs of headlights traveling down the dirt road that led back to the highway. Behind them was a concrete box about the size and shape of a coffin. It was topped with a heavy concrete slab for a lid.
A large circle had been drawn around the box in the sand. Strange and arcane symbols had been drawn within the circle and at a point for each of the four directions there was a lit candle.
Inside the box was Angelus. Even though he was still nothing but barely moving desiccated corpse, he was gagged and bound with thick heavy iron chains.
Spike turned back to look at container which had been holding his sire the last three weeks since they had defeated him. A little beyond the sacred circle was the truck which had brought them all out to the spot to meet Lindsey.
“Ain’t too late, Red,” Spike said. “I could still bury him somewhere deep out here in the desert. Some place no one would ever find.”
“We’ll wa…” Willow started to say.
“Headlights!” Faith interrupted.
Spike joined the others in looking to the horizon. Sure enough, he could spy in the distance the bob and weave of lights traveling down what was barely a road.
“You sure you’re up for this, Wil?” Xander asked knowing what was coming.
Willow nodded.
“Ya work out the kinks?” Spike asked.
“No happiness clause,” Tara assured.
“Right, then before Lindsey gets here and we get started I guess there’s just one more little bit of business we need ta finish,” the vampire said.
“Spike…” Xander started.
“We’ve had this discussion,” Willow said turning again to look at the vampire.
“We haven’t finished it.”
“You can’t expect me to just be OK with you..claiming an entire city..even if I had some sort of authority to do so,” Willow snapped.
“Don’t tell me that your lot, the Resistance and what’s left of the Watchers, ain’t going ta be somehow pulling the strings. I mean I’ve already seen ya measurin’ the curtains yer gonna be hidin’ behind.”
“And that doesn’t mean giving you Vegas,” Willow insisted.
“Why not?” Spike argued.
“It...it’s...there are people there!”
“There are demons there too and yer gonna need a place for the demons and the things that go bump in the night to go...well bump in the night unless you plan on huntin’ ‘em all down now?”
“Well call me an old fashioned girl…” Faith said.
“So what? Ya want to continue the war?” Spike snarled.
“What war? Humans won,” said Willow.
“So demons and vampires gotta die?” Xander asked.
“Xander?” Willow asked in surprise. “How can you say that? I mean…”
“Because I’ve met good demons, Wil,” Xander answered. “We wouldn’t be here now without Spike and without the demons who helped him.”
“He’s right,” Tara said gently putting a hand on Willow’s shoulder.
“But the people..”
“They can make a decision as to whether or not they want to stay,” said Spike.
“And you expect….” Faith started.
“I expect a fair bunch will leave. However, I expect there will be more than you think who will want ta stay,” said Spike. “Some might even seek out Vegas.”
“You can’t be serious,” said Wesley.
“I am. Some people...they won’t know how to live back in the old ways in a human run world. They’ll be lost. They’ll need a demon run place.”
Xander looked at his feet. It scared him to know how right Spike was. The fear was so deep he was even afraid to ponder if he might be one of those people.
“Again, he’s right,” said Tara. When the other humans looked at her in shock she nodded her head insistence. “I m..mean maybe some people can get back in their cars and p..pick up their books and go back to the world the way it w..was but others can’t or w..won’t.”
“But that just means we leave a demon city where...they can be killed and demons can breed? Plot to overthrow us again?” Faith asked.
“Or maybe have a demon city where they can be demons and people that need to be there can be there,” Dawn spoke up. “Maybe a city run by someone who can make sure it stays in line and that it’s an ally and not a threat.”
“Ta,” Spike said winking at Dawn.
“Dawn has a point,” Wesley said.
“What?” Faith asked.
“Well, perhaps we have been doing it wrong. We’ve chased, fought and killed monsters in the shadows for so long and it got us an apocalypse. Maybe it is time we tried a different way.”
“Look,” Spike said. “It’s not like Vegas changed all that much in the last seven years…”
“Except for the arenas...the stables...the slavery…” Xander began to tick off.
“Oi! Pet, are you on my side?” Spike growled.
“Well I may agree you have a point but I’m not gonna sugar coat it,” Xander answered.
“As I was saying,” Spike continued. “Vegas didn’t change much. Ya had yer shows and yer casinos. I’ll still run it that way. I’ll even open it up to human tourists who might want a walk on the wild side. I’ll create human safe zones in the city and any demon who can’t abide by the rules will answer to me. However, Vegas will be a demon run city and the humans that choose to live there will then come under demon rule. No cries to the resistance.”
“And the demons outside the city?” Willow asked.
“Not my problem,” Spike answered. “Vegas is mine. I take care of mine and the rest…”
He shrugged.
“And if you can’t,” Faith asked. “If you can’t..take care of it.”
“You testin’ me slayer?” Spike growled as Xander stepped closer to lay a hand on his master’s arm.
“I’m being realistic,” Faith replied pointed looking at the box where Angelus’ husk twitched. “You aren’t the first vampire..to believe he could rule without opposition. Who couldn’t be defeated.”
“I ain’t my sire,” Spike spat.
“We know,” Xander said softly. Spike whipped his head around to gaze in his pet’s eyes. Was Xander doubting him now?
Xander smiled at him. It was soft and genuine. There was no doubt shining in his eyes only the hard won trust Spike had asked of him.
“But,” he said softly. “It would be a demon run city with demon rules and you know someone will try.”
“Let ‘em,” Spike said the snarl gone from him his voice as he reached out and ran the knuckles of one hand gently down Xander’s cheek. “I’ll fight dirty, hit ‘em hard and maybe even get bloodied but in the end I’ll keep what’s mine.”
