Title: Splinter

Author: Mera

Feedback: Do I even need to say anything? Do I look like a nut? I'm not one to pass on FB... though I might be one to take it at gun point... lusciousspike@yahoo.com

Rating: 17 – close your eyes kids!

Pairing: Spike/ Angel (eventually), Spike/Raven(OC)

Summary: Spike decided to stay in L.A. and work with Angel and Co. in Wolfram and Hart now known as A.I and Co. However, Angel still has a bit of a grudge towards Spike, for obvious reasons. Spike gets hurt... Angel is responsible in away. How will that work out I wonder?

Notes: this is all happening in S5 AtS, Cordy woke up from her coma and Fred is Fred. W&H is now the Fang Gang's playground so... no Eve yay! You'll figure out the details when you read.

Disclaimer: the chars belong to Joss though I borrowed some... am going to keep them for sometime... give them tea and crumpets... maybe make them show me their sexy dance and if I ever get bored *snort* I'll return them.

Distribution: You want? Just ask, I swear I won't say no!

Where it is now? http://www.livejournal.com/users/lusciousspike/ where the fic is posted a lot sooner un-beta-ed.

The Crypt, Island Library, Soul Mates, TWWOM

Thanks: A big smooch goes out to falcons319 for giving me the name to the story! Not to mention the encouragement to finish it since she was the very first person to read it (even before me!*g* don't ask... lets just say she endured something I wrote off the top of my head without rereading it... she's SO brave! And told me she loved it, go figure!). Love you lots hon!

A somewhat response to Angela's Challenge later on: A vampire's claim on another vampire is not eternal, despite common beliefs. It lasts for about 500 years, but most vampires don't know that. Seeing most don't live that long and the ones who live that long, don't usually claim another. And since the claim is broken based on the claimer's age, as Angel wanders around with his soul and spends centuries in hell, the claim on Spike is going to be expired soon. One day, several master vampires – some even older than Angel - came into Wolfram & Hart. They'd heard about Spike's claim expiring and would like claim Spike.

Well the challenge helped me out when I got writers block. I used part of its plot not all coz I played with an element or two *blush* you'll see (hope that's ok Ang!)... but hey what's the fun in following roles anyways? ::hopes Angela doesn't throw sharp objects at her::

*Smoochies* for Farah my bestest for quickly reading over and pointing out the most obvious mistakes and big thanks to Sophie, Belinda, Shakatany, Michaella and Barbara (and those who offered their ruler) all whom have been so helpful in pointing out my *uhem* blooper-s *g*.

Italics & *& capitals = emphasize

~ = thoughts

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Can I come in?"

Raven tilted his head to the side.

"You don't need an invitation." He stepped out and leaned against the door frame.

Spike matched the tilt with his own with an added rub at the back of his head. "Yeah, the vamp vamp thing but..."

"No." Raven quickly took in his visitor's appearance and there was an unnoticeable narrowing around his eyes when he caught Spike wince as his hand touched his head. He skimmed over the bruised, marred face. "You needn't ask. This is your home if you wish it to be."

"Nah, I mean, thanks, I just need a good action filled flick... possibly with a lot of gore?" Spike slipped on his side grin.

Raven pursed his lips as in thought. "Well, it happens that I have a section reserved for just that."

Spike chuckled. Raven grinned and he stood back. "Come in." He waved his hand in a welcome gesture. "You are welcome in my humble abode."

That had Spike scoffing, but he strode inside as if the place was his own. He eyed the decorative charcoal coat hanger somewhat wistfully as he passed it.

"Now." Raven snapped his attention back with a clap. "Popcorn... buttered... not or dipped in blood?" He smirked devilishly.

Spike shook his head in wonder. "Bugger. You remind me of myself ... it's bloodcurdling at times!" he said with noticeable amusement, walking with Raven towards the bountiful living room.

There was a falter in the older vampires step. "Uh, not really. I find it to be horrendous, hence suggesting it to you." He spared the blond a side glance full of a leer.

"Cheeky." Spike laughed humorously.

