TITLE: Body and Soul Trilogy - Reborn - Chapter 1
AUTHOR: Lysia
EMAIL: cricket818uk@wadnitt.fsnet.co.uk
FEEDBACK: Is essential. I can't write without knowing I'm getting it
right and constructive criticism is noted and used.
RATING: 12, for violence.
WARNING: Angst, violence. Light S/A comfort-type romance.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of them, but I'll give them back to Joss
when I've finished with them.
SPOILERS: Set sometime after 'Forever'.
ARCHIVING: Here. Anywhere else, just ask.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Final part in the trilogy. Spike, now called Will by
Angel, has recovered from the restoration of his soul and prepares
for a second attack on the vampires who cursed him.

Chapter 1

Buffy adjusted her grip on the sword in her hand. The weapon felt so
much heavier than she remembered. Nibbling her lower lip with worry,
she eyed the stack of wooden beams supported between two benches.
This task was not one she hadn't done before, but she knew she still
wasn't at full Slayer strength.

"When you're ready, Buffy," Giles informed her, stepping back from
the wooden beams.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy raised the sword over her head and
smashed the blade down on the wooden beams. It cut through the first
few easily before coming to a halt about two thirds of the way
through.

Buffy let out an exasperated sigh and flung the sword onto the floor
with a loud clang. "Damnit!"

"Now now," Giles hushed her calmly. "There's no need to get upset."

"Yes there is!" Buffy shrieked, frustrated by her lapse of
strength. "I could do that two weeks ago! You know I could. I did,
remember?!"

"I don't deny that, Buffy," Giles replied, holding a hand up to
silence the infuriated Slayer. "But we do know that there is a
perfectly good reason for your recent weakness."

"It doesn't matter why!" Buffy insisted. "The point is there is a mad
vamp gang out there killing people and planning some big showdown
with us and I don't have the strength to stop them."

Giles sat down, resting his head in his hands. It had been a
gruelling week of trying to get Buffy back to full strength, and he
was weary. He couldn't ignore the fact that they would be in trouble
if Skull attacked, and his current attitude of just reassuring
Buffy's concerns and continuing to train her in blissful ignorance 
of the threat clearly wasn't working.

"Well it was a foolproof plan," he sighed as Buffy sat down beside
him.

"Don't praise the vamp who shot me, Giles," Buffy told him
indignantly. "How is it foolproof?"

Giles shrugged. "There were so many ways it would succeed," he
explained. "If the arrow didn't kill you the poison might. If it
didn't kill you it would leave you ill and incapacitated for a long
while, and if you recovered from that your Slayer strength would be
reduced from the period of illness and lack of training."

"I'm glad it was the last one that worked," Buffy muttered, not
liking to think about how lucky she had been. She didn't feel lucky
sometimes...

"All we can do now is hope Skull doesn't feel inclined to attack too
soon," Giles announced.

Buffy had to agree with that. "So what next?" she asked. "Am I
hauling weights around again or have you found some new revolutionary
way to make Buffy feel weak and pathetic?"

Giles glanced at the abandoned sword and the half-split stack of
wooden planks. "No, we'll give it a rest for a while," he decided,
standing and heading back to the shop with Buffy hot on his heels.

Out on the shop floor, Willow and Tara were once again gathering
spell ingredients and poring over books. They had arrived extremely
early and already seemed to have made a breakthrough judging by their
enthusiasm. Buffy joined them while Giles went to help Anya serve a
customer - one of the disadvantages of owning a shop and trying to
save the world from vampires at the same time.

"How's it going?" Buffy asked the two witches, sitting down at the
table.

"Good," Willow replied cheerfully. "We think we've perfected the
protection spell."

"We've combined it with another spell," Tara explained, pointing to
paragraphs in the spell books they had been going through.

"'Shield Against Attack (Mystical and Other)' and 'Barrier Spell',"
Buffy read out from the book.

