Still Ensouled 8

The Adventures of Captain Peroxide and Deadboy

The Angel/Spike Zone of the BtVS Writer's Guild

Chapter VIII - Airing Out

"Why won’t you stay?"

It was a simple enough question, but one Spike could not find an easy answer for. As soon as Angelus had returned Spike had felt a piece of himself slip away. Part of his goodness went into the ether with Angel's soul. He could not find a reason for the change, but he knew he had to get as far from his sire as possible.

"Fred listen to me," He said as he softly brushed her hair from her face, "If I stay here, Angelus will use me. He will find a way to get under my skin."

"No, he won’t, you're stronger than that." She tried to assure him.

"Maybe I was before, but now, when I look at him, all I see is Angel. He's all I've wanted in a hundred years, and I can't have him now. Angelus knows that, and he will torture me with it. I have to go."

"There’s something you're not telling us." Wesley asked from across the room. "Isn’t there Spike?"

"Yeah, well, there's always something." Spike said quietly. "Okay, so I've been having some fairly killer headaches this morning, the kind of headaches that usually end with a basement full of fledglings. So, I'm thinking that LA might not be the best place for me right now."

Wesley took a step closer to the vampire. "You think the First is trying to make contact with you here?"

"I don't know what it's trying to do, all I know is that you have enough problems right now. You lot do not need the real Team Angel working against you, so I'm leaving." Spike gathered up his coat and took Angel's car keys from the counter.

"Spike, I don't want you to leave. We may need your strength to contain Angelus." Wesley said.

"Sorry, Wes. Not your choice. I'm going back to Sunnydale, and I'm leaving now while it's dark. There I mean, since I'm thinking perma-night won’t have hit that far north just yet." He gave a short hug to Fred and a nod to Wesley as he made for the lobby doors. "Just call me if you need me. If I don't answer my phone it means Buffy's got me chained to the bed."

"Oh, thanks for that visual." Cordelia said as she came out of the office.

"Oh, William, don't I get a goodbye kiss?"

Spike ignored the Irish brogue coming out of the television monitor that sat on the counter and walked out the door.

"I think it's time one of us went down there." Gunn said. "Evil Dead’s banging is starting to piss me off."

"I'll go." Wesley stated, picking up a crossbow. "Everyone needs to watch the monitor. Listen to everything he says, he’ll try to manipulate everything we say to him to turn us against each other. We can't let him. Keep your wits about you and we’ll be fine."

"None of us will be fine if he gets out of that cage." Cordelia said. "Trust me I know, I've seen it."

"Right, puppies, fish, we got the keep your pets locked up memo." Lorne said grimacing at the imagery Cordelia had planted in all of their heads.

Wesley walked towards the staircase and then paused. "I've been preparing for this moment for years and I'm still not ready."

"You’ll be fine, Wesley." Fred encouraged.

"I guess we’ll see."

"Wesley." Angel said with exaggerated excitement. "I'm so glad to see you."

"As I am you." Wesley said. He grabbed a wooden chair and placed it just outside the red border marking the safe distance outside of Angelus’ cage. "The legendary Angelus. Here in all your glory. Well, most of your glory at least. We should have considered your comfort more."

"Really?" Angelus replied with little interest.

"Yes. I tried to talk Angel into wearing the leather pants, as I know how you do love them." Wesley smiled at the picture he had painted as he took a seat and laid the crossbow across his lap. "Other than that, I assume you're comfortable."

"Oh, just keen, Wes. Nice acoustics. Wouldn’t hate a chair." Angelus said as he began to pace the cage.

"Sorry, we had to take the necessary precautions. Your daring escapes are infamous, as is your cruelty."

"Stop, I'm blushing."

"I've read everything there is about you. The prophecies, watcher’s diaries, even a few of Darla’s journals left throughout the world, everything."

"Wrong, watcher boy. There were some putrid attempts at poetry that Spike wrote in the early 1800’s that will never be seen again." Angelus sneered. "That is unless you care to dig through petrified pig shit. I made him feed it to the swine hoping it would come out better on the other end."

"Tragic I'm sure. Did the experiment work?"

"Don’t be coy, Wesley. Buttering me up, the small talk bit. We’re above this. Wouldn’t you agree?"

"I was just trying to be polite."

"Then say it all with a little more reverence. The LEGENDARY Angelus. Put some emphasis into it. I'm not some punk like Spike who turned the slayer on enough to survive a few decades." He said, smacking the bars in exclamation.

