Fic: Thanks with Tears, Angel/Willow/Spike, 3/50
Title: Thanks with Tears, Chapter Three
Info and disclaimers found here.
Previous Parts.
Chapter 3
The Angel Investigations crew looked at Willow for a moment before Angel felt all their eyes turn to wait for him to start telling their visitor what had happened to the group for the last few years.
The dark haired vampire took a deep, calming breath and began to explain to Willow the short story of what had happened to him and his family. He told her about the trip to Pylea and finding Fred in Lorne’s home world. Fred smiled shyly at the redheaded witch throughout the story. He explained that after they came back, Wolfram and Hart brought Darla back and she began to invade his dreams.
“I kinda went off the deep end,” Angel whispered. “I pushed everyone away. I’m sure these guys hated me for a while, but, at the time, I thought it was necessary. I thought Darla and Dru would come after them.”
He told her briefly about his ‘encounter’ with Darla.
“And you didn’t lose your soul?” Willow asked, her voice quiet and high with shock.
“No,” Angel answered. “It was less than perfect happiness, so the soul is still intact. But I felt something. It was weird.”
With that out of the way, he explained about Conner. Willow stared at him, obviously not believing his tale.
He quietly continued, telling her about Wesley taking the baby and how Holtz had taken Conner away to Quar-toth. Willow had tears in her eyes as she stared at Angel.
With a steadying breath, he continued. Connor, now a young man, found a way back and had tried repeatedly to kill Angel. The pain was nearly too fresh when Angel told her that his own son had imprisoned him in a metal coffin and dumped him in the ocean, leaving him to suffer in complete and utter isolation. He could feel the pressure of the water pressing against him, trying to crush him, destroy him.
Angel took a moment to calm himself. He hadn’t talked to anyone about his imprisonment since he had returned. It was still so painful. During the pause, Wesley took it upon himself to finish the tale.
The former Watcher told the young witch about his search to find Angel and bringing him back to the surface. He let her know that they had been back for about two weeks. It still hurt to hear the story, but Wesley's rough, damaged voice made it that much worse.
Finally, the story seemed to be over and Willow took a shuttering breath before she asked, “Is that it, or is there something else I might need to know?”
“Oh!” Cordelia blurted. “I’m half demon now, you know, to keep my brain from exploding from the visions and I went to a higher plain to talk to the PTB when Angel first went missing.”
“Ok,” Willow said slowly, staring at the former cheerleader. “And what happened to Conner?”
“No one knows,” Fred replied quietly. “We've been looking for him, but so far we’ve come up empty handed.”
“Well,” Angel said, pulling himself up from the table. “I think that’s enough information exchange for now. I don’t know about all of you, but I’m exhausted.”
“Sleep sounds wonderful,” Willow sighed before finishing off her tea. “Angel, you really don’t mind if we stay here, do you?”
“Not at all, Willow,” he replied with a smile. “In fact, I won’t let you stay anywhere else.”
“Thank you Angel,” the redhead returned his smile.
“Cordy, will you take Willow up to the room across the hall from my suite and then make sure that the room next to mine is set up. We’ll put Spike in there when he gets up.” The dark vampire looked down at his childe still silent on the couch, wondering what the hell he was going to do with these two.
Cordy quickly reached over and grabbed Willow by the arm and began to lead her up the stairs towards the room she would be staying in. Wes and Lorne both grabbed the bags belonging to the witch and the vampire and followed the two girls upstairs. Fred and Gunn quickly cleaned up the dishes in the room and then headed up to their room for the night.
After everyone left, Angel walked over to the couch where his childe lay. He looked down at him and pondered what had brought him to this point. Smiling at the prone form, he realized that Spike was no longer asleep, but faking.
“How long have you been awake, Spike?” he asked quietly.
Spike slowly opened one eye and looked up at his sire. Avoiding his gaze, Spike whispered, “About the time Red started talking about me. I thought I’d just wait and see what you all had to say.” After a pause, he continued, “I figured you’d throw me out in the sun, what after the last time I was here and all.”
Angel didn’t really know what to say. It was true that there had a lot of bad blood between the two vampires, so to speak, but he couldn’t believe that Spike thought that he would actually kill his own childe.
“So, you want to tell me what happened, Spike?” the dark-haired vampire asked. He was very curious about what had happened to Spike to make him go and have his soul restored.
“Not really,” Spike whispered, almost too quiet even for Angel’s vampiric hearing.
Angel simply sat down on the couch next to his hurting childe and waited. After a long silence, it became very apparent that Spike was not going to share his story with Angel right now. That was alright though. Angel could wait.
“Are you hungry?” Angel asked as the silence stretched on. “You look like you haven’t eaten in weeks, boy.”