“Yeah, of course you will,” Xander answered raising a hand to run it softly through Spike’s hair. “Just as long as it doesn’t mess your hair.”
“Oi!” Spike said as he grabbed Xander’s hand and brought it to his lips. Any other time he might let this moment lead to more teasing and sensual torture but not now. Not with the lights of the shyster’s car growing brighter. Not with the time to summoning Angel back getting nearer.
Not when we are getting ready to return to the city, both his soul and his demon whispered in unison.
“Ehm,” Wesley cleared his throat breaking the moment between the vampire and his clamiant. “But if you..”
“If I lose control of Vegas,” Spike turned back to face the rest of the Scoobie gang, “ ya lot can come in and play the heroes. Sweep it clean of the monsters and the shadows under the bed.”
“But,” he said holding up his finger, “unless that happens it’s my city. Yeah?”
Tara nodded to Willow. Xander gave her a soft smile.
“Agreed,” Willow finally said curling her lips as if she had just bit into a lemon.
“Watcher?” Spike looked at Wesley.
Wesley looked at Faith. She swayed her hips gently back and forth as she thought. She looked over Spike then rolled her eyes.
“Fine with me,” she snorted looking back at her Watcher.
“Good. Then before we turn Gelus back into Peaches we’ll have Lindsey draw up the papers.”
“What?” Willow and Wesley said in unison.
“A contract..write it up in a contract,” Spike explained.
“Are word isn’t good enough?” Faith asked edging forward just a little sparking Xander to move quickly in between vampire and slayer.
“Oi! Yer lots word is good enough. But what happens when ya do somethin’ incredibly stupid like run off to stop the next apocalypse and get yourself killed? Or just simply die from having a terminal case of being human?”
“Spike!’ Xander cried turning back around and facing his master.
“Wot?” the vampire said drinking in every detail of his outraged White Knight.
“Well he d..does have a point,” Tara said. “What happens if..when we die?”
“No! We just won the big battle with Captain Crazy,” Xander said turning to face the others. “We are not talking about anyone dying!”
“I hate to admit it…,” Willow started to say.
“Lalalalalal I can’t hear you!” Xander said putting his fingers in his ears.
Contract, mouthed Wesley as Lindsey’s car rolled to a stop.
***
Will sat on the ground leaning against Tara bathed in the headlights shining from Lindsey’s car. Her hair was matted to her forehead with sweat. The candles around the ritual area were all burned out. The air was heavy with the smell of ozone and tension. Lindsey had brought the Orb as promised.
Even though he’d been anxious to do the ritual he’d written up a quick draft of a contract giving Spike control over Vegas when it was clear Spike wouldn’t let the evening proceed without it. No one was surprised he’d actually had the tools needed to do it.
“A shyster’s like a boy scout,” Spike had observed. “Always prepared.”
As Spike’s representative with Wolfram and Hart he promised to file the paperwork when he returned to LA and thus would magically bind all parties to the contract with the law firm’s senior partners enforcing it a prospect no one wanted.
“Leave it to a hell run law firm to still be in business on the other side of an apocalypse,” Xander had muttered.
“Multiple hells, actually,” Lindsey had replied in his cool southwestern drawl.
Then they had all stepped back and let Willow and Tara do what they had been prepping for the last three days. Somehow the ritual was both longer and shorter than the witnesses had expected. It was almost anti-climactic and yet they had felt the power of it zing through them as it coalesced in the Orb and then shot out into the concrete box.
It had lit up the desert briefly and in the moment the faces of everyone present were revealed. Dawn hadn’t been able to hide her fear. She’d insisted on being there but her terror of Angelus was palpable. Faith had had a predatory look while Wesley’s concern had shown as his attention was fully on the slayer he loved. Tara and Willow’s faces had had a serene quality as they twisted and bent the magic to their will. Spike had worn a fierce look of protection even as he had one arm wrapped around Xander who had had a stake literally hidden up his sleeve, just in case. Only Lindsey had worn an inscrutable look.
“Well?” Dawn asked finally breaking the silence. “Did it work?”
“Only one way to find out,” Lindsey drawled his eyes fixed on the makeshift coffin.
“Right then,” Spike said letting go of Xander and stepping forward.
“Spike!” Xander cried grabbing hold of the vampire’s arm and tugging him back.
“Pet?” Spike mustered his best master’s voice as he cocked an eyebrow at Xander.
“Ple…,”
Don’t, he thought. He wanted to say it but he knew that tone. He knew that look Spike was giving him. Instead he took a deep breath and let Spike go.
“..becareful, master,” he murmured.
Spike nodded and moved to kneel by Angelus’ prison. He was surprised to find Faith joining him.
“Hey…am slayer,” she said with a grin. “If it’s gone down wrong just here to do my job.”
“Take a number,” Spike growled with no real malice before shoving the lid off.
Inside there was still just a desiccated corpse whose fingers twitched.
“Bollocks,” Spike said.
“Faith?” Wesley asked.
“Can’t tell. He’s still a husk,” Faith called out to the others.
“He’s gonna need ta feed before we know anything,” Spike said staring down at his grandsire.
“Great!” Xander said. “Let’s restore the possible homicidal, not to mention genocidal, maniac back to good health. Any volunteers?”
“I gotta it covered,” Lindsey said.
Several pairs of eyebrows shot up as everyone turned to look at Lindsey.
“What? No, I’m not opening a vein for him,” he said as he turned and headed back towards his car.
Willow got to her feet as everyone watched the lawyer. He was briefly swallowed by the dark of the desert as he walked behind the view of the headlights to the trunk of his car. When he returned he carried with him a small cooler.
