More rug rats and more of Will's bloody poetry.
 
 

Angel blew the dust from the cover of the slim leather volume he'd found at the top of the bookcase. The gold lettering was still bright beneath.

"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, a first edition. Fond memories surfaced in his head. Nights spent by a roaring log fire, gentle candlelight illuminating rich apartments acquired by murderous means.

Shuttered from the cold, the firelight flickered across their naked forms as they curled together, hunger quenched, fresh blood in their throats. Back then they had had all the time in the world for words and music and passion. And they had taken their fill of it all.

As he turned the thin gold edged pages, Angel remembered how this story had been William's favourite. He saw him clearly in his mind's eye. Light brown hair flecked with gold, falling loose across his shoulders, eyes darting from the pages to his sire, as he read the words aloud. Ah, God, the things that they had shared...

Angel sighed to himself and snapped the book shut. That was lifetimes ago, it was best to keep his mind on today.

Something fluttered to the floor, a folded paper. It must have fallen from the book. It was yellowed with age and looked like a letter. He carefully unfolded it.

The black ink had faded to brown, but the scratchy script was clear and familiar. Leaning back on the desk he grinned as he started to read.
 

Angel shook his head, oh God it was bad, so bloody bad, so -- William. He'd sworn that he'd never write again, but this was certainly his. He shook his head again and swallowed as it hit him that the sentiment was true. However badly, William had always poured his heart into his words. They told his true feelings. A century's worth of anger had shut that ability off from Spike. Even as William he had written this and then hidden it away.

A pang grew deep inside, as he re-read the treasured lines.

A cry from the office broke his reverie.

Cordelia!

Dropping the poem on the desk, he ran to help her. She was sitting on her chair, Wesley hovering over her, as he burst through the door.

"Why can't you go tell the PTB to install a phone line, Angel?" she moaned.

"You had a vision?"

"Look, there's my phone, just by me on the desk. You'd think they could just call." She continued, ignoring him and rubbing her temples.

"Cordelia, what did you see?"

"Hmm, Oh yea, someone's down in the tunnels, murdering, killing demons. Not far from here. Oh, it's so vague. There's a sense of loss. A lot of fear."

"Call Gunn, Wesley. Let's take a look. I'll get Spike. Cordelia stay here and be ready for a call."

Angel and Spike took the right branch of the tunnel section just outside the office and Wesley and Gunn took the left. They hurried, looking down side passages and up into overhead conduits. Angel calculated they were about half a mile through their section when the cell phone in his pocket rang. He punched the button and put it to his ear as they walked. Spike was focused on the search and paid only small attention to the terse, one sided conversation. He heard Angel say, "We'll meet you at the office in five minutes. Spike, we're going back."

"What for? They find something?"

"Looks that way."

"What?"

Angel did not respond. He began to run, splashing through puddles, and Spike fell in behind him.

Less than five minutes later they were through the door to the office and into the kitchen where Gunn and Wesley sat at the table. Cordelia was making coffee. Angel looked at Spike and pointed to a chair. Spike pulled it out and sat down. Angel stood behind Spike's chair and spoke to Wesley "Tell us.

Wesley looked at Spike and took a deep breath. "We found a body. It was the mother of the two children who came here for Halloween."

Spike stood up. Angel put a hand and his shoulder and gently pushed him back down into the chair. "Shh, let them finish."

Gunn went on," We looked for the kids, man. No luck. The mother's body was in bad shape. Somebody really evil did this."

Spike was on his feet again. This time he dodged around Angel's restraining arm and was across the room and out the tunnel door. Angel closed in behind him, motioning for Gunn and Wesley to follow.Spike ran in the direction Gunn and Wesley had taken. Gunn yelled to him, "Stick to the main tunnel for four minutes, then go to the left branch about 50 feet down. Spike disappeared with Angel directly behind him as Wesley and Gunn tried their best to keep up The body of the mother was lying at the junction of the main tunnel and the left branch. Spike stood and looked down at what was left. Then he looked up. He turned to Angel. "She must have tried to block the attack here. They must be down this bypass somewhere."

"We'll find them Spike. We won't go back until we do."

Wesley and Gunn came up behind them breathing heavily. Spike started through the refuse and mud, all his senses on alert. He sniffed the dank air and heard every drip that slithered down the slippery tunnel walls. The passage widened suddenly and he saw a losely arranged group of brown cardboard boxes, filled with shreds of old blankets, and crumpled newspaper. He approached them cautiously, bent down and began to search the boxes. Angel joined him, but they found nothing there.

Spike began to pace off the area. Angel, Wesley and Gunn watched him. Angel thought he had never seen his lover exhibit so much intense concentration.

Spike was all focus and contained rage, his fists clenched and every muscle was rock hard.

Suddenly he stopped and stooped down. Four stacks of old magazines sat on dry boards, pushed against the wall so they formed a square . He pulled on one of the corners of the square. It came away from the others and he saw that the inside edges of each stack were chewed. They formed a hollow in the middle of the cube. From inside this paper cave two sets of tiny eyes glowed up at him. Before he could react the eyes launched themselves with loud squeals directly into the middle of his chest. Reflexively he cupped his hands under the two small bodies and pulled them close. He stood up and looked at Angel. Angel took off his duster and pulled his grey cashmere sweater over his head. He tucked the sweater around Spike's hands and over the two orphans, then he put the duster back on. "Let's get them home. Gunn, take Wesley and keep up the search. Check in on the phone in 30 minutes."

Back in the office, Cordelia was fixing her eyeliner. She leaped up as Angel suddenly appeared from nowhere looking worried. He growled at her to stop all that, and come and help downstairs. Quickly explaining what had taken place in the tunnels, he lead the way to the kitchen.

Spike was there, still holding the frightened rug rats that were quivering in his arms. His eyes were wild with rage.

"Oh poor little things," Cordelia rushed towards him, "and their mother's all..."

"Shsssh!" hissed Spike to shut her up.

"Oh," she bit her lip, "Are they alright? Did they see, who, what, did it?"

"We need to find that out." said Angel grimly, "they're our only lead."

He put his arm round Spike and looked down at the tiny creatures huddled together in his arms.

Cordelia reached out and peeled the sweater away from Spike's chest. Two heads with large terrified eyes and long lashes peeked up at her. Little Fellow wriggled out of Spike's grasp and climbed up onto his shoulder. "Meep," he said sadly and from there, before anyone could blink, he leaped across the two feet of space and onto Cordelia's shoulder and burrowed into her hair at the side of her neck. Only his eyes were visible. She stood still for a moment. Then she said, "OK, not quite ready to be somebody's nest, but can go with it until other arrangements are made which better be quick." She turned and started up the stairs. "I'm going to find some manila folder boxes and make some baby beds."

