Download All Chapters as PDF - Squidge.org

Companions by wolfmama 

Summary: Xander goes through some changes. Spike likes the changes. I really kinda suck at 

summaries. 

Rating: FRAO - Adult 

Fandoms: slash fiction 

Characters: Spike, Spike/Xander, Xander 

Genres: Slash 

Warnings: Angst, m/m, slash 

Challenges: None 

Series: None 

Published: 10/21/05 

CoAuthor #1: ---NONE--- 




Updated: 02/04/07 

Index 

Chapter 1: Prologue 1 


Chapter 3: Companions 1 

















Disclaimer: all characters belong to their original creators. I am making no profit from them. All 

original characters are mine. Any resemblance to persons living or deceased is purely coincidental. No 

harm is intended to any person real, created, living, deceased, or any financial/corporate entity by the 

publication of this story. It is a fiction, therefore a product of my imagination only and should not be 

construed as a reflection on the character, personality, sexual preferences or religious beliefs of any 

real person or place, living or deceased, actual or created. 

Bitter cold wrapped around the small collection of homes huddled together as though circling to 

protect one another from the elements. These homes were notable in the care with which they were 

built. Neat and tight with covered porches decorating the fronts. Chairs and stools were there for doing 

chores like churning milk, preparing vegetables for preserving or just visiting when time and weather

allowed. Cobblestones paved most of the surfaces needed for walking. There was no stench of sewage 

or waste that hung about many small villages of the age. 

The fields surrounding the small village were stubbled and empty, their abundant offerings having 

been harvested and carefully stored in the neat rows of barns, before the first cold came fingering it’s 

way down from the north. The large smokehouse was set off to the right of the village, but it was cold 

now, it’s work also completed before the first chill of winter. Between the fields and the village the 

cows and pigs were penned into neat corrals, along with the goats, and the sheep. Shelters were 

available there for warmth and food. The stone lined floors were covered with straw. The lofts were 

stuffed with hay and the feed bins with corn, millet and oats to last the winter. The chickens and geese 

were huddled on their perches in their own little building with their heads tucked under their wings, 

huddled together for warmth, much as any other winter night. 

A thin almost invisible trickle of smoke could be seen sending fingers up from homes here and there at 

random, coming from fires banked for the night. It was dark, the kind of darkness that only comes with 

night in the middle of winter. The only light visible was the sprinkling of stars hanging in the sky, their 

pinpricks of light obscured occasionally by clouds scudding across them. 

The tree line where the thick forest began surrounded the entire complex as a line of denser black 

against the night. 

It was quiet aside from the occasional animal noise. Winter quietness was nothing unusual really. But 

this quietness was the kind that was prickly with menace. The kind of quiet before a winter storm. 

True, a storm was on the way but there were other things roaming the night to explain the tension 

vibrating in the still air. It seemed to stretch out like a blanket and hover over the neat little community 

like a predator waiting to pull down it’s unaware prey from a hidden spot. 

Gorge woke in trueface. His amber eyes darted about the room, his nostrils flared taking in scents, his 

fangs were bared in a warning hiss, looking for the threat or thread of sound that had disturbed his 

sleep in the dead of this winter night. Khyle was spooned behind him, wrapped around him like a 

warm coat surrounding his cool body. He had one arm thrown over Gorge’s waist, hand possessively 

cupping his cock, and his mate’s legs were tangled up with his own cooler ones. There was no way to 

tell where one started and the other began. He took a moment to appreciate the warmth of his mate and 

the pulse of arousal that ran through him as always, before starting the detangling process to get 

himself out of bed. 

He chuckled to himself in amusement despite his unexplained alarm, as he attempted to prise himself 

out of his mate’s tightening grasp."Mmmffff..whaayaadoinorge?" came from behind him out from 

under the pile of covers as he succeeded in detangling his legs to slide them over the side of the thick 

down mattress doing his best to keep the sides of the deep layer of warm quilts from riding up and 

letting in the cooler air outside of the bed. He got his feet on the floor flinching a little at the cold 

wood. He slipped out from the warmth and comfort of the bed and his mate and reached back under 

the pile of blankets. A sleepy half formed question ran through the bond they shared. 

He squeezed the hand grasping after him across the bed once and leaned over to place a kiss on the 

side of the full lips of his mate and ran his mouth along his jaw and layed a trail of kisses down the 

warm neck to the claim marks visible at the juncture of neck and shoulder. Burying his face in his 

mate’s neck, he ran his tongue over the mark and then a wet open mouthed suckling kiss, causing a 

sleepy hitch of breath and a full body shiver. He breathed in the scent of his mate’s arousal that was 

mingled with his own. He purred deep in his throat at the smell of his semen on his warm human, 

lingering from a long session of lovemaking earlier that night. 

"Shhhhhh he whispered, I’m just going to check on the animals. The storm may get here earlier than 

we thought." He pushed reassurance/warmth/love/lust/desire/mine/sleep back through the bond to his 

mate, unwilling to disturb his mate’s rest over feelings of insubstantial threat. A warm thread of 

love/mine/lust/sleepy desire came back to him like melting honey spreading through his mind and 

body, warming his cold flesh from the inside out and causing his cock to harden. 

"Awrithurrpncmbcktbd" the pile of covers replied.

He chuckled again as he quickly pulled on the clothing he had shed so quickly earlier in the evening. 

He pulled on his britches and laced them halfway up while looking about for his shirt. He finally 

located it under the chair in the corner. It had been flung there as soon as they had closed the door of 

their bedroom. He grabbed it up and pulled it over his head and searched for his boots. 

The chores were done, dinner was over, the children were in bed. They were free to indulge 

themselves in the always simmering passion that lay between them. It lay just beneath the surface 

always ready to burst into a roaring inferno. They had kissed desperately, all the while pulling clothing 

from one another and flinging it haphazardly until they could reach bare skin. Gorge forcefully turned 

his thoughts away from the night’s activities./I can’t walk far with a hard prick/ He grinned to himself. 

He thought for the millionth time how lucky he was to have Khyle as his mate, as he snagged one of 

his boots from beneath the bed and spied the other next to the door. He pulled them on without hose, 

and shivered as the chilled leather touched the bare skin of his feet and ankles. 

/My mate. My Companion. La Familia/ His demon circled happily around at the thought and snuggled 

into a corner of his mind thrumming with contentment. He stood and made his way out of the 

bedroom. He closed the door quietly behind him, and moved silently into the hallway of their cozy 

little house. He and Khyle had built this little house with the help of their neighbors and friends. 

/Beloved friends/ 

He opened each bedroom door as he walked down the hallway checking on the the children. Tomas 

and Sinjin were fast asleep, nothing but lumps smothered in warm blankets in their beds. /My sons. 

Ours. My Mate/ The demon wiggled happily and growled possessively. 

/Protect Ours/ The demon flexed his claws reflexively and Gorge realized with a shock he was in 

trueface again, without knowing when it had happened. Something was disturbing his demon tonight. 

The demon stirred restively prodding him into action. 

/Took us long enough to find a safe place away from the danger of the council’s assassins,mercenaries 

and slayers/ 

That thought sent a quiver of apprehension through him. 

/Are we really safe? Will we ever be safe anywhere?How many Companions are left, there can’t be 

many/ 

/Protect Ours/ Growled the demon again. 

The Watcher’s Council had found out about Companions and what they were and had instituted a 

pogrom of complete genocide. From the oldest to the youngest infants, the Companions were hunted 

and brutally slaughtered.. When the Companion died the vampiric or demonic mate died with them 

because of the bond. 

He paused at the front door and pulled on his wool coat. Khyle had made coats for him and the 

children. The community had traded grain for wool last spring, a thicker coarser wool that could be 

woven with the softer wool that came from their own sheep. The resulting wool was extremely warm, 

softer than usual and wore longer than most woolens did.. He fingered the material as he remembered 

the hours and hours that Khyle had put into weaving the wool on the big looms along with several of 

the other companions and vampires. Then cutting the fabric to his measurements. Khyle never once 

voiced a complaint, it was a labor of love for him. He took care of his mate and the children and loved 

them fiercly. His love and passion was deep and hot. It melted everything in it’s path and seared into 

Gorge’s mind and body through their bond with a singlemindedness that never ceased to amaze him. 

/How could the Watcher’s Council condemn the Companions to death, and claim they were evil? 

Defiled? Perversions of nature? How could they justify the numbers of people they had murdered in 

the drive to their goal of exterminating the race of Companions, La Familia? Why the hysteria?/ 

Another wave of prickling tension ran through him and he was suddenly in a hurry. He had to get 

outside to ease his mind and prove to himself that it was just his demon’s territorial and protective 

traits acting up, not any real danger. He opened the door and stepped outside into the night trueface to 

the fore. Golden eyes inspected the cobblestoned areas in front of him. All the homes had shutters 

closed tightly against the the cold. All the neat little homes where darkened. There was no one out

tonight. 

He walked across the porch and stepped down onto the ground opening his senses scenting the air and 

listening. He recognised the scent of an approaching storm. /It’ll be here late tomorrow or the day 

after. It’s gonna be a big one/ He was already making plans for stringing ropes to the corrals and the 

barns so they could feed and care for the animals during the storm without getting lost. / Need to bring 

in more firewood/ he noted/gonna have to keep the fires going through the storm for the Companions 

and children/ 

He quickly made his way to the corrals and barns scanning everything quickly. Nothing seemed out of 

place. /Nothing is out here/ He stood beside one of the barns a listened carefully to the night and 

scenting, straining eyes. /Just your imagination/ he scolded himself. He turned to go back to the house 

and his warm mate and froze. / What was that?/ He listened intently trying to put a name to the sound 

he faintly heard. His nostrils flared as he scented the night. /I know that sound/ It was a metalic, 

clinking sound, metal against metal. None of the tools were left out. Tools were too valuable to be left 

laying about. Besides there was no wind. Gorge spun around in a circle trying to pinpoint the direction 

the sound was coming from. /Oh Hell , I think it’s coming from the woods. Weapons! It’s weapons! 

They’ve found us How? We were so careful. Magic. Khyle, I’ve got to get Khyle and the boys to the 

the caverns. Got to warn everyone I can/ Gorge spun about and with vampiric speed he was through 

the door of their house and into the the bedroom where his mate lay sleeping. 

He shook his mate out of sleep with a desperate roughness." Wake up Khyle, right now!" "You have to 

get to the caverns with the boys."Khyle sat up, half asleep. "What Gorge?" 

"They’ve found us dammitall. Get dressed and get the boys up. Get to the caverns now, I have to warn 

the others!" 


Back to index 







Acrid smoke still curled into the cold air from burned buildings. The smell of burnt flesh and death 

was brought to the noses of the attackers on the bitter predawn breeze. Over all the smell of blood was 

a coppery tang in the chill air, and other less pleasant odors that came hand in hand with bloody 

battlefields or a massacre of innocents. 

Corpses of the slain lay here and there on cobblestones and in doorways, between buildings, cut down 

in the effort of fleeing the carnage. They lay in grotesque poses of death revealing their hideous death 

wounds to uncaring eyes. Their dead gazes staring blankly at nothing. Most hadn’t made it out of their 

homes but were trapped inside and burnt alive in the surprise of a night attack in winter. 

One particular armored figure sat his restive horse in the midst of the destruction and surveyed the 

activity around him with a grimly set face. A number of armored men were still moving amongst the 

slain with drawn daggers. the blades flashed as they caught the predawn light, slashing a throat or 

piercing a breast to the heart, making sure of the dead. There would be no mistakes, no mercy, and no 

survivors. 

A tall dark haired figure with a beard separated himself from the rest and turned his footsteps toward 

the horse and rider. The horse chuffed and side stepped, tossing it’s head and digging at the ground 

with a large hoof, as the man on foot came closer. The mounted man, murmured quietly to the animal, 

running a hand down the side of it’s neck, calming it and soothing away it’s fright. The smell of blood

and death so close still causing it’s eyes to roll slightly and it’s nostrils to flare in agitation. 

"Well, is it finished?" he questioned the approaching man. 

"Aye, it’s finished, none escaped from here." He was answered with a conviction that came with 

experience.. 

"Excellent, I’ve grown weary of this endless campaign, captain. These were the last. I’ll be happy to 

inform the Council that these evil perversions of nature and abominations have finally been eradicated. 

You and your men will be generously rewarded for your efforts. You have the thanks of the council as 

well as mankind in keeping humanity and the world safe." 

The man on foot agreed ", No one will find a trace of them, they’ll disappear from history. The fields 

are sewn with salt, no one else will settle here if crops can’t be grown in the soil. There will be nothing 

left to identify who was settled here." He continued his voice taking a sardonic tone ",The safety of 

humanity and the world isn’t my concern. We were hired for a job and we did what we were paid to 

do. I’ll leave the deciding of good or evil to others. I’m just a simple soldier." 

The mounted man considered that for a moment, gazing at the destroyed settlement around him before 

replying ",What will you do next captain?" 

The armored man turned to look over the scene as well before anwering " ,I think I’ll wait and see 

what happens, there is always work for mercenaries, It’ll find me. I won’t have to look." He continued 

with his accounting ", We need to move out before long, there’s a storm brewing and it’ll be a big one. 

We’ve taken the food and grains from the barns and loaded them into the wagons, as well as the 

firewood. The only thing remaining is to burn the carcasses of the dead." 

The mounted man looked at the captain considering his words before replying " Very well, carry on. I 

need to witness the very end, the council doesn’t want the bodies to be identified." 

The captain walked away raising his voice in a shouted order ",Gather the carcasses and put them in 

the unburned barn. Leave the hay in that one." He stood watching as his orders were obeyed. 

The men began gathering their grim harvest of flesh. Soon the last of the bodies in the open were 

carried to the one remaining unburned building along with the carcasses of the animals that were slain. 

When the last of the bodies had been dragged to the barn and flung with uncaring hands through the 

doors, the result was a large pile of mingled humans and animals. The smell of death was a nauseting 

stench. The captain carefully controlled the expression on his face as he ordered the torching of the 

barn. 

One of his blood smeared veterans came forward with a torch and tossed it into the the barn, and two 

others quickly closed the doors and secured them from the outside. The hungry flames caught in the 

dry hay and within moments the barn was an inferno, burning with such heat that all the mercenaries 

standing around the building had to back away. 

The captain shouted to the mounted man his voice carrying clearly over the roar of the flames."We’re 

done here." 

The mounted man nodded once, shouting back ",very well. Farewell and godspeed to you and your 

men, captain." He turned his horse toward the trees and the direction that would take him back to the 

home of the Watcher’s Council. He drew his woolen cape around himself and kneed his horse into a 

canter. It was a long trip back to the council, and he was carrying news. 

The captain took one last look around at the decimated settlement and the still burning barn and spoke 

to his lieutenant ",Get the wagons moving. I want to be well away from here before we need to find a 

camping spot good enough to weather the coming storm. We’ll need to set up the tents. When the 

storm is over we’re heading home to rest the men before the next job." 

The lieutenant walked off shouting orders to the wagon masters. The wagons were lined up quickly 

and moving out a scant hour later carrying the looted food and grain from the destroyed village and 

tired, blood stained mercenaries. 

Silence descended when the last wagon trundled out of site through the trees. The only sound 

discernable was the crackling and popping of flames and the settling of burned wood. There was no 

one to see when the unburned parts of corpses shimmered and disappeared.

**************************************************************************** 

/Under ground in the caverns below the village/ 

Gorge leaned back against the cavern wall limp with relief. They had barely gotten everyone down 

into the tunnels in time. No one in the village had ever expected to be attacked in winter time and in 

the middle of the night. 

After he got Khyle moving he left their home going out into the night again to warn their friends and 

neighbors of the danger that was about to fall upon them. With vampiric speed he went from house to 

house and woke the residents fearing that the attack would begin before he could get to everyone. But 

he got to the last house without incident, and everyone down into the tunnels through the hidden trap 

doors in every home. 

They made their way through the tunnels to the main cavern, where the magic users set up the spell for 

the golems. This spell had been set in place some time before. Only the final steps had to be completed 

for the golems to appear and react like living bodies. 

The spell had come to them with one of the unmated Companions that had escaped from a massacre 

that had ocurred several years ago. The spell had been reworked until it produced an artificial human 

being, from clay, that with the activation of the spell could imitate a real human or vampire. The hope 

that all of them had is that in the frenzy of killing that the attackers would not look too closely at the 

bodies they were killing. 

The Golems had no souls and they were not intelligent but they had basic emotions and reactions. It 

was a tricky spell in that the golems had to mimic vampiric and human bodily functions. The spells 

that create the golems had been worked and reworked and perfected only this last fall, making a 

construct of seeming flesh and blood that was as close to real as possible with magic as the life source. 

They could speak with simple words, if you cut them they would bleed. Complicated enchantments 

that were almost undetectable caused them to seem even more human with warm skin or vampiric with 

cool skin. The bodies would disappear when the spell wore off or in the case of the vampiric golems 

they would turn to dust. 

With a major storm on the way the attackers would quickly leave the village behind. They wouldn’t 

want to remain in a village built by abominations and perversions of nature, being afraid they would be 

cursed as well. 

The survivors could wait out the storm here and the winter season, they had stores down here long 

enough to last a year if need be, as well as seeds for planting. The only thing they didn’t have was the 

animals. But they had dried and smoked meat. Starvation would not be a problem. 

They had planned well. They had lamps and candles for light and firewood had been laboriously 

brought down and stacked. They were fortunate to have discovered the caverns beneath the town. 

They had stored as much as they could, as often as they could of everything they had harvested or 

made for daily life. Everyone had worked in preparing the caverns for just such a night as tonight. 

The question was now whether they wanted to remain in this world and rebuild their village. Take the 

chance the Council of Watchers would discover their survival, and try to destroy them again, or open a 

portal and go to another world where it would be safer for the Companions as a race. 

Gorge wanted to go. 

/Take my mate and my sons where we don’t have to worry about being slaughtered for just existing/ 

It had taken everything in him to keep his demon from fighting the invaders. He was a good fighter, 

however the plan called for seeming to be caught by surprise and letting the golems be slaughtered. It 

was the same reason they couldn’t use magical alarms and wards. 

The council’s representatives would witness the slaughter and they would believe them dead. An 

entire race wiped out by the fear, jealousy and hatred of a small group of men who thought they had 

the right to do so. Only then would they stop being hunted and slain like evil demons, as a threat to 

humanity. 

/Make them think we’re all dead, that’s the best way to hide/ 

The caverns were safe for now.

They had carved out small rooms with pick axes in the more stable parts of the caverns and built doors 

so that some measure of privacy could be had for individuals and mated couples. 

The larger main cavern had several fireplaces for cooking as well as long trestle tables and benches. 

This is where everyone was gathered now debating what to do. Someone had started the fire in the 

fireplaces and made hot drinks to ward off the chill under ground. 

Several people, Khyle among them, were passing out the hot drinks to their weary and stressed 

neighbors, friends and families. It was finally decided to settle and get some sleep. Decisions could be 

made later, there was time. 


Back to index 

Author: Wolf Mama 

Title: Companions 

Chapter: 1/? 

Pairing: Spike/Xander 

Rating: FRAO. 17+ only please. 

Feedback: Yes 

Concrit: by email please/in comments 

Disclaimer: All characters are owned by their original creators. I am just borrowing them and I am not 

making a profit from playing with them. They’ll only get a little rumpled and debauched. All original 

characters owned by me 

Warnings/Squicks: There is the murder of an infant in this chapter, as well as child swapping. If this 

bothers you skip this chapter. 

Summary: Xanders’ true family history. 

Note: Spander starts next chapter;) Which I am working on industriously 

Beta(s): Laazikat and Kitty Poker bless you ladies. Love ya’ll. All mistakes are mine so don’t mess 

with my betas. 

Spring of 1981 

The maternity ward in Sunnydale’s only hospital was like any other hospital, in any other town, in any 

other state, in any other country. There were crying babies with their little red faces scrunched up and 

arms waving, in little clear sided boxes that were trying to be bassinettes. There were little pink cards 

on the short side or little blue cards as appropriate for the gender of the wriggly little bundles in the 

boxes. 

The wriggly bundles were wrapped in fuzzy little blankets adorned with a toy block print or a pink 

bow print to match the little colored cards with names printed on them along with a mommy’s name. 

Last name first, first name last. Each card also had a room number. This particular day there were four 

pink cards on the little plastic boxes and only one little blue card amongst the lot. 

One of the nurses on duty, Susan Baxter, walked over to the plastic box with the only blue card in the 

nursery that day, and commiserated with the tiny bundle. "You are outnumbered today aren’t you 

little" she paused and read the card "Harris." She laughed softly. " Outnumbered and surrounded. You 

have your own harem. Just wait. One of these days you’ll appreciate that. When you’re old enough to 

understand it." Susan laid a gentle hand on the little bundle and rubbed his little back gently and got a 

burp for her trouble. She laughed merrily. " I take it that’s your commentary on the whole thing, huh?" 

He just turned his head and tried to swallow his fist. The phone on the desk rang and she walked over 

and picked it up. " Nursery. May I help you?" 

While Susan was speaking on the phone with the proud daddy of one of the pink cards, another nurse 

entered the nursery and went to the only plastic box with the blue card and wheeled it toward the door 

saying as she passed by "The mother wants to see her baby." The nurse opened the nursery door and

wheeled the cart out the door and started down the hallway. She turned the corner and slipped into a 

vacant room and shut the door and locked it. 

There was a baby lying on the bed in the room. The nurse hurriedly but gently undressed the baby that 

was labeled with the blue card and laid him on the bed beside the other infant. Then she undressed the 

other infant, switched the clothing and placed the new child in the box with the blue card. She then 

redressed the other infant and left him sleeping peacefully on the bed, with a pillow on each side of 

him. 

Opening the door quietly she checked the hallway for people and seeing no one, she wheeled the cart 

out of the room and down the hallway to the room with Harris on the door tag. She knocked softly and 

waited for an answer. There was no answer. She opened the door and wheeled the cart into the room 

and positioned it close beside the bed of the woman sleeping there. She leaned over the box and 

whispered to the sleeping baby "I love you." She kissed him gently on his soft baby cheek, ran her 

hand over his soft baby hair, and took a deep breath of his scent for the last time. She pulled the little 

blue card off the plastic box and looked carefully at the name on it and chuckled with tears in her eyes 

and a breaking heart. "How ironic. My son. Alexander. Protector of man." 

She replaced the card, turned and left the room quietly making her way back to the room where the 

infant lay on the bed. She picked up the baby, and whispered to him "We’re gonna have an adventure 

little Harris." She made her way to down to the general patient’s floor and into another vacant room, 

where she took off her nurse’s uniform, the bra and fake breast inserts. She switched it for a pair of 

well worn jeans, with a black belt, a white tee shirt with a red and black checked flannel shirt over it. 

The nursing shoes and stockings were exchanged for socks and hiking boots. 

He let his long brunette hair down and braided it quickly and efficiently, not thinking about the last 

time it had been braided. He didn’t begin to weep until he was in the hospital parking lot and sliding 

into an old white panel van. He strapped the baby he had exchanged into an infant carrier in the back 

seat. 

Tears were streaming down his face. He was talking to the son he had left in a hospital room, with a 

woman he didn’t know, the entire time. "I’m sorry I had to leave you there with a stranger. But it’s 

safer for you. I don’t want you to be hurt. I want you to live. I want you to be warm and safe and 

loved. Maybe I can come back for you, when it’s all over. I’ll always love you, my son. And if I am 

never able to return, I want you to grow up healthy and strong. Grow up to be as good and strong as 

your father." 

**************** 

Jessica Harris woke from an unsettling dream when the infant in her room began to fret, but the 

fragments she tried to grasp fled as soon as she caught sight of the baby . She was a little puzzled to 

find the baby in her room, but decided that the busy staff must have brought him in while she was 

asleep to save time and effort later in their busy day. 

Jessica was sore and stiff from the birth. Alexander was her first child. While she contemplated the 

wonder of that, she sorrowfully concluded he would most likely be her only child. Tony Harris had 

been highly displeased when his current female interest had informed him she was with child. He 

hadn’t planned on having any "brats", as he called them. 

He was even more displeased when Jessica had insisted they marry so the child would have a father. 

He had stormed out only to return the next day to rush her to the courthouse and stand in front of a 

Justice of the Peace to take their vows. He wouldn’t hear of a church wedding, cursing and ranting at 

her that he wasn’t made of money. 

He had been angry when she had woken him from sleep night before last, as she went into labor. He’d 

brought her to the hospital and left her to the care of the staff, saying he had to get some sleep before 

going to work the next morning. She hadn’t seen him since then. 

Jessica sighed tiredly and ran her hand through her stringy hair. She needed a bath. Then she smiled 

gently and pulled her sore body out of the dubious comfort of the bed. 

She bent over her son and touched his soft cheek. He turned his head toward her hand his little mouth

working. She unwrapped the bundle and explored him with wondering eyes and hands, caressing tiny 

toes and fingers. Running gentle fingers over ears and nose. She wrapped him warmly in his little 

blanket once again. 

She pulled open the drawer on the cart and found a little premixed single serving bottle of formula 

there, and picked it up. "Are you hungry my little man?" she asked the infant. His only reply was to 

wiggle more emphatically and suck his fingers vigorously. She broke the seal on the bottle and put it 

on the bedside table, then she carefully lifted the small bundle out of his plastic box. She rubbed her 

cheek across his hair and inhaled taking in his soft baby scent. Then once again she picked up the 

bottle and sat gingerly in the rocking chair situated not far from the bed cuddling the infant close in her 

arms. Her son latched eagerly onto the nipple of the bottle when she offered it to him and suckled 

greedily, gazing up at her with innocent baby eyes. 

She rocked her son and softly sang lullabies to him while he nursed on the bottle. 

*********************** 

The white van left the hospital parking lot, slowly puling out onto the street. The driver made his way 

to a small 

motel on the outskirts of town. He got out of the van and went round to the side of the van and opened 

the side door, reaching into the back seat to release the catches and straps holding the infant carrier in 

place. He then picked up a baby bag and then the carrier making his way to the room door right at the 

nose of the van. He slung the baby bag over one shoulder and fished in his front pants pocket for the 

room key. He finally got it disentangled from his pocket and stuck it in the lock. He got the door open 

and turned to shut the door dropping the bag on the small cheaply made table set under the window as 

he passed. 

He settled the car carrier beside the bed, and decided that since the baby was sleeping peacefully he 

would rest his exhausted body as well. They weren’t safe yet, but they were as safe as they could be in 

this time and place, he thought as he settled his body onto the bed and sank into an exhausted 

sorrowful sleep. 

The sun crossed the sky outside just as it did every day, and it shed its’ light on an ordinary day with 

people doing ordinary things. Working, playing, studying, living. Then Sol began its’ slow descent and 

seemed to cling at the last as though reluctant to leave the world in shadows. 

No one saw the dark SUV pull up beside the old white van. No one noticed when the lock on the door 

was quietly picked. No one heard the two muffled gunshots or saw the flash of a machete. No one saw 

the darkly clothed being that relocked the door of the motel room on the way out. No one was there to 

hear the call made on a cell phone from the confines of the SUV on it’s way out of town. 

"It’s done?" queried a tinny voice. 

"Yes, there was no real challenge to this job," in a disgusted voice. 

"I didn’t pay you to be challenged. I paid you to do a job." Sharply. "You’re sure they’re dead?" 

"As sure as a bullet in the head and beheading can make it," came back with an evil chuckle. 

"Good, I’ll let you know if we find any others that have survived this long. There can’t be many. Our 

predecessors were a thorough lot. Will it be the same contact procedure as before?" 

An exasperated sigh. "Yes, I suppose so; easy money is still money after all. Til next time, then." 

There was an irritated push of a button and the phone was thrown onto the seat. The dark SUV passed 

the Welcome to Sunnydale sign and disappeared into the night. 

The next afternoon the housekeeper entered the room to clean it and shrieked in horror. She ran out of 

the room, leaving the door wide open, and lost the lunch she had so enjoyed not an hour before, on the 

walkway outside the room. The yelling brought the manager and the horrified manager called the 

police. 

The police arrived with the ambulance. Being police in Sunnydale and there was no weapon found, no 

identification on the bodies. They reported the crime as another attack by gang members high on 

drugs. One rookie, new to the job who was still not inured to the unexplainable in Sunnydale tried to 

trace the van and found that the tag didn’t belong to the van and the registration papers were falsified.

Even the vin number was missing from the dash and filed off the engine. It was a dead end and he 

dropped it when his fellow officers encouraged him not to dig too deeply. The only reason they gave 

him was that very unpleasant things happened to cops in Sunnydale that let their curiosity get the 

better of them. He decided to drop the case. 

The morgue in Sunnydale’s only hospital was like any other hospital, in any other town, in any other 

state, in any other country. There were shiny stainless steel gurneys in a cold room and each sheet 

-draped body on each table had a little tag attached to the big toe with a bit of string.. The little tags 

identified each body with a name and sex, date of birth and date of death. There were no pretty little 

pink or blue cards. The pale cold headless body of the man had a little white tag that read John Doe, on 

the tag with the date of death and nothing else. The pale sheet - draped body of the headless infant had 

a little white tag that read Baby Doe and the date of death. That was all. 

There was no autopsy. The next day John Doe and Baby Doe were transferred via hearse to one of the 

many funeral homes in Sunnydale. They were placed together in a cheap pine coffin wrapped in 

morgue sheets. Their heads were placed more or less where they would normally have rested. The top 

of the coffin was closed with ten penny nails and a hammer and a number was sprayed on with a can 

of paint. The coffin was placed in the back of a dump truck with other cheap coffins going to Potter’s 

field, and finally covered by tarps. This was the last coffin in the load and the truck engine turned over 

and moved out, making the last trip ever for the poor and unidentified dead of Sunnydale. 

The truck made its’ way through the town on a normal day. It was nearing lunchtime and the road was 

busy with cars. Here and there a young mother was pushing a stroller or leading a toddler by the hand. 

The playground was full of children running, yelling and playing with joie de vivre. The truck rolled 

on through with its’ anonymous cargo. All in all like it was a normal day in any other normal town, 

any other normal state, in any other normal country. 

The truck pulled up to a fence pitted and rusted with time, and the passenger door opened. The 

passenger jumped down with a handful of jangling keys that were loud in the silence of the place. He 

walked up to the fence and inserted the key into the rusty padlock and chain that held the dilapidated 

gate closed, and cursed as he had to fight the lock to turn the key. Finally winning the war, he 

victoriously snatched off the padlock and unwound the chain from the bars and opened the gate wide 

giving the recalcitrant guardian a parting kick on his way back to the 

truck. He climbed back into the passenger side and the truck groaned its’ way past the gate into the 

bleak field. 

Potter’s field had no headstones. It had stakes with sets of numbers identifying the number of coffins 

buried underneath and the serial numbers of those coffins. There was nothing as dignified as a name. 

There were thousands of rows of stakes in Potters field. There were no flowers or pretty granite rocks, 

just splotchy splashes of weedy grass here and there, interspersed haphazardly with a low scraggly 

bush or a struggling sapling, and bare dirt. The scraggly grasses further back were thicker and got 

more untended as far back as sight could tell, until sight couldn’t pick out any stakes at all. The closer, 

more recent rows were scraped bare earth. 

The digging crews had already dug out a hole wide enough and deep enough for this load with a back 

hoe, and were standing around waiting. The truck turned and backed up to the hole and the diggers and 

the driver and passenger began to unload the truck dropping the coffins in the hole with a thump. 

When the bottom of the hole was full they began another row atop that one and this continued until 

they had the hole filled ten rows deep and six rows wide. When the last coffin was placed a man 

climbed onto a bulldozer and began filling in the hole. 

