Still Ensouled 11

The Adventures of Captain Peroxide and Deadboy

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

Chapter XI - Sharing

"What the hell was that?" Gunn asked flying up from his spot on the lobby’s couch.

A scream had pierced the hotel’s quiet interior and torn Gunn from his comic book, and now he and Faith were both running up the stairs towards Fred’s room. Faith kicked the door in and charged into the small anteroom, with Gunn close behind her. Both stopped in their tracks when they saw Spike holding Fred’s limp body in a vampire's embrace. He looked up at them with a blood-coated smile and dropped his meal on the floor.

"Catch your act later." He said before crashing through the double doors that led to the inner chamber of the room. Faith began to chase him but was stopped by Gunn.

"Let him go, we’ve got to get her to a hospital, now!" He said pleadingly to the Slayer.

"But..." Faith started.

"No buts. Help me." Gunn knelt down and felt Fred’s neck for a pulse. "She’s alive, but just barely. I'll get Wesley’s car. Meet me downstairs."

"Gunn, I can catch him, he can only go into the sewers. Daytime." She said pointing to the light streaming through the curtains.

"No, Fred first, deadboy second." He said as he ran out of the room. Faith picked Fred’s lithe body up with little strain and followed him down the stairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she almost dropped her cargo tripping over Wesley’s semiconscious body.

"Wes, you okay?" She asked, not stopping.

"I'll be fine. What happened?" He asked following Faith to the front door.

"What?" Wesley asked as he too felt for a pulse.

"Look, Wes, not a lot of explanation needed. The vampire bit her, she needs a hospital ASAP. Let’s go." Wesley followed her out to the car and climbed in.

"Why would he tell us about the chip if he intended to attack us?" Wesley asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

"What about the chip?" Faith asked.

Wesley shifted positions in his seat to allow more pressure to be placed on Fred’s wound. "Buffy had the chip removed because it was misfiring." He stated.

"Gunn, stop the car." Gunn pulled over to the side of the road and Faith opened the door.

"Where are you going?" Wesley asked.

"I'm not about to let the chipless wonder run around town all day thinking he got away with this." She grabbed a stake out of the glove box and ran to the nearest manhole, uncovered it, and disappeared.

"Charles, come on, let’s take care of Fred. We'll find Spike and Angelus once we know she’s safe." He placed a hand on Gunn’s shoulder and urged him back onto the road. "Head for Drew Medical, they're miracle workers."

At first the sensation had been nearly too heady to stand. Where a few moments before he was so tired he felt ready to collapse, Spike now felt invigorated. He had run through the sewers with speed that alarmed even him. He now popped in and out of corners, looking out for signs the slayer was following him, but found none. He had done it. He didn't know why but he found himself not caring just then. He felt like a new man, or maybe an old man depending on how you looked at it. He knew there were too things he had to do: find a drugstore that had sewer access and then Angelus.

The bar was hardly high class. The interior resembled a sixties-era Denny’s, with green carpet and gold walls, the clientele was equally as appealing. Angelus had seen some demons in here that could really turn your stomach. One impressively vile Grothnar demon had tried to start a fight when someone mentioned Angelus was the one to thank for the return of the sun, but had reconsidered after the vampire tore off two of the spikes that protruded from the demons back and used then to stab his companions. Angelus had sat at a table in the back of the bar ever since, sipping on a bloody Mary, or maybe she had said her name was Susan. Didn’t matter, he though to himself as he took another drink.

He had closed his eyes for a second trying to block out the hideousness of his situation. Angelus, Scourge of Europe sitting around a demon bar nursing a drink. It was not the lifestyle he was used to. He should have servants, a home, Darla. Angel had gotten rid of everything, and Angelus was getting more and more pissed off about it with every moment.

His silent reverie was broken when he caught a familiar scent. Make that two familiar scents.

"You’ve got a lot of nerve bringing a human in here." Angelus said without opening his eyes.

"Who’d that be, lover?" Angelus opened his eyes and looked at Spike. He had expected to find porthole girl, but he was alone. A smirk curled in the corners of Angelus’s mouth.

"You fed on her?" He asked.

"Well, yeah." Spike answered. He then sat down in the booth, across from his sire and bit into the wrist of the girl Angelus had been snacking on. After a long drink, Spike wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb, sucking on it for a moment and then licking off the last remnants of blood.