Spike turned to Angel, a question in his eyes. Angel grinned. "I think our unconventional family just got a little more so." Spike seemed to relax. His anger dissipated a little and he carefully lifted Bugsy and the sweater and set the bundle down on the kitchen table. He bunched the sweater to make a cushion against the hard formica table top. Bugsy watched him with big eyes.

Angel reached out a hand. "Hey there, Bugsy," he said.

"Thweep?" said Bugsy. Angel looked uncertain.

"Sweets,"explained Spike. "We gave them candy that time on Halloween." Cordelia came back down the stairs with two boxes and a bag of candy from her desk.

"I thought they might remember the Halloween candy, so I brought it down. It might seem familiar to them." Angel gave her his appreciative crooked smile and took the bag. She reached up to her shoulder and made an attempt to untangle Little Fellow from her hair. "Meeeep!" he shrilled. She brought her hands down resignedly and went to the stove, picked up the kettle and filled it at the sink. "Guess I'll just put on some water and make some hot chocolate."

"I think we have some popcorn, Wesley bought a box the other day." said Angel. He found the box , stuck a bag in the microwave and set the timer for 3 minutes. The sound of popping frightened Bugsy and he hunkered down into a small ball in the middle of the sweater. Spike picked him up again and carried him into the bedroom away from the popping sound. Unable to think of any other spot, he set the bundle down in the middle of the bed and sat down next to it. Bugsy was quiet for several seconds. Then he began a tiny wail that seemed to continue as though breathing were unnecessary. The sound carried to the kitchen and Angel came in to see what was happening. Spike picked Bugsy up again and the wail stopped. Spike said, "Guess I'll just have to hold him. "

"Sit back against the pillows. I'll bring some tea and the popcorn. " Spike leaned back noticing that Angel had not complained that he still had his shoes on. Cradling Bugsy he closed his eyes and hummed a little bit of "Minefield," one of Prodigy's greatest hits.

Angel came back a moment later carrying a tray with a cup of hot chocolate, a container of half and half and a glass with a shot of Jack Daniels on the rocks. Cordelia followed with a bowl of popcorn and the candy. She sat down on the edge of the bed. Reaching into the bag she took out a chocolate mint, unwrapped it and held it out to Bugsy .. He seized it in his claws and began gnawing at it frantically managing to remain tightly curled against Spike's chest. The sight of the mint in his little brother's claws was too much for Little Fellow who crawled out of Cordelia's hair and hopped to Spike's lap.

Cordelia offered him a mint and said, "Am I a psychologist or what?" He took the candy and gobbled it almost as eagerly as Bugsy.

Angel brought the cup of hot chocolate down to Little Fellow who pulled it closer and began sucking and slurping.

"Do you think they saw anything?" he said to Spike.

"Don't know. Either of you see what happened?" Little Fellow began to shake and the cocoa spilled a little onto the sheets. Angel went to the bathroom

and came back with a towel which he spread across Spike and under the mug.

Little One said, "Seeb thoos. Cris, cris. Meeeeep." He ran up Spike's chest and curled up next to his brother. Angel looked puzzled.

I think he said, "Big shoes. Crush Crush. or something like that." said Spike.

Angel pulled up a chair. "Little One, we need to know what happened. Can you tell Spike?"

"Meep, meeep. Snuffle. Seeb thoos. Nell bird. Fide. Mama, mama, mama. Seeeee dohhnnnnnn." Angel and Cordelia looked at each other. Neither understood the words, but the meaning was plain.The two monsters huddled together and trembled. Spike put both hands over them, then brought them away again.

"Get the heating pad, Love. My hands won't be warm enough." Angel took the heating pad out from under the tub of lube on the end table, laid it next to

Spike and turned it on to low. Spike lifted the two rug rats and put it across his chest and under them. They pressed into it gratefully.

"So exactly what did they just say?" asked Cordelia.

Spike translated, "Big shoes, smell bad, hide, mama, mama, she's gone. Don't look at me like that. I don't know how I know either. It just seems pretty

sodding clear, that's all."

The phone in Angel's duster rang. He got up and answered it. "OK, see you soon." He hung up. "It's almost dawn and Wesley and Gunn are coming in. They ran into Trepkos and Crib who were out looking also. Apparently this is pretty widespread. It seems to have been a planned raid over a certain radius. They'll tell us more. I better get breakfast going." He left for the kitchen.

"Well, Mr. The Bloody, " said Cordelia. "Looks like you have your hands full." She grinned.

"Don't say it. Don't.... say it. You'll pay, Cordelia. I swear on Drusilla's roses, you'll pay."

"Big Bad Dad. Wait till Sunnydale hears about this." She got up chortling. "I better call Joyce and tell her we need some maternal advice. Although, it really doesn't look like you two need much help. Well, well, the patter of little feet around the office. Wait. No, I am not thinking what I just thought."

She grins ferociously and leans over , eyebrows gone wild. "No, I am not going to say what I am thinking. I am not." She bustled out of the room.

"Bloody hell. What have I gotten myself into? He sat looking down at the two small shapes on the heating pad. Slowly his brain connected the loose ends left by Cordelia's grin. He remember that the pad was under the lube. The lube was helpful for many sexual purposes. Sex. How did people have sex when children were in the room, or in the office, or in the kitchen? "Bloody hell, indeed. Bloody freaking, sodding, hell is more likely." He wasn't about to give up Angel even for a couple of little demons. But then, just what was he going to do with them when he and the Ponce were...? And what if they cried when he put them out of the room?

He looked down again. They were sound asleep. He moved them by slipping his hands under the pad and carefully lifting it. He laid it in the middle of the bed and slid under the cord. He stood up and watched them for a minute. Then he tip-toed out into the kitchen.

Breakfast was under full steam. Angel was whipping two dozen eggs in a bowl , the bacon was in the pan, and the Queen of Everybody's Business was toiling at the coffee grinder. Spike needed to talk with Angel, but not here. He sighed, and pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. Cordelia put a couple of mugs of blood in the microwave, hit the 30 second button and sat down opposite him. She was still grinning. The microwave beeped and she pulled out the mugs and placed one in front of him saying, "Here, it may not be 'viscous and luscious,' but it's home microwaved."

Spike sat stunned. Angel turned around and looked at Cordelia. "What, did you say.?"

