TITLE: Body and Soul Trilogy - Reborn - Chapter 10
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: 15, for violence and mild sexual situations (because that's
what people seem to want!).
WARNING: Angst, violence. 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: http://www.shara-nesu.supanet.com/index.html and www.the-
crypt.net under my pen name, 'Lysia'. 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.

NB: Chapter 22 of the story (6 of this part) was posted by Veronica
while I was on holiday, labelled 'Body and Soul chapter 6', in case
new readers can't find it.

Chapter 10

Angelus circled the room, toying with the small dagger in his hands.
Flaming torches lit up the small stone room, as did the fire in the
vast fireplace.

"I must say," he commented cheerfully, waving the blade over the
flames of the fire in small patterns, "I have to admire your courage."

He chuckled and crouched by the fire, stabbing at the reddened coals
at the base of the blaze until they disintegrated with a hiss and a
shower of glowing embers.

"I mean having the nerve to turn up here, directly going against what
I'd told you time and time again, was an act of bravery in itself."

He glanced over his shoulder and cracked a wicked grin. "Of course by
bravery I mean defiance."

Wrapping his shirt sleeve around the palm of his hand, he grasped the
searing hot handle of the dagger and pulled it from the fire. The
blade was red hot, and he admired its scarlet glow before turning his
attention back to his victim.

"And then the risk you take with me, well that was both brave and
extremely stupid. What were you thinking, huh? Is this all part of
your 'love will conquer all' mentality? You thought you could just
ignore the curse, make it go away? Or did you just not care? If
that's the case then you're not just stupid - you're selfish. You're
a greedy little brat who only thinks of himself."

A sob; a whimper; a plaintive look.

"Oh let me guess," Angelus laughed. "You're sorry?"

More sobs and a few tears.

"Yeah, of course you are. Well try telling that to Cordy and Charles
up there. I'm sure their bodies will understand."

The sobs turned into pitiful wails and Angelus leaned closer. "If it
makes you feel better, I feel nothing except immense gratitude to you
for setting me free. It's really interesting to be back now of all
times, I must say. Sort of turned the tables for us a bit hasn't it.
And of course..."

He leaned over the pathetic bound figure on the stone altar in the
centre of the room. Will struggled to get away from Angelus as his
Sire bore down on him, red hot knife held delicately between bound
fingers.

"... I always wanted to torture that pathetic little poet's soul of
yours."

He grinned at his Childe's useless attempts to free himself. Will
tugged helplessly at the chains that held his arms and legs, but as
Angelus had smashed the bones in his limbs only a few minutes earlier
he only succeeded in increasing his agony.

Angelus laughed as Will mouthed various pleas for mercy at him -
pleas that were inaudible since he had cut the boy's tongue out once
his constant begging and confessions of love had become too annoying
to be tolerated.

With a wistful sigh, Angelus ran the hot blade of the knife down
Will's chest. His Childe gasped in pain and squirmed in an attempt to
shake off the hot metal. Angelus laughed at his pain and traced
patterns on his flesh, leaving a swirling trail of red burn marks.
Tears were streaming down Will's face now and that only made Angelus
laugh more.

Will's head turned and he looked plaintively at his Sire. Angelus
watched as his lips struggled to form words which he couldn't
say. "Angel, I forgive you."

Angelus chuckled and stroked Will's face with his spare hand. "Oh,
that's sweet. Pathetic, but sweet."

He stepped up onto the altar and sat down heavily on Will's abdomen,
crushing bones he had broken earlier. Will hissed in pain and Angelus
leaned close, their noses almost touching. "After all this, you
forgive me?"

Will nodded, and Angelus smirked at him before driving the blade into
his chest up to the hilt.

The blond vampire screamed, the harsh noise echoing off the stone
walls, and Angelus clapped a hand over his mouth to halt the
irritating sound. Beautiful though the boy's screams had been at
first, he had been doing it so much the novelty was wearing off.

Will lashed about frantically as Angelus carved a deep incision in
his chest, sliding the knife through flesh and sawing through bone.
It was amusing the way he struggled, but not half as much as the way
he refused to give up his devotion to the Sire who was torturing him.

