Subject: [BA_Gutter] Charming Billy Chapter IX From: "spikesfool2003" Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 02:15:10 -0000 Chapter IX Spike's eyes saw before his brain processed. It was reminiscent of the first time William observed a splash of scarlet staining one of Mother's pristine lawn handkerchiefs. After a prolonged bout of coughing, her pale face had lifted to meet William's horrified gaze. Comprehension engulfed him at the sight of the bloody harbinger of their ultimate parting. The present shock was equally as devastating. Liam was standing beside the bed, his back to the door when Spike strode into the room. He'd caught the Irishman unawares, returning from his visit to the lab early. It had become Spike's custom over the past week to spend an hour or two at the beginning of each day in a tension-releasing chin wag with Fred. But this morning, a troubling niggle at the back of his mind had caused him to cut short their sociable chat abruptly. "Gotta see a man 'bout something," he'd thrown over his shoulder at a bemused Fred. He'd taken the stairs two at a time, unwilling to wait for the elevator, remembering something so cat-amongst-the-pigeons about Liam's expression when he'd left, he couldn't settle to the visit. More and more Spike found himself drawn to Liam's intense heat. They sparked and quarreled constantly, always the low thrum of sexual desire underlining every word and gesture. Despite the pull, Spike held the big man off. Instinct told him soon enough the heat would be replaced by a bone-chilling cold nothing could pierce. Better for both of them if they'd no more to regret than what had already passed between them. After three weeks of recuperation, Liam was back to himself, albeit more aggravating and feisty than ever. As well as he appeared, he was still unable to stand. Feeling had returned to his limbs, but he insisted adamantly, his legs weren't strong enough to bear him. Instead, Spike must carry him from room to room, grumbling sotto voce complaints as he went. Dark mutters of beached whales and other, equally complimentary remarks had Liam scowling furiously. Though anyone who bothered to look closely might have seen a suspicious hint of a smile hovering near his lips. Entering the apartment, Spike crossed the living room and stepped quietly into the bedroom. The Irishman heard his sharp hiss of shock at once. Liam's posture straightened as he realized his game was over. Slowly, his head turned at Spike's low question. "How long?" Liam debated whether he could get by with a good yarn, then sighed in resignation. "Only a few days. You'd not begrudge me that little extra time, would ya?" Spike shook his head. He wanted to curse and smash things. "Fuck no. But...." He spun away and disappeared back into the living room. They both knew what Liam's recovery meant. It was the end for them, though Liam would deny it with the last breath in his body. Spike stood at the picture windows. He banged his head despairingly against the glass, each sharp crack meant to force reality back into his stubborn brain. It was time to give it up. He wondered idly how far he'd have to run before he could forget the whole bleeding mess. He'd let Liam in and now there was no way to get him out of his heart. He heard Liam approach across the carpeted floor, his steps slow but firm. "Stop doin' that, Billy. You'll crack yer wee skull like a walnut. I'm sorry I didn't tell ya. I'd not meant to lie, but I've not the power in me to let you go." "Bloody hell, pet. There's no way to stop it. You've gotta be Angel again. And I've gotta go away someplace where I won't have to see you lookin' at me with cold eyes." He cracked his head again on the unyielding surface. "Why won't you believe me?" Liam studied Billy's tense figure. "I'll not stop caring for you, no matter what name I'm to be called." Spike's laugh was bitter. "I know you mean it. But, time changes everything. Changes us, Liam. Changes me. Can't never be Billy again. Much as I might want it. There's no going back for the likes of us. Only Hellfire waitin' at the end." "Hellfire?" Liam felt a shiver run down his spine. "Then we'd best make the most of the time we've left." He moved up close behind Billy, leaning into him, using all his weight to press hard on the smaller figure forcing his body into the glass. Chest to the broad swept of Billy's back, Liam's hips canted forward, moving restlessly. He crouched a little lower to push his knees into Billy's, forcing the lad's thighs to rest on his own. "No." The word came out hoarsely. Spike's face was squashed against the glass' cool surface as Liam traced his tongue over one elegant cheekbone. "And who said I was asking a question, lamb?" "No. Git off." They both knew Spike could easily overpower his aggressor. But he wouldn't do it. He'd never lay a violent hand on the man rubbing insistently into him. A bloody huge erection was