"Oh, just quoting a famous poet, " she said coyly. Angel looked toward the stairs to his office and hence his desk where he'd left the poem. At that moment Wesley and Gunn and Crib and Trepkos came through the tunnel door.

"Morning," said Gunn

"Hello, Everybody, " said Wesley

"Don't sodding talk to me."said Spike

Angel nodded to them.

Cordelia said, "Hey, anybody for a delicious omelet made by The Boss and coffee made by her royal Highness, Princess Delia of the Shoes?"

Spike didn't know how she knew he'd called her that. You can't trust anyone he thought. They all had big gobs and told on him all the time. He needed to be more careful. And now she had his poem that he remembered writing a hundred years ago to Angelus. How humiliating. She could have him where she wanted him for the next 20 years, beyond eventual super stardom, beyond international fame and fortune. She'd be living in sodding Greece on a yacht and still making him suffer beyond belief for being sensitively tuned to the universe and Angel's unbelievable marble ass. Oh boy, this was life at its lowest. And now, what would the rug rats think? So many things to consider. A bit more Jack Daniels was called for. He put his head on the formica, so cool and plastic. Formica had it easy. Just sit there and look modern and be cool and useful. What did tables know about anything? What did the Queen C know for that matter? Had she ever been a mom? He had a lot to think about; a lot of responsibility. A little more JD would be helpful. He reached for the bottle.

The group ate without talking. Spike had his mug of blood and half a bottle of Jack Daniels. Angel had his mug of blood and coffee. The little demons slept through it all, snuggled in the middle of the bed.

As Wesley and Cordelia cleared the plates, a council of war began. All the tunnel dwellers, human and demon were to be questioned. Angel and Trepkos agreed that there must be a pattern, someone must have seen something. Obviously the dwellers would be terrified, so the territory was divided up into sections based on who would do the questioning. Crib and Trepkos would interrogate demons while Wesley, talked to humans. Angel and Spike would take care of one sad task and then look for vampires who might have been in the area.

Angel asked Cordelia to stay in the office. "You're Communications Central. Each team has a cell phone and will report in every hour. I want a regular check in. We're not sure what we're up against so we need to stay in touch in case anyone needs help." She nodded.

"And don't forget the clearing up the dishes part, Pet." Spike reminded her with a grin, as usual not considering the consequences of antagonizing the future Greek yacht owning superstar.

"That bleached toothless wonder is so gonna eat his words," she muttered to herself.

Wesley and Gunn headed west, Crib and Trepkos went east, and that left the two vampires to cover the ground around last nights attack. Their first duty was to Mama. They buried her body in the tunnel by the nest of boxes. For awhile they worked silently and then, once the last shovel of dirt was tamped down, Spike looked at Angel.

"Wanna have a chat, Peaches."

"I know. We can walk and talk. Lets' go."

"Got a lot to say. Don't know where to start."

"Let me. The kids can stay. We have to find a way to have sex somehow without upsetting them. They will change our lives certainly, but that's what happens. Neither of us knows anything about being a parent, so we'll have to feel our way, but the bottom line is that we're in this together and we will work it out. What did you want to say?"

Spike stopped. He moved toward Angel until the lapels of their dusters were touching. He placed a soft kiss on Angel's lips. Angel leaned into the kiss and their arms slipped around one another and they pulled themselves close melding for a few precious moments into one, human soul and vampire demons briefly joined. When they pulled apart, duty calling, Angel added, "About the poem. I love it . I found it in my old copy of Frankenstein and left it on the desk when Cordelia had her vision. Look out. I'll bet Wesley's seen it too." Spike just groaned. Angel couldn't keep back a grin. This was going to make life at Angel Investigations interesting for a long time. He knew Spike and Cordelia got some kind of mysterious enjoyment out of baiting one another and that understanding and even cameraderie of some sort had been evolving. He grinned again, then frowned. Got to keep the happiness under control.

The morning's work soon paid off. It seemed that none of the homeless humans who found refuge in the squalor of the tunnels had been attacked, but the trail of demon blood was thick. The attacks were violent and news had travelled fast. There were certain no-go areas where bodies lay scattered as they had fallen.Trepkos and Crib had reports of a group of humans, camouflaged and armed with tasers. Wesley was plotting the incidents on a map of the tunnels.

Spike and Angel followed the trail finding a recently used access to the tunnels under one certain building. Footprints in the mud indicated a number of individuals with lug soled boots had been in and out in the last several hours. Spike wanted to form a raiding party immediately. Angel called Cordelia and asked her to find who owned the building and what it was used for .

Cordelia answered sounding distracted. "I'll see what I can find out, but just so you and Blondie know, it's chaos here. These two woke up about 20 minutes ago and are dismantling the office around me. Hey, get out of that donut box. Yes, I said now! Just a minute Angel." He looked at his cell phone and then at Spike. "They woke up and she's a little busy." He waited with the phone to his ear. Spike shifted from one foot to the other and looked like an anxious parent who isn't sure about the reliability of the sitter.

Cordelia came back on, "And you thought you might need back up. Phew. I have to find a way to distract them so I can get some work done. Anyway I'll find out what the building is and call you back." She hung up before Angel could reply

"Guess we'll just have to wait till she calls back." He dialed and reached Trepkos. He gave them their location and they calculated they could be there in about 30 minutes. Wesley and Gunn turned out to be about 20 minutes away. While they were waiting, Spike began to examine the area around the entrance for alarm systems. He found numerous clusters of wires radiating from the door. "Wonder if they can tap the cell phone conversations?" he said to Angel. Angel shrugged. "My plan is obvious anyway."

Spike said, "Lets' see. We smash the door down and trash the place and kill everybody who looks at us cross eyed."

Angel said, "That's about it. But it would be nice to know what started this. We want to know who's behind it. Maybe we need to ask some questions before we kill them."

The phone rang. "Angel, the building belongs to Councilman Thomas Whitney. He's the one behind all the immigration prohibition legislation. He doesn't like human aliens. Thinks they are polluting society and wants them out of LA. By the way, he's lobbied against gay rights too. He's been connected with the para military groups according to recent articles in the Times too."

"Well, this wasn't too tough to figure out. How are things there?"

"Possibly about to improve....Did you two hear what I said? I meant it.

Don't play innocent with me. Gotta go, Angel. " She hung up again.

Spike looked upset. "If all she's gonna do is yell at them, we need to find somebody else to watch them when we're not there."

"They'll adjust. Don't worry. She yells at all of us. They'll get used to her personality. You are. You're learning to appreciate Cordelia sometimes."