Spike visibly flinched at the term Angel had accidentally called him. Angelus had always called him boy and Spike had apparently not forgotten it. “Haven’t been able to eat,” the blonde replied quietly.
“The chip?” Angel asked.
“That and I haven’t wanted to.” Spike sounded so sad it broke Angel’s heart.
“Well, you need to eat. I’m not going to sit around and watch you punish yourself.” Angel could feel his anger begin to rise at the man next to him. “Here,” he handed a mug full of blood to his childe. “This is still warm. Drink this and I’ll show you the room you’re staying in.”
“No,” Spike whimpered, looking down into the mug in his lap like he didn’t deserve the blood or Angel’s kindness.
Angel took a deep breath, trying not to lose his temper. “Yes, Spike. I am still your Sire and you will do what I say. Now drink your blood.”
Spike’s eyes got wide as Angel took on his Sire's voice. He'd obviously remembered that voice and the days when Angelus used that voice, not in anger but in love. Slowly, Spike lifted the mug and quickly downed the contents. He made a face as he tasted the cow’s blood. He snorted and shook his head in disgust.
“What is that about?” Angel asked, confused by his childe’s reaction.
“They used to feed this to me,” the blonde started off quietly. “Chained me in the tub and feed me through a straw like some sort of invalid. Don’t blame ‘em. Never did anything to make them trust me. Awful man. I’m just an awful man.” His words quickly broke down into ramblings that Angel had a hard time understanding.
“Who chained you in the tub, Spike?”
Spike turned his head to look in his sire’s eyes and shook the coming grief from his head. He shrugged and said simply, “Scoobies. Put me in the Watcher’s tub so I wouldn’t cause trouble. Did anyway.”
Angel couldn’t believe what he heard. They chained him in a tub? He'd have to talk to Willow about that later.
“You need to eat, Spike,” he said, looking his childe in the eye, trying to convey to him the necessity of the situation. “You won’t heal until you do.”
“Don’t deserve it,” Spike whispered. He dropped the mug and brought his knees up to his chest. Before Spike could curl up into a complete ball, Angel firmly grabbed his wrists and forced him to look him in the eye.
Angel was not going to let his childe suffer like he did. When Angel first had his soul restored, he shunned all help because of his guilt and shame. Later, he wished he had someone to help him share his burden. He would do that for Spike.
Angel finally decided what he was going to do. He deftly picked up his emaciated childe and placed him in his lap. Spike’s eyes got wide at the quick motion but was too weak to extract himself from his sire’s strong grasp. The blonde vampire stared in awe as he watched the older vampire raise his hand to delicately slice a small cut on his corded neck. “Drink, childe,” he whispered as he stared piercingly into the other man’s eyes.
At first, Spike didn’t move. He sat, frozen in fear and indecision.
Angel sensed Spike’s reluctance, but he was not going to let him off that easily. He reached around and grabbed the blonde vampire by the back of the head and pulled him toward the bleeding cut. Spike tried to pull away, but didn’t have the strength to fight. Angel growled deep in his throat to let his Childe know that he would not allow this disobedience.
Spike’s lips gently brushed the trickle of blood and he shuddered at the familiar taste. It was more than he could handle. Gently, he snaked out his tongue to taste his Sire’s essence more fully. He moaned softly before latching on and sucking gently.
Angel took an unnecessary deep breath at the feeling of his childe’s lips on his neck. He pulled him even tighter into his embrace.
A soft growl was all Angel's warning before he felt Spike’s true face emerge, biting into Angel’s corded neck. Angel moaned at the feeling of his Childe feeding from him and began to rub his sudden, surprising erection against Spike’s hip.
He got lost in a myriad of sensations. Suddenly, Angel began to feel slightly lightheaded and realized that Spike had taken enough of his blood for now. Spike pulled away and looked into his sire’s eyes. The crystal blue eyes reflected the desire Angel was sure was shining in his own.
Angel was the first to speak. “I think maybe we need to get some sleep. We can talk more later after everyone has rested.”
Spike slowly pulled himself out of Angel’s lap and stood shakily by the couch. Angel stood up and put a gentle arm around him, concerned about the way the smaller vampire swayed on his feet. “I’ll show you where your room is,” he said quietly as he guided his Childe upstairs to the room he would be staying in for a while.
After Angel opened the door and showed Spike his room, he turned to him and said, “This suite is mine and Willow is right across the hall so if you need anything, you’ll know where to find us.”
Spike looked up into Angel’s chocolate eyes and smiled a small smile of gratitude. He seemed to need to say something, but couldn’t quite to force his mouth to work. So Spike simply nodded and walked into his new room.
As the door closed, Angel let out a sigh of relief. Apparently Spike was not going to fight him on this. He shook his head as he turned away from the door and walked to his own suite to get some much needed rest.