sliding up and down his arse crack, making him gasp for air he didn't need. His resolve fluttered, a banner near to falling. "You want it." A hand found the great, painful bulge in the front of Spike's jeans. Fingers squeezed, tearing a hoarse groan from the captive. "No." "Oh yes, you want it. Don't deny it. I'll not leave ya without something to remember on the lonely nights ya think to be spending without me." As fingers worked the buttons of his jeans open, Spike began to struggle weakly. He was insane. He knew it. He'd lost his mind about three blocks back and the trolley wasn't stopping anytime soon. Liam's hand insinuated itself into the tight confines of his pants. Fingers twined in the short, curly hair they found there, tweaking roughly until Spike was gasping out his arousal. "Ask me to fuck ya, darlin'," Liam growled into the cool shell of Billy's ear. Spike's jeans were being inexorably tugged down over his bare arse, freeing his rigid cock to slap against the glass. It left a spatter of clear liquid where it hit. The cool air laving his naked skin sent his muscles jumping in uncontrolled shudders. He made a lame attempt to pull away, only causing his pants to slip below his knees. "No...no...no...no...no...no...no...no." "You'd not have this?" "Nonono." Spike's throat was so tight he could barely push the words out. The husky litany only served to goad Liam on. He recognized the rejection for what it was. Billy wanted it, but he wanted to be able to deny it—to himself—to the shadowy Angel. He could deny then and fight if he must and Liam would give him what they both needed and lusted after. It only took a moment to release Liam's engorged prick from his britches. His erection stretched hungrily, eager to embed itself between the satin smoothness of the lad's clenching cheeks. Liam worked his fingers into the cleft, exposing what Billy was desperate to refuse him. His cock head found the small, puckered indent unerringly. Nestling in, it prodded with firm pokes. One....two....three and Liam's glans forced open the spasming ring of muscle to lodge itself just inside Billy's breached hole, impaling the boy as he fought almost hard enough to displace the offending shaft. With a swift lunge, Liam was wrapped in a cool glove of rectal muscle contracting in outrage at the forced intrusion. "You're killin' me," Spike ground out, his eyes fluttering shut with pleasure. "Stop. Don't want it. Don't want you. Don't..... Ah, Jesus. Ah, ah, ahhhhhh." Spike bucked back roughly, hands flailing for something to grab onto. Liam caught his wrists and stretched him crucified against the chill glass, relentless cock driving into him, spreading him wider with the penetration until the burn threatened to consume him. "Evil...sodding...bastard." Each word was punctuated with the stab of Liam's dick, high in Spike's arse. "Bastard, is it?" Liam tightened the muscles of his buttocks and thumped in harder. "Call me a bastard again, darlin'. Does lovely things to me prick." Spike tried to twist away as one hand released a wrist to close tightly on his cock, fisting him with long urgent jerks that on the upswing, nearly pull his bollocks off. He rose on his toes panting as Liam worked him harder, making his legs shake, making his guts shake, his dick afire with pleasure as the skin over its core was manhandled relentlessly, building a friction that made his head arch back, mouth falling open in a gasp. "You fuckin' bloody Mick. Get your hands off me." "Oh, dinna stop. Curse me more." Liam chuckled darkly into Spike's ear. The sound so reminiscent of the missing Angel, it sent frissons of excitement swarming through his body. "Fight and curse just like yer doin', darlin' Sassenach. I'll teach ya yer lessons." Not realizing he was going to do it until he did, Liam smacked one plump arse cheek smartly. Then, he bit into the sweet curve of flesh where Billy's tee shirt had fallen away to reveal the tender meeting of shoulder to the taut, stretched cords of his neck. A tickle of bristly hair thrashed wantonly against the sensitive skin under his chin. Billy arched to Liam's disciplinary ministrations. "Do it again." Spike's head fell forward and he spread his legs to allow deeper penetration, surrendering himself at last. Liam's sac drew up painfully, slapping with an erotic thump against Billy's buttocks at every pump of his hips. He growled appreciatively as the smaller body undulated, working hard now to impale itself further on the shaft invading its center. Needing more. Liam smacked the silky twitch of arse muscles again, watching with pleasure as the pale skin flushed rosily. "Billy, look at me." The shake of denial forced a growl of determination from the big man's throat. "Give me your own blue eyes." Liam's shaft was suddenly gripped in a vise as he hit a small bump of flesh, high in Billy's body, and he convulsed in his arms. Liam bent and dipped, pushing