He put one finger under Spike's chin and lifted it so Spike was looking at him. "It will be OK."

Spike tried to look reassured. He worried about the kids and he worried that his worrying might make Angel brood. Sod it. He was turning into a wuss. He was supposed to be the Big Bad without a care in the world. Was everything falling apart? Somehow that sinking, desperate feeling he had when he first got chipped was missing. He wasn't depressed, exactly. He was secure in Angel's affections, and finding his way with Wesley and Gunn. He didn't hate Cordelia and he was tolerating pig's blood quite well. But he was worried. It must be the kids. Is this what life as a parent was about? Worrying every minute?

The phone rang again. Angel removed his hand and pulled the phone out of his pocket.

"Just calling to let the worry wart know that I'm not an ogre. David Nabbit is here. I called him and he came right over and they're down in the apartment with his set of painted dragons. They're playing something or other and all three of them look pretty content. I'm not sure about the attention spans we've got going here, but at least I can concentrate for a few minutes. He wants to take them for a limo ride later for ice cream." She sounded relieved, but Spike, who had heard every word, bellowed, "No way is that geek is going to take them off the premises. He can't find his way to the bog and back without getting lost. For Christ's sake, Angel. Give me that phone! "

"Cordelia. Answer me. Oy, she bloody cut me off." He started to throw the phone against the tunnel wall, but Angel caught him by the arm and snatched it back before it could be smashed.

"Look, go back if you want, but the man you really need to worry about is above us in this building. If we don't stop him and his cohort, who knows how many others will be slaughtered." Angel was right,of course. Spike snarled in frustration as he watched him redial Cordelia.

"Sorry. Just the over anxious parent here. Cordelia, it sounds good. Sounds you're solving the big problem of the day. We're waiting for the others and then we're gong to try to crash this place."

"That's your plan? Oh, great. Do me a favor. Stay alive or, rather, undead, or whatever it is you are. I am having enough trouble here without having to contemplate raising these two on my own. Am I making myself clear?"

Spike took the phone away from Angel again. "Yes, Aunt Sabrina, perfectly clear. We will be careful. We've discussed it and we're going to try to be responsible parents, but I want Nabbit to be careful.'' He looked at Angel who was smiling.

"Oh, " she sighed. "These kids will be so spoiled. Am I the only one intent on a little discipline around here?"

"That coming from the woman who was given a credit card for Neiman Marcus instead of an allowance for taking out the garbage? Oh, half a mo', you probably didn't have to take out the garbage at all. Daddy was just making sure you had everything you bloody wanted, so he didn't have to listen to you yak on all day about shoes."

Wesley and Gunn rounded the corner as he was saying this and Angel took the phone again. He told Cordelia they were almost ready to go in. She gave him another brief lecture about being careful and told him to call in as soon as possible.

Suddenly the hatch above them clanked and began to open. "Go," hissed Angel, shoving Wesley and Gunn back into the darkness along the tunnel.

Instinctively the two vampires slunk back, away from the light and against the dark walls, merging into the shadows.

The soldiers descended quickly down a rope ladder. Angel counted ten of them, all carrying automatic weapons, wearing body armor and night vision goggles with riot batons hanging from military belts. With another clang the hatch swung shut and darkness descended again.

With a snarl and a gleam of yellow eyes Spike sprang after them. Angel whipped his arm out and grabbed the collar of the duster and yanked Spike back, flinging him against the concrete wall. "What the hell are you doing?" he said, teeth clenched. "You can't fight them, you can't touch them. Forget for one moment about that chip in your head and you're dead." Spike slid down the wall to the tunnel floor and sat glowering.

Wesley and Gunn emerged from the shadows. "That was too close," complained Wesley.

"So this is where they're coming from," Gunn was scanning the ceiling and walls looking for signs of structural weakness.

"We can't talk here." Angel started back along the tunnel in the direction the combat troops had taken. "We'll have to track them.

Cordelia found out that their organizer is a xenophobe named Thomas Whitney, a city councilman who has been fighting legislation that protects the rights of immigrants and minorities within the City limits. He's got his own ideas about how to clean up L.A. Whitney's not alone, there are probably a group of them operating with the house as their headquarters.

"Professional hit squad, sounds like." said Gunn.

"That's all we need, more sodding Initiative soldier boys." muttered Spike.

Angel looked back at him. He knew Spike was raging with frustration and that his demon burned to wreak havoc on the men responsible for turning the two little demons into orphans. . Now Angel was saying that Spike was helpless to give that demon satisfaction. Damn, this was hard. Protecting Spike from himself was difficult when Angel knew from experience how insistent and powerful the demon could be. They needed time to work on this, but that wasn't available to them at the moment.

As they moved forward Wesley reported talking to several homeless people who told them the military types came through laughing and bragging about the demon kills they'd made. One elderly lady was inconsolable because her demon friends had been killed as they slept. Her friends were Pefkash demons who never hurt anybody, kept to themselves, and often shared their meager meals with her. She brought them treats from up above and blankets passed out by the shelter.Pefkash demons were great storytellers and often sat around the fires in oil barrels telling stories about the old times before humans took over the planet. Now they were dead. Murdered. She was distraught and frightened. Wesley tried his best to calm her, but she would not be soothed.

Gunn reached into his pocket and brought out something small and handed it to Spike. Spike held it out for Angel to see. It was a tiny metal car painted bright yellow. Gunn explained that if you put it down on the floor and pushed it backwards, then let go, it would take off forwards for about 10 feet all by itself. "Works best on a hard floor." he explained. Spike pocketed the little car. "Thanks," was all he could allow himself to say.

"Hey, man, it's the uncle's duty to keep the toys coming. Just let me at FAO Schwartz. Course I'll probably have to have a raise to do the job right."

Angel rolled his eyes, but said nothing, because just then at a junction, Crib, Trepkos, and six more demons of the big and beefy variety came into view.

"Yeah," said Crib, "we saw them too. They're headed toward Hollywood and Vine. We talked to a nest of demons there who hang out with some homeless humans. We warned them it wasn't safe, but they wouldn't leave. These guys want to help. Most of the ones we found alive are scared, but more are starting to get mad."

They hunkered down for a strategy session. "First off, we could take out this group," said Angel. There aren't very many of them, but if they don't get back or at least call in, then the building will be alerted and it will make it harder to penetrate. Right now they aren't expecting aggression.

They probably see themselves as the top of the food chain here and aren't expecting anyone to mark them as prey. So I think we go in and we prey on them. " There were nods from the group.