"The trouble with the last one," Tara continued, "was that it would
protect us from violence, but anyone could just walk straight through
it, which is what Myst did. This way, not only are we protected from
anything the gang might throw at us, but no-one can get near us
either."

"Good one," Buffy agreed. "Is everything ready then?"

"Yeah," Willow assured her. "We've got all the supplies here in the
Magic Box, so no worries."

Buffy let out a sigh of relief. "Well at least some of us a prepared
for the..."

The Slayer fell silent as the magic shop door flew open. Cordelia,
Gunn and Wesley all rushed in, looking rather exhausted and battered.

"Oh my God!" Buffy exclaimed in horror at the state of them. All
three of them were covered in dirt and scratches, some still bleeding.

"Good Lord," Giles gasped.

"What the hell happened to them?" the Magic Box customer demanded,
eyeing the three wounded evil-fighters in disbelief.

"A chaotic and reckless night out," Anya explained cheerily, handing
the customer his bag of goods and short-changing him while he was
distracted. "Nothing whatsoever to do with demons or other things
that go bump in the night. Have a nice day,"

The customer walked away from the counter looking a little dazed.

"Friends of mine," Giles added, hoping to provide a better
explanation than Anya. "They're all... terribly irresponsible and tend
to stay out all night at... crazy parties and then come back here like
this. It's um... terrible... really. You... you should all be ashamed of
yourselves."

The customer eyed the bedraggled 'crazy party-goers' dubiously and
left without further word and Cordy, Gunn and Wesley slumped onto the
chairs around the table.

"What happened to you guys?" Willow asked.

"I'll tell you what happened," Cordelia fumed, trying desperately to
sort her hair out. "While we were patrolling the cemetery our
resident vamp gang took offence to our dusting their new recruits
before they're out of their graves."

"We got ambushed by a group of about ten of 'em," Gunn continued. "We
couldn't fight them off and we've been locked in an abandoned
building all night waiting for the sun to come up."

"Oh my God, are you alright?"

"Apart from tired, shaken and in desperate need of a shower, we're
just peachy," Cordelia muttered.

"No-one was seriously injured," Wesley added, "and we have managed to
glean some vital information concerning Skull's plan." This news
would have delighted the team, but the grim look on Wesley's face
spoilt the joy. "The vampires who attacked us made it very clear that
we are expected to turn up at whatever Skull has planned, or he will
track us down and um... torture us to death."

"Well what is it?" Buffy asked. "How can they expect us to be there
when we don't know what the hell is going on?"

"I think that's part of the challenge," Gunn replied. "We get to have
the fun of finding out what the big event is and where."

"The gang who attacked us did tell us when, though," Wesley continued.

"Well that's good," Buffy commented, cheering up a little. "Now we
know how long we have to prepare."

"I would start now then," Wesley interrupted, his tone deadly
serious, "because it's tomorrow evening."

Silence descended on the shop. Buffy stared blankly at the table top,
Willow and Tara exchanged worried looks and Giles disappeared to
fetch a stiff drink.

"But... but we can still do this, right?" Buffy asked, her voice a
little shaky. "I mean, Willow and Tara have got all the magic ready,
and I might not be at full slayer strength, but I can still fight."

"We don't know how much their numbers have increased over the past
week or so, Buffy," Giles replies sadly, sitting down and beginning
to polish his glasses. "You've been too ill to patrol regularly and
we don't know how many vampires have got away and joined Skull and
his gang. It would appear that our first attack has only bought us
time."

"Right," Buffy announced, sounding as inspiring and tough as she
could, "we have to let everyone know. Anya, phone Xander. He's at my
house taking care of Dawn. I'll go tell Angel and Spike."

"Why not just call them?" Anya suggested as Buffy walked out of the
shop.

"Well, I wanted to stop by and say hi anyway," Buffy replied, pulling
her coat on. "And they asked me to stop by with more blood for them.
Apparently Angel's getting Spike to feed more to help him back to
health after what happened. Besides, this way you get to talk to
Xander for longer."