Raven fingered his on display DVD selection, finally stopping on one. He pulled it out and showed the cover to Spike. "What do you think of Angelina Jolie?"

"I think she'd make an appalling vamp." He shuddered. "She'd bite off her lips as soon as she rose."

"My thoughts exactly." The dark haired vampire nodded returning the case.

"You mean...? No, never mind." Spike shook his head before flopping down on the large comfortable couch. "I'm better off not knowing, right?"

"Most likely," Raven said without turning his head his voice not revealing his emotion.

Spike's hand ran over the couch arm in a plainly edgy gesture as he absorbed the penthouse from a different view than the last time he had been there.

"Well, it certainly beats Harm's brilliant idea of turning Brad Pitt."

Raven laughed as he silkily sat down right next to Spike even though the sofa could take five people comfortably while the Widescreen Television displayed the boring but usual DVD information. "That's Angelus', I beg his pardon, 'Angel's' assistant, I take it?" He observed Spike's stiffening and nodded as if an answer to an unasked question had been given.

The dark haired vampire continued talking as if a strong urge to pay a certain vampire an unsociable visit hadn't shot through him, "Well, you can't fault the girl. Mr. Pitt presents a lovely sight."

Spike relaxed at the neutral subject and turned his head to look at Raven's face. "You're serious? I mean, I'm not saying the bloke would have me running to sunny hills... but Pitt? I mean at least Cruise was a fun vamp!"

"You can't fault me. I always find myself drawn to blonds with blue eyes and magnificent facial structure." If possible, he drew even closer to Spike. "Though, I had always found him to be lacking somehow."

Spike pushed his tongue against his lower lip but didn't move in either direction. "And I'm betting a Siamese that you met him, mate."

Raven's silver eyes traced the planes of Spike's face. "Yes, I have. Wouldn't recommend it, his uh- lady has him on a short leash." He shook his head, ignoring Spike's snigger. "It's only a matter of time for them." He caught Spike's eyes with his own. "Oh, and kittens, Spike? Messy currency that expires, I don't recommend it." With one last thorough glance of inspection that had Spike's eyes darkening, he pulled back.

"Movie's starting. Hope you like Troy. Orlando Bloom is very captivating, nonetheless, I find him more interesting with blond hair and blue eyes."

Spike opened his mouth intending on some snide remark, he really did. But all of a sudden Raven stood up.

"You didn't say how you would like your popped corn?"

Spike opened his mouth, and then closed it. That had been happening a lot tonight. With an amused shake at a superiorly amused Raven he replied, "I think I might pass on the blood spatter tonight."

"Wise choice," Raven said seriously. "Extra salt and butter it is." He headed towards the fully equipped kitchen.

Spike shouted out after him without turning around. "Don't cheap out on the booze!" He felt a need for numbing this evening.

"I think I would know what would go great with this evening," Raven called back still able to sound elegant in doing so.

Spike grinned. A split second later, his face froze. He was stunned at how at home he felt. It should have felt wrong. But it didn't. And somehow that made it even worse.

He didn't know how long he sat there unmoving but when he found a glass shoved in front of his face, he silently took it and chugged back a large swallow. "Good black stuff," he said mechanically as he licked his lip.

Raven leaned back surprising Spike by placing his Italian leather bound feet on the glass table. "I find Guinness to be appropriate. I have the best delivered of course."

Spike twitched an eyebrow as he watched Raven take his first drink from the beer in his hand. His eyes followed the tongue as it mimicked Spike's earlier action but unbelievingly with more grace. He looked up and saw that Raven had been watching him as he did the same.

Spike pressed his lips together, annoyed to have been caught and placed his booted feet on the table in an act of rebellion that had always irked Angel. That was before he remembered that the table was already being used as a foot stool. He was even denied this small rebellion. He glared at Raven who only looked back at him unblinking.

Nearly a minute later and their eyes remained locked.

"Gonna miss Pitt's butt shot." Spike crossed his arms defiantly and waited for Raven's response. The other vampire didn't even twitch an eyelid.