"Just so you know," he continued, "The man this building belongs to is a politician who supports hate groups. We think these armed guys are part of a paramilitary supremacist group who are getting paid to make these forays. Mercenaries tend to look to their backs, but these are also probably dedicated to the super race line of thinking, if you can call it thinking. So we may be dealing with one or two crazed true believers. Be careful."

They checked armaments. Then they turned and walked back to the hatch under the building.

Angel took his broad axe, aimed it at the alarm box, and threw. It severed the alarm cables and a loud ringing echoed down the tunnel. The electric hatch lock popped and Spike went through followed by Trepkos and Crib. They found themselves in a basement parking area and wove between cars toward the elevator. There was a guard at the elevator watching them and speaking rapidly into a walkie talkie. Trepkos was on him in a flash and wrenched the walkie talkie out of his hand and handed it to Angel. Then he lifted the guard off the ground and tossed him onto the roof of a van parked against the column. The guard landed unconscious and did not move. Spike pushed the up button on the elevator, but when it didn't respond as fast as he thought it should, he headed for the exit and the stair well. Behind Spike, Gunn waved hello at the camera monitoring their activity from one of the corners of the elevator station. Wesley shot the camera lens out with his crossbow and rearmed it as he went through the door.

At the top of the stairs the doors were locked. Smashing through with the axe, Angel led the attack. Gunshot ricocheted off the walls, as the Vampires surged forwards through a shower of bullets, blood spattering their clothing. The pain bringing out their demon features.

Then it was hand to hand. Some of the guards fled, but a few stood their ground. Angel floored two of them with ease, then noticed Spike double up in agony as he tried to kick his way past another. He leapt forward delivering a swift up swing that sent the man sprawling, reaching Spike as the others caught up.

"Sod it." The blonde vampire hissed, holding his head.

"Ok?"

"What do you think." He growled.

But there was no time to waste, so they ran on as the alarms shrilled out around them. They reached the main hall, wide stairs lead up to the first floor. At the top stood a group of officials surrounded by an armed Guard. Angel turned to look back as an armed squad of soldiers chased in Crib, Trepkos, and their band of demons. Guards secured all the exits. They were surrounded.

"Councillor Whitney." Angel shouted up to them walking to the first stair. A tall thin man stepped forwards to the top of the stairs.

"Come any closer, vampire, and you're dust. Dont think we haven't the means to deal with your sort." He raised the wooden stake in his hand.

"Oh yeah, just like you're dealing with all those who live below. Murdering and terrorising them, just because they aren't like you."

Whitney smiled coldly. "Look gentlemen, now you can see first hand the sort of undesirables that inhabit the depths of this City." He indicated the crowd of demons standing below. "Breaking into our homes to murder us in our beds." The officials muttered in agreement.

"Wait a minute. What harm has any of those living below ever done to you." Accused Angel. "You're the one who's breaking up homes and murdering the innocent. How many children have you killed or orphaned down there?" He sensed Spike seething beside him.

"Innocent!" exclaimed Whitney, "Devils children, all of them. We've got every right to send you back to hell where you belong. The sewers are a just a stinking, festering, breeding ground for Satans own, the scum, the lowest of the low. They should have been flushed clean years ago. Now I'm going to get the job done, once and for all. And don't think for a minute that you can stop me, because you haven't a hope. Not a hope in hell." He sniggered at his own wit, pulled a crucifix from his pocket and held it up.

Like a blur a figure shot by Angel and latched onto the man with a yell.

"Spike!" cried Angel.

Too late. They toppled backwards ripping through the stair rail and plunging downwards to hit the solid marble floor below. A scream was cut short. The wooden stake clattered across the floor. Two bodies lay sprawled.

Panic broke out then. Angel's face morphed and he howled. The crowd of officials turned on their heels and ran for cover. The armed guards were hit buy the full fury of Angelus. Necks twisted and broken before they knew what had hit them. Below amidst the seething battle, Wesley and Gunn pulled the motionless body of the blonde vampire away from the councillor whose broken skull was an island in a pool of blood. Angel jumped down to them, and fought his way through. A fire had taken hold somewhere behind them, smoke started to fill the hall. Trepkos appeared beside them. "There's a virtual arsenal of weapons in the room over there. If we don't get out it's going to blow."

"Right," shouted Angel, "get everyone out through the front door. I'll get back to the tunnels." He heaved Spike's body across his shoulders and ran back into the smoke. He tore down the stairs and through the parking garage to the hatch. He set Spike's body down and slipped through the opening, pulling his lover after him. Cradling him in his arms he ran until he came to an open area with a wooden boardwalk flooring. There he set Spike down and opened the duster to see what kind of damage had been done. The T-shirt was torn and, besides a few bullet holes, a deep puncture wound appeared just below the rib cage on the left side of his body. Spike moaned and opened his eyes. Angel held his head up and looked searchingly at him.

"Spike, Spike."

"Hi, mate."

Angel took a deep breath and let it out, a human reflex of relief. "You fell through the stairwell. You have a puncture wound, probably a piece of railing."

"Feels like I've been staked in the belly."

"I want to get you back and fix it up. You've been shot, we both have, and we'll have to get the bullets out."

"Thanks for dragging my ass out, Love."

Angel held Spike to him for a second with his left arm surrounding him with his right arm protectively. Then he bent his head and kissed him. The kiss was deep and Angel gently dipped his tongue as far back as he could into Spike's throat, reaching in as close as possible without causing more pain. Spike responded and their mouths became one, hungry and reassuring and close. Spike tasted so good. Angel's anxiety almost increased. Whenever he felt frightened of losing his lover, his desire for contact became overwhelming and now all he wanted to do was sit here and hold him and kiss away the pain and the fear. When the kiss broke, he laid his forehead against Spike's and they sat for a few seconds healing emotionally through the presence of the other.

Then Spike whispered, "Like to stay here forever, Love, but the kiddies...we need to get back before the Dungeon Master stuffs them so full of ice cream, they're sick all night."

Angel smiled. He pulled his head away from Spike, but continued to hold him as he stood up, Spike resting in his arms like a child. He walked carefully toward home.

Gunn met them about 100 yards down the tunnel from the office. When the three of them reached the entrance, Cordelia and Wesley stood waiting anxiously. Angel carried Spike in through the kitchen and laid him down on the bed. He removed the duster and then the T-shirt. Spike winced with pain.

Cordelia brought bandages and warm water and went to work to remove the bullets.

Wesley pulled up a chair and Gunn leaned against the door frame.