his pelvis into the breached cheeks that were undulating against his groin. He found the place again, driving Billy into a frenzy of wild shuddering. "Look at me." Billy's head rolled back. Black lashes fluttered up revealing dilated pupils, hazy with need. "Tell me your name, maskushla." The shake of denial sent a flame of hunger through Liam veins. He wrapped one arm high around Billy's chest, tipping him up off his feet as he fucked the body writhing in his embrace. "Say it. You can't hide. Tis too late for that. Say Billy, me own love." "No." Spike shuddered as his arse was pummeled implacably, cock reaming him without mercy every inch of his body used and abused to exquisite perfection. If he should dust now from the pleasure, it would be worth it. He knew what Liam wanted, the acknowledgment of his inner self, the part Liam called Billy, the part Spike hid in that place inside where he was most vulnerable. The tender part that was scored beyond repair at the realization Liam was leaving him. It crystalized into a bitter razor of pain slashing Spike's guts to ribbons. "Never," he hissed. "Tell me." Liam lowered his mouth over Billy's to drink in the full bottom lip and then the top, laving them, the taste of their shared spit making his breath hitch in his throat. A tongue filled his mouth, moving in increasingly sensual patterns, until Liam felt his spending rise up from his heels. His balls contracted into a painful fist. His shaft gave a hard pulse, so swollen with need it felt like torture. He wished at that moment he could be the vampire he was to become, so he might pierce Billy's veins with his teeth and drink him in as he spilled in his hole. He wanted to suck his body dry, take him inside where they could never be separate again, always one being. He wanted to bind them together for the time when he'd be no more. "I'm Angel, me own lamb. And I'm fuckin' you." The intensity of Spike's release matched Liam's as he felt the flood of hot spunk washing high in his bowels, a sensation like no other for its dirty sweet pleasure. Then he was spending, a Niagra fountaining from the depths of his 'nads, breaking him into pieces with each convulsing pulse. Spike's cum showered like sweet summer rain, patter pause patter against the glass. "Billy," Spike gasped as their joined bodies tumbled to the floor, limbs gone loose with the exhaustion of shared release. "You're happy now, yeah? Billy, Billy, Billy." The babble continued until Liam silenced Spike's words of love with his mouth. ********************* "Get a move on." Spike prodded Liam in the back, urging the recalcitrant Irishman towards the penthouse elevator. "They're waitin' on us. Show on the road and all that bloody bollocks." "Tis a bad idea. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm not meant to leave ya. Here's where I belong." Liam threw a filthy look over his shoulder. "Ya want to be rid of me." "For fuck's sake. Don't want to be rid of you. Use that bloody block of cement between your ears. You have to go back or there'll be no vampires, no future." The elevator doors slid open and Spike pushed Liam inside, then jabbed at the Down button. "T'will be a bitter, lonely time without ya." Spike snorted. "Oh yeah. Tell me that in about fifteen minutes and I'll believe it." "And so I shall." "Rubbish." "Fuck ya then." "Already did and shut the fuck up 'fore I punch you unconscious. Don't have to be awake to go back. Learned that." They glared at each other, hurting badly and unable to show it except to claw out in frustration at the inevitable. Spike tapped his boot impatiently, hating being in such a confined space with the volatile Irishman, only half confident the doors wouldn't ding open into the lab and find them rolling on the floor rutting again with Fred as their audience. Spike paled and shied away as Liam took an uncertain step towards him. "Don't even go there," he hissed as the elevator bounced its arrival softly and the doors slid back. Wesley rubbed his hands briskly together. "Another few minutes and we were going to send a search party." His smile faded as he took in Spike and Liam's expressions, mirror images of misery. "Well then, perhaps we'd best get to it." Gunn pulled a metal chair out from the wall, setting it down with a nerve-shattering screech, indicating with a nod of his head for Liam to take a seat. "You all excited to get home?" At Liam's thunderous frown, Gunn pursed his lips. "I'm taking that as a no." He looked to Spike uncertainly. "Everything okay, man?" Spike didn't hear the question. His head swivelled scanning the lab for Fred. She was his lifeline, the only way he'd get through this without being unmanned. When he saw her on the far side of the room, he strode swiftly to her, leaning forward to scent the sweet fragrance wafting from the dark cloud of her hair. "Trusting you here, Kitten. With everything." Fred turned as she sensed Spike behind her, a soft smile greeting him. "It's painless. I promise." At the bright glitter of liquid threatening to spill from his eyes, she bit her lip in consternation. "Really, Spike. He'll be fine. We all need Angel back." "No." Spike's reply was quiet, but Fred heard it. "Not all." She reached up to stroke his cheek. "I know that's not true." "Then you'd be wrong. Think I want that arsehole back here making my life miserable again? Pretending I'm some kinda mental deficient and denying...." Spike stumbled to a halt. "Denying?" "Never mind. S'not important." He scratched at his hair irritably, throwing a glance back to where Liam was glowering at him. "Let's just get it over with 'fore the Mick goes ape shit." Spike strode back across the room leaving Fred to stare after him with something very like pity. When he was close enough, Liam leaned forward and hissed at him. "And now I've the truth of it, boyo. Still sniffin' after your taste of cunt, you are. And me well out of the way." "For shite sake. Get a clue, ya prat." Spike gritted his teeth looking to Wesley. "Bloody do it, Percy before....." He couldn't finish the sentence because it had so many different endings in his head. Before I lose my sodding mind. Before I grab him and run like blue blazes. Before I start bawlin' like the fucking pussy I am and can never show my face around here again. "It's a simple spell. We've boosted it this time to be sure." Fred stepped in back of Liam. She whispered a garble of unintelligible words and before Spike could even take a breath to say goodbye, emptied a small vial of what looked like blue glitter over Liam's head and shoulders. Silence spun out, breaths held, gazes unblinkingly pinned to the large man sitting frozen in his chair. Brown eyes fluttered shut, then opened. "Angel?" Wesley's voice squeaked at bit with uncertainty. A snort of anger erupted. The man surged up from his seat. Kicking back at the folding chair, he sent it crashing into the far wall. "I've had enough of yer bloody alchemy. You're a pack of charlatans, the lot of ya." With a furious growl Liam hit the lab doors and strode out into the hall. "Well, that's not right." Gunn looked around at his shell-shocked companions. "Now what do we do? I'm thinking maybe Spike shouldn't have...." The words were lost on Spike as he threw a confusion glance back at Fred, then bolted out of the lab. His feet hit the carpeted hallway running. He'd lost a few precious seconds in dumb-founded amazement, but Liam couldn't be too far ahead. He wasn't, though the few feet made all the difference as he stomped determinedly out the Wolfram and Hart front doors to squint up into the noonday sun. Spike slammed to a halt, his palms pressed to the tempered glass. "Liam! LIAM!" The shout had heads turning all over the lobby. Behind him he could hear Fred's voice calling his name, but he ignored her. He watched transfixed as Liam turned slowly in the warm, golden light, his body glowing with ruddy health in the sun's embrace. The Irishman heard Spike's shout. He whirled around fixing his lover with a furious glare. "Bugger this for a game of soliders. I've had enough of yer playin' with me. It's over." With that, he spun and stomped off down the sidewalk, passers by jumping out of his way as they might flee from a angry bull. Spike thumped his palm so hard against the imprisoning glass, a spray of cracks starred out from the point of impact. Looking around wildly, he lunged for the stairs leading down to the parking garage, ignoring Fred's attempt to grab his arm and Gunn's frantic feint to block his path. The Viper roared into life. Spike floored the gas pedal and the car fish-tailed on the cement before shrieking up the entrance ramp and cutting without pause into oncoming traffic. As he came up level with Liam, Spike rolled down the window, earning himself a nasty burn as the tempered glass withdrew and the sun's unforgiving light licked over his exposed hand. "Liam! Liam, stop acting like a sodding prat and get your arse in this car." Spike always was a sweet talker. Liam threw him a death glare and kept walking. Vampire hearing caught the very nasty things he was mumbling under his breath. A quick grin lit Spike's face, then died. He began to ease the car over to the curb, glancing in the rear-view mirror to be sure there was still a blanket handy in the back seat, always kept there for emergencies. "Don't make me come after ya, wanker." Pointedly ignored, Spike maneuvered the car to the curb and shut off the engine. He snatched the blanket from the back and wrapped it around his shoulders and over his head. His eyes scanned Liam's path, brightening at the sight of a dark alley to his right and about ten yards ahead. Spike eased the door open and prepared to make his dash. Liam had no idea where he was going. He just knew he needed to get away from them all, to get his head clear of the maddening tangle of his