"Not my type."

"Is that so?" Eyebrow moved upwards but amazingly eyes remained steady.

Raven matched the raised eyebrow just as balanced. "Too tanned for my taste."

Another sixty seconds later. "I'm bored stiff here, mate."

"If I ever see you motionless, I'd be sure that Hell is lovely that time of year."

"Hah! You made a joke! Sure that hasn't happened yet?" Spike smirked.

"I'll have you know, I'm very funny. When I choose to be."

"Pretend I just rolled my eyes." Spike tilted his head. "Maybe when you get that superior stick up your arse..."

Raven blinked outraged. "My what...?!" A growl stopped as soon as it started when Spike burst laughing. Leaning against the cushions, Spike was pointing a shaking finger at Raven.

"You are so bloody easy... didn't actually think you'd fall for that!"

Raven frowned confused. "For what?"

Spike sat back up. "Blinked. Therefore, you forfeit. Rules of the game." He nodded firmly.

"Really? And what did I lose?"

Spike scratched the back of his head in thought. "Guess you have to let me shack up here tonight, not in a mood to trek to *my* humble abode."

Raven grinned. "Not much of a loss, is that?" Then he turned his attention back to the blaring set and leaned back. "Besides, I wasn't playing."

Spike scoffed. "Yeah, right. Try to pull that over some other sorry sucker. Why the Hell were you taking an hour to gander at me if not for that?" He caught the small smile on Raven's lips before they were covered by the tip of the glass.

Spike leaned back and watched the tube, hugging himself tighter.

So, so, wrong, that it was right. Would it be really wrong to indulge?

******

Angel knew his mechanic would have a fit if he realized what kind of tire burns the car was doing right now with him as the purposeful driver at its helm. Good thing he didn't know his mechanic. For all he knew, they had his car changed each time he took it out. That department of Wolfram and Hart's L.A. branch he didn't mess with. Therefore, he didn't care about the damage he was doing to it.

Fuck it all. Nothing was working out like it should. So he made a mistake. Like that was something new. He wanted to make things right. But he couldn't chance it. Spike brought out Angelus closer to the surface even without the curse hanging its devious head over them. Damn Gypsies! Darla should have killed them all.

Was this it? Should he resign the fact that it was over? He had expected Spike to come barging into his office angry at the dismissal like he used to. Like it had always been with the two of them. Spike would yell at him, he would yell back, they would insult each other and then they would sit down to a nice beverage. Something Irish, warm and very strong that would make them forget about... just forget what needed to be forgotten. And maybe remember when things were good, without body counts or blood... other than their own. Perhaps continue where they left off...

But he never came. Angel spent hours and hours under pretence that he was working, piles of still untouched paper stand as witness, waiting for Spike to rant and curse and be his annoying self... but all Angel got that was annoying barging into his office was an uninvited Xander.

If tires could sue... well he still had super charged Gunn.

Another swift turn and he pushed down the brakes making everything squeal in protest. He jumped out of the car slamming the door closed. With wide strides, he approached a brick wall. He held on to the fire escape ladder and climbed it swiftly. His hands making soft taps as they pulled him further up along the cold metal. Reaching a dead end didn't stop him as he scaled the tall building effortlessly. Jumping, he fell on the roof, the high air breeze making his coat flap like dark wings as he marched towards the far edge. He stood by it looking down. The street, even from this high up, was clearly clean. Expensive cars were neatly parked along the street. Trees and bushes were neatly trimmed and night blooms scattered adding a perfect color.

However, he wasn't there to enjoy the scenery. He looked across the street.

His eyes narrowed.

Angel watched Spike and Raven through the large window in Raven's penthouse. He watched as Raven looked knowingly at Spike as they sat in front of the large T.V. Spike seemingly lost in the flick. Angel, seething, observed Raven observing Spike.

With the palm of his hand, Raven turned Spike's face towards him, looked at his face before leaning over. Angel wanted to look away. He knew what was going happen. He had seen this before under a different starry night. It seemed a lifetime ago, but felt like yesterday; nonetheless, he didn't shield his eyes. This time he didn't leave.

