ensouled13

Summary: Spike comes to LA looking for Angel, together they try and figure out what it means to be Ensouled.

Pairings: Angel/Spike, Angelus/William, Lilah/Wesley, Buffy/Spike implied, Angel(us)/Darla Implied

Disclaimer: Joss created my darling boys, I just let them run around in my head until they must come out.

Distribution: Please ask, although why you would want to house a 41,674 word long story is beyond me.

A knock at the door woke Wesley up. He slowly lifted his head from his desktop and peeled a piece of paper from his cheek. He gave a quick glance at his watch. Eight O’clock. Again came the knock at the door.

"Wesley, are you in there?" Fred. Fred again, here at his apartment. She’s come to pour salt in the wound. No, Fred, lovely Fred, come to remind me that I was once a man.

He opened the door and let the small woman enter. "Sorry, I must have dozed off." He haphazardly brushed at his clothes, trying to make the numerous wrinkles disappear.

"Oh no problem, really." Wesley reached out a hand to help Fred remove the large bag of books she was carrying.

"I started researching after you called, and you know how longwinded some of these articles can be." Wesley sat down on the couch. "Did your own work turn up any leads as to how we can get Cordelia back?"

Fred joined him on the couch and took out her yellow notepad, which was scribbled with numbers and Greek letters. "Well, I think I'm getting somewhere, it's not remotely close to here, but it's somewhere, how did you do?"

"Well, my own searching turned up a few references to the Pythians, mostly secondhand accounts though, nothing concrete."

"That’s kind of the direction I was going in too. The Pythian theorem seems directly related to the Greek calendar, which is roughly four years. There were a lot of references to the number four, so I've been going from there."

Wesley stood up and grabbed his own notepad from his desk and rejoined Fred on the couch. "I also found some indications that the Pythian theorem is based on mythological events not just scientific. I found one text that referred to an Axis, although it seemed to be an object not just an idea. So I'll keep looking there and get back to you when I know more." He stood and headed for the door, expecting Fred to follow.

"Wes, I'm not in a hurry, two heads work better than one, ya know. I'll stay for a while and try to work the equation from a physics side while you delve in to the supernatural. Okay?" She pulled a couple of large books from her bag and flipped them open.

"Well, right then. I'll just grab a few more texts from the other room and we’ll get started. I have to admit, my work of late has been mainly demonology, so my Greek myth is a bit rusty." He exited to his room and began pulling books from the shelf.

It had taken Gunn and Connor most of the day to find enough blood to keep Angel and Spike satisfied for the week. Once they were back at the Hyperion, they had placed a couple dozen of the bags in the refrigerator and left the rest on the counter. Gunn removed a couple of tall glasses from the cabinet above the coffee pot and emptied the contents of two bags into them.

"What? Pouring a little blood into a cup so my vampire boss and his demon spawn can have dinner. Nope. Not a bit. You know what makes me ill?"

"Donating blood. That huge needle they use, can't stand it." Gunn carefully placed the full glasses in the microwave for a few seconds. Once it had chimed, he grabbed the hot glasses with a towel and headed for the stairs. "You comin’?" He asked Connor.

"No, I think I'll just stay down here." Connor took a seat at Fred’s desk and started flipping through one of her books. Gunn turned around to look at Angel's son.

"You know kid, it's a lot easier to forgive someone when they don't avoid you like you got the plague or something. Why don't you come upstairs and see how your pop’s doing?" Gunn reached one of the glasses out to the boy.

"Sure, why not." Connor stood and reluctantly took the offered glass. The pair grabbed the other bags from the counter and Connor followed Gunn up to Angel's rooms.

"Bloody Hell, it's about time." Spike threw the door open and grabbed the glasses from the two men. "I didn't ask for it to be imported you know. Local vintage works just fine." Spike set the glasses down on the night stand next to Angel and nudged for him to wake up.