“Blood packets,” he said dropping the blue insulated box outside the ritual space. “Should be enough to get him on his feet but not enough to get him to full strength.”
“Good thinking,” Faith said as she darted away from the coffin to grab the cooler.
“I’m a lawyer. I generally think through all the angles.”
“Ta,” Spike said as Faith dropped the cooler down next to him.
“Figured you knew best how to play nursemaid to him.”
“I’ve done it once or twice,” Spike nodded thinking of Dru as he open the lid on the cooler and pulled out a bag. Next he reached down into the coffin, yanked off the gag and then pried Angelus’ jaws open.
Waste of good blood, Spike thought as he ripped into the bag with his fangs before pumping the contents into Angelus’ mouth. At first there were no visible signs of improvement. Spike repeated the process while the others watched. It took three bags before the husk began to resemble something more like a body. By the sixth bag more than just it’s fingers were moving and by the eighth and final bag the older vampire’s eyelids rolled open.
The two vampires stared at each other. Spike’s blue eyes tinged with gold boring into the brown eyes of his grandsire below. He studied the older vampire for any sign to indicate whether the spell at worked or not.
“Spike?” the other vampire finally croaked breaking the silence. He blinked in confusion and then his eyes grew wide. Tears began to flow as his weak body began to shake rattling the iron chains still binding him.
“Spike…” he tried again.
The blonde vampire stood up and walked away back towards Xander.
“It worked,” he said wrapping his arms around his pet and staring off in the distance behind him.
***
They all had left Angel in the box for most of the night. They had all been prepared to return his soul but it was as if no one had really thought about what to do with him after it was done. For his part, Angel just lay in his concrete prison, silent, and shaking.
Xander held on to Spike who was also quiet and withdrawn staring off into the distance. He was worried and scared. He wanted to ask what was wrong but every time he took a breath about to say something Spike would tighten his arms around him or cover his mouth with a gentle kiss. It was clear the vampire didn’t want to talk. So Xander held him as tight as he could and hoped it was enough.
It was Lindsey who finally freed Angel. No one had expected it. The lawyer hadn’t moved or said a word since he’d dropped the cooler not even when Spike had confirmed it was Angel and not Angelus. Then all of the sudden he’d dashed to the makeshift coffin and yanked the vampire up as far as the chains would let him.
“Linds..,” Angel said in a quiet voice before the lawyer slammed his fist into the vampire’s face. Angel tried to say something again only to have his face pounded a second and a third time. It would have been a fourth time but Faith had suddenly grabbed the lawyer and pulled him off.
“You should let him,” Xander said staring at Angel and remembering the things he’d witnessed Angelus do to Lindsey. Spike tightened his arms around his Claimaint.
“We didn’t give Angel his soul back so he could be punished for what Angelus did,” Wesley said moving forward to being unlocking the chains on Angel.
“No..don’t,” Angel begged staring at the watcher. “I..just bury me.”
“No. Not that easy,” Lindsey spit somehow breaking free of Faith but not moving toward the vampire again.
“It’s the least of what I deserve,” Angel said turning his head toward the lawyer without looking at him.
“There isn’t enough revenge or justice for what Angelus deserves,” Lindsey spit. “And I know he’s rattling around inside there with you.”
Angel flinched.
“So you tell him, he’s never going to know where his son is. Where Connor is. Ever!”
Angel’s head snapped up and he looked at Lindsey. If it were possible he turned paler.
Spike and Xander looked at each other and as if one they thought, Connor? The image of the boy with the familiar smile flashed through their minds. They turned to look at Angel and the lawyer in confusion.
“Lindse..”
“Don’t! Don’t say my name. Don’t ever say my name again,” Lindsey said. “And don’t you tell me you’re sorry. Don’t even try and find words to apologize for what that prick did to me. To the fucking world.”
Angel’s head fell.
“There is no absolution for what you’ve done and yeah it would be so easy to just bury you here in this fucking desert. Leave you wasting away in an unmarked grave forever alive but starving but you know, even that wouldn’t be enough because while it would be punishing the fucking demon it would also be pu…”
Lindsey let out a scream of frustration and turned his back on the vampire. His whole body shook with a rage only Xander could begin to understand. Another hush fell across the desert as Lindsey worked through the emotional storms rolling through him. Finally, just as Tara started to move towards him, he held up his hand.
“You want to try and make up for what Angelus did?” he asked in a hollow voice his back still to the vampire.. “You can’t do it buried in the Vegas desert. He left a mess. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, Angel, why don’t you help clean it up.”
Then Lindsey walked away. He kept walking until he reached his car and then he drove away.
***
Close to sunrise they had all returned back to the tunnels. Spike had barely said a word and Xander was more nervous than ever. Faith had escorted the subdued Angel who wouldn’t look anyone in the eye. He’d tried to say Spike’s name again but the blonde vampire had sent him a look that froze Angel mid-speech. Angel had then looked at Xander.
“Look at him again and you’ll be dust,” is all Spike said before he stepped between Angel and his pet. Angel kept his head and his eyes down after that.
Spike hadn’t given his sire another thought once he and Xander had slipped off to their little part of the tunnels. Instead he’d pulled the curtain tight over the opening and then lit some lanterns.
“Spike,” Xander said softly finally trying to get through to his vampire. “What’s..”
“Not now, Xan,” Spike answered once again pulling his beloved pet into his arms. “Just…let’s take a break from it all for a bit, yeah?”
“But..” Xander started to argue only to be cut off with a gentle toe curling kiss. Spike’s lips covered his own. The moved over his entreating him. They begged him and he responded opening his mouth and letting the kiss deepen until Xander thought he could almost do without breathing as long as he could kiss Spike just like this.