It was a shame Will hadn't lost his soul too. With this level of
loyalty, the lad would have made a good partner in crime, as well as
in bed, but Angelus was still enjoying himself immensely.

He ran a hand up and down the expanse of unmarred flesh to the left
of the wound he was creating.

"Still want me?" he asked Will softly, his cool breath brushing over
his Childe's ear.

Will shuddered and Angelus chuckled, then tugged the knife out of the
agonised vampire's chest with brutal force. Will howled again into
his hand, and Angelus relinquished his grip on the boy's mouth, only
to silence the noise again with a harsh kiss. He drove his tongue
into Will's mouth, passion mixed with fury and blood-lust. He could
hear the younger vampire's sobs and feel the wet tears on his face.

A high pitched squeal pierced Angelus's senses as he bit down
fiercely on Will's lower lip, chewing the flesh for a moment before
releasing the suffering creature.

Will looked away, wracked with sobs, blood flowing from his mouth. He
wailed, sniffed and his head lolled as he tried to look everywhere
but at his Sire. Angelus didn't like this, and grabbed Will's jaw,
forcing him to look at him.

"Still need me?"

He tossed the knife to one side and slid both hands down his Childe's
body. Will really was beautiful. Shame his soul had such a strong
hold on him. Oh well...

Pain-filled adoring eyes looked up at him. There was still such
devotion, it was extraordinary.

"You have a strong heart, William," Angelus complimented him, almost
proud of him for the loyalty he was showing to Angel. "It's really
quite admirable. Just one thing I have to know..."

Will's eyes widened to impossible extremes as Angelus drove his hand
into his chest. He didn't scream, amazingly, even as Angelus tore his
heart from his ribcage and held it up in his blood-covered palm.

"Do you love me?"

Will's tears stopped and he looked up at Angelus and, with a voice as
clear as it had ever been, replied.

"I love you, Angel."

In mad fury at the use of his soulful self's name, Angelus crushed
Will's heart in his hand. He felt it disintegrate into dust in his
palm, and then watched as Will's body followed suit, reducing to a
fine grey powder beneath him.

Will's words echoed around the room as he crumbled to dust. "I love
you... I love you..."

And Angelus laughed.

But it was Angel who awoke screaming in terror, soaked in sweat and
crying out into the darkness for Will.

~~~~~~~~~~

Angel scooped up a handful of cold water from the sink and rinsed his
face. He was still shaking from the nightmare. Everything was still
so vivid. He could still feel Will's blood on his hands, the flesh
tearing, the bones breaking, and the awful sensation of his precious
Childe's heart being crushed to dust in his palm.

He patted his face dry with a towel and sat down heavily on the side
of the bath. The dream was haunting him, more than it should. At
times like this he cursed his habit of reading too much. If it
weren't for his extensive knowledge of dream theories he could pass
this off as fear over what could have happened if he had allowed his
relationship with Will to continue, but he knew there was more to it
than that.

The dream represented damage already done.

His leaving Will like that in Sunnydale could be just as devastating
as ripping his heart out. For all he knew, Will could be a pile of
dust by his own hand by now.

No! Angel's mind screamed at him. He mustn't think like that. Will
knew it was for the best and he would get by. He had friends in
Sunnydale, which was more than Angel had more most of his souled
existence.

Will would be fine.

Whether or not Angel would be seemed to be another matter.

~~~~~~~~~~

Will fiddled awkwardly with his backpack, bouncing it up and down on
his knee, as Wesley drove past a large sign welcoming them to Los
Angeles.

"Try and calm down a little," Wesley urged him. "You're hardly in a
fit physical state to be wasting energy fidgeting about like that."

Will sighed and fished another blood bag out of his pack. He drained
it cold, and Wesley did his best not to watch, but the vampire was
starving, not to mention nervous as hell.

"How much further is it?" he asked Wesley, slipping the empty blood
bag into a spare pocket in his rucksack.

"About another forty-five minutes drive I expect," the watcher
replied. "Plenty of time yet, so just sit back and enjoy the journey."

Sulking, Will did as he was told.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was getting towards dawn as Angel forced his weary eyes to stay
open and focus on the paperwork in front of him. A polystyrene cup of
strong coffee mixed with blood sat on the desk in front of him. It
wasn't even dawn yet and he was exhausted. His dreams had been
ruining his sleep, as well as his knowledge that he had done the
right thing.