Tbc...
Info and disclaimers found here.
Previous Parts.
Chapter 3
The Angel Investigations crew looked at Willow for a moment before Angel felt all their eyes turn to wait for him to start telling their visitor what had happened to the group for the last few years.
The dark haired vampire took a deep, calming breath and began to explain to Willow the short story of what had happened to him and his family. He told her about the trip to Pylea and finding Fred in Lorne’s home world. Fred smiled shyly at the redheaded witch throughout the story. He explained that after they came back, Wolfram and Hart brought Darla back and she began to invade his dreams.
“I kinda went off the deep end,” Angel whispered. “I pushed everyone away. I’m sure these guys hated me for a while, but, at the time, I thought it was necessary. I thought Darla and Dru would come after them.”
He told her briefly about his ‘encounter’ with Darla.
“And you didn’t lose your soul?” Willow asked, her voice quiet and high with shock.
“No,” Angel answered. “It was less than perfect happiness, so the soul is still intact. But I felt something. It was weird.”
With that out of the way, he explained about Conner. Willow stared at him, obviously not believing his tale.
He quietly continued, telling her about Wesley taking the baby and how Holtz had taken Conner away to Quar-toth. Willow had tears in her eyes as she stared at Angel.
With a steadying breath, he continued. Connor, now a young man, found a way back and had tried repeatedly to kill Angel. The pain was nearly too fresh when Angel told her that his own son had imprisoned him in a metal coffin and dumped him in the ocean, leaving him to suffer in complete and utter isolation. He could feel the pressure of the water pressing against him, trying to crush him, destroy him.
Angel took a moment to calm himself. He hadn’t talked to anyone about his imprisonment since he had returned. It was still so painful. During the pause, Wesley took it upon himself to finish the tale.
The former Watcher told the young witch about his search to find Angel and bringing him back to the surface. He let her know that they had been back for about two weeks. It still hurt to hear the story, but Wesley's rough, damaged voice made it that much worse.
Finally, the story seemed to be over and Willow took a shuttering breath before she asked, “Is that it, or is there something else I might need to know?”
“Oh!” Cordelia blurted. “I’m half demon now, you know, to keep my brain from exploding from the visions and I went to a higher plain to talk to the PTB when Angel first went missing.”
“Ok,” Willow said slowly, staring at the former cheerleader. “And what happened to Conner?”
“No one knows,” Fred replied quietly. “We've been looking for him, but so far we’ve come up empty handed.”
“Well,” Angel said, pulling himself up from the table. “I think that’s enough information exchange for now. I don’t know about all of you, but I’m exhausted.”
“Sleep sounds wonderful,” Willow sighed before finishing off her tea. “Angel, you really don’t mind if we stay here, do you?”
“Not at all, Willow,” he replied with a smile. “In fact, I won’t let you stay anywhere else.”
“Thank you Angel,” the redhead returned his smile.
“Cordy, will you take Willow up to the room across the hall from my suite and then make sure that the room next to mine is set up. We’ll put Spike in there when he gets up.” The dark vampire looked down at his childe still silent on the couch, wondering what the hell he was going to do with these two.
Cordy quickly reached over and grabbed Willow by the arm and began to lead her up the stairs towards the room she would be staying in. Wes and Lorne both grabbed the bags belonging to the witch and the vampire and followed the two girls upstairs. Fred and Gunn quickly cleaned up the dishes in the room and then headed up to their room for the night.
After everyone left, Angel walked over to the couch where his childe lay. He looked down at him and pondered what had brought him to this point. Smiling at the prone form, he realized that Spike was no longer asleep, but faking.
“How long have you been awake, Spike?” he asked quietly.
Spike slowly opened one eye and looked up at his sire. Avoiding his gaze, Spike whispered, “About the time Red started talking about me. I thought I’d just wait and see what you all had to say.” After a pause, he continued, “I figured you’d throw me out in the sun, what after the last time I was here and all.”
Angel didn’t really know what to say. It was true that there had a lot of bad blood between the two vampires, so to speak, but he couldn’t believe that Spike thought that he would actually kill his own childe.
“So, you want to tell me what happened, Spike?” the dark-haired vampire asked. He was very curious about what had happened to Spike to make him go and have his soul restored.
“Not really,” Spike whispered, almost too quiet even for Angel’s vampiric hearing.
Angel simply sat down on the couch next to his hurting childe and waited. After a long silence, it became very apparent that Spike was not going to share his story with Angel right now. That was alright though. Angel could wait.
“Are you hungry?” Angel asked as the silence stretched on. “You look like you haven’t eaten in weeks, boy.”