The clang of the bars made Wesley bolt a little and he chided himself for being so jumpy.

"I realize you and Spike have little in common, I mean with one exception of course."

"And what might that be?"

"Neither of you can keep your hands off of Angel's cock at night."

"Nice, Wes. Are you just going to talk about my cock all night, because I could whip it out. You seem so terribly interested."

"Quite all right, really." Wesley blinked to moisten his eyes, or so he told himself, the truth was it forced him to look away from the vampire he had waited so long to meet.

"Suit yourself. You could go back to the flattery."

"Well, as a former watcher, I have to admit it's a high point."

"Enough, Wesley. It pains me to see you like this. You're just dying to know about the big beasty."

"Ask away. Open book."

"Alright. Did you know the beast?"

"Well, that's a question. Not a very interesting question, but a question nonetheless." Angel took a step closer to the bars of the cage, wrapping his long fingers around the bars. "I'll tell you this, where you're looking. Wrong place."

"You mean our research?"

"Research, right. Is that what you call a bunch of retards flipping through the same books over and over? I've got a question for you. What’s up with Angel and the Raiders of the Lost Ark?"

"The movie?" Wesley asked leaning forward in his chair.

"No, his retarded perfect day fantasy. Booby-traps, caves, the requisite phallic sword."

"In his fantasy, Angel killed the Beast?"

"Yeah, not enough to save the world, he has to have the whole gang helping out. Real candy ass."

"Do you. Do you really feel my pain, Wesley? Because, I would love to feel yours."

"So, if we’re all looking in the wrong place, where is the right place?"

"That would be telling wouldn't it?" Angelus said, turning away from Wesley and once again pacing the small space that confined him.

"The Beast called you an adversary. If that were what he was we’d be doing you a favor by killing him."

"I'd be careful how many favors you do me, Wesley. You know you tried to do a favor for Angel." Angelus resumed his task of stroking the bars up and down. "Do you know what happened that night that you fed him?"

"I was there, I think I know what happened."

"You don't know shit. When you sliced yourself open for him you were really feeding me. You morons all seem to think that I was on sabbatical, but I'm always here. I see everything, feel everything. I wanted everything Angel was too much of a pussy to take. But not you. Nope, not you. The way you tasted just then, all salt and Guinness, so riled up when you pulled that box off the ocean floor. Fear is such a wonderful thing to taste, but elation can be so enticing. Angel gave you the one thing you had been waiting for your whole life, and he was to out of it to even notice. I wasn't. I loved every second of it."

"I'm sure you did. Why do you remember the Beast and Angel doesn't?" Wesley asked, trying not to relive the moments on the boat.

"Maybe he just forgot the good parts."

"Or maybe you don't really have anything to tell me." Wesley began to stand.

"Oh, that's it? Nice stamina, Wes." Angelus followed Wesley’s movements as he went to leave the room.

"You're just wasting my time."

"Oh gee, is this the part where I'm supposed to get all defensive and tell you all of my evil plans? No wonder she doesn't want you. It must just make you nuts. Knowing that he's with her up in their room each night, rubbing that big shiny black head all over her milky skin. Throwing her down on the mattress as she calls out his name, and she does. Her arching her back to take that big black..."

"And it must kill you that Angel devoted his life to doing good. To protecting the innocent from those like you." Wesley said, turning around to face the vampire.

"Oh, no fair changing the subject. I mean it's not like everyone doesn't already know about your little schoolyard crush. I mean she’s a bit bony for my tastes, but you know different strokes. So what, you figure you save the day, giver her roses, then wham..." He said slamming his hands against the bars again. "You bend her over the kitchen table and..."

"You found a weakness, well done. Now can we get back to the Beast? In Cordelia’s vision she said..."

"Oh, yeah, let’s talk about Cordelia shall we? Now there's a rack to write home about. Too bad about the personality. I mean really, yak, yak, yak." The vampire pantomimed an invisible Cordelia, "I love you, Angel, but we can't be together. You ate babies. Chicks." Angelus laughed at the recollection. "So what do you think is worse, Wesley? Kidnapping my kid like you did, or banging him like Cordelia did?"

Upstairs, in the hotel lobby, three faces turned from the surveillance monitor to look at a very crimson Cordelia.

People said "Shame, shame, know your name..

Violators will be beaten to death with a shovel

(A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend)