CHAPTER 6

********

She survived the latest test and Adam allowed her the luxury of a shower. Briefly she wondered why but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. It felt so good to be clean again. Once she was dry, her hulking guards led her to a much larger cell. There was even a bed in this one. Maybe he was rewarding her for doing so well in the tunnels.

Buffy snorted as she traced the pattern of his testing. Typical freshman psychology, first sensory deprivation, then pain limitation, then mazes with treats for successful completion. She wondered what was next.

Would he try to get her salivate at the sound of a bell?

Maybe……..

The tantalizing scent of warm food filling the room set her stomach to growling.

There was a tray on the bed and she settled down to enjoy the first decent meal she'd had in days. No more wondering about Adam's motivations, time for rest and rebuilding her strength so she could escape.

*****

Despite his calm external behavior at the Watcher's house, Spike was seething inside, furious with Angel for the empty promise he made in the cemetery. Angelus taunting him he could tolerate, would welcome even but not Soul-boy.

Once they entered the confines of the old mansion, Spike attacked Angel, seeking to punish him for his earlier behavior. Since he couldn't hit the pouf and Peaches couldn't shag without losing his soul, the best form of revenge would be to retaliate in kind. *Let's get the bloody wanker all worked up and see how he likes it.*

He pulled the bigger man into his arms and planted his mouth firmly over Angel's.

Instead of pushing him away, Angel only responded by opening his mouth and allowing the invasion of Spike's agile tongue. Although he still loved Buffy to the depths of his soul, she belonged with Riley now. Much as though he wanted to hate her human lover, the boy had earned his respect over the last week. That young soldier would make her a fine companion, he was smart, brave and totally devoted to her. Angel knew he had to let her go, no matter how much it hurt……

The love of his life was permanently lost to him. He could at least find some comfort for his aching heart in the familiar arms of Angelus' favorite childe…..

The unexpected passive acceptance of his attentions knocked Spike completely off guard. His plan forgotten in the cool burn of his ensouled sire's embrace, the blonde vampire ground himself against that well-remembered and beloved body before he broke the connection and growled in his face. "'Wot the bloody hell was that display earlier, Angel? Angelus I can handle, but you?…. Don't tease me. I can't stand it."

"All right, Spike. I won't tease you any more."

Spike nodded in affirmation, vindicated and stepped away from him. But Angel pulled him back tight against his body, one heavy arm around his shoulders, the other banded around his slim waist. He gave him a deep, hard kiss and whispered softly, "But I won't tease you any less."

Then he released him, backed away and waited for a reaction.

A reaction was what he got; he could always trust Spike for that. His childe moved right into his personal space, so close to him that he could feel the frustration radiating out of him. "'Wot the fuck are you playin' at, Angel? You know you can't shag, you'll lose that `effin soul you're so fond of."

"Who said I can't `shag'?" Angel couldn't hide his smile as he watched Spike's eyes widen.

"Christ, mate, you don't have to say it. You've kept away from me all week. Hell, you've kept away from the Slayer for almost a year…. Are you tellin' me somethin's changed about that curse of yours?" Spike was pacing, moving with quick movements through the narrow confines of the hallway as Angel leaned negligently against the wall. He turned to stare at his sire.

"That is exactly what I am saying, Spike."

Spike gaped at him. "What the fuck? What? When? Where? How?"

Angel laughed at Spike's sputtering consternation. He placed a large hand on either side of his head, kissing him deeply, knowing from their past that would calm him. It worked like a charm. "Let me answer your questions in order. Well, maybe not the first one. Come with me and I'll get us a drink first…. You hungry?"

Spike followed him obediently down the hall, utterly confused. Angel pulled two blood-bags out of the fridge, set the microwave and laid them inside. He waited in silence while they warmed, pulled them out and filled two mugs with the warm blood. "Drink up, Spike."

Spike obeyed and almost choked. The blood in his mug was human.