After the hole was filled he ran the machine over the hole packing the dirt and shoveled some more 

onto the top and graded it smooth. The driver of the dump truck took the numbered stake out of the 

cab and drove it into the earth at the foot of the hole and everyone picked up their own equipment and 

loaded up in various trucks and vans and headed out of the cemetery like a bizarre caravan. 

The gates were conquered and bound again on the way out and the distinct snick of the padlock and 

chains could be heard. The cavalcade wound its’ way out of site and quietness fell like a lead weight in

Potter’s field. 

There was no one there to hear the mournful wind sighing amongst the graves of the forgotten. 

************* 

Gorge turned away from the maternity ward window with sorrow in his heart. He was too late. 

Another Companion and an infant murdered. He had made his way to Sunnydale as quickly as he 

could after the information had been given to him by those who kept watch in the demon community 

as an unofficial sort of underground railroad network. The information about what the Companion was 

going to do if help wasn’t waiting was passed along. Now the infant was out of reach for the time 

being. They would have to watch and wait. Maybe this was the safest thing for the child anyway. No 

one suspected anything at all. Gorge would have someone watching and ready to act when the time 

came. 

Until then he prayed blessings on Alexander Harris, and knew at least he would grow up without the 

fear of discovery and death dogging his small footsteps. Yes, this Companion had been smart and had 

protected his child even though he himself had been murdered. Gorge thought of the other child and 

sighed. 

/It’s a terrible thing when you have to use another child’s death to cover the survival of your own. It 

shouldn’t be this way. I can’t find it in myself to condemn him. If I were in the same circumstance I 

may have done the same thing. Besides He didn’t kill the child, the murderer did that. What kind of 

evil were these humans, who could murder and mutilate even a babe in arms? It’s not the first time 

though, hell they even do it to themselves. What good are these souls they have if they choose to do 

such evil and call it good? How can they begin to point fingers and name anything evil when their 

hands and souls were stained with the results of evil acts?/ 

Rage hot and deep flowed through him, paired with sorrow. 

/One day we’ll set it to rights and the scales will be balanced, and that will be a bloody day. Blood will 

flow like a river from those who have hurt me and mine, and their screams of agony will be sweet 

music to my ears/ 

With alternating sad and vengeful thoughts swirling through his mind, he made his way out of the 

hospital and into the evening air. He moved through town and into Sunnydale Memorial Cemetery and 

located the crypt he wanted and entered closing the door silently behind him. He went down the dusty 

stairs and lifted the rusting grate in the floor that lead to the sewers and dropped down into the murk 

waiting below him. He threaded his way through the dank stinking tunnels and came to a stop and 

waited at the first major branch off. He didn’t have to wait long before a Tsanugara demon made an 

appearance. 

"The Companion is dead, murdered along with a human child, Rusaka." Gorge’s voice hissed out. " 

But his child lives and is being cared for by a human woman. She doesn’t realize her child was even 

switched. Can you keep watch over this child until we’re ready to come for him? It is a heavy 

responsibility I’m laying on you, Rusaka." 

" I will keep watch, Gorge, until you send for him. Can you tell me how long that might be?" 

Gorge gravely regarded the Tsanugara in front of him and replied. " Eighteen years or thereabouts, 

Rusaka. Our children take that long to mature sufficiently, and it will be that long before this one is 

ready to be on his own legally by human standards. I can’t take him with me now or I risk alerting the 

murdering bastards, otherwise I would take him, the poor babe. It galls me like fire to leave him here. 

But for now it’s the best solution. He’s safe and we know where he is. Don’t let these people move 

away from here Rusaka. I don’t want to have to hunt for him and be too late to save my nephew. It’s 

bad enough that I have to tell Khyle that his brother and his mate are dead." 

Rusaka huffed out a sorrowful sigh. " I’m sorry for it, Gorge. After you have done so much for others, 

it doesn’t seem fair that your own should suffer so much sorrow. I’ll keep an eye on the tadpole, and 

let you know how he’s doing. I’ll head em off at the pass if they decide to move, and put out the word 

he’s off limits when the time comes, so no one does anything stupid. What’s the child’s name?" 

"Alexander Harris."

With those words, Gorge stuck out his hand and Rusaka caught it in a firm grip hand to wrist in the 

ancient warriors’ way. "Go in safety my friend, I’ll see you again soon enough." 

"Thank you, Rusaka." 

"No thanks are necessary. Just keep you and yours safe; you do great things for our kind. Farewell 

until we meet again." 

Rusaka turned and went back the way he had come. Gorge stood there until he could no longer see or 

hear the demon, and sighed. He kept on his way, backtracking his own trail often and taking side 

tunnels until he wove a bewildering trail behind him. He continued until he was deep under Sunnydale, 

in caverns no one else knew were there. Then he settled for the next twelve hours watching his 

back-trail to make sure no one had followed him. 

When he was sure no one had followed, he made a circle with the powder he had been given and said 

the words he had memorized. A small light began to grow about two feet off the ground and a 

whirlpool appeared. The whirlpool settled into a smooth surface and grew until it was man-sized. A 

picture, shimmering like an object under water, appeared on the other side. When the picture stabilized 

Gorge stepped through, pausing to mutter a word. Then he was gone and the picture collapsed the way 

it had formed and the cavern was deserted. 

No one was there to see the little breeze kick up and scatter the circle and the tickle of magic that was 

the result of the portal. 

? 


Back to index 







Thoughts are indicated by / . 

******************************************************************************** 

The night air was cool, with a hint of drifting fog in the air that muted the edges of things just that little 

bit and made everything seem a dream instead of middle of the week normal. The moon was was 

visible but slightly hazed through the branches of trees that he knew were covered in multi-hued leaves 

that signaled fall weather. The few cars on the road slipped by him anonymously, with glaring 

headlights and a whishing noise of tires on damp pavement and red taillights blurred. They served only 

to make him feel more isolated, like he was in a dream and invisible to the rest of the world. 

/Like a dream, he thought, and that’s what my whole life has been. Just a dream, a bad one./ 

He could hear the muffled sound of his feet hitting the cement of the sidewalk in the quietness of the 

early morning hours as he walked back to his basement living quarters from the umpteenth job he’d 

found and would probably lose, like all the others. A bartender, he snorted softly and at a bar where 

humans and demons mingled indiscriminately, at that. He’d gotten this job with a fake ID that some 

non-Scooby friends had arranged for him. 

The Scoobies would probably shit bricks and then Willow would give him that LOOK, and Giles 

would wipe his glasses feverishly, and Buffy would screech on about it till Doomsday, and Tara would 

hide behind her hair and say nothing, which invariably made him feel absurdly guilty. Dawn would 

want a blow by blow account of how to get a fake ID and what kind of customers did he have. And 

Spike..Spike would smirk and make acid comments about white hats getting all smudgy, then he’d 

have to say something back about borrowing Spike’s peroxide to get it out. Everyone would be

disappointed with him again, if they knew. He sighed heavily. Like they weren’t most of the time 

anyway. 

/Well, dammitall, how else was he supposed to survive?/ 

He questioned silently. What else was he supposed to do? Every job he’d had, he’d lost because of his 

own stubborn refusal to quit helping the Slayer. Hell, he’d even lost Anya over it. Buffy, of course, 

thought he should be off after the white picket fence and the two point five kids. But he couldn’t do 

that. He just couldn’t, not when he knew there were things that go bump in the night for real and the 

monsters under your bed really were there. 

He had saved Buffy’s life, dammit, he could make a difference. Him. Mr. Normal Guy who couldn’t 

just live like Mr. Joe Normal. However, knowing about the real monsters didn’t help him keep a job. 

You could only take so many sick days off from work, or come in to work so banged up by the weekly 

pug ugly you were useless, before the boss would say something about it. His friends? They never 

noticed his depression over his losses, because he was good at hiding himself behind his goofy 

funny-man disguise. Even Willow, who knew him better than anyone else, and should have seen it 

after being friends since they were in diapers, didn’t have a clue. 

/Jesse would have known./ 

The thought surfaced briefly, but Jesse was dead. 

A spear point of pain lanced through his chest, making his breath hitch and his steps falter briefly. 

/Oh no, not going there t’night, me bucko; can’t handle it tonight./ 

He quickly moved on to other thoughts almost as depressing and not much less painful. He’d had a lot 

of practice doing that; he was an expert in fact. 

/Helping the Slayer? / 

He snorted again to himself. 

/More like getting in the way. No special powers for this guy, no magic and certainly no brainiac. 

Maybe they don’t want to know that I’m depressed and lonely. If they knew they’d have to do 

something and, really, what could they do? Listen once in a while, maybe. / 

"Move on along, nothing to see here, go along to get along" he muttered, shaking his head as though it 

would shake away his thoughts. 

/Living quarters, not home./ 

That thought came sailing through all the others floating around in his mind. 

/Never have had a real home. Home is supposed to be a warm place, with love and laughter, yelling 

and arguing and making up. Home is where you can’t wait to get back to at the end of the day. Home 

is like hot chocolate on a cold night, warming you from the inside out, not a place you avoid like the 

plague./ 

The boy sighed again and his shoulders hunched a little more as he dug his hands into the pockets of 

his worn jacket. He had long since given up feeling sorry for himself, deciding if no one else cared, 

why should he continue to do so? His feet lost a walking tempo and picked up a slower shuffling pace. 

/Wonder what mood the old man is in tonight. / 

He grasped onto that thought as it joined the other flotsam. 

No emotion there, just words; no fuzzy affection and warm thoughts, just fear, of the 

person...man...thing.., he finally decided. A title. Another name. A label he finally agreed with himself, 

like a can of veggies on the shelf at the grocery store. Slap a label on it and it tells you what is 

supposed to be inside, but they don’t ever tell the whole truth, and different brands have different 

labels. A cold hard can, with bright colors and a name on the outside. Something you have cut open 

with sharp edges to get to the good stuff inside, and it usually tasted nasty, with a metallic tang. The 

pretty label as far removed from the reality of what was inside as the earth from the stars. His can said 

Father on the outside but once you cut the container open the inside was nothing but a putrid rotten 

mess. 

/Leave it to me to get the one with the spoiled stuff inside. Wonder if I can sue the manufacturer and 

get something for damages?/

He chuckled darkly to himself. 

He shivered in the slightly damp air, coming out of his thoughts. He had stopped on the sidewalk 

across the street from the house where his living quarters were, mouth quirking sarcastically at that 

thought surfacing again. He leaned against the light pole while he looked at the blurred edges of reality 

around him, making the overgrown yard look spooky and farther away than just across the street. False 

home just wasn’t appealing tonight. He just couldn’t face it again after the week he’d had so far. Not 

even the thought of a hot shower and bed after this endless week was enough to pull him across the 

street to the darkened house. 

He pushed off the light pole with a twist of his shoulders and aimed a one finger salute, that wasn’t his 

index finger, at the house that looked so unreal across the street. 

/Nope not gonna. I’m not playing dodge the verbal bullets tonight. I’m just not in the damn mood for 

it. That’s a big Hell No to being the victim tonight even though I do the victim thing soooo well./ 

He knew exactly where he was going, his mood lifting as he backtracked his steps. As he moved 

through the almost fog, he stopped to check the stake in the pocket of his old jacket, while carefully 

examining the surrounding area. He bent to check the knife and little holster he wore on his ankle 

habitually now. The blade and the holster were gifts from friends he’d met before the beginning of 

summer. His mouth moved into a genuine shit eating grin as he thought about his "new" friends. 

Tomas and Sinjin. They were brothers, but they were as different in coloring as night and day. They 

were both about his height and with the sharp defined musculature of people who stayed in fighting 

shape without being too bulky. They sparred and worked out daily. Tomas was the golden boy with 

hip length golden hair that was thick and wavy, caught back in a braid that tamed the mass of it and 

kept it from tangling. He had clear blue eyes that nearly rivaled Spike’s in color, and sparkled most of 

the time with good natured mischief. His eyes could turn into chips of frozen blue ice when he was 

angry, or snap blue fire at you when he was irritated. 

Sinjin was the dark one. His hair fell to past his butt and was as straight as a board and just as thick; it 

was black as sin, and had the shine of a raven’s wing in sunlight. He left his hair loose most of the time 

to fall about him like a cloak. His eyes were a bright luminous green like a cat’s. They both had high 

cheekbones and full lips, thick eyelashes and flawless fair skin. They were absolutely beautiful 

separately, but together they packed a one two punch that left males and females alike gasping in their 

wake. Beautiful wasn’t a term Xander would generally use to describe men. But Thomas and Sinjin 

were beautiful, not that he’d ever say so....where they could hear him, anyway. He’d seen sales clerks 

and wait staff of both sexes, human and demon, flounder helplessly under the gaze of one, and be 

decimated when both turned their attention on the hapless mortal or creature. 

/No one is immune to the dynamic duo./ 

Xander chuckled to himself. 

Not only were they beautiful, they could fight like no one he’d ever seen before except Buffy, Angel 

or Spike. But they were more like Spike. They were like savage poetry in motion, all sensuous grace 

and ferocious strength, power, skill and speed. They were deadly in hand to hand and, like Spike they 

used a combination of styles and dirty street fighting. Their motto was ",Avoid fighting if you can but 

if you can’t, use whatever it takes to keep yourself alive and never leave behind a living enemy." 

He had met both of them one night when he’d gone to the Bronze to see if Spike was there and up for 

a beer and a game of pool. Spike hadn’t been there. But the two brothers were, playing pool and 

insulting one another about their playing skills. 

He laughed out loud remembering that night, his laughter rang loud in the silence around him. 

They had been decked out in full regalia. Tomas was wearing a black silk pirate shirt, with long full 

sleeves and tight wrist cuffs, that clung to his torso in all the right places. It was tucked into a pair of 

butter soft tight black leather pants with calf high black leather boots. The pants hugged him like a 

second skin and advertised an impressive package up front. Sinjin had on the opposite: everything in 

white. He wore a white silk shirt with a single sparkling green stone at the middle holding it closed, 

the sides falling open just the right amount. And he’d teamed it with clinging white leather pants that

laced up the front and had diamond shaped cutouts marching down the outside of both his long legs. 

The laces in front drew the eyes to the apex of his sleekly muscled thighs, and the show there wasn’t 

any less than his sibling’s. 

Sinjin lost the game and pouted. "Well, I’m tired of playing anyway. I’m going to dance, brother 

dearest, and see what fish I can catch tonight," he sing songed. He moved off and Xander’s jaw 

dropped as he watched the other male walk away, swaying and twitching his hips a little more than he 

had to. 

Tomas reached over and used one gentle finger beneath his jaw to close his mouth and grinned at 

Xander, eyes sparkling gleefully . " See something you like?" Sinjin turned at that with a wide grin 

spreading on his face to hear Xander’s response. 

Xander felt a fiery blush start at his knees and flame its way to his face and stuttered, "I, err, 

I....I...kinda like girls. Yep this is a girl liking guy here. Demon girls, Inca mummy girls, preying 

mantis girls, super strong girls. All girls or, err, women as the case may be, ’cause some girls are really 

women in disguise. Women and girls and they all have boobs and they don’t wear leather. Well, 

mostly they don’t. Hey, you’re not evil demony guys, are you? The only guys I’ve seen that wear 

leather are really evil bad guys and not like girls at all, even girly insects that want to eat me." 

Tomas shook his head in confusion and laughed throatily . "If you say so. You go on ahead then, 

Sinjin. I’m going to keep playing with this pretty guy right here." Sinjin chuckled and continued his 

sensuous walk towards the crowded dancefloor. 

Xander decided that ignoring that comment was the better part of valor, shook off his gobsmacked 

look and nodded, put his quarters in the slots and started racking the balls, asking Thomas, "What do 

you want, spots or stripes?" 

"Stripes." 

"Okay, good ol’ spots for me it is then." Xander continued racking balls and pulled off the rack. "You 

want to break?" 

"No, I’ll leave the pleasure to you. So, what’s your name, then? I can’t keep calling you that guy." He 

smiled. 

"Xa..Xa..Xander." 

"That’s an unusual name." 

"It’s short for Alexander." Xander chalked his cue and bent over the table to break. 

"Protector of man." 

"Wh...What?" 

"That’s what your name means, protector of man." 

Xander’s mouth lifted on one side in a mocking smile, forgetting his nervousness in his preoccupation. 

" More like klutz of man. I’m always tripping over my own two feet, or someone else’s. Most of the 

time I’m just in the way or in the rear. I can’t protect my own self, much less anyone else with my 

fighting skills." 

He broke, scattering the balls over the table and watched until they came to rest in their final positions 

on the green felt of the table. 

"Ahhh. That’s only because you haven’t had a good teacher." 

"Well that much is true at least. I’ve never had anyone want to invest that much time or interest in 

what I can or can’t do." 

Tomas frowned "No one? Not even your father? Friends? Teachers at school?" 

"Nope. I guess they figure it’s just a waste of time, since I don’t seem to have any talents except hard 

labor," Xander replied sarcastically, and was surprised at what had come out of his mouth. He never 

told anyone what he really thought. Ever. Not even his best friend, Willow, and here he was spilling 

his guts to a stranger. 

"Have you ever heard that when the student is ready the teacher will appear?" 

************************************************************************************** 

Xander pulled his thoughts back to the present with an effort and grinned again. Unconsciously he

straightened his shoulders and stood taller, losing his slumped posture. His footsteps became more 

firm and beat out a steady tattoo on the sidewalk. 


Back to index 







Thoughts are indicated by /. 

******************************************************************************** 

That night had been the beginning of an exhilarating friendship. Tomas and Sinjin treated him like a 

long lost brother, claiming the lion’s share of his time. They began broadening his horizons almost 

immediately. 

He had been introduced to the demon community and found that most of them were just like anyone 

else. They worked and paid the mortgage and reared kids. Normal everyday stuff. His boss, Rusaka, at 

Sanctuarie was a demon, a Tsanugara demon. They were peaceful and law abiding and tended to own 

clubs and hotels; real party demons they were. It was a relief to know someone else that knew about 

demons and vamps, and magic and mayhem, so he didn’t need to hide that part of his life from them. 

Jeez if the Scoobies only knew. He shook his head. 

Who, are you kidding? They’d come crashing in and kill everything in sight. Tolerance is not one of 

Buffy’s personality traits . 

Through the influence of Tomas and Sinjin he had come to realize and accept that he was attracted to 

males as much as or more than females. Though he hadn’t acted on that particular personal revelation 

yet. The realization had happened so gradually and naturally, that it hadn’t freaked him, or them, out at 

all. 

He had discussed it with both of them sitting around a crackling fire on one of their camping trips, 

while passing a bottle of JD around and roasting marshmallows. They had looked at one another and 

had told him to love the person not the package, whether it was demon or human, male or female. He 

thought about that often and it soothed him when he tended to panic over his changing self. 

Both the brothers were highly empathetic and they made change easy and accepted everything about 

him unconditionally. Neither of them expected him to be anything other than exactly what he was or 

what he wanted to be. In fact they were quite willing to help him do or become anything he wanted, in 

any way he needed it. 

All this summer they had done things that Xander had never done in his life. They had taught him to 

ride a motorcycle and the three of them had been riding the country like a trio of gypsies. They had 

gone camping and club hopping in LA. They had dragged him shopping over his vociferous 

complaints. 

They had revamped his admittedly dismal wardrobe, without embarrassing him at all. The brothers 

delighted in dressing him in leather and silk, tight jeans and shirts that clung like a second skin, with 

not an eye popping color in sight. Most of his new clothes were at their place since he had spent the 

majority of his time there this summer. 

With the girls and Giles seeming to become more distant as time marched on, and disappearing for the 

summer, he had grabbed onto them desperately, like a drowning man. They accepted his pathetic 

neediness and lavished brotherly affection and attention on him. He’d never experienced anything like 

it. When he took time to consider the dynamic between the three of them, it felt like what family

should be, but all the good and none of the bad. It was better than the way he felt with the Scoobies, 

even when everything was right. 

Buffy had gone to her Dad’s place in LA for the summer. The witchy duo of Tara and Willow had 

gone to some summer retreat for magic users. Maybe Willow would get her magic straight this year 

with fewer magical mistakes to come. He shuddered to himself, remembering a particular "I will it so," 

spell. 

/I certainly hope so for the sake of all the residents of Sunnydale, human and otherwise./ 

Oz was still off somewhere trying to learn control of his wolfy self. Giles was off to England to visit 

Watcher central, his mouth twisted again at that thought, this time into a grimace. 

/Those damned musty, fusty old men. Think they know everything about everything they do. The 

blind leading the blind, and they’re all gonna fall over a cliff one of these days. I hope when they do, 

that it’s a long fall down, and they don’t bounce when they hit bottom./ 

He didn’t like the Council members he’d met or their employees. He always got the feeling when 

dealing with them that they handed out information like a stingy old miser, even if the information was 

desperately needed to avert a world sized apocalyptic event. 

/Shifty./ 

That’s the word he finally settled on. 

/They’re shifty. I don’t trust them any further than I could throw em. They really gave me the wiggins. 

Worse than some of the oogedies we’ve run across./ 

So he had been footloose and fancy free all summer. He and Spike had done some patrolling together 

and he had tremendously improved his fighting skills with the help of his newly acquired friends. He 

had spent every available minute with them, he felt comfortable with them, like he’d known them 

forever. They respected him and expected only the best effort from him. 

The best thing was, no matter how much better they were at fighting than he was, they never made him 

feel like he was clumsy, in their way, or less than acceptable. They actually liked him and listened to 

what he had to say. A wave of affection swept through him at that. They accepted him just the way he 

was, and seemed to even like his quirky, morbid sense of humor. The only thing that pinged on his 

weird shit o meter was the way they seemed to watch him as though they were waiting for him to do 

something. 

So did Spike. 

Spike. He knew he was in trouble there. He and Spike had been spending a great deal of time together 

also. The bleached blonde and he had formed some kind of relationship. They were two abandoned 

throwaways that the Scoobies didn’t have time for. No time for them until it was convenient and they 

were needed again. His bitterness was a gall rising into his throat and choking him. That really wasn’t 

the way friends treated one another. They were all he had until recently though. 

He had even surprised a compliment out of Blondie last week when they were patrolling. They had 

come across a group of ten fledges with their loot spread out around them, arguing over the split of the 

goods. They had attacked with no warning, using the element of surprise to their advantage. It was still 

a tense fight. Spike had dusted six of the fledges and Xander had managed four with no difficulty. 

Afterwards Spike had looked him up and down and damn if it didn’t seem as though the vamp was 

sniffing him out. He seemed to be puzzled by something, and he said in a normal sort of way, " You’re 

comin along ain’tcha Xander; learnin some moves from those blokes." He hadn’t said much since that 

night, but Xander had noticed Spike looking at him with that same puzzled look on his face, when he 

didn’t think he watching. 

They had patrolled together just about every night, and he had a chance to practice his new hard won 

skills. Spending time together without the friction of the Scoobies’ presence had given them plenty of 

time to really get to know one another. They had played pool and drunk beer at the Bronze and finally 

at Sanctuarie, the bar he now worked at, on his days off and before his shift started. 

He wondered briefly where his snarky vamp was tonight. The only time they hadn’t spent together was 

when he asleep or Spike had some vamp business or other to take care of. Spike had even been

hanging out at the bar, staying until it was time to do their nightly patrol and walking him to Tomas’s 

and Sinjin’s place after. 

/It’s almost like he’s been guarding me./ 

/Oh Gods and Goddesses, did I just think in the possessive tense about Spike?!/ 

/Shit fire and save the matches./ 

/Well, bloody buggering hell!/ 

He examined his confused feelings as he continued toward Sanctuarie. 

/Lately I’ve been having the strangest feelings around that vamp. The strange dizzy spells and the wild 

emotions going on. I’ve been up and down like a demented clown on a roller coaster./ 

The thing was Spike was good company, really good company. He was smart, college smart, even 

though he hid it behind the snarky cockney persona he projected like a shield. His pithy comments 

about things were most often right on the money. 

He’d invited Spike to Tomas’s and Sinjin’s place to watch movies many times over the summer, the 

four of them had lounged on the sofa and watched monster movies drinking beer and eating junk food, 

poking fun and laughing at the pitiful monsters and the idiot victims. 

He let a silly little grin cross his face. 

Spike really liked the Alien movies. It was one of the few series of movies that he hadn’t made fun of, 

though he did comment that humans had a habit of inviting in the things that want to eat them. Spike 

had practically turned himself inside out laughing at Underworld, Interview with a Vampire and 

Queen of the Damned, though he growled at Blade. They had watched action movies, with lots of 

blood and guts and blowing up of cars and buildings. Spike really liked those too. 

Sinjin and Tomas liked Spike. They treated him like a person. They didn’t put him down and threaten 

him at every turn. Watching Tomas and Sinjin interact with Spike had made him feel ashamed of 

himself for the way he had treated the vamp in the past. They had been instrumental in changing his 

feelings. The change had happened so gradually that Xander was surprised by the first stirrings of 

affection for Spike. 

The lust however hit him from out of nowhere like a runaway freight train. 

/Yeah, way different relationship. He’d blow a British head gasket if he caught me checking him out. 

And isn’t that supposed to be pinging my Hellmouth radar like crazy, lusting after the evil undead? 

But, damn, he’s a hot commodity, and has an ass that just begs to be groped, undead or not. He’s got 

some kind of sensual energy that’s just been sucking me in. Every time I’m around him it’s like a 

buzzing that gets right under my skin . And don’t I have the sweating down pat? Jesus H Christ but 

when he changes to game face I just wanna jump him and fuck the undead to a deader death. Yep, I’d 

give him a stake alright. Yep, and wouldn’t he scream and run if I said c’mere, Spiiikey, I wanna suck 

your fangs and lick your ridges? Oh, yeah! I’ve got a stake right heeerrree with your name on it./ 

Xander paused for a moment as fire seemed to sweep his body from head to heel, burning him up from 

the inside out. His vision blurred for a moment and he came to a swaying halt in the middle of the 

sidewalk in sight of Sanctuarie. He needed to talk to Tomas and Sinjin about this. 

Increasingly as he neared his birthday he had been feeling out of sorts. He had frequent dizzy spells 

and blurred vision. He had an itching crawling sensation under his skin that at times threatened to 

drive him insane, and it just got worse around Spike. His abdomen had been tender and so had his 

groin and he felt like his organs were shifting around and it had been quite painful recently. He’d 

found himself irritable and the mood swings from high to low and back again, were starting to frighten 

him. The waves of lust like he was currently experiencing were so intense and like nothing he had ever 

felt before. Not for anyone. Just Spike. His dick was so hard he could use it for a wrecking ball. He felt 

as unreal as the night surrounding him. 

/Maybe I’ve just been training too hard and I’ve strained something./


Back to index 







Thoughts are indicated by /. 

********************************************************************************* 

He staggered into the alleyway that led to the rear entrance of Sanctuarie, taking a moment to lean 

heavily against the alley wall and swipe a jacket sleeve over his sweaty face. He felt like he was 

burning up from the inside out. 

/Shit. I hope I’m not coming down with another bout of a magical disease. What the hell is wrong with 

me? / 

He was fairly close to panic mode and he didn’t know if his weak legs were going to get him safely 

inside Sanctuarie. If they didn’t and he collapsed it would leave him helpless in the alley, easy 

pickings for Sunnydale’s after hours horror show. 

He drew a deep breath to settle his jumping stomach and pushed off from the wall and began a 

determined stagger and weave toward the far end of the alley. His shuffling clumsy gate had him 

stepping in and stumbling over thankfully unidentified items on the floor of the alley. He was 

muttering to himself as he lurched. "Just a little farther, yep Xanman, you can do it. You never give up 

remember? You don’t know when to say quit." 

He was gasping and shivering when he finally made it to the end of the alley. He grabbed at the 

chipped brick desperately, sobbing for breath and trying to gain control of his uncooperative body. He 

leaned his back against the unforgiving brick and inched around the corner. He could see the rear 

entrance of Sanctuarie from where he was holding up the wall. He licked at his dry lips, swiped his 

jacket sleeve across his face again and swallowed heavily. 

"Okay now, you’ve made it this far, you can get to the door." 

He lifted his hanging head and turned to grab the wall again and ran into something. Someone? He let 

out a gurgle and a squeak, which is all he was capable of at the moment, tripping over his own feet in 

his effort to change directions. He tipped over head first and his face tried to get friendlier with the 

pavement. His face might have succeeded except for the strong arms that grabbed him. Those same 

arms pulled him in close to a hard body and steadied his rocky world. 

"Xander? What the bloody blazes is wrong with you? Are you drunk?" 

"Oh hallelujah, I’m saved. Now I just have to see the light, and all will be well" He giggled giddily 

and sing songed back as well as he could with his face smushed into a hard chest covered in a black 

t-shirt. 

"You don’t smell drunk, did someone slip you a mickey?" rumbled an exasperated British voice from 

somewhere over his head. 

"I dunno Spike, something is way wrong here," he ground out. "I’m so sick. I gotta get to Sinjin and 

Tomas. Maybe they can help me." 

"Hold on then, pet." 

Xander attempted to stand more upright and put his arms around Spike’s neck, he really did. All he 

could manage was to slide his face up that hard chest, to nestle in Spike’s neck and snuffle, and 

snuggle in closer to that hard body. 

Smoke, leather, and another undefined scent that was purely Spikescent, rolled over and through him, 

becoming his world for a moment. He could actually smell Spike’s exasperation/worry/care along with

other emotions he couldn’t put a name to. Heaven, it was heavenly. 

" Spike," he moaned. 

"What, ya dozy prat?" 

"Smell so good, better than chocolate cake and twinkies." He huffed out on a ragged breath, nosing 

closer to that wonderful smell. 

"Have you lost your bloody marbles then? Ya sound nuttier than Dru on full moon nights. Come on, 

we can’t stand here all night, let’s get ya seen to. It’s just a little way and then ya can sit down, yeah." 

"Sorry Spike, don’t think I can make it another foot, lucky I made it this far. Damn but I wish 

everything would stop spinning. I feel like I’m on one of those tea cup rides at the fair." 

He heard a longsuffering sigh and almost giggled again at the thought of a longsuffering Spike. But it 

didn’t really take too much of his attention from the Spikescent he was wallowing in. If he had been 

thinking clearly the whole scent thing would have freaked him big time, was a wispy thought 

somewhere far away in the back of his head, but he wasn’t, thinking clearly that is. So he figured he 

may as well enjoy it while he could. He just rested there against Spike’s hard body and reveled in the 

strong arms and the Spikescent. 

"Right, so I’m not gonna get any help from you. I can see that now, ya lame duck." 

Xander’s world was disturbed by Spike pushing him slightly away with a hard grip on his biceps, and 

bending slightly to pull him over one bony shoulder in a fireman’s carry. He yelped as his feet left the 

ground and his world tilted upside down, he grabbed two handfuls of leather duster and hung on. Spike 

never stopped snarking and muttering the whole while about crazy humans and wacky weed. The last 

thing he heard as darkness ate took him was a Spikey threat. 

"And if you upchuck on my duster I’m gonna spank your arse bloody, don’t think I won’t." 


Back to index 







******************************************************************************** 

Spike swung around with a snarl, just in case any of the darkside denizens decided to make an 

appearance. He had been on his way to Sanctuarie hoping he’d get there before the boy finished his 

shift, so he could walk him home, like he’d been doing most of the summer. 

The boy had come a long way over the summer and he could give as good as he got most times, lately. 

Between himself and his two new friends, they’d made damned sure of that. But he was still human 

wasn’t he and humans got hurt too bloody easy for Spike’s peace of mind. Take now for example. His 

boy hadn’t even been in a dustup and he was out cold from some human thing. 