thoughts. So he'd done what he'd always done when Father drove him to murderous rage. He'd gotten out. But this place was nothing like the soft green hills and meadows of home. The blare of traffic confused him. People everywhere blocked his path, throwing him ugly looks when he accidently bumped into them, his muttered apologies for naught. The sun felt harsher on his skin, almost like flame. When Billy called to him, Liam wanted nothing more than to throw himself into the other man's arms. But his pride was stung. He felt he'd been played for a fool and wouldn't bend his head or tug his forelock in contrition at his justified anger. Twas their apology owed, not his own. The air was rancid with so many conflicting smells, it made Liam's belly lurch precariously. He hunched his shoulders and plowed on, Billy's shouts of anger only fueling his determination to get away. Dark spots began to spin around the outside of his vision. He took an uncertain step and faltered. The flying tackle caught Liam around the waist, propelling him into the darkened alley with such force he crashed brutally into the unforgiving cement, feeling his shirt rip as he skidded sideways over the gravelly surface. Billy's weight pinned him down. He shut his eyes and gulped a greasy miasma of air into his lungs. "Fucking hell, you bloody bastard. Why didn't you get in the car?" Spike squirmed up Liam's limp body, fearful he'd done the human some lasting injury with his violent capture. Cupping one palm to his slack jaw, Spike pressed tender kisses over his cheeks and mouth. "Liam? Liam? Jesus, just tell me you're alive," he begged, stroking the hair back from Liam's broad forehead. "Only in a manner of speaking." The dryly ironic voice made Spike jerk back and stumble to his feet. One look into the brown eyes regarding him with amusement sent all the blood in his body flaming along his cheekbones. He bent over and spat dramatically as the realization it was Angel watching him sank in. He'd been kissing Angel. Angel pushed up on his elbows. "You were kissing me." "The fuck I was. Artificial bloody resuscitation and nothing else. Think I'm some kinda ponce? Like you?" "Always with the insults. Why is that, Spike?" "Cause I don't like you?" Spike moved back warily, not sure what he'd been expecting, but this wasn't it. They were circling each other like a pair of sodding tom cats, falling back on the old ways as if the past few weeks had never happened. Maybe it hadn't. All a bloody dream he dreamt and this was the wake up call. Angel put a hand to the back of his head, wincing as he tested the lump that was swelling there. Memory had returned almost at once. His head struck the pavement. He blacked out for what could only have been a few seconds and came to with Spike straddling him, brushing kisses over his face that felt like burning cinders fizzling on his skin. Spike's usual ironic mask slipped into place and from where he lay, Angel couldn't read whether the expression was false or true. He squashed down the initial flare of joy he'd felt gazing into those now angry blue eyes. It had all been a dream, then. "Gimme a hand." Spike tilted his head studying Angel's outstretched paw as though it were some exotic creature he'd never seen before. With a shrug to show how very much he didn't care, he grasped Angel's wrist and yanked him to his feet. "Where do we go from here?" Even as he said the words, it sounded vaguely familiar to Spike. "Well, you take the Viper back before somebody steals it and I dock your pay for the next hundred years and fifty years or so." Spike blinked. "And that is so not gonna happen. You haven't paid me one fucking dime since I've been here." Angel shook his head in disgust. "You think you've done anything worth getting paid for?" He wanted to rip his tongue out as Spike's face clenched with anger. Why had he said that? He hadn't meant it at all, but there was just something so safe about knocking Spike down before he got the chance to do it to Angel. "Fine. Come on then. Let's get the sodding car back." Spike turned, but was stopped in his tracks by Angel's voice. "No, you go on without me. I'm gonna go back through the sewers." "You're kiddin'. It's dangerous out here, Angel. You're bound to be a little wobbly with the return and all." Spike ducked his head to hide his concerned expression. "Let me drive you back." The denial on Angel's face wasn't something Spike could laugh off with a sarcastic comment. He took a step back and then another, watching the gap between them widen. "I want to be alone for awhile. Just to get my head straight." Spike nodded. "Uh huh. Straight's the word then. Yeah, you go on, Angel. I'm thinking you'll get use to being alone pretty damn quick." With an ironic wave of his hand, Spike snatched up the blanket and dashed out into the sun leaving Angel behind. He wondered as he ran if he'd be able to leave Liam quite as easily.