He watched as Spike's eyes widened in what he chose to describe as worry when Raven brought his head to him, for the older vampire was with no doubt breathing in his scent. He watched as Spike opened his mouth in that defensive instant reaction of his. Angel could methodically hear him say, "Not like I carry your claim yet, can snog whoever I please, whenever I please." He waited for him to say that. Waited for Raven to beat him or at least throw him out when Spike uttered those words. But Spike didn't say that. His mouth didn't even move.

Angel couldn't see Raven's face as the Hravolen Master was giving him his back. But obviously Spike saw something in it that made him relax, giving a small shake of his head. To Angel's surprise, that seemed enough of an explanation, for Raven ran his hand gently over Spike's bruised face before gently massaging his ear.

~ He didn't ask. ~ Angel's eyes narrowed. ~ They sit there... he let him in knowing and still didn't ask. ~

Spike's eyes rolled back in their sockets in response to the attention his lobe was receiving. His mouth then opened the way it unconsciously did when he was being stimulated. Angel could practically hear him moaning from where he stood. He remembered it well. His face remained as emotionless even as his pants tightened.

Raven took no time in recognizing that. He swooped down and kissed Spike. His hands quickly released the sprawled vampire's shirt, no doubt ripping some buttons, and threw it over his head instantly forgetting about it as it landed on a porcelain statue of two lovers entwined facing the window, their gender undetermined due to their tight embrace.

Long fingered hands begun running over Spike's chest tweaking his nipples before his mouth took one of them in.

Spike bucked.

Angel's eyes widened as he took in a Master Vampire, Ruler of an Infamous Line, pleasuring a vampire that was not only a fledgling in comparison but also who was seen as a traitor to his own kind.

Spike lowered his head looking through half lidded eyes at his assailant. With a smirk he pulled at Raven's knees causing the other vampire to fall on his back, presenting a clearer view of Spike's naked top to Angel.

Angel fingers were now knuckle-deep in the roof bricks he had been clutching.

The vampire on the roof waited. Any second now Hrafen would push Spike off and punish him for pulling such a stunt on an Elder. Angelus would. It would end here.

Angel's eyes almost popped out when Raven only raised one hand and pulled Spike down for a passionate kiss as if not bearing to be separated from those smirking lips.

In all the times Angelus and William spent together, Angelus had never allowed the younger vampire to dominate him. Angel felt something inside him harden.

His sources had been right.

He had been foolishly expecting that any minute, Spike would rush in asking, or more likely demanding, for help to get him out of another mess he had gotten himself in; begging him to take him back away from this evil vampire who was tormenting him. That was never going to happen. No vampire worth their Master name would allow a lesser to dictate them, unless...

Unless everything he received about Hrafen and Hravolen was true.

He continued to watch.

Spike leaned in to nuzzle the skin behind Raven's ear. Raven had his hands running up and down over Spike's back urging him, pausing momentarily to dig in the shoulders before scraping down his back causing the muscles to ripple and Spike to throw his head back, blue eyes hidden as his face creased reflecting pain. But Angel knew better. He glimpsed Spike slipping his hand under the dark gray shirt of the vampire underneath him, casually flipping the buttons open with the other.

Angel knew then, it was a lost cause. Spike would never let this go. He had always been dominated. By him--- Angelus, Drusilla, even Buffy, he was sure. They had all held something over Spike, William, it didn't matter. *They* were the ones in control. Raven, however, seemed to be a different case. He could easily dominate Spike, but he didn't. He might initiate the approach but he allowed Spike to take his own pace... which seemed to be working.

Nuzzling the expanse of Rave's throat and moving lower, Spike laid wet kisses on the other man's pale skin before catching his eyes with a heavy-lidded glance.

Raven bucked forward the moment Spike's hand was on him, rubbing through the smooth material.