When the kiss broke he stared at Spike in confusion.
“Are you, OK?” Xander whispered his voice stolen.
“Oi, why wouldn’t I be?” Spike answered with a brilliant smile. The one which sent tingles down Xander’s spine. “My plan worked. We saved the world and most of all I have my pet in my arms.”
“Bragging much?” Xander joked relieved to hear a little of the familiar arrogance in his master’s voice.
“Ain’t bragging if it’s the truth,” Spike said before swooping down and kissing the tip of Xander’s nose.
“You gonna set up a monument to yourself in Vegas? How you saved the world?”
“Maybe? And wot if I did? I’m the big bad master of the city,” Spike said snaking his hands up underneath Xander’s shirt.
“Bragging,” Xander grinned as a shiver of want followed where Spike’s hands touched him.
“Wrong consonants,” Spike murmured against Xander’s neck.
“Huh?” Xander replied as he entwined his fingers through Spike’s hair.
“S-H…bragging rhymes with…” Spike said as his fingers began to undo the buttons on Xander’s fly.
“Fuck!” Xander moaned as he Spike’s fingers brushed against the growing bulge swiftly being freed.
“Nope..doesn’t rhyme,” Spike purred snaking his hand inside Xander’s pants to wrap it around his warm cock.
OK, some definite advantages of not wearing the belt all the time, Xander thought.
“Spike,” Xander moaned pulling the vampire closer.
“Oi, now yer not even trying,” Spike teased as he eased Xander free and began to stroke him to full hardness.
“What?” Xander panted his forehead leaning against Spike’s as he watched the vampire take him in hand.
“What rhymes with bragging, pet?” Spike asked twirling a thumb over the spongy head of Xander’s penis.
“Uhm…nagging?” Xander answered thrusting himself forward into Spike’s grasp.
“Are you stallin’, pet?” Spike chuckled using his other hand to play with Xander’s nipple ring.
“If I..am..,” Xander panted. “Are you going to stop?”
“No,” Spike said before capturing Xander’s lips in a searing kiss. Xander grabbed Spike’s shoulders and fucked himself against Spike’s hand while he moaned and bucked shamelessly until his world began to go white.
“Xander,” Spike suddenly whispered stopping mid-stroke and stalling Xander’s climax.
“No,” Xander groaned then froze wondering what punishment he might have just earned. He opened the eyes he didn’t know he closed. Blue eyes bore into him.
“I want..,” Spike said so softly Xander barely heard him. Xander’s eyebrows lifted and he tried to calm his breathing to better hear what the vampire was saying.
Spike’s brushed his hand from Xander’s chest to his cheek in a tantalizing caress. A slow gentle smile spread across his face. It was one Xander had never seen before and it caused something in him to just roll over and melt.
“Xander, will you sleep with me?” Spike asked.
“Wh…I thought..aren’t we..I mean, mas..” Xander began to babble in confusion only to be cut off with a soft kiss.
“No Master. No Pet. Just you and me,” Spike whispered when he finally broke the kiss to stare back into Xander’s eyes. “No demon rules. No human rules. I want..you, Xander. I want you..I want you to the core of me. I want to feel ya inside of me burnin’ me up with yer heat.”
For a moment Xander thought his heart stopped. It was as if Spike’s words had shut down all systems. Emergency sirens flared as everything ground to a standstill and all remaining power was diverted to central processing. Xander stared at Spike while his brain tried to decipher what the vampire had just said.
Then it was if everything had reset. Bells rang, lights blazed to life and systems were a go. All systems were more than a go; they were running in the red as understanding flared through him somehow making him ache not only with want and need but with something much deeper; something that wasn’t physical.
“Oh…OH!” Xander exhaled as he nodded nervously before covering Spike’s mouth with his own and kissing him with all of the tenderness and emotions he could not express.
TBC
Fandom: BTVS; Spike/Xander
Warnings: Slash,AU, Post Apocalyptic, violence,non-con, slavery, tentacles,
Rating: NC-17
Summary: It’s been seven years since Angelus killed Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Seven years after Angelus opened a portal to hell on Earth. Humans are food, slaves or on the run. There’s hope only in small band of resistance fighters. However, that’s a hope Xander Harris no longer has. It’s been six months since he was taken in a raid. At first Xander thought he was lucky the demons didn’t know who he was; but then that was before he became property to an Azora demon.
As always: Feedback makes my heart go pitter-patter.
UNBETAED
Previous parts here.
*********************************************************************************
“Speaking of? You know where we can get a shower around here? Ya smell like...arenas,” Spike said with teasing smile.
“Oh, way to kill the mood, Master Muttonhead,” Xander snarked then froze. Spike’s eyes flashed gold. He grinned.
“Fuck!” Xander cried and ran.
Spike followed. In the end Xander could barely find the breath to thank his master for his punishment. He hadn’t had the strength to walk back to their little part of the tunnels. Spike had had to carry his wet, satiated and very worn out body.
Xander didn’t have the spunk to even feel embarrassed. Instead, he’d just curled tighter into Spike’s arms breathing in the scent of his master and even stealing tastes with each tiny kiss he pressed to his neck.
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“He’s late,” Spike grumbled.
“He’ll be here,” Willow replied.
“Ya really trust that punter?” Spike replied.
“I trust he wants revenge on Angelus,” Willow sighed turning away to look from the direction of the road to look at Spike. “So, yes, I trust he’ll be here.”
“What’s taken him so long then?”
“Traffic?” Xander offered hopefully.
Spike snorted.