"Oh for God's sake Angel!"

Cordelia's voice disturbed his millionth descent into slumber.

"I thought you were taking a nap. You're dead on your undead feet! Go
back to bed!"

Angel rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, stretching and
yawning. He tried to make it look nonchalant but he knew he wasn't
fooling anyone, least of all Cordy.

"Cordy, I need to keep working," Angel sighed. "The bad guys don't
stop coming just because I'm not sleeping. We need to keep up the
evil fighting, protect the innocent. Remember that part of my job?
I'm the defender of the people."

Cordelia nodded and leaned down to Angel's level. "Angel - you've
been doodling on the phone bill for an hour. Go. To. Bed."

Angel glanced at the paper which was covered with scribbles and
various other nonsensical lines.

"Look," Cordy told him firmly, "I know you're all guilt-ridden about
leaving Spike to fend for himself with his soul, but you have to
realise that he's not a little boy. He can cope by himself."

"Who said it was about Spike?" Angel demanded, suddenly more awake
than he had ever been.

Cordelia raised her hands in defence. "Hey, I'm just assuming stuff,"
she replied. "Fine, you stay here and brood and fall asleep over your
phone bill. I'll be outside."

"So how is he?" Gunn asked from the reception desk as Cordelia
strolled past and collapsed onto the sofa in the centre of the room.

"Still brooding over abandoning Bleach Boy," Cordy muttered.

"That man loves to guilt trip," Gunn sighed, taking up an axe and
polishing it - about all there was to do with the weapons until a new
evil popped its head up. Fortunately, it had been pretty quiet since
the staff of Angel Investigations had returned from Sunnydale. This
would normally be seen as a chance for rest, but Gunn couldn't help
but see it as the calm before a new, scarier and eviller storm.

"You're telling me," Cordy was ranting. "I can hear the screaming
from my room when he wakes up, but he never wants to talk about it. I
swear something is really, really wrong."

Gunn nodded. "I for one," he announced, "will be glad when Wesley
gets back. Then maybe things can get back to normal and he can try
and forget about his little... vampire kid or whatever he's supposed to
be."

"Childe."

Angel's explanation made them both jump as he trudged out of the
office. "Spike is my Childe."

"Whatever," Cordy whined. "I'm sick of hearing about him. And when
is..."

The front door slamming answered Cordelia's question wordlessly as
the three looked up and saw Wesley strolling down the steps.

"Hey, Wesley!" Cordelia gushed, relieved to see him. She ran over and
hugged him. "Boy, am I glad to see you!" She leaned closer and
whispered, "Angel's acting weird, make him stop."

"Skull and his men are um... dealt with," Wesley announced to his
colleagues. "He hired a demon mercenary to force his Childer to work
for him again. Doctor Bloomstein killed it, the Childer killed Skull
and the Doctor, Buffy and I killed the Childer."

"Nice little chain of destruction there," Gunn commented with a grin.

Wesley nodded, then looked over his shoulder, as if searching for
something. "Um... yes."

"Well it's all done then," Angel concluded, going over to Wesley and
leading him over to the reception desk. "Now we can forget the whole
Sunnydale thing and find other things to do and other things to kill.
Right?"

Another crash of the front door made the group look up again. Silence
descended and everyone stared.

"Will."

Angel swallowed nervously, gawping at his Childe.

Will was so thin, swamped by the clothes that had once fit him
relatively well. He stood by the doorway like a destitute boy in a
Dickens novel begging to be let in from the cold. His expression was
plaintive and pitiful, his shoulders hunched as if he was trying to
disappear.

He licked his lips and when he spoke his voice was quiet and scratchy.

"Angel? I want to talk to you."

Silence descended on the reception of the Hyperion. Wesley shifted
somewhat guiltily, sensing that bringing Will to see Angel was not an
action appreciated by Angel himself. Cordy and Gunn stared at Will in
horror for a moment, taking in his haggard appearance, before all
eyes fell on Angel.

Angel stood silently, staring at his Childe with a mixture or joy,
shock and, much to Will's distaste, fear. He could smell the fear on
his Sire. His mere presence scared the man he loved.