"You're welcome." Said Gunn. "You know, it's not like I can just drive up to the express window at McDonald’s and get thirty pints of blood."

"Hey, don't be dissin’ my girl. You can‘t imagine what I went through to get that truck." Gunn warned.

"Sorry, sore spot?" Spike raised an eyebrow and grabbed the remaining bags of blood from his hands. Once he had carefully placed the precious bags in the small cooler near the sitting area, Spike took a seat on the bed. He leaned over to the larger vampire, who was still half asleep and whispered in his ear. "Time to get up love. Your faithful servant brought you dinner."

Angel sat up in the bed, letting the satin coverlet pool in his lap. He then grabbed the glass nearest him and placed the warm liquid to his lips. He savored the taste for a moment and drank greedily. He felt a renewed energy course through his veins with every drink, and before he knew it he had finished the glass. Angel ran the back of his hand across his lips and set the empty glass back down. He noticed Connor watching him and looked at the floor. "Thanks Gunn."

"No problem. Well, I think we’re gonna head back downstairs and wait for Fred to get back." He motioned for Connor to follow.

"Wait, you just got here. Has Fred been gone this whole time?" Angel looked towards the curtains and saw that there wasn't the slightest hint of light coming through them. "How late is it?"

"It's only eight-thirty, she went over to Wesley’s to compare notes, meeting of the minds kinda thing."

"Don’t worry, Peaches. You know Miss Texas will always love you, no matter how big she gets. She’d never leave you for a pasty watcher." Spike chided as he laid a mocking hand on Angel‘s broad shoulder.

"Very funny, Spike." Angel grabbed the second glass on the night stand and took a small drink, passing the remainder to his childe. Spike took a large drought and handed it back to Angel.

"Thanks." Angel finished the glass and set it down next to his first one. He turned his attention back to the other men in the room. "So you’ll come get us when Fred gets back?"

"Yeah, we’ll come get you. You know we should really think about getting an intercom system. Going up and down these stairs all day is killing me." Gunn said as he opened the door.

"But just think, you’ll have buns of steel in only five weeks." Spike laughed and laid down on the bed next to his sire.

"Hey, give me a break, he was an infant for like three weeks, then he pops up a teenager, I get to know him for all of five days and he buried me at sea. Not exactly a lot of time for lesson plans and such." Angel picked one of the glasses off the night stand and drank the last few drops of blood that had pooled at the bottom.

"Want some more?" Spike moved to get out of the bed, but was stopped by Angel‘s strong fingers on his hip.

Angel pulled his childe into a close embrace and kissed him softly. "Oh I think I can think of something or other we can do to pass the time." Spike smiled into the mouth that continued to kiss him, relishing the last remnants of blood that coated his sire’s mouth.

"Oh I don't know." Angel said between touches. "Pig’s blood isn’t so bad. I mean, it's an acquired... Okay, it tastes like piss, but it's cheaper."

"Oh, sorry I asked." Spike pressed into Angel's comforting body once more. "Didn’t mean to wake up Daddy Warbucks. Can I have Angel back please?"

"Mmm, Uh huh." Angel answered as he pressed his full lips against the cool lines of his childe’s mouth.

Fred laughed out loud. It had been too long since she heard that word. "I take it that's good."

"Oh, ha, yes." Wesley looked up from his book. "This is the second reference to the Order of the Knights of Pythias. They’re an American fraternal institution with roots back to the Greek order that worshipped the god Apollo. It seems they have a history of calling up oracles called the Pythia’s that have the ability to see those trapped in the planes between the earth and the upper echelons of existence."

"Well, I'm sure it's not quite that easy, but they may be able to help us locate her." Wesley took another heavy volume from the stack on the floor he hadn’t gone through yet. "How are your calculations coming along?"

"Well, I think I have the longitude and latitude where Cordelia disappeared from down, as well as I can, that is. She was on the Santa Monica highway at about 34.0153 North latitude by 118.4926 West longitude. Now, if I can just find some reference to the fixed point I need to calculate the Axis of Pythia I'll have something more concrete to run back through the program at the university."

