Title:  Requiem for a Childe
Author: Janet Lynn (janet324@comcast.net)
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: S/A (in memory) S/X

Warning: My sister said I needed to put a tissue warning on this chapter.
Actually, she said I should say: "WARNING!!! I am a horrible person and am
going to make you cry. Get the big box of Kleenex because I am too damn good
at this. Write me e-mails and tell me how many Kleenex you used so I may
laugh and laugh! I am EVIL!!! You have been warned!"  She knows me too well.
You can't say you haven't been warned.

Previous parts can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/janet324@prodigy.net/FortheFaithful.html  Yes
folks!  I now have my own fanfic site.  Thanks to Cat, who set it up for me.
Check it out and tell me what you think.

Thoughts indicated by <>

Flashbacks are in italics and ///


Chapter 11


Giles looked at the portfolio sitting before the dark vampire and sighed.
There were only two sheets of paper left.  Two pictures were all that was
left as evidence of Spike's existence.  The thought made the watcher sad.
He was never fond of the blonde vampire, but he had continually fought with
them and, in the end, he did save the world.  And all they had to prove he
was ever there was a hole in the ground and a few sheets of paper.  Sad.

Angel noticed the look on the Englishman's face and smiled lightly.  He
pulled out the last two pictures and looked at them for several long
minutes.  Handling Giles the first picture, Angel watched the other man's
face for a sign of recognition.

At first, Giles was unsure of what he was looking at.  He could see Spike
from the side and by the feel of the picture, it was obviously nighttime.
The blonde was standing with his head down and shoulders hunched over.  He
was tightly gripping a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

As the watcher looked closer, he realized that he was standing in front of a
freshly dug grave.  At first, he thought it was Buffy's, but he remembered
Spike was constantly at Dawn's side after Buffy's death.

Suddenly it hit him.  "Joyce" he gasped.

"Yeah" Angel whispered.  "He always had a soft spot for her.  I think she
was a substitute for his own mother."

Giles sighed as he looked down at the picture.  It was obvious that Spike
was grieving over the woman who had become such a large part of all their
lives.  They were so caught up in their own sorrow; no one even considered
that the blonde vampire might be in pain as well.  He wondered how they
could have missed it.

The watcher sat back to wait for the story that would accompany the picture
and was surprised when the dark vampire leaned forward again and handed him
the remaining picture.

"This was from later that same night" Angel said, smiling as he waited for
the reaction he knew the picture would receive.  He wasn't disappointed.

"Oh dear lord!" Giles shouted as he looked at the scene before him.  He
glanced back and forth between the two pictures and shook his head as the
vampire began the story.

///Angel had sat with Buffy beside her mother's grave just holding her until
it was almost time for the sun to rise.  He came as soon as it was possible
after he received the news about Joyce's passing.

Angel wanted to be there for the funeral.  Not just to comfort Buffy, but to
say goodbye.  He and Joyce may not have always gotten along, but Angel
always respected her and he would miss her.

After just sitting and holding the grieving slayer, Angel stood and walked
Buffy to her car so she could go home.  Angel had originally planned on
going directly back to LA after the service, but Buffy needed him, so now
there was no way for him to make it back before sunrise.  He would just have
to find a hotel room to stay in for the day.

Angel turned around and began to head over to his car which he had parked on
the other side of the cemetery.  He knew he had to pass by Joyce's grave on
the way, so he decided to stop and say a few private words to the dead
woman.

As he approached her resting place, Angel heard someone speaking very
quietly.  He hid behind a tree to see who it was.

"You know I never really wanted to kill her" he heard floating across the
breeze toward him.  "Well, maybe when I first came here, but after that, it
was just a spot of fun, I swear."


Angel recognized the voice.  It was Spike.  Angel was so upset that his
arrogant childe would come and harass a dead woman that he nearly jumped out
from behind the tree he was hiding behind to beat the blonde to a bloody
pulp.  But then he caught the faint scent of pain and tears.  Spike was
crying.

"You asked me a favor once.  Do you remember?" he asked the mound of dirt.
"You asked me to keep Buffy safe and watch out for the Bit.  Do you think
they knew I came over to talk with you?  I don't think so.  Buffy would have
dropped a load if she knew.  Or try to kill me again.  Why do you think she
does that?"

Angel was frozen in the middle of his attack.  He couldn't believe what he
was hearing.  Spike was talking to Joyce's grave like they were.friends.  He
spent time with her and promised to watch out for the girls.  Joyce trusted
William the Bloody with her most precious treasures.  And she hated Angel.

The dark vampire felt a pain in his chest at that thought.  He was the
champion, the dark avenger, as Xander loved to call him.  Why did she ask
Spike to watch out for them and not him?  Maybe because Spike was the one
who was actually there.  Angel just left them behind.

"She was here with the Poof" Angel heard Spike say.  "They both miss you,
you know.  We all do.  You made the best hot chocolate.  You know, that
always made me feel special.  You knew I'm a vampire and yet you never
offered me blood.  Almost like you thought of me as a man" Spike snickered.
"Or a boy."

Angel watched as the blonde stepped forward, making sure not to tread on the
freshly interred dirt and placed the modest bouquet at the head of the
grave.

"I'll make sure no one messes with your stone once it's up" Spike said
quietly to the ground.  "And fresh flowers.  No one likes brown wilty ones,
right?"  He sighed heavily.  "Goodbye Joyce."

Angel watched, amazed, as his childe swiped off the tears running down his
cheeks with the back of his hands.  He suddenly looked less like the one
hundred twenty plus year old vampire he was and more like a grieving child.

Spike quickly turned and strode off into the cemetery.  He obviously did not
feel the presence of his sire there.  <He must be too upset> Angel thought.

The dark vampire had a decision to make. Should he follow his childe or just
leave him and find a place to stay for the day?  Finally deciding, he took
off after Spike.

He raced around to try to get to Spike's crypt before he did.  Angel stopped
as he felt a presence waiting for them.  He hid behind a large marble marker
shaped like an angel so that he could get a good look at the person waiting
in front of Spike's crypt.  He was as shocked as the blonde vampire to see.

"Harris?" Spike asked when he saw Xander standing in front of his crypt,
leaning his head against the stone door with his back toward the cemetery.
"What you want, ya' git.  Don't have time for your bullshit tonight."

Xander slowly turned around and both Angel and Spike gasped at the sight.
The boy's eyes were red and puffy and held the deepest sorrow Angel had ever
seen.  He had obviously been crying for awhile, but Angel couldn't remember
seeing the boy shed a single tear at the funeral.

"Xander?  You alright, luv?" Spike whispered as he slowly approached the
weeping boy.

Xander merely shook his head and the tears began to flow faster.

"Talk to me, pet" Spike pleaded as he began to stroke the short brown curls.
"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"She was my mom" Xander finally sputtered out.  "She was the mom I always
wanted.  She was the only one who never thought I was an idiot.  She treated
me like a man."

Spike smiled at the thought.  "Me too, pet" he told the young man as he
began to wipe the tears from his warm cheeks.  "She was quite the lady, our
Joyce."

The brunette looked up at the vampire before and yelled, "Then why did this
have to happen to her?  She didn't deserve this!"

"I don't know" he started to say but then he was assaulted by the grieving
boy.  Xander began to punch and flail against Spike's chest, trying to
punish the vampire for everything that ever went wrong in his life.  He was
crying and screaming and punching for all he was worth.

For a while, Spike just stood there and took it.  But soon he became afraid
that the boy might hurt himself, so he used all his preternatural speed and
grabbed Xander, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Xander, luv, stop this" he commanded quietly.  "She's gone and nothing is
going to bring her back."

As if Spike had flipped a switch, Xander collapsed in the blonde's arms.  He
wept so hard that Angel could see Spike's biceps twitching in the effort to
continue to hold the boy upright.

Xander finally collected himself enough to look into the azure blue eyes of
the vampire holding him.  "Spike?" he whispered almost as if he forgot where
he was.

"It's me, pet" Spike said, leaning in.  "I've got you now."

Angel gasped as he watched Xander breach the distance and place his lips
against Spike's.  At first, it was just a tentative touch but then it grew
out of the desperation both men were feeling. Lips were smashed together and
teeth clinked against each other as they tried to devour each other.

