EXTRA WARNING: This chapter contains a very brief reference to
underage prostitution. Just thought I'd better let you know.

TITLE: Guardian Angel - Chapter 5
AUTHOR: Lysia
EMAIL: lysias_fanfic@yahoo.co.uk
RATING: 18/NC-17 depending where you live.
WARNING: NASTY/ANGST FIC! Contains torture, prostitution, rape,
slavery and very very hurt Spike. Bless!
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine. Characters are property of Joss Whedon.
SPOILERS: Starts off in B:TVS S4 'Pangs' and A:TS S1 'I Will Remember
You', skips through to 'Primeval' on much the same lines, then goes
off on a huge tangent into the murky realms of AU. (see chronolgy)
ARCHIVING: Nowhere at the moment, but I would be honoured if anyone
requested it. Feel free to do so.
PAIRING: Spike/Angel plus some extra minor pairings.
NOTES: Answer to April Challenge and plot bunny on 'Our Armageddon':
http://www.shibbybitch.net/ourarmageddon/plotbunnies.html "Angel
stayed human in I Will Remember You, but he and Buffy doesn't work
out somehow, and he flees the country with Wesley in tow. In the
meantime, Spike escapes The Initiative, and leaves Sunnydale,
embarrassed by his disability to kill and maim. The two meets up in
some strange country... From there on... *shrug* - ???"

CHRONOLOGY

NOVEMBER 1999 – Angel becomes human through the regenerative blood of
a demon. Buffy and Angel resume their romance. Spike is chipped.
MAY 2000 – The Initiative is destroyed. Buffy moves to LA with Angel.
Spike disappears.
2004 PRESENT DAY – Buffy leaves Angel, Angel moves to Europe.

CHAPTER 5

AMSTERDAM, PRESENT DAY

Angel stood at the entrance to the alley where he had first seen
Spike and examined the list of addresses he had on his piece of
paper. There were three brothels boasting 'alternative fun' on the
roads that surrounded him, and all of them backed onto the alleyway.
Map and addresses in hand, he began the trudge up the road.

The sun had just set, creating a stripe of red under the twilight
sky. Already the nightlife was beginning to crawl out of the gutter,
and Angel kept a sharp look out for Spike but the bleached vampire
was nowhere to be found. Still not too disheartened, Angel began his
exploration of the brothels.

He started with 'The Bondage Boudoir', approaching the big hairy
bouncer in the string vest and asking rather cautiously if they
did 'any vampire stuff'.

The bouncer eyed him, puzzled. "What do you mean? We've got a little
Goth chick if that's what you're after."

Angel shook his head and went to leave, already feeling dirty and in
need of a shower. "No, I was thinking of something with real fangs,
you know," he blurted out, turning on his heel and striding away as
quickly as possible.

"You could buy her fakes from the joke shop!" the bouncer called
after him, determined to rent out his Goth chick.

But Angel had already turned the corner and was heading for his
second destination: 'Manly Love'.

The skinny little rat of a man behind the reception desk at what
claimed to be 'the city's most famous gay brothel' just looked at
Angel in complete amazement when he enquired about vampire
fetishes. "What, you got a thing for pasty guys with bad Halloween
costumes and breath like a used tampon? What are you: some kinda
freak?"

Angel left without a further word.

Third stop was a rather dingy looking warehouse-type building with no
sign outside except a small piece of card with Biro writing on it
that read 'open for business 24/7'. Angel wandered in and was met buy
two very well dressed men in suits. Upon being asked what was on
offer, he was presented with photographs of prostitutes between the
ages of about eight and fourteen.

Bile rose in his throat, and before he even registered what he was
doing, both staff members were lying unconscious on the floor
sporting nice sets of bruises. Slightly stunned by his quick actions,
Angel gave himself a small pat on the back, walked outside and
telephoned the police. He had just done a good deed. His conscience
should be doing back-flips. Instead, he simply glanced back at his
notebook.

With all the addresses crossed off his list, there was nothing more
he could think of to do other than stand by and watch the authorities
arrive and raid the third brothel. It was a triumph of justice, and
yet Angel felt... empty. He thought that his plan to find Spike would
have worked. It all seemed so logical. Perhaps his grief over Buffy
was ruining all the investigative skills he had picked up over the
years at AI.

