William's New Identity

Series is NC-17 overall for slash (Angelus/William), smut (Angelus/William, Angelus/Darla, Angelus/Dru, William/Drusilla), violence, language... all that fun stuff. If any of these themes bother you, then I suggest you skip the fic.

Spoilers: More for the previous stories in the series than anything Joss has done, by this point. However, you might recognize that I borrowed and changed slightly one of the scenes from the episode "Fool for Love" for this story. Otherwise, general spoilers for the very vague history he's given us of Angelus, Darla, William the Bloody and Drusilla.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, though some of the plot ideas are. The characters and overall canon belongs to Joss Whedon, and whoever else he says owns them.

Author's Notes: This story is part of a series that is *my* take on the history of Angelus, Darla, William and Drusilla. You'll notice that I refuse to accept Joss' revisionist history that Dru is William the Bloody's sire. Otherwise I try to stick close to his canon.

Dedications: To CrazyEvilDru, of course. My beta and the girl who I can always turn to for ideas/suggestion when I'm blocked on this series. Which has been often. To all of those who sent me feedback on this series and continue to do so.

A tense peace had fallen over Angelus’ family. He’d not followed up on his promise to punish William, wanting to wait until the boy was healed up from the wounds. Angelus bought them a new carriage, intending to continue their journey to the coast once Will had recovered fully. They managed to survive in the one small hotel room while they waited for that to happen. William stayed out of Angelus’ way, Drusilla stayed out of Angelus and Darla’s way.

As Will slowly recovered, he continued to be obedient and submissive. He never questioned either Angelus or Darla. Angelus began to feel that he finally *had* gotten through to the boy. Things would be better now. And since that was the case, there was no need to punish him.

Darla, however, clearly disagreed. She constantly made her irritation known that he hadn't dealt with Will's disobedience. Angelus made every effort to placate her, but she wouldn't be swayed to see things his way. She insisted that Will's good behavior wouldn’t last long, not unless Angelus made him pay for his previous rebellions. Angelus knew that if she ordered him to discipline the boy, he’d have no choice but to obey her.

He finally reached a compromise with her, explaining he thought it best to wait until they got to Paris, in the privacy of their own home, before he dealt with the boy. Darla grudgingly agreed. Angelus hoped that in the mean time, Will would prove him right and perhaps she'd see it really wasn't necessary to punish Will.

For the first three days of Will's recovery, he had to remain in the hotel, not strong enough to move, while the others went hunting together nightly. Not wanting to rouse suspicion by bringing humans to their room, Angelus had let his childe drink his blood, knowing he’d also heal faster that way. Darla hadn’t liked that solution, but Angelus was getting used to the fact that his sire didn’t like much of anything lately.

Toward the end of the week, Will became able to walk on his own and the family continued their travels. They stopped at the occasional farmer’s house to feed but kept going toward the coast. The new carriage had dark curtains, so they slept inside during the day on the side of the road.

After two weeks, they arrived in Yorkshire. Darla suggested they stop for at least a couple of days. Angelus agreed and they found a hotel, this time getting two rooms. However, once they arrived in the city, Darla decided she had no interest in continuing their travels, not for a while anyway. A week had become three and still they stayed in Yorkshire.

One night, exactly one month after the incident that had caused them to flee to Yorkshire, they all went out hunting. So far, Will had obeyed the the older vampire during during the hunt. He was growing bored with Angelus and Darla’s method of hunting. It wasn’t enjoyable at all. He wanted more excitement, even though a voice in his head warned him not to antagonize his sire.

Unknown to Angelus, he’d spent the days of his 'recovery' playing poker with the locals on the first floor of the hotel. He’d picked up some of their slang, along the way. He liked these people, they were simple and unpretentious and knew how to have a good time. They knew him as ‘Spike’, which had at first been his own private joke, but later he’d decided he liked it. If his sire could be Angelus, then he could be Spike. The name William never really fit him. It had been an attempt for his lower-class mother to make him into a high-class gentleman, something he’d never really been. But Spike... he could be Spike. It hinted at his danger, and it was yet another way to get further away from who he'd been as a human.

They ran through the streets for two miles, before he finally drew to a halt and looked around. Time for some fun. They strolled through the city, killing randomly. He used his spike on his victims and held them down as he drank the blood that spurted from their wounds.

After they’d both had their fill of blood, he discarded his coat in an alley. It had gotten bloody, and there was no need to draw *too* much attention to them. Then he and Dru entered the first tavern they came upon. Of course there was a poker game already going. Spike introduced himself and Dru and one of the men offered him a seat. He accepted without a second thought.

