Cold
 
Author: lilithangel
 
Email: abchainey@xtra.co.nz
 
Website: www.livejournal.com/users/lilithbint
 
Genre: angst
 
Fandom: AtS
 
Characters: Spike/Angel
 
Disclaimer: don't own, don't make money, don't sue.
 
Summary: Post NFA, Spike is wandering.
 
A/N: I saw a challenge but didn't take it up but combined with the OTP first kiss challenge this wouldn't leave me alone.
 
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Before he had felt the cold but now it seemed to have settled in his bones.  No matter where he went he was always chilled.
 
A thousand small towns in the tropics, South America hell even Africa again.  Dead end jobs to make enough to get to the next small town in search of elusive warmth.  Unknown amounts of alcohol and hundreds of willing mouths still he was always cold.
 
Since the rain, since the alleyway since he saw them all fall one by one till only the two of them were left.
 
Since that moment they both were felled by the insistent pounding, the rush of sound and choking shock.
 
When they stared at each other standing on the blood soaked concrete and they both knew there was nothing to say.
 
A nod and they turned away, just a simple nod to sum up a century of love and hate.
 
And he went looking.  For himself for redemption, he didn't really know he just had to hope he would know when he saw it.
 
But he never found it until he looked into familiar brown eyes in another dead end town and recognised the same cold there.
 
"Angel, you still going by that?"
 
"Liam," the brunet answered, "how about you?"
 
"Will seemed more acceptable," he admitted, "thought you'd be in Europe."
 
"Tried but it was different, wrong.  Thought you would have gone there too."
 
"Too cold," he answered, "I don't remember being this cold before."
 
Liam nodded his understanding and slipped into the booth beside him.
 
"It's not how it was supposed to be," Liam looked down at his hands.
 
"It's not what I wanted," Will added, "I went to Africa asked a demon to take it back but he wouldn't and I wasn't strong enough to make him."
 
"I tried to find the Oracles and give it back but they wouldn't even speak to me," Liam admitted.
 
"But I thought it was what you wanted?" Will looked up in surprise.
 
"I thought so too but everything is so hard."
 
"So what do we do now?" Will looked to the man who had once been his world his yoda.
 
"Try to keep each other warm?" Liam suggested reaching a hand out.
 
"That would be a start," Will took the offered hand and slid closer allowing the larger man to capture his lips for a kiss, a soft and gentle kiss that promised to chase the chill from his bones.
 
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