Wesley said, "We weren't sure what happened. There was so much smoke, and we saw Spike fall, but didn't know whether he was alive or not."

"Spike wouldn't have left us to be foster parents. He'd have to stay alive to make sure I didn't holler at the kids and David didn't stuff them to death, right, Blondie? Eeww, here's a deep one. Go ahead and scream if you have to." She dug in and pulled out the bullet with the long tweezers. "Got it."

Spike sagged against the sheets and shut his eyes. Angel bandaged the puncture wound. It was already beginning to mend.

Eyes still closed, Spike said, "Where are they?"

"Ice cream, the Billionaire, the limo, remember?" said Cordelia. "There. That's one bullet free vampire. How about you Angel?"

Angel tried to pull his sweater over his head, but it stuck. Cordelia walked around him and sighed. "Doesn't look too bad. Three in the right shoulder, I think. That's what's sticky." She pried the sweater away from the shoulder. Three bullets had nearly decapitated the griffin. She pushed Angel onto the bed next to Spike and went to work. Ten minutes later both vampires lay bandaged and exhausted from the pain next to each other, Angel on his stomach and Spike on his back, shoulders touching and fingers interlaced. "Nap time," said Cordelia. "Wesley, Gunn, out." She picked up the bowl of water and Wesley took the gauze and the tools and they went out. Cordelia came back and looked in. "Half an hour's nap, then some nice, warm O positive, and you'll be ready for the joys of parenthood." She closed the door and heard Spike begin to snore.

In the kitchen, Gunn poured three cups of coffee and searched the refrigerator for the makings of a sub. Cordelia went up the stairs and immediately came back down holding a piece of yellowed paper. She handed it to Wesley. "What's this?" he asked.

"Oh, just a little something I found on Angel's desk when I was dusting. Read it out loud."

Wesley read the first line of the poem and then looked up from Cordelia to Gunn with a grin that spread from one side of his face to the other. "Oh, my God." he said.

Gunn, standing with one elbow slung over the open door of the refrigerator, looked confused. "What is it? A poem?"

"Yes, " said Cordelia briskly. "It's a poem and it's about to make life very interesting around here."

Wesley read on. Gunn's eyes got wider and wider and a huge smile accompanied by deep chuckles broke over his face. Wesley barely managed to finish reading without losing control while the others choked back wrenching giggles. Gunn took a fistful of cold cuts and the bread and closed the refrigerator. He said, "You know this could be very useful." He got a knife out of the drawer and began to spread butter on the bread.

"You can see that and you don't even know the half of it. Remind me to tell you all about the Big Bad someday," said Cordelia.

Wesley took a sip from his mug in an effort to stop laughing. "You know I really never knew Spike before he came here and it was months before I could tolerate his presence. If I hadn't seen how important he was to Angel, I don't think I could have prevented myself from staking him at the first opportunity. Somehow, I've gotten used to him. We've even plotted together. We've actually found each other to be helpful. He's stopped calling me Parsley and uses my name now. And I have to say this new venture into parenthood is touching. However, revenge is sweet, and this is an opportunity just begging to be seized."

"Yes," said Cordelia. "I for one plan to savor it. A little vengeance at a time is sweetest of all." She smiled happily.

The door to the upper office opened and David Nabbit came down the stairs. Little Fellow's head was poking out of his left pocket. Bugsy, too little to reach up that far, could not be seen. David had a large smear of chocolate ice cream over the front of his plaid shirt . He looked very pleased with himself.

"Hello, fellow warriors against the forces of evil, " he said. "We are full of ice cream and chocolate sauce, and you should see the limo."

"I can just imagine," said Cordelia. She helped Little Fellow out of the pocket with her right hand and peeked in to see Bugsy looking up at her. She scooped him out with her left hand and held them up so she could speak to them. "It's time to wake Angel and Spike. How would you two like to get them up while I fix them some O pos?" She took them over to the bedroom door, nudged it open a few inches and set them down on the floor just inside.

There was a scrabbling sound.

Spike was dreaming that he was a crossing guard next to a school and small children with demon faces were tormenting him by jay walking. He woke up suddenly to a tickling sensation on the right side of his neck. He turned his head and saw the top of Bugsy's head. Bugsy was using his claws to scratch gently against Spike's skin. He looked up to see whether Spike's eyes were open, saw that they were, and began jumping up and down in excitement.

Angel lifted his head. "Huh?" he muttered. Little Fellow was tugging on his hair and, when Angel raised his head, Little Fellow's claw caught, and now he was dangling in the air in front of Angel's face.

Angel reached up and untangled him. Spike put one hand around Bugsy and sat up. Both vampires looked dazed. Rarely did anything but one of Cordelia's visions disturb their sleep, and they were so used to waking up on their own that they were a little disoriented. Spike said, "Bloody hell, I was dreaming that I was a guard at a cross walk, but none of the demon children would stay in the safe zone. They were running all over in between the cars.

It was a nightmare. Now this. Hope that blasted Cordelia has the coffee on."

They climbed out of bed and Angel found a clean silk shirt and Spike a clean T-shirt to put on. Spike stood at the dresser and tucked his shirt in. When he turned around Bugsy was sitting in the open tub of lube and Little Fellow was rolling the top off the night table and onto the floor. Angel leaped for the top, while Spike plucked Bugsy out of the tub and took him into the bathroom to wipe him off with some paper towels. The clean up was unsatisfactory because to get lube out of demon hide was a challenge Spike wasn't used to.

"They advertise something on the telly that mums use to wipe baby's buns with. That's it "wipes." We can get some of those."

"Better do it soon," said Angel. "There are probably other things we need too. We just don't know what they are." He opened the door and went toward the kitchen, Little Fellow riding on his shoulder. Spike followed cupping Bugsy in his left hand against his chest.

Cordelia saw them, looked guilty, stuffed something in the pocket of her jeans and went to the refrigerator. Gunn had a mouthful of sandwich and Wesley was pouring a beer into a glass. They all stopped and looked at Angel and Spike. Cordelia's guilty expression cleared and a soft smile stretched across her face.

"Well, how bout some grub all the way around, although, as you can see, Gunn couldn't wait."

"Order something like pizza or whatever you like," said Angel. "Hi, Mr. Nabbit."

"David, please call me David. I'm not going to stay. Your two little guys and I had fun. I got out of another board meeting and they got ice cream. I think I like being an uncle to orphans."

"So, " said Wesley "We have two dads, three uncles, and just what are you, Cordelia?"