"Now why would you say that?" Spike wondered with a frown. "Oh." He stood, pushing Dru off his lap and behind him. "I guess it might be because of these?" He shook several cards out of his sleeve and grinned.

"Gotta catch me, first," Spike taunted. He grabbed Dru and they ran. The man he’d angered apparently had a lot of friends, because the two vampires soon had twenty men chasing them.

Spike deliberately ran down an alley that was a dead end and turned to face his pursuers. "Hey, Luv, I’m hungry," he said to Dru, slipping into gameface. "How about you?"

Four of the men ran off at the sight of the monsters, but the rest charged at Spike and Dru. The vampires fought the humans off easily, their strength renewed by their earlier feed. After ten minutes, the humans were all dead. Spike thought that some of them might have run off, but didn’t worry too much about that possibilitiy. He had a few cuts and bruises but no serious injury. He’d enjoyed the fight and was still feeling the adrenaline rush. "Okay, Pet?" He asked Drusilla.

"Fine," she agreed, pulling away from her last victim. She stood and licked her lips. "A few of the silly boys were naughty and tried to hit me, but I made them scream," she laughed.

"I’m not TOLERATING THIS ANYMORE!" Darla screamed at her childe. They’d become aware of William and Drusilla’s absence but had not been able to track them. Finally they'd returned to their hotel room. Since then, Darla had been berating Angelus, without pause, for at least an hour.

"You are NOT controlling your childe," she hissed angrily. "You're failing at your duty, and I'm disgusted with your... your ... doting on that disobedient brat!

"So I am not ASKING anymore, BOY, I'm giving orders. And they are *not* up for debate. First: We WILL leave for Paris immediately. Secondly: When we get there, you WILL beat the insolence out of that little bastard. And *I* will oversee the punishment and *I* alone will tell you when it is over. Third: If I so much as SUSPECT, after that, that he is still not under control, I will tell you to destroy him and you will obey! Without hesitation!

Will and Drusilla returned five minutes later, oblivious to the dark moods of the older vampires. "Funny story, really," Spike started his excuse. Angelus cut him off with a punch to the face, however, which knocked him to the ground. Before Spike could react, his sire had a boot down on his throat. "What-" Spike croaked, trying to pull the foot away.

"Don’t talk," Angelus growled. "Listen. The games are over. I don’t want to know where you and Dru were, William. It won't matter, because there aren’t enough excuses in the world to get you out of the beating you have earned when we get to Paris. Get your things together, we're leaving." He turned and walked away, and began to pack up his clothing.

Spike decided it would be best not to argue. He got to his feet and silently obeyed his sire. He hadn’t thought Angelus would be *this* furious. He’d just been having a little fun.

They began transferring their bags to the carriage, while Angelus settled the bill. He got on top of the carriage with Darla; and Will and Dru brought the last of the things down.

"Oh, bloody hell," Spike muttered, as he recognized a few of the men from earlier. They *hadn't* killed all of them. He chanced a glance up at Angelus's furious expression and wondered if he’d rather take his chances with the humans.

Angelus looked around him in utter shock. There were twenty men surrounding the carriage; some were on horses. All held torches and pistols. Fighting them wasn't an option. He only hoped they could outrun the mortals' horses.

He looked down at Spike and yelled, "GET IN! He grabbed his whip and urged the horses forward, as his childer obeyed. The bullets began flying instantly, and Darla ducked down near Angelus in order to avoid getting hit. He whipped the horses mercilessly, trying to get them to go faster as they rode through town.

Suddenly, as they were near the outskirts of the city, three men on horses appeared in front of them. They waved their torches, scaring the horses into rearing. The vampires jumped off and out of the carriage, Angelus leading the way down a side street.

Angelus could sense dawn approaching. He ducked into an alley, the others following him. "We have to fight," He said. "If we don’t, we’ll get forced out of any shelter we find." A human came upon them then, and Angelus grabbed him. He slammed the man’s head against the wall, cracking his skull and killing him instantly. They waited, but surprisingly enough, none of their other pursuers appeared.

They waited for five minutes and finally realized they'd somehow lost the rest of the humans. Angelus said, "Let’s go. We only have ten minutes, before we’ll be feeling the first rays of the sun. We have to find shelter quickly, but I don’t know-"

Sure enough, the mine shaft was where Spike had indicated. They ran inside, just seconds before the sun began to rise. They walked deeper and deeper into the mine, silently, for half an hour, before Angelus felt safe enough to stop. When he looked over at his boy and saw he still had the wine bottle he’d taken from their hotel room, something inside him snapped. He grabbed Will by the throat, and growled. "Perhaps it’s my advancing years that make me so forgetful, William. Remind me. Why don’t we kill you?"