“Well, you do have to admit there are a lot more cars on the road again,” Dawn said.
“It’s almost like people forgot there’s been a d..demon Apocalypse for the last seven years,” said Tara.
“Never underestimate the power of people ta be willfully and stupendously in denial of the obvious and quick ta forget,” said Spike.
“For once, I’d have to agree with, Spike,” chimed in Wesley.
“Wait! Did that just set off a new apocalypse?” teased Faith.
Everyone groaned. Xander leaned in closer to Spike as they stood looking for signs of headlights traveling down the dirt road that led back to the highway. Behind them was a concrete box about the size and shape of a coffin. It was topped with a heavy concrete slab for a lid.
A large circle had been drawn around the box in the sand. Strange and arcane symbols had been drawn within the circle and at a point for each of the four directions there was a lit candle.
Inside the box was Angelus. Even though he was still nothing but barely moving desiccated corpse, he was gagged and bound with thick heavy iron chains.
Spike turned back to look at container which had been holding his sire the last three weeks since they had defeated him. A little beyond the sacred circle was the truck which had brought them all out to the spot to meet Lindsey.
“Ain’t too late, Red,” Spike said. “I could still bury him somewhere deep out here in the desert. Some place no one would ever find.”
“We’ll wa…” Willow started to say.
“Headlights!” Faith interrupted.
Spike joined the others in looking to the horizon. Sure enough, he could spy in the distance the bob and weave of lights traveling down what was barely a road.
“You sure you’re up for this, Wil?” Xander asked knowing what was coming.
Willow nodded.
“Ya work out the kinks?” Spike asked.
“No happiness clause,” Tara assured.
“Right, then before Lindsey gets here and we get started I guess there’s just one more little bit of business we need ta finish,” the vampire said.
“Spike…” Xander started.
“We’ve had this discussion,” Willow said turning again to look at the vampire.
“We haven’t finished it.”
“You can’t expect me to just be OK with you..claiming an entire city..even if I had some sort of authority to do so,” Willow snapped.
“Don’t tell me that your lot, the Resistance and what’s left of the Watchers, ain’t going ta be somehow pulling the strings. I mean I’ve already seen ya measurin’ the curtains yer gonna be hidin’ behind.”
“And that doesn’t mean giving you Vegas,” Willow insisted.
“Why not?” Spike argued.
“It...it’s...there are people there!”
“There are demons there too and yer gonna need a place for the demons and the things that go bump in the night to go...well bump in the night unless you plan on huntin’ ‘em all down now?”
“Well call me an old fashioned girl…” Faith said.
“So what? Ya want to continue the war?” Spike snarled.
“What war? Humans won,” said Willow.
“So demons and vampires gotta die?” Xander asked.
“Xander?” Willow asked in surprise. “How can you say that? I mean…”
“Because I’ve met good demons, Wil,” Xander answered. “We wouldn’t be here now without Spike and without the demons who helped him.”
“He’s right,” Tara said gently putting a hand on Willow’s shoulder.
“But the people..”
“They can make a decision as to whether or not they want to stay,” said Spike.
“And you expect….” Faith started.
“I expect a fair bunch will leave. However, I expect there will be more than you think who will want ta stay,” said Spike. “Some might even seek out Vegas.”
“You can’t be serious,” said Wesley.
“I am. Some people...they won’t know how to live back in the old ways in a human run world. They’ll be lost. They’ll need a demon run place.”
Xander looked at his feet. It scared him to know how right Spike was. The fear was so deep he was even afraid to ponder if he might be one of those people.
“Again, he’s right,” said Tara. When the other humans looked at her in shock she nodded her head insistence. “I m..mean maybe some people can get back in their cars and p..pick up their books and go back to the world the way it w..was but others can’t or w..won’t.”
“But that just means we leave a demon city where...they can be killed and demons can breed? Plot to overthrow us again?” Faith asked.
“Or maybe have a demon city where they can be demons and people that need to be there can be there,” Dawn spoke up. “Maybe a city run by someone who can make sure it stays in line and that it’s an ally and not a threat.”
“Ta,” Spike said winking at Dawn.
“Dawn has a point,” Wesley said.
“What?” Faith asked.
“Well, perhaps we have been doing it wrong. We’ve chased, fought and killed monsters in the shadows for so long and it got us an apocalypse. Maybe it is time we tried a different way.”
“Look,” Spike said. “It’s not like Vegas changed all that much in the last seven years…”
“Except for the arenas...the stables...the slavery…” Xander began to tick off.
“Oi! Pet, are you on my side?” Spike growled.
“Well I may agree you have a point but I’m not gonna sugar coat it,” Xander answered.
“As I was saying,” Spike continued. “Vegas didn’t change much. Ya had yer shows and yer casinos. I’ll still run it that way. I’ll even open it up to human tourists who might want a walk on the wild side. I’ll create human safe zones in the city and any demon who can’t abide by the rules will answer to me. However, Vegas will be a demon run city and the humans that choose to live there will then come under demon rule. No cries to the resistance.”
“And the demons outside the city?” Willow asked.
“Not my problem,” Spike answered. “Vegas is mine. I take care of mine and the rest…”
He shrugged.
“And if you can’t,” Faith asked. “If you can’t..take care of it.”
“You testin’ me slayer?” Spike growled as Xander stepped closer to lay a hand on his master’s arm.
“I’m being realistic,” Faith replied pointed looking at the box where Angelus’ husk twitched. “You aren’t the first vampire..to believe he could rule without opposition. Who couldn’t be defeated.”
“I ain’t my sire,” Spike spat.
“We know,” Xander said softly. Spike whipped his head around to gaze in his pet’s eyes. Was Xander doubting him now?