Angelus leaned over the table and looked into Spike's eyes. "How’d you manage that? I can still see that soul in there." He shifted back against the cushions once again, resuming his comfortable position.

"Not sure, but the chip is gone, and I'm suddenly very hungry." Spike said with a grin.

"Interesting." Angelus said.

"Truly." Spike concurred. "So, this is your town, as your alter ego was so fond of pointing out. Where do we go for fun?"

"Oh, not far I think." Angelus purred standing up from his seat. He headed towards a door at the other side of the room. Spike did not need to be asked to follow.

"This place looks like Marakesh." Spike pointed out as he and Angelus drifted from room to room. The bar’s back room had been converted into a harem of sorts. Vampires lined the walls while their willing victims, mostly female, lay in a dozen positions giving easy access to anyone who cared to drink. Spike saw a particularly enticing brunette sprawled out on a silk covered divan and went to take a bite when Angelus stopped him.

"Nuh-uh." His sire warned. "You don't want her."

"Why does she taste funny?" Spike asked with a grin.

"Not at first, but once you taste the junk in her veins you’ll want to throw up." Angelus said as he pulled on Spike's arm and led him through a hanging of orange sheers that covered the next room’s door. The pair had barely made it through the door when a booming voice rang in Angelus’s ears.

"Angelus!" It yelled. The vampire thrust his arms out at the wall to catch his balance, which forced him to let go of Spike's arm.

"What the hell was that?" Angelus asked, shaking his head wildly.

"What was what?" Spike asked.

"There’s a voice in my head."

"Yeah, know what you mean. Tell it to go away." Spike said grabbing Angelus’s hand and pulling him over to a battered velvet couch.

"Get out of my head!" Angel yelled.

"Oh, my sweet boy." The voice said, "How dare you speak to me that way when I've gone through such trouble to let you out of your cage? And how do you repay me? You kill my favorite pet."

"So you're the one who’s been pulling all the strings over at Angel Inc.? Making them think it was their idea to bring out Angel's inner me. Stealing my soul and all. Great." Angelus cast a look at Spike and rolled his eyes.

"Oh yes, I have such wonderful plans for you." The voice cooed.

"Yeah, well I don't play well with others."

"You play with me just fine." Spike chimed in.

"Yeah, anyway thanks for stopping by my head, now get stuffed."

"You would dare defy me?" The voice shouted loud enough to bring tears to Angelus’s eyes.

"Defy who? A big scary voice? I've got one of those too." He put his hands over his mouth and yelled, "You can kiss my vampire ass."

"This is not over vampire; I'm not quite out of string yet."

"Whatever." Angelus shouted.

"That ought to make it happy." Spike said, pulling Angelus down onto the couch with him. He nuzzled up against Angelus’s neck and bit his ear. "Can I start here and work my way down to your ass?"

"I think it can be arranged." Angel said leaning into Spike's mouth. "Although if I were you I'd be more worried about my own ass."

"Mm, hmm." Spike said, taking Angelus’s tongue into his mouth. The kiss lasted only a moment before Angelus flipped Spike over onto his knees and pulled his trousers down to his ankles.

"Hope you don't mind a little pain." Angelus purred as he bent over Spike's body. "It's been a while and I'm not feeling very lovey dovey right now."

"I figured as much." Spike answered. "Did you know that Walgreen’s has excellent sewer access?"

"Nope." Angelus freed himself from his own trousers and pressed into Spike, pleasantly surprised to find him extremely lubricated. "Why you vixen, you planned on seducing me did you?" Angelus asked as he ran his tongue up the side of Spike's neck, leaving a slick trail, which he then bit softly.

"I had a thought or two, figured you would be pretty easy." Spike leaned back onto his sire’s length, prompting Angelus to let out a deep moan.

"Feels hard enough to me." Angelus said. He then let his true face come forth and bit into Spike's shoulder, lapping at the blood that immediately welled up.