Angelus growled. "Since when are you … *Spike*," he spat the last word out with distaste. "And you’d do well to remember, WILLIAM, that I’m not your mate. I’m your sire. And when did you start talking like that?!"

Darla watched the confrontation, unimpressed with the way her childe was going about this. Too much talking, not enough beating. And Angelus wasn't even getting to the *real* heart of the problem. She turned to William. "Look. We barely got out of London *alive* because of you. And now this? Everywhere we go, it’s turning out the same way and now--"

"You’ve got me and my women hiding in the luxury of a mine shaft," Angelus finished. "All because ‘William the Bloody’ likes the attention. Have I mentioned that this is NOT a reputation we need?!"

Spike shrugged and took a drink from the wine bottle in his hand. *If I’m going to go down, I’m going down fighting. Enough of being a frightened weakling. Angelus won’t break me… not now that I know how powerful I am. If I could kill nearly twenty humans … of course Dru helped but the point is, I’m not a sniveling childe, not anymore.* He grinned up at his sire, "Oh, I’m sorry," he said sarcastically. "What, did I sully our good name? Bloody hell, Angelus, we’re *vampires*!"

Angelus was at a loss for words. For the first time since he'd turned the boy, he was having *no* luck at all getting through to him. *Why?* he wondered in aggravation. *Why can’t I have just *one* thing that’s easy?! One childe who actually obeys me and isn’t completely batty.* "All the more reason," he said, "to use a certain amount of finesse."

Angelus had had enough. "No, you will NOT," he replied. "I won’t have that, anymore, William! Everytime you *do* this, we become the hunted. And I’ve had enough of it!" He approached his boy, ready to beat him into submission, even if it took all day.

"Sod off!" Spike said with a chuckle. "Come on. When was the last time you unleashed it? All out fight in a mob, back against the wall, nothing but fists and fangs? Don’t you ever get tired of fights you know you’re gonna win?"

"I’ve told you before, William. That rubbish is for those who are too immature to know better. A real kill, a good kill, it takes pure artistry. Without that, we’re just animals."

Angelus closed the distance between them and shoved Will away. He then leaned down to grab a metal rod lying on the floor, snapping it in half. He backhanded the boy, knocking him off his feet and continued to advance on him. He raised the rod, intending to drive it through his childe's heart. It wouldn’t destroy him but it *would* hurt like hell.

Spike grabbed the rod with both hands and grinned. He smiled wider when he saw he'd caught Angelus off guard by the reaction. "Now you’re gettin’ it!"

Angelus understood and was disgusted with himself. His childe had tried to bait him and had succeeded. This wouldn’t do. He was just giving Will what he wanted, by playing into his need to prove his toughness. He stepped back, dropping the metal rod. "You can’t keep this up forever. If I can’t teach you, maybe someday an angry crowd will. That... or the Slayer."