Spike visibly flinched at the term Angel had accidentally called him. Angelus had always called him boy and Spike had apparently not forgotten it. “Haven’t been able to eat,” the blonde replied quietly.
“The chip?” Angel asked.
“That and I haven’t wanted to.” Spike sounded so sad it broke Angel’s heart.
“Well, you need to eat. I’m not going to sit around and watch you punish yourself.” Angel could feel his anger begin to rise at the man next to him. “Here,” he handed a mug full of blood to his childe. “This is still warm. Drink this and I’ll show you the room you’re staying in.”
“No,” Spike whimpered, looking down into the mug in his lap like he didn’t deserve the blood or Angel’s kindness.
Angel took a deep breath, trying not to lose his temper. “Yes, Spike. I am still your Sire and you will do what I say. Now drink your blood.”
Spike’s eyes got wide as Angel took on his Sire's voice. He'd obviously remembered that voice and the days when Angelus used that voice, not in anger but in love. Slowly, Spike lifted the mug and quickly downed the contents. He made a face as he tasted the cow’s blood. He snorted and shook his head in disgust.
“What is that about?” Angel asked, confused by his childe’s reaction.
“They used to feed this to me,” the blonde started off quietly. “Chained me in the tub and feed me through a straw like some sort of invalid. Don’t blame ‘em. Never did anything to make them trust me. Awful man. I’m just an awful man.” His words quickly broke down into ramblings that Angel had a hard time understanding.
“Who chained you in the tub, Spike?”
Spike turned his head to look in his sire’s eyes and shook the coming grief from his head. He shrugged and said simply, “Scoobies. Put me in the Watcher’s tub so I wouldn’t cause trouble. Did anyway.”
Angel couldn’t believe what he heard. They chained him in a tub? He'd have to talk to Willow about that later.
“You need to eat, Spike,” he said, looking his childe in the eye, trying to convey to him the necessity of the situation. “You won’t heal until you do.”
“Don’t deserve it,” Spike whispered. He dropped the mug and brought his knees up to his chest. Before Spike could curl up into a complete ball, Angel firmly grabbed his wrists and forced him to look him in the eye.
Angel was not going to let his childe suffer like he did. When Angel first had his soul restored, he shunned all help because of his guilt and shame. Later, he wished he had someone to help him share his burden. He would do that for Spike.
Angel finally decided what he was going to do. He deftly picked up his emaciated childe and placed him in his lap. Spike’s eyes got wide at the quick motion but was too weak to extract himself from his sire’s strong grasp. The blonde vampire stared in awe as he watched the older vampire raise his hand to delicately slice a small cut on his corded neck. “Drink, childe,” he whispered as he stared piercingly into the other man’s eyes.
At first, Spike didn’t move. He sat, frozen in fear and indecision.
Angel sensed Spike’s reluctance, but he was not going to let him off that easily. He reached around and grabbed the blonde vampire by the back of the head and pulled him toward the bleeding cut. Spike tried to pull away, but didn’t have the strength to fight. Angel growled deep in his throat to let his Childe know that he would not allow this disobedience.
Spike’s lips gently brushed the trickle of blood and he shuddered at the familiar taste. It was more than he could handle. Gently, he snaked out his tongue to taste his Sire’s essence more fully. He moaned softly before latching on and sucking gently.
Angel took an unnecessary deep breath at the feeling of his childe’s lips on his neck. He pulled him even tighter into his embrace.
A soft growl was all Angel's warning before he felt Spike’s true face emerge, biting into Angel’s corded neck. Angel moaned at the feeling of his Childe feeding from him and began to rub his sudden, surprising erection against Spike’s hip.
He got lost in a myriad of sensations. Suddenly, Angel began to feel slightly lightheaded and realized that Spike had taken enough of his blood for now. Spike pulled away and looked into his sire’s eyes. The crystal blue eyes reflected the desire Angel was sure was shining in his own.
Angel was the first to speak. “I think maybe we need to get some sleep. We can talk more later after everyone has rested.”
Spike slowly pulled himself out of Angel’s lap and stood shakily by the couch. Angel stood up and put a gentle arm around him, concerned about the way the smaller vampire swayed on his feet. “I’ll show you where your room is,” he said quietly as he guided his Childe upstairs to the room he would be staying in for a while.
After Angel opened the door and showed Spike his room, he turned to him and said, “This suite is mine and Willow is right across the hall so if you need anything, you’ll know where to find us.”
Spike looked up into Angel’s chocolate eyes and smiled a small smile of gratitude. He seemed to need to say something, but couldn’t quite to force his mouth to work. So Spike simply nodded and walked into his new room.
As the door closed, Angel let out a sigh of relief. Apparently Spike was not going to fight him on this. He shook his head as he turned away from the door and walked to his own suite to get some much needed rest.
Tbc...