Loved. That still sounded weird.

The silence was getting awkward. Cordy shifted slightly, then turned
back to Will with a broad grin. "Hi, Spike, good to see you again.
Now what are you doing here? I thought you were being a big brave
vampire now and going out into the world on your own."

Will just stared blankly at her before replying flatly, "I'm not
Spike. My name is Will."

The former cheerleader pouted and creased her brow. "Okay, Will.
Whatever."

"I like it," Gunn chipped in, also trying to fill the silence. "It's
got that nice...normal ring to it."

Will ventured down the steps from the front door into the
reception. "Angel," he repeated, looking directly at his Sire, his
gaze a little more assertive now.

Angel stepped a little closer, past the others until he was now close
enough to hold a more private conversation, but still unusually far
apart than was normal for a friendly chat.

"Will."

Will brightened, a hopeful smile appearing on his face, which
promptly faded as Angel turned and glared at Wesley.

"Why did you bring him here?"

Wesley's jaw dropped in surprise at the question, and Will's
indignant "Hey!" destroyed his timid-little-boy appearance and when
Angel turned back he found himself staring back into very angry blue
eyes.

But he was unfazed. "What do you want?" he asked flatly, frowning
sternly.

Will's face creased as if he was about to cry, but his anger gave him
strength. "You left," he muttered, a sneer in his voice. "You just
left and all I got was a bloody note."

Angel sighed, staring at the floor, exasperated. He turned and headed
for the office, gesturing to his Childe to follow him. Will did so
eagerly; glad he had managed to persuade his Sire to discuss the
situation. He was less than pleased, however, when Angel opened the
office door, shoved him through it and slammed it behind him.

Too annoyed to protest, Will just stared out of the window as Angel
stormed over to Wesley and began holding a conversation out of his
earshot.

"Why didn't you call and ask if you could bring him here?" Angel
hissed at Wesley. Will's presence had already begun to agitate him.

Wesley stared at him, wide-eyed. "I didn't think it would be a
problem," he explained as calmly as he could.

"Yeah, well it is," Angel huffed, wringing his hands. "As soon as it
gets dark tomorrow he's going back to Sunnydale on the first
available bus. And he's not staying here. You brought him here; you
can take him back to your apartment."

"Angel, what is your problem?" Cordy protested. "He's clearly upset,
not to mention really scrawny. Something's wrong with him and he just
wanted his Sire. You can't expect him to cope with his soul instantly
on his own."

"Yeah," Gunn agreed, folding his arms across his chest, "give the
poor guy a break."

Angel looked around at the harsh faces surrounding him; judging
him. "It's a little more complicated than that," he explained
softly. "Let's just say I can't be around him."

Wesley creased his brow and stared at Angel in puzzlement. "Angel,
whatever are you..."

"Oh my God you're sleeping with Spike!!"

Cordelia's high pitched shriek rattled Angel's eardrums.

"Um, no Cordy," Gunn replied, holding up a hand to calm his excited
colleague. "I think if the vamps were sleeping together we would all
be sleeping in the dirt."

"Exactly," Angel muttered. "And that's why I can't be around him."

He glanced up and awaited the reaction from his friends. Everything
was once more silent and still, save the humming of ears after
Cordy's outburst.

"Angel," Wesley murmured, regular speech deserting him. "Are you
implying..."

Angel nodded and Cordy emitted a tiny squeak before clapping her
hands over her mouth.

"I'm... in a relationship with Will," he explained simply. "While we
were living together in that mansion we got close - very close - and
I know that unless we try and keep apart... I just didn't want to risk
my soul and his. Too many people would be in danger, so I left him a
note explaining that fact and came back here."

He finished his explanation, satisfied that he had justified his
actions, and prepared to move on and discuss arrangements for Will to
be removed from the Hyperion as soon as possible.

"My God," Cordy exclaimed in annoyance. "No wonder he's so pissed
off."

Angel looked up wide-eyed. "Huh?"

"Oh come on Angel," Gunn continued. "You just abandoned the guy and
left a note explaining it. He's just got his soul back - like he
doesn't have enough pain to deal with."