	The Adventures of Captain Peroxide and Deadboy The Angel/Spike Zone of the BtVS Writer's Guild Home Updates Stories Resources Extras News Music Forum Contact Guestbook Links Full Version Fiction by: Title Author Pairing Rating William's New Identity Author: Evil Willow Plot partner: Crazy Evil Dru Series: "William" (This is story #15) Series is NC-17 overall for slash (Angelus/William), smut (Angelus/William, Angelus/Darla, Angelus/Dru, William/Drusilla), violence, language... all that fun stuff. If any of these themes bother you, then I suggest you skip the fic. Rating of this fic: R for violence and language Spoilers: More for the previous stories in the series than anything Joss has done, by this point. However, you might recognize that I borrowed and changed slightly one of the scenes from the episode "Fool for Love" for this story. Otherwise, general spoilers for the very vague history he's given us of Angelus, Darla, William the Bloody and Drusilla. Content/Warnings/Keywords: Violence, swearing. Hints at pairings of Angelus/Darla and William/Drusilla Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, though some of the plot ideas are. The characters and overall canon belongs to Joss Whedon, and whoever else he says owns them. Summary: William has recovered from his injuries and Darla thinks it won't be long until he's back to his old rebellion. Will he prove her right? Author's Notes: This story is part of a series that is my take on the history of Angelus, Darla, William and Drusilla. You'll notice that I refuse to accept Joss' revisionist history that Dru is William the Bloody's sire. Otherwise I try to stick close to his canon. Dedications: To CrazyEvilDru, of course. My beta and the girl who I can always turn to for ideas/suggestion when I'm blocked on this series. Which has been often. To all of those who sent me feedback on this series and continue to do so. William’s New Identity One Month Later Yorkshire, England A tense peace had fallen over Angelus’ family. He’d not followed up on his promise to punish William, wanting to wait until the boy was healed up from the wounds. Angelus bought them a new carriage, intending to continue their journey to the coast once Will had recovered fully. They managed to survive in the one small hotel room while they waited for that to happen. William stayed out of Angelus’ way, Drusilla stayed out of Angelus and Darla’s way. As Will slowly recovered, he continued to be obedient and submissive. He never questioned either Angelus or Darla. Angelus began to feel that he finally had gotten through to the boy. Things would be better now. And since that was the case, there was no need to punish him. Darla, however, clearly disagreed. She constantly made her irritation known that he hadn't dealt with Will's disobedience. Angelus made every effort to placate her, but she wouldn't be swayed to see things his way. She insisted that Will's good behavior wouldn’t last long, not unless Angelus made him pay for his previous rebellions. Angelus knew that if she ordered him to discipline the boy, he’d have no choice but to obey her. He finally reached a compromise with her, explaining he thought it best to wait until they got to Paris, in the privacy of their own home, before he dealt with the boy. Darla grudgingly agreed. Angelus hoped that in the mean time, Will would prove him right and perhaps she'd see it really wasn't necessary to punish Will. For the first three days of Will's recovery, he had to remain in the hotel, not strong enough to move, while the others went hunting together nightly. Not wanting to rouse suspicion by bringing humans to their room, Angelus had let his childe drink his blood, knowing he’d also heal faster that way. Darla hadn’t liked that solution, but Angelus was getting used to the fact that his sire didn’t like much of anything lately. Toward the end of the week, Will became able to walk on his own and the family continued their travels. They stopped at the occasional farmer’s house to feed but kept going toward the coast. The new carriage had dark curtains, so they slept inside during the day on the side of the road. After two weeks, they arrived in Yorkshire. Darla suggested they stop for at least a couple of days. Angelus agreed and they found a hotel, this time getting two rooms. However, once they arrived in the city, Darla decided she had no interest in continuing their travels, not for a while anyway. A week had become three and still they stayed in Yorkshire. One night, exactly one month after the incident that had caused them to flee to Yorkshire, they all went out hunting. So far, Will had obeyed the the older vampire during during the hunt. He was growing bored with Angelus and Darla’s method of hunting. It wasn’t enjoyable at all. He wanted more excitement, even though a voice in his head warned him not to antagonize his sire. "Come on, Luv," He whispered in Drusilla’s ear and pulled her off into the night. "Where are we going?" she asked as they ran down the alleys and side streets. "Somewhere I can put my spike to good use again," he said with a grin as he pulled it out of his coat pocket. "Daddy’s going to be very upset," she whimpered. "Sod that," Will replied. "We’ll just tell the poofter we got lost." Unknown to Angelus, he’d spent the days of his 'recovery' playing poker with the locals on the first floor of the hotel. He’d picked up some of their slang, along the way. He liked these people, they were simple and unpretentious and knew how to have a good time. They knew him as ‘Spike’, which had at first been his own private joke, but later he’d decided he liked it. If his sire