I AM YOURS 
By: PetiteMiel 

Chapter Fifteen
 

Willow sat on the floor at the foot of Dawn's bed, her legs crossed in front of her. She sprinkled the blue powder she held in her hand around the symbol she had drawn on the floor and waited for a reaction. Seconds passed as the others watched impatiently for something to happen. A moment later the power burst into flames, then extinguished itself as a small ball of light floated in the air before the red headed witch. Rising to her feet, Willow turned toward the others and smiled at her success. 

"This will be our guide. It will show us where Dawn's been over the last three days. It works backwards, retracing her steps, so we should be able to find out where she was today and hopefully that will help us figure out what happened to her." 

Buffy, Xander and Giles looked on as she headed out into the hall, then followed a moment later, leaving Dawn in the care of Kennedy and Vi. 

Making their way down the hall, they headed toward the stairs, then exited the building and headed across the courtyard. It was well after dark and the castle was eerily silent, most of its occupants having gone to bed some time ago. The guide floated along in front of Willow, leading the way toward the door that led back into the main passages, but, just before they reached the meeting hall, it swerved off sharply toward another set of stairs. 

Following after it the others continued on, glancing about at the little used passages they found along the way. There were cobwebs everywhere and it was clear the tunnels hadn't been used in many years, but the trail they followed was clear as if something or someone had recently passed that way. They took this as a sign that they were not being led astray, and made their way through the halls.

"Why would Dawn have come down here?" Xander whispered. 

"Maybe she was exploring. You know how curious she is about things." Willow answered as she turned the corner and stopped where the passage intersected with several others. The ball of light hovered for a moment as if undecided about what direction to go in, then moved left and headed down the passage at a quickened pace. 

They continued to follow it through one passage after another, winding their way back and forth, turning left, then right. The tunnels were a maze and they were astounded that Dawn had managed to find her way out of them. Then, suddenly, the ball of light turned a sharp corner, and disappeared from view.

William walked through the woods listening to the sound of the dry leaves crunching under his feet as he passed. They scattered in front of him, floating briefly before settling to the ground in messy piles all about the forest's floor. He glanced up at the moon, only a sliver of silver peeking through the clouds then stood transfixed as the bare limbs of the tall oaks surrounding him swayed with the breeze. The movement was gentle and soothing and reminded him of dancers in a ballet. 

The breeze stirred the chill night air and he pulled his coat tightly about his small frame as he continued to walk. The smells of autumn were all around him and he breathed deeply savoring the scent of all things dead and dying. Nature had the right idea he thought. You live, you die and then you come back in the spring. He smiled at this thought laughing at himself and his own silly ideas but it was the way he saw himself and his own particular situation. He had lived and died then come back so he was very much a part of the natural order of things although he doubted any of the humans he had known in his life would agree.

A small movement caught his eye interrupting his thoughts and he stilled glancing into the darkness. He was supposed to be hunting but the sights and smells of the forest had distracted him and now he was certain that something was hunting him instead. Another movement and he sniffed the air trying desperately to determine what creature lay hidden in the shadows but the scents of the forest confused him. The creature loomed just ahead of him and he could feel himself breathing heavily as he watched its hulking shape sway with the trees that surrounded it. Not certain what to do he chose to stand his ground. He didn't know what the creature lurking in the trees was but he was a childe of the order of Aureleus and he would not shame his sire by running away.

Suddenly the creature lunged forward knocking him off his feet. He struck out trying to free himself from its grip as it wrapped both its arms around him, squeezing him in a painful bear hug. Striking it again and again he brought his demon to the fore trying desperately to fight off the beast but to no avail. He cried out a second later as it bit into his neck, its fangs penetrating the soft flesh with razor sharp teeth then he went limp in its embrace as it began to drain him slowly, his demon mask falling away. 