Somehow his success in getting several criminals arrested, seemed
like a hollow victory. This was not what he had set out to do. He had
spent his entire souled and human existences saving complete
strangers and losing the people he held close to him, and nothing
could make up for that. With a sigh, he leaned back against a wall
and tried not to think about Buffy and how much he missed her, or
Spike and how much he was probably suffering at this very moment.
Angel couldn't keep a girl or help his Childe. He had never felt so
useless in his life.

A loud metallic clunk suddenly erupted from the door beside him and
he leapt back away from the building. A panel at eye level in the
large steel door had slid open and a pair of squinty mud-coloured
eyes glared out at him.

"You rang, sir?" a voice from within asked.

Angel glanced at the wall where he had been leaning, noticing the
small doorbell screwed to the brickwork. He looked around at the
building. It was a very nice building – an old mansion of some
description by the look of it. He wondered why anyone would build a
big house in the middle of a neighbourhood like this. Unless...

He took another look at the soon-to-be-raided brothel next door. That
didn't have a neon sign over it telling the world what it was, and
why would demon brothel advertise in such main-stream media like a
published guide? So maybe... just maybe.

He turned back to the eyes that peered out at him through the panel
in the door. What the hell? What did he have to lose?

"Hi. I was wondering if you could help me. I wanna screw a vampire."

The eyes crinkled up at the edges as the owner smiled. "Well you've
come to the right place."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Hi, and welcome to The Chambers of Hades. I'm Harvey, and I hope you
enjoy your time here."

The doorman, a skinny man in his mid thirties with a mop of scraggy
ginger hair and a grin that took up half of his face, lead Angel up a
dark red staircase and into the mansion.

The inside of the mansion was as vast as it appeared from the
outside, only the interior was not as dilapidated as the outside
walls. The decoration was elegant and tasteful. Someone was clearly
making a lot of money. White wooden panels with gold trim covered the
walls. The carpets were rich and thick, deep red in colour. Small
chandeliers hung from the ceiling in the hallways. Angel found the
whole experience of walking around in this place highly
disconcerting. The design did little to take away the unnerving
awareness of what exactly was going on behind each of these elaborate
doors.

Also, the small team of armed guards made Angel wonder if he wasn't
more than a little out of his depth. Clearly the presence of military
grunts was not something that was reserved for trips out of the
building. He recognised the brute from last night, but luckily Angel
himself went unnoticed now his hair was styled rather than flattened
and soaked, altering his appearance.

'This'll teach Spike to make fun of my nancy-boy hair-gel,' he
thought, managing a little humour even in this unpleasant situation.

Angel was taken to a small desk where the doorman handed him a book,
which Angel assumed to be a book of the 'choices' that were available.

"So what'll be your pleasure this evening?" Harvey asked with a grin
and a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

Angel glanced down at the book, which was bound innocently in brown
leather. He didn't want to look in it. He somehow suspected that the
photographs were not mug shots and had no desire to see the kind of
thing this place liked to demonstrate. He hoped a description would
get him the right results.

"White male, blue eyes, small, thin, very pale skin and very blond
hair. Oh, and cheekbones you could shave with. Got anyone like that?"

The little man narrowed his eyes and squinted knowingly at
Angel. "That's a very accurate description of someone I know," he
commented.

Angel froze and gave what he hoped was an innocent shrug.

"Let me guess," Harvey continued with a click of his fingers. "Billy
Idol fan?"

It was a miracle Angel's sigh of relief wasn't heard. He just grinned
and nodded and waited for his heart to stop attempting to escape from
his ribcage.

Harvey thought for a moment, then grinned. "Got just the ticket for
you." He took the book from Angel's hands and began to flick though.

"No!" Angel stopped him and suppressed a shudder of disgust at the
prospect of having to view the book. "Surprise me."

Harvey nodded and tucked the book under the desk. "Well, the guy in
question is booked until eight, so you'll have a little while to
wait. Then he's gotta be cleaned up, but if you don't mind waiting..."

"I don't," Angel replied flatly. In reality, he simply couldn't wait
to get Spike and get out of here as quickly as possible. The thought
of some bastard doing anything to Spike in any one of these rooms was
driving him almost insane with rage. Still, he tried to hide it, and
attempted to make conversation with the doorman to pass the time.

"So what's my boy's name?" he asked, hoping to confirm his choice as
correct. He would hate to end up making a mistake and discovering a
complete stranger waiting for him.