"I'm inclined to agree." Spike breathed out. Angelus had none of Angel's tenderness. Sex to Angelus was nothing short of ecstasy, the ultimate control over his childe. Angelus knew exactly where to press, how to bend, when to push. He would make Spike climax at precisely the moment he wanted to and not a second earlier. Angelus finished his suckling at Spike's expense and pressed a hand onto Spike's back pressing him into the couch. The new angle allowed him even deeper access and Spike growled at the sensation. Soon he was unable to hold back and knew that Angelus had timed their releases as perfectly as if they had been synchronized swimmers. Both men rocked back and forth, milking the last drop out of the experience as they collapsed onto the crushed velvet of the divan.

"If I were a runic transcription guide I would be..." Fred asked herself as she looked over the bookshelves in Angel's office. She clutched a hand over the wound on her neck as she cocked her head to the side to better read the titles in front of her.

"Tsk, tsk, Fred." A voice behind her said. "Talking to yourself. That’s so...sad."

"You can't hurt me here." She said as she turned around. "After Spike's impromptu bite-fest we did a sanc..."

"Sanctuary spell, uh huh, figured. That’s why I picked this up." He said, twirling a talisman around his finger. "This little trinket let’s me be as demony as I wanna be. Which means that if I want to finish the job sweet William started, you can't do a thing to stop me." He said, stepping close enough to force Fred against the wall.

"I don't believe you."

"Really, let me show you." He said lifting the bandages off of her neck and lapping at the wound it hid. "See, he said in a hushed voice. Your little spell only works if you don't like it. So it looks like you're shit outta luck."

"What do you want?" She asked in a raspy voice, trying to suppress the desire growing out of her fear.

"Well, I tell you Fred," Angelus said letting her go, "I figure a brainiac like you has more than a couple of theories about this Beastmaster guy."

"Even if I did, you're the last one I'd tell." She said, inching her way over to the drawer where Gunn had put the tranquilizer gun.

"Okay then." Angelus said. "I'll just take these." He gathered up the book that Lilah had bought on the transdimensional black market. "And these." He picked up the information Wolfram and Hart had plucked from Lorne’s brain. "Maybe these." He added Wesley’s notes to his growing pile. "And last, but not least." He lunged at Fred and pinned her against the desk, making sure to grab the hand that was reaching for the gun. "Ah, ah, no fair."

"If you're going to kill me get it over with, if not get out."

"Why Winifred, would I want to kill you? You're just so yummy. It will be so much more fun to keep you alive." He pressed his body against hers again, this time harder and bit into the mark Spike had left. Seconds wasn't always intolerable, at least not when it was in the family. "Be seeing you." He said taking a last lick. He then ran out of the office, papers under his arm. Angelus turned around just in time to catch a tranq dart in the book. "Nice try, kitten." He tossed the talisman at her feet and dashed out the front door into the fresh evening air and past Wesley and Faith so quickly neither had time to react.

"That figures, I spend the entire day in the sewers and Angelus turns up here." Faith said.

Wesley ran into the lobby shouting for Fred and Gunn.

"Are you okay?" He asked as Fred came out of the office holding her neck.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little woozy still." She sat down on the couch and stared at the talisman. Turning it over to read the inscription. "Made in China? Son of a bitch."

"Wow, Fred. You been hanging out with sailors?" Faith chided. "Don’t sweat it. You made it out alive. That’s what matters."

"We need to find him, now." Wesley said. "Where’s Connor? We may need him to help us track again."

"He's upstairs with Cordelia, doing god knows what. Let’s just leave them alone okay. If I had to walk in on anything icky I might never be able to, ya know, again."

"I'll second that." Faith said ribbing Wesley with her elbow as he blushed.

"Okay, so we look on our own then. We'll start with the bars. I know a few Angelus may be drawn to."

"Sounds like a plan."

"What sounds like a plan?" Lorne asked as he came down the stairs. "And what the heck was all the slamming doors about?"

"Oh, the usual, Angelus sponsored mayhem." Fred answered.

"He was here?" Lorne asked, sitting down next to Fred.

"Yeah, he used this thing," she continued showing Lorne the talisman, "to break the sanctuary spell."

"This couldn't break a light bulb." Lorne said taking it from her. "Maury’s been selling these wanna-have-mojos since Los Angeles first got cable cars."

"Then how did he..." Fred started.

"Don’t worry about it, Angelus could trick the devil into a milk bath. That you believed him only means you're human." Faith said. "Let’s go, Wes. Time to end this."