Anya was happy now, and Buffy left, heading for the local butcher
shop and then on to the mansion.

~~~~~~~~~~

Angel was ecstatic about Spike's progress, or Will as he preferred 
to be known now. In the days since he had emerged from his mind and
recovered from his brief period of self-harm he had thrived in the
attentions of his Sire, gaining a stone and sleeping through every
single night without too many nightmares.

A strict training regime had been constructed for Will to help him
build up his strength again. Angel was certain that being able to
help people would have the same affect on his Childe as it had on
him. It wasn't that saving lives countered taking them, but Angel
knew it made some difference to his self-perception. He no longer
viewed himself as evil, so hopefully Will could learn to do the same.

Will and Angel were sparring now, and Angel couldn't deny that his
Childe's fighting had improved drastically. He felt that usual glow
of pride as Will effectively blocked his attack and landed several
light punches.

However, lately he had been wondering just what this possessive
Sire's instinct had become. At first he had thought it was just the
typical Sire-Childe bond he had never been able to experience before
with Will, but now he was beginning to question his feelings and the
way Will behaved towards him.

He couldn't help but notice the adoring looks he had been getting
from Will sometimes. His Childe would stare at him for a long time -
much longer than a usual glance would last - and when he returned the
stare Will's eyes would sparkle and a cheerful smile would appear on
his face before he turned away, flattered and almost... bashful.

A voice somewhere in Angel's subconscious began repeating 'He's got 
a crush!' at him every time he saw that look on Will's face, and the
knowledge that his subconscious was probably right frightened him a
little.

But not half as much as his own feelings for his Childe did.

He was used to the possessiveness, but now, as Angelus helped Will
perfect his hand-to-hand combat, he really couldn't claim that all he
felt for Will was a possessive type of Sire and Childe friendship.
That surely couldn't be the cause of the stupid smile that would
spread across his face whenever Will looked at him, or the peculiar
but by no means unpleasant sensation in his stomach, rather like
excitement, when Will walked into the room.

He simply couldn't deny it. He found Will attractive, and in a way
far more than 'He is my Childe and I am bound to him by blood'. He
thought Will was gorgeous, sweet and just... amazing. And, what was
more, he sensed Will felt the same way.

Angel knew the dangers. He had been in this situation before and his
ignorance had led to the return of his evil self and the deaths of
many people. He couldn't let that happen again.

Angel was so caught up in his thoughts that Will easily knocked him
flying with a sweeping kick to his knees. He hit the floor with a
thud, grateful for the soft training mats.

"Alright, mate?" Will asked, grinning down at his Sire.

Angel couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah. You're good."

Will shrugged. "Told you I was."

"I'm proud of you," Angel informed his oh-so-modest Childe as Will
helped him to his feet.

Will smiled bashfully, flattered by his Sire's compliments, and
looked away. As he did so, he noticed he was still clasping Angel's
hand in his and quickly let go before anything was said. Hopefully,
Angel hadn't noticed.

He watched as his Sire retreat to the side of the room for his bottle
of blood and a towel. Will had caught himself watching his Sire like
that so much over the past few days he had stopped worrying about.
Angel was well worth looking at - all nicely toned muscles and smooth
skin.

Will used to be embarrassed about how much he admired his Sire, but
now it had become almost... habit; something he did automatically and
just assumed it was another part of this new relationship he had with
his Sire. Perhaps it was just the blood-bond that was causing this
adoration. Will didn't know - he was new to this.

"So?" Will asked, eager to continue training so he could impress his
Sire even more.

Angel put his bottle down. He had seen Will's surreptitious glance in
his direction - just as he had noticed every single glance, stare and
gaze he had been getting from Will since he had woken up.

And it was starting to worry him.

"No Will - I think we'll wrap it up for today. I'd just like to have
some quiet time alone now to think."

Angel headed for the door but Will slunk across and got in his way.

"You mean brood," his Childe smirked, a knowing grin on his face.

Ah, Will knew him far too well.

"Will, look. I'd really rather spend the rest of the day quietly..."

Will rolled his eyes. Why was Angel being such a misery? Surely the
bloody poof knew how much he loved spending time with him. They had
so many lost years to catch up on, and now he just wanted to go and
brood?

"Come on!" Will protested, his voice taking on the whining note he
used to irritate Angel into letting him have his own way. "Just a few
more sparring matches, then you can go and be a miserable git."