Harvey looked up at him in bemusement. The smell of cannabis wafted
up from his hair. "Name? His name's whatever you want it to be. We
don't really give 'em names. They're just animals, really."

Angel bristled with anger, then calmed himself and tried a different
angle. "What name does he like to be known by?"

Harvey wracked his brains, rolling his murky eyes upward to the
heavens. Angel got the impression that he didn't have very many
brains left to wrack. "Somethin' weird," he pondered. "Spider...
Spike... something like that."

Angel felt like dancing for joy. His stomach acquired several
resident butterflies and his heart tried to copy their fluttering.
He'd found Spike. He'd found his beloved Childe and now he could save
him.

He feigned mild curiosity and nodded. "Sounds like quite a character."

Harvey laughed. "Oh he is, you wouldn't believe it," he replied. He
picked up a clipboard and glanced up at Angel. "Um... there's a slight
issue of payment to consider, pal, before you get too excited. Cash,
cheque or card."

Angel reached into his pocket and handed over his credit card without
even asking how much it cost. The freedom of his Childe held no price.

"Now I just have to warn you," Harvey announced, – after he had
charged Angel's card, Angel noticed with interest – "that there is a
very slight risk when dealing with these animals. Now they all have
safety devices, which mean if they hurt you, they suffer extreme
neurological pain, so 99% of the time, they're not gonna fight back."

Angel did his best to control the anger that flared up at the thought
of Spike being so vulnerable.

"But I just thought I'd better warn you, that if you're one of these
guys that really likes to lay into 'em..."

If Angel was still a vampire he would have growled.

"... then he might think that the pain from his chip is better than
lying there and taking whatever you're giving him. And that's when
he'll get nasty. However, he'll only do it once if he does it at all,
and the guards here'll be ready to beat the shit out of him as soon
as they see any fuss going on via the security monitors."

They had security monitors? Damn!

Angel managed a tight nod. "Good to know," he said blankly, forcing a
smile. What were these bastards doing to Spike if he was sometimes
willing to tolerate the pain from the chip to try and fight?

"But don't worry," Harvey added with a grin as he handed Angel's card
back to him. "It's a very rare occurrence."

As if on queue, an alarm in the corridor sounded and a red light
began to flash above one of the huge sets of white doors. Within
seconds, three armed guards rushed into the room.

"It's very rare!" Harvey was yelling over the alarm. "Trust me on
this!"

But Angel wasn't listening. His eyes were fixed on that door. He
could hear shouting, which grew louder and more coherent as a small
but highly animated little man wearing army combats and sporting a
very nasty bite mark on his neck was lead out of the room by one of
the guards.

"... and the bastard just lunged up and bit me! He just fuckin' bit me!
I should sue you bastards for this."

"No chance, man!" Harvey called to him as he was lead down the stairs
by the guard. "We warned you – we're not liable for prosecution, so
up yours!"

Angel didn't even watch the commotion as the client was manhandled
out of the door. He just stared, transfixed and horrified, as Spike
was dragged out of the room by the other two guards. His fangs were
down and blood was dripping from his mouth. His chest was covered in
lacerations that looked as though someone had been trying to carve
words into his flesh with a knife. He was growling fiercely – like,
as Harvey had said, a wild animal – and struggling so hard against
his captors that he didn't even notice Angel standing in the hall,
not even as he was dragged past. All the while the guards were
prodding him viciously with electric rods, but he would barely stop
struggling except for when the electricity was taking control of his
nervous system.

"So that's your boy," Harvey announced to Angel.

"Yes," Angel replied flatly, once again trying to control his
rage. "Yes it is."

Fury surged in Angel's heart. Spike was his boy – not because he had
paid, but by blood-right and blood-bond. For once nothing stood
between him and his instinct to protect his Childe, but to do so he
would have to fight his way through all this security.

Or he would have to wait for an opportune moment and take Spike out
of this place when no-one was watching. A quick escape from one of
the bedrooms was definitely the best option.

And so, he forced himself to bide his time.

"Sorry sir, but you're gonna have to wait a little while," one of the
guards grunted as he manhandled Spike through a door that lead to
some very dark stairs. "We're gonna have to clip this little fellow."

Angel gave Harvey a curious glance and tried to resist the urge to
take on both of the armed guards in a vain attempt to rescue Spike
without waiting for the right time.

"What does he mean by 'clip'?" he asked, dreading that he already
knew the answer...


TBC...