Spike licked down the bare belly, and opened the pants as he moved down to nibble on a hipbone. Above him, Raven moaned but his head remained steady as he observed the blond's ministrations. He ran fingers through Spike's hair, disturbing the slicked look, and urged him on as the younger vampire's fingers caressed and danced over the slim hips.

Spike stopped. He raised his head only to lower it for another meeting of battling lips.

He loved to kiss. Angel remembered that. His own lips throbbed in demand but he ignored them.

Still suffering from a serious case of lip-lock, Spike slid the pants half off. His lips gleamed when he finally pulled away. He followed his earlier path. He licked down as he went, stopping with a wicked smile to gnaw at the hipbone. He took his time to give everything his attention, almost everything.

Something in Raven's eyes evidently pleased Spike as his smile only got wider. Frustration seemed to be a turn on for William the Bloody. Before Raven's fingers had a chance to pull at the disarrayed white strands, urging the teasing to stop, Spike distracted him with a wiggling pink lip.

In vampire speed the kiss swollen lips were around the other vampire and the pink tongue that had taunted just a split second ago flicked at the head. Opening his mouth and lowering it, Spike sucked, his cheekbones sharpening. His eyelids dropped awhile later as his throat worked.

If he had opened his eyes and looked straight ahead, he would have seen a large brick falling from its place on the roof of the building opposite to the one he was in. And perhaps would have caught sight of the figure responsible. But he didn't.

Angel couldn't watch anymore. He jumped off the other side of the building and stiffly entered his car. He roughly unzipped his pants, and with swift heavy jerks to his already weeping erection, he came silently. His hands clutched at the steering wheel his eyes looking out sightlessly. He pulled his hands off, not noticing the way his fingers had left matching imprints in the leather and yanked out the blanket he kept for emergencies, wiped himself off and with a screech of angry rubber, drove away. He really hoped that they did replace his cars; he had no need of a memento reminding him of this night. The only thought pounding in his head was that he always had to force, to push, Wil—Spike to take him in and swallow him, while Spike did it willingly for Raven.

Less than ten minutes later...

"We didn't do nothin' I swear!" A loud crash as a body was thrown against a mold filled wall. It barely had a chance to stand up as an object came hurtling through the air only to fall in a cloud of dust.

The retreating figure raised his hands. "Okay, okay, so there was the one Minister but he was asking for it, dude, all mocking us with his collar covered neck and everything."

A flick of the wrist was all the warning he received before everything he owned went up in flames.

"Man, what's your issue?! Vamp and fire don't mix. Are you on some sorta death wish or sometin'?" He didn't approach nor make any sudden moves. "Ya know, I was a major in physic, you have some serious repression problem ... it usually comes out in anger."

Angel shot him a fiery glare, but that could have been the affect due to burning buildings' brightness building falling on his face.

"'Kay, so I flunked and was snuffin' it in classes but I swear that day I wasn't!"

"Do you know who I am?"

The vampire shook his head. "Nah, I just ascended to the evil ranks a month ago." He pointed a pile of ashes behind Angel. "She was my sire... barely filled me in on the does and don'ts of this gig. Sorry if we were feedin' on your turf or sometin' I-I'll shove off now." He nodded frantically.

Angel frowned but stepped in his way stopping the sorry excuse for an escape. "So your sire didn't give you any rules? That's sad."

The purple haired vampire shrugged. "Wasn't bad. I'm a rebel, really don't like rules. Puts a damper on life... or death in my case! But she did give me the basics." He started clicking on his fingers. "Drink blood. Kill. Maim. Don't go out in the sun. No smoking 'til I get the hang of lighting a cig. You know the things you see in those Vamp movies." He looked sad. "But I never did get why they always hit me and made fun of me whenever I asked when I'd get to fly all batty." He held another finger up, his face brightening as he remembered something else. "Oh, and stay away from angels when they're pissed. She was serious about that." He shook his head. "Never got that one. Don't angels suppose to be hallow-y and peaceful?"

Angel smirked, a wild gleam sparking in his eyes. "Oh, don't worry, I'll help you *get* that one."

TBC