Angel tried to tug his arm out of Will's grip as he was dragged back
into the room. He really couldn't face spending another minute in
this room with Will - not while the lean blonde vampire was wearing
his new lusciously-well-fitting tracksuit trousers and no shirt.

Angel quickly stopped himself from looking at Will's bare chest and
snapped his gaze back up to his face. "Will, I would really rather 
be doing something less strenuous. I have a lot on my mind at the
moment."

Will pouted and Angel felt his knees go weak. It must be from all the
training - he was probably tired. His eyes widened with panic as Will
wrapped his arms around his neck and cuddled him. Angel knew this
shouldn't be happening. This sort of closeness could only encourage
the feelings he was trying so hard to ignore.

But when Will kissed his cheek softly and then leaned back with 
a hopeful look in his eyes Angel could do nothing to resist the
powerful attraction. Will was gorgeous, and he was his Childe - 
the Childe Angel had been reunited with after a century and helped
through the most difficult time of his long life.

All thoughts of how new this was and the danger his soul - both their
souls - could be in if this progressed were dismissed as Will leaned
up and kissed him again. On the lips.

Angel's eyes flew open in shock for a moment until the delicious
sensation of Will's lips on his relaxed him until he all but melted
in Will's embrace. He just couldn't believe this was happening. He
was ecstatic, thrilled to bits, delighted at the fact that his
beautiful Childe could feel this way about him and return his
affections, but part of his mind was screaming at him not to let 
this happen.

He ignored it, and focussed on the wonderful things Will was doing.
Angel hadn't been kissed like this for a long time, and he had
forgotten how good it felt, how flattering it was to be desired in
this way. The fact that this was Will barely fazed him. This was all
so new it should have been frightening, but it just felt so right. So
perfectly natural. Will's lips were soft, his mouth pleasantly cool -
the familiar feeling of kissing another vampire mixed with the new
and fascinating experience of kissing another man.

Very hesitantly, Will pulled away. He had finally done what he had
been dreaming of ever since Angel had promised to care for him, but
should he really have done something so... daring? Would Angel reject
him like so many others had?

Angel smiled and Will's heart practically started beating again. "So
that's why you wanted me to stay?"

Will smiled bashfully and nodded. Angel squeezed the slender figure
in his arms. Will could be so adorable sometimes. That's what made
his boy so special: He had such fierce wit when he wanted, but
sometimes he was so shy and sweet - a sign of the human soul he now
possessed. And he let Angel see both sides of him. He was so honest
and sweet.

Consequences be damned. Angel tilted Will's chin up and captured his
mouth in a powerful kiss again, desperate to make up for all the
years they had lost. Will didn't fight for dominance - he just let
Angel kiss him, exploring his mouth and holding his body in a tight
hug. Will felt so warm and protected; he never wanted this to end.

~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy closed the front door of the mansion quietly behind her,
clutching the large brown paper bag of blood, praying she didn't drop
it. She really didn't want to be cleaning blood up from the marble
floor.

The living room was empty, so Buffy peered into the kitchen and
Angel's room before heading upstairs. Very few of the rooms in the
vast mansion were actually used, so it wouldn't be difficult to find
the vampires. They wouldn't be out at this time of day, that was for
certain.

Buffy checked Will's room and found that to be empty too, so she
continued to the makeshift training room Angel had set up with her
help a few days earlier. She walked in and saw Spike and Angel
standing in the middle of the room. She opened her mouth to say
something, but the words caught in her throat in utter shock.

Her former boyfriend was standing with his arms wrapped around her
former admirer. Angel was holding Spike tightly around the waist
while Spike had his arms around his neck, clinging to him.

And kissing him.

Buffy wasn't certain at first, but once Spike moved a little she
could see easily what was happening. Spike was kissing her ex-
boyfriend. And this was not just some friendly peck on the cheek.
This was long and passionate and... Buffy just couldn't watch.

Before she could make any sound to make the vampires aware of her
presence, she turned and fled, determined to get as far away as
possible.

She felt almost... cheated. She wasn't sure if it was some hope that
she might one day reconcile her relationship with Angel, or perhaps
some part of her was flattered by Spike's attention, but what she had
seen upset her.

Determined to leave without being heard, she began to hurry down the
stairs back to the empty living room. Before she left, she made a
note to head for the kitchen and deposit the blood supplies in the
fridge.