"Look," Angel replied desperately, raising his hands up as he
constructed his defence. "You don't know what it's like to be a
souled vampire - to have that curse hanging over your head. Every
time you feel like something good might be happening it frightens you
and you have to... you have to get away."

"Angel."

Wesley's quiet voice interrupted Angel's panicked explanation. The
vampire turned and faced the Watcher.

"What?"

"Talk to Will. I believe he may have found some papers that could be
of interest to you."

~~~~~~~~~~

The office door crashed shut as Angel walked in. Will looked up from
the carpet tile he had been staring at between his feet as he sat in
the corner, waiting. His eyes met Angel's, and he found himself
staring at an awkward mixture of fear, regret, anger and longing.

Yet somehow, this vampire-shaped whirlwind of emotion managed to
cross the room and perch himself casually on the edge of his desk,
arms folded, face stern. "Wesley said you had something to tell me."

Will nodded and fumbled with the sheets of paper Buffy had given him
from the prophecies, fishing them out of his pocket and unfolding the
crumpled mess. "Buffy was doing some research into the curse," he
explained softly, "trying to find a loophole."

"You asked her to do that?" Angel exclaimed in horror. "Didn't it
cross your mind that asking for something like that might look a
teeny bit obvious?"

"She knew anyway!" Will snapped back, glaring up at Angel.

"How? What did you tell her?" Angel's bad mood really wasn't helping
Will's feelings one bit.

"I didn't tell her anything," Will protested, tiring of this
interrogation from his Sire. "She saw us... while we were at the
mansion. She walked in one time and saw. And she's fine with it,
okay, so can we stop worrying about Buffy and concentrate on us for a
second?"

Angel calmed down instantly, his thoughts on Buffy vanishing. He and
Spike were now an 'us'? When did this happen? Was this a good thing?

"Okay," Angel exhaled, wringing his hands and sat back further,
trying to steady the trembling that seemed to have taken over his
body. "So, Buffy knows about us, and she's been researching the
curse." He glanced up at his Childe, anger and fret now replaced with
curiosity on the older vampire's features. "Why didn't you tell me
about this?"

Will pouted and his appealing gaze turned into an annoyed scowl. "I
was about to but when I got home you'd bloody pissed off back to
this..." Will gestured around him to the vast marble arches and columns
of the Hyperion. "... poncy profiteering get-up." He looked back at
Angel and his expression softened once more. "I wanted to tell you,"
he whispered. "I wanted to tell you that there might be a solution. I
was going to tell you and I never got the chance. I never got to say
goodbye, I never got to ask you to stay, I never got to discuss all
this with you and I never..." He choked on the words slightly, then
steeled himself and continued. "I never got to tell you I love you."

"I did what I thought was best," Angel protested, hurt that he had
caused Will such pain and hurt that Will was now using it as a weapon
against him. "What's the point of discussing it with you when all
you're going to do is change my mind, and I'm sorry if you were
finding a solution but I didn't know that when I left and..." A pause
of barely a microsecond passed as Angel's passion-fevered brain tried
desperately to process the information. "... and did you just tell me
you loved me?"

Will moved a little closer, tensing and crumpling the papers in his
hands. "Yes I did," he confirmed nervously. "I love you. I've been
wanting to tell you since the day you left."

Angel was stunned. He stood up, sat down again, put his hand to his
head to try and clear the fuzziness in his brain, before finally
fixing Will a look of disbelief. "My God, Will," he murmured, totally
shocked. "I had no idea. Well, I guess with everything we've been
through it would make sense but... I didn't expect to hear it and...
well... wow... it's good, you know. It's a nice thing but... and... You know
I love you too, right?"

An ecstatic grin crossed Will's face and he chuckled, glancing down
at the floor, embarrassed by the confessions that had passed between
the two of them. This wasn't how he had imagined hearing those words
from Angel, all the times he had run the scenario through in his head
in a dozen different places with a dozen different conversations.
Nevertheless, the words had been said. His hands shook and he found
himself leaping to his feet and into Angel's embrace, hanging about
his neck and clinging to him as if his life depended on it. When he
felt Angel's arms close around him, holding him, he thought he might
faint with joy. Everything was so familiar - so right. His head
fitted snugly into the crook of Angel's neck as if their bodies were
designed specifically for this.

Will trembled at the excitement of being in his Sire's arms once more
and tilted his head upwards, cupping the back of Angel's neck with
his hand in an attempt to pull the older vampire down for a kiss.

But Angel resisted.

"Wait a minute," he insisted, removing Will's hand from him and
holding it tenderly in his own. He hated to disrupt the moment but
things still needed to be clarified. "What's this prophecy or
loophole or whatever it is that Buffy found?"

Will immediately fumbled in his pockets with shaking hands before
realising that he had dropped his papers in his eagerness to get to
Angel. He dropped to his knees and snatched the crumpled sheets up
from where they had landed on the carpet before attempting to stand
up again. His shaking legs didn't make it easy, but Angel wrapped a
strong arm around him and helped him to his feet. Grinning like an
idiot, he leant on Angel's tall, sturdy frame while his knees
continued to wobble and his trembling hands passed the papers over to
his Sire.

Angel unfolded the sheets and tightened his grip around the trembling
body pressed against him as he began to read.