"Ah, ah, I think I may be able to help with that. The original oracle was called forth and buried at Delphi. Delphi in Ancient Greek means.."

"Womb. The center of the earth. Wesley, it's the omphalos." Fred stood up excitedly and joined Wesley by the desk.

"So if you use Mount Parnassus, in Delphi where the oracles were housed, as the fixed point, and add in where Cordelia ascended, you may be able to equate where she is on the higher plane Skip told Angel about."

"And then if we can get one of the oracles from this Order of Pythias to contact her, she may be able to tell us how to bring her back home." Fred hugged Wesley and began gathering up her books and notes. "I'm gonna go back over to the campus and get to work."

"Will they let you in this late?" Wesley asked, helping her pack her bag and handing her his own notes.

"Oh yeah, this guy Eugene kind of owes Angel a favor, end of the world kinda stuff. He said I could come by anytime." Fred opened the door to leave. "I'll call you in the morning and let you know what I find, all right?"

"Yes, of course. I'll keep looking for more information on the oracles and try to find any missing pieces that might help us locate the actual axis."

"Bye." Wesley shut the door behind her and sat down at his desk again. "Talk to you in the morning." He said to himself, settling in for a long night of reading.


	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 Ensouled Chapter XIII - Delphi Author: Tania Summary: Spike comes to LA looking for Angel, together they try and figure out what it means to be Ensouled. Rating: Mainly R/NC-17 Pairings: Angel/Spike, Angelus/William, Lilah/Wesley, Buffy/Spike implied, Angel(us)/Darla Implied Timeline: Runs the gamut Disclaimer: Joss created my darling boys, I just let them run around in my head until they must come out. Distribution: Please ask, although why you would want to house a 41,674 word long story is beyond me. Feedback: Please, by all means, Email Tania A knock at the door woke Wesley up. He slowly lifted his head from his desktop and peeled a piece of paper from his cheek. He gave a quick glance at his watch. Eight O’clock. Again came the knock at the door. "Wesley, are you in there?" Fred. Fred again, here at his apartment. She’s come to pour salt in the wound. No, Fred, lovely Fred, come to remind me that I was once a man. He opened the door and let the small woman enter. "Sorry, I must have dozed off." He haphazardly brushed at his clothes, trying to make the numerous wrinkles disappear. "Oh no problem, really." Wesley reached out a hand to help Fred remove the large bag of books she was carrying. "I started researching after you called, and you know how longwinded some of these articles can be." Wesley sat down on the couch. "Did your own work turn up any leads as to how we can get Cordelia back?" Fred joined him on the couch and took out her yellow notepad, which was scribbled with numbers and Greek letters. "Well, I think I'm getting somewhere, it's not remotely close to here, but it's somewhere, how did you do?" "Well, my own searching turned up a few references to the Pythians, mostly secondhand accounts though, nothing concrete." "That’s kind of the direction I was going in too. The Pythian theorem seems directly related to the Greek calendar, which is roughly four years. There were a lot of references to the number four, so I've been going from there." Wesley stood up and grabbed his own notepad from his desk and rejoined Fred on the couch. "I also found some indications that the Pythian theorem is based on mythological events not just scientific. I found one text that referred to an Axis, although it seemed to be an object not just an idea. So I'll keep looking there and get back to you when I know more." He stood and headed for the door, expecting Fred to follow. "Wes, I'm not in a hurry, two heads work better than one, ya know. I'll stay for a while and try to work the equation from a physics side while you delve in to the supernatural. Okay?" She pulled a couple of large books from her bag and flipped them open. "Well, right then. I'll just grab a few more texts from the other room and we’ll get started. I have to admit, my work of late has been mainly demonology, so my Greek myth is a bit rusty." He exited to his room and began pulling books from the shelf. "Hey, Wesley." Fred