could be Angelus, then he could be Spike. The name William never really fit him. It had been an attempt for his lower-class mother to make him into a high-class gentleman, something he’d never really been. But Spike... he could be Spike. It hinted at his danger, and it was yet another way to get further away from who he'd been as a human. They ran through the streets for two miles, before he finally drew to a halt and looked around. Time for some fun. They strolled through the city, killing randomly. He used his spike on his victims and held them down as he drank the blood that spurted from their wounds. After they’d both had their fill of blood, he discarded his coat in an alley. It had gotten bloody, and there was no need to draw too much attention to them. Then he and Dru entered the first tavern they came upon. Of course there was a poker game already going. Spike introduced himself and Dru and one of the men offered him a seat. He accepted without a second thought. Soon he was drunk and losing all of his money, but having a wonderful time on both counts. "Cheater!" One of the men accused and jumped to his feet angrily. "Now why would you say that?" Spike wondered with a frown. "Oh." He stood, pushing Dru off his lap and behind him. "I guess it might be because of these?" He shook several cards out of his sleeve and grinned. "I’M GONNA BEAT YOU, BOY!" The man roared. "Gotta catch me, first," Spike taunted. He grabbed Dru and they ran. The man he’d angered apparently had a lot of friends, because the two vampires soon had twenty men chasing them. Spike deliberately ran down an alley that was a dead end and turned to face his pursuers. "Hey, Luv, I’m hungry," he said to Dru, slipping into gameface. "How about you?" "I’m always ready for blood," she replied with a grin, letting her demon emerge too. Four of the men ran off at the sight of the monsters, but the rest charged at Spike and Dru. The vampires fought the humans off easily, their strength renewed by their earlier feed. After ten minutes, the humans were all dead. Spike thought that some of them might have run off, but didn’t worry too much about that possibilitiy. He had a few cuts and bruises but no serious injury. He’d enjoyed the fight and was still feeling the adrenaline rush. "Okay, Pet?" He asked Drusilla. "Fine," she agreed, pulling away from her last victim. She stood and licked her lips. "A few of the silly boys were naughty and tried to hit me, but I made them scream," she laughed. "I remember," Spike said, chuckling. "Well, come on, Pet. It’ll be dawn soon." *********** "I’m not TOLERATING THIS ANYMORE!" Darla screamed at her childe. They’d become aware of William and Drusilla’s absence but had not been able to track them. Finally they'd returned to their hotel room. Since then, Darla had been berating Angelus, without pause, for at least an hour. "This is OVER!" she continued. "I have been patient but you have tried my patience to its limits!" "ME?!" Angelus said. "What the hell have I done?!" "You are NOT controlling your childe," she hissed angrily. "You're failing at your duty, and I'm disgusted with your... your ... doting on that disobedient brat! "So I am not ASKING anymore, BOY, I'm giving orders. And they are not up for debate. First: We WILL leave for Paris immediately. Secondly: When we get there, you WILL beat the insolence out of that little bastard. And I will oversee the punishment and I alone will tell you when it is over. Third: If I so much as SUSPECT, after that, that he is still not under control, I will tell you to destroy him and you will obey! Without hesitation! "Now, have I made myself CLEAR?!" "Crystal," Angelus replied silently. Will and Drusilla returned five minutes later, oblivious to the dark moods of the older vampires. "Funny story, really," Spike started his excuse. Angelus cut him off with a punch to the face, however, which knocked him to the ground. Before Spike could react, his sire had a boot down on his throat. "What-" Spike croaked, trying to pull the foot away. "Don’t talk," Angelus growled. "Listen. The games are over. I don’t want to know where you and Dru were, William. It won't matter, because there aren’t enough excuses in the world to get you out of the beating you have earned when we get to Paris. Get your things together, we're leaving." He turned and walked away, and began to pack up his clothing. Spike decided it would be best not to argue. He got to his feet and silently obeyed his sire. He hadn’t thought Angelus would be this furious. He’d just been having a little fun. They began transferring their bags to the carriage, while Angelus settled the bill. He got on top of the carriage with Darla; and Will and Dru brought the last of the things down. And then all hell broke loose. "THERE HE IS!" "MURDERER!" "Oh, bloody hell," Spike muttered, as he recognized a few of the men from earlier. They hadn't killed all of them. He chanced a glance up at Angelus's furious expression and wondered if he’d rather take his chances with the humans. Angelus looked around him in utter shock. There were twenty men surrounding the carriage; some were on horses. All held torches and pistols. Fighting them wasn't an option. He only hoped they could outrun the mortals' horses. He looked down at Spike and yelled, "GET IN! He grabbed his whip and urged the horses forward, as his childer obeyed. The bullets began flying instantly, and Darla ducked down near Angelus in order to avoid getting hit. He whipped the horses mercilessly, trying to get them to go faster as they rode through town. Suddenly, as they were near the outskirts of the city, three men on horses appeared