Xander was the first to pull away, desperate for a breath of air.  As soon
as he had filled his lungs, he dove in to kiss and bite the vampire's neck.
Angel practically moaned to the smell of arousal in the air.  After holding
on to Buffy for so long on top of his self imposed celibacy over the last
few months, this sight before him was the most erotic thing he had ever
seen.

Xander continued to lick and bite at the vampire's flesh.  Spike slowly
pulled the boy's mouth away from his delicious torture to look him in the
eyes.  "Xander?" he asked, hoping it was enough of a question.

"Please" the boy begged.  "I need this."

That was enough for the blonde and he lunged back to the warm mouth and
swept his tongue inside to taste every bit of the boy he could.  Hands were
now roaming under shirts and pulling at belts.  Angel watched as both men's
pants were opened and their straining erections were exposed to the cool
pre-dawn air.

It was too much of a temptation to stay and watch, so Angel joined the two
and opened his trousers.  He bit back a moan as he took his achingly hard
cock into his hand and began to stroke himself.

Spike reached around to grab Xander's wool covered ass to force their
erections together.  He groaned as the boy reached back and thread his
fingers through Spike's blonde hair and tugged harshly, making the vampire
arch his neck unnaturally backward.

Xander began to suck and bite viciously at the straining flesh in front of
him as he began to thrust his hips against the vampire.  The feel of the
cool, hard ab muscles rubbing against his hot, overly sensitive cock was
driving him crazy.  Spike thrust back just as hard, squeezing the ass cheeks
under his fingers hard enough that he knew Xander would find finger shaped
bruises later.

Angel moaned looking at the two gorgeous creatures before him, rutting like
depraved animals.  All three of them were simply moving on instinct now.
Spike and Xander against each other and Angel into his own hand.  Almost
simultaneously, the three men tensed and shuttered, releasing harshly into
the night.

Xander was panting and licking a large bruise he had left on Spike's neck as
he continued rubbing slowly against Spike with his rapidly softening cock.
Spike brought his hands up to card through Xander's hair and gently placing
a kiss by his temple.  Angel took out his handkerchief and wiped his hand
before tucking himself back in and fastening his pants.

The human slowly lifted his head to look at the blonde vampire.  "What the
fuck was that, Spike?" he asked with wonder and sadness in his voice.

"Grief, luv" Spike whispered before placing a chaste kiss on the boy's lips.
"Just grief."

Xander nodded slowly and leaned his head back to look at the rapidly
lightening sky.  "Sun's coming up" he commented.

Angel looked up and was surprised he and Spike had lost track of time so
completely.  He didn't even have time to make it to the car.

"Want to come in?" Spike asked.  Angel's head shot up, thinking that the
blonde was talking to him.

"No" Xander replied.  Angel sighed when he realized he had not been caught.
"I should get back.  Everyone's staying at Buffy's house today and if they
wake up and I'm not there, they might freak."

Spike simply nodded and stepped back, letting the boy adjust himself as he
did the same.  Angel watched as his childe went to step around his once
enemy.

"Thank you" Xander whispered as he grabbed Spike's arm.

Spike looked down at the restraining hand and then up into the chocolate
brown eyes of the boy he once hoped to claim.  He shrugged lightly and then
walked into his crypt, slowly closing the door behind him.  Angel waited
until Xander had walked out of sight before running over to the sewer access
behind Spike's crypt and jumped down in the darkness just before the day's
first rays reached over the horizon.///

Giles tried to resume a normal breathing pattern as he looked at the second
picture.  Spike and Xander, their cocks pressed between them, kissing like
lovers.

"I never knew" he said puzzled.

"No one did" Angel replied.  "I guess after that, they went right back to
hating each other.  Or at least, Xander went back to hating Spike.  He never
really did, you know?"

Giles looked at Angel, confused.

"Spike" Angel explained.  "He never hated Xander.  He liked him actually.
But he couldn't let anyone know it.  They are too much alike, in a weird
sort of way.  And Spike always did love a challenge."

Giles smiled at the idea.  Holding up the two pictures, he looked at Angel
gravely.  "So this is it?" he asked.  "This is all that is left of Spike?"

Angel reached behind and picked up a sketch pad that had been sitting behind
him.  He held it up for the watcher to see.

"Not exactly" Angel said with tears in his eyes.  "He has one more story to
tell."


Tbc.