called after him. "Yes?" He asked, peeking his head through the door. "You got any good snacks?" Wesley smiled and grabbed a couple more books. *** It had taken Gunn and Connor most of the day to find enough blood to keep Angel and Spike satisfied for the week. Once they were back at the Hyperion, they had placed a couple dozen of the bags in the refrigerator and left the rest on the counter. Gunn removed a couple of tall glasses from the cabinet above the coffee pot and emptied the contents of two bags into them. "This doesn’t make you ill?" Connor asked the tall black man. "What? Pouring a little blood into a cup so my vampire boss and his demon spawn can have dinner. Nope. Not a bit. You know what makes me ill?" "What?" "Donating blood. That huge needle they use, can't stand it." Gunn carefully placed the full glasses in the microwave for a few seconds. Once it had chimed, he grabbed the hot glasses with a towel and headed for the stairs. "You comin’?" He asked Connor. "No, I think I'll just stay down here." Connor took a seat at Fred’s desk and started flipping through one of her books. Gunn turned around to look at Angel's son. "You know kid, it's a lot easier to forgive someone when they don't avoid you like you got the plague or something. Why don't you come upstairs and see how your pop’s doing?" Gunn reached one of the glasses out to the boy. "Sure, why not." Connor stood and reluctantly took the offered glass. The pair grabbed the other bags from the counter and Connor followed Gunn up to Angel's rooms. * Spike jumped out of bed when he heard Gunn and Connor coming up the hall. "Bloody Hell, it's about time." Spike threw the door open and grabbed the glasses from the two men. "I didn't ask for it to be imported you know. Local vintage works just fine." Spike set the glasses down on the night stand next to Angel and nudged for him to wake up. "You're welcome." Said Gunn. "You know, it's not like I can just drive up to the express window at McDonald’s and get thirty pints of blood." "No but then, I wouldn't drive your truck anywhere." Spike laughed. "Hey, don't be dissin’ my girl. You can‘t imagine what I went through to get that truck." Gunn warned. "Sorry, sore spot?" Spike raised an eyebrow and grabbed the remaining bags of blood from his hands. Once he had carefully placed the precious bags in the small cooler near the sitting area, Spike took a seat on the bed. He leaned over to the larger vampire, who was still half asleep and whispered in his ear. "Time to get up love. Your faithful servant brought you dinner." Angel sat up in the bed, letting the satin coverlet pool in his lap. He then grabbed the glass nearest him and placed the warm liquid to his lips. He savored the taste for a moment and drank greedily. He felt a renewed energy course through his veins with every drink, and before he knew it he had finished the glass. Angel ran the back of his hand across his lips and set the empty glass back down. He noticed Connor watching him and looked at the floor. "Thanks Gunn." "No problem. Well, I think we’re gonna head back downstairs and wait for Fred to get back." He motioned for Connor to follow. "Wait, you just got here. Has Fred been gone this whole time?" Angel looked towards the curtains and saw that there wasn't the slightest hint of light coming through them. "How late is it?" "It's only eight-thirty, she went over to Wesley’s to compare notes, meeting of the minds kinda thing." "Wesley’s?" Angel tried to hide the anger in his voice. "Don’t worry, Peaches. You know Miss Texas will always love you, no matter how big she gets. She’d never leave you for a pasty watcher." Spike chided as he laid a mocking hand on Angel‘s broad shoulder. "Very funny, Spike." Angel grabbed the second glass on the night stand and took a small drink, passing the remainder to his childe. Spike took a large drought and handed it back to Angel. "Here, you need it worse than me." "Thanks." Angel finished the glass and set it down next to his first one. He turned his attention back to the other men in the room. "So you’ll come get us when Fred gets back?" "Yeah, we’ll come get you. You know we should really think about getting an intercom system. Going up and down these stairs all day is killing me." Gunn said as he opened the door. "But just think, you’ll have buns of steel in only