in front of them. They waved their torches, scaring the horses into rearing. The vampires jumped off and out of the carriage, Angelus leading the way down a side street. Angelus could sense dawn approaching. He ducked into an alley, the others following him. "We have to fight," He said. "If we don’t, we’ll get forced out of any shelter we find." A human came upon them then, and Angelus grabbed him. He slammed the man’s head against the wall, cracking his skull and killing him instantly. They waited, but surprisingly enough, none of their other pursuers appeared. They waited for five minutes and finally realized they'd somehow lost the rest of the humans. Angelus said, "Let’s go. We only have ten minutes, before we’ll be feeling the first rays of the sun. We have to find shelter quickly, but I don’t know-" "The mines," William interrupted him. Angelus frowned. "What? Where?" "I think…" Will looked around. "That way, three blocks," he pointed down the street. "You’d better be right," Angelus growled as they ran in the direction Will had indicated. ********* Sure enough, the mine shaft was where Spike had indicated. They ran inside, just seconds before the sun began to rise. They walked deeper and deeper into the mine, silently, for half an hour, before Angelus felt safe enough to stop. When he looked over at his boy and saw he still had the wine bottle he’d taken from their hotel room, something inside him snapped. He grabbed Will by the throat, and growled. "Perhaps it’s my advancing years that make me so forgetful, William. Remind me. Why don’t we kill you?" Will clawed at the hand that choked him, "..ike" was all he could get out. Angelus frowned and released him, "What’s that?" Spike backed away slightly and said, "It’s Spike, now. You’d do well to remember it, Mate." He grinned. Angelus growled. "Since when are you … Spike," he spat the last word out with distaste. "And you’d do well to remember, WILLIAM, that I’m not your mate. I’m your sire. And when did you start talking like that?!" Darla watched the confrontation, unimpressed with the way her childe was going about this. Too much talking, not enough beating. And Angelus wasn't even getting to the real heart of the problem. She turned to William. "Look. We barely got out of London alive because of you. And now this? Everywhere we go, it’s turning out the same way and now--" "You’ve got me and my women hiding in the luxury of a mine shaft," Angelus finished. "All because ‘William the Bloody’ likes the attention. Have I mentioned that this is NOT a reputation we need?!" Spike shrugged and took a drink from the wine bottle in his hand. If I’m going to go down, I’m going down fighting. Enough of being a frightened weakling. Angelus won’t break me… not now that I know how powerful I am. If I could kill nearly twenty humans … of course Dru helped but the point is, I’m not a sniveling childe, not anymore. He grinned up at his sire, "Oh, I’m sorry," he said sarcastically. "What, did I sully our good name? Bloody hell, Angelus, we’re vampires!" Angelus was at a loss for words. For the first time since he'd turned the boy, he was having no luck at all getting through to him. Why? he wondered in aggravation. Why can’t I have just one* thing that’s easy?! One childe who actually obeys me and isn’t completely batty.* "All the more reason," he said, "to use a certain amount of finesse." "Bollocks!" Spike yelled. "That stuff’s for the frilly cuffs-and-collars crowd. I’ll take a good brawl, any day!" Angelus had had enough. "No, you will NOT," he replied. "I won’t have that, anymore, William! Everytime you do this, we become the hunted. And I’ve had enough of it!" He approached his boy, ready to beat him into submission, even if it took all day. Finally. Darla couldn't help enjoying the turn of events. "I think the boys are going to fight." Drusilla smiled, "The King of Cups expects a picnic! But this is not his birthday." Darla looked over at Dru with a frown, She's so completely insane; why do* we keep her around.* "Good point…" "You know what I prefer to being hunted?" Spike asked his sire as he backed up a little. "Getting caught." Angelus rolled his eyes. "That’s a brilliant strategy, really... pure cunning." "Sod off!" Spike said with a chuckle. "Come on. When was the last time you unleashed it? All out fight in a mob, back against the wall, nothing but fists and fangs? Don’t you ever get tired of fights you know you’re gonna win?" "I’ve told you before, William. That rubbish is for those who are too immature to know better. A real kill, a good kill, it takes pure artistry. Without that, we’re just animals." It was Spike’s turn to roll his eyes, "Poofter!" He taunted as he continued to back away. Angelus closed the distance between them and shoved Will away. He then leaned down to grab a metal rod lying on the floor, snapping it in half. He backhanded the boy, knocking him off his feet and continued to advance on him. He raised the rod, intending to drive it through his childe's heart. It wouldn’t destroy him but it would hurt like hell. Spike grabbed the rod with both hands and grinned. He smiled wider when he saw he'd caught Angelus off guard by the reaction. "Now you’re gettin’ it!" Angelus understood and was disgusted with himself. His childe had tried to bait him and had succeeded. This wouldn’t do. He was just giving Will what he wanted, by playing into his need to prove his toughness. He stepped back, dropping the metal rod. "You can’t keep this up forever. If I can’t teach you, maybe someday an angry crowd will. That... or the Slayer." Spike sat up, interested. "What’s a Slayer?" ************ Next Chapter