He looked at his sire in askance and Angel shrugged. "Animal blood is good for every day. With the fight tonight and what we have to face tomorrow, human blood will make us stronger and serve us better….. I have a connection at the local blood bank, just in case you are wondering."

"You know what I'm wonderin' about. Now spill."

"Living room first and let me light a fire."

Spike again followed him obediently and settled onto the couch while Angel lit a fire. He leaned against the wall next to the fireplace, regarded Spike's curious expression for a long moment and let out a deep sigh before starting his explanation.

"Now in order. What? – No more happiness clause. When? – soon after Doyle's death." He closed his eyes, allowing a moment of silence for his fallen comrade. It had only been a few months and Angel still missed him desperately.

"Where – in L.A. I had just killed a Chaos demon and felt a moment of pure happiness when I returned his uneaten victim, a five-year old girl…she looked just like Buffy ……to her mother. I was so happy that I could help them and contentment got the better part of my brooding." He stopped and smiled, remembering the look of utter joy on the young mother's face when he placed the sleeping girl in her arms.

"I knew the instant I felt it, my soul was lost…... Imagine my shock when it stayed."

"Yeah, just imagine……That only leaves how." Spike lit a cigarette, desperate for something to do with his hands. Something that didn't involve grabbing Angel and stuffing his aching prick in his sire's oh-so talented mouth.

He had plans for that later, especially if the tosser was telling the truth.

"How – Doyle. I asked the Oracles about it."

Spike coughed in surprise. "Shit, mate! You've met the Oracles. I thought they were just a legend." His sire was really becoming a mover and shaker with the Power That Be if he had met the Oracles.

"Not a legend. Kinda cryptic. Even more so than me, but they are real. They explained that Doyle had achieved a particular state of grace due to the atonement from his death. He had asked the Powers That Be for one favor." He stopped and smiled, how like his friend to think of everyone but himself, even in death.

"And that was.." Another drag on the cigarette and he felt the nicotine filling his lungs, soothing his raging lust. Maybe the great pouf was telling the truth.

"My soul, permanently attached… Doyle knew that if I continued savings souls, my torment would ease and eventually a moment of true happiness would leak out." Angel moved away from the wall to drop his large frame into the comfort of the couch.

"So the real trigger is a moment of true happiness, eh? Tell me this, it wasn't just sex with the Slayer that did it last time, was it?" Spike was watching his face intently. He never could tell when Angelus lied but Angel he could read like a book.

"No. It was her love and forgiveness for all my past sins. It wasn't just the sex…. Although that was incredible." The look in Angel's eyes was hazy as he slipped into the memory of that night. But Spike wasn't willing to let him go there, at least not alone.

"Aye, would suspect it. She's got a tight little body, tiny like you like. Bet her quim tastes like strawberries or some other such…." Spike was vastly amused at the look on Angel's face. His sire was lost to the Slayer again and his body was reacting to his memories. He watched as Angel shifted in his seat, easing his legs out to accommodate the rise of his penis. This he expected.

What he didn't expect was the snort that came from Angel. "Strawberries, please…. Try brandy, Spike. Rich and heady, strong enough to get you drunk....And tight doesn't cover it. She was like a vice, all rippling muscles hidden under that softness."

Spike moved along the couch, inching closer to Angel. He brushed his hand across his sire's knee. "Soft, eh?"

"Like eiderdown." Angel shifted again, opening his body to Spike's advance. Angelus chuckled deep within him. *Closer, my boy, come closer and I'll eat you……. And you'll love it*

Spike obeyed his sire's unspoken command. He slid into place between Angel's spread thighs and kissed him. Sliding his mouth to the curve of his neck, the blonde vampire spoke quietly, the movement of his lips teasing the sensitive skin. "And was she hot?"

"Hotter than the fires of Hell, Spike. And I speak from personal experience." He captured his childe's face with one large hand and held his mouth close without touching lips as he whispered. "She was everything I ever wanted. Passionate, innocent and so in love with me she couldn't see straight. She reminded me of someone I once knew…."