He shook off his dark thoughts as strode for the back entrance of Sanctuarie. Something was off kilter 

with Xander and he didn’t know anything about human sickness. Tomas and Sinjin would be able to 

help if they were still here after hours with Rusaka. They stayed after hours frequently to shoot the shit 

with the friendly demon. 

Spike grinned to himself, friendly like a fox, and as long as you didn’t get on his bad side. Tsanugara 

demons may love a happy go lucky, carefree lifestyle, but they were damned dangerous if you crossed 

them, deadly in fact. And they were smart, the equivalent of MENSA in the demonic community. 

But that was neither here nor there right at this moment. The important thing was Xander and whatever 

was ailing his boy. He could feel the unusual heat radiating from him even through his clothing. He

needed attention and needed it quick. Spike grasped the handle on the door and pulled. It surprised him 

when it opened easily. 

Spike entered carefully making sure he didn’t bang the boy on the door frame, and shouted out "Oi, 

Rusaka, Tomas, Sinjin! Any of you lot about in here?" Walking quickly down the hallway, he passed 

through another doorway and came out into the club proper and found the three sitting at ease around a 

table with a bottle and shot glasses scattered about on top. 

Three faces turned toward him in surprise and immediately they sprang up, coming forward firing 

questions at him that he had no answers for. 

"Not now ya tossers," he snarled. "He’s sick, I need somewhere to lay him down." 

"Take him into my office Spike; I have a couch in there," came from Rusaka. 

Spike strode around the end of the bar and through the door that Rusaka opened for him and with 

Sinjin’s help lay his burden gently down on the couch he found there. 

"Now, what happened to Xander?" came from Tomas. 

"Dunno, he came outta the alleyway and acted like he was drunk, he was talking like a loon and he 

couldn’t stand up, couldn’t walk. He feels like hellfire he’s so hot. Said he needed to find Tomas and 

Sinjin, so I brought him in. Wot’s wrong with him?" 

"Shit," hissed Sinjin, as he and Tomas shared a disconcerted look. 

"I thought we’d have more time." 

Spike pounced ", Time? Time for what?" 

Tomas sighed and ran a hand back through his hair ", come have a drink and I’ll try to explain. Xander 

isn’t in any danger right now, just a little uncomfortable. 

Spike looked at Xander, fidgeted with his pockets for a moment, as though debating with himself. 

Then cursed luridly under his breath and grabbed the blanket that Rusaka had in his hands and covered 

Xander with it, tucking it carefully around the sleeping form. He gently brushed the hair back from the 

boy’s face and laid his hand on his brow. "He’s still too hot for a human dammit, even I can tell that." 

"Come on out and have a seat Spike and we’ll talk. Xander is going to be fine. We wouldn’t let 

anything harm him. You know that or you wouldn’t have brought him here. You would have taken 

him to a hospital." Said Rusaka as he flipped the switch and turned off the office light, leaving the 

door open to let the bar lights dimly light the room 

They moved back into the bar proper. Sinjin and Tomas settled themselves at the table they’d left so 

precipitously. Spike pulled an upturned chair from the top of a nearby table and situated it at the 

reoccupied table. Silence reigned while they watched Rusaka retrieve a set of four ornate crystal 

glasses from behind the bar and and a matching unlabeled crystal decanter. He set them up on the table 

", I think we’re going to need more than two fingers for this conversation," he stated when he 

intercepted Sinjin’s quizzical expression. 

Rusaka picked up the bottle, cracked the seal, and poured the light amber liquid into the glasses, with a 

flourish, until they were three quarters full. He passed the glasses to the table’s occupants with an 

oddly ceremonial air. When everyone was served, he paused before he sat. With a heartfelt sigh, he 

raised his glass in a classic toast pose. "This really should be done by Gorge and Khyle, you know 

that?" 

Tomas calmly regarded the hesitant demon and said with an understanding smile ",Go ahead Rusaka. 

You’ve more than earned the right." 

The demon’s eyes glittered with pleasure as he began to speak, with an oddly ceremonial manner yet 

again. 

"To beginnings that come from an ending 

The new comes from the old 

One made from fragments 

Two halves to make whole 

Dark meets Light 

In equal parts

Dusk light and Dawn light 

Spring and autumn the heart 

Strength from weakness 

Death from Life 

There is no day without the dawn 

Without dusk there is no night 

There is no summer without the spring 

There is no winter without the fall 

There is no darkness without the light 

Balance rules over all" 

With that said he brought his glass down and met the others with the sound of chiming crystal and a 

chorus of assent from the other three. There was a sudden soft puff of wind swirling about the table 

and the scent of autumn leaves overlaid by the freshly turned earth of a field in spring. 

Spike froze and then glanced around the table before he spoke. "What kind of mojo are you workin 

here mate?" Magic made him a nervous vampire, especially with Xander sick and so close by. 

Tomas looked closely at him and gave a slight nod as if coming to a decision. 

"It’s a coming of age ceremony for our kind. It’s usually performed at a feast held by the family of a 

boy in changeover. It’s ancient and it’s done as early as possible in the changeover, because it’s a 

blessing and protection for the child that is coming into adulthood." 

Then he quit speaking and there was silence while they all looked at Spike; waiting. 

Spike was suddenly struck with unease, there were things happening around him that these folks knew 

and he didn’t, and he needed to find out. He looked at each of them in turn and thought carefully about 

things he knew and the events of the summer. He gazed at his glass, lifted it and swallowed down a 

hefty portion of the sweet liquor, knowing that he was going to need it. The innocent looking stuff had 

quite a kick and burned a path all the way to his belly. There it settled comforting warmth. Then he 

asked his question. 

"Your kind?" 

Tomas and Sinjin grinned at one another and then looked at him with sly smile. 

"Our Kind," they answered together. 

"What does this have to do with Xander?" 

"He’s our kind," they answered together again 


Back to index 







********************************************************************************** 

Spike sat for a moment. He was stunned speechless to tell the truth of it. Their kind; what the hell was 

that supposed to mean? Thoughts were chasing themselves round and about in his head and he was 

trying to make sense of them all, but he didn’t seem to be able to catch one and make it fit with the 

others. This mysterious shite on top of Xander’s illness was just a bit over the top as far as he was 

concerned. There was just too much happening far too quickly. 

He pushed back from the table with a violent shove knocking his chair over with a clatter that was 

explosive in the quietness of the club. He snarled through his fangs as he paced around the table,

fumbling in his pockets for his fags and lighter. He found them and drew them out with trembling 

hands and managed to get one out of the crumpled pack and light it. He puffed on it furiously as he 

paced and tried to get things to make sense. 

Sinjin, Tomas and Rusaka sat watching him with interest as he struggled with his raging emotions. 

Finally he gained some semblance of control and turned toward the table and hissed the next questions 

through his fangs. 

"Just what kind is your kind? Are you some kind of demons?" 

Rusaka chuckled ", Oh my, no. They’re not demons. They’re human enough, just a different kind of 

human." 

"And that’s quite enough said for here and now Rusaka. Xander is vulnerable right now. We need to 

get him moved to a safer place than this." Sinjin interjected. 

Spike growled and snarled back ", you’re not moving my boy anywhere til you tell me what the 

bloody buggering hell is goin on, mate, and maybe not even then." 

"Spike, you’ve trusted us up until now, have we ever done anything to harm Xander? We love him 

too." Tomas said quietly. "We need to move to a safer location, where we can speak freely and there’s 

no danger of being overheard. You’ll need to come with Xander anyway. I promise you; all your 

questions will be answered. Xander will be well cared for. He’s going to be just fine. You have my 

word on it. But we do need to get moving as soon as possible." 

"Never known ya ta hurt the boy; yet. But that don’t mean anything in my experience." Spike drew in 

another lungful of smoke pushed his unanswered questions to the back of his mind for now, and 

thought for a moment. What facts did he know for sure? He knew Xander trusted these three people, 

but then he trusted the Slayer’s bunch and look how they treated him. Xander needed some kind of 

care and he didn’t know what to do or how to give it. Sinjin and Tomas said they did. They had been 

good for his boy so far. He’d blossomed under their care during the summer. Spike had seen nor heard 

any hint of deceit or harm to Xander, of any kind, and he’d watched them like a hawk. His gut said 

they were trustworthy, and going by the way they had treated him and his boy he abruptly made his 

decision. He felt his game face recede and he muttered unwillingly. 

"Alright, I reckon I can trust you with ’im as far as it goes. But the first hint that things aren’t right and 

I’m taking my boy somewhere else. And I expect answers. If I don’t get em we’re gone, ’n I don’t care 

who’s in the way or who gets hurt, ya got that straight?" 

"Yes Spike, we understand perfectly, and we wouldn’t expect anything less from you," Tomas replied. 

"Now, we have to figure out how to get Xander back to our place. Sinjin, will you go get the car? If 

you’ll ride your bike back to our place and bring back the car, Rusaka can follow us back on my bike." 

"Sinjin will you do this, Sinjin will you do that?" Sinjin snarked as he walked out flipping his hair over 

his shoulder. "How come it’s always me doing the going and getting, huh brother mine?" 

"Cause you love me, Sinjin," replied a laughing Tomas. 

"Yeah, yeah, one of these days," could be heard fading out down the hallway and then a thud as the 

back door slammed shut. 

Rusaka commented from his seat at the table ", Have a seat Spike and another drink, I think we could 

all use another one or three, after all that." 

Spike fidgeted for a second then gave in and picked up his chair from the floor and sat down again 

with a huff and relaxed. He dropped his cigarette butt into one of the shot glasses on the table, picked 

up his glass, quaffed the tad left in the glass, and held it out for a refill. Rusaka chuckled and his eyes 

danced merrily at the vampire as poured another generous measure of liquid comfort for each one. He 

glanced sideways at Tomas once he had put down the decanter with a thud and taken a healthy 

swallow of his own. 

"You know, Gorge and Spike will probably get along like a house on fire," he laughed ", they have the 

same type of temperament but Gorge is just a bit more settled now." 

Tomas giggled into his glass and looked at Spike thoughtfully. "You’re right Rusaka, maybe that’s 

why it was so easy to be around him all summer."

"Oi, sitting right here, ya wankers," complained an indignant Spike. "Who is this Gorge character, 

you’re comparin me to? There’s only one a me." 

"He’s my father," replied Tomas proudly, and waited until Spike took another swallow before adding 

with a teasing glint in his eyes ", and Xander’s Uncle." 

Spike choked and spewed liquor out his nose, Tomas jumped up and pounded on his back a little too 

enthusiastically. "Enough," he bellowed as soon as he could draw some air ",ya did that on purpose ya 

git. And what do ya mean Xander’s Uncle?" 

Tomas put on his most innocent face when he replied ", would I do that to you? Are you sure you’re 

okay? I could pat your back some more." 

Spike narrowed his eyes at Tomas and growled "; yes you would ya brat, yes, and no ta ever so much. 

And what the buggering fuck do ya mean Xander’s Uncle? The only kin I know he’s got are those two 

sorry sacks o’ blood that he was reared by. His bloody fool Da has a brother, that goes by the name of 

Rory r’ some such. The granddame is dead. I never heard that his Mother, the bitch, had any living kin. 

The boy doesn’t have any other family I’ve heard about." 

Tomas shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and a rosy blush colored his face. Spike watched fascinated 

by all that lovely blood rushing to the surface. He grinned and sat back in his chair. He’d never been 

able to embarrass Tomas before, so he wondered at the blush now. Tomas’ color just deepened to a 

red. "Now what’s got you all lathered up, Tomas?" he teased unmercifully. He’d show the little brat, 

pat on the back indeed! 

Tomas muttered to himself about stupid vampires and what do they know anyway, and then spoke up 

in a clear voice. ", I’m not sure I should say anything here, it is part and parcel of all the rest. It’s kind 

of hard to explain that part without getting into all the rest." 

Spike sighed deeply and ran a hand over his face, and took another long swallow of his drink before he 

answered that. "Okay, let’s just leave it for now, yeah. It’s just one more thing piled on top of all the 

other shite I’ve had to deal with tonight. And where is Sinjin? Did he have ta drive to China to get the 

bloody car?" He snarked impatiently, he was ready for this night to be over with, but he knew it was 

not nearly done. 


Back to index 







Spike sighed deeply and ran a hand over his face, and took another long swallow of his drink before he 

answered that. "Okay, let’s just leave it for now, yeah. It’s just one more thing piled on top of all the 

other shite I’ve had to deal with tonight. And where is Sinjin? Did he have ta drive to China to get the 

bloody car?" He snarked impatiently, he was ready for this night to be over with, but he knew it was 

not nearly done. 

************************************************************************ 

Spike stared unseeing out of the rear window of the car as it rolled through town, absently noting 

somewhere in the back of his mind the ever present "missing person" posters fluttering on poles here 

and there along the street and the demonic counterparts he could just make out in the dimness of 

alleyways. 

They were the last ditch efforts of frantic loved ones human and not, who had tried everything else and 

had no idea what else to do, except to nail the signs of their pain and loss on objects to be viewed by

the public at large, hoping that some stranger could tell them where to find that lost one that had left a 

hole in their existence, that could be filled by no other. 

He knew that most of them would never be found, human or other. Between the demons killing the 

humans, the initiative and the Slayer, there was very little hope for human or nonhuman to recover 

those lost. 

But that was the nature of love; he had experienced, to keep hoping even when there was no reason at 

all to hope. To keep on keeping on, until the last breath was drawn on this earth or until you met the 

sunrise and ended all the painful hope, and all the piercing sharp edged sense of loss and longing. 

And maybe, just maybe sometimes, that one chance in a million would occur and that lost one would 

be found, the hope would be fulfilled and the pain would be transformed into joy as longing was 

replaced by having again. 

He looked down at the head of sable hair resting in his lap, and ran his pale fingers through the silken 

strands, feeling the unnatural heat even through thick soft mass of it. 

His ship had come in, his wish was granted, he had hit the jackpot, he had won the lottery, gotten his 

one in a million against all odds and he was never going to let it go. His days of longing and not 

finding were over. 

Xander, his bright hope, and a conundrum, a puzzle of a thousand pieces to which he hadn’t found the 

solution to. The shapes and the number of pieces kept changing in an endlessly fascinating 

kaleidoscope, meshing then parting to come together again in new and surprising combinations. 

The boy had grown tremendously this summer. Left to his own devices and free of the influence of the 

Slayer and company, he had begun to see the world through different eyes, developed his own code of 

honor and justice, and made up his own mind about what was right and wrong, good and evil. 

He had slowly and surely changed the filters through which he viewed his world, learned about 

tolerance, and that everything different wasn’t evil and worthy only of death. He had come to realize 

human didn’t equate with good no matter what, and that there were humans and demons that were 

worthy of death, just as there were humans and demons worthy of life. Possessing a soul didn’t insure 

goodness and not having one didn’t insure the being was evil, and there were souls in other beings that 

were different, not unworthy. 

He relaxed back into the seat, and closed his eyes, letting the feel Xander’s hair under his stroking 

fingers sooth him and segued into a favorite memory. Pride and joy filled him to overflowing as the 

memory played against the dark screen of his closed eyelids. 

************************************************************************ 

Xander had been giving him nervous looks all night from behind the bar and he was jittering, no other 

word for it, that nervous activity you engage in when inactivity lets you think too much. Spike was 

well acquainted with both the nervousness and the symptoms, having experienced the same himself 

many times over in his long unlife. 

The boy had been doing alright most of the night serving drinks and bantering with the customers. The 

closer it came to closing time however, the more jittery the boy got, and he wondered what had him in 

such a lather. 

Spike had been sitting there at a table close to the bar with his JD and his shot glass, his fags and his 

lighter on the table, his duster thrown carelessly over another chair, watching the boy work. 

He’d sated his gnawing hunger for violence and blood earlier in the evening with a small nest of 

fledges, he hadn’t killed them, not immediately anyway. He’d played with them, punched and kicked, 

broken their bones and sliced into them with abandon. He reveled in the blood, pain and fear that 

flowed freely, sweetly. Then his violent urges satisfied, they were disabled enough to rifle each one for 

valuables before dusting them, and in two cases drain them dry. Then he searched through the lair. 

He had come away with a nice bit of change, a few baubles he could sell or keep if he wanted, and a 

free meal. And then he nicked three cartons of good cigarettes, shoved deep into the pockets of his 

duster, from a locked case left carelessly open by an employee at the Local Yokel. The human had 

been working the late shift alone and was overwhelmed by a sudden rush of customers, and in his

distraction was no match for the "quicker than the eye" movements of a vampire. 

So he was content to sit, smoking until there was a haze surrounding the table and knocking back shots 

that warmed him from the inside out, and mellowed him even more as the evening progressed and he 

patiently watched his boy and waited. 

Xander gave "last call", mixed and served the last of the drinks for the night, and shut down the bar. 

He collected the empty beer bottles and trashed them, pulled the full garbage bags and tied the tops, 

then replaced them with fresh ones while running a sink full of dishwater for the glassware. Then he 

returned to the sink and turned off the water and collected the glasses that were left on the bar for 

washing, wiping the bar down as he went along. 

The overhead lights were turned up and the last complaining tipsy customers were seen to the door by 

Mike, the huge bouncer, and the doors were closed and locked for the night. The waitresses were busy 

clearing the tables, wiping them down, and chattering amongst themselves as they worked. 

The boys from the kitchen came out with a burst of noise and laughter, and with help from Mike 

started turning the chairs up onto the tables, a broom was brought out and Spike could hear the 

scraping of the bristles across the floor as the detritus accumulated over the night was swept away. 

They bantered back and forth like young people will do, and teased the girls. 

One or two called out to Xander behind the bar, and he grinned back at them but, didn’t join in the the 

usual nightly ritual. So they took the hint and left him alone, and concentrated on themselves. Spike 

could hear the boys teasing Mike, about his new love interest, and Mike’s indignant replies. He 

snorted with amusement at the nightly circus that was Sanctuarie at closing time. The employees of 

Sanctuarie were an odd bunch, a mixture of different degrees of human and demon, from full bloods to 

varying fractions, depending on the ancestry in their family tree. 

But Sanctuarie was a place where all were welcome, as long as they were peaceful. Rusaka, the owner, 

had the bar and the surrounding area warded and spelled six ways from Sunday against any kind of 

violence, demon, human or other. That made it an extremely popular place to meet, and the job slots 

were highly prized. Xander was fortunate that he knew the right people. When Rusaka started looking 

for another bartender, Tomas and Sinjin told the boy to come down and apply, and vouched for him. 

Xander got the job. 

Xander finished his glasses, left them on the drainer, dumped the silverware and blender tops into the 

water and started putting the cold stuff in the fridge. Then he straightened, ran an eye over the liquor 

shelves behind the bar and disappeared through the kitchen door. He had a system he’d worked out 

and it usually didn’t take him but an hour or slightly longer to close down the bar and head out the 

door. 

Spike finished one last shot and with a casual air walked up to the bar and jumped up to sit and swung 

his legs up and over until he was standing behind the bar. No one commented, it had become 

commonplace, since Xander started working there. Spike washed his shot glass, and then the 

silverware and the two blenders and set them on the drainer and started racking the different glasses. 

Xander came through the kitchen door carrying a box filled with liquor bottles, that he deposited on 

the bar and proceeded to empty as he shelved each bottle. He didn’t make any comment to Spike but 

his eyes glowed with gratitude when he looked up. 

"Almost done then?" Spike pushed the last stemmed glass into the rack, and propped a lean hip on the 

counter, admiring the play of muscles as Xander bent and stretched, to put the last bottles on the 

shelves. 

"Yeah, just got these last few bottles and putting the money in the safe, oh and running this stack of 

ashtrays to the back to be washed." Spike grabbed the stack of dirty ashtrays on the bar and the empty 

box, tossing over his shoulder as strode off toward the kitchen door. "You empty the till and I’ll take 

these, yeah. Then we can go." 

Xander was already popping the cash register drawer open as he spoke, and bent down to grab a 

zippered money bag from a shelf under the bar. "Okay, this’ll just take a minute. I should be nearly 

finished when you come back out here." He began punching the series of register keys to feed out the

tape showing the night’s sales. He opened the tape compartment and marked the date and initialed it 

on the main roll of tape then closed it up again. 

When Spike returned to the bar proper, the boy had already bagged the money from the register along 

with the register tapes, and was unlocking the office door. As far as Spike knew Xander was the only 

employee Rusaka trusted with the office key. The door shut, and Spike could hear the boy opening the 

safe, throwing the money bag in with a clink of coins and shutting the door of the safe with a spin of 

the combination dial. 

Spike ambled over to his table and pulled on his duster, depositing the bottle of JD in one pocket and 

his fags and lighter in another, just as Xander exited the office door pulling on his worn, olive green, 

army surplus jacket. He shut the door behind him and locked it, testing the knob to make sure it was 

securely closed. "Okay, all done. Let’s make like a tree and leave." 

"Now that was lame, geekboy." Spike snarked as they walked down the hallway to the back entrance. 

"Yeah, yeah like you can do any better, Blondie," came back with a huff of laughter. 

"You goin’ to the fortress t’night or to casa greyskull?" 

"I’m going to the fortress. I have the next two days off, and I plan on enjoying them." replied the boy 

as he shoved his hands deep into his jacket pockets and began walking with a ground eating stride. 

Spike dug into his pocket for his fags and lighter and drew them out, shook one out of the pack, and 

paused to light it before continuing on. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back, drawing in a 

deep lungful of smoke before letting his head fall slowly forward again. When he finally opened eyes 

he caught an odd expression on the boy’s face. "What’s wrong? Ya looking at me like I have two 

heads and sprouted horns, pet." 

"N..Nothing..Spike, I just never really watched you enjoy anything like that before." Xander stuttered 

after a momentary pause. "Come on let’s go, I feel like a hot shower, food, and booze, in that order." 

Spike grinned and took another drag and blew smoke at the boy as he walked along beside him. 

"Alright, don’t get your knackers in a pinch. I’m comin, I’m comin." 

It didn’t take long to get to the brothers’ place. They entered the converted warehouse and took the 

elevator to the fourteenth floor, then waited and Xander pressed the number twelve button and the 

number fourteen button simultaneously and the elevator descended one floor. This was the only was to 

access the fortress. The doors slid aside and revealed what looked like a normal hallway. They walked 

down the hallway to the third door on the right, used the key Xander had to unlock the door, and 

crossed through the living room, down the hallway and into the bathroom. They stepped into the 

shower and closed the glazed glass door behind them. 

Xander reached out pulled both the cold water and hot water knobs at the same time and the wall 

receded and slid to the side, exposing a hidden elevator. They piled inside and hit the down button as 

soon as the wall resealed itself behind them. Dim lights came to life as soon as the doors closed. The 

elevator began its’ descent. "Gods, I wonder how many floors down we go?" came the nervous 

comment. "Dunno, pet. But it’s a damned nice setup they have here. Nice n’ secure. I like that." 

"You would," the human grinned at him. 

"Oi, vampire here, it’s nice ta sleep without worrying about whose gonna come bustin in at all hours 

without knockin, especially with sharp little pieces o’ wood," came the indignant vampire reply. 

The human laughed and teased . "I can see where that might keep you from sleeping too soundly." 

"S’not funny ya git." 

"Is too, thinking about toothpicks and running vamps here." 

"I’ll show you runnin vamps, ya brat." The vampire pounced and tickling commenced. When the 

elevator doors opened, Xander was leaning against the door, with a double handful of Spike’s hair. 

There was squealing and squirming involved and Spike had both sets of fingers buried in Xander’s 

ribs, playing him like a piano. They both landed in a jumbled, wriggling heap at a grinning Tomas’ 

feet, Xander on the bottom and Spike on top. Spike got his knees under him, sitting astride the boy, 

and caught both of the brat’s hands in his and held them down on the floor over his head. "Now what 

was that about toothpicks and vamps runnin, pet?"

Xander tried to catch his breath. "Ayum..hammph..hahaha...o.oo..okkaayy..okay..uncle, uncle. 

Tomas....help..." he gasped. Tomas tilted his head to the side, laid his finger along side his face, blue 

eyes laughing and intoned in a somber voice ", you should know better than tease your vampire with 

woodies, especially tiny ones." There were two very pained groans in protest. "Tomas, ugghh that’s 

terrible. Even for you" 

Later showered and refreshed, they ate dinner; Sinjin had prepared steaks and baked potatoes, with a 

wilted spinach salad. After dinner, they helped clear the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher and 

cleaned up the kitchen. Xander was quiet. He usually chattered away about work and anything that 

took his fancy. There was something wrong, Spike knew that and was still waiting patiently, as he had 

been all night. Sinjin and Tomas just watched him and let him be. 

Then they all trooped to the den and Tomas built a fire in the fireplace. They opened up a bottle of JD 

and got pleasantly mellow. Sinjin and Tomas went to bed when the silence in the room became 

somewhat strained. They regarded Xander with quizzical expressions, glanced at one another and 

retired, leaving Spike and Xander sitting in front of the still burning fire. 

They sat silently for a while gazing at the flames in the fireplace. Spike waited patiently. Xander 

finished off the last of his JD in one long swallow, and after looking at the glass for a few moments as 

though contemplating a refill. He reached out slowly and set his glass down on the table carefully. 

"Spike, can we talk?" Xander turned to face him. Spike raised his eyes from contemplating the 

contents of his own glass, and looked at Xander. "Sure, pet. What’s on your mind?" 

"I..I..need you to just...just l..l...listen for a little wh..whi..while until I g..g..get it all out or I’ll never be 

able to f...fi...finish. P..Pll..Pllease?" 

"Alright, Xander, you can talk to me about anything you know, I’ll just sit here and listen for a bit." 

The boy lifted his head and stuttered. "O..ok..Okay... I’m not sure how to start this, so I’m just going 

to say it." He took a deep breath and let it out. "I just want to tell you I’m sorry." Xander’s voice 

wobbled slightly but he still looked Spike right in the eye when he said it. He looked down then, 

thinking about what he wanted to say, before he continued. 

When he raised his eyes to Spike’s ice blue gaze again they were filled with tears. "I’ve been a 

complete asshole to you, ever since you showed up with that chip in your head. I’ve treated you like 

you’re lower than dirt, like I was better than you, because I’m human, and you’re a vampire, because 

you’re different than me, because I have a human soul and you don’t. I’ve treated you like you’re a 

monster undeserving of my regard, like you’re beneath me." 

He gasped in a shaky breath and continued, in a voice tight with emotion, his eyes still meeting 

Spike’s straight on. "Because of my own guilt, I’ve taken my pain out on you, made you my emotional 

whipping boy. I’ve been jealous and envious. I’ve ignored you and neglected you, didn’t help you 

when you were injured. I let you go hungry, damn it. I let you live in a cemetery because that’s all I 

believed you deserved." 

The boy took another long hard breath in an effort to maintain some semblance of control, before he 

could get his throat to work again and continue to expose the poison in his soul. "I’ve threatened you, 

called you names, and insulted you in ways I wouldn’t have done to anybody else. I’ve belittled you 

and your feelings, denigrated you and humiliated you. In short I’ve treated you as bad as my parents 

and friends have treated me. I never wanted to be like them. But that’s just what I’ve done. Gods, I’m 

one sick fuck." 

"I’m really ashamed of myself. I’m supposed to be one of the good guys, but good people don’t treat 

anybody that way, like it’s alright to hurt you because of what you are, whether you’re harming 

anyone or not." 

Another pause accompanied by a grimace of distaste. "I knew I could do treat you that way with 

impunity because you couldn’t fight back, couldn’t defend yourself from me. And that makes me a 

bully. The really bad, bad, fucking sick part about it is; I actually enjoyed it. I fucking reveled. I felt 

like I had the right, you know? I meant it when I was doing it, saying it and thinking it." 

Xander paused, and swallowed hard a couple of times trying to ease the tightness in his throat and

chest, and then he continued. "I called you evil, when I was the evil one. I called you soulless, and I 

having a soul that I bragged about, acted like I didn’t have one. I threw your helplessness in your face 

and enjoyed it. That’s a hard thing to accept about myself, that I’m capable of that kind of arrogance 

and evil." 

The tears finally started to overflow those sorrowful brown eyes and run down his beautiful face. "I’ve 

taken a hard look at myself and I’m not too happy with the way I’ve behaved and the things I’ve done. 

I feel downright rotten. It’s been eating me alive from the inside out. The way I treated you was evil. It 

was so wrong. I was wrong. The way I treated you was so wrong that I need a compass and a map to 

find to find my way back to right." 

"So I’m sorry. I apologize. I’ve come to the understanding that there are all kinds of good people, not 

all of them are human and they don’t all have souls. I also know that there are evil people and they 

aren’t all demons, some are humans and they have souls. Not all the monsters are demons." 

"A..a..and I was w..ww.wwwondering if you c...c....cccould b..b..bring yourself to f..for..forg..forgive 

me for being a real m...mon...mon...monster, and c...c...could we m..maybe s..st...start over? I’d 

r.r...really like to be your f...fr...friend. You’ve been b...b...better to m..me than I d..des..deserve" The 

last words were forced out in a strangled heart wrenched wail. 

Then Xander finally broke and cried, great gasping shuddering sobs that shook his entire body and the 

couch they were sitting on." 

Spike sat for a moment in stunned silence, then jumped forward and pulled the sobbing, shuddering 

boy into his arms. "Shh...it’s alright Xander, it’ll be okay luv. Of course I forgive you.... I forgive you. 

You’re a strong brave boy. Ya have a pair of knackers the size of Texas don’tcha boy? Takes a lot of 

courage to admit when you’re wrong and try ta make it right, now don’t it? Knew there was something 

eatin at ya t’night. Never be afraid to talk ta me. I’ll always listen to ya pet. Always want ya to tell me 

the truth." 

"Go ahead and get it all out. Yes, I’ll be your friend. I thought we were friends already. Ya not a 

monster, Xander. Monsters don’t feel bad about the things they do. You’re nothing like those arseholes 

that raised ya luv, nothing. You were just doin what ya believed at the time. Ya didn’t know any better 

did ya? Now you learned some new things, and you’re livin the new things as good as ya can. I forgive 

ya." 

His gaze roamed without a focus, while he held the boy, petted him with gentle hands, and let him sob 

and wail out his sorrow, anguish and remorse. "I’m s..ss..ssso sssooo..sssoooorrryyy 

Spp...SSSpppiii....SSSSSppiikkkeee." Those were the only words he could understand of all the 

sounds the boy was making. He continued to speak quietly to the boy, telling him he forgave him, 

holding him gently and rubbing his back with comforting hands. 

A movement at the edge of his vision caught his attention. He turned his head toward the movement. 

His eyes caught those of Sinjin and Tomas standing at the doorway to the den, their eyes were filled 

with understanding and compassion for the both of them. He silently nodded his acknowledgement of 

their support and they withdrew as quietly as they had witnessed the exchange. 

Spike stood and slipped his arms under the distraught boy, carried him to his bedroom and laid him on 

the bed. He left the boy only long enough to step into the bathroom, wet a washcloth and grab a towel, 

and carry them back to the bed. 

He sat down, swung his legs up on the bed, made himself comfortable against the headboard and 

pulled the boy into his lap, tucked his boy’s face into his neck and wrapped his arms around him, 

running comforting hands up and down the heaving back. Xander clutched him desperately, twisted 

his fingers hard into the cloth of his shirt and hung on with a death grip. 

When the shuddering sobs turned into heavy breathing with the occasional sniffle, he held his boy with 

one arm, raised his face gently with the other and wiped his face clean of tears and the snot that had 

run freely in his distress. "Shhhh...Shhhh...It’s alright now... Go to sleep Xander... I forgive you...It’s 

okay... Sleep now... Everything will be just fine...Rest." 