Angelus met Spike at the occult shop with the items he had pilfered from the hotel. There they had begun tearing through the information, and the shop’s proprietor.

"I swear they just doodled half of this shit." Angelus said throwing a book on the floor.

"Looks like it." Spike agreed. "We’re getting nowhere. I say we close the blinds and shag."

"Angelus!" The voice blasted in Angelus’s head again. "I am not well pleased."

"You puny little man, do you think I don't know your every move before you make it?"

"Do you think I care?"

"You and I should be friends Angelus."

"Sorry, I don't make friends well, and the ones I do keep don't live in my head!"

"Like you were forced to live inside of Angel's? Knowing the temptation and never being fulfilled. Watching but never touching?"

"It wasn't so bad, I did get to eat a slayer, hell I got to pluck a slayer. Bet you can't offer me that."

"I wouldn't be so sure, about that."

"Really, well, you're just special. Now, if you don't mind, you're kind of ruining the moment here." Angelus motioned to Spike, who was now naked and not amused at being left out of the conversation.

"If you won’t listen I'll stuff you so far back inside Angel you’ll never claw your way out." The voice intoned.

"Well, I want to listen," Angelus said, looking down at the top of Spike's blonde head as his lover undid his trousers, "really, I do, but I'm a bit busy right...now." He said through gritted teeth.

"Vampires." The voice said, and was gone.

"Mmm, much better." Angelus moaned. "Your way of communicating is so much more effective than Mr. Omniscient Voice Guy’s."

Spike paused his task long enough to mumble something about years of practice and then resumed his communication exercise.

Faith followed Wesley into the back room of a demon bar that had looked promising. A few vamps at the last place had said they heard Angelus liked the atmosphere, which given the prominence of green and gold Faith somehow doubted. Nonetheless, a horned demon sitting at the bar said he had been there earlier when Angelus had some kind of fit. They made their way through the denizens of vamps and victims until they came into a room with a strung out blonde who asked Faith to make out. As soon as they entered the room a vampire threw himself at Faith. She dodged him and tossed him to the floor.

The vampire looked at Wesley and began to speak. "Wes..." He was cut off by the stake that Wesley plunged into his heart.

"You okay?" Faith asked. When he nodded in the affirmative she turned her attention back to the girl.

"We’re going to get you out of here." Faith had told her.

"Why?" The girl had asked. "You're pretty." The girl said, losing focus quickly.

"Look." Faith said slamming her against a wall.

"Man, what’s your issue?" The girl asked. Faith slapped her on the cheek, but the girl just took it in stride.

"We’re looking for a pair of vampires, one dark haired, the other a bleached blonde. Sound familiar?"

"No, I haven't seen them." She said dreamily looking at the wall hangings next to her.

"She doesn't know anything." Faith said giving her another push into the wall and walking away.

"Maybe not." Wesley said running at the girl. He slammed her back against the wall and plunged a knife into her shoulder.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Faith screamed at him.

Wesley turned back to Faith, "Shut up!" He put his attention back on the girl, lifting her shirtsleeves up. "You’ve been here what, three, four days judging by the track marks on your arms?"

"Ouch, you're hurting me." The girl whimpered. Wesley pulled the knife out an inch and then pushed it back in. "Four...four days. I've been here."

"Then you would have seen the vampires we’re looking for." Wesley pressed.

"Yeah, Angelus and Spike. I saw them. Please stop." She cried.

"They said Angelus was talking to himself, what was he saying?"

"Nothing, I don't know...It was all pulling strings and a soul and I don't know what else." She tried to slump but Wesley pushed her back upright.

"And what about Spike? Was he talking to himself too?"

"No, please it hurts. He just kept humming this tune, I didn't recognize it. Please take it out." Wesley pulled the knife all the way out and the girl crumpled to the floor. He wiped the knife off on his pants and placed it back inside his coat.

"What the hell was that, Wesley?"

"I did what you weren’t ready to. These girls aren't victims." He picked a syringe up off of a nearby table. "They shoot themselves up and then feed themselves to the vampires that come in here."

"It's an incredible high, or so I'm told. For both the girl and the vampire that uses her as a filter." Wesley said with a disgusted look at the groups of vampires and humans that filled every dark corner of the halls they passed through.

