370- Storm; Victory Verse 13- Revenge (Spike/Angelus; NC-17) (BtVS/Ats)

[salustra.livejournal.com]

AUTHOR: Salustra
E-MAIL: Salustra: goddess_salustra@juno.com
TITLE: Victory Verse 13- Revenge
RATING: NC-17
PAIRING: Spike/Angelus
CONTENT: brief mentions of torture, death, and m/m sex.
SUMMARY: Angelus has a little talk with the shaman; plans are made to take care of Ka'Dath. Thirteen in the Victory Verse. Done for tamingthemuse prompt#370- storm.
Distribution: Various lists, Wierd Romance Yahoo Group- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WierdRomance ;
My livejournal - http://salustra.livejournal.com/ . No posting elsewhere without express permission please.
SPOILERS: Through Angel S5 x08 - "Destiny"
DISCLAIMER: Playing wit the boys, but we’re just having fun. No money made, don’t sue us! (or, in more formal language-
Copyright Disclaimer I do not own any characters, products or services depicted in this story which you recognize. Original characters/characterization and plot are mine. Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel The Series characters are OOC and I cite section 107 of the US copyright clause on 'fair use' to be found HERE
Principally this is a transformative work, for enjoyment only, has a selective audience and I make no profit. )
FEEDBACK: Yes please.
Length: 1,956 words.




"You should probably wait a little bit before heading out. What we just did was like a storm in the spiritual realms all around this place. All sorts of little dimensional things will have been attracted by the activity. They'll eat up the energy that escaped and leave unless something else interesting presents itself. And you two definitely qualify as interesting." John sat up slowly and reached over, grabbing a clear bag of what seemed to be dried fruit.

"Good, cos I wasn't much wanting to move much yet." Spike sank back onto the furs with a grateful sigh.

Ah well, stuck here for a while longer it seemed. Something about the shaman made me uncomfortable, so I wasn't particularly happy about sticking around. On the other hand, no sense in serving up lunch for nasty astral beasties. I figured I might as well make some use of the time. "Just out of curiosity, what would you have done if I hadn't gone to the shielded booth?"

John finished chewing the bite of fruit in his mouth and swallowed. "I wouldn't have done the ritual."

I had to raise an eyebrow at that. "And if I threatened to kill you if you didn't do it?"

"Then you'd've had to kill me. At least you'd only be getting me killed and not Spike as well." John's expression seemed entirely serious, and the tone of his voice firm but not confrontational.

I was taken aback really. Nonplussed. "So you'd've died rather than risk Spike getting killed? Why? You don't know him, do you?"

John shrugged. "I don't know either of you except by reputation. What can I say? I take my oaths a bit more seriously than most doctors." He smiled slightly at that. "And I contemplated the risk when I agreed to see you. Treating vampires and other demons generally known for violence isn't a safe thing. But if I don't treat you, I leave you to the shamans in your employ. They'd do it without question, but they couldn't help but leave corruption behind where they touched. Like the transplants they do."

"So you did it because we're 'good' vampires and you want us to stay that way?" I asked, making the air quotes with my fingers around the word good.

"No. I did it because you are sentient beings who need my help." He looked at me and then at Spike, then back at me. "You put too much emphasis on good and evil, like most white men, as if there were some rules about such things, as if there were absolutes. Everything is in shades of gray. We all draw our lines where we choose. That thing would have hurt many people if it were left inside Spike, including Spike. To leave it in causes definite harm to many. To remove it causes no definite harm. So for me there is no question. And if I am wrong, if I have done a wrong thing, then the cost for the wrong will come back to me in time." He sighed. "And it's foolishness of the worst sort for me to explain this. Words can't truly reveal a person's spirit. If you've got certain ideas about my motives, nothing I say can truly change those ideas, only you can choose to alter them." He took another handful of the dried fruit and began to chew on it.

And thinking on it, he was probably right. I didn't trust him before, and I still didn't now. There had to be some angle for him, some reason for all this. But he was too cagey by half for me to get an answer that would tell me a damned thing I needed to know. It did make me rather pleased with myself for not blustering at him beforehand. If he'd pushed me then I don't know what I'd've done. Kill him for challenging me or let him live to fix Spike? Hah, and everyone thought Spike was the impulsive one. He was only impulsive when it wasn't important. Now, when the lives of his friends depended on him, every move was deliberate.

Which reminded me, time to pay him some attention. I shifted position to drape him on my chest and stroked his back slowly. He purred, low and steady, and wriggled to find his spot. Had I gone soft? No. I'd reclaimed him, pulled him down to his base. This was how I treated him as a fledge, for the most part. Lots of gentle contact, but always pulling him to me, keeping him close. It worked on him well. He needed touch, craved it.

When he wasn't starved for affection, physical and otherwise, he was more docile, more obedient. Worst mistake I'd made with him, back in Sunnydale and also as his Sire over a hundred years ago, was to forget this, or take it for granted. When I'd thought to punish him as a fledge by pushing him away, denying my touch, he just threw himself into fighting and growing stronger. Then it was too late, I was caged, and he killed his first Slayer. Then in Sunnydale I'd wanted to punish him for daring to use that ritual on me, for... for getting himself maimed and crippled. I took Drusilla away from him again to show him I could. And he showed me again he'd just fight back.

So I intended to tame him this time. I wanted him to be mine and only mine, dammit. I could be very patient when I chose. I was going to get his devotion back. I was going to enslave a souled vampire to my will. And when he was mine completely I could do anything I wanted so long as I didn't forget how needy and affectionate he was.

I was pulled out of this pleasant reverie by John cocking his head and pronouncing, "It's safe for you to leave now. The hungry spirits are all gone again."

"Thanks. I do really appreciate what you did." That was genuine enough. He'd pulled a bomb out of Spike and I'm betting even the best over at W&H would have trouble matching his power.

"It was my pleasure. If you'll pardon me, I need to go find my partner and have a long hot soak." He stood up with a fair amount of grace. He'd probably make a stunning vampire. The fleeting thought passed as the shaman left and I pulled Spike to his feet. A short while later he was dressed and we were back in the limo headed to W&H.

We found the others waiting. "Success," I said with a grin as I held up the crystal vial with the vicious snake charm within. My other arm was around Spike's waist, holding him close to me.

There was a general outburst of cheers and clapping and Wesley stepped forward to take the vial. "Fascinating," he said. "Something for later study. In the meantime, we have good news of our own. We have a location for Ka'Dath. We were able to use the readings we've been taking on the coil to backtrack to the source. We know where he is now. We can plan and move against him."

I nodded. "Something more complex than my patented burst of violence, I take it?"

Wesley smiled slightly. "Yes, something slightly more complex than that. I have an idea I've been working on. Pardon me, I need to call down to the labs." Wesley stepped back and took out his cell phone.

Fred stepped a little closer, looking sheepish. "Oh, ummm, I know this isn't a big deal with everything that is going on and all, but I'm sorry for the mix-up with the Morphea blossoms. We've been working on them for demon and vampire medicines, especially since there's a lot of demons that can't use regular anesthetics or pain medicines. Anyhow I told Knox to send a plant that had already pollinated, the scent of those is just mildly relaxing, and he sent one that was ripe for releasing pollen. And well, ummm, a full dose tends to have a strong aphrodisiac effect." She blushed bright red. "I hope it didn't cause any problems."

I smiled reassuringly at her and patted her lightly on the shoulder. "No, Fred, really, it helped."

Spike moved in to hug her. I suppressed the urge to growl, mostly because there wasn't any hint of arousal when he hugged her. It was all protectiveness. "No worries, pet. Though maybe Knox needs a little punishment detail, cleaning out beakers and the like?"

Fred giggled. Jesus Joseph and Mary but she radiated sweetness. I had to remind myself she was the price for my boy. More than anything else he was behaving to keep her safe. I just tried to fix her in my mind as Spike's private pet. Like the occasional 'doll' Dru would bring home to play with, though she always tired of them in time. The others I'd seduce and bend, slowly but surely. Then it hit me. I'd assumed Ka'Dath had intended for me to come back. But... it was either a mistake by Fred or a deliberate action on Knox's part. If Knox did it deliberately, I needed to know why and for whom. Knox wasn't someone Spike had bargained for, in fact he radiated dislike for the tech. I made a mental note to find and torture Knox later.

"Thanks Spike, thanks Angel. I was really worried something bad..." She stopped, and looked at Spike. "I mean, after everything..."

Spike squeezed her shoulder. "Sunshine, you could never do anything bad. It's not in you."

He was rewarded with her very sunniest smile. "Thanks," she said.

Wesley hung up the cellphone. "I got confirmation on the last item we needed. I have a fix on his location and I rather thought that Ka'Dath might, well, allow us in if Spike were along. If we made a reasonable mock-up of the coil, if he thought it was still in place, he'd want to spring the trap. In return we could use the mock-up to carry in weapons for our side, not for his."

I frowned. It made sense but I didn't like the idea of using Spike as bait. But I couldn't find anything wrong with the theory and I really wanted to pull out his insides and see what they looked like up close.

Spike nodded. "Do it. I'm game, I want that slimy tentacled bastard dead."

Gunn chuckled. "Be like old times, we actually get to go in and kill the bad guys."

I had to smile at that. "Yes, indeed. I think it sounds like a plan."

Wesley nodded. "Very well then, I'll get my team to work on things. Fred, we need to coordinate on a substitute for that alloy."

She looked over at Wesley, her eyes glowing. "Of course, Wesley. Your office?"

"Certainly." He stepped over and offered her his arm, and they left.

Ah, such cute lovebirds. It was enough to both make me ill and also remind me that Spike was overdue to be pounded into some handy surface. "I think that's our cue. Gunn, you don't mind if I take Spike to get some rest? It's been a long evening for us all."

Gunn nodded. "Sounds like a plan. I have some weapons to sharpen." He clapped a hand on each of our upper arms then headed off.

Now it was just my boy. I slung him over my shoulder caveman-style and carried him off. He chuckled at that and even did some pro-forma damsel-in-distress kicking and struggling. A satisfying evening all round, I thought. Revenge and sex, one of my favorite cocktails.