Xander smiled at him. It was soft and genuine. There was no doubt shining in his eyes only the hard won trust Spike had asked of him.
“But,” he said softly. “It would be a demon run city with demon rules and you know someone will try.”
“Let ‘em,” Spike said the snarl gone from him his voice as he reached out and ran the knuckles of one hand gently down Xander’s cheek. “I’ll fight dirty, hit ‘em hard and maybe even get bloodied but in the end I’ll keep what’s mine.”
“Yeah, of course you will,” Xander answered raising a hand to run it softly through Spike’s hair. “Just as long as it doesn’t mess your hair.”
“Oi!” Spike said as he grabbed Xander’s hand and brought it to his lips. Any other time he might let this moment lead to more teasing and sensual torture but not now. Not with the lights of the shyster’s car growing brighter. Not with the time to summoning Angel back getting nearer.
Not when we are getting ready to return to the city, both his soul and his demon whispered in unison.
“Ehm,” Wesley cleared his throat breaking the moment between the vampire and his clamiant. “But if you..”
“If I lose control of Vegas,” Spike turned back to face the rest of the Scoobie gang, “ ya lot can come in and play the heroes. Sweep it clean of the monsters and the shadows under the bed.”
“But,” he said holding up his finger, “unless that happens it’s my city. Yeah?”
Tara nodded to Willow. Xander gave her a soft smile.
“Agreed,” Willow finally said curling her lips as if she had just bit into a lemon.
“Watcher?” Spike looked at Wesley.
Wesley looked at Faith. She swayed her hips gently back and forth as she thought. She looked over Spike then rolled her eyes.
“Fine with me,” she snorted looking back at her Watcher.
“Good. Then before we turn Gelus back into Peaches we’ll have Lindsey draw up the papers.”
“What?” Willow and Wesley said in unison.
“A contract..write it up in a contract,” Spike explained.
“Are word isn’t good enough?” Faith asked edging forward just a little sparking Xander to move quickly in between vampire and slayer.
“Oi! Yer lots word is good enough. But what happens when ya do somethin’ incredibly stupid like run off to stop the next apocalypse and get yourself killed? Or just simply die from having a terminal case of being human?”
“Spike!’ Xander cried turning back around and facing his master.
“Wot?” the vampire said drinking in every detail of his outraged White Knight.
“Well he d..does have a point,” Tara said. “What happens if..when we die?”
“No! We just won the big battle with Captain Crazy,” Xander said turning to face the others. “We are not talking about anyone dying!”
“I hate to admit it…,” Willow started to say.
“Lalalalalal I can’t hear you!” Xander said putting his fingers in his ears.
Contract, mouthed Wesley as Lindsey’s car rolled to a stop.
***
Will sat on the ground leaning against Tara bathed in the headlights shining from Lindsey’s car. Her hair was matted to her forehead with sweat. The candles around the ritual area were all burned out. The air was heavy with the smell of ozone and tension. Lindsey had brought the Orb as promised.
Even though he’d been anxious to do the ritual he’d written up a quick draft of a contract giving Spike control over Vegas when it was clear Spike wouldn’t let the evening proceed without it. No one was surprised he’d actually had the tools needed to do it.
“A shyster’s like a boy scout,” Spike had observed. “Always prepared.”
As Spike’s representative with Wolfram and Hart he promised to file the paperwork when he returned to LA and thus would magically bind all parties to the contract with the law firm’s senior partners enforcing it a prospect no one wanted.
“Leave it to a hell run law firm to still be in business on the other side of an apocalypse,” Xander had muttered.
“Multiple hells, actually,” Lindsey had replied in his cool southwestern drawl.
Then they had all stepped back and let Willow and Tara do what they had been prepping for the last three days. Somehow the ritual was both longer and shorter than the witnesses had expected. It was almost anti-climactic and yet they had felt the power of it zing through them as it coalesced in the Orb and then shot out into the concrete box.
It had lit up the desert briefly and in the moment the faces of everyone present were revealed. Dawn hadn’t been able to hide her fear. She’d insisted on being there but her terror of Angelus was palpable. Faith had had a predatory look while Wesley’s concern had shown as his attention was fully on the slayer he loved. Tara and Willow’s faces had had a serene quality as they twisted and bent the magic to their will. Spike had worn a fierce look of protection even as he had one arm wrapped around Xander who had had a stake literally hidden up his sleeve, just in case. Only Lindsey had worn an inscrutable look.
“Well?” Dawn asked finally breaking the silence. “Did it work?”
“Only one way to find out,” Lindsey drawled his eyes fixed on the makeshift coffin.
“Right then,” Spike said letting go of Xander and stepping forward.
“Spike!” Xander cried grabbing hold of the vampire’s arm and tugging him back.
“Pet?” Spike mustered his best master’s voice as he cocked an eyebrow at Xander.
“Ple…,”
Don’t, he thought. He wanted to say it but he knew that tone. He knew that look Spike was giving him. Instead he took a deep breath and let Spike go.
“..becareful, master,” he murmured.
Spike nodded and moved to kneel by Angelus’ prison. He was surprised to find Faith joining him.
“Hey…am slayer,” she said with a grin. “If it’s gone down wrong just here to do my job.”
“Take a number,” Spike growled with no real malice before shoving the lid off.
Inside there was still just a desiccated corpse whose fingers twitched.
“Bollocks,” Spike said.
“Faith?” Wesley asked.
“Can’t tell. He’s still a husk,” Faith called out to the others.
“He’s gonna need ta feed before we know anything,” Spike said staring down at his grandsire.