~~~~~~~~~~

"The prophecies of Mal Dai'rth," Wesley announced, finally matching
Buffy's hurried handwriting to a chapter of one of the many volumes
he had stored away in the shelves. "He's written many prophecies
regarding champions and heroes and also some of the world's most
dangerous demons."

"I'm guessing Angel's one of those champions," Cordy deduced from her
seat on the edge of the reception counter.

"As is Will," Wesley added, "according to this. Buffy only sent us
the part of the prophecy referring to the curse, but there are many
paragraphs here referring to both Angel and Will, or two vampires
that fit their descriptions, and the roles they play in averting some
kind of catastrophe."

"And I need Will to do it?" Angel asked, still not quite believing
that his being involved in a relationship could actually benefit
humanity as a whole.

"It would appear so," Wesley replied, scanning through the book
again. "It's not clear as to how or why, but he will play a role in
whatever it is we have to do to prevent an apocalypse. Either that,
or another souled vampire who you turned is going to arrive on the
doorstep to help."

Angel smiled to himself, letting the truth of his situation sink in.
He was supposed to be involved with Will. They were going to save the
world together, and they could allow themselves to love and be loved
and neither one of them would lose their souls.

"I still don't get how they're not gonna go evil," Gunn chipped in,
as if reading Angel's mind.

Wesley took one last look at the chapter, then removed his glasses
and folded his arms on the counter in front of him. "The function of
a soul in the curse that was used on Angelus and Spike is to plague
their conscience with their past crimes. That's how the soul takes
hold. It takes more than happiness to break that - it takes the type
of happiness that makes the vampire forget that past."

"And that's what you had with Buffy?" Cordy asked Angel, a
contemplative frown on her face.

"Yeah," Angel replied, shuddering at the brief flash of memories of
Angelus' resurfacing. "She had no connection with my life as a
vampire. She was an escape from the past, like I was moving on from
the guilt."

"But with Sp... Will you don't get that," Cordelia concluded
triumphantly, "cos he's connected with your past."

"Exactly," Wesley agreed, closing the book with a loud bang. "Angelus
killed and sired Spike, so Angel can't escape that, and Spike
tortured Angel, thus keeping Will's soul safe. Both their pasts are
entwined, so any while their relationship will make them happy, it
won't let them escape from that." He smiled and looked around at his
audience.

Gunn shrugged and frowned. "Works in theory."

"It's more than a theory," Wesley responded. "It's a prophecy,
accurate in so many minute details I don't think we can possibly find
fault."

"All we need now is the proof," Cordy announced with a grin, "but I'm
sure Angel can't wait to take the theory for a test run."

Awkward silence descended and Angel raised a curious eyebrow at
Cordelia.

"Ooooo-kay," Gunn muttered folding his arms and lounging against one
of the marble pillars. "Well uh... let us know how that works out for
you, and we'll be waiting to hear from you tomorrow. With stakes and
crossbows and other nice things."

"Jeez, way to spoil the romance," Cordy grumbled, pouting and staring
at her shoes as she swung her legs back and forth, exasperated.

"He's right though," Angel sighed. "Don't take any chances."