Xander let out a long shivering sigh, trusted the soulless vampire that held him... closed his eyes

and....slept. 

************************************************************************ 

Spike was still stunned by the memory of that night. No one had ever apologized to him before and 

meant it. In all his one hundred and forty years not... one... person...except Xander... that had hurt him 

had ever admitted to being wrong, much less felt such remorse over having caused that hurt. No one 

had ever cried over him period. His demon reacted like a puppy rescued from the pound. It all but 

wriggled in joy, when Xander paid attention to him. 

Xander belonged to him. Period. He just didn’t know it... yet. But he would. 

The car came to a stop in the cavernous parking garage of the fortress and brought Spike out of his 

reverie. Tomas sighed and turned of the engine. "We’re home." 

The growl of a bike could be heard coming closer, finally the bike itself became visible as Rusaka 

steered it into the garage and brought it to a stop next to the car. 


Back to index 







-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The car came to a stop in the cavernous parking garage of the fortress and brought Spike out of his 

reverie. Tomas sighed and turned off the engine. "We’re home." 

The growl of a bike could be heard coming closer, finally the bike itself became visible as Rusaka 

steered it into the garage and brought it to a stop next to the car. 

******************************************************************************** 

Spike pushed open the door and slowly slid out from under Xander. He then turned and pulled the boy 

out with Tomas supporting his shoulders and Sinjin lifting his legs out. Then Spike slid his arms under 

the boy one under his back and the other under his knees and lifted, cradling the boy close to his chest, 

with his head resting against a hard collarbone. 

Tomas was busy fiddling with a box on the wall, and the garage door closed with a metallic clang. 

Then Tomas muttered the words that activated the wards and protection spells that surrounded the 

warehouse. Spike could feel a tingling sensation across his scalp and down his back, as they were 

activated. He hated magic and he was irritated that he felt grateful for the protection, but he was 

vulnerable with both arms occupied holding a still sleeping boy, so he accepted it. Until he got Xander 

safe inside and in a bed he was going to be unhappy, he was barely holding his human face as it was. 

That done they migrated as a group toward what looked like a maintenance closet in the shadows at 

the back of the garage, with Tomas and Sinjin on either side of Spike and Ru closing in behind him. 

Tomas muttered another word and a section of wall twenty feet or so, to the left of the gray door 

swung outward and they entered single file, Spike entered first carrying Xander and then the others 

followed. The door closed behind them, and there was a sudden noise that had Spike whirling around 

in game face snarling and hissing. 

Sinjin grinned at the agitated vampire. "It’s just the scent neutralizers Spike, just calm down. Nothing 

is going to get to Xander in here. We installed the system just in case someone gets through the outer 

layer of wards. They won’t be able to trace anything by scent. The system automatically comes on 

when the door closes; a harmless mist is released that wipes out all the scents in the area. The same 

system is in the sewer tunnels for about a mile in every direction, from the entrances. We use a

different route to the fortress every time we come and go; the scent neutralizers just make us more 

secure." 

"You coulda warned me ya wanker," Spike snarled through his fangs, glaring yellow eyed at the 

amused human. 

"Why would I do that? I like seeing you go all fangy," Sinjin purred. He sidled up to the upset vampire 

and ran gentle fingers over his brow ridges. "Besides you’re near enough to family as doesn’t matter, 

and I got privileges." And then he kissed the wide eyed vampire on the cheek and grinned 

mischievously. 

"Sinjin," Ru said with amused exasperation clear in his voice. "Stop teasing Spike and let’s get Xander 

settled." 

As they moved down the narrow passageway, they passed several anonymous doors on both sides, and 

then Tomas indicated the blank wall between the last two doors. "This is it." He hummed a tune and 

lines of light began to form on the wall, resolving into the shape of a door. The light brightened and 

seemed to sink into the wall creating hairline cracks, and the cracks widened as a door pivoted out. 

Tomas gestured for Spike to walk through and the other three followed close on his heels. 

Spike found himself in a round room made of some kind of unidentifiable metal. The metal was 

smooth and completely seamless; there were no markings of any kind. The door closed noiselessly 

behind them and disappeared as though it had never existed. The tube began to turn, and then he could 

feel it descending. It continued down a minute or so, and then slowed to a stop. The tube revolved 

again, Tomas hummed another tune and the light show and door trick gave an encore, this time the 

door opened out into a wine cellar. 

Spike had seen enough. He was tired and his emotions had been on a wild rollercoaster ride all night. 

"Bloody buggerin fuck," he growled impatiently. "Just get us where we’re going already. I feel like a 

rat in a feckin maze." They walked through the wine cellar, and up the short flight of steps and came 

out in the familiar confines of the kitchen. "It’s Bout soddin time," he snarked. I’m taking Xander to 

’is room and putting him ta bed." 

He stalked off to Xander’s bedroom, and carefully laid the boy on the bed. He ran his hand through the 

soft hair and gently brushed a cheek with his fingertips, the boy unconsciously turned his face into the 

soft caress in his sleep, causing Spike to smile. He moved to the foot of the bed and removed shoes 

and socks, and then stripped the boy to his boxers. He rolled him carefully onto his side and pulled the 

bedcovers down on one side and worked them down until he could slip the boy under them and pull 

them up to his chin. He turned on the bathroom light and cracked the door, turned off the bedroom 

lights and silently left the room, content that Xander was safe finally and resting peacefully. 

When Spike finally emerged, he sauntered into the den dropping his duster down his arms as he 

walked; he laid the duster across the back of the couch, after digging out his fags and lighter, and 

dropped into a chair, with a sigh. There was a fire in the fireplace putting out the only light in the 

room. Tomas poured JD into a tall glass and handed it to him without comment. Everyone sat in 

silence while Spike downed the entire glass without pause and handed it back to Tomas for a refill. 

Taking the refilled glass he set it on the table beside the chair, shook out a fag and lit it. He took a long 

drag and relaxed back into the comfort of the overstuffed chair and spoke up. "Alright tell me what’s 

up with Xander." 

Tomas looked at Sinjin and sighed. "Do you want to start or should I?" 

Sinjin thought about it for moment. "No, you go ahead; I can chime in if I need to, as you go along." 

Tomas took a sip of his drink and cleared his throat. "There’s so much to tell, I’m at a loss as to where 

to start." 

"Right now, all I want to know what’s wrong with Xander. We can get to any other stuff later," Spike 

said tiredly. 

"Well that’s just it, there is nothing wrong, per se, In fact you could say it’s right." Spike snorted, 

making plain his opinion to that. "It’s a natural occurrence for us at a given point late in our teen years 

usually," Tomas continued patiently. "We call it changeover. The whole process usually takes about

two weeks give or take, a very uncomfortable couple of weeks frankly, and when it’s over our bodies 

have been changed to our adult form." 

"Alright, fair enough mate. I get that. Now what’s this "us" you’ve been dancing around telling me 

about, all night?" Spike glared 

"Pommes de Sange, La Familia, Companions. Take your pick of names; they’re really all the same 

thing." A new voice answered, coming unexpectedly from the doorway causing everyone to jump in 

surprise. Spike flew out of the chair in alarm, game face to the fore, snarling and hissing like an 

overgrown cat, his amber eyes on the doorway, and the man standing there. 

"Dad, you’re here," Tomas yelled as he ran across the room and fell into a hug from the tall dark 

haired stranger. The stranger hugged him close and pulled back to look at him closely. Sinjin followed 

more sedately and as soon as Tomas was released, he was grabbed and subjected to the same 

treatment. 

"Glad you finally made it here, ancient one, you’re getting slow in your decrepititude," Sinjin teased, 

laughing as he was released from a smothering hug. 

"You’re not too old to be spanked, boy." 

Sinjin just rolled his eyes and grinned, obviously not very worried about the threat. 

"Move out of the way, so I can get in Gorge," a second strange voice complained from somewhere 

behind the first stranger. Gorge moved away from the doorway with a chastened expression on his 

face and three humans that had been waiting behind him filed into the room. "Daddy," Tomas yipped 

with delight, and the whole hugging, kissing, looking thing went into round two, with the second 

stranger that came through the door. 

Spike was thoroughly pissed off. He . Had. Had. Enough. "Well, if you lot are finished with the bloody 

Addams Family reunion act," he drawled out sarcastically through his fangs. "Do you think I might get 

some answers tonight?" His voice had risen with each word until the last one ended in a snarling shout. 

He had been put off, run rings around and interrupted too many times tonight. His limited amount of 

patience was spent. Silence fell as everyone froze and all eyes turned to him in surprise. He glared at 

the newly arrived strangers through yellow demon eyes and snarled again. "Who in the hell are you, 

and what are you doing here?" 

"I’m so sorry Spike." Tomas came across the room and took Spike by the hand and began leading him 

over to the group. "Put your fangs away, no one here is any kind of threat, to you or Xander." He 

pulled Spike over to the tall dark haired bloke. "Spike this is my Dad, Gorge, and Xander’s Uncle, and 

yes he’s a vamp. Dad this is Spike, Xander’s impatient vamp." Tomas grinned. 

The two vamps looked each other up and down carefully, Gorge let his game face come forward, and 

the two spent a few moments scenting one another and sizing the other up. Spike was surprised. In the 

confusion he hadn’t paid much attention, it hadn’t even registered that the other was a vampire. It said 

something about his state of mind that such things had escaped his attention tonight. He hadn’t 

survived one hundred and forty years by letting details escape his notice. It shook him to his core. But 

now that he was focused, he could feel the power radiating from the other vampire, the kind of power 

that only comes from great age. 

His attention fixed on the other vampire, nostrils flaring as he scented. The scent was familiar to him 

as his own hand. "No." he growled, denying what his nose was telling him. Spike examined the older 

vampire’s game face carefully seeing family in the familiar angles of the brow ridges and planes of his 

face. His demon confirmed what his senses were telling his overloaded brain, and acknowledged this 

vampire as family. 

"Arelius?" He exploded finally, incredulously. "There’s no way in fucking hell." Gorge took a step 

toward him, and he backpedaled so fast he stumbled, snarling. "What the bloody hell are you up to, 

you bastard? What do you want? Who the fuck are you? Who. The. Fuck. Are. You?" Everyone else in 

the room stood frozen in shock. 

Spike’s thoughts were spinning out of control again, and he’d finally hit defcon four on the panic 

scale. His mind was racing trying to make sense of the impossible. The vampire standing there was as

old as, or even older, than the Master. He radiated age. 

The scent of his confusion, and hatred was overwhelming the older vampire he knew. And he couldn’t 

hide the whirlpool of emotions he was drowning in. 

Gorge sighed and let his human face return. The young one was panicking, and the scent of his 

confusion and hatred were overwhelming. It broke his heart. Knowing the Master and his childer, 

however, he was sure there was more than good reason for it. "Spike," He said gently. "Let’s all sit 

down and we can talk," he said in a low soothing voice to the upset childe. "I’ll explain everything, no 

one will hurt you or Xander," and he tried to push as much reassurance as he could through his scent. 

"Scent me; I’m not lying to you, childe." 

Spike scented the older vampire drawing a deep breath into his nose and over his palate scenting the 

air. He found no trace of a lie; he growled low in his chest again, forcing his game face back, allowing 

his human features to return. He abruptly turned his back on the group and stalked away snatching the 

bottle of JD up from the table. He tilted it up, taking a long drink directly from the bottle. 

He sprawled in the same chair he had vacated earlier, glaring insolently at the older vampire, with a 

raised eyebrow. "Third time lucky, eh? I’ve been trying to get explanations all bloody night, get on 

with it then. Start explaining. And it better be good mate or I’m leaving and taking Xander with me." 

There was a flurry of activity as everyone found a place to sit. Sinjin and Tomas fetched more glasses 

and several different types of alcohol from the bar. They set the bottles on the low table in front of the 

sofa and settled themselves making sure everyone had their preferred beverage. Then everyone looked 

expectantly at Gorge. 


Back to index 







_____________________________________________________ 

"Third time lucky, eh? I’ve been trying to get explanations all bloody night, get on with it then. Start 

explaining. And it better be good mate or I’m leaving and taking Xander with me." 

There was a flurry of activity as everyone found a place to sit. Sinjin and Tomas fetched more glasses 

and several different types of alcohol from the bar. They set the bottles on the low table in front of the 

sofa and settled themselves making sure everyone had their preferred beverage. Then everyone looked 

expectantly at Gorge. 

******************************************************************************** 

Gorge rolled his eyes. "Alright, I’ll tell it, but I’m telling it my way." He cleared his throat and took a 

sip out of his glass. Then he began in a voice that was well versed in telling tales. 

"The Sidhe were the firstborn of the Earth, and the first to step upon the earth, they are the singers, the 

namers of true names. They were first in everything because there was only the Sidhe in the beginning. 

And for long and long, years uncounted, it remained that way." 

Gorge paused to take another drink and order his thoughts. 

"Then the First Evil was born into the earth and demons of various types were born out of darkness. 

The demons developed their own cultures, formed clans and families, and everything was in balance, it 

remained that way for many more years uncounted." 

"It is also said that at this time the earth produced Gaia, and Gaia became self aware. I believe this is 

true because of the events that followed."

"For some reason that has yet to be revealed, things changed. The demons began to make war on the 

Sidhe. The Sidhe are not numerous as a race, and they reproduce slowly because they are very nearly 

immortal. They can be killed, but they don’t die from old age or illness. So the Sidhe retreated and 

took up residence in Elvenhome, and there they remained, where the demons couldn’t follow. They 

left demons to dominate and desecrate the earth." 

"And dominate they did. The strongest ruled and the weak were enslaved. It was a brutal time and 

bloody. Rape, murder, torture, whatever violent and bloody thing you can think of was done, and 

worse. Rivers of blood ran over the earth and sank into the soil. So much, that it seemed as though the 

whole earth would be drowned in it." 

"The First Evil was pleased; it feasted in the darkness, becoming bloated on the misery, pain and blood 

of those times, there was never a time like it before, or none since." 

"Then a very strange thing happened. Primitive man appeared. The demons were puzzled. Primitive 

humans resembled the animals they hunted and ate, but they had developed language and used tools 

and fire. The food animals they resembled remained ignorant beasts. The demons dominated emerging 

mankind the same way they did other demons." 

"It was at this time that the first vampires appeared." 

"Some say that Gaia took the demon blood that had been spilled so freely on her bosom and fed it to a 

human that was nearly dead from blood loss; then bound the spirit of the demon to the human before 

the body was completely dead, so that after the human died the demon spirit inhabited the body." 

"Some say that the first vampire came into being, created by a spell that backfired on a demon, and it 

merged him with a human slave that was present. The human didn’t survive, leaving the demon in 

control of the body." 

"Others said that the First evil created vampires by consuming the mind and soul of primitive humans. 

Then forcing demons it had drawn out of the ether for that purpose, into the empty bodies, trying to 

create its own children. It didn’t happen as it was planned, however, and the bodies died but were 

animated by the demons. It kept vampires as pets and foot soldiers, to do it’s bidding, and to feed on 

the fear and misery of their victims." 

"No one really knows. However it happened, the first vampires emerged at the same time as 

humanity." 

"The demon lords left the vampires alone for the most part. They couldn’t be trained, by any but their 

sires and grandsires. They were intractable and gave no loyalty to any but their own family lines. 

Different bloodlines and clans would not work together. They were indiscriminate in their slaughter; 

they would feed upon anyone close by when hungry. And they could only move around during the 

night hours, but they kept the numbers of humans in the wild down to a manageable level, so they 

were allowed to go their own way without interference." 

"The first evil called as many of them to it as would come, and reveled in the worship and blood 

letting." 

"You must understand that those first primitive vampires are far removed from the vampires we are in 

this day and age. Just as modern humans little resemble primitive man, primitive vampires were very 

different from us. Vampires evolved along with humans. It’s an undeniable fact even though most 

vampires in the world now would vehemently deny it and proclaim their superiority over humans. 

Without humans there would never have been vampires. The first vampires were stronger, much more 

violent than we are and much less intelligent. A vampire is created from merging the personality of the 

human that occupied the body and the demon. Most of you know what a newly risen fledge, or childe 

is like. Now; visualize early man, his habits and lesser intelligence turned into a creature driven by a 

new born demon with an insatiable hunger for blood and violence." 

Gorge paused, glanced around at the group of listeners and one side of his mouth ticked up in a slight 

smile at their shudders. 

"Many more uncounted years passed, demon kind bred and crossbred the humans they owned until 

they appeared much as they do today. The demons culled the weak and defective, turned them loose

into the wild to live or die by their wits, or to become a meal for vampires. They educated the humans 

they kept even though they were believed by most demons to be no better than trained animals that 

mimic their betters. An educated slave is worth more, and can do more for a master than an ignorant 

one. And vampires continued to evolve along with the humans." 

"Then there began a vicious war for the earth amongst the strongest demon lords. Magic had been 

developed until it could be used as a weapon, and they used it ruthlessly. And then, someone made a 

mistake. Then again maybe it wasn’t a mistake. It seemed to be coincidence, but I don’t believe in 

coincidence. I believe Gaia decided to intervene, in fact, I think she had already acted by nudging 

mankind out of an animal awareness to a human awareness. We may never know for certain. But we 

know the results regardless." 

Gorge took another drink, and cleared his throat, glanced around at his enthralled audience, and then 

took up his tale again. 

"It was a long and bloody war. Then all of the demon lords that vied for control of the earth met in a 

tremendous last battle to decide who would rule the earth and its inhabitants. The first evil was there to 

feed and gloat. The demons that gathered there at that last great battle numbered in the millions. The 

mages, wizards, warlocks and witches present were counted in the tens of thousands. They cast spells 

and mixed different kinds of magic until breathing the very air was like inhaling liquid fire. The power 

that was loose on that plain had to be mind boggling. Somehow all the magic combined just the right 

way and it created portals, the very first portals ever to be opened on earth. The first, the demon lords 

and their armies were sucked into the portals and the portals closed behind them and left the plain 

empty." 

"A relative peace on the earth was finally achieved with the disappearance of the most vicious demons. 

This left only the more peaceful clans still living in this dimension. But their numbers weren’t great 

after being decimated for thousands of years by slavery and war. It was like a new beginning for 

everyone left upon the face of the earth. This seems to be the point from which many human religions 

derived their creation tales. The earth was in shambles and it took a very long time to recover." 

Gorge swallowed the last of his drink and the man sitting next to him took his glass and refilled it. The 

others took the opportunity to stretch stiff muscles and pour their own refills. They fell still again 

waiting for Gorge to continue. 

"It was at this time that the first Companions appeared." 

"The Light and The Dark had had been in existence long enough to become self aware and able to 

actively interfere with events on earth. The whole earth had become unbalanced in their battle for 

dominance. They had caused the great demon wars and they were dangerously close to destroying the 

earth." 

"No one knows when Neutral became aware, maybe it was always there, and biding it’s time, 

watching. But it stepped in and forced Light and Dark to cease meddling directly in events on earth 

and choose Champions. These were warriors and servants whom they could influence, but not force to 

do their bidding. Free will rules over all and Champions had to choose to be a Champion for the entity 

involved. They had to give their answer plainly. The Powers were forbidden to communicate directly 

with anyone on earth; they had to find other ways to communicate with their chosen Champions." 

"Neutral chose the Companions and their vampire mates to be the keepers of the balance, its’ 

Champions if you will. A demon and a human mated, warm and cold, life and unlife, one the maker 

and giver of blood and the other a taker and in need of blood, fertile and sterile, balanced. They would 

be the peace keepers as it were; Referees, cosmic cops, and if need be assassins and executioners. 

Their job was to mediate and judge between humans and demons, light and dark, good and bad, right 

and wrong, to maintain the Balance. The entire race of Companions, their mates and all of their 

households, servants, children and adopted clan members, assembled and swore service to Neutrality 

and Balance. Thus they were named La Familia" 

"They didn’t just defend humans. They didn’t just defend demons. They defended everyone. Anyone 

who was wronged could go to the Companions and ask for a judgment to be made, and when the

judgment was made, it was enforced. But Companions didn’t have to be asked. If a situation came to 

their notice that upset the Balance they stepped in and did whatever it took to restore the Balance." 

"Companions were humans but a different branch of humanity or maybe a natural evolution by the 

species to protect itself against their vampiric predators. No one knows for sure, but they started 

appearing soon after vampires or it may have been simultaneously. They were born mutated with a 

secondary circulatory system that acted as a reservoir, similar to a camels hump really, a storage 

system for blood. They had a natural inborn resistance to magic. They were more intelligent and 

physically stronger, with quicker reflexes." 

"The vampires that mated to Companions fed exclusively from their mates and no one else. Vampires 

after they were chosen by Neutral were meant to be mated to Companions; they weren’t intended to go 

around eating the general human population and adding to the side of the Dark." This then is where the 

legends of the Pomme de Sange originated." 

"Now vampires and Companions were meant to be together. And when a Companion and a vampire 

produce offspring they’re Companions a majority of the time, the rest of the time you have a vampire 

human hybrid. And the parents complete the turning when they’re mature enough. Thus the legend of 

Daywalkers came down through the ages." 

Gorge expanded into explanation. 

"Mated couples produce a child every fifty years or so if they choose. So we’re not prolific as a 

species and our numbers are small. And we tend to live in multigenerational households and clans. 

We’re similar to the Sidhe in that we live without fear of true death from sickness, or old age. We are 

much more difficult to kill however, once we’re mated. Therein lay the seeds of our downfall and 

almost our annihilation as a species." 

"Okay onward." 

"Humans began to multiply and left behind the hunter gatherer society. They built cities and towns. 

The educated humans that were left behind when the demon war was over taught other humans what 

they had learned. They developed writing, music, numbers, math and philosophy. They learned how to 

mine metals, and make weapons and other useful objects with iron. Religion developed, matured and 

differentiated in different places. They eventually had their own lords and wars. They developed their 

own judicial codes, for example the Code of Hammurabi. The codes were harsh but nowhere near as 

harsh as demonic rule had been in the near forgotten past." 

"It was also at this time that humans started to realize the value of written history. They began to keep 

records. Reading and writing was mostly done by clerks and religious figures, some Kings learned but 

mostly they left it to servants as did most of the wealthy. Widespread mandatory education did not 

come about until much later in history." 

"Demons, who had kept mostly to themselves since the Great War, had become legends and tales, the 

stuff of bedtime stories and nightmares." 

"Real demons that made themselves known were worshipped as gods and human sacrifice, blood, and 

pain became commonplace in the religious rites and practices attached to that particular deity." 

"Civilization more familiar to us sprang up in the Middle East, Egypt, Africa and Greece in roughly 

the same period in different degrees. Japan had developed much more quickly than elsewhere but it 

didn’t affect the rest of the world much at the time. Greece had more of an influence than any I 

believe." 

"Alexander the Great spread knowledge and trade as well as conquest. And for the first time since the 

demon lords disappeared, a single ruler held sway over a large portion of the known world." 

"The birth of the Roman Empire brought about many changes on the earth. It seemed as though it 

would follow in the steps of Alexander the Great but decayed from within first due to various 

individuals and factions fighting each other for power and wealth." 

"It was during this time that I was turned by Aurelius. I was a Druidic priest. In other words, I was 

charged with the keeping of oral tradition all learning and Lore. I served as arbiter, judge, jury, 

executioner, confessor, advisor, teacher, philosopher, lore-master, poet, mage, doctor; the position is

all inclusive and words can’t explain it all. We were the repository of all the knowledge of our peoples. 

We continued to learn all of our lives, and add to the knowledge we were given, then passed it on to 

the next Novice." 

"Aurelius was a Roman Lord that had been turned by a vampire in the wild, as we call them, who 

wanted some sort of political power in the human world. He wanted to know what was happening in 

the political arena in Rome, so he turned Aurelius for that purpose, and he was attracted to Aurelius’ 

sociopathic personality. Aurelius was a cruel bastard. He’d been put in charge of executions and 

interrogations many years before, he was an expert in torture and he enjoyed it, even as a human, to an 

obscene degree. When he was turned he became a true monster. He managed to get his maker killed 

through some intricate plot, though not by his own hand, so he had absolutely no one to rein him in." 

"The vampire that made Aurelius must have been fairly stupid. I can’t think of another reason he could 

have thought that he could control Aurelius after he was turned. As a human he was stubborn. He had 

absolutely no conscience even before he was turned, there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do, and no act 

of torture was too low for him. But he was very intelligent, charming and extremely handsome. He had 

sensitive information on many people and used it ruthlessly." Gorge flicked a glance at Spike and 

shuddered. "He made his second childe, The Master, and Angelus look like angels in comparison." 

"He was a monster but he wasn’t stupid, he escaped detection for a very long time. Then someone 

discovered his secret dungeons, filled with his unofficial, unsanctioned victims, proof of his cruel and 

twisted pleasures. They were discovered after a Senator’s son disappeared while visiting his home. 

The Senator loved his only son and was determined to find out what had happened to him. To that end, 

he hired people to watch Aurelius. They followed him one night. He was careless in his arrogance. 

Unaware he led them to a series of caves where he took his victims to play with them, and sate his lust 

for pain and blood." 

"The Watchers reported back to the Senator what they had observed, and they sought long and hard for 

information about what type of creature Aurelius was. The Companions offered information and help. 

They raided his villa during the day. But for reasons no one knows, he wasn’t sleeping there that day. 

They burned the villa to the ground and then continued on to the caves. I won’t go into descriptions of 

what they found there. Needless to say the Senator’s Watchers didn’t find a recognizable body, dead or 

alive, to bury. So he had the caves sealed and a marker set there for his beloved son. Where for all I 

know it remains to this day." 

"The Watchers started a search for Aurelius. The Senator was determined to destroy him. I don’t know 

how Aurelius heard about it, but he did find out. He must have had another lair and no one could find 

him, he fled Rome and the vengeance of the grieving Senator." 

"Thus the seed of the Watchers Council was planted. The Senator continued to search for him for 

years until his death and no one ever found another trace of the monster that tortured and murdered his 

son. When the Senator died he had no more living relatives, so he left all of his considerable fortune, 

to those who had helped him discover what happened to his son and search for Aurelius." 

"The will stipulated that the money could only be used for the purposes of research and the hunting 

and destroying of the monsters that preyed on mankind. He left outright and complete his country 

estates, and his other properties, debt free, as a bases of operations. The bequest paid for books, 

scrolls, research, travel, and weapons. Anything that would aid in the gathering of information and 

knowledge about demon kind was to be purchased. The remainder was placed in trust and the interest 

was to be used to pay the salaries of those who would be working as ’Watchers’, and day to day living 

expenses. Though there was to be a steward appointed to prevent misuse of the funds." 

"Thus Aurelius came to Britain, by what route no one knows for sure. How ever he got there, he was 

looking for a place to lair and a food supply." 

"He thought he could hide in the caves on the coast of Britain and use the Druids to cover his presence. 

So it is that he found me alone one night in the sacred grove meditating, and he killed me, drained my 

life’s blood. As I lay there dying, I knew what he was. I knew what he was going to do to me. He took 

great pleasure in telling me in detail after he drained me enough that I was just barely conscious."

"I forced out the last words of my life, a prayer to the grove and Danu, and continued in my mind 

when breath failed me, until death took me. I prayed that my life and my knowledge not be lost, that I 

could continue to serve and that I not be a monster as my maker was. As he offered his blood to me, I 

made my life a sacrifice to Balance. As I faded away I could hear him laughing; he was so self assured 

in his arrogance." 

"And they answered my prayer, the spirit of the grove, Danu, Gaia if you prefer, and Balance." 

"When I woke little more than a day later, just after sunset, my maker was astonished. I was still me. I 

wasn’t a mindless monster. He hated me. I wasn’t as bloodthirsty and evil as he was. He flew into a 

rage, beat me nearly senseless, raped me, and left me there hungry, bleeding and in pain, while he 

went hunting. I crawled from the cave and somehow found my brother Druids. I told them about 

Aurelius, what he was, what he had done to me, and what he planning. I told them he was laired in the 

caves." 

"He must have returned to the cave and found me gone before we could return and wait there to 

destroy him. In the nights afterward there was no sign of him, not even a rumor. I believe he moved on 

to another small village or town and turned another man that was to be known as The Master. From 

what I know of The Master, he must have pleased Aurelius greatly." 

"My brother Druids contacted the Companions and they came for me. I was adopted into Khyle’s 

family and we bonded, we’ve been together ever since." 

Gorge paused his tale telling for a moment, and looked at Spike. He took the hand of the man glued to 

his side, and said. "This is my mate Khyle, and the one who has borne me two wonderful children; 

Tomas and Sinjin. He is also Xander’s Uncle. Xander’s real father was Khyle’s brother and my 

brother-in-law." 

Khyle said quietly to Spike, who looked by now like some anime cartoon character; his eyes were so 

big they seemed to take over his whole face. "I’m happy to meet you Spike. I gather that you’re a 

childe in the line of Aurelius?" 

Spike nodded eyes still round and he blinked, answering in a dazed absent kind of way. "William the 

Bloody, favored childe of Angelus, favored Childe of Darla, favored Childe of the Master, favored 

Childe of Aurelius. Then he seemed to come to himself and really look at the older vampire. "You’ve 

never hunted, never killed?" 

Gorge paused for a second before answering. "I won’t say I’ve never hunted, because I have. I won’t 

say I’ve never killed because I’ve done that too. But I’ve never hunted and killed humans for food, 

which I believe is the answer you wanted." 

Khyle looked at the two vampires, made a decision and stood up slowly groaning ", I hate to be the 

one to interrupt the explanations this time, but I think the humans amongst us need a break before we 

continue. We still have various body functions that need attending to." 

"Gods, yes," Tomas chimed in ", I’m about to burst, but I didn’t want to miss anything. I also need a 

quick shower, and food. My stomach thinks my throat is cut." 

"I could live with that," yawned Sinjin. "Anyone else?" 

There was chorus of groaning agreement from the other humans and one demon. "Dad, if you don’t 

mind, we’ll take showers and cook something before we come back and finish this up? Spike, do you 

mind?" 

Spike shook his head, and getting no protest from the parental unit, all the humans made tracks to the 

various bedrooms and bathrooms, leaving Gorge and Spike alone in the den. "Do you want a shower 

as well, Spike? It’s not as if we’re on a schedule here. We’ve got plenty of time, and it might help you 

relax." 

"Na, I’m going to wait and the doss with the boy when we’re done here. I’ll get a shower then. But I 

do want to check on him. Do you want to see him?" Spike asked as he rose out of his chair. 

"Yes!" Gorge answered eagerly almost before Spike stopped speaking. Spike raised an eyebrow at the 

older man. "Come on then." And walked off leading the way to the Xander’s room with Gorge almost 

treading his heels. "Hold up, mate," Spike chuckled ", I don’t reckon he’s gonna disappear before we

get there." 

"The last time I saw Alexander he was one day old, and his father, my brother-in-law, had just been 

murdered, he was in the nursery at the hospital, waiting to be taken home by Jessica Harris." Gorge 

replied. "It’s been twenty one years for me, well longer really, since I’ve seen him. We live in another 

dimension mostly, and a week here is like I don’t remember how many years there." He said absently 

as they entered Xander’s room. He was already trying to look past Spike to see the boy in the bed. 

Gorge crowded close to the bed almost pushing Spike out of the way, and looked down at Xander. He 

jumped in surprise when he found wide brown eyes looking back at him. 

Spike flicked on the bedside lamp ",Oi, finally decided to wake up, sleepy head?" 

"I’ve been awake for a while," Xander squinted at the sudden brightness. "I didn’t feel like moving, 

I’ve been listening to you all from here, relaxing here all nice and comfy, and quietly freaking. I can 

freak quietly, you know. I just proved it. Ya’ll didn’t hear a thing. I don’t have the energy right now 

for the running around in circles and wringing my hands. But just to reassure you. I am doing it in my 

mind. You can just use your imagination and picture it; I’m not going to give a blow by blow account 

of Xander mind freakage. But I heard you, Spike. You were kind of loud with your freakage. I thought 

you were going vibrate your brains loose, with all that growling and yelling. You can bring in the men 

with the white coats now. I think I’m hallucinating or delusional, or some word like that, if it means 

crazy." 

"Barmy git," Spike snorted in amusement. 

"It’s just been a regular family reunion from what, I’ve heard so far. Xander examined Gorge 

curiously. "So, Jessica and Tony aren’t my real parents? He asked in a pathetically hopeful tone. 

Gorge sat on the side of the bed, "No. They’re not." 

Xander fought with the blankets and struggled to sit up. "Oh, man, there is a God." He said in the tone 

of someone given a reprieve from the gas chamber at the last second. He got a grumbled. "Oi, what do 

ya think you’re doing?" From Spike when he finally threw back the covers, and started to slip out of 

the bed. "I think I’m going to pee, Spike, but I won’t know til I get there." Sarcasm dripped from every 

word ", I may be hallucinating that too." 

Gorge watched the goings on with a perplexed look on his face. 

Spike explained. "That’s Xander, he and the witch can get ya turned inside out tryin to make head or 

tails. When you’ve been around long enough it starts to make sense. It was their secret weapon I think, 

or maybe camouflage." He frowned thoughtfully, jaw muscles jumping. "He hasn’t done too much of 

that lately though, not since the Slayer and the witches left for the summer. He’s changed and grown a 

lot, in every way. It’s like just being around them had him all tied up inside somehow, and when they 

weren’t around, the blockage disappeared, and he was finally free to spread out. Strange that is." 

Gorge gaped in surprise and shook his head as though he didn’t believe his ears. "Did you say the 

Slayer? And witches?" He turned away from the bed and left the room calling for Khyle and Ru as he 

went. 


Back to index 







------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Gorge gaped in surprise and shook his head as though he didn’t believe his ears. "Did you say the

Slayer? And witches?" He turned away from the bed and left the room calling for Khyle and Ru as he 

went. 

******************************************************************************* 

Xander’s mind was busy being overwhelmed. He hadn’t been exaggerating about the freaking. He laid 

there in the bed after waking taking a swift inventory of his various body parts and made a 

monumental decision. He was going to make them get in line and take a number to bitch at him. The 

line for complaints is on the left. The line for compliments is on the right. Please have everything you 

need when you get to the window. Have a nice day. 

While he was doing that he was staying right where he was. 

Oh yeah, that would be his whole body complaining. He was achy and sore everywhere. The entire 

damned drum section of the Sunnydale High School band had taken up residence in his head and was 

trying to get out by playing an encore repeatedly. 

He could hear just fine, better than fine, he didn’t need to see anything. His ears didn’t hurt at all; in 

fact they were probably the happiest parts of his body. Besides little Xander that is, he was pretty 

happy. He stood up and cheered when Spike started growling and let Xander know right away just 

how happy he was with that. And didn’t that make him a sick puppy. Xander the psycho gets 

hellmouth happies from the sounds of the evil undead. There was cheesy movie title in there 

somewhere, he knew it. 

He really didn’t want to see in technicolor what he was hearing outside his room. His eyes felt hot, 

dry, and grainy like he had grit in them. They were definitely as unhappy as his talented multi drum 

playing head. So he just .... Listened. That was enough for him to deal with. 

He heard Gorge that was the name he thought, begin his tale, and suddenly hearing became his entire 

focus. His discomfort faded into the background. He lay there and listened to the entire tale. Well that 

answered a lot of his questions quiet nicely. He still had some of course. But he was distracted by the 

conversation between Spike and Gorge after everyone left chasing bathrooms and kitchens. Hell, he 

was regular entertainment industry genius tonight. 

Next thing, he gets to see the tale bearer. Too bad you can’t shoot the messenger. He babbled enough 

to get to the bathroom without further disclosures, despite Spike’s displeasure, because his bladder has 

decided to join the crowd bitching at him. And here he stands with a happy Xander junior trying to 

pee. Life just ain’t fair. 

Okay then shower. That’s the ticket. Get in the shower pay some attention to Xander junior and he’ll 

tell my bladder to fuck off. Fuck? Not helping. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Xander opened the door of the shower and turned the knobs getting the temperature right and pushed 

his boxers down over his hips, up and over a still happy Xander junior, and let them fall to the floor. 

He climbed in and sighed with pleasure. A hot shower cures a lot of ills. He was still a little unsteady 

on his feet but not enough to dissuade him from hot watery goodness. He closed his eyes and laid his 

forehead against the tiles. He reached for the soap and began a leisurely wash as he enjoyed the 

sensations while his hands moved on his suddenly extra sensitive skin. 

Suddenly Spike was there, snarking at him. "Xander what the hell do you think you’re doin, ya loon?" 

Xander slowly turned his head and looked Spike up and down with one hot eye. "This is all your 

fault." 

"What the hell are you nattering about now? Get outta there before you fall and crack ya noggin open." 

"Alright, that’s it!" Xander swiveled his body until his shoulders were against the tiles with his hips 

jutting out displaying his aching cock which was laying on his belly by now looking at him, and 

pointed to it. "THIS is all YOUR fault," he repeated. Spike stopped in shock, his mouth hanging open. 

Xander stood upright, reached out, grabbed a handful of shirt and yanked, pulling a surprised, cursing, 

and fully clothed vampire into the shower. "Off now," he demanded with a good growl of his own ", 

get them off." 

"What? Get what off?" Spike snarked, with water dripping down his face. "Have you gone completely

ound the bend?" 

"The clothes, Spike get them off," impatiently ", and then me, get me off. I’m waiting." Xander 

decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed the neckline of Spike’s shirt in both hands 

twisted and pulled. The fabric tore down the middle with the most satisfying wet ripping sound. He 

snatched the pieces off, pulling them down Spike’s arms and let them go. They landed with a wet plop 

on the shower floor. Then he reached for those tight, black, ’don’tcha wanna fuck me’ jeans. 

"No ya don’t ya impatient git, ya not rippin up my jeans." 

"Then gettem off." 

Spike glared at him, the blue of his eyes turning slightly golden as he worked the buttons on the fly 

free and pushed the sodden material down. His uncut length popped free, full and hard and damn if 

Spike junior didn’t look as happy as Xander junior. Wow, they could be happy together. 

Xander’s mouth watered like the Niagara falls. He practically drooled. He shook the wet hair away 

from his face, and dropped to his knees with no warning whatsoever. Water ran down over them both 

as he dove down and planted his nose in the wet hair at the base of Spike’s cock right where the 

Spikesmell was the strongest and just inhaled. He nuzzled there, shivering with delight. 

Spike jumped and cursed, "bloody hell, Xander what’re ya doin?" And his hands came up to push the 

boy away sliding on wet slippery skin. Gravity took over, and the soaked jeans fell in a saturated 

puddle around his feet. 

Xander pulled his vamp’s feet free of the drowned jeans by feel alone and pushed the interfering 

things out of the way, without removing his nose from its’ silky nest. He slid his hands up from the 

slender ankles, to the slim, strongly muscled thighs, and around lean vampire hips sliding on a film of 

warm water, touching and caressing. Finally he reached his goal and grabbed a double handful of wet, 

hard, round cheeks; he splayed his fingers in between them, delving into the soft silky cleft of Spike’s 

ass. He squeezed and separated the globes he held, letting warm water run down between, to caress the 

small ring of muscle there. Spike’s fingers buried themselves in his boy’s wet hair and when he said 

Xander’s name again it ended in a helpless moan. 

It was music to Xander’s ears. He and Xander junior decided they liked Spike’s moaning as much as 

the growling. He pulled Spike closer his hands still busy kneading and stroking that great ass. He 

nipped at the skin beneath his mouth, grabbed a small bit between blunt teeth and bit down, then ran 

his tongue across it in long slow flat tongued licks, tasting the wet skin. Spike’s hips jumped forward 

helplessly ", fuck," he yelped in a desperate voice. Xander nuzzled his way to the crease where hip and 

thigh meet and nipped hard, then soothed it with his tongue. He suckled hard on a bit of skin, Spike 

tasted as good as he smelled, and he left line of marks on the alabaster skin there, water ran down over 

them. 

He licked and nipped his way back to where the large, soft, slightly fuzzy sac met Spike’s cock. He 

pressed his nose in there shaking his head from side to side, and took the opportunity to root his way 

beneath Spike’s balls and nibbled and licked at the water on skin he found behind. The fingers of one 

hand caressed and stroked down the sensitive crease of Spikes cleft, met his busy mouth and played 

there, rubbing and pressing upward. Spike spread his legs wider and thrust his hips out further from 

the wall, giving him more room to explore. "Bloody hell, Xander," A vampire gasping for breath is 

oxymoronic, Xander was sure of it. 

Gasping, moaning, yelping, and growling; whatever, he liked all of them, and decided to see if he 

could get more sounds out of his vampire. Pretty soon he’d have enough sounds collected to play a 

tune. 

He took Spike’s balls into his hungry mouth and nursed on them like a new born babe, pressing them 

upward into the roof of his mouth hard with a flattened tongue as he suckled rhythmically. "Oh fuck 

yeah, harder, suck harder," growled Spike. He tightened his hands on Xander’s head, convulsed and 

thrust his balls as a deep into the hot, wet, suction as they would go. "Oh shit, suck my balls like that!" 

Xander heard a thump over his head and let is eyes travel up the sexy body above him. 

The long thick length of Spike’s cock, stood flat against his belly, rivulets of water ran over it to drip

onto his upturned face. The sight made him moan around his mouthful of tasty treat, he sucked hard 

and worked the soft flesh faster with his tongue and kneading the globes of Spike’s ass. The vibrations 

made Spike to try to crawl into his mouth balls first. "Fucking hell," he exploded. He pulled Xander’s 

mouth as close as he could get it, hands unconsciously gripping and pulling hard. One hand was at the 

back of his head, the other just below his nape pulling him up and in. Xander pressed his chin hard into 

the sensitive skin behind the now tight sac and the point of his chin pressed in and released with the 

motion of his mouth. "Mouth so hot, Xander, love the way you’re suckin my balls just right," Spike 

groaned. 

Xander’s eyes wandered over the flexing, muscled forearms and the sharply defined triceps and biceps 

of the arms pulling his head closer while Spike thrust his balls forward hard into Xander’s mouth as he 

sucked. His gaze moved from the water that ran down the tensed ripped abs that powered the thrust, 

and held the lithe muscular body arched away from the shower wall, over defined pecs topped by pale 

pink nipples, hardened to sharp little points now. His inspection traveled up to the sharp collarbones 

and on to the long pale column of Spike’s throat. Spike was in game face and he had thrown his head 

back against the shower wall hard baring the enticing length of his ivory throat as he writhed against 

Xander’s mouth in ecstasy. He suddenly dropped his head forward and captured Xander’s eyes with 

his yellow ones. 

Xander pushed his head back slightly against Spike’s hold and he was released. Still holding Spike’s 

gaze he let the balls in his mouth escape with a soft slurp. He licked at the warm water that ran down; 

following the seam that ran from underneath to the base of the hard cock with, long strokes of his 

flattened tongue, just like it was an ice cream cone, causing a convulsive shudder to run through the 

vampire he was eating up. "Xander, please," he heard from above him in a broken voice. Ooooh, 

cursing, gasping, moaning, yelping, growling and dirty talking; now begging, he had quite a repertoire 

now. 

Xander was in heaven because nothing on earth was this good. The scent, taste and feel of Spike were 

intoxicating. And the sounds he was drawing out of Spike were driving him nuts. All of his senses 

were trained on his vampire and he submerged himself in them. Finally he was able to touch and 

explore the vampire he lusted after. He got a thrill out of the control he felt as he sucked the most 

vulnerable part of his vampire’s body; being the cause of all the shuddering, shivering, thrusting, 

tugging, and assorted noises. 

He drew back, water running down his face, and looked up at the game faced Spike from under his 

dripping lashes. Xander leaned in and nibbled his way up the underside of the long, thick cock 

standing flat against Spike’s muscled stomach; tasting the precum that dribbled down its wet length, 

before it could be washed away, his gaze burning while it held the wide yellow eyes. He lapped at the 

large mushroom shaped head and the belly beneath with long hard strokes of his flattened tongue, 

making a show of it for the eyes that watched him, watch them. He tasted the precum straight from the 

slit with the pointed tip of his tongue. The hands in his hair clenched and he smiled around a tongue 

that he sent digging deeper into the slit for more of the flavor he wanted, while he pressed his fingers 

deeper between Spike’s ass cheeks brushing the tender, damp, little pucker there. "Fucking hell, 

Xander, please," Spike growled the plea out between gleaming fangs, and thrust helplessly, pulling 

Xander’s mouth harder against him again as he sought more friction for his aching cock. Long pale 

fingers that were threaded through his hair, clenched hard, desperately on his scalp. "Fucking tease," 

as he thrust more urgently. 

Xander relented and brought his hands to his vampire’s hips and held him still there under the falling 

water, and pressed him back against the shower wall. He took the large head of Spike’s cock into his 

eager willing mouth. He forced the hard press of his lips over the cock head pushing back what little 

foreskin still covered the glans. 

Spike panted and growled and tried to thrust his aching flesh deeper into the heat of the mouth 

tormenting him that belonged to the boy who was eating him alive never losing eye contact. He 

devoured the sight of Xander there on his knees his own hard cock bobbing against his belly. Water

unning over his naked form and his mouth stretched wide around his demon cock. Xander grinned as 

much as he could around his tasty mouthful and stopped, his lips gripped hard around the cock he was 

holding captive, just behind the glans. Then he created a sudden hard suction on the sensitive head and 

speared his tongue deep into the slit. 

"Bloody buggering fuck," Spike yowled as his eyes rolled back, and he lost eye contact with the 

watching eyes. His head flew back and thumped against the shower wall again as he writhed and as his 

hips bucked and strained against the grip restraining him. 

Xander was content there for a bit as he worked the head of Spike’s cock with an intermittent hard 

suckling and tongue constantly lashing the silky, sensitive flesh he tasted so intimately. Then he pulled 

back and through tightly compressed lips took Spike’s water slicked cock down to the root in one 

swallow. 

He buried his nose in wet curly pubic hair. With his lips stretched impossibly wide and tight around 

the broad base he sucked in hard, he hollowed his cheeks and enclosed the captured cock in a sweet 

tunnel that burned with blood heat, the head of it lodged in his throat. Spike managed to look down to 

see his cock buried balls deep in Xander’s wide stretched mouth and the blissed out expression on the 

boy’s face. The boy’s eyes stared straight into his as he suckled hard and then he started working the 

muscles of that tight hot throat, he swallowed, and the muscles rippled into motion around the cock 

buried in it. He brought one hand up to the sac drawn up tight beneath his chin, massaging it with his 

fingers. The other hand found its’ way between trembling thighs, to the little ring of muscle hidden in 

the cleft of Spike’s ass. One wet finger suddenly plunged into that ring hitting the little nub of nerves 

inside as he hummed. 

Spike came roaring Xander’s name and as his senses whited out he exploded down his boy’s throat. 

Now free of restraint Spike tightened his hold on the boy’s head while Xander clutched his ass cheeks 

and urged him on. He fucked his boy’s mouth. He pulled out against that incredible fucking hot 

suction and then plunged back in balls deep uncontrollably, with a rhythm of long hard strokes, as that 

hot mouth continued sucking and that damned tongue lashed at the underside and head of his cock, and 

that furnace of a throat rippled and squeezed his cock. That talented mouth and tight throat milked him 

dry of every drop of that was in his balls. 

Spike’s legs failed him and he slid bonelessly down the shower wall, with the boy still attached to his 

cock like a limpet, now he just sucked gently, stretching out the pleasure of his vampire’s orgasm, 

until his cock was too sensitive to stand it. 

Spike sat on his ass with Xander laid on his side beside him in the floor of the shower while water 

poured down over them. Spike opened his eyes and looked down at the boy who still had cock in his 

mouth to find the boy’s eyes and they met his. They burned a light golden brown and the pupils were 

so dilated they looked like they were ringed by honey colored fire instead of the usual rich chocolate 

brown. That’s the only word for it; the boy’s eyes burned with desire for him. The vampire was still 

slightly dazed and his legs didn’t want to work properly so he sat there. 

The boy swirled his tongue around under the edge of his foreskin to gather every last drop of Spike’s 

come. Then he released his suck toy with a soft popping sound pulling off with a firm pressure of his 

lips to make sure he was leaving no tasty traces behind and sat up. 


Back to index 





construed as a reflection on the character, personality, sexual preferences or religious beliefs of any

eal person or place, living or deceased, actual or created. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Spike sat on his ass with Xander laid on his side beside him in the floor of the shower while water 

poured down over them. Spike opened his eyes and looked down at the boy who still had cock in his 

mouth to find the boy’s eyes and they met his. They burned a light golden brown and the pupils were 

so dilated they looked like they were ringed by honey colored fire instead of the usual rich chocolate 

brown. That’s the only word for it; the boy’s eyes burned with desire for him. The vampire was still 

slightly dazed and his legs didn’t want to work properly so he sat there. 

The boy swirled his tongue around under the edge of his foreskin to gather every last drop of Spike’s 

come. Then he released his suck toy with a soft popping sound pulling off with a firm pressure of his 

lips to make sure he was leaving no tasty traces behind and sat up. 

*********************************************************************** 

Xander moved around and settled himself astride Spike’s lap, looked down into his incredibly blue 

eyes lowering himself until his groin pressed tightly into his vampire’s and a knee rested on each side 

of a slim hip. He pressed his hot hard body and excited cock as close to Spike as he could from groin 

to chest. Then he reached out with gentle hands and held his face as he bent his head licking at the full 

pink pouty lips with little kitten licks that asked for entrance, then nipped at his lower lip until Spike 

opened his mouth and let him in. 

Spike dominated the kiss immediately, wrapping his arms around Xander like an undead octopus. He 

pressed one arm against the boy’s upper back and tangling his fingers in the back of Xander’s soft 

hair, pulled the boy’s mouth harder into his, angling his head just a bit to better seal his mouth to his 

boy’s. The other hand wandered, caressing and kneading its’ way down the boy’s back to his perfect 

ass and pulled him closer. 

He brushed teasing fingers into the sensitive, water slicked cleft he found there until he found the little 

puckered treasure hidden inside the crease stroking it lightly with his finger tips. Xander’s hands flew 

down, reaching behind him and grabbed his own ass cheeks one in each hand. Spreading and lifting, 

he exposed that tender little pucker for more of Spike’s touch. Xander shuddered and moaned into his 

vampire’s mouth arched his back more and thrust his ass back hard toward the fingers that fondled his 

hole, and then pressed forward to get more pressure and friction on his hard aching cock, sliding it 

against Spike’s own now reawakened hardness. 

Spike could taste himself in the hot cavern of his boy’s mouth. Xander moaned into the kiss and made 

sexy little sounds in the back of his throat as Spike devoured his sweet mouth, and ravaged the tender 

tissues and surfaces insideas he searched for the last traces of himself in the honeyed sweetness 

beyond the soft lips that clung to his. 

Spike raised his knees behind the boy, trapped him, then he suddenly grasped a handful of hair on the 

back of Xander’s head and pulled back hard forcing his panting, whimpering boy to arch back over the 

top of his knees exposing his throat and the front of his delicious body to the lustful inspection of his 

vampire. Spike inspected his boy thoroughly from his hard dripping cock to his exposed and arched 

throat, then bent without warning to take an entire hard brown nipple into his mouth. He sucked hard 

on the nubbin and the flesh around it, flicking the stiff little peak with the tip of his tongue, then drew 

his lips back and growled, gnawing at it, and taking it between his blunt teeth he scraped them across 

the tender sensitized flesh. 

Xander howled and bucked, as well as he could, held firm as he was by hair and knees. A mouth 

attached to a nipple and hands occupied spreading himself for Spike’s busily working fingers buried 

between his ass cheeks. The boy arched his back harder still trying to pump his hips, wantonly seeking 

more attention from the vampire mouth attached to his nipple. Spike pulled his fingers away from 

working the boy’s pucker and Xander’s moaned in protest. Spike lifted his mouth from his tender 

swollen morsel and growled ", Shut up, I’m not through with you yet," against the wet skin of 

Xander’s chest. Then licked and nipped his way to the neglected water wet nipple and latched on and 

subjected it to the same treatment. His boy was so fucking responsive, so eager.

Spike’s hand felt around the floor of the shower, still suckling on a delicious nipple, until he found the 

shower gel that his boy had dropped earlier in his eagerness to get Spike naked. One handed he 

grasped the wet bottle turning it until he could work the pump top with his fingers and catch the thick 

gel in his palm. He dropped the bottle and curled his fingers over the gel to protect it from the spraying 

water. He worked the gel around until it coated his fingers. Loosing the flesh that occupied his mouth, 

he demanded of his boy ", Spread that sweet ass open for me, give me your tight little cherry hole, 

Xander," who had relaxed his grip but hadn’t removed his hands yet. 

Xander eagerly spread and lifted his round ass cheeks wide again, to present the inner skin of his cleft 

and that wonderful pucker to Spike’s questing fingers. Spike ran his slick gel covered fingers up and 

down the boy’s cleft teasing until the boy begged sobbing, "Please Spike, touch me, please, please." 

Spike’s fingers stilled and he leaned forward and nibbled on the exposed wet column of the boy’s 

arched throat, controlling the boy’s head easily with the hand still clutching the back of Xander’s 

sodden hair. He nibbled up one side, and then suckled at the water on the boys adam’s apple causing 

shivering cries and more bucking and wanton writhing against him from the boy trapped in his hold. 

He nibbled up the other side to the soft skin just beneath the boy’s ear and the nibbled down his jaw to 

the talented mouth and pulled the boy’s head forward again, he took his succulent lips in a hard 

ravaging kiss, sweeping and plunging his tongue into the sweet honeyed cavern, the same way he 

wanted to plunge his cock into Xander’s sweet virgin ass. 

While he ravished the boy’s mouth, his fingers circled the tender flesh around the wrinkled little 

pucker, feeling it flutter and relax as he brushed around and over it with his finger tips. Finally he 

eased the tip of a gel covered finger into the relaxing ring of muscle up to the first knuckle. Spike 

pulled back from his ravaging kiss looking with satisfaction at the swollen, bruised lips then fixed his 

eyes on his boy’s beautiful expressive face. He began pumping the finger in and out of that tight virgin 

hole slowly until the whole finger was being sucked into the eager back opening up to the last knuckle. 

The boy was trying to thrust back onto that finger panting and moaning and writhing in ecstasy on that 

impaling, pumping digit. Then he crooked the finger and found the boy’s joy button and pressed his 

finger there hard and rubbing over it ruthlessly. 

Xander’s mouth opened in a soundless shout of surprise. And then the boy came completely unglued. 

His body convulsed in a sinuous motion from the neck down as Spike held onto the hard grip in his 

hair watching his face as the falling water ran over it. The boy pulled at his cheeks harder trying to get 

them wider to get more of the wonderful sensation Spike’s fingers were creating in his ass. He bucked 

and thrust and mewled. He babbled something that was not English. He was beautiful in his need and 

ecstasy. 

Spike leaned forward to taste the ecstasy in his boy’s open panting mouth cutting off all sounds 

abruptly save for the whimpering in the back of the boy’s throat. 

He pulled back releasing the boy’s captive mouth, Spike easily controlling his movements with the 

hard grip he still had in the wet hair at the back of the boy’s head, he turned the boy’s head to the side 

and pulled it back slightly so he could nibble back up the other side of his jaw to his ear and nip the 

dripping lobe to get the boy’s attention, and added a second finger to the first one pumping into his 

boy’s ass, They both slid easily into his boy’s greedy hole. He nuzzled in the boy’s hair as he growled 

softly into his damp ear his game face emerging. 

"Xander, Answer me boy." 

Xander was lost in sensations. Spike was still pumping that one finger in and out of his hole slowly, 

now he added a second finger sliding them both in at once, increasing the wonderful sensations in his 

happy ass. The fingers spread and twisted and slid in and out, rubbing the sensitive skin lining his 

anus. And then they rubbed over that spot that caused lightening to jolt through him running from his 

ass to his hard cock, and to wherever Spike was touching him, and back. His newly oversensitive skin 

was working together with Spike to cause his brain to overload; it took a moment for him to find 

words in his scrambled and dazed brain, he had to send out search parties for a couple of brain cells. 

And it took another minute to force just one word out through his bone dry throat, "Spike?" He

croaked at the patiently waiting vampire 

"Do you know what’s going to happen now, Xanderrrr?" The question came to him in a rumbling 

growling vampire purr. A soft puff of air came from the lips and fangs and brushed his ear and he 

shuddered with delight. His hard cock squashed against Spike’s, between their two slick wet bodies, 

jumped with joy at the growling and the vibrations coming through Spike’s chest wall. He squirmed 

uselessly trying to get more friction on his aching cock rubbing against Spike’s hard length, and he 

whimpered caught between the pumping fingers in his ass and the slippery good shock of his cock 

sliding against Spike’s hardness. Spike growled again low in his chest, at the sliding friction on his 

own hard cock, and with satisfaction. He could make his boy’s cock jump and cause the delightful 

squirming and whimpering by just making sounds. 

Spike licked at the shell of the ear in front of his mouth, and the bit down on it, while he pressed 

Xander’s joy button once again, Xander shuddered and bucked, and yelled. "Fuck! 

"Yes, Xander," Spike growled into the ear, fingers working into the clenching muscle between the 

widely spread ass cheeks, the boy had a death grip on, that seemed to be sucking his fingers in. He 

plunged the two fingers in harder and faster, in and out of his boy’s untried hole, the tight place his 

cock ached to be. 

He growled out. "I.Am.Going.To.Fuck.You." 

"I’m going to lay you on your bed. And you’re going to raise that perfect round ass, and with your 

own hands you’re going to spread these ass cheeks wide and hold them open, to present to me this 

tight virgin hole, and wait for my tongue, fingers, and cock to fill it." 

He plunged his fingers deep into the boy’s hole emphasizing his words and growled again at the 

helpless moan that escaped from Xander’s throat. 

"You’re gonna offer up yourself and your virgin ass to this demon, Xander, and I’m gonna take it with 

my fingers, my tongue and my cock. I’m gonna take you, and take your ass, after you beg me sweetly. 

You’re mine Xander. There’ll never ever be another cock plowing your tight hot ass but mine. And 

you’re going to tell me that, you’re going to admit you’re mine and only mine. You’re gonna scream it 

before I’m done with you, Xander. 

I’m gonna fuck your tight, hot, cherry ass with my thick, hard demon cock. I’m gonna shove every 

fucking thick. Long. Inch. Of my cock into your virgin hole til my balls are against your ass. Then I’m 

gonna pull back til my cockhead almost pops out and I’m gonna slam back into your tight greedy 

virgin hole. And you’re going to love it Xander. I’m going to plow into your ass up to my balls til I 

can’t get any deeper into that tight unfucked ass of yours, over and over, and you’re going to come 

screaming my name and begging for more. Then I’m gonna shoot my demon come deep, buried to the 

balls in your ass, boy, with your hot ass squeezing hard around every inch of my cock and milking it 

dry. 

I’m going to fuck your brains out, til you walk bowlegged for the next week. I’m gonna fuck you hard 

and deep and my balls are gonna slap against your ass until I come in the ass I’ve fucked so well, your 

well fucked ass. Because I can and you’re gonna let me. You’re gonna beg me for it; you’re going to 

beg me to fuck you Longer. Harder. Faster. Deeper. Again. And I’m gonna do it, stay in your ass til 

I’m hard again, and plow you over and over, long and deep and hard, until your ass is so full of my 

come that it’s running like water out of your pucker and down your thighs, until you beg for mercy, 

Xander." 

Xander writhed, he panted and moaned and burned for Spike. Spike’s words and the fingers working 

in his ass painted irresistible erotic pictures in his mind and set him on fire. He was burning. And 

Spike was the only one who could put out the flames. 

"Fuck me, please? Fuckmefuckmefuckmenow." 

Spike pulled his fingers out of his boy’s hungry hole, and released his hard grip in the boy’s hair. He 

leaned forward and caught the boy’s lips in one last hard kiss. Then he used his feet on the textured 

non skid floor and his bent knees, levering them up, his back sliding easily up the water slick wall. If 

he didn’t have vampiric strength it wouldn’t have been possible. Halfway up Xander wrapped his arms

around his neck and wrapped his long legs around his waist and locked his ankles. Spike grabbed the 

boy’s ass in both hands and his cock seemed to know where to go, it settled in the cleft of the boy’s ass 

causing him to moan. 

Spike shut off the water, pushed open the door of the shower and grabbed a towel. He dried them both 

as well as he could and rubbed Xander’s hair briskly. He dropped the towel on the floor and left it. 

Then he went into the bedroom, Xander still clinging to him. 

He supported his boy’s weight by holding an ass cheek in each hand. Spike’s cock rubbed, slid and 

bumped in his boy’s heated, moist cleft and over his hole with every step. Spike squeezed the hard 

globes, kneading them with his fingers. Xander moaned and clutched his waist in the vice of his legs 

and suckled on Spike’s neck as the vampire spread his ass cheeks apart and pressed them together 

again around his aching cock, trapping it in a snug tunnel, growling at the friction on his aching shaft 

as his boy flexed his ass muscles around it, and his cock slipped back and forth in that tightness while 

he walked. 

He walked over to the bedroom door, shut it and locked it with one hand, the other still grasping 

Xander’s ass. His boy clenched his ass cheeks hard on Spike’s cock holding it, until the missing hand 

rejoined the one on his ass. Then Spike continued his squeezing and kneading as he walked over to the 

bed. 

Spike got a knee on the bed, leaned forward, moved one arm to the boy’s back and set one stiff arm on 

the bed. then he lowered them both following his boy down in a controlled fall, he lay on top of his 

boy cradled in between the boy’s thighs with his legs still wrapped around him and Spike’s cock riding 

down the crease of his ass. Xander immediately unlocked his ankles, put his feet flat on the bed, and 

spread his knees wide to give Spike more access to his body. 

Spike, still in game face immediately captured his boy’s gaze, and swooped in to lick at the boy’s lips 

with the rougher tongue of the demon, then sealed his mouth over them tongue fucking the boy’s 

mouth, a continuous deep growl rumbled out of his chest as he took care not to shred the boy’s soft 

lips with his fangs. Xander threaded his fingers into the hair on the back of Spike’s head to hold him in 

place and pulled his mouth away to gasp in air. Then he pulled Spike’s mouth back to his and ran his 

tongue over the sensitve fangs curling it around each one and sucking on them. Spike growled and it 

turned into a purring moan. Xander keened at the sound and grabbed Spike’s ass pulling him down as 

he thrust his hips up into Spike, rubbing his hard cock between their damp bodies and making Spike’s 

cock ride up and down his cleft with the head of his cock rubbing hard over his sensitized hole. 

His boy brought a hand up and explored the sensitive ridges and planes of his game face. Brushing 

gentle exploring fingers over the brow ridges and down over his cheeks to his mouth. He tested a 

finger on the razor sharp point of one fang and slipped his finger into Spike’s mouth when a drop of 

blood welled up. 