The sensation was overwhelming as he felt himself grow hard. The sudden realization that it was his sire that held him made him moan as he felt his blood rush from his body. Angelus drank his fill taking long draughts of his childe's sweet blood as he listened to the sounds of William's purrs. He loosened his grip and nuzzled into the fledgling's neck, lapping at the punctures to close the wound. 

He pulled back staring down at his childe as he lay sprawled in the scattered leaves. letting his human face return he smiled at the confused look that greeted him. 

"What's the matter boy do ya' not know me?" Angelus asked the slender youth beneath him. 

"I know you Sire but how did you...I couldn't sense you." William said his thoughts a jumble. He hadn't been able to detect his sire, his presence somehow obscured and this puzzled him. 

"I did not want ya' to. Lesson the first childe...always blend in. Ya' must become a part of your surroundings if ya' are to learn to hunt properly." Angelus said as he caressed his childe's soft cheek. William snuggled closer resting his head against his sire's chest as the older vampire held him close. 

"I'll do better next time Sire." 

"Aye, that ya' will." William looked up hearing the disappointment in his sire's voice, knowing that Angelus had expected more of him. He had allowed himself to become distracted and had been totally unaware of the threat that awaited him. He had forgotten all the lessons his sire had taught him he thought as he admonished himself for his utter failure. 

Angelus saw the hurt in his childe's eyes and reached out running his fingers through the long sable locks. He pulled William to him and kissed him gently then looked into his eyes.

"But I'm still very proud of ya' my sweet Will." The younger vampire looked at him astonished by the comment.

"Why? I did everything wrong." William asked sullenly a slight pout on his lips. 

"Yes ya' failed to remember your lessons and I will have to do something about that. Ya' need to learn to focus but answer me this. What did ya' think awaited ya' in the wood Little One?"

"I don't know Sire. All I could tell was that it was big and hunting me." 

"Did ya' want to run away?" William stared at him for a moment then nodded silently. "Yet ya' did not. That took courage." Angelus said as his hands slipped beneath the soft material of his childe's shirt. William arched into the touch then rolled onto his back as Angelus' body covered his. 

They rolled about in the leaves discarding their clothing quickly as hands roamed over cool skin. They kissed and nipped at one another stirring their blood and within moments they were both hard and aching for the other. Angelus held William down kissing him hard then reached for his erection stroking it quickly. 

William was so close he could feel his sac tightening and he moaned into the kiss needing release. Suddenly Angelus' hand tightened around the base of his cock halting his childe's impending orgasm. He pulled away from his lips looking down at the pained expression he saw on the other vampire's face. 

"Do not come childe. Do ya' understand?" The younger vampire stared back at him biting his bottom lip as he nodded. Angelus removed his hand and it took all of William's control to obey. Then the dark haired vampire rolled off him and lay on his side smiling at his childe.

"Ya' will wait here for three minutes then ya' will hunt for me. If ya' find me I will see to this." He said running one long finger up the underside of the engorged penis bobbing against the fledgling's abdomen. "If ya' don't and I catch ya' unaware again ya' will suffer with that until it goes away by itself. Do ya' understand childe?" 

"Yes Sire." 

Angelus leaned over kissing him softly. "This is not a punishment William. It is a lesson."

His childe nodded as he watched the older vampire rise from the ground and dress. He got to his feet as well and quickly donned his own clothes then waited as the other vampire disappeared back into the woods. A moment later he sniffed the air breathing in the scent of his sire's arousal and smiled to himself as he headed off after Angelus. 

Fred made her way to the elevator and headed for the roof. She had promised to tell Spike when she and Wesley had returned, but she hadn't realized how late they would be. Wesley had insisted they get something more edible than fast food and so they had indulged themselves, spending some of Wolfram and Hart's money at one of the finer restaurants in LA. The food had been good, the service excellent, but Fred would have been just as happy to settle for tacos as prime rib. 