“Great!” Xander said. “Let’s restore the possible homicidal, not to mention genocidal, maniac back to good health. Any volunteers?”
“I gotta it covered,” Lindsey said.
Several pairs of eyebrows shot up as everyone turned to look at Lindsey.
“What? No, I’m not opening a vein for him,” he said as he turned and headed back towards his car.
Willow got to her feet as everyone watched the lawyer. He was briefly swallowed by the dark of the desert as he walked behind the view of the headlights to the trunk of his car. When he returned he carried with him a small cooler.
“Blood packets,” he said dropping the blue insulated box outside the ritual space. “Should be enough to get him on his feet but not enough to get him to full strength.”
“Good thinking,” Faith said as she darted away from the coffin to grab the cooler.
“I’m a lawyer. I generally think through all the angles.”
“Ta,” Spike said as Faith dropped the cooler down next to him.
“Figured you knew best how to play nursemaid to him.”
“I’ve done it once or twice,” Spike nodded thinking of Dru as he open the lid on the cooler and pulled out a bag. Next he reached down into the coffin, yanked off the gag and then pried Angelus’ jaws open.
Waste of good blood, Spike thought as he ripped into the bag with his fangs before pumping the contents into Angelus’ mouth. At first there were no visible signs of improvement. Spike repeated the process while the others watched. It took three bags before the husk began to resemble something more like a body. By the sixth bag more than just it’s fingers were moving and by the eighth and final bag the older vampire’s eyelids rolled open.
The two vampires stared at each other. Spike’s blue eyes tinged with gold boring into the brown eyes of his grandsire below. He studied the older vampire for any sign to indicate whether the spell at worked or not.
“Spike?” the other vampire finally croaked breaking the silence. He blinked in confusion and then his eyes grew wide. Tears began to flow as his weak body began to shake rattling the iron chains still binding him.
“Spike…” he tried again.
The blonde vampire stood up and walked away back towards Xander.
“It worked,” he said wrapping his arms around his pet and staring off in the distance behind him.
***
They all had left Angel in the box for most of the night. They had all been prepared to return his soul but it was as if no one had really thought about what to do with him after it was done. For his part, Angel just lay in his concrete prison, silent, and shaking.
Xander held on to Spike who was also quiet and withdrawn staring off into the distance. He was worried and scared. He wanted to ask what was wrong but every time he took a breath about to say something Spike would tighten his arms around him or cover his mouth with a gentle kiss. It was clear the vampire didn’t want to talk. So Xander held him as tight as he could and hoped it was enough.
It was Lindsey who finally freed Angel. No one had expected it. The lawyer hadn’t moved or said a word since he’d dropped the cooler not even when Spike had confirmed it was Angel and not Angelus. Then all of the sudden he’d dashed to the makeshift coffin and yanked the vampire up as far as the chains would let him.
“Linds..,” Angel said in a quiet voice before the lawyer slammed his fist into the vampire’s face. Angel tried to say something again only to have his face pounded a second and a third time. It would have been a fourth time but Faith had suddenly grabbed the lawyer and pulled him off.
“You should let him,” Xander said staring at Angel and remembering the things he’d witnessed Angelus do to Lindsey. Spike tightened his arms around his Claimaint.
“We didn’t give Angel his soul back so he could be punished for what Angelus did,” Wesley said moving forward to being unlocking the chains on Angel.
“No..don’t,” Angel begged staring at the watcher. “I..just bury me.”
“No. Not that easy,” Lindsey spit somehow breaking free of Faith but not moving toward the vampire again.
“It’s the least of what I deserve,” Angel said turning his head toward the lawyer without looking at him.
“There isn’t enough revenge or justice for what Angelus deserves,” Lindsey spit. “And I know he’s rattling around inside there with you.”
Angel flinched.
“So you tell him, he’s never going to know where his son is. Where Connor is. Ever!”
Angel’s head snapped up and he looked at Lindsey. If it were possible he turned paler.
Spike and Xander looked at each other and as if one they thought, Connor? The image of the boy with the familiar smile flashed through their minds. They turned to look at Angel and the lawyer in confusion.
“Lindse..”
“Don’t! Don’t say my name. Don’t ever say my name again,” Lindsey said. “And don’t you tell me you’re sorry. Don’t even try and find words to apologize for what that prick did to me. To the fucking world.”
Angel’s head fell.
“There is no absolution for what you’ve done and yeah it would be so easy to just bury you here in this fucking desert. Leave you wasting away in an unmarked grave forever alive but starving but you know, even that wouldn’t be enough because while it would be punishing the fucking demon it would also be pu…”
Lindsey let out a scream of frustration and turned his back on the vampire. His whole body shook with a rage only Xander could begin to understand. Another hush fell across the desert as Lindsey worked through the emotional storms rolling through him. Finally, just as Tara started to move towards him, he held up his hand.
“You want to try and make up for what Angelus did?” he asked in a hollow voice his back still to the vampire.. “You can’t do it buried in the Vegas desert. He left a mess. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, Angel, why don’t you help clean it up.”
Then Lindsey walked away. He kept walking until he reached his car and then he drove away.
***
Close to sunrise they had all returned back to the tunnels. Spike had barely said a word and Xander was more nervous than ever. Faith had escorted the subdued Angel who wouldn’t look anyone in the eye. He’d tried to say Spike’s name again but the blonde vampire had sent him a look that froze Angel mid-speech. Angel had then looked at Xander.
“Look at him again and you’ll be dust,” is all Spike said before he stepped between Angel and his pet. Angel kept his head and his eyes down after that.
Spike hadn’t given his sire another thought once he and Xander had slipped off to their little part of the tunnels. Instead he’d pulled the curtain tight over the opening and then lit some lanterns.