Spike held his boy’s eyes as he suckled, purring around the warm digit, using his tongue to brush over 

the skin to get every trace of it, as he pumped his hard aching shaft between the boy’s ass cheeks, 

rubbing his cockhead over the crinkled skin of his boy’s hole. Xander’s blood was ambrosia, it was the 

sweetest Spike ever had the pleasure of tasting, and he had tasted oceans of it since his turning. More 

powerful than the blood of the slayer he had eaten in China; he could tell from that one tiny drop that 

his boy wasn’t any normal human, not anymore, even if the changes weren’t truly visible yet. That one 

sweet rich drop of blood was loaded with emotion; lust, hope, want, longing, loneliness. Love? And 

others so mixed in he couldn’t separate them all out because of his preoccupation. That small drop 

burned down his throat to his belly, and went straight to his cock. He came growling around the boy’s 

finger, sucking on it furiously, as his cock sprayed come into the boy’s cleft and over the sweet pucker 

there. 

Spike growled again, and let the boy’s finger pull free with a pop. Then he backed down the boy’s 

body and inhaled his sizable erection, sucking hard, mouth stretching wide to accommodate his boy’s 

size. Xander grabbed his head hard with desperate hands and his hips left the bed with a violent jerk. 

He used his bent legs and hammered his cock into Spike’s voracious mouth as far as it would go.

Spike’s nose was crushed into the dark hair that surrounded the boy’s cock and his chin was buried in 

the boy’s balls. The big head of his boy’s cock hit the back of Spike throat and he swallowed it, and 

continued to swallow continuously around it. Xander came apart at the seams, holding his head and 

fucking his mouth mindlessly, with long, hard, fast strokes. He pulled back on the outstroke against 

the strong suction of Spike’s mouth, babbling nonsense, until just the glans was still in Spike’s mouth 

being laved by his strong tongue, and slammed back in up to his balls, Spike’s strong throat muscles 

were there to ripple around the head. Spike felt the boy’s balls draw up tight beneath his chin and he 

brought his hands to the boy’s hips stopping his movement. Spike swallowed the boy’s cock down 

sucking in hard and closed his throat tightly around the head of the boy’s cock and growled. Xander 

came hard, screaming his name. It was music to his ears. 

Spike pulled back until he could taste his boy’s offering, he let it flood his mouth and swallowed it 

hungrily. Tasting and appreciating, like a connoisseur, the addictive, slightly salty essence of Xander. 

He sucked hard, greedily attempting to draw every drop of come from the boy’s balls through the head 

of his cock. 

Xander collapsed, all his strength gone and his mind too, it had shot out of his cock. His heart seemed 

to lurch and take up a syncopated rhythm. He was heaving and gasping trying to regain his breath and 

his mind. His mind seemed to have left his body along with his spunk, they both shot down Spike’s 

throat at the same time. His breath was easier to get back. 

Spike crawled back up his body and his bright blue eyes smirked down at his breathless boy in a male 

kind of satisfaction. He leaned down and brushed his lips over Xander’s forehead and across his 

eyelids as they closed, over his cheekbones and down to his boy’s succulent mouth. Then he tried to 

suck Xander’s last two brain cells out through his throat. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Damn! But his vampire had some kind of evil sucking mouth. It was all a plot to keep little Xander 

from running away. That’s it. Keep big Xander distracted with that mouth, talking that good nasty, 

sucking on various parts of his extremely appreciative body, or using that tongue to mine for gold in 

his tonsils. Either way little Xander wasn’t going anywhere cause big Xander kept losing his mind, and 

little Xander was waking up again and getting interested in the activities, well on his way to happy 

once again. Traiter. It was a conspiracy. Spike and little Xander were out to get him he just knew it. 

Between the two of them, he might never be able to think straight again. Oh the betrayal! By his own 

body no less, he already knew Spike was evil. Then evil Spike had to get his evil hands involved in the 

evil scheme, those wicked, evil, Big Bad fingers and hands. Hands shouldn’t be able to do things like 

that. There had to be a law, and as soon as he found his mind wherever it went, he was going to look it 

up, on the web maybe, and present it to his Big Bad evil vampire. But Oh God! It could wait a while; 

he didn’t want to distract the various evils too much because what they were doing to little Xander felt 

too damned good. He he. 

There went his last two brain cells, carrying bulging suitcases, and waving merrily at him as they left 

his brain and locked the door behind them. They had traveling directions and a map to little Xander’s 

amusement park. And brain cells ride free on Wednesdays. Traitors! 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Spike felt Xander’s cock swelling once again, and shifted a bit with his mouth still glued to the boy’s 

lips, sharing the taste of his own come with him. He braced himself on his elbows at either side of 

Xander’s head, drew up his knees, and slid them over Xander’s legs, placing one knee on each side of 

his boy. Then he lifted himself onto one straightened arm and lifted his pelvis away from his boy with 

his legs, reached down between their bodies and grasped both their cocks together. Xander groaned 

into his mouth. 

Spike stroked their cocks slowly with a firm grip, on the upstroke rubbing his thumb across drizzling 

cockheads, spreading and mixing their precum together. Xander’s hands wandered up and down the 

muscles of his back, down to his ass, and back up to the back of his head moaning around vampire 

tongue as he tried to suck it down his throat gnawing it with his teeth.

Xander finally broke away to catch his breath, gasping and panting. And Spike could hear his heart 

beating like a snare drum; it had an odd syncopated rhythm that Spike had never noticed before. 

Xander pulled him down for chest to chest contact, his straightened arm collapsed to an elbow. His 

boy mewled as he rubbed against Spike like a cat in heat, with a sinuous wavelike motion from head to 

heels and a twist of his torso. 

"Damn, Spike, every nerve I have is on the outside of my skin." He gasped out. "You feel so good. 

Touch me," he begged ", anywhere, ahhhh.... everywhere." Spike twisted and rubbed his hard pecs and 

nipples against the boy’s chest, catching his hot gaze and holding it as he continued pumping their 

erections slowly between their bellies, he squeezed hard once, "Oh, hell, Spike!" 

Xander looked him straight in the eye with sweat starting to bead on his forehead and dampen his 

temples, and said very clearly and concisely. "I am on fire here. And you’re the only one that can put it 

out. I want you to fuck me, Spike, right now. I want you to bite me first. I want your fangs in one end 

and your cock in the other" 

Spike froze, all movement stopping for a long moment. Then his eyes blazed, a hot yellow taking over 

the blazing blue, and he growled deep and low. He released their hard cocks and pulled himself up, 

running his eyes over his debauched boy, laying there all flushed, beginning to sweat, gasping and 

panting, hard cock leaking and laid flat against his belly, as he demanded Spike’s bite, and Spike’s 

cock in his ass. Beautiful. It’s one of those ’once in a lifetime’ moments that you never want to forget. 

Spike wanted to engrave the sight in his mind so it would be there forever. 

He slowly lifted his knee up and over the boy and still holding his boy’s eyes, he settled there beside 

him for a moment. "I told you how this was going to happen, Xxxaanderr," he hissed out low and 

sibilant, between the fangs of his game face. The boy shuddered. "Oh, fuck yeah." Remembering the 

hot words growled out in his ear. "Do it." 

"On your belly boy," he growled out. "Now." 

Xander rolled over so fast he should have had whiplash. Spike watched with satisfaction, as the boy 

scrambled to pull his knees under him raising his ass high, whimpering and mewling already, and 

leaving his head and shoulders flat on the bed, arching his back, with his arms crossed above his head, 

and hands clenched tightly in the bedcovers, like some kind of sacrifice to a salacious god. 

"Spread, boy. " He growled. And Xander’s back arched even deeper, thrusting his ass higher and his 

hands went back, each hand clutching one of those perfect globes, fingers slayed wide, almost 

touching his virgin hole, and pulled them up and apart hard, making them gape wide, to present 

himself and lewdly expose that tight unfucked pucker to Spike’s lustful, possessive gaze. 

"Knees apart. Boy" 

Xander transferred his weight to his chest for a moment, groaning at the friction on his sensitive front, 

and slid his knees wide to the point of almost pain. Then he redistributed his weight. His constantly 

leaking cock and his balls were clearly visible, lewdly displayed for Spike’s inspection and 

convenience, with his knees widely spread and his back arched, with his fluttering hole almost pointed 

straight up. 

Spike moved off the bed, and walked around to the foot of it, inspecting the vision in front of him. 

Xander back deeply arched, dripping cock, and drawn up balls, and tight virgin pucker on display in a 

widely stretched cleft, mewling before he had even been touched, and presented to him in a way that 

had him grabbing the base of his cock and squeezing hard to prevent the sudden surge of orgasm. His 

demon was straining against his control, wanting to jump on the boy and slam into his ass. Spike 

wanted to fuck him senseless not savage him. 

He turned away from the sight and barked. "Lube?" 

"T..tt..tttt...ttable." stuttering gasp. 

Spike rounded the bed and pulled the door open on the bedside table and found inside a large tube of 

slick with a little nozzle on the end. His eyebrow went up. Well, well, interesting, a boy scout as well 

as other things, his boy. 

The little interlude had served to give him back control of himself. He went back to the foot of the bed

throwing the tube of lube onto the bed and climbed up from there, coming up to his boy from behind. 

The boy started waggling his ass at him and the sounds from him became louder. Spike reached out his 

hands placing them over Xander’s as he held his own ass cheeks wide, and let his thumbs caress down 

the hypersensitive skin around the boy’s hole. This caused bucking and writhing trying to get more 

sensation and more touching from the teasing hands and fingers. Short sharp cries came from deep in 

the boy’s throat. 

Spike ran one hand down the exposed center brushing lightly with his fingers over the skin of the 

presented hole, reveling in his freedom to see what he was feeling. His cock jumped hard and he 

continued with the caress down between the boy’s wide spread thighs firmly pushing in with his 

fingers on that small area between the balls and the pretty little pucker. Xander babbled. 

"Fuck yeah, touch me, dammit, touch my balls, touch my cock, fuck, fuck, touch me everywhere." 

Gasping and groaning. 

Spike moved his hand to the balls drawn up on either side of the hard cock, and rubbed his palm, hand 

flat, over balls and cock cupping them in his hand and testing the weight of them dangling free, nicely 

displayed for his ease of touch, between the boy’s leg’s. He pressed the heel of his hand into the boy’s 

balls and grasped the wide base of the boy’s cock with his fingers in a hard grip. 

"Oh shit, oh shit, your evil fucking hands Spike." From Xander. 

Spike’s other hand was still on the wildly gyrating, shimmying ass; his thumb went to the virgin hole 

and pressed. Xander gave a choked shriek. 

"I’m waitin, Xander." Spike ground out on a feral growl. "Don’t make me wait too long, boy." 

"Yours, It’s yours," came back in a gasping whimperwail. 

What? Tell me, boy" Spike growled out huskily, as he pressed his thumb deeper into that sensual ring 

of muscle, caressing the inner surface with carnal pleasure. 

" My ccockkkk.." 

"And?" 

"My cc...ccc..oooccck and m...mmmyy ..a...aaassssssss." 

"That all? I think I’m through here then." 

"No. Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop," Shrieked Xander. 

"Tell me then, tell me now." 

"I’m giving myself t..to you spike. I’m giving you my tight virgin ass to fuck. I’m yours, I belong to 

you. N.n..no one else ever. Only you. T..take me Spike, p..please! Take my virgin ass with your 

mouth, and fingers, and cock! Take a...a..all of me. My blood. My c..cock. My ass. My mouth. 

T..t..take it all. Take a..all of me. F..f...fuck m..me Spi..k...ke. Plllllleeeeeeaaase, please, please. Bite 

me Spike. Bite me and D...drink me down w...while y...you f..f..fuck my v...vir..virgin h.h..hole and 

m..m.make i.it y..yours. Make me c..come Spike. N..n..no other cock in m..m..my..ass. No other 

c...cock coming in my ass J..just you Spike," Came out on breathless panting cries. 

Spike didn’t waste time with words. He gave the boy’s cock and balls, one more massaging caress and 

set them free to dangle. And replaced his hands on top of the ones Xander was clutching his ass cheeks 

with. The boy wiggled his ass and waved that succulent ring of muscle in front of his face, enticing his 

eyes and making his mouth water. He let his human face return, bent and without any further waiting, 

dined on Xander’s ass. He laved the velvety skin around that enticing crinkle with broad swipes of his 

tongue working his way in, to the little bud, the real treasure between his hands. He circled that untried 

pucker with the tip of his tongue, then lapped at it with little cat licks. He sealed his open mouth 

around it and suckled while he used his teeth on the outer rim scraping over the wrinkled 

circumference while he probed with the pointed tip of his tongue pushing into that tight circlet to the 

moist heat within. He worked his tongue in and just tongue fucked that tight bud until he felt it relax, 

while Xander made a wet mouth and muscular stabbing tongue. 

Spike pulled back and looked at the wet loosened muscle with satisfaction, and felt around for the lube 

and opened the top of the nozzle. He pressed the tube and got a generous amount on one finger and 

turned back to Xander’s ass. He massaged the relaxed little hole with the tip of his finger and slid the

tip of it in. Xander ’s back was damp with sweat, and he was so overloaded he was trying to beg, but 

all he could do was draw in sobbing breaths and mewl partial words and nonsense syllables. Spike was 

pleased. 

"Took your ass with my mouth boy, now it’s gonna be fingers. Gonna finger fuck you til you’re nice 

and loose, then I’m gonna slide every inch of my cock into your slick tight virgin ass, and bugger you, 

just like I told you Xander. The boy bucked and shuddered again. Spike watched closely as the tip of 

his finger disappeared in the boy’s tight heat. He drew the finger tip back and pushed it in again, 

beginning a steady rhythm. The next time he pushed the finger in, the boy’s ass sucked it in all the way 

up to the last knuckle. He sat there face bent close, eyes fixed on the finger fucking the boy’s hole. 

Then he pulled it out getting a whine from Xander in protest as the boy clutched at it with his inner 

muscles. Spike shuddered himself imagining that tight moist heat clenching around his cock. 

"More fingers, more lube, boy". 

This time he teased the boy with two before he slipped them in and began an easy rhythm, fucking that 

little ring of muscle. The boy’s ass just seemed to eat his fingers. He twisted the two fingers and 

spread them and started a harder faster rhythm that had Xander making a broken choked sound. 

Spike pulled the two out and came back with three lubed fingers. He brought the fingers together at the 

tips and worked them into the boy’s ass. Xander grunted and panted and whined. He pulled harder at 

his ass cheeks and wiggled his ass, tying to get Spike to move faster. Spike eased the three fingers in 

up to the last knuckle and stretched the apart and twisted them again. Then he began a hard rhythm 

fucking the boy hard with them. Xander thrust back to meet the hard thrusting fingers. He began to hit 

the boy’s prostate with those fingers, and reached between the boy’s legs and pulled down hard on his 

balls to keep him from coming, and the boy jerked and yelled angrily, wordlessly into the mattress. 

"You don’t get to come yet, boy." 

He pulled the fingers from Xander’s body. Picked up the tube of slick and pushed the long nozzle into 

the boy’s ass and squeezed the tube. Then he applied a line down his hard cock spreading it by giving 

his cock a couple of long twisting strokes. 

He moved up close behind his boy, his game face emerging again. He gripped his aching cock 

bringing the thick bulbous head to Xander’s pulsating anus just touching it to the muscle. 

"Who am I Xander? Answer me." 

A hoarse, throaty voice answered. "Spike." 

"Keep your hands right where they are, Xander, presenting that pretty virgin asshole to take my cock. 

Keep those ass cheeks spread out. I want to see my cock sliding into your tight cherry ass taking you. 

Filling your ass up with me, owning your ass. Spread until I get my cock into your cherry ass, Xander, 

all the way up to my balls. 

Spike began to press into that tight hole and Xander pulled at his ass cheeks still displaying, 

presenting, and offering up his ass to be taken by Spike. Spike watched as the virgin ring of muscle 

started to stretch around the shape of his cockhead, and he wanted to come, he almost did. He grabbed 

the base of his own cock in a one hand and pulled his own balls down hard with the other, until the 

impending orgasm was staved off. 

"Bear down, boy." 

And Xander did. 

Spike started to speak again as his cockhead was swallowed by the boy’s tight gobbling hole. 

"Gonna fuck you now Xander, because you asked for it, begged me to shove my cock in this ass. 

Gonna fuck you til you scream. Gonna bite you hard, claim you, suck down every last drop of that 

delicious blood of yours, while I fuck your tight virgin ass. Gonna leave my mark on you, so everyone 

knows you’re mine, because you’re mine, and I can, because you want it, don’t you? You want my 

fangs deep in one end and my cock fucking you hard while I take you at both ends, don’t you 

Xander?" 

The entire head of Spike’s cock was enclosed in the tightest, scorching heat imaginable. He felt the 

boy’s odd heartbeat again, through the velvety tissue clenching down around him. He could feel

strange, soft little bumps in the tissue surrounding his cockhead as he slid it further into the tight 

elastic channel. 

He bent forward and caressed Xander’s arched back with possessive hands as he slowly impaled the 

boy’s ass with his hard thick length, pausing frequently to let the boy’s untried hole adjust to his size 

and shape. Then Xander’s ass decided to swallow him whole. He had been pressing forward slowly, 

but Xander had other ideas and he lunged back taking Spike’s full length until his balls slapped against 

Xander’s own. 

Spike just froze. He looked down at the place where the boy’s ass had his cock captured up to the 

balls. He reached out with trembling fingers and traced the thin stretched skin around the thick base of 

his cock. The boy’s sultry heat surrounded him and the muscles fluttered and clung around his thick 

long shaft and about his cockhead. 

This was as close to heaven as demons ever got. 

He wrapped his clawed hands around Xander’s hips in a strong grip. "Let go of your ass cheeks boy. 

Xander sobbed out some nonsense or other and let his arms fall to the bed where he clenched them in 

the covers, and thrust back against Spike hard. 

Spike pulled back a short way and pushed back in, Xander moaned. Spike pulled out further and slid 

back in a little harder the large head of his cock brushing through the strange tissue and over the boy’s 

joy button. Xander’s hips began to writhe; he began to let out little yelps every time Spike moved 

backwards or forwards. The boy was arching his back and thrusting back hard to meet each of Spikes’s 

gliding lunges. It wasn’t enough for Xander. 

"Damn it Spike, don’t play with it, fuck it!" 

Spike jack hammered his cock into the boy’s tight hole. Xander was a making high pitched keening 

sound and still meeting him thrust for thrust. That tight wet greedy ass sucked him in and clutched at 

him with an almost unbearable friction. 

"Spike, stop, I want to see you, while you fuck me." 

Spike pulled out and flipped the boy over. Xander reached up and grabbed what looked like decorative 

chains from the headboard and pulled. He brought up some strange looking padded things. He lifted 

his foot and brought it up under his knee and snapped the quick snap latches above and below the 

knee, and then repeated it on the other knee. Then he looked up at Spike. "Attach these on those hooks 

straight up there and these on the ones at the corners." When Spike had attached the rings over the 

hooks he could see what they were intended for. His boy was full of surprises. The padded things were 

curved pieces of rubber, with a thick layer of fabric covered foam. They molded themselves to the 

back of the knee. The chains that went to the hooks overhead held the knees up almost to the boy’s 

ears; the chains that attached to the corners of the head board pulled the knees open wide and left the 

feet and calves dangling in the air. The person in the mini slings had their knees raised and spread as 

far up and apart as they would go, exposing everything, and leaving it on display, for fucking, sucking 

or whatever pleasure you had in mind. Spike shuddered. 

"Come here Spike." 

Spike went. He wanted back in that ass. He crawled around the boy’s legs and up the boy’s body. He 

settled himself on his boy between those wide splayed legs, and looked down into the dilated eyes. 

"Bite me. Now." He demanded, and threw his head back exposing his throat. 

Spike roared and leaped forward shouting ",Mine," striking like a snake, burying his fangs in the 

tender flesh of Xander’s neck up to the gum line, and growled as he began to draw the boy’s blood and 

it burned, oh fuck, it burned all the way to his belly, then lit a fire there. Xander grabbed at the back of 

his head with a hand pressing his fangs, sucking mouth and head closer, holding him there. He 

slammed his cock back into the boy’s ass in one hard thrust and without pause, just pounded into his 

boy and Xander was growling and then shouting his name. Spike could feel his balls draw up and he 

was growling and snarling around the flesh he had his fangs buried in as he drained the last drop of 

that burning elixir from is boy. He felt a sudden sharp pain in his own neck and it went straight to his 

cock. And they both came like freight trains colliding, and promptly passed out.

They both missed the bright light that surrounded them separately and the swirling wind that blew into 

the room, centered on them. Their separate lights merged sending tendrils into each of them weaving a 

complex pattern between them, the light turned several colors then settled on blue and sank down into 

them as one. The door of the bedroom opened and surprised eyes took in the dissipating glow. 


Back to index 







__________________________________________________ 

"God’s," Gorge muttered ", can’t leave you kids alone for a minute. Khyle they’ve bonded." He threw 

over his shoulder at his mate as he cautiously pushed the door open wider and stepped into the room. 

The scents in the room almost overwhelmed him. The air was thick with the musky scents of 

Companion and vampire pheromones mixed with, lust, spent passion, blood, and all the other 

associated emotions and scents that naturally surround those things. It was a heady mixture in the 

enclosed space. 

Khyle stepped into the room behind him, his first sight of his nephew ever, was in his most 

compromised position on the bed, unconscious with his bonded mate’s spent cock still in his ass, and 

legs suspended midair in the mini slings. Spike’s head laid on the boy’s shoulder, his face hidden, still 

pressed into Xander’s neck. Khyle snickered; he chuckled, broke down and guffawed, then laughed 

hard and nearly soundlessly as he leaned against Gorge for support. Laughter sparkled deep in Gorge’s 

eyes. He looked down at Khyle, as he tried not to laugh himself, but he raised a brow with a smirk he 

couldn’t quite supress. 

"Oh shit," right on time from Tomas, as he peeped over their shoulders at the erotic sight, and a 

chuckle from Sinjin. "I knew Xander had it in him," he sniggered ", in fact he does have it in him," to a 

chorus of pained groans ", Sinjin!" 

Khyle manfully overcame his laughter and weakly stood upright wiping tears of mirth from his still 

wickedly amused eyes. "Alright, let’s get them more comfortable." Gorge moved toward the entangled 

couple, Khyle followed, they took opposite sides of the bed and unhooked the chains. Tomas and 

Sinjin supported Xander’s legs one each side, and lowered them gently to the bed. They snapped open 

the quick release closures that held the straps closed above and below the knees, and pulled the mini 

slings free. No one even attempted to separate the two entwined lovers. 

Khyle looked down at the two unconscious boys, now bonded mates, literally glued together on the 

bed. He smiled as he ran his fingers through Xander’s dark hair in a light caress and brushed it away 

from his face ", he’s beautiful, Gorge," then he moved the light touch over back of Spike’s shorter hair 

to his exposed nape ", they both are. And they’re so gorgeous together. Xander looks so much like 

Hunter, but he has Nick’s eyes and hair. I’m so happy to be here; to witness the bonding of Xander, 

my brother’s only son." Sadness, the melancholy of an old sorrow, flickered over his face for a 

moment and he sighed deeply. "I only wish he were here to witness his son’s bonding and 

changeover." 

Gorge’s eyebrow went up as he watched his Khyle and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "These 

boys are doing things unconventionally just fine by themselves, without any help. He chuckled ", what 

is it with this family and doing everything ass backwards?" 

Khyle pulled his hand back from Spike’s hair and grinned at his mate as he turned toward the linen

closet and wandered over to it. He shook his perfect ass saucily at Gorge as he walked away. "Am I 

hearing complaints? Seems to me that you’ve enjoyed every bit of ass backwardness since the first 

time you had me on my knees with my ass backwards, especially since you were swearing a blue 

streak, with your cock in it balls deep." 

Khyle threw his hands in the air, his eyes flashed with enjoyment ", I know better I really do," he 

muttered to himself, as the other three laughed at his helpless surrender. "Yeah I hear you, laugh it up, 

but who do you run to when everything goes balls up, huh? Na uh," he said as Sinjin opened his mouth 

to say something while he grinned like the Cheshire cat or maybe the Mad Hatter, he wasn’t sure, but 

he eyed the boy’s evil grin suspiciously. Sinjin closed his mouth, and thought a second then opened it 

again. "Na uh uh!" Gorge said again. Sinjin gave up and laughed at his tall parent. "That’s alright. I’ll 

get you later anyway." 

"Khyle, you created a monster," huffed Gorge, as he turned and got distracted at the sight of Khyle’s 

ass. He was head first in the linen closet his long legs and ass encased in tight leather were all that 

could be seen. Said ass wiggled as he searched through the linens. Gorge’s pants started to shrink. 

"I seem to remember you being there, when he was created, Gorge, in fact you had a damn good time 

contributing sperm for the creation of the monster, if all the snarling and shouting were anything to go 

by," the linen closet’s ass wriggled energetically, the back seam of the tight leather hugged the crease 

and separated the round globes beautifully. Gorge’s pants got tighter. 

"Nobody loves me, everybody hates me. Daddy, Dad’s picking on me," pouted Sinjin, his full bottom 

lip stuck out and green eyes gleamed mischievously as he watched his parent ogle the ass that stuck 

out of the closet and that might be wiggling a lot more than it had to. 

The only linen closet in existence with an ass in tight leather that wagged also snorted and laughed ", 

you deserve it brat, and we did create a monster. Aha, I found them," the closet gave a triumphant 

shout. The wagging ass withdrew from the closet and waved two super soft micro fleece blankets in 

the air. Gorge sighed in disappointment, ass watching time was over. Khyle smirked at him. 

Khyle moved back to the bed with the blankets and Gorge grabbed a round cheek through Khyle’s 

leathers as he went past, and followed him. A wave of pheromones and lust/desire/horny/mine/ almost 

knocked him over as he cracked open the bond a little and scented the already saturated air. He 

grinned happily, maybe they could go unpack in a little while, he connived quietly. Tomas and Sinjin, 

well used to the antics of their passionate parents, laughed fondly. 

"Let’s get them covered." Khyle unfolded one blanket, and Gorge took the other one. He moved to the 

opposite side of the bed and unfolded the blanket in his hands as he went. Khyle spread the first 

blanket over the two sleeping lovers. "Andy and Dan need to do that revealing spell as soon as 

possible. I want to see if that Slayer and those witches have done anything to Xander and Spike; those 

bitches have a lot to answer for if they’ve done anything to endanger them." Gorge spread his blanket 

over the first one and tucked his side in around the sleeping forms. Khyle continued his diatribe while 

he tucked the boys in on the other side, protection mode fully engaged. "The hellmouth frequencies 

have already affected his changeover. He’s past the usual age, and that worries me. He’s the oldest 

I’ve ever heard of in changeover. His being bonded so soon after changeover started is going to affect 

his development as well. I’ve never heard of anyone bonded to a mate so soon after changeover began, 

even though and you and I come close, then Hunter and Nick." 

The four of them stood beside the bed for a moment as they contemplated the newly bonded pair. 

"Let’s get this done," Khyle turned and walked to the bedroom door. 

They left the bedroom silently deep in thought and made their way to the kitchen. Everyone else 

showered and refreshed was already gathered there, they sat around the large trestle table and talked 

while they waited. Khyle went directly to the stove where the smell of cooking food and steam drifted 

up from various pots and pans. The aroma wafted over to the table and made the mouths there water in 

anticipation. "Damn Daddy, I have missed your cooking," groaned Tomas, his eyes rolled in 

remembered delight and he sniffed the air dramatically ", what smells so good?" 

"Well, there’s a big roast in the oven, with all the trimmings, and I’ve got beef stew cooking in this big

pot, because we may be busy later. We can refrigerate the stew and heat it up if we need to, it’s usually 

better after it sits for a while anyway. There are fresh biscuits in the warming basket. I’ve also got 

some steamed veggies here, the makings of hot bacon dressing for the spinach salad, and wild rice." 

Moans of appreciation came from several throats." 

Khyle smiled and then added ",someone needs to go out and load up on supplies; I don’t think we need 

to go in and out too much for the next couple of weeks. There’s too much chance of discovery, 

especially with those soldiers around, and the Slayer out of town. Pheromones will stick to you no 

matter what you do, and we don’t need any noses to get curious and come to sniffing about. Xander 

will to be eating like a starved person in a day or so, I’m thinking. So we better get prepared. It takes a 

lot of good food for a Companion’s body to make quality blood for a bonded mate." 

He paused with a thoughtful expression and then ",Sinjin and Tomas, it might be better if you didn’t 

go outside at all. We will open a portal in the workout room after we do the revealing spell and you 

can go home and get the supplies. This place is warded well enough that the magical signature of an 

opened portal can’t be detected outside. I believe it’s less risky to do it that way, than for you to lower 

the wards." 

"We’ll have to wake Xander and Spike in a while if they don’t wake on their own, because we need to 

do that revealing spell as soon as possible. And they need to consent to it first. We have to get rid of 

anything magical that might cause a delay or complications in the change, if there’s anything there at 

all" Khyle looked over at Dan and Andy. "Do you two need anything you didn’t bring with you for the 

spell?" 

"We’re pretty much used to picking up and going at a moment’s notice, so we keep everything stocked 

in our travel kits." Dan looked into his coffee cup and swirled the contents as though he read tea 

leaves. "Unless we need an extremely exotic ingredient to undo something, we should be okay with 

what we’ve brought. When we’re finished with dinner, we’ll go set up in the workout room. There 

should be enough room for everyone and we won’t have to move any furniture around." 

Andy solemnly nodded his agreement as he looked at Sinjin and Tomas. "I’m glad you have wards 

strong enough to block out the hellmouth frequencies. If you didn’t we would have to take them 

through the portal and do the spell at home." Then he switched his gaze to Khyle and Gorge. "It still 

might be the wisest thing at this point with all the other irregularities in Xander’s changeover." 

Gorge sat without speaking for long moments deep in thought. "No," he finally answered Andy firmly 

as his eyes flared into gold ",Xander and Spike have already lost too much control over what has 

happened to them in the past. Events and circumstances beyond their control have stripped them of the 

right to make choices in their lives." He looked around the table at everyone. 

"Xander is in the beginning stages of changeover and he doesn’t truly understand what is happening to 

him. It has to feel like the ultimate betrayal, his own body in revolt, on top of everything else he’s 

dealt with in his short life. All of us have known about Xander, but Xander hasn’t known about us. 

Add a new family he knew nothing about before today, together with the helplessness he feels as his 

body changes, the bond that he now has with Spike and what it means for him and his life." 

"Spike is not very stable at the moment either; he didn’t know anything about me and he’s never been 

informed about true vampire history, much less Aurelian history. He’s been tortured and abused at the 

hands of his Sire then abandoned. He had to take care of his Sire’s other childe and make his way in 

the world while he was still a fledge. He was rejected by that same Sire when he found him here. Then 

the Initiative captured him, tortured him, and put that abomination in his head. He’s worried about 

Xander and feels helpless against the situation, but he feels the need to protect him anyway and he 

probably doesn’t know anything about the bond or what it means for him and his future." 

"The combination is an emotional and mental time bomb for both of them; if we don’t step carefully 

here, it’s also a catastrophe just waiting to happen. So no, I don’t feel comfortable taking the decision 

away from them. We won’t move them unless we get their permission first. We might be able to do 

the revealing spell here and if anything else needs to be taken care of in a safer place, we can get 

permission from them both and take them through the portal. Because if anything is revealed it’ll be

just one more thing added to a mix already close to boiling over. Let’s just wait and see what’s 

revealed by the spell first. Then I’ll ask, if I think they’re stable enough mentally and emotionally to 

handle it. I will do whatever it takes to keep both of them safe and sane. Besides all that I feel a 

wrongness about moving them just yet." 