"I, " she announced, "am the Headmistress of the whole evil bashing, child earing shebang. Not the mommy, understand. Headmistress is a much more appropriate. Or, I might go with Mother Superior in a pinch." She emptied two bags of blood into two mugs, stuck them in the microwave, and punched in 30 seconds on the timer. When the bell went off she put one in front of Angel and one in front of Spike.

"David, you have to stay for supper. Don't think you're just going to play and run. Sit down."

"OK." said David Nabbit. He sat down.

Spike put Bugsy down on a napkin on the table. Bugsy ran up to Gunn and chirped, "Sim Gsy, sim Gsy."

"He wants some of your sandwich, Peaches," Spike translated.

Gunn picked part of a slice of roast beef out of the sandwich and gave it to Bugsy.

Cordelia looked appalled. "Manners." she said. "First, he has to learn to say, please, and then he has to know when it's polite to ask ."

"It's okay," said Gunn, his mouth stuffed with bread and cold cuts.

"And," she went on, "he'll learn best by example, so please try not to talk with your mouth full."

"Bloody, horrible, steaming hell, " moaned Spike. "Are we going to have to listen to the Bad Teacher yap like this from now on?"

"We don't want them to grow up to be barbarians like some who will remain nameless. No slaughtering and killing over hill and dale' for these two, at least till they're older, and no smoking, drinking, or using whipped cream in kinky ways. I have standards."

It took Spike a moment or two to recognize the subtle insertion of a line from his poetry. Then, when she added the references to his personal habits, he decided that ripping her lungs out was too good for her. But all he could do was glower. Wouldn't do to always be losing his temper in front of the rug rats. She smiled smugly and picked up the cell phone. She ordered two vegetarian pizzas with thin crusts before Wesley spoke up loudly and demanded one thick crust with ham and pineapple and extra cheese. With a disgusted look, and rather than substitute, she added a third pizza to the list.

Angel sat with his head on one hand and looked around the table. It was buzzing as usual with all the noise of humanity around him. He felt content.

Little Fellow was sitting in front of Wesley watching the beer fizz in the glass. Angel's hand crept under the table and somehow seemed to drop itself into the lap next to him. To his delight the lap was hard rather than soft. He felt his way to the belt buckle and pulled on the leather . It came away and then he worked the button open. He was feeling pleased that no one seemed to notice. As he tugged on the zipper, careful to use his fingers only so that no one would see his arm move, Wesley said, "I realize that we' are used to doing things in certain ways around here. For the most part we' feel free to feel up other vampires uninhibitedly. However....." He stopped and looked at Angel. If it had been possible for Angel to turn red, this would have been the moment.

"That's it, "said Spike. "Now all of you listen to me. Sex is healthy. Vampires need lots of healthy sex. It's good for us. I like his bloody hand in my lap, and if he wants to put it there, then he can put it there. Kiddies or no kiddies, this office isn't going to turn into a sodding pulpit with a load of batshit rules. Got it? And leave my poetry out of it. Think it's your goddam business, do you? Well, I'll show you." He pushed back his chair, leaned over to Angel, took his head between his hands and pulled him into a kiss. Bugsy began jiggling up and down squeaking, "Heeee, pi, ngel tissing." Little Fellow jumped up and down a few times and then ran up Gunn's arm for a better of his two new vampire parents demonstrating affection.

"Okay," said Gunn."Okay. You two get with the mushy stuff if you want, and Cordelia, give it a break. Who's gonna pay for the pizza?"

David Nabbit offered to pay and went upstairs to wait for the delivery. Cordelia was thoughtful. Angel and Spike completed the demonstration and sat back. Angel picked up his mug and took a sip.

Cordelia looked at her nails. "Well, we might as well decide right now where to put the Christmas tree." Blood sprayed from Angel's mouth out across the table and spattered in a fine mist over and into the food, the beer, Bugsy, Cordelia's coffee and Spike's glass of whiskey.

There was a moment of silence. Then everyone reacted at once. Cordelia said, "Eeewwwww." She snatched Bugsy up from the center of the table with her left hand and whirled around to the sink and turned the water on with her right hand.

Gunn looked at what was left of his sandwich and said, "Can I get vampire cooties if I eat the rest of this?"

Wesley said, "Oh, my god, picked up the beer glass and the coffee cup, got up wearily, walked around to the sink and stood in line behind Cordelia.

Spike said, "Yummy way to drink whiskey, love. I'll take this combo anytime." He licked his lips and pounded Angel on the back in an effort to ease the choking. Then he picked up a napkin and made an attempt to wipe Angel's face, especially the spot above his upper lip which was covered with the blood that had spurted out of his nose.

David Nabbit, who had been standing on the steps holding 3 boxes of pizza, came down and said, "I like hanging with you folks. I always get to see something I haven't seen before. Evil stomping, vampires with nosebleeds, baby demons, pizza with ham and pineapple." He set the boxes down on the coffee table by the couch and went to the counter for paper towels. Cordelia pointed to the Fantastic spray cleaner and he began wiping off the table.

Cordelia rinsed Bugsy and wrapped him in a dish towel and set him back down on the clean formica surface. Little Fellow darted down Gunn's shoulder and checked his brother for damage. Baths were new to them. He wasn't quite sure what it was Hot Chocolate Bossy Lady had done to Bugsy. Bugsy sniffled unhappily, but he seemed okay. Little Fellow smelled something interesting and skittered off the table onto Spike's lap and then to the floor. Spike was preoccupied with Angel and Angel was still sputtering. Wesley turned around from washing the glass and cup and yelled, "Hey!"

Everyone followed his gaze toward the coffee table. Little Fellow was sitting in the top most pizza box gobbling pineapple. Wesley launched himself across the room. "That's my pineapple!"

Spike jumped up, manuvered between Wesley, intercepted the perceived attack on his offspring, picked up Little Fellow who began to screetch and then looked desperately at Angel.

Angel got up, still feeling a strange pressure in his sinuses, and holding the bridge of his nose, took Wesley by the arm. "It's okay, Wes, it looks like he only got one or two chunks."

"Es sare. Es sare." howled Little Fellow.

"He's right you skinny wanker, you're supposed to bloody share."

"Well, he's supposed to say please. And you are his Father so you are supposed to teach him. Of course, if you've never in your 130 plus years used the term yourself, then I suppose you are going to have difficulty fulfilling that particular duty. Am I right?"

Angel said, "Calm down Wes. I'll teach him. Cordelia will teach him. There are six of us and between us we can cover most of what they need to know.

That's the advantage of being a, well, I guess, family. Let's just have something to eat. There's more beer in the refridgerator."