The elevator came to a stop and Fred stepped off it, walking out onto the roof. Stopping dead in her tracks a moment later, she stared in disbelief at the sight before her. She stood there frozen to the spot, looking at the two vampires as they lay spooned together, sleeping beside the pool. Their bare skin was like marble in the moonlight, and she was mesmerized by it. The beauty of their intertwined bodies made her smile, her head tilting slightly to one side as she noted the tenderness explicit in the posture. Then, backing away, she retraced her steps and headed back down stairs.

Buffy stood with the others staring at the small room their guide had brought them to. The ball of light hovered in the air, making no move to continue its journey, but the others were too preoccupied by their discovery to notice. 

They walked slowly toward the door and entered the room one by one. The torch on the wall fluttered to life, and they all jumped at the sudden illumination. 

"What is this place?" Xander asked as he crossed the threshold. 

"It's a library." Giles answered, somewhat awed as he spied the scrolls and texts that filled the shelves which lined the walls.

"What's a library doing way down here?" Xander queried, stopping to examine the desk that sat in the center of the room. 

"I don't know." Giles replied as he reached for a book.

Willow and Buffy made their way slowly around the room, looking for any sign that Dawn had actually been there, but found nothing. They turned in unison toward their companions, but Xander only shrugged as he reached for the large tome that lay on the surface of the desk. 

"Oh my God." 

"Giles? What... what is it?" Buffy asked as she and Willow approached him quickly.

"Buffy, these books, these scrolls... there ancient. Some of them aren't even supposed to be in existence anymore. And look, these are the original handwritten texts." He said, holding out several large tomes. "I've never even heard of there being a handwritten copy of this, let alone an original version still intact. How could they have been here and the counsel not have known about them?" 

"Maybe the Coven doesn't like to share the power." Xander said as he flipped the pages of the book, a slight frown creasing his brow.

"Or perhaps the power that lies within these texts is so dangerous that they felt it wise not to." Giles replied, reaching for another book.

"Hey, look at this." 

Buffy, Willow and Giles turned toward Xander, walking the few short steps to stand beside him at the desk. 

"This book is empty." He said as they all looked on.

"Let me see." Willow said, stepping closer, examining the text. She could feel the remnants of its power lingering within its bindings.

"How can it be empty?" Buffy asked.

"I think I know what happened to Dawn." Willow said quietly as they all stared back at her, waiting for an explanation. 

Spike lay on the ground staring at the water in the pool beside him. A light summer breeze skittered across the surface, causing it to ripple, the reflection of the moon dancing in its wake. He smiled to himself, feeling content and happy for the first time in as long as he could remember. His sire loved him, he thought, as he pushed back, snuggling against the larger vampire who lay spooned against him. Angel's arm tightened around his waist, holding his childe to him, and Spike reached over, intertwining his fingers with Angel's as he sighed softly, not wanting the moment to end.

The soft kiss on the nape of his neck brought his head around to look at Angel, who leaned up on one elbow staring back at the blond.

"Hi." Angel said, smiling.

"Hi." Spike replied, biting his bottom lip, feeling somewhat awkward. Angel sensed his childe's uncertainty and leaned down, kissing him softly. Spike rolled over a second later, pressing his body to Angel's as his arms slipped around his sire's neck. Then, breaking the kiss a moment later, he hugged Angel desperately as a sudden sense of insecurity and loss overwhelmed him. All his feelings of contentment and happiness could not banish his fears and doubts about his sire and their relationship. He knew he needed to trust Angel, but the past was a hard thing to escape. 

"Angel, if you didn't mean it...don't ever tell me. I don't think I could take it." 

The dark haired vampire pulled away, looking intently at his childe. "I did mean it, Spike. I love you, don't ever doubt that, ever." He pulled the blond back into his embrace and just held him. Feeling Spike relax in his arms he smiled, kissing the top of his childe's head. His hands roamed over the soft skin beneath his finger tips as they made their way down Spike's back, cupping the firm flesh he found there. 

Spike wiggled slightly, then ground his hips against Angel as he nuzzled his sire's neck.

"Angel."

"Yeah."