He looked around the table and got various forms of assent, in nods or murmured Okays and alrights. 

Khyle moved to his side, looked into his yellow eyes and hugged him hard, then gave him a short 

sweet kiss. He turned back to the stove and pulled the oven door open to peer inside, grabbed a couple 

of potholders and carefully extracted the hot roasting pan from the oven. "The roast is done; we can eat 

when you all are ready, if you’ll set the table." 

Everyone jumped eagerly into motion; they found plates and silverware, and covered the table with a 

fine cloth. Meanwhile Khyle transferred the roast and trimmings to a large serving platter and procured 

a carving knife, while Gorge danced around him to find the wine glasses and decanted a bottle of 

special wine to go with their meal. Khyle set the roast in the center of the table, and the knife beside 

Gorge’s place. Tomas put the basket of bread on the table, Sinjin put the rice and veggies in other 

serving dishes and put them on table. The salad was placed on the table as Khyle finished up the hot 

bacon dressing, turned off the stove and reached for the gravy boat he had sitting on the counter. 

Finally everything was accomplished, everyone found themselves a seat, and waited while Khyle 

poured the special wine into the ornate wine glasses. He followed the same pattern as the one Rusaka 

had used at Sanctuarie. Then they waited expectantly for Gorge, and exchanged looks with shining 

eyes and knowing smiles. 

Gorge stood and raised his glass for a toast and the others followed suit. He looked around the table 

with a smile. "I am so proud tonight. I was proud when my sons changed over, and now I am here to 

witness my nephew by blood and my great nephew in the line of Aurelius bond and begin the change. 

It is my honor to guard them at this most vulnerable and important time. It is my great pleasure to see 

them safely through the change and begin the rest of their lives,to stand as a witness to their bond, and 

confirm them as a bonded pair. And though Xander’s fathers can’t be here, or Spike’s Sire, for this 

truly wonderful event, they are not alone; I have taken Xander and Spike into my family as adopted 

sons. From this night forward, until death and beyond it, they are as truly mine as are Khyle, Tomas 

and Sinjin, so I will with great pride and joy, chant the blessing," and without further ado he chanted 

with a deep voice that rolled with authority and rich overtones of pride and pleasure. 

To beginnings that come from an ending 

The new comes from the old 

One made from fragments 

Two halves to make whole 

Dark meets Light 

In equal parts 

Dusk light and Dawn light 

Spring and autumn the heart 

Strength from weakness 

Death from Life 

There is no day without the dawn 

Without dusk there is no night 

There is no summer without the spring 

There is no winter without the fall 

There is no darkness without the light 

Balance rules over all 

When the last words passed his lips he brought his glass down and all the members of the group 

shouted out ", Aye," met his glass with their own and the fine crystal chimed. 

Immediately a warm moist wind sprang up, swirled strongly around the kitchen and table. It whipping 

at hair and clothing and blew through the house. It clattered at Xander’s bedroom door and the door

sprang open, then it sighed through the door with an eager whine. It sang and circled around the room 

with Xander and Spike at the center. Then it gentled to a fresh breeze redolent with the scents of the 

freshly turned earth of new planted fields in the spring, the freshly mowed hay of harvest time, and the 

tea leaf smell of leaves in the late fall. It gradually wound down to a whisper and then a puff of air that 

blew right into the faces of the pair asleep on the bed. It stirred locks of their hair gently, and faded 

completely away. A few moments later a sense of peace and protection was all that remained 


Back to index 

Author: WolfMama 

Title: Companions 

Chapter: 

Pairing: Spike/Xander 

Rating: FRAO. 17+ only please. 

Feedback: Yes 

Concrit: by email please/in comments 

Warnings/Squicks: 

Summary: 







************************************************************************ 

Acid, he was sunburned, sandpapered and dropped in acid, he thought fuzzily as he swam back to 

consciousness on a wave of dÃÂ©jÃ vu. He had been beaten first though, he concluded brilliantly. He 

prodded gently around in his mind and tried to retrieve the memories of what resident of hellmouth 

central had put the whammy on him this time. 

He gingerly tried to move and immediately wished he hadn’t, every part of his body screamed in 

protest at the same time, effectively drowning him in sensations. He gasped and moaned quietly as he 

turned his head on the pillow. 

Pillow? 

Excellent, that’s very clever; you win the award for penetrating wit Sherlock, said the voice in his 

head. 

If there is a pillow this must be a bed, and by Jove, there it is under me. 

You’re just humming along aren’t you old boy? 

What’s on top of me then Mr. Smart guy? He queried the voice in his head. 

Quietness answered. 

Got you there smart ass. He silently sneered at the voice. 

He set about gathering more intelligence from his surroundings. He pried open eyelids that demanded 

a bribe to work properly and looked around blearily through slit eyes. He lifted a hand to rub his face 

and ran into another body along the way, well that answered what’s on top, now didn’t it? 

Then the memories hit him right between the eyes; everything, jumbled images and emotions burst 

into his mind like an exploding grenade. Him. Spike. The shower. The bed. His mind reeled at the 

phantom sensations that crashed through him, echoes of arousal and pleasure. His heart gave an oddly 

syncopated lurch and he panted lightly through dry lips and ran his tongue across them in a fruitless 

effort to sooth them with moisture. He could taste the lingering scents of musk and lust on his tongue

like a fine wine. 

The body stiffened and the mouth touching his neck spoke, sent rumbling vibrations through him, 

teased the sensitive skin on his neck with tiny puffs of air that made his body hair rise up. Chill bumps 

raced across his sensitive flesh. He shuddered uncontrollably and completely missed what the mouth 

said. He tried to work up enough spit to wet his cotton mouth, swallowed hard, and attempted to get 

some words out through the desert of his throat. 

"What?" The most intelligent thing his brain could come up with out of the chaos in his head. 

Spike cautiously raised his head, and lifted himself onto his elbows, and leaned over Xander, blue 

lasers burned down into golden brown to the heart of him, it gave him something to focus on. The 

mouth spoke and the voice patiently rumbled again. "I said, you’re not gonna play the soiled virgin 

routine are you, pet? Was you that started it after all, weren’t it?" Then he went absolutely still, that 

preternatural stillness he did so well. Watching. Waiting. 

Shock like ice water flooded Xander’s system as he watched uncertainty flicker in those blue eyes. 

He’s waiting to be rejected, hurt, Xander realized. Spike been hurt before, used, abandoned, left alone, 

friendless, without anyplace to call home, no one to turn to. His self righteous sire had rejected him as 

both Angelus and Angel. Dru left him after he gave her a hundred years of tender devotion. The 

Scoobies saw him as an inconvenience and tolerated him only for what use they could make of him. 

He had a right to feel that way. Xander thought miserably. Rage at the assholes who had hurt his vamp 

flared up, burned away his confusion, the tattered remnants of other emotions and left him weak as a 

kitten. 

A primal need like he’d never felt before rose in him, want burned in his belly like a coal. The desire 

to take possession of Spike and have him at last, to protect and cherish him, nearly made Xander lose 

the shaky grasp on what mind he still had. He growled hoarsely. "Mine. You don’t get out of this that 

easily." 

He snarled in Spike’s startled face. "You’re my vamp. You don’t get to leave. I don’t get to leave you. 

That bastard sire of yours can go back to hell, ’cause if he even looks at you sideways again they’ll be 

picking him up with a dust buster." Spike’s game face slipped out over the human facade. Xander 

looked up into those yellow eyes that wanted so much, that still held a tinge of disbelief and fearful 

hope. It broke his heart. He continued talking to the demon this time. "My demon, you’re mine." He 

growled out. "You’re mine forever, and don’t you forget it. I’m not sharing you with anybody. You’re 

mine and only mine; if Buffy ever touches you again I’ll break both her arms. If no one else likes it, oh 

well, tough shit, they better keep their mouths shut. No one gets to hurt you any more Spike, in any 

way. You’re my demon; mine to love, to fuck, to touch. You’re my mate, my family. Get this straight 

in your head Spike, I’m never gonna let you go, ever. Do you understand? As soon as I’m capable I 

want you to do it all with me again. And he watched the surprise in those yellow eyes shade into 

something like relief. Something like the hesitant beginnings of belief. Something almost like not hurt 

and wounded any more. 

Spike’s demon visage revolved back to human as his tensed body relaxed. His blue on blue eyes still 

flecked with gold stared back into Xander’s challenging gaze, and that eyebrow arched up. "Ya just 

had to say, love. I never figured on Buffy’s White Knight claiming a demon, now did I?" Spike’s eyes 

gleamed with amusement. "Then again I reckon ya not strictly a white hat any more are ya? Been tryin 

to get to ya all summer, I have, takin it slow and easy. I wanted ya for my own. You were twitchin that 

delectable arse all over the place, all those strange delicious scents pourin off ya. Ya had me teased 

into a near frenzy every time I got near ya. Reckon now I shoulda just jumped ya and had my way, 

yeah? " A smug grin snuck across his face. 

Xander slid his sore arms up and around his vampire, just holding, hands soothing and petting. "I’ve 

been lusting after you all summer Spike, all of you, my snarky vampire." He grinned into that smug 

face. "But I figured you’d freak six ways from Sunday if I just grabbed you. So you were noticing my 

ass huh? I wondered about all those strange looks I got from you, and the sniffing." 

There was a soft tap at the door. Spike turned his head toward the sound looking sideways at Xander

and sighed heavily. "Reckon we can finish this later pet, we’ve got company." Xander let out a groan 

as Spike shifted and gently withdrew from his sore body. Spike began rearranging pillows while 

answering the door tapper. "Alright already, bloody tossers, can’t get a minute alone for decent shag 

can we?" 

The door cracked open, a satisfied and relieved looking bunch of people entered quietly. Spike pulled 

himself into a sitting position, leaning against the nest of pillows. He gently maneuvered a docile 

Xander into the position he wanted him, which was between his spread thighs, back to chest, with that 

delectable arse snugged up to his groin. The blankets pulled up over their laps and tucked around. "No 

sense in giving em a peep show," he chuckled in Xander’s ear. Some inarticulate sound of assent came 

from the boy as he relaxed back into Spike; he wrapped possessive arms around his boy and eyed the 

people in the room. 

Gorge, Xander recognized by sight, Tomas, Sinjin and Rusaka he knew well. But everyone else in the 

room who stared at him in his half exposed state was entirely unknown to him and he was becoming 

uncomfortable. "Tomas, Sinjin? He croaked" 

"We brought you something to eat, Xander, and some herbal tea that will help with the general aches 

and pains, you’re feeling." Tomas answered. One of the strangers pushed an over bed table which held 

a huge covered plate, an insulated carafe and two mugs. "Oh yeah, I could use something for the 

Sahara desert formerly known as my throat," Xander answered hoarsely. 

Sinjin pushed the table closer to the bed and arranged it at a comfortable height and swung it over 

Xander’s lap, while Tomas took the cover off the dish and poured a cup of hot fragrant herbal tea into 

a mug and handed it off to Xander, and poured another for Spike. "Ta much, mates." Spike sipped the 

concoction warily. 

Xander was too busy drinking eagerly, he wasn’t sure he liked the taste but at least it was wet and it 

soothed his throat. His stomach growled loudly as he caught the scent of the food on the plate, Tomas 

grinned and Sinjin laughed. "Nothing kills your appetite does it, coz?" 

"I’m still a growing boy Sinjin and you know me, if it’s not moving I’ll eat it," Xander said 

distractedly, setting the empty cup down and picking up a fork eagerly, as the group laughed. He took 

a bite and sighed with delight as the flavor burst across his tongue; he chewed and swallowed with 

relish. His vamp reached around and directed the next bite into his own mouth, and nodded his head in 

approval, "’S good." 

Two chairs were brought in and set down beside the bed, Xander and Spike eyed Gorge and Khyle 

when they sat down while they continued to eat without pause. "We need to talk while you eat if you 

don’t mind? Xander? Spike?" 

Xander chewed and shrugged, Spike nodded. "Okay then," Gorge took a deep breath ", first of all 

introductions. This is Khyle, my mate and your real father’s brother Xander." Xander paused while he 

examined Khyle closely from head to feet and back and looked into his eyes. He seemed satisfied with 

what he found there; nodded and resumed chewing without comment. 

"Xander," Khyle said quietly ",I’m here to answer any questions you have and tell you about what’s 

happening to you and how your body is going to change in the next couple of weeks." He sighed ", I 

truly regret that we didn’t meet you sooner so the family thing wouldn’t be such a shock, but your 

change started with none of the usual signals, so we didn’t have time to get introduced and have you 

become comfortable with us." 

Xander paused with the fork halfway to his mouth and laid it back down gently on the plate. His face 

lit up with a goofy grin ", wow, so Sinjin and Tomas are my real family, huh? Why didn’t they let me 

in on all this?" 

"We weren’t sure when you would start your change, Xander, and we were afraid if you knew and 

someone was watching you’d act differently and put yourself in danger. Understand that we have very 

good reasons for our paranoia. Your real parents were murdered by the Watcher’s Council, and they 

do keep an eye on the hellmouth and the Slayer, whether the Slayer knows it or not." 

"And you were keeping company with the Slayer right under their noses so to speak," murmured

Gorge, cutting in. "I can’t begin to tell you how many times we’ve woken from sleep in a cold sweat 

knowing how close you were to being detected, and the added danger of being killed by any number of 

things," he shuddered. "We’ve had this place set up for decades. We sent Sinjin and Tomas here to get 

acquainted with you and help keep you safe. Although we already had Rusaka here, he’s watched over 

you since you were an infant. We were pleasantly surprised to find you’d already fixated on your 

vampire, even though you didn’t realize it, and neither did Spike, until recently." He chuckled. "He’s 

an excellent mate for you." 

Xander could feel panic nibbling at the edges of his awareness like a mouse nibbling at cheese. Too 

much was happening, changes and information coming way too fast and piling atop one another 

without respite like a shaky pile of building blocks. 

"You’ve watched over me since I was a baby?" He husked through a suddenly tight throat. "Thanks for 

the loving support. You left me with that rat bastard, I thought was my Dad." 

Khyle’s eyes misted over, but he met Xander’s eyes with no hesitation. "Gods, Xander, we couldn’t 

interfere directly, or you would have been discovered. Do you think I enjoyed knowing my only 

brother’s son was living in that hellhole of a house? Keeping company with a Slayer right under the 

nose of an ex watcher just a breath away from discovery by the Council? On the hellmouth which 

attracts all the dregs of demon kind? We did have Rusaka slip that bastard a magical mickey, though, 

so he couldn’t hurt you again after he broke your arm when you were six years old." Khyle growled at 

Gorge. "His ass is mine before all is said and done." Khyle turned his attention back to Xander. 

"Rusaka also put out the word to the demon community that you were off limits, friend of the Slayer 

or not." 

Spike laughed suddenly, Xander took the opportunity to put more food in his complaining stomach 

while listening. "So that’s how Xander managed to live on the hellmouth all these years mostly whole, 

when the Slayer died once already. You were protecting him even though he didn’t know it. Is that 

why Angelus kept his hands to himself?" 

"Angelus," Khyle sighed, "that’s another snarled up ball of twine. Yeah, but to save his pride he spread 

word that Xander was his and no one else was to touch him, the egotistical ass." 

Warmth spread through Xander from the heart outwards, it dissolved the emotional knots of years and 

filled an empty aching place in his soul. Somebody actually cared about him and paid attention even 

more than his so called friends, he had a real family and he hadn’t even known them. They knew what 

was happening with him had actually made an effort to find out, they had watched over him all his life, 

and he hadn’t even been aware of it. "And the truth shall set you free." He whispered. "Alright," He 

said aloud as he pushed that subject behind a door in his mind and locked it, he had lots of experience 

with repressing, he’d been doing it all his life, and he was good at it. "That’s all I can handle of that 

subject right now, with everything else. We’ll talk more about that later when I don’t feel like I’m 

going to fly apart. Right now I want to know why I feel like I’ve been beaten, flayed and dropped into 

a barrel of acid." 


Back to index 







*************************************************************************** 

Khyle watched Xander carefully and relaxed into the chair. He pulled his dark hip length braided hair

over his shoulder and played with the end of it as he spoke. "Okay onto other things then. The answer 

to that is you are a Companion, Xander. Your parents were a vampire and another Companion, my 

brother." He hesitated as Xander’s face lost all color with shock. 

"A vamp," he gasped ", Jesus." 

"Bloody hell," exclaimed Spike behind him. 

Xander grabbed Spike’s hand like a lifeline and held on. "Go on," he said in a weak voice. 

"You are experiencing the first stages of changeover, when it is complete in a couple of weeks or so, 

you will be an adult Companion." 

"Companion children grow just like any other human child until somewhere between the sixteenth and 

eighteenth year of age, and then they changeover. I guess you’d say it’s kind of like puberty, but a bit 

more extreme and a lot more happens and in a very short period of time. Your change has been 

delayed an unusual length of time for some inexplicable reason; perhaps because the hellmouth has 

interfered, we’re not entirely sure. Though my change was later than usual, and your father’s also, ours 

wasn’t delayed as long as yours." 

The change begins when you start to develop the secondary circulation system, the nervous system 

that controls it, and the two extra heart chambers that circulate the blood in that system become active. 

You only need the two extra chambers because that system isn’t actually supporting your body but it 

needs to get nutrients and oxygen, and filtration by the kidneys. The secondary system is there only for 

your mate. That is its only purpose for existence; sustenance for your vampire. The blood in your 

secondary system is nothing like the blood in your primary system; it has a different chemical makeup, 

different nutrients. It’s extremely addicting for a vampire and once Spike begins feeding from you, he 

won’t be able to feed from anyone else, ever. That’s why we’re called Companions and you’ll never 

see a mated Companion alone. 

"Damn," Xander croaked out ", I guess if someone tells me I’ve got a big heart; they won’t be lying 

will they?" 

Khyle smiled sympathetically. "That’s why we came here Xander, to give you some support; Spike 

will be here for you of course, and Tomas and Sinjin, but this is a lot to deal with without any 

preparation. Usually the family invites friends to visit for the duration, and it’s one long party with a 

big feast for the newest adult at the end. That’s for the kids back home who have known what is going 

to happen all their lives. You’ve thought of yourself as a normal human all your life, and you’ve lived 

among them. It’s going to take some time to get used to the idea that you’re not. We didn’t want to 

miss this important time in your life either after we’ve missed out on so much. I don’t think a demon 

invasion could have kept us away any longer." 

"Sooo, what’s that got to do with the flayed and dropped in acid bit?" Xander asked warily. 

"I’ll get to that in just a bit, let me finish." Khyle replied patiently, well used to Sinjin and Tomas’s 

verbal antics. 

"That’s why you feel an odd syncopated heart beat at times, because your two new heart chambers are 

pumping for that system and they don’t quite match the rhythm of the other four chambers. You’ve 

probably felt a bit dizzy and light headed. You may be hungrier for a while and you need to eat good 

quality food for the extra tissue and nervous system growth and development that is going on. The 

extra nervous system and blood vessel development is why you feel like you’ve been flayed and 

dropped in acid." 

Khyle paused and watched Xander’s face carefully as he waited for the boy to catch his breath 

mentally, emotionally and physically. Everyone but Gorge had already retreated to the kitchen after 

Khyle started talking, giving them the illusion of privacy. 

Xander laid his head back against Spike’s solid shoulder and closed his eyes. "Spike, I’m sorry," he 

tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. "I didn’t know about this and now you’ll have yet another 

leash on you, even if you get rid of that damned chip," his voice full of despair. 

Spike squeezed him gently ", what he hell are you on about Xander? Your blood’s better than a 

Slayer’s blood, better even than Sire’s blood. It’s like none I’ve ever had. Near took the top of my

head off it did. Haven’t had hot fresh blood straight from the vein in a while, but I know it wasn’t 

anything like that, now was it? Eatin anyone else after drinkin from you would be like drinkin water 

after tastin champagne. If I can feed from you alone and not hurt ya love, nobody won’t hear me 

complanin a bit," he chuckled darkly, "I’ve always known you were a nummy treat, didn’t you say so? 

He growled softly in Xander’s ear. "Moist and delicious, didn’t ya say?" He laughed outright ", and if 

Angelus knew just what he gave away that night in the school he’d be frothing at the mouth." 

Gorge joined in Spike’s laughter ", It does have a kick to it doesn’t it? The immediate side effects 

aren’t too bad either. He shared a knowing look with Spike and they both grinned wickedly. "But just 

wait; you had a taste at the beginning of the change, wait until his systems have steadied themselves a 

bit. Then it’ll blow your mind. It only gets better with age, like fine wine or scotch, Ahhhh, 

Ambrosia," he kissed the fingertips of one hand with a flourish. Both vampires rolled their eyes and 

moaned, one in anticipation and the other in knowing appreciation. 

Xander sniggered at a grinning Khyle. "This is weird even on my hellmouth weird shit o meter. I’m 

sitting here listening to our mates compare notes on how our blood tastes." 

"Oi vampire here," came from behind him ", blood’s my thing, especially after bein’ on short nasty 

porky rations for so long." 

Gorge relaxed back into his chair and really looked at Spike. "Your strength should come back quickly 

after feeding only from Xander for a short while. There is something in human blood that vampires 

need that isn’t present in animal blood. The blood of a Companion mate has all of the ingredients we 

need, it’s saturated with them to a phenomenal degree, their system seems to have evolved to meet a 

vampire’s need exactly. A vampire can survive on animal blood although it won’t keep us in optimal 

health. It’s like a human trying to live on bread and water." Spike snorted. "Not telling me anything 

new." 

"The human will survive," Gorge continued, "but won’t be as healthy as another one that gets the 

proper diet. That watcher needs to be horse whipped. He knows all of this, and he didn’t even give you 

enough of the animal blood, as poor a substitute as it was. He could have gotten expired blood from 

any blood bank or hospital and he didn’t." He ended with a growl and a fierce frown. 

"Pffft, the watcher go to all that trouble for me, mate? You’re off your rocker," Spike snarked. "That 

wanker is more likely to stake me than ta look at me. He and slutty just wanted me around as muscle ta 

help out when the action got to heavy for his girl. And the odd bits I know about demons, and demon 

languages, was handy a time or two. It’s not like I had anywhere else to go. At least when things got 

too tight I could feed off a fledge or two, and take whatever dosh I found on em. I’d go to Clem and 

he’d get me human. Then Xander brought me here and Tomas and Sinjin always had plenty of human 

for me." 

A pang of remorse went through Xander, he squeezed the hand he held tighter, and caressed it with his 

fingers, he softly petted the other hand that clenched on the covers. Spike sighed behind him and 

buried his nose in Xander’s neck. He sniffed at the claim mark there, licked it, purred when Xander 

shivered all over, leaned his head back on a hard shoulder, and presented an arched neck. Xander 

reached up to cup the back of his head with a weak hand and pulled his mouth closer. 

Spike relaxed again and Xander resumed his efforts to empty the plate in front of him. He and Spike 

had already made their peace with the past; he was just as glad the subject was something other than 

himself, even as upsetting as the new subject was. He had a lot of information to deal with and file 

away and it gave him a breather. All the stuff he had learned so far needed a chance to settle. 

Gorge watched the byplay between Xander and Spike with satisfaction and growled his eyes glowing 

gold. "That’s because they told me what was going on and who you were, your sire wasn’t providing 

for you, and left you here to fend for yourself and starve, after you escaped from those Initiative 

bastards." 

Spike hands clutched hard at the blankets again, Xander chewed and swallowed, petted and caressed. 

"I’ll not have any childe kin to me being in need of anything, Spike." Gorge snorted in disgust. "Your 

idiot sire needs his ass kicked from here clear back to Ireland. I asked Rusaka to get you a supply of

human blood since he gets it for his club and it wouldn’t look suspicious for him to buy the quantity 

you needed to stay healthy." 

"Ta much Grandpa, or should I say Dad?" Spike drawled. He finally acknowledged the family bond he 

had with Gorge. That Gorge had cared for him, in effect making Spike his childe by taking up a sire’s 

responsibilities when Angel had abandoned him. He expressed his gratitude in his own Spikey way. 

Xander choked on a laugh, reached for the mug of tea, and sucked in whooping breaths of air after he 

drank most of it. 

Gorge rolled his eyes heavenward and Khyle leaned over and kissed his mate on the cheek even as he 

laughed at him. "I’m surrounded and outnumbered, I don’t get no respect at all," groaned Gorge. "And 

yes it’s Dad to you, brat. You were family then, and you’re family now." Then with a tender 

affectionate tone, he added. "You belong with us, Spike, we care about you and we take care of family. 

We don’t abandon them, no matter what happens. I just wish I’d known those Initiative bastards had 

you. I’d have torn the place apart to get you out. Don’t worry though their time is coming." His game 

face rippled forward. "Revenge will be a bitter pill of woe for them and it will be served at sub zero 

temperature." 

Xander turned his head to look at Spike and wanted to laugh and cry; he looked like an anime 

character, all huge blue eyes and short tousled blond curls, his vulnerability, an open wound, was 

exposed in those soul windows for anyone to see. "You belong Spike, we’ll never let you go, and we’ll 

never leave you," he whispered. 

Spike ducked his head into Xander’s shoulder, shuddered and squeezed him tighter. "Drink from me 

Spike," Xander encouraged his mate. He could feel Spike’s ridges appear against his skin, and he let 

his head fall back giving himself freely, joyfully, exposing his throat to his mate. Spike made a strange 

growling/moaning/purring sound as Xander gave himself without hesitation, without fear, to meet his 

need. Xander felt lips and the prickle of fangs against his mark and groaned his assent. The razor sharp 

tips slid in easily, like coming home, and Spike sealed his lips around the wounds, still making that 

odd helpless sound as he leisurely drew and renewed his life from the essence of him. Ecstasy flooded 

through Xander like warm silk, it wound through his body and nestled there at the center of him, a 

living thing, or unliving. 

The purity of Spike’s need and hunger washed over Xander pushed him higher. Everything that wasn’t 

him and Spike disappeared from Xander’s world, became unworthy of notice. There was only him 

impaled on Spike’s fangs, and Spike’s mouth tearing him down and building him up again as he drew 

everything that was Xander into himself. Spike growled, Xander gasped, felt joy well up to join 

satisfaction and other complicated emotions he felt for the strong vulnerable creature that nursed with 

the innocence of a newborn babe at his neck. Everything pooled to his groin finally, mixing into 

molten lava that scorched and burned down to his hardened his cock. He could feel Spike’s twin 

hardness against his back and arousal wound tighter around him as Spike continued to draw from him. 

He could feel a tingling current run from his mark down his back to gather at the base of his spine and 

spread to his drawn up balls just before he climaxed hard without warning. His vision dissolved into 

whiteness as that orgasm opened a conduit between them, remade them into one single molten being, 

transported them to paradise and transfixed them with rapture so intense he felt like they were dying. 

And it went on, and on, and on, long after his balls were empty, and Spike continued to draw from 

him. 

Xander gradually returned to the awareness that there was a world outside of him and Spike. He 

discovered his hand had migrated to Spike’s nape caressing and holding him close and the other was 

caressing the arms that held him like he was going to disappear any second. His arm fell weakly to his 

lap. He could feel Spike’s spent passion against his back, a cool wetness, and his own against his belly 

as warm stickiness. He found words, dusted them off and dragged them out for use. It seemed an 

eternity since he had last used them. "Damn Spike, and it gets better?" He asked in a weak shaken 

voice." 

He knew they had an audience but didn’t care; the only thing that mattered was Spike. Spike licked at

the marks that were already healing. Another current curled down through Xander, it rippled out to his 

entire body then shot down to his fluttering ass, and spent cock, made him moan helplessly. Spike 

purred loudly and whispered in Xander’s ear. "That is as close to heaven as I’ll ever get Xander, don’t 

know what we’ll do if it gets any better, just dissolve into pure feeling I expect." Xander lifted his lips 

in reply and received a gentle exploring kiss from his vampire, flavored with the slight coppery tang of 

his own blood. Spike gave him another squeeze and drew back reluctantly. "We better get back to the 

subject at hand love. They know what’s what with you." 

Gorge and Khyle watched the entire interlude with approval and not a little arousal, completely at ease 

with their display. Xander felt no embarrassment. He was so tired and sore; he just couldn’t waste the 

energy to bring himself to care. He had been up and down on the emotion rollercoaster so much he just 

couldn’t work up the proper enthusiasm for another good freak, not even a good wig, much less the 

whole family of wiggins. If Spike needed him; he was there for him, it didn’t matter at all to Xander 

when, where, or how he needed him. That was just a fact from now until they were both dead. Xander 

wasn’t going to deny Spike what he needed, anything, at any time, anywhere. He realized suddenly, 

there was no reason he had to. Spike of course had no qualms at all about massive public displays of 

affection. He, Xander eyed his mate with amusement, probably got off on having an audience. 

Khyle handed him a warm wet cloth. Xander took it gratefully with a murmured ",Thanks," and 

swiped carefully at himself under the concealment of the blankets, hissing at the feel of the cloth 

scraping against his extra sensitive skin. He handed it back to Spike. Spike pushed him forward gently 

and carefully cleaned Xander’s back and his own belly then dropped it into the trashcan beside the 

bed. 

Khyle gently interrupted Xander’s train of thought and looked at him closely. "Do you want the rest all 

at one time, or do you want to wait?" Xander sighed. ", No sense in waiting is there? I’d really like an 

idea of what to expect. I’m tired of half truths and all that ’for your own good’ bullshit. I may not 

remember all of it, but I guess I can ask questions later, and I’m sure Mr. memory back there, won’t 

forget anything. He has a brain like a steel trap. Snap, Gotcha!" He turned his head and looked at 

Spike’s smug expression through narrowed eyes. "Thought you had everyone fooled didn’t you, with 

that attitude and accent? I don’t think even Giles caught your slip ups. But I did. I knew you were 

smarter than you looked and acted." 

Spike’s eyebrow went up and he shot back. "You don’t have much room to wiggle, do ya love, you 

like the way I look and act, have you gagging for it now, don’t I?" 

Khyle and Gorge burst into laughter distracting them from their little conversation. "You sound like an 

old married couple already." 

"Yeah, yeah." Xander pouted. "Spoil all my fun, you two, I’ll think up something special for later, just 

wait." Xander aimed an evil grin at Spike and then turned it on Khyle and Gorge. 

"Oh no, he’s been spending way too much time with Sinjin," Gorge exclaimed with an expression of 

comical dismay. "There’s five of you now. There’ll never be an end to it, Arrghhh." He dropped his 

face in his hands, while Khyle actually giggled at his antics and Spike barked out a laugh. Xander 

laughed weakly and groaned as his sore body protested against the unnecessary movement. Spike 

quickly picked up the carafe, refilled the mug, and pressed it into Xander’s hands. "Drink it all," he 

ordered and watched closely as Xander drank the mug down and refilled it again. 

"Alright where were we?" Khyle said. 

Khyle took up his explanations again. "You’ll crave Spike’s bite Xander; you won’t be able to go for 

long without letting your mate feed, and his need will pull at you too. It’s almost an involuntary 

response Companions have to their mates, as you’ve already experienced. You’ll crave Spike’s blood 

too and if he hasn’t already shared with you, it won’t be long until you take matters into your own 

hands." He chuckled when he looked at Spike. 

"Your brain structure will change some also; more nerve endings and secondary system blood vessels 

will grow around the hippocampus and amygdala, the emotional gateway, along with associated 

organs and feedback processes. They’ll pump emotions into your secondary system blood. Your entire

nervous system is rewiring itself, developing more nerves in every part of your body, and they’re all 

attuned to Spike since you bonded during the change. That’s why you’ll feel better when he’s near 

you." 