Spike knew who he was referring to and he in turn snorted. "Innocent I never was, mate." One hand slid under Angel's shirt, the other to the bulge in his lap which he teased with a light stroking motion. He moved his head just enough for their lips to meet in another searing kiss.

Angel pulled back and traced the outline of Spike's mouth with the tip of his tongue. "Maybe not your body, Will. But your heart was innocent…. At least until you loved me."

"I loved Angelus, not you."

Spike tried to pull back and found himself suddenly face to face with Angelus. Angel had stepped aside for a moment to allow it. Spike moaned as his sire pulled him back into place. He trembled at the words which were issued against his mouth. "I loved you too, William. Never forget that."

He kissed Spike with a brutal thoroughness and faded away. Spike pushed Angel away to glare at him.

"How the Hell are you doin' that?" He was shaken by how quickly Angelus came and went.

"It's part of the permanency of my soul, Spike. Angelus can come out when I let him but I never lose complete control. I find he can be useful in my line of work." The smile he gave to Spike was full of delightful malice, just like the ones Angelus had given him before his disappearance in Romania.

Spike laughed in spite of himself. The image of his sire fighting evil in the streets of L.A. was so full of rich irony, he couldn't control his mirth. He didn't stop laughing until Angel smothered his mouth with him own.

Lust overwhelmed him again like a tidal wave, sweeping away all further questions but one.

"Angel?"

Angel's mouth was gone from his, planting light kisses down his jawline to his throat. A rumbling purr rose from Spike's chest and he wound his fingers into Angel's hair. Cool adept fingers were busy loosening his clothes, opening buttons and sliding zippers down.

"Hmm?" Angel bit his neck gently, not breaking the skin. It was not the time for blood-play…...yet.

Spike's hips shot forward and his cock was suddenly freed from his clothes with Angel's hand wrapped around it. He gasped at the familiarity of his sire's touch, this is what he wanted, what he had been aching for all week, for years in fact. There was only one thing missing.

"Angel…."

Angel looked up at him, eyes glazed with desire. It had been too long since he'd had sex with anyone, let alone Spike who his demon craved like a drug.

Spike stumbled over his words. "I guess I like you Peaches…. But you're not the one I want…." A sad smile flitted across Angel's lips and he waited silently for the rest. "Give me Angelus."

Angel sighed, placed one last hard kiss on Spike's mouth and acquiesced.

Once again his features sharpened, his skin paled and Spike found himself looking into the eyes of the demon to whom he owed his existence. He started to speak but Angelus place a finger against his lips. "No words, Will…. No words. Just this."

His mouth sealed any protest as they sank into the couch together.

********

It was a wonderful dream. Angel was lying naked in bed with her, his cool hands touching her everywhere. Buffy moaned, stretching beneath him as she silently urged him with small movements of her hips. His cock was hard and heavy, nestled against the softness of her belly and his hands gripped her wrists, moving them slowly above her head.

Once they were firmly held at the top of the bed, he shifted his body and his wonderful cock was teasing her slit with shallow strokes, not quite entering her, just gently teasing. Moisture seeped from between her legs, she licked her lips then begged in a little voice. "Angel, Angel, please….. Kiss me, please…"

"Sure, Slayer…..whatever you want."

A cool mouth covered her own, she gasped in shock as the realization hit her. The voice was wrong, the mouth was wrong, the body was wrong. There were too many hands, too many hands holding her far too tightly…. *Nightmare, Buffy, nightmare… all you have to do is wake up!*

Buffy woke screaming. It wasn't a nightmare, it was real and she was in the middle of it.

Her half-naked body was pinned to the bed, there were cold hands everywhere in the darkness. Her arms were stretched painfully above her head, the tendons in her legs burned from sudden abuse as they were wrenched apart. An unfamiliar mouth was attached to hers and she gagged on the tongue being shoved past her clenched teeth, filling her little mouth. A cool naked male body was lying on top of her now struggling frame and those unseen hands were shredding the rest of her clothes.