~~~~~~~~~~

Will and Angel drew apart again, both gasping for unnecessary breath.

"Bloody hell," Will murmured, resting his head on Angel's chest as he
recovered. "That was... um... well, yeah."

He grinned up at Angel. He couldn't believe what he had done, but
thanks to the look on Angel's face he didn't regret any of it.

Angel was basking in Will's affections. It was like all the troubles
in the world had been pushed aside and he was safe in some fantasy
where he and Will were the only people who existed. It was an easy
illusion to maintain in this lonely old house.

"Shall we leave training now then?" he asked, giving Will a squeeze.

Will nodded. "Yeah."

Taking Will's hand, Angel led the way out of the training room and
down the stairs. "I think we need to have a serious talk about..."

He stopped as he saw Buffy emerge from the kitchen. The Slayer froze,
as did Angel, and Will pulled his hand from Angel's grasp.

"Buffy," Angel announced in surprise, his voice quiet.

Will shifted awkwardly. "I'll um..." he muttered, unsure of what he
should do. "I'll just wait for you." He headed off for Angel's room,
out of the way but close enough to not feel isolated. He didn't like
being too far from his Sire.

Buffy watched him go. Why the hell was Will going into Angel's room?

"Is everything okay?" Angel asked Buffy curiously.

"Um... yeah," Buffy replied, sounding a little distant. "I just... 
I brought your blood for you."

Angel nodded and went over to his coat, fishing through the pockets
for his wallet. "Oh. How much do I...?"

"No," Buffy interrupted. "No, it's on me."

Angel smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Oh. Thanks Buffy. That's uh...
that's good of you." He felt so... odd seeing Buffy so soon after...
after kissing Will. He had to force himself not to be ashamed. He 
was not involved with Buffy any more and he had every right to form 
a relationship with someone else. She had, so why not him? "So... 
would you like to stay for a while? I can make coffee."

"Actually, this is kind of an emergency," Buffy explained, wringing
her hands. She ignored her personal worries and hurt over Angel and
Will and played the responsible Slayer again. She took a deep breath
and prepared to deliver her bad news. "We've just found out that
Skull's going to start his big plan tomorrow. We've got until
tomorrow evening."

Angel's brow creased and his jaw dropped. That was not what he wanted
to hear. Will still wasn't that strong and Buffy hadn't got her power
back either. It was too soon.

"Are you sure?" His voice was rough and shaky.

Buffy nodded. "Your LA co-workers got the message from some of
Skull's cronies. I suggest you gather your weapons and practice as
much as you can. We're trying to find out exactly what Skull's
planning. I'll be at the Magic Box if you need me or if you get any
information."

With that, Buffy walked out. Angel watched her go, wondering why she
was being so cold. "Thanks for going to the butchers' for us!" he
called after her.

She didn't even reply. Angel realised she must be worried about the
forthcoming battle and turned away from the door as it crashed closed
behind the departing Slayer. It was then that he saw Will loitering
by the door to his room, arms folded and a frown on his face.

"Trouble?" Will asked warily. He sensed he already knew the answer.

~TBC~