Emotionally and mentally drained, the vampire walked away from the
group and over to the window, looking into the office where Will was
curled up asleep in the large leather chair behind the desk.

"He's exhausted," Wesley informed Angel, standing beside him. "He
couldn't sleep in the car and I don't think he's slept much for the
past few days."

Without a word, Angel walked into the office and knelt beside his
slumbering Childe. Will didn't make a sound as he slept, and Angel
couldn't resist the urge to run his hand through the tousled dark
blond hair and stroke his fingers down one soft cheek, down onto thin
but pouting lips.

Will was truly beautiful when he slept.

The smaller vampire stirred, murmuring softly before opening bleary,
tired eyes and staring back at his Sire. "Wha's goin' on?" he asked,
still a little dazed.

Angel chuckled at Will's adorable confusion. "I've been talking to
the others," he explained, his hand still toying gently with Will's
hair. "Wesley looked up that prophecy Buffy sent us and they've found
a lot of interesting things about us. We're going to save the world
together."

"Oh. Tha's nice."

"And I think you need to go to bed and get some proper sleep."

"Prophecy said that?"

"No Will, I'm saying that. You're exhausted and I'm taking you to
bed."

"Mm-hmm, night night."

Angel couldn't help but smile to himself as Will's head lolled back
onto his shoulder as he drifted back to sleep. His Childe was quite
simply perfect. Very carefully, Angel wrapped one arm under Will's
arms and another under his knees and lifted him gently out of the
chair. Will's head immediately nuzzled against his neck and two weak
but determined hands clutched at his shirt. The grin didn't leave
Angel's face as he carried Will out of the office and up the stairs
to the upper floors of the Hyperion.

His colleagues watched him as he disappeared into the corridor.

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely keeping a stake under my pillow tonight,"
Gunn announced, still not entirely comforted by the prophecy.

"Do whatever you think necessary to feel safe," Wesley replied, "but
personally I trust what the book said, and I trust Angel's instincts.
If he thought there was a risk, he would have sent Will away. I think
he understands this curse better than any of us."

~~~~~~~~~~

Angel opened his bedroom door with his elbow on the third attempt and
nudged the door open with his knee. It swung back, clattering against
the dressing table behind it, but the noise didn't wake the sleeping
vampire in his arms. Slowly, Angel crossed the room and laid Will
down on the unmade bed.

"Where am I?" Will murmured shifting around and opening his eyes once
more.

"My room," Angel replied softly, hoping he had managed to prevent the
smile on his face from making its way into his voice as well. He
unlaced Will's boots and pulled them off, dropping them on the floor
next to the bed before arranging the duvet over Will's thin and tired
body.

"Oh," Will replied after a moment's thought. He smiled too and
clutched at the duvet, rolling onto his side and curling up. "Angel's
room. Nice."

Angel didn't know if Will was being intentionally cute and
deliberately expressing his joy, but he couldn't help but feel
honoured. The smile on Will's face warmed his cold blood, and his
kind half-mumbled words made his dead heart start, as if it could
beat once more. He planted a soft kiss on Will's cheek before
changing back into his sleep clothes.

That done, he glanced back at Will and took in his pale skin,
practically glowing in the light from the open door. He ran his hands
over soft but slightly bony shoulders and buried his face in freshly-
washed fruit-scented hair. The boy was sheer perfection, even after
days of misery and suffering.

"I love you, Will," he whispered, stroking the back of his Childe's
hand with his thumb.

"I love you too, Angel," Will replied, his voice still weak and
quiet, but his words as clear as day.

The words made Angel's whole body tingle. He cupped Will's chin in
his hand and tilted his head upwards slightly, pressing a kiss to his
lips. He felt Will breathe in sharply, then relax again in his arms.

Smiling at the unfamiliar warm feeling in his heart, Angel stood up.
He took one last glance at the peaceful figure of his Childe, then
closed the door, plunging the room into darkness.

~ END ~

FOOTNOTE: For all the grown-ups out there, I was debating writing an
18-rated epilogue. I didn't feel it would fit the tone to include it
in the main story, so I figured if people wanted smut, this would be
the best way to do it. I would appreciate people opinions on the
matter. Thanks muchly. :-)

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