More hands grabbed her breasts, twisting her nipples as she tried to buck the vampire off her with just her hips. The movement was a mistake, the hard cock poised at her vaginal entrance became lodged inside her and each time she pushed up, he pushed down. Soon he was fully imbedded within her, moving with grunts of satisfaction as she tried to escape.

The words hissed in her ear mocked her as her assailant thrust further and further into her unwilling body. "Just as Adam suspected. She's wetter than hell, boys……. You've got the hots for vampire ass, don't you, little Slayer…. You can't stand not having a big cold dick in this hot little cunt."

His companions snickered as they held her down, each waiting for their turn. She screamed and bit the lips that tried to silence her. "Oh yeah, she's hot for it. I guess that rumor about Angelus' cock aren't true. She's too tight to have had anything that big inside her….. That's it Slayer, fight me! Fight me!"

Buffy screamed and screamed and finally screamed for him. "ANGEL!"

*******

Spike swallowed deeply, savoring the taste of Angelus' ejaculate when he realized his sire's body had gone rigid in shock. He looked up into Angelus' snarling visage. *What did I do wrong?*

"Angelus, what is it?"

His sire was incoherent, unable to form words as wave upon wave of violation rolled over him. She was being raped, his mate was being held down and raped by a bunch of fledglings he wouldn't have bothered to stake.

No, staking was too good for them. He would just rip their heads off. No, he would rip their dicks off first, shove them down their throats and then take their heads off.

He snarled again, grabbed a vase off the nightstand and hurled it against the wall.

Moving quickly out of his way, Spike watched in silence as Angelus pulled his clothing on with a minimum of movement. Spike scrambled to his feet, following Angelus through the house. He panicked when he realized his sire was going to walk out the front door of the mansion… into the broad daylight.

Spike shouted and tackled him, his weight bearing him to the floor. "Angelus, Angelus! What the bleedin' hell is goin' on wi' you? It's day, mate! You can't go out there!"

The growl that issued from his sire's throat terrified him but he held on, refusing to let him continue in his suicidal charge. Angelus clawed at him, trying to dislodge his frantic childe. He had to get to her, had to stop the pain. He had to kill them, he had to kill them all.

At that exact instant Riley walked into the mansion and was shocked by the tableau of a fully dressed Angel… he corrected himself immediately, a fully dressed Angelus being pinned to the floor by a very naked Spike. Was he too late, had Angel's soul been lost?

"Don't just stand there gawkin', soldier boy. Help me!" Spike held doggedly onto Angelus but knew his sire's determination was too much for him to control alone. Ever since Angel had drunk the Slayer's blood he had become stronger than any run-of-the-mill vampire. It was as if her fantastic strength had transferred to him. "Fuck…Angelus, calm down and talk to me, dammit!"

Riley responded to the desperation in Spike's voice and launched himself into the struggle. He grabbed Angelus' legs while Spike crawled onto his chest, pinning him to the floor. Riley tried to avert his eyes, to keep himself from admiring the elegant line of Spike's back and butt as he hung onto the struggling vampire's legs.

Spike grabbed Angelus' arms and pinned them above his head, relieved that their combined weight had stopped his sire's insane plunge into the day. His blue eyes pleaded with the unseeing fury reflected in his sire's vamped out golden stare. "Angelus, Angelus…what is it?"

Angelus sighed, then cursed long and loud. Riley was impressed, he hadn't heard that kind of language even in Boot Camp.

Eventually the profanity stopped as he started to speak in short phrases. "Have to get to her…… Have to make it stop…..I'll kill them….. I'll kill them all…..Then I'll kill their sires and their sire's sires….I won't stop until I wiped out THEIR ENTIRE FUCKING LINE!"

Spike shivered, he had never seen Angelus so furious. He kept his voice gentle and low, trying to calm the rage boiling out of his sire. "Stop what….Stop what, Angelus?"

"Rape….Rape.." Spike sat back in shock and Riley's head shot up.