"You went too far Wesley." He stopped and turned to face her. "Torturing humans part of the new makeover?"

"I find that quite funny coming from you. I haven't forgotten the time you tortured me for hours, Faith."

"Neither have I." She said.

"Good, then don't you dare lecture me about battle strategy. Whatever was controlling the Beast has made contact with Angelus. Playtime is over." He stepped over another drugged up girl and left the bar. It was time to pay Maury’s shop a visit.

"Do you think they're here?" Faith asked Wesley as they entered the Occult shop.

"No, but Maury might be able to tell us where they are." Wesley answered.

"Not likely." Spike said as he swiftly punched Wesley in the gut and tossed him into the stacks. "But I can."

Angelus strolled through the aisles at a pace more reminiscent of a Sunday walk than a hunter on the prowl. "You know Faithy, when I said it was just us now I really underestimated Spike here’s love of the game." Spike kicked Wesley in the midriff and then dropped a knee onto his shoulder. "You see, what you all seem to keep forgetting is that the powers like me. They want me to be happy. So they sent a little birdie to tell me exactly where you’d be. And look...here you are." He flew through the air and tackled the slayer, tossing her to the ground.

He had barely got back up when Spike yelled for him to run. Angelus looked up in time to see Wesley take aim with his shotgun. First at Angelus and then at Spike. A shot whizzed past the latter’s ear forcing him to the ground.

"Oh not cool Wesley. You know those things are never helpful." Angelus rushed at the former watcher so fast he could not get another shot off. Angelus grabbed the barrel of the gun and thrust it against Wesley’s jaw, sending him flying again. Spike recommenced his assault and battered Wesley about the head and shoulders until he was unconscious.

"Uh oh, vampire with a gun." Spike said as he walked towards Faith. She jumped up onto the counter and took a kick at Spike's head, but he easily ducked her and pulled her feet out from under her.

"You still want to die Faithy?" Angelus taunted.

"No." She said from her position under Spike's boot.

"Can’t hear you slayer." Angelus said.

"No!" She yelled at him.

"Too bad." Angelus said pointing the barrel at her and cocking the gun. He then pumped it again, and then several more times until the gun was empty. "But you're not going to die like this." He used the butt of the gun to crack several of her ribs then tossed it aside. Spike let her off the ground. She spun around and caught Angelus in the stomach with her heel. He returned with a punch to her face and then a kick of his own.

Spike stood back waiting for a moment when he was needed. As he watched Angelus tossed Faith through the air, landing her only a few feet from Wesley. Spike walked over to his sire, noticing a trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. He grabbed Angelus by the hips and drew him into a kiss, ending it only to lap at the blood streaming down his chin.

"Spike, kind of in the middle of a fight here." Angelus said trying to push his childe away.

"Getting kind of bored with it though." He said with a smile.

"Maybe this will wake you up." Faith said from behind him reaching out to slice his arm with a large knife. Angelus kicked behind him and caught her in the stomach. He then jumped out of the range of her next strike.

"There’s my girl."

"Shut up!" She said lunging at him and slicing his other arm.

"Ouch, that hurt." He said looking at the hole in his shirt. "I like it. I knew you’d come out to play."

"I said shut up." She threw the knife at Angelus, burying it in his chest.

"Need a hand lover?" Spike asked from his vantage point on the counter.

"With this rabble? Not likely." He turned his attention back to the slayer. "You know the sad part Faithy? If you would just accept the fact that you are an animal, a murderer, you’d be so much happier." He blocked her incoming punch and kicked her in the ribs again. "I could beat you to death, but it wouldn't matter one bit. You won’t accept who you are, and next to power-walking that's the saddest thing on earth." He took a couple of her punches in stride, then continued. "Do you still want someone to beat the bad out of you Faithy?"

"No." She answered trying to gain the upper hand.

"Nothing will ever change who you are Faith. You're just like me."

"No, I'm not!" She screamed taking a running leap at him. Angelus stepped aside and slid a leg out to trip her. As she hit the floor he crawled up behind her.

"Maybe not yet." He said sinking his teeth into her neck.

"But you will be." Spike said as he tore into the other side.

People emailed Tania to urge her to put down the homework and get back on the computer.

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(A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend)