Prompt 88 - Uncaged - BtVS

[thismaz]

With very best wishes for a Happy Birthday to texanfan. I hope you are having a lovely day, hon.

 Title: Uncaged
 Fandom: BtVS
 Prompt: 88 - Haste makes speed
 At: tamingthemuse
 Rating: Older Teen
 Summary: Part 27. Set during the summer before season 1, Xander's life is changed radically when vampires invade it. In the meantime Angel and Spike have their own, separate agendas.
 Word Count: 2,020
 Comments: Are greatly appreciated, loved and cherished.
 Previous parts: In reverse order, in tags here
 In my memories.
 Or, starting here with links to the next, at the end of each chapter.
 Disclaimer: here.
Now beta'd by the wonderful laazikaat

Warning (highlight the white area to see the warning text):

Demon Spike/Vamp Xander story

dark_amia made a wall paper and she turned it into a banner for me. Lookee here -

Isn't it pretty?

27. Uncaged

Angelus took a few steps forward, as many as the chains attached to his wrists would allow, and watched them warily. His eyes flicked from Spike, to Xander, to Jesse and back to Xander, where they fixed. Spike stood and joined his grandsire in admiring the view, while Xander prowled around the cave, stopping to peer into the dark corner that was the source of the stench. Jesse stayed where he was, hovering between Spike and the entrance, like the good little minion he needed to learn to be, if he wanted to survive to enjoy his death. Behind Angelus, a young man with a mass of curly blond hair rolled onto his knees, from where he had been sitting cross legged against the wall, and heaved himself to his feet. He edged carefully forward to stand behind Angelus and peered over his shoulder, instinctively seeking shelter, but also curious to see what was going on. Spike almost thought he'd have taken hold of Angelus' arm, if his hands hadn't been fully occupied by a bottle of juice and some sort of fancy bread bun thing, which was threatening to spill sliced tomato and lettuce all over the floor.

"Hey," Xander announced to the room in general, "I don't have to breath, so I don't have to smell the garbage. This is way cool."

"Is that your 'godforsaken child'?" the young man whispered, addressing Angelus. "I can see the resemblance." Spike smirked as Angelus turned, his mouth opening to answer, until he saw where the kid was staring. "Who's the punk?" the kid asked.

Angelus closed his eyes, briefly. "The punk is my godforsaken childe," he explained, eliciting a surprised 'oh' from his companion. Shifting back into his human face, which caused the young man to gasp, Spike gifted Angelus with one of his most irritating smiles.

Meanwhile, Xander's explorations had brought him back to where Spike was standing. Ignoring Angelus, he studied the young man. "Hi," he said cheerfully. "I'm Xander. I'm not sure if we're going to rescue you." The kid's eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times, as if he was trying to find the right words to reply, but Xander was already wandering away, attention caught by other things.

Spike ignored him, concentrating on Angelus. "Seems like you pissed young Xander off somehow. God knows how you did that, warm, open bloke like you are, but you did."

Ignoring that comment as the provocation it was, Angelus reassured his fellow prisoner: "I wouldn't leave you here, Liam. Don't worry. We're all getting out."

"Liam?" Spike laughed, incredulously. "Is that his name? Ha! Poor blighter."

Angelus simply crossed his arms over his chest and glared through the bars. For a moment their gaze held as each tried to stare the other down, until, finally, Angelus relaxed and a smirk twisted his lips. "What took you so long?" he asked.

Unwilling to concede anything to his twice blasted grandsire, Spike smirked back. "Wanted to give you a chance to do it on your own, mate. Only came 'cause I realised you weren't up to it." Snapping his fingers, he pointed at Jesse, then at the torch in it's bracket on the wall. "Keys!" he instructed. Jesse hurried over and retrieved them, returning to hand them to Spike. Stepping up to the bars, Spike grinned at his grandsire. "Promise not to bite?" he asked, facetiously. Angelus simply glared. With a soft snigger, Spike picked through the keys, trying each in turn until he found the one that opened the gate. "C'mon then," he instructed, stepping back. "Don't hang about."

Angelus lifted his arms to indicate the shackles and, smiling, Spike went over and unlocked them too, before preceding his sire from the cell.

Angelus stepped out after, Liam following behind, while Spike turned around looking for Xander. He was halted by Angelus, "Wait. What about the others? We need to free them too."

Xander was crouched down in front of the cage on the left, his face pressed close to the bars. With a look of scorn for Angelus, Spike took an exaggeratedly theatrical side step to the left and tilted his head, gazing past Xander to study the contents of the cell: a group of four humans, huddled as far back as they could get, clinging to each other. With a shrug, he took two steps to his right, so he could see into the cage on the other side of Angelus' cell. It contained a single man who sat like Liam had done, against the wall. Returning to stand in front of Angelus, Spike lifted his chin and stared him in the eye. "Why?" he asked. He gestured towards the first cell. "Take a look at them. They're broken! Nothing's going to make them right again." He strolled over to the other cage. "This one's interesting though." The man raised his head and looked at him. "How come you're not gagging at the smell and horror?" Spike asked. Looking more carefully, he felt his face shift, before he'd properly registered the impulse. "I know you!" he accused. "You're my escaped breakfast. 'S probably your fault I got put to all this inconvenience, in't it?"

The man held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I... I'd just like to point out that that wasn't my idea," he said, with a nervous smile. "But if you'll help me get out of here, I'll make it worth your while."

Just for the sheer fun of it, Spike smiled in a way that he knew exposed his fangs to their full effect as he sorted through the keys again. By sheer chance, he got the right one first go and twisted it in the lock. Removing the key and pulling the gate open, he advanced on the cowering figure, who started to panic. "No, no, no! Don't kill me, please," he cried. "My name's Ethan Rayne, I have some skill in conjuring, I can be useful to you. I can fix anything. I can help you."

"And just how, exactly, do you think you can help me?"

He felt hands settle on his shoulders and a hard young body press up against his back. "Pretty," Xander whispered, his soft breath tickling Spike's ear, too soft for the human to hear.

'Dru might like to play with this one,' Spike thought. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Angelus had drifted closer and was watching them with a scowl on his face.

But Ethan was speaking, "Just tell me what you want and I'll arrange it. I would imagine, for instance, that you're not flavour of the month with this little court, am I right? I understand about family and coming to rescue your sire, but..."

Spike interrupted with a growl. "Grandsire!" he corrected.

"Yes, yes, of course, grandsire. How could I have been so foolish? So you rescue him. But then Luke and his crowd are hunting you and following you and it all gets very tedious. I can mask your location."

Snarling, Spike snapped, "I'm not afraid of them!"

"No, no, of course not. But they could be an inconvenience, an irritant?"

Spike stood and considered the human at his feet for a full thirty seconds, then, without replying, he lifted Xander's hand from his shoulder, turned and walked back out of the cell, pulling Xander with him. Behind him, he heard Ethan scramble to his feet and follow.

Back in the central space, Angelus waited. "The others?" he asked. He seemed particularly sullen all of a sudden.

"They'd just slow us down," Spike objected.

Xander lifted Spike's hand to his lips and kissed it, before he let it go and slid back behind Spike, his arms circling Spike's waist, his chin propped on Spike's shoulder. Spike's hands came naturally to rest over Xander's. "Quick in, quick out, you said," Xander observed. "Shouldn't we be making haste out of here?"

Angelus' scowl turned into a sneer. "Haste makes waste, little man," he snapped.

Spike could hear the taunting smile in Xander's voice. "No, it doesn't! It makes for speed," he said, with infuriating literalness. "Come on, get with it, man. We came for you. Be happy. Let's eat and run, huh?"

Lifting one arm up behind his neck, Spike tangled his fingers in Xander's hair and gave his head a playful shake. "Angelus doesn't do that any more, do you?" he observed. "Angelus is all for saving puppies and kiddies and bunny rabbits, these days." Releasing his grip, he allowed his hand to stroke down over Xander's hair to the nape of his neck as Xander turned his head and laid a kiss under Spike's ear. Spike watched Angelus face harden further, his brows gather and lower over eyes that flashed momentarily yellow. If they weren't careful, they'd push him too far and he'd turn stubborn. Spike remembered that look. If they made him angry, Angelus was quite capable of refusing to leave.

Shaking his head, Spike gave in. "Oh, all right," he agreed, stepping out of Xander's arms. "I'll open the doors, but then they're on their own," he said, suiting his actions to the words. The gate swung open, but apart from a collective shudder none of the occupants moved. It was obvious they weren't going to, either. This clinging they were doing wasn't a natural reaction for humans. It was herbivore behaviour. Humans were usually too individual to cooperate in allowing the loss of one or two to protect the herd as a whole. Usually, they could imagine themselves in the place of the sacrifice and that didn't sit well. Usually. This lot weren't huddling as a protective device. This was evidence of how broken these specimens were. Spike stepped back from the cage and pursed his lips in disgust.

"Spike," Angelus said and it wasn't clear whether he was pleading or despairing. "We have to take them with us. We can leave them at the hospital."

"Bloody hell, okay, okay. Just shut up about it." Spike strode back into the cage, grabbed a couple of arms and hauled them away. Not even a whimper, let alone a screech. Yep, this lot were nothing now, their minds gone. He dragged them out and handed them over to Xander. "Hold on to this," he said. "And no snacking." Then he went back for the other two. A jerk of the head brought Jesse over to take them. Spike looked over at Angelus. "Satisfied now?" he asked. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted movement and reached out to grab Ethan's collar as he tried to slip past. "Oi! You take one of them," he said, indicating the load Xander was supporting. "You help us, we help you." As Ethan hurried to obey, Spike addressed his grandsire, "Told you, you should have eaten him when you had the chance," he observed. "Bet he was the one ratted you out." He swivelled on the spot, taking in the motley collection. "Don't suppose you'll reconsider now, eh?" He nodded past Angelus' shoulder. "Or that one. Looks like he'd make a fine healing meal." His eyes narrowed as he noticed something under Liam's raised collar. "Oh, but lookee here, you've already partaken." He felt the righteous indignation rising in his throat. "You're a damned hypocrite, you know that? 'Oh no, don't touch the humans' until you get hurt and need a boost to heal."

"It wasn't like that!"

But Spike was too angry to care about making Angelus stubborn and mad now. "Don't try to fool yourself," he yelled. "And, really, don't try to fool me! You may have a soul, but you're still the same underneath. It was exactly like that!" He turned to Xander and Jesse. "One each," he said. "Pass one over here. And we'll take the fourth one home for Dru." He caught the mutely whimpering meal Jesse shoved towards him and, as he sank his fangs into its neck, he watched Angelus turn away to stand between them and Liam, blocking the boy's view. He watched Angelus place his hands on Liam's shoulders and begin to whisper urgently to him. Spike couldn't hear what Angelus was trying to say, but he didn't miss Liam's instinctive flinch.

Continued here.

Comments

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

So Spike rescues his Grandsire - he's going to be dining out on this for years!

Love all the little touches and caresses between Spike and Xander, the way it infuriates Angel and reinforces his guilt, and also reinforces Jesse's lack of status in this twisted little family.

Why do I get the feeling that Ethan won't be quite so submissive once he gets back on the surface (unless submissive suits his greater purpose, of course!)

Spike finishing up eating the poor saps that they'd rescued was an incredibly Spike thing to do. It demonstrated his anger with Angel's hypocrisy and demonstrated to the family that at this point in time, he's the one making the decisions. Also, that he was hungry...*g*

I'm really interested in how the relationship between Angel and Liam will develop. Will Liam hang around now that he knows about the nightlife or will he run like hell. Or will Liam take Xander's previous role as atonement for Jeb?

Good stuff as always.
s x

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

Angel isn't so high and mighty now, is he? :) Ethan Rayne is a dangerous person to keep around the place, think that's going to bite them in the posterior. Interesting how Xander has already got a feel for what Dru would like.

Very cool chapter, so many complex interpersonal dynamics coming into play.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the memory of this night will keep Spike warm for a while.
I find Ethan a fascinating character - he is the archetypal tricky coward who will always crumble at the first sign of violence. He's devious and he'll run away given a halfway decent opportunity, so yes, it will be interesting to see what he's like once they get out of there.
As for Liam, *g* good questions, which I am not going to answer.
Thank you, hon. I'm glad you liked.
Speak later.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

No, Angel has probably rarely been as so low an ebb.
As for Ethan, I don't know. He was tricky and underhand, but he was a coward. Do you think he'd try anything, other than possibly to escape?
Interesting how Xander has already got a feel for what Dru would like.
You know, I wondered about that when I wrote it. And coming back to it the next day, I think you're right, Xander hasn't had time to get to know Dru well enough yet. I have made a change to that bit, so it is Spike's thought, rather than Xander's.
Thank you, hon. I am glad you enjoyed it and I hope you had a lovely birthday.

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

Quite true about Ethan's cowardice. However, the mayhem he often caused to cover his escape could be quite spectacular.

I enjoy your stories so very much, it always gives me a smile when there's a new installment, so you consider this chapter my birthday present. :)

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

However, the mayhem he often caused to cover his escape could be quite spectacular.
That is very true.
Certainly, I consider this chapter to be a means of wishing you a very happy birthday. *hugs* Your feedback and comments are always so very welcome, because you always seem to hit on the important points and make me question what I am doing, which is really great.

[laazikaat.livejournal.com]

I love the affectionate way Xander behaves with Spike, cuddling him from behind and touching him, poor Jesse really ought to see his place just from this.

I don't envy Angel trying to talk Liam round after Spike's sorting out of the captives.

Loved Spike saying they'll take one home for Dru, like they're talking about chicken drumsticks or something.

Terrific as always.

[laazikaat.livejournal.com]

Forgot to mention, love the banner.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Spike eating the prisoners came as a bit of a surprise, to me as well as to Angel. I think you are right, Liam will not be happy. He's had so many shocks already and he's coped very well, so far.
Thank you very much. I'm so pleased you liked it.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Isn't it pretty? It is so perfectly this Spike and Xander. I just got it on Monday.

[smwright.livejournal.com]

So, Spike gets the kudos for the rescue. I wonder though, Angel is unhappy at the fact but, in some strange and twisted way, isn't wholly in Spike's debt. Spike was, after all, obliged to rescue Angel for Dru. He still has some power here, and I wonder how that will play out.

Ethan... now there's an interesting sub-plot. He always is, isn't he?

The other humans, too, make for an interesting twist. I wonder how that will complicate the morality of the issue or if they will be just minor victims in the grand scheme of things? There are always those, too.

Great chapter, hon. Then again, that never surprises me. :)

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Yes, there is still a delicate balance of power here, veering from one to the other a bit.
Ethan is fun, isn't he? He has a wonderful pattern of speech and a lovely sneer to his voice.
As for the other humans.... um, their influence on events will shortly become clear, I hope. *g*
Thank you so much, the fact you stopped and left such lovely comments at each chapter has put a huge smile on my face.