"When you said you wanted us to be equals...did you mean that?" 

"Yes." Angel answered as Spike peppered kisses down his throat.

"Equals in everything?" 

"Yes." The older vampire replied as he felt himself getting hard with his childe's attention.

"Even in...even in bed?" Spike voice had been but a whisper. The question asked so quietly that Angel had almost not heard him. He lay there thinking about what Spike was asking, then put his own uncertainties aside.

"Yes." Was his simple reply.

Spike pulled back looking into his sire's eyes, smiling at what he saw. With that one word, all his insecurities and uncertainty vanished.

He had often thought of taking his sire, even fantasized about it, but he had known that it would never be allowed. With this one word, Angel confirmed to Spike that their relationship had gone beyond the simple Sire/Childe relationship they had shared in the past. He showed him that his feelings were real because Spike knew there was no way that his sire would allow himself to be taken otherwise. Nothing short of love could make Angel give up that kind of control.

Spike smiled at the dark haired vampire, then kissed him deeply as he pushed him onto his back. He let his hand slide down over Angel's abdomen and reached for the growing erection he found there, only to have his hand stilled and pulled gently away by the larger vampire lying beside him. 

"Hey...what's wrong?" Spike asked as he broke the kiss. 

"I was just thinking that since we're going to be equals in bed and all...maybe a bed to be equals in wouldn't be a bad idea." 

"I like it here." Spike said quietly. Angel leaned over, biting Spike's pouting lips as he kissed him. 

"You won't like it too much in a couple of hours when the sun comes up." 

"Well...guess you have a point there, luv." 

"Besides, this isn't the most comfortable place to do...well...what we've been doing." Spike laughed as he sat up and reached for his discarded clothes. 

"You didn't seem to mind a little while ago." 

"I had other things on my mind a little while ago." Angel said, leaning over and nipping at Spike's neck. 

"I've got a few things on my mind right now too." Spike said, smiling as he stood dressing. 

"I can't wait to find out what they are." Angel smiled up at him. Spike leaned down, picking up Angel's clothes, then smiled wickedly at his sire. 

"Then I guess you better hurry up because you know how short my attention span is." With that, Spike sprinted for the elevator -- taking Angel's clothes with him. 

"Hey, Spike, come back here!" 

"Oh, come on, mate... you know the chase is half the fun." The elevator doors closed a moment later and Angel couldn't help but smile as he stood on the roof naked, listening to the sound of his childe's laughter as it faded away. 

"Willow...what do you think happened?" Willow looked up at Buffy's worried face, then turned away, composing her thoughts. 

"Do you remember when I went all...evil?" She asked as she began to walk around the room.

"Kind of hard to forget there, Will." Xander answered as she stopped and looked at her friends.

"Yeah...well...see, when I went all evil I went to the magic shop and I sort of sucked all the magic out of the books there." 

"That's right -- and they were all empty just like this one." Xander said.

"Yeah...just like this one."

"Willow, Dawn couldn't have done that -- she doesn't have that kind of power... in fact Dawn doesn't have any power. She just started doing spells and she's not..." Willow cut the slayer off before Buffy could finish. 

"I know she's not that advanced, and you're right, she doesn't have that kind of power, but maybe the book does." 

"Are you saying that this book acted on its own? Without someone casting a spell or calling the power forth?" Giles asked.

"Yes, I think it did. I think whatever power or knowledge it contained is now contained in Dawn. I can still feel that power and it's the same thing when I touched her. Maybe that's why she's so...messed up. It was just too much for her." 

They were all silent for a moment, taking in what the witch had said. 

"So what do we do about it? How do we get it out of her?" Buffy asked finally. 

"We find out what was in this book for a start." Giles said, picking up the empty tome as he turned toward the door. 

"How do we do that?" Xander asked as he followed the watcher.

"We ask."

Xander, Willow and Buffy looked after him then followed, wondering who could possibly tell them what they needed to know.

Wesley looked up from the book he was reading as Fred entered his office. He reached for the steaming cup of tea that sat on the edge of his desk and blew on it before taking a small sip. 

"Spike not coming?" He asked as she sat down in the leather chair opposite him, a slightly whimsical expression on her face. 

"Oh, I'm sure he did." 

"Excuse me?" 

"Uh...I...I mean... um...No, he's not coming. I couldn't find him." She answered as she sat up straighter, trying to get the image of the two vampires out of her mind. She had found the sight of their entwined bodies quite erotic. She was a bit startled by that fact, but what worried her more was what those bodies had been doing before they were entwined and how that had effected Angel's curse. The fear that they could be facing Angelus when the vampire awoke was something she didn't want to think about.

"Well, I suppose it's left to you and me then." Wesley said, returning to the text in front of him. 

Fred stood up and walked over to the table where Spike had been reading earlier and tried to focus on the research, but it was no good. 

"Wesley."

"Yes." He answered without looking up. 

"How much do we know about Angel's curse?" She asked, trying not to sound nervous as Wesley continued to read.

"Not much, really. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason...I just...I was curious, that's all." She stammered as she flipped her book open and started to read. "I mean I know that he lost his soul when he and Buffy...I mean..." 

Wesley looked up finally, a lopsided grin on his face. "Yes, he lost his soul when they were together." She smiled, slightly embarrassed, but knew she had to be sure they weren't in any danger. 

"So sex is the catalyst that activated the curse?" Wesley frowned slightly as he considered this question. 

"Actually, I'm not certain that's entirely correct." 

"Really, I thought that one moment of perfect happiness was all it took." 

"Well, yes -- but I don't know if sex alone would guarantee perfect happiness, Fred. After all, Angel had sexual relations with Darla after he was ensouled and it didn't bring him perfect happiness." Wes concluded.

"That's right...it didn't, did it?" Fred smiled at the ex-watcher.

"Perhaps sex with demons doesn't count... then again, perhaps it's more about love then sex." Fred's smile faded at this last remark and she knew that there was a chance that they could still be in danger. She didn't know anything about Angel's feeling for Spike -- maybe what happened on the roof was just some demon thing between a Sire and Childe. The image of the two vampires spooned against one another came unbidden to her mind. Then again, maybe not, she thought as she watched Wesley sipping at his tea. 

"I'm curious now, Fred. Why all the questions about the curse? You've known Angel for some time and you've never asked about it before. You don't think the curse has anything to do with Spike's situation, do you?" 

"Oh ...no, I just..." She sighed heavily, knowing there was no way she could keep this to herself any longer. "Angel and Spike had sex on the roof." Wesley's tea sprayed from his mouth as he nearly choked on it. He coughed roughly as Fred grimaced. 

"They what?" Wesley asked as he grabbed a tissue from the box in his desk drawer and dabbed at the stains on his shirt. 

"Well, I think they did. I mean, they were naked and they looked like they..."

"You saw them?" 

"No...well...yes...well, no. I went to the roof looking for Spike and there they were, asleep on the roof all cuddled up together and very naked." She said, smiling at the memory. Wesley coughed again, bringing her attention back to the present. 

"I knew they had had a relationship in the past, but I had no idea that Angel had renewed it." Wesley said distractedly as Fred stared at him in surprise. 

"You knew? Why didn't you say anything?" 

"Well, it's hardly the sort of thing you discuss over afternoon tea, now, is it? Angel spoke to me about his past relationship with Spike in the strictest confidence. Of course I suppose telling you this now isn't really a betrayal of that trust, considering. I just don't understand how he could do this, putting us all in danger this way?"

"Well, Spike is pretty cute." Wesley glared at her. "Sorry, but maybe you were right. Maybe the curse doesn't work if it's another demon." Fred offered.

"Yes, and what if I'm wrong?" He replied, rising from his desk and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" 

"I need a weapon." Fred's eyes widened at the comment, then she rose from her seat and ran after him.