"Your muscles are sore and achy because the muscle fibers are changing, multiplying and more 

densely packed; ligaments and tendons are growing thicker and attached more strongly to the bones 

and muscles. Your bones ache because they are growing denser. The cartilage in your body and at 

your joints will become tougher, harder to tear. Your reflexes will be much faster because of greater 

nerve conductivity. You’ll be stronger and healthier. You will heal much faster, almost as fast as 

Spike, and you’ll find that you don’t catch colds and viruses or other human diseases. They don’t seem 

to thrive in our chemistry. Your skin will become softer and finer. Your hair will grow out faster. Your 

fingernails and toenails will become longer, harder, thicker and sharper at the ends, more like 

retractable claws. Your eyes have already changed to a golden brown instead of the darker brown they 

were and they’re a brilliant shade, almost an amber in color. You’ll be able to see as well as your mate 

in the dark, because of the extra rods and cones at the back of the eye, changes in the lens, the 

musculature surrounding the eye, and the extra nerve growth, and conductivity. You’ll be able to hear 

and smell as well also, because of all that extra nervous system growth and a larger olfactory bulb, 

more richly supplied with nerves. More taste buds, and again more nerves supplying the oral cavity, 

will make taste more sensitive. You will also develop longer upper and lower first bicuspids. Nothing 

as pronounced as Spike’s fangs but they will be longer and sharper than those of other humans. Your 

tonsils will disappear. The bronchioles and tubules in your lungs will expand, to carry more oxygen. 

Your lungs will increase in size slightly for greater oxygen absorption, increasing your endurance. One 

of the only side benefits for you from having a secondary system is the extra oxygen that is in 

circulation, it will increase your endurance to a phenomenal degree." 

Companions and their vampires share a bond, a physical, mental and emotional one. I’d call it a kind 

of symbiosis, mutualism. You won’t survive long without one another. It’s almost like a feedback 

system between you and him. You fixated on Spike, and your body started tuning itself to him. After 

the change is complete you won’t respond sexually to anyone else, and neither will he. You can learn 

to communicate through your bond. It takes some time and practice but it will grow stronger with the 

sharing of blood and sex. Using it will help it to develop. All mated Companions can communicate 

with their mates through the bond. The degree of communication you eventually achieve is just like 

everything else. It depends on the genes you inherited." Khyle grinned naughtily. "It’s mind blowing 

during sex. You’ll be each be able to feel what the other is experiencing, emotions, sensations, 

thoughts. It’s overwhelming the first time it happens." 

Khyle sighed. "This is going to be very personal and it won’t bother me but it might you. 

Your anus and rectum will change as well." Xander made a muffled choking sound and closed his 

eyes, Khyle laughed gently. "These changes are very pleasant Xander, and every gay man in the world 

would probably give his right arm for them. Your rectum will lengthen and the walls will be thicker, 

the muscles will grow stronger, and more richly supplied with nerves. Your anus itself will become 

stronger, more sensitive and it will have a greater number of nerve endings as well. You’ll never find a 

Companion with a stretched out anus, and loose muscles when they’re fifty, as happens with a lot of 

normal human males who engage frequently in anal sex." 

"The entire crease of your buttocks is going to be very, very sensitive. The inner walls of your rectum 

and anus will develop hundreds of nubs of tissue of various sizes that are nerve bundles. They’re 

similar to the nerve bundles found in the clitoris of a female. The sensation from what our doctors 

have told me is somewhat similar, but for you it will be a much stronger sensation multiplied by the 

number of nerve bundles you end up having. The prostate gland will be more prominent. There will 

also be glands developing there that will lubricate your rectum and anus when you become aroused; 

they have antibiotic as well as antiseptic properties. Each time you defecate these glands will cleanse 

your rectum of debris, and bacteria, no enemas for you and no lube necessary, hello spontaneity. You 

and your mate are going to love the hell out of every one of these changes. I’ll guarantee you. I know

that Gorge and I do, and I don’t know of any mated pairs who have ever complained. 

He watched Xander closely as he continued. "There are some changes that may shock you more than 

those, and maybe I should wait, but I want to tell you now so you won’t freak when it happens. Male 

Companions at changeover develop a full set of female organs that disappear at about the same time 

the change is complete and they develop every fifty years or so after that. At that time, you will go into 

a kind of heat and if you and your mate wish to have children, you may become pregnant, carry a child 

and give birth. Afterwards the organs are gradually reabsorbed by the body and disappear again for the 

next fifty years." 


Back to index 

Happy Holidays:) See, I haven’t forgotten just really busy with real life stuff. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"No, just... just no. No way, no how, absolutely no. That is it! I’ve had just enough. I am not going to 

put up with girl bits. That’s over the top and I just am not going there. I don’t wanna be a girly man. 

All this other stuff is enough to deal with! Nope, no girly Xan Man here folks!" 

"Xander, it’s going to be okay, calm down. You won’t become a girly man, you are all male, a male 

Companion. And these are normal things for Companions. The reproductive organs are there for only 

a short while and they ensure that as a species, mostly made up of males, that we can reproduce. We’re 

human, but we’re humans plus, Xander, sort of like the Slayer is human plus, but in a different way. 

Your body will do what it’s made for and what your genetic code dictates. That’s why I wanted to tell 

you before it happens, and you have a panic attack." 

"Panic attack? I’d say I’m well past panic and headed toward full blown hysteria." Xander drawled 

sarcastically. "I mean, I’ve been bruised, cut, split in two, tromped on, kicked, thrown, thralled, 

tripped, trounced, punched, slapped, ignored, insulted, kidnapped and a hundred variations on those 

themes, but I have never been turned into a girl! Xander’s voice had gradually risen until it was a 

hoarse shout. "I know I told Willow to ’Gay me up’ but this is ridiculous!" 

Khyle exchanged a concerned look with Gorge. It looked like Xander had just reached his limit. But in 

the next second the boy surprised them all. 

Xander, rubbed his face with both hands, closed his eyes and gave a sigh that turned into a loud groan. 

"This gonna happen anyway isn’t it? Whether I want it to or not, right? Just one more thing added to 

the great shit pile of my life." He finally looked at Khyle with wide jewel bright eyes. "I’m not gonna 

get stuck like that am I?" 

Khyle really tried not to laugh at Xander’s wide-eyed question, but failed miserably and laughed 

helplessly. "No, no, you won’t stay that way, approximately two weeks out of every fifty or so, that’s 

all. But the mates sure seem to love that time." Khyle slid a smug knowing look at Gorge who shifted 

uncomfortably in his seat. 

Spike chuckled suggestively and gave Xander an extra squeeze. "I’ll just bet they do." 

"I still don’t like it," Xander muttered. 

"If you had grown up amongst us, it would seem very normal Xander. There’s nothing to be ashamed 

of or embarrassed about. Do I look like a girly man to you?" Khyle questioned gently. 

Xander looked him up and down ",Noooo," he replied carefully. 

"And yet I was pregnant with Sinjin and Tomas, carried them to term and gave birth to them. I love 

them very much, and I guarantee they don’t think of me as any type of girl and neither does my mate." 

"Not if we know what’s good for us, we don’t," sotto voce from Gorge, who grinned as his mate 

turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. 

"That’s all I can think of at the moment, Xander," Khyle looked back at the boy cocooned in his 

vampire’s arms. "Do you have any questions?"

Xander’s face was a study in conflicting emotions as he frowned in thought. "No, not right now, 

you’ve covered the flayed acid thing. I think you covered the major freakage points. You’ve given me 

more than enough to swallow, but that doesn’t mean I won’t think of something later," he sighed. 

"This is gonna happen whether I like it or not isn’t it?" 

"Yes, it will, and it’s much easier if you have a good attitude and don’t fight it consciously or 

subconsciously." Khyle answered him in a sympathetic tone. "I know this is happening very quickly 

and you don’t have much time to absorb it all. But I believe you and your mate have a right to know 

what your bodies will be doing even if you can’t stop it and haven’t come to terms with it yet. If you 

have an idea of what is happening and why, you won’t feel so helpless, and Spike will be more help 

and comfort to you than if he’s in an overprotective uproar. It might help if you can look at the 

situation this way too. I went through it, Sinjin and Tomas went through it, Dan and Andy went 

through it. We’re no worse for wear are we? You didn’t even know Tomas and Sinjin were 

Companions until we told you. It’s not like it’s stamped on your forehead although the changes and 

the degree of change vary with the individual and heredity, just like the color of your eyes and hair, 

and of course your vampire’s blood, age and maturity." 

"Now," Khyle gave Xander a disconcerted look, and then dropped his eyes in thought. "I need to 

discuss something else with you." He shifted uncomfortably, before looking back at the boy. "Have 

you ever had any spells cast on you and are there any spells on you now?" 

Xander enthusiastically grabbed onto the new subject matter, like a drowning man thrown a rope. He 

was more than happy to leave the subject of his nether regions, future girly bits, and changes period, 

behind. Khyle was more straight forward than Giles, and wasn’t bothered by the subject in the least. 

And he didn’t turn red, stutter and polish his glasses to death, but really! Khyle and Gorge acted like 

they talked about subjects like this, honestly and out in the open, as a normal part of their family life. It 

might be more reassuring later on, but right now Xander just wanted to change the subject entirely. It 

was all just too much. 

"Well yeah, duh. I live on a hellmouth and have two witches, a Slayer and an ex watcher for friends. 

What do you think? Of course I have. It would be more strange if I hadn’t." Xander snorted. "And no 

there shouldn’t be any on me now." 

Gorge and Khyle exchanged a look ", I need you to tell me what kinds of spells Xander. We need to do 

a revealing spell to find out if there’s any kind of magic affecting you now. It could cause all kinds of 

complications during the change if you have any kind of magic tainting your system. When the change 

is complete, you’ll be protected against magic. We are naturally resistant to magic, in fact we reflect 

magic back at the caster or it gets twisted and redirected in such a way that they have a hard time 

undoing the magic they set in motion." 

"Soddin’ hell," Spike snarled. "The boy can’t remember all the spells he’s had cast on or around him 

by those two bints and the watcher, and every demon and magic user on the hellmouth." 

"That’s the truth guys. Heck, I was possessed twice, once by a soldier, and once by an alpha female 

hyena spirit, which isn’t entirely gone. Then there was the ’I will it so’ spell Willow did and umpteen 

dozen other things, that splitting thing with Toth, that was a doozy." Xander reminisced. 

"Gods, Xander, we really need to do that revealing spell now," Khyle worried. "We didn’t want to do 

it without your permission so we waited until you woke up to ask. And explain so you’d know exactly 

what we are doing, when we do it. But we have to do it ASAP. On you too Spike." 

"Me. What’s it got to do with me?" Spike complained. He really hated magic, any kind of magic. 

"Because Xander’s body is tuning itself to you and vice versa, if you’re tainted by any kind of magic 

it’ll affect both of you, just the same as if he’s tainted. You’re really two, that are becoming one and 

what affects one affects the other." Gorge supplied. 

"Gorge will you go ask Andy or Dan if they’re ready yet. We’ll need to get Xander and Spike in there 

right now if they are." Khyle rubbed at his forehead as though a headache threatened. "Dan and Andy 

have everything prepared and set up a circle in the workout room, so we’ll have plenty of room." 

Gorge left quickly but they could hear him as he questioned someone, in the tense silence that fell after

he left the room, and remained that way until he came back. "They’re ready; all we need to do is get 

Spike and Xander in there." 

Xander pushed on the over bed table weakly ", let’s do it then, I need some clothes though." 

"Err not really, it’ll work better if there’s nothing touching your skin," Khyle grabbed the table and 

pulled it away, and began to pull back the blankets. 

"Hey, not yet you don’t." Xander’s face flamed scarlet as he and Khyle engaged in a tug of war over 

the blankets. Spike grinned at the two of them fighting over the covers. "Wait just a mo; let him keep 

the blankets till he gets in there, mate. My boy is a tad body shy." 

For that, he got a sloppy kiss and on the corner of his mouth and a quick grope as Xander slid himself 

slowly and carefully over the bed to the edge, dragging blankets like a train behind him. "I’m weak as 

a kitten." He muttered resentfully as he slid off the edge of the bed onto shaky legs. "Spike?" 

Spike crawled across the bed naked and uncaring, and grinned at Xander who gave him a dirty look 

from under his brows. "Smart ass vampires," he mumbled. "I’ve got pins and needles everywhere," he 

grumbled scratching at his skin and then hissing at the pain that followed. 

"Don’t scratch, Xander, you’ll only make it worse," came from Khyle catching his other arm. "Spike 

stay as close to him as possible and a lot of the discomfort will ease up." Spike leered at his boy ", I 

wouldn’t have it any other way." Xander chuckled and leaned into his vamp thinking shower thoughts. 

"Vampires," Khyle rolled his eyes and grinned. 

They shuffled over to the door slowly at Xander’s pace, with a lot of grimacing and muttering. Then 

they got through the hallway still at a snail’s pace. They finally got to the workout room, Xander 

panted and sweated like he’d run a race. ", Can I have some water," he begged as they sat him down 

carefully in the circle. "Herbal tea," Tomas interjected ", here, it really does help," he handed Xander 

another cup that steamed. "There aren’t many drugs that can be given to those during the change 

because of all the body systems involved, and the chance of unforeseen effects. But the tea is a 

moderate analgesic, muscle relaxant, antiemetic, antipyretic, that does work and has never been known 

to cause problems for anyone." 

"Yeah, well since you’ve known me Tomas, since when has anything been normal? Xander giggled 

and puffed ",’cause if it’s normal you can throw it right out the window when it comes to me." 

Tomas grinned at a boneless giggling Xander. "You’re not that bad coz." 

"Oh, yes I am, just wait n see," Xander rolled slowly onto his back and groaned ", let’s get this over 

with. Spike where are you?" 

Gorge came over and sat down Indian fashion right outside the circle. "He’s coming Xander, we’re 

going to the reveal spell on both of you together since you’ve already bonded." 

Spike stepped nakedly into the circle and pulled the blankets away from his mate ", gotta give em up 

love." He tossed them onto the floor outside the circle, ignoring the boy’s blush. 

"I don’t like anyone else lookin at you Spike, that’s all mine." Xander muttered possessively. 

"What about you then? I don’t like it any better, but what’s gotta be has gotta be, and it’s mostly 

family here." Spike picked up his bothered boy, grinning at the possessiveness, and cuddled him on his 

lap with his hot face tucked in under his chin, and soothed him with petting hands. "Sides, somebody 

came in while we were out and got us all comfy and tucked in,’s not like they haven’t seen it already." 

"There was an embarrassed groan from under his chin. "But I didn’t know about that, if you don’t 

know about it, it doesn’t count." Came the muffled reply. 

"You just nod off if you feel like it, love; I’ll take care of you. They won’t do anything bad while I’m 

here, and you won’t know about it this time either." Spike rubbed the boy’s nape with his fingers. 

Xander arched his neck into that caress and there was a yawned "sleep yummy." Then Xander relaxed 

like a rag doll, asleep. Spike felt warmth sweet like honey slide through him at Xander’s total trust in 

him. He couldn’t remember anyone ever having so much faith in him, even Dru. The Scoobies, he 

snorted, really didn’t know or care, it seemed, what a treasure they had in Xander, and what they were 

about to lose. Xander was his treasure now and he was never going to let him go. He was going to 

keep him forever, he knew exactly what he had laid claim to, and he would never take him for granted.

"Alright let’s get this done, so I can get my boy back to that nice soft bed," Spike growled. 

Dan and Andy brought the prepared ingredients to the circle, and Andy bent down to close it leaving 

Spike and Xander in the center. They began to chant in a lyrical almost musical language and when 

they stopped chanting, they threw a fine powder over the two in the center of the circle. There was a 

flash. Lights, swirls and webs of lines became visible and clashed in a sickening confusion of different 

colors crossing and crisscrossing Spike and Xander alone and both of them together. Dan and Andy 

went pale as sheets and the others in the room cursed luridly. Spike could hear Khyle in the 

background. "I’m going to flay those bitches alive." 

"We need to undo all these spells Spike. Is that okay with you and Xander?" Dan asked anxiously. 

Spike nodded and growled, jaw clenched and muscle jumping ", Yeah, get about it then. I don’t know 

what all these are and I’m sure Xander doesn’t know either. He’s gonna be gutted when he finds out 

what they’ve done, without telling ’im. If you know what they are, you tell me, and let me worry about 

telling ’im. You got that?" 

Andy was tracing the lines and swirls of colors with his eyes, rage evident in every line of his body. 

"Fuck," he growled with a grimace of distaste. "Some of these should never have been used in 

combination, it’s irresponsible and dangerous. It’s almost like the caster couldn’t remember what 

spells they had used before, or didn’t care. There’s a containment spell still active, that’s probably the 

hyena. The remnants of some chaos magic, that’s probably the soldier possession, those are fairly old. 

Some of them are memory spells, to make him forget, some are control spells to keep him from being 

too successful at anything, some are to prevent him from using his intellect to full advantage. One, at 

least, is to prevent him from finding lasting love relationships; another one is a spell to keep him here 

in Sunnydale. There’s one to hinder his ability to learn fighting techniques effectively. There’s another 

one to sap his confidence, and damn the bitches to hell, some of them are spells specifically put in 

place to keep you and Xander from becoming too friendly. This fucking mess is inexcusable, and the 

conflict between all these spells and remnants and both of your instincts could kill Xander if we don’t 

get rid of them. Some of them are pretty old and some are more recent, like in the last few months. I 

don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a selfish or more destructive misuse of power in all my life. And you 

say these people are his friends?" 

Spike nodded sadly ", yeah and it’s gonna tear him up. Do whatever ya have to, get us free of this 

shite. You can make sure there’s nothing left behind right?" 

"We can. Luckily, for both of you we travel with an extensive kit. Yours isn’t the worse case we’ve 

seen, but it’s the worse I’ve ever seen done by people who are supposed to be friends." Dan replied 

while he and Andy got busy with different herbs, a marble bowl and pestle. "You said Xander didn’t 

know about most of these spells?" 

"Nah, he didn’t." Spike confirmed in a shaken voice. "But I can’t imagine the boy allowing them to do 

that to him willingly. He took enough shite from them as it was. I wondered why he’d let them treat 

him that way and keep coming back, keep being loyal, after all the stuff they said and did to him. 

Guess I know now." 

"He’s going to have to deal with the fact that someone violated him and his free will then, and 

manipulated him into being and feeling something he didn’t have to. Damn but it’s almost like they 

were trying to make him into nothing. Spell him into worthlessness and make him believe it about 

himself. That’s an incredibly arrogant misuse of power and whoever did it needs their power bound 

until they learn ethical magic." Andy commented as he pulled some colored candles out of their bag of 

supplies. 

Gorge and his crew came and sat down outside the circle. "We didn’t protect him as well as we 

thought we did." Khyle had tears running down his face. Gorge was in game face a constant subsonic 

growl rumbling as he held a weeping Khyle in his arms. 

Tomas and Sinjin sat slumped over, dejected, and Tomas raised his eyes to Spike. "I wondered why it 

took so much effort for him to learn any new technique I taught him. He’d work until he dropped and 

keep on until he got it right, but it still took longer than it should have. Once he learned it though, he

emembered it and his form and execution were perfect. I should have known something was wrong. 

Even as children, Companions are usually very intelligent and learn quickly. I excused it as that lump 

of a bastard who raised him. But I was concerned when he said even Giles had never taught him how 

to fight, even just the basics, and he was going out against rogue demons almost every night with the 

Slayer." 

Sinjin sniffed dismissively. "You think Xander is the only one spelled like that? That level of arrogant 

misuse isn’t usually directed against just one person. I’ll bet the whole group has a mangle of spells as 

bad as Xander’s. The problem as I see it is, who exactly is the guilty party? They’ve enough enemies 

on the hellmouth that it doesn’t pay to jump to any hasty conclusions." 

Dan looked up from his preparations. "I know the magical signatures of these spells. The containment 

spell is a combination of three signatures, two of those are there only that one time and the one chaos 

spell is the only other different signature that’s there one time. The rest are one single signature over 

and over again." 

Spike sat thoughtfully listening, jaw muscle jumping, his eyes golden. "Right now I don’t give a 

bloody buggerin fuck, I just want em gone, the only thing I’m concerned with is Xander. When we 

find out for sure who did this to us, we can deal with them later." 

Dan and Andy left their herbs and placed their candles around the circle at even intervals. Dan checked 

with Spike before they began. "This is a massive unraveling spell. It serves as a generic undoing spell 

for all kinds of magic. Every spell that has been cast on the both of you will be unraveled one by one, 

starting with the last one and working back to the oldest. The spells aren’t complicated there are just a 

lot of them. So this spell is the safest and best bet." 

"Get busy with it then, no sense waitin’ any longer." Spike agreed, cuddling a sleeping Xander closer. 

Dan moved to the wall and turned off the lights, throwing the room into darkness. Then they could 

hear him making his way back to Andy. They struck a single match both their fingers entwined and lit 

a single candle together; their hands entwined on the candle, moving like mirror images of each other. 

Once they lit the candle, they held it between them and began another chant. They tilted the candle and 

first let the hot wax drip onto the mixture of ingredients they had placed in a silver chalice, and then 

they used the candle flame, still chanting, to light the contents, which went up in flames with a sudden 

whoosh and a whump. 

A sudden flare of light and the contents of the chalice were nothing more than smoke that hazed the 

air. This time everyone in the room could feel the hair on their bodies stand up from the charge in the 

air. The hazy smoke began to coalesce into wispy fingers that looked like a strange ghostly hand. It 

gravitated toward the circle and the two that sat there; it became more solid as it traveled the short 

distance. Spike eyed the thing with some trepidation, as the fingers came closer and brushed the webs 

of spells that surrounded and bound him and his mate. 

Everyone watched in a tense silence as the spells twining and looping around and between Spike and 

Xander like a web started to unravel and fall away, dissolving. Finally, the only ones left were those 

still wound around Xander. Spike felt his stomach lurch as he looked at the nauseating mish mash of 

spells still entwining his mate. He watched them unravel one at a time and dissolve away, as the 

smoky fingers plucked gently at them. The last thread fell away and they were free. 

A breeze suddenly kicked up in the room and blew out the candle Dan and Andy were still holding 

between them as they continued to chant. The room was in plunged into darkness again, but this time 

all the candles surrounding the circle burst into flame with all the hues of the rainbow. They flared 

high toward the ceiling like roman candles burning. They burned furiously, flames spitting and 

dancing, lighting the room as bright as day. They burned so furiously they consumed themselves 

entirely and they all went out at once just as the chanting ended. Dan hurried over to the wall and 

fumbled for the light switch, flooding the room with light once more. Everyone blinked at each other 

for a few moments and then turned toward the circle. 

Dan and Andy sighed and relaxed into weary relief. "That last spell was the hardest to undo. It was 

older and it wasn’t aimed at Xander specifically, which is why we didn’t have to do anything more

drastic." Andy reported tiredly. "But you’re both completely clear of any magic, that last bit when all 

the candles went up in flames was the cleansing away of any lingering traces. I was afraid the sheer 

number of unraveled spells was going to produce too much energy to disperse safely. But they didn’t, 

the energy has been changed and redirected and harmlessly discharged back into the earth. There are 

principles for magic just as in science. You can change the form of the energy and its purpose, you can 

redirect it, you can shape it and reshape it, but you can’t destroy it. 


Back to index 







Okay so it’s been a while since my last update:) I give up trying to keep a constant update schedule 

with the craziness that is my life. I’ll update as I can. I’ll try to keep the times between updates as short 

as I can, but I’m not gonna guarantee anything. This chapter is kinda short. But never fear I’m already 

working on the next one. 

I lost all my notes and such when my box crashed and I’m working from memory here. So please be 

patient with me and my frazzled brain:) Eventually I reckon I’ll get finished with this story. It might 

take longer than I anticipated but I’ve never started anything I didn’t finish. So without further ado.... 

_____________________________________________________ 

Spike heard Dan and Andy talking like a buzz in the background. His attention focused entirely on the 

boy sleeping in his lap. Xander still slept the sleep of the innocent, deeply and breathing easily, his 

face snugged up under Spike’s chin. Little puffs of warm air brushed against his skin that made him 

shiver with want. He ran his hand down from the boy’s nape to the strong muscles of his back and that 

gorgeous arse. Xander snuggled closer. Spike felt a purr of satisfaction and contentment start, 

rumbling from deep in his chest, and enjoyed for just a moment the heat and weight of his boy. This 

wasn’t getting things done though. He shook his head groggily and looked around at the group. 

"I’m takin Xander back to bed and I could do with a nice kip myself. Come help me with ’im Tomas." 

A yawn overtook his last words as weariness suddenly crashed in on him. "Oh Gods yes, let’s get you 

two back to bed and as comfortable as you can get," murmured Gorge, coming quickly to his aid as he 

was closest. Gorge gently lifted Xander from Spike’s lap and cradled the boy against his chest. Spike 

heaved himself up from the floor with an unusual gracelessness. He shook his head again trying to 

clear the cobwebs from his fuddled brain. Gorge looked at him closely. "I’ll carry Xander, and you just 

lead the way Spike." Spike didn’t have the energy to spare to argue with him. His legs felt like they 

were threatening to go on revolt. He just lurched into a walk returning the exact path they took earlier 

to the workout room. 

He was never so glad as when he finally saw that big comfortable bed. He snatched the covers back 

quickly and Gorge gently laid his sleeping burden on the clean sheets. Spike crawled in beside his boy 

and wound himself around him like an octopus. He blinked up at Gorge with a drowsy smirk as the 

elder pulled the covers over them and gently tucked them in ", ta much, gramps," he muttered. He 

heard Gorge’s amused growl and huff of laughter as he buried his nose and snuffled in Xander’s hair. 

Then darkness took him. 

Gorge stood there a moment watching over them, smiling with fond amusement at Spike’s antics. 

Things couldn’t be better at this point in time. He sighed heavily. They still had a couple of weeks to 

weather however, they could only wait and see if things would stay as good as they were now.

Both Xander’s and Spike’s memories of the following days were spotty at best. They consisted of brief 

snatches of coherency when one or another of the family would force fluids and as much food as they 

could into Xander. They made Spike feed from Xander to keep up his strength during the infrequent 

and brief respites, before they were dragged again into restless dreams and the demands of changing 

anatomy and physiology. 

The amount of herbal tea that they could get into Xander helped somewhat with the discomfort but 

didn’t alleviate all of it. Spike had vague memories of holding Xander close while they lay 

half-conscious, purring and stroking whatever bit of the boy he could reach because his boy was 

whimpering in his dreams reliving his memories as a mortal before he was turned and as one of The 

Scourge of Europe, or from deep body aches that the tea didn’t alleviate. 

Spike was the first to regain his senses mostly, but he stayed wound around Xander for the duration 

and watched his boy change, sharing the physical, emotional and mental discomfort through their link 

as well, he also knew exactly what made the boy feel better too. 

He was a Master Vampire and he wasn’t afraid of many things dead or undead, but he was deeply 

afraid of what would happen when Xander finally woke up and had his wits about him. 

So he avoided those thoughts and focused instead on memories of his boy’s life and the sacks o shit 

that didn’t rear him. Those pieces of offal were his and he would deal with them when he got the 

chance. Especially Tony Harris, the bastard wouldn’t be good enough for dog meat when he was 

finished with him. He flashed into game face growling low in his chest, remembering the treatment his 

boy had endured in that hellhole of a house. House it was, because it sure wasn’t any kind of home, or 

family. 

He figured the only thing that had saved his boy was his friendship with Jesse and Willow, and that 

still hadn’t saved him from a piss poor self image. No wonder that. Not with the emotional abuse his 

boy had endured from those jackasses that he lived with. Then Buffy and the Watcher had come to 

Sunnyhell. On the one hand they had given him support and affection but on the other they had ground 

his self-image further down into the ground with their attitudes and Willow was just as guilty as the 

rest of them. 

He growled softly under his breath again and determined if it was the last thing he ever did, he would 

see to it that Xander came to see himself the way he saw him. His boy was beautiful, strong and brave. 

His loyalty once given was unwavering and true as was his love and devotion. His heart was as big as 

the universe. He had a tenacity that was almost vampiric in nature as well as streak of possessiveness a 

mile wide. 

He had the ability to cut through the bullshit to the heart of matters and reduce the most complex 

things down to simplistic terms and a lovely vein of dark humor. It had taken a lot to shake his loyalty 

to the Scoobies, but by damn, they had managed to do it. What all of their words and attitudes hadn’t 

done, their abandonment had. They had hurt Xander badly, and yet he still had feelings for them. 

Spike snorted to himself. 

Well what remained to be determined was if those feelings and that strained loyalty would stand up 

under the knowledge of those damned spells that someone had cast on the both of them without 

consent. He was fairly sure it was Willow who had cast the spells, what with her God complex and all. 

She had changed a lot since she started using magic, they weren’t good changes either. Xander had 

done his level best to live in the land of denial about the changes in Willow, but this latest thing with 

the spells was impossible to ignore. 

Spike shook off thoughts and looked at Xander closely in the dim light of the bedroom. He pulled the 

covers away from the boy’s body and took a deep gasping breath. He felt a tingle and a horny shudder 

ran through him as he his cock filled and hardened in a rush. This was the first good look he’d had 

since he woke earlier in the evening. He started at Xander’s head and worked his way to the blanket’s 

edge absorbing the changes in his mate. 

Xander’s hair had grown. A lot. It was long enough now to brush the lower edge of his shoulder blades 

and tangle. Spike reached out and pushed his fingers through the heavy curling mass of it, feeling the

weight and silkiness of it caressing his hand and wrist. Xander unconsciously pushed into the caress 

like a sleepy, contented cat and growled softly in his sleep, turning his body toward Spike and nestling 

closer to his cooler body. Spike started a rumbling purr and the boy answered with a good imitation of 

his own and settled back into sleep. 

Xander didn’t have a spare inch of flesh on him anywhere any more. The increasing metabolic rate of 

his changed physiology had pared him down to muscle, bone, and sinew. His muscles were defined 

but not bulky, and he had a sculpted set of abdominal muscles that just made Spike want to trace them 

with his tongue and his hands. The boy felt more solid now, more there than he had before the change 

started. His skin was as soft and smooth as a baby’s butt. It felt like satin against Spike’s exploring 

fingers. 

The boy’s face had lengthened and taken on a more adult look. His eyelashes were long, dark and 

luxurious. Any female would kill to have those eyelashes and that head of hair. His cheekbones stood 

out more prominently and gave his face an exotic flair with the set of his eyes. As Spike looked at the 

beautiful creature he had bonded to, his arousal soared. This was all his forever. His boy finally 

belonged to him and no one else. No one would be able to take him away from this lucky vampire. 

Spike thought about belonging. For the first time in his very long unlife, he had friends. He had 

family. He was wanted and he belonged. He was still amazed. No one was ridiculing him or treating 

like an inconvenient fact, or last in a list of don’t want to’s. They actually had been giving him 

affection and attention. They had listened to him and respected his feelings. 

He pulled the covers back up over the two of them regretfully covering up the lovely body of his 

bonded and snuggled closer to the heat of his body. He buried his nose under a chin, his tongue swept 

out to taste and he drew a breath in over his tongue. His Xander. 

/He’s a little different. Couldn’t avoid changing some. And no surprise, that. What with all the recent 

folderol. But he’s still my Xander./ He thought as he sighed with contentment and joined his bonded 

again in a dreamless sleep. 

Back to index 

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective 

owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from 

this work. No copyright infringement is intended. 

This story archived at http://www.squidge.org/peja/cgi-bin/viewstory.php?sid=18979

Download All Chapters as PDF - Squidge.org

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?