Cordelia picked up the pizza boxes and brought them to the table. Gunn got more napkins and some paper plates out of the cupboard. Angel went to the fridge, got some ice and made Spike another whiskey on the rocks. Then he poured coffee for himself. Wesley , still grumbling, sat back down and reached for a slice of his pineapple/ham pizza. Little Fellow hopped down out of Spike's arms and scuttled up next to Wesley's napkin. "Peas, Es?" he chirped.

Wesley sighed, picked off a piece of pineapple and gave it to him. Angel said to Spike, "Better add pineapple to the wipes list." Spike nodded and took a sip of whiskey.

"So," said Cordelia, "Can we get back to the dangerous subject of the Christmas Tree?"

"What... are... you... talking about, Cordelia!?" said Angel.

"Hey, you are probably used to spending the holidays brooding in the book room or in some dreary sea cave, but children aren't. Children expect a tree with decorations, Santa, lots of presents, and Christmas dinner. So it is one adult responsibility to meet those expectations. Besides I have several back issues of Martha Stewart's Christmas books and the new 'Better Homes and Gardens' Christmas issue to give us some guidance. Not that I would imagine anybody here would be interested in cross stitching poinsetta. But there are lots of simple things even all of you can do."

"What about things like holy water and crosses and other Christly problematical symbols for us vampires, Ms. Claus?" said Spike.

"Not to worry, those are mostly around Easter, " replied Cordelia confidently.

"We could do the pagan side of these rituals. I can research it, " said Wesley.

"Never really had a regular Christmas, "said Gunn, "Might be all right. I could put up lights. Kind of the man's job, I think."

"I could bribe Disneyworld to let us in after midnight on Christmas Eve and take them on all the rides," said David Nabbit.

Angel got up. "I'm tired. I can't even think about it. It's all yours Headmistress. I'm going to bed. So is Spike. We'll close the doors, but don't mind the noise. Just make yourselves at home. If you can't hear each other over our moaning and growling, just go upstairs. Cordelia, put the kids to bed. No arguing, figure it out. See you all later." He got up, took Spike by the arm and lifted him bodily out of the chair, slung him over his shoulder and marched into the bedroom. He dumped Spike on the bed. closed the door tightly and locked it.

He walked to the bed and stood over Spike. Spike looked up at him from underneath his eyebrows and chuckled. "Had it, Pet?"

"Had it." He leaned over the bed and supported himself on his knuckles on either side of Spike's shoulders. He leaned forward untill his nose was two inches from Spike's.

"Guess what?"

"What's that, then?"

He brought his hands together over Spikes biceps and lifted him clear off the bed and tossed him into the narrow space between the left side of the bed and the wall. Then he was on top of him holding the tub of lube before Spike could yelp with surprise.

"Stay down if you know what's good for you."

"Oh, Peaches, I know what's good for me." He yelled, "I'm trapped. Help, help. A big vampire is on top of me and I don't know what to do. Help,

Cordelia, help!" Angel shut him up with a hard, crushing kiss. Spike managed to chuckle and then broke away still laughing. "They're sure to go tearing out of the kitchen now."

They listened as footsteps mounted the stairs. "That's all right, Cordelia," shouted Spike between gasps of laughter, "I'll remember this the next time you need your hide rescued." Angel wrestled him flat to the floor. Spike gave in and they kissed hard for awhile. Angel reached down and separated Spike from his jeans and then himself from his Armani's and threw all the pants up on the bed. He opened the tub and dipped his three middle fingers in and scooped enough to ensure both of them the slippery ride of their lives and slathered it over Spike's opening, easing one finger inside, then two, then three. Spike moaned and bit his own lips until the blood flowed down his chin to his neck, The smell made Angel snarl with desire . He took first one then the other of Spike's legs, shifted them on to his shoulders and entered carefully until he was past the sphincter. Then he slid all the way in. Spike cried out and tried to buck, but the cramped space and Angel's weight restrained him and added to his helplessness. Angel licked the blood from his chin and whispered, "There, I have you now. Right where I want you. Crushed beneath me, me fucking you, you with no way out. All mine, Spike, all mine. " He thrust harder and moved his right hand to Spike's cock. Spike arched his head back and gasped. He knew Angel was strong, but this was beyond belief. He was reeling from the strength of his lover. He felt out of control, confined, helpless. He came suddenly, wildly, sobbing as Angel sank shining fangs into his shoulder. Angel came next, pounding hard into Spike's ass then slowing as the orgasm swept both of them. It seemed to go on forever. Spike rolled on its waves and cried out begging Angel to hold him, to never let him go. Angel pulled out and lifted Spike and wrapped his arms around him as they slipped into the aftermath. He lifted Spike to the bed and pulled off his T-shirt. Then he tucked him under the sheets into the warmth and depth of the mattress. He kissed Spike gently, dipping his tongue deep and lapping the remaining blood from his throat. Then he moved to the bite on the shoulder and licked softly healing the punctures. Spike whimpered and turned his head to Angel. He opened his eyes and whispered,

"Help, Cordelia, help." Angel grinned at him.

"Don't think she heard you this time." He stroked Spike's forehead. "You all right?"

"You kidding, you big bully? Feel like I been rode hard and put away wet."

"That's probably pretty accurate."

They looked at one another for a beat. Spike closed his eyes and murmured, "Just wait. When you're least expecting it, Pet. Right in the middle of one of your damn omelets with everybody reading the Sunday paper, that's when I'll be all over your ass." He yawned and fell asleep, purring softly.

Angel supported himself on his elbow watching Spike sleep and thought about the day. Two new additions to the family to protect and, well, nurture. A joint responsibility that he knew sometimes sent lovers flying apart. It was too much for some relationships. It meant work, but they had help. So, that's what the books meant when they talked about the importance of the extended family. He thought about the others and wondered when he had stopped seeing them as adjuncts to his way of life and started feeling that they were necessary and part of his domain, belonging to him almost as much as his lover did. He couldn't pinpoint when it happened, but here they all were. He guessed that when a group realized they were in it for the long haul, for better or worse, that was when love really began. He rolled on to his back. Spike sighed and turned to drape his arm across Angel's chest. He opened his eyes. "I'm here, Pet, for always, whatever that means." He closed his eyes again, then opened them. "Do you think the headmistress got them to bed?"

"I'm sure she did."

"Right, then."

As Angel drifted off, he felt Spike get up, heard him put on the robe and go out to check on the two little demons. He smiled and that day there were no nightmares.
 
 

E-Mail Author