There was no way he could have heard him right, just no way. *Oh God, please…..*

He shifted his grip on Angelus' legs so he could peer over Spike's shoulder. Riley was taken aback by the tears of frustration leaking from Angelus' eyes.

Spike spoke again after tamping down his own surge of outrage. How dare anyone touch his sire's mate! "Angelus…Is something happening to the Sla… to Buffy?"

Angelus spoke through gritted teeth, his fangs fully bared. "Yes." He stopped struggling and they relaxed their grip momentarily. "Let me up, Will."

"Not until you're in full control of your faculties, mate."

"LET ME UP!"

"NO!"

"I AM YOUR SIRE, YOU ARROGANT PUP! YOU WILL OBEY ME!" Angelus nearly bucked Spike off but he held on grimly.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE THE BLEEDIN' QUEEN OF ENGLAND. I'M NOT LETTING GO UNTIL YOU `EFFIN CALM DOWN!" Spike roared at him, fear feeding his fury. He had just found his sire and he wasn't going to lose him to the daylight.

Angelus took an unneeded breath and turned to the only creature who could help him in his current frenzied state. He shook as Angel's soul reasserted dominance. His face shifted back to human form before Angel opened his eyes to meet Spike's furious and terrified gaze. "Spike… It's okay…. I'm in control now."

"'Cor, never thought I'd be so happy to see you, Peaches. Now what the hell is wrong wi' Angelus?" Spike already knew but he needed confirmation from the source. Riley silently admitted his own curiosity in the matter.

"B-Buffy." Angel was crying, tears streaming down his cheeks. Spike felt an uncharacteristic pang of sympathy for the ensouled version of his sire and tried to comfort him. He wiped the tears away gently, kissing Angel's open mouth. His sympathy was soaked up gratefully.

"What's up with Buffy?" Riley's voice broke as he moved off Angel's legs. Spike slid off his sire's chest onto the floor, wrapped his arms around Angel and held him tightly. Riley resisted the urge to do the same.

"She's in the dark…. There are vampires… too many of them." His words were choked with more tears. Riley gave up the struggle and touched Angel's face, trying to coax more words from him. Angel turned his head away from Spike as he looked directly at Riley. Suddenly he knew, with a sinking feeling tightening his chest, There was no denying the truth now…… Riley knew exactly what was going on.

Spike stroked his chest, drawing Angel's attention back to him. "Are they feedin' from her, Angel?"

The response was flat, devoid of emotion. "No."

"Then they're not trying to kill her, mate. Listen to me. We knew where they are. We'll get her out of there….. We just have to wait for the sun to set." Spike disentangled himself from Angel and rose to his feet. Riley looked away, not wanting to embarrass the vampire or himself by staring up at his naked body.

Spike smirked, enjoying his nervous reaction and the hot flush spreading up from under his collar. *Oh, yeah, commando boy ain't as straight up as we thought.*

"I'm going to go shower now. Angel, you should do the same and feed. We need to be ready for tonight."

Angel waited in silence until Spike left the room, then rose from the floor. He gave Riley a long level stare and stated in that same flat, emotionless voice. "You coming with me?"

Riley knew he didn't mean the shower.

He nodded grimly. "Yes."

"Good." Angel grabbed a sword off the wall, tossing it to him. Riley followed him as he made his way back to a bedroom.

Once there Angel opened a cabinet and began choosing weapons. He strapped spring-loaded devices to his wrists, sliding stakes into them. Riley was impressed by how many knives the vampire could hide on his body. He accepted a few of them as well as several stakes and a crossbow.

Angel shrugged on a black leather duster and tossed a matching one to Riley. He slipped into it, quietly amazed at how well it fit. It concealed most of the weapons he was carrying quite well. He took the odd holster Angel handed him and clipped it to his belt. The crossbow fitted into it with a snap, another sheath held the sword as Angel hefted a wicked looking axe. "Let's go."

Without another word spoken, the two warriors headed toward the tunnel access underneath the mansion.

*******