five weeks." Spike laughed and laid down on the bed next to his sire. "What are buns of steel?" Connor asked, as he too exited the room. "Haven’t you taught that boy anything?" Spike asked vampire sitting next to him. "Hey, give me a break, he was an infant for like three weeks, then he pops up a teenager, I get to know him for all of five days and he buried me at sea. Not exactly a lot of time for lesson plans and such." Angel picked one of the glasses off the night stand and drank the last few drops of blood that had pooled at the bottom. "Want some more?" Spike moved to get out of the bed, but was stopped by Angel‘s strong fingers on his hip. "Nope. After." Spike flashed a wicked grin. "After what, Peaches?" Angel pulled his childe into a close embrace and kissed him softly. "Oh I think I can think of something or other we can do to pass the time." Spike smiled into the mouth that continued to kiss him, relishing the last remnants of blood that coated his sire’s mouth. "Mmm, isn’t this better than pig's blood?" Spike kissed him again. "Oh I don't know." Angel said between touches. "Pig’s blood isn’t so bad. I mean, it's an acquired... Okay, it tastes like piss, but it's cheaper." Spike leaned back. "Since when has money been an issue for the Scourge of Europe?" "Since the Scourge has a son to feed and people who rely on me." "Oh, sorry I asked." Spike pressed into Angel's comforting body once more. "Didn’t mean to wake up Daddy Warbucks. Can I have Angel back please?" "Mmm, Uh huh." Angel answered as he pressed his full lips against the cool lines of his childe’s mouth. ** "Eureka!" Fred laughed out loud. It had been too long since she heard that word. "I take it that's good." "Oh, ha, yes." Wesley looked up from his book. "This is the second reference to the Order of the Knights of Pythias. They’re an American fraternal institution with roots back to the Greek order that worshipped the god Apollo. It seems they have a history of calling up oracles called the Pythia’s that have the ability to see those trapped in the planes between the earth and the upper echelons of existence." "So these oracles may be able to talk to Cordy? That’s great." "Well, I'm sure it's not quite that easy, but they may be able to help us locate her." Wesley took another heavy volume from the stack on the floor he hadn’t gone through yet. "How are your calculations coming along?" "Well, I think I have the longitude and latitude where Cordelia disappeared from down, as well as I can, that is. She was on the Santa Monica highway at about 34.0153 North latitude by 118.4926 West longitude. Now, if I can just find some reference to the fixed point I need to calculate the Axis of Pythia I'll have something more concrete to run back through the program at the university." "Ah, ah, I think I may be able to help with that. The original oracle was called forth and buried at Delphi. Delphi in Ancient Greek means.." "Womb. The center of the earth. Wesley, it's the omphalos." Fred stood up excitedly and joined Wesley by the desk. "So if you use Mount Parnassus, in Delphi where the oracles were housed, as the fixed point, and add in where Cordelia ascended, you may be able to equate where she is on the higher plane Skip told Angel about." "And then if we can get one of the oracles from this Order of Pythias to contact her, she may be able to tell us how to bring her back home." Fred hugged Wesley and began gathering up her books and notes. "I'm gonna go back over to the campus and get to work." "Will they let you in this late?" Wesley asked, helping her pack her bag and handing her his own notes. "Oh yeah, this guy Eugene kind of owes Angel a favor, end of the world kinda stuff. He said I could come by anytime." Fred opened the door to leave. "I'll call you in the morning and let you know what I find, all right?" "Yes, of course. I'll keep looking for more information on the oracles and try to find any missing pieces that might help us locate the actual axis." "Okay. Bye then." "Bye." Wesley shut the door behind her and sat down at his desk again. "Talk to you in the morning." He said to himself, settling in for a long night of reading. **** Part Fourteen Have wondered how it would all end. Copyright 2002 - Tania Violators will be beaten to death with a shovel (A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend)