Prompt 95 - Crisis - BtVS

[thismaz]

 Title: Crisis
 Fandom: BtVS
 Prompt: 95-Mime
 At: tamingthemuse
 Rating: Older Teen
 Summary: Part 34. 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.
 Note: I make no excuse for Spike's language in this chapter. He is not a PC vampire and he's been around since long before PC was invented.
 Word Count: 3,010
 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):

Vamp Xander story

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

Isn't it pretty?

34. Crisis

Tuesday

When Spike and Xander entered the house, Spike sent Xander straight off to change his grubby shirt, while he took the sack of blood bags into the living room. Watching as Xander walked away from him, down the short hallway, he nodded to himself. Xander was developing slowly, but he was making a thorough job of it. As always, Dru had been right - once he came into his own, Xander would indeed be a dragon. And Spike would make sure he was the best dragon he could be, just as Dru and Angelus, between them, had ensured that he was now one of the most successful vampires around today. He found himself grinning at that thought; since most fledges died within a year, simple survival defined him as successful, but it was Dru's and Angelus' training of the uncertain and eager William that had given him the skills to ensure his longevity.

Thinking of his sire and grandsire led him back to Xander's strange comment earlier about Angelus and Dru not 'doing anything'. Unless... he paused as another thought occurred to him: unless Xander meant that he'd noticed Angelus wasn't fucking Dru and thought it strange? Spike thought it was strange too, it just so happened to be true.

Angelus was an odd bird, his soul had changed him in so many ways, great and small. Some of them Spike could ignore, but some of them took him by surprise, ambushed him. Like when Angelus cornered him alone in the kitchen, his second night in the house, and apologised for sleeping with Dru, saying that he'd seen Spike's face and knew that Spike had been hurt. Spike had been gobsmacked. His, "Well, yeah! So what?" response to what they'd done had caused Angelus to wince and he'd gone on to promise not to do it again. That just compounded Spike's befuddlement, the idea that Angelus thought that his sleeping with Dru was worthy even of mention momentarily robbing him of words. If they were fucking, it was their right. Spike might not like it, but he had Xander, so it wasn't as if he was being shut out and left alone. He had always been jealous of Dru's attention, but it was her time and her regard he valued, not her non-existent fidelity. He had never, he thought, had a problem with her sire taking her to his bed. It was the fact that she wanted to be with Angelus, all the time when Spike was young, that had pissed him off and made him push against their rules.

Once he got his head around what Angelus' was apologising for, he'd tried to say that it didn't matter, because it didn't. It was the fact they went off alone and left him that he'd objected to. But Angelus apparently didn't see the distinction and, for once, Spike's glib tongue failed him. Before he could pull himself together enough to produce some suitably flippant, and preferably insulting remark to explain it, Angelus had turned and left the room.

Looking back on it, the only explanation Spike could come up with was that the soul had not only defanged Angelus, it had also turned him into some sort of second rate human, screwed up his priorities so much that he really no longer understood how a proper vampire thought. It was definitely very strange.

Almost as strange as standing daydreaming in the hallway with his arms loaded down with bags of blood. It needed eating, or refrigerating, if it wasn't to spoil. He opened the door, entered the room and froze. Dru was sitting on Angelus' lap on the sofa, her arms around his neck, whispering in his ear.

At that moment, Angelus looked up and caught Spike's eye. With his hands on Dru's waist, he casually lifted her sideways, placing her down to sit next to him, and stood up. "Spike, my boy, you brought supper," he observed, nodding at the sack. "So kind."

Taking himself in hand, Spike strolled into the room and put the blood down on the coffee table in passing. "Had a good night, pet?" he asked Dru, ignoring Angelus. Sinking down to one knee at her feet, he placed a kiss on Dru's cheek.

She lifted her left hand to his face and turned his head, kissing him firmly on the lips in reply and he allowed his mouth to open under the pressure, sinking into the comfort of her caress. "My sweet William," she murmured. "Angel was telling me stories, but when I asked for more, he wouldn't play."

Pulling back, Spike looked up at his grandsire. "Yeah, well, he's here to look after you, love," he said. Turning back to her, he added, "not to take liberties."

Dru's face twisted into an expression of displeasure. "My liberties to take. And they're not your concern!"

Bowing his head, Spike acknowledged the truth of that. "I'm sorry, pet," he said, lifting her hand to his mouth and kissing the inside of her wrist. "But you know he'll not hang around, once the ritual's done. I don't want to see you hurt."

Glancing up at Angelus, Spike could have sworn he caught a flash of embarrassment on Angelus' face, but then it went blank. "It's good to see some respect in the young, no matter how delayed," Angelus noted. A smirk began to twist his lips. "You really should see to your childe though. You have responsibilities now and you shouldn't leave him to associate with minions." Spike eyed him cautiously, waiting for whatever rock Angelus was about to throw into his pond. He got up and sat down on the sofa next to Dru, her hand held in his lap.

Angelus' face held an expression of friendly concern, though Spike was ready to bet that it was fake. "You know he took the servant to bed, yesterday?" Angelus asked and Spike felt relief wash through him. He'd feared it was something serious. "He'll never develop properly if you don't raise him right." Angelus added, with a smirk.

"Well, of course he did," Spike replied. "I was with Dru. There's nothing wrong with that." He gave Angelus a long, considering stare. "What's it matter to you if he fucks the minion?" he asked disdainfully.

Taking a step closer, so he loomed over Spike, Angel's voice was exasperated. "It doesn't matter, if that's all he's doing. But he's your childe, and as such, his behaviour reflects on us all. If he was only 'fucking the minion', it wouldn't matter... a fuck." Angelus seemed to think he was being amusing, because he gave a little chuckle as he delivered his limp joke. "I sleep in here, next to the kitchen, and I sleep lightly. I heard him take Jesse to his room and I heard the creature come back, around noon."

Releasing Dru, Spike stood up. He still had to tilt his head slightly to look Angelus in the eye, but he refused to be intimidated by such an obvious ploy. "So Xander isn't keeping him there all day. What's the problem?"

"He's still sleeping with him."

With a smile, Spike stepped back from Angelus and sat on the arm of the sofa on Dru's other side. "Why should I care about that?" he asked. Narrowing his eyes, he regarded his grandsire. "And when did you become so mamby pamby that you have to use euphemisms?" he added.

There was a momentary flash of something in Angelus eye, before he pulled himself together. "Tut tut," he replied with a solicitous shake of his head. "Careful, Spike, your education's showing. It'd be a shame to let it out now, when you've spent such a long time trying to hide it." He looked away, around the room, and when he turned back his face was blank again. "Are you going to do something about your childe, before he disgraces us all?"

Spike snorted. "Why should I?" he asked. "You're a bloody interfering busy body. And you have absolutely no ground to stand on, when we're talking about being a 'disgrace to the line'."

He wasn't surprised when Angelus didn't react to his taunt. He obviously still had news to impart, but he took a moment to savour the moment, before delivering his punch line. "He called the creature his childe," he said, his supercilious smile converting into a grimace to reinforce his point.

That did cause Spike to pause.

"Are you going to discipline the boy?" Angelus asked.

There was no way Spike was going to concede that Angelus had landed a hit, but he had to admit that if Xander had indeed said such a thing, it did suggest he was confused at best and perverted at worst. Standing up again, Spike suppressed the growl forming in his throat. "Do I tell you how to live your unlife?" he asked. Glaring at Angelus he realised there was no point in pretending there was nothing wrong. "I'll deal with it!" he snapped.

He stomped across the room intent on finding Xander and knocking some decorum into him, leaving Angel smirking and Dru looking amused.

His hand was on the doorknob when he was halted by Dru's next words to Angel. "You shouldn't be mean like that, my Angel." He turned to look at her, unable to resist the urge to see how Angelus responded. She was standing close up to Angelus, her hand resting lightly on his chest.

Angelus was gazing down into her eyes, with apparently no awareness of Spike's continued presence. "I know, but I find it so hard to resist."

Her smile was intimate, as was her voice - intimate and teasing. "There are other, better things, you could find hard... and not resist."

Spike's anger surged again as she continued to gaze up at Angelus, her expression hungry and full of adoration. With a shudder, Angelus seemed to force himself to break the eye contact, focussing on the wall beyond her. He took a deep breath and when he looked back, his face had set into harder lines. "I told you..." he began, before words apparently failed him.

Dru's smile turned bitter. "You'll make him crazy, but you won't offend him?" she asked. "You know it isn't supposed to be like that. You know it isn't even true. Why do you deny yourself the thing you want."

It looked like Angelus was struggling to find the words to explain, and when he did their sense meant nothing to Spike. "Dru, please... Before... I remembered guilt as a pain I didn't need to feel. Then I felt it. And now, it's always there, tearing me up."

Her hand curled against his chest, into a claw, as if she wanted to dig in, through muscle and bone, and rip his heart out. She screamed, "Don't say you're sorry for me!"

Angelus groaned, a defeated sound, and shook his head as he gazed into her eyes. "Ah, I wish I could," he said sadly. She lifted up onto her tip toes and their mouths were almost touching, before Angelus pulled away.

As Spike watched, half fascinated, half repelled, Dru's fingers straightened and she patted the spot on Angelus' chest, above his heart, her face suddenly gentle and it occurred to Spike that it might have been his soul she was seeking, rather than his dead heart. "You're not Liam," she said. Angelus opened his mouth, but she forestalled him and her words confirmed Spike's guess. "It's not Liam's soul. It's not even human. So why do you cling to your delusions when you could be shiny and bright and real?" She began to rock, her hand on Angelus' breast the only fixed point as the rest of her swayed from side to side and Spike felt a shiver of dread skim up his spine. "Do you hear the drums?" she asked. "Lord of the dance in a dark land? Calling. Calling." Her voice dropped and Spike stood totally still, straining to hear her words. "I'd go," she whispered. "If you asked."

All thoughts of Xander fled, as Spike prepared to intervene, but Angelus spoke before he could move. "Dru," he seemed to choke on the word. "I have a mission. I have to hold on to what I know is right."

Dru pursed her lips and emitted a long whistle which undulated up and down the scale, the mournful sound creating resonances in Spike's bones. Beneath his hand, the doorknob moved, attempted to turn, and he released it. The door opened a crack before it hit his foot and stopped, but Xander slipped through the gap and into the room. "What..." he began. Spike raised his hand and flapped it at Xander to shut him up, without shifting his gaze from the tableau across the room.

Dru stepped back from Angelus at last and for a second Spike thought the vision was over, but when she spoke it was clear the voice was still in her. "He lied," she announced, lifting her arms and weaving her hands back and forth before her face. "He told you half truths and second hand truths." She sounded like she was in pain and her mouth twisted as she let out a moan. Clutching at her stomach, she hunched over. "He would say anything to recruit you," she gasped.

Angelus was frozen to the spot, but Spike knew that posture from long experience. Breaking from his trance he rushed over and caught her before she collapsed to the floor. Cradling her against him, he got one arm around her back and the other under her knees and picked her up. Curling in to his chest, she whimpered, batting weakly at him with the hand not caught between their bodies. Sparing a glare for Angelus, Spike turned to Xander. "Fetch the fur blanket off her bed," he instructed.

Xander rushed back out of the room and Spike knelt down, laying Dru out, full length on the sofa. He kept his arm behind her shoulders, holding her up while he grabbed a cushion with his other hand, to place behind her head. Looking back up at Angelus he spat, "What were you thinking? Bloody moron! She could have hurt herself."

Angelus looked stunned. "What... what was that?" he asked.

"That was a bad one. That's what that was. And what were you doing, eh? Standing there like a block, when you know what the visions do." He glared at Angelus again. "At least you did, once upon a time." Turning back to Dru, he gently straightened her skirts down around her ankles. She seemed to have fallen asleep, or into unconsciousness, but she wasn't dust and Spike clung to that comfort. He knew his voice was shaking, but the rage needed an out. "If it wasn't for the ritual, you'd be in the street, on your ear for this. Don't you bloody care about anything except yourself?"

Interrupting his accusations, Xander returned, clutching the fur to his chest with both hands. He tip toed across to Spike, who stood to take it from him. Then he backed away towards the kitchen door, seeming to recognise that this was an occasion when it would be safest to be neither seen nor heard. Spike gave the blanket a shake and tucked it around Dru's still form, making sure she'd be comfortable when she woke up.

Finally satisfied, he straightened and looked again at Angelus, who hadn't moved from where he was standing when Dru's turn began. The anger and worry now gone, Spike was surprised by the expression of wonder on his grandsire's face. "You always had so much humanity in you," Angelus observed, apropos of nothing, "no matter what I did to train it out of you."

Now that he was reassured that Dru would be okay, Spike relaxed. He laughed bitterly. "Dru was undermining you at every step, mate. She wanted me the way I am." Glancing across at Xander he pointed at the bottle of Eagle Rare then brought his hand to his mouth, miming the act of drinking from a glass. Xander jumped to comply. "You may have had the training of me," he added, "but she made me." Crossing to the bureau he took the glass from Xander and pulled the boy to him, loving the way his childe immediately moulded his body into Spike's side. Taking a deep swig, he nodded towards Dru and explained, "They take it out of her. Every time, she's not as strong after. She might be okay one day, but then she's bad again for a while. And it's getting worse." He sighed. "And it's not like most of them make much sense. I don't know what that one was all about. Do you?"

Angelus shook his head, a frown creasing his brow between his eyes and Spike decided he believed him. "You'll have to feed her again," he said. "When she wakes up. She'll be weak as a kitten. I can never get her to take anything after one of her attacks, but you'd bloody better. Got that?"

Nodding his agreement, Angelus walked over to Dru's chair and seemed to collapse into it. Suddenly Spike remembered the blood, still sitting on the coffee table. Releasing Xander, he stalked over, grabbed a couple of bags and tossed them to Angelus. "Here," he said. "So you'll be ready. I'll put the rest away in the fridge." Grabbing Xander's hand as he passed, he pulled him towards the kitchen door. "Just remember: make her eat!"

Looking up from the blood in his hand, Angelus seemed confused. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Got a conversation to have, about decorum, remember?" Spike growled. "And since it'll be loud, I'm taking it outside. We'll be back before dawn, never fear." Giving Xander a push, he propelled him out of the room. "Go find that Jesse creature, where ever he's cowering, and meet me at the back door," he instructed him. "I have some energy to burn off, and you two just scored."

Continued here.

Comments

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

Angel confused me this chapter but I think he was suppoed to do so. He can't seem to decide if he's Angel or Angelus around his "family," which role to take.

Meanwhile, poor Spike can't seem to figure out which way is up or how to react to him. I think Xander and Jesse are about to get the worst of his frustration.

You give very good, very convincing Dru voice and that is an exceptionally difficult thing. Now I'm wondering what exactly she meant about half truths and second hand truths since I presume she's talking about Whistler.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

I think I'm being too subtle with Angel, because if he's confusing you, there are few who will be able to follow where he's coming from. You are right, his behaviour is swinging between Angel and Angelus, because of where he is in his unlife, but within that I do not intend for him to be inconsistent. Hmmmm...
He is not sleeping with Dru, so he thinks he's doing the right thing and doesn't see what Spike can object to.
Spike, however, is taking offence at something else - Dru's attitude and Angel's apparent encouragement of that and his mocking of Spike over it.
I will need to think about this and maybe go back and do a bit of a rework, to clarify, maybe.
As for what she meant about Whistler, I always thought it odd, the way Whistler responded to Buffy when he appeared in Giles' apartment at the end of S2. There was something a little bit off about his comment that he had thought it would be Angel's 'big day'. Something a bit glib, like a salesman caught out in overstating the virtues of what he is selling. *g*
Thank you for your thought provoking comments. I will go away and think a bit. *g* Go away literally for the next few days, so hopefully I'll come back all thought through. *hugs you for being such a wonderfully thoughtful commenter, who really makes me think*

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

I think my confusion was merely a side effect of angel's obvious ambivalence. He wants to be good and human, at the same time there's a strong pull toward his vampire family. He's trying to employee human sensibilities to the vampire relationships and it's all just coming out a mess and he can't figure out quite why.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Yes, that is a perfect summary. Now all I need to do is make it a bit clearer in the last few chapters, somehow. Thank you.