“Spike,” Xander said softly finally trying to get through to his vampire. “What’s..”
“Not now, Xan,” Spike answered once again pulling his beloved pet into his arms. “Just…let’s take a break from it all for a bit, yeah?”
“But..” Xander started to argue only to be cut off with a gentle toe curling kiss. Spike’s lips covered his own. The moved over his entreating him. They begged him and he responded opening his mouth and letting the kiss deepen until Xander thought he could almost do without breathing as long as he could kiss Spike just like this.
When the kiss broke he stared at Spike in confusion.
“Are you, OK?” Xander whispered his voice stolen.
“Oi, why wouldn’t I be?” Spike answered with a brilliant smile. The one which sent tingles down Xander’s spine. “My plan worked. We saved the world and most of all I have my pet in my arms.”
“Bragging much?” Xander joked relieved to hear a little of the familiar arrogance in his master’s voice.
“Ain’t bragging if it’s the truth,” Spike said before swooping down and kissing the tip of Xander’s nose.
“You gonna set up a monument to yourself in Vegas? How you saved the world?”
“Maybe? And wot if I did? I’m the big bad master of the city,” Spike said snaking his hands up underneath Xander’s shirt.
“Bragging,” Xander grinned as a shiver of want followed where Spike’s hands touched him.
“Wrong consonants,” Spike murmured against Xander’s neck.
“Huh?” Xander replied as he entwined his fingers through Spike’s hair.
“S-H…bragging rhymes with…” Spike said as his fingers began to undo the buttons on Xander’s fly.
“Fuck!” Xander moaned as he Spike’s fingers brushed against the growing bulge swiftly being freed.
“Nope..doesn’t rhyme,” Spike purred snaking his hand inside Xander’s pants to wrap it around his warm cock.
OK, some definite advantages of not wearing the belt all the time, Xander thought.
“Spike,” Xander moaned pulling the vampire closer.
“Oi, now yer not even trying,” Spike teased as he eased Xander free and began to stroke him to full hardness.
“What?” Xander panted his forehead leaning against Spike’s as he watched the vampire take him in hand.
“What rhymes with bragging, pet?” Spike asked twirling a thumb over the spongy head of Xander’s penis.
“Uhm…nagging?” Xander answered thrusting himself forward into Spike’s grasp.
“Are you stallin’, pet?” Spike chuckled using his other hand to play with Xander’s nipple ring.
“If I..am..,” Xander panted. “Are you going to stop?”
“No,” Spike said before capturing Xander’s lips in a searing kiss. Xander grabbed Spike’s shoulders and fucked himself against Spike’s hand while he moaned and bucked shamelessly until his world began to go white.
“Xander,” Spike suddenly whispered stopping mid-stroke and stalling Xander’s climax.
“No,” Xander groaned then froze wondering what punishment he might have just earned. He opened the eyes he didn’t know he closed. Blue eyes bore into him.
“I want..,” Spike said so softly Xander barely heard him. Xander’s eyebrows lifted and he tried to calm his breathing to better hear what the vampire was saying.
Spike’s brushed his hand from Xander’s chest to his cheek in a tantalizing caress. A slow gentle smile spread across his face. It was one Xander had never seen before and it caused something in him to just roll over and melt.
“Xander, will you sleep with me?” Spike asked.
“Wh…I thought..aren’t we..I mean, mas..” Xander began to babble in confusion only to be cut off with a soft kiss.
“No Master. No Pet. Just you and me,” Spike whispered when he finally broke the kiss to stare back into Xander’s eyes. “No demon rules. No human rules. I want..you, Xander. I want you..I want you to the core of me. I want to feel ya inside of me burnin’ me up with yer heat.”
For a moment Xander thought his heart stopped. It was as if Spike’s words had shut down all systems. Emergency sirens flared as everything ground to a standstill and all remaining power was diverted to central processing. Xander stared at Spike while his brain tried to decipher what the vampire had just said.
Then it was if everything had reset. Bells rang, lights blazed to life and systems were a go. All systems were more than a go; they were running in the red as understanding flared through him somehow making him ache not only with want and need but with something much deeper; something that wasn’t physical.
“Oh…OH!” Xander exhaled as he nodded nervously before covering Spike’s mouth with his own and kissing him with all of the tenderness and emotions he could not express.
TBC
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2016-01-21 07:05 pm (UTC):)
Date: 2016-01-22 06:33 pm (UTC)SR
no subject
Date: 2016-01-22 12:57 am (UTC)*blush*
Date: 2016-01-22 06:35 pm (UTC)I do have them backed up at least! :)
SR
no subject
Date: 2016-01-22 05:04 am (UTC)I've been waiting for this for quite awhile but feel sad that it's so close to The End. However once it is finished I will have to go back and reread all 90+ chapters sinking once again into the Sneer ;)
Shakatany
Thanks
Date: 2016-01-22 06:39 pm (UTC)Chap 83 Angelus pretty much covers most of Connor's backstory which is really why he kept Lindsey around for so long. He talks about it to Dawn while he's torturing Lindsey.
"sinking into the Sneer" I like how you phrased it. Really gives the feeling of immersing into another world. Thank you. :)
SR
no subject
Date: 2016-01-22 12:09 pm (UTC)I want to read more... please?!
L
J
Thank you
Date: 2016-01-22 06:40 pm (UTC)SR
no subject
Date: 2016-01-23 07:25 pm (UTC)Lovely note to end on, especially “No Master. No Pet. Just you and me,”
Sighs happily.
thank you
Date: 2016-01-25 03:30 pm (UTC)