Fic: The Boy Next Door: In the Naked Light I Saw, Xander/Spike, BtVS, Prompt 55 - Hello Darkness

[strickens-girl.livejournal.com]

Written for tamingthemuse prompt of "Hello Darkness".

Title: In the Naked Light I Saw
Series: The Boy Next Door
Pairing: Spike/Xander, mentions of Ethan/Giles
Rating: Mature/Adults Only
Prompt: #55 - Hello Darkness
Spoilers: None, all human AU
Warnings: Underage, manipulation, dark!fic, daddy!kink, child abuse, overall dirty!bad!wrongness.
Summary: Xander needs some help but Spike decides to help himself to Xander.
Word Count: 1,393
Author's Note: Title and lyrics from "Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkle.

And, due to the new LJ Boldthrough, I am sporting a new disclaimer for this fic, thanks to _sharvie_:

Disclaimer: No childrenz were hurt in teh making of this fanfic! *g*

Previous Parts.

Thanks to _sharvie_ for the lovely banner beneath the cut.







The Boy Next Door: In the Naked Light I Saw


The knock on the front door was persistent but polite, just three taps loud enough to be heard in the house, but not so loud as to be annoying. Not long after, the door swung open, just barely enough to let the fading light in through the crack.

"Yeah?" the woman asked, staring at the two men standing on her doorstep.

"Mrs. Harris," Ethan nearly purred in greeting. "How lovely to see you again."

The woman behind the door smiled as she swung the door wider. "Jessica, please. It's Ethan, right? Won't you both please come in?"

Ethan turned to look at his companion as he moved to step across the threshold. A sly wink was all the communication the two men needed. Leading the pair into the house, the smiling woman apologized for the place being a mess but she'd been busy all day taking care of her sick child.

Silently, the two men stared at each other, thoughts seemingly shared that neither wanted the suddenly nervous woman to hear.

"I'm sorry," Jessica Harris stuttered quietly, breaking the silence in the house. "I'm afraid I didn't get your name," she said to the blue eyed man staring at her.

"I am Rupert Giles, the librarian at your son's school. We've met before, if you will recall the meeting we had when we discussed the options for Alexander's continued attendance at Sunnydale High."

The woman simply stared at them, her eyes already puffy and red-rimmed. The two men waited for her to respond when she finally offered, "I thought you might be the baseball coach."

Ethan looked down at the bat Ripper casually carried into the home as the other man simply offered, "I am not."

Jessica looked confused at the response and seemed ready to question the statement, when a burly, unkempt looking man walked into the room.

"What the fuck is going on in here? Some sort of tea party?"

"Tony," the woman scolded, glaring at her husband. "I'm sorry. This is my husband, Tony. He took the day off from work to help me with Xander. Tony, this is Ethan from next door and Mr. Giles from the library."

"Whatever," the man grumbled as he settled onto the couch. "What are you doing here anyway? We called the boy in sick yesterday. I'm pretty sure we said he wouldn't be back to school until Monday, if he felt up to it. It is still Friday, isn't it? Or is the calendar different in frog country?"

Ethan chuckled lightly in the back of his throat. "No, the calendar remains the same, no matter where you are, Mr. Harris. And just so you know, we're from England not France. We have one Queen, not a country full of them."

The two Harris's laughed as if they had understood the joke, although both Englishmen knew they had not. Finally, Giles spoke.

"We would like to speak to Xander."

"Not possible," Tony barked out before Jessica could try to answer. "The boy is sick, very contagious. He's been hacking all day. I'd hate to have you boys get sick too."

"Not much chance in that," Ethan growled, his voice dark and menacing. He turned to stare at the suddenly frightened woman. "Go get your son."

When she didn't move quickly enough, Giles tipped his hand, brandishing the bat held loosely at his side. She quickly scurried up the stairs to retrieve her son. Tony caught sight of the weapon and bristled indignantly.

"What'd you bring that into my house for?"

Giles smirked, the evil look echoed by Ethan. "Coaching."

Before the incensed man could respond, a screech was heard from upstairs. Jessica Harris stormed down the stairs in a panic.

"Xander!" she screamed, her voice high and wild. "Xander's gone!"

The two Englishmen simply stared at her. "You're just now realizing this?" Ethan asked, his voice even and calm. "I thought you said you'd had a rough day taking care of the sick boy?"

"I...but – no, you don't understand...he was – his room," the shocked woman stuttered, looking everywhere but at the two men.

"What the fuck have you two faggots done..?" Tony Harris started. He quickly quieted as Giles pushed him back down onto the couch with the tip of the bat, harsh and firm.

Ethan stepped closer to the trembling woman, backing her up until she fell back into the chair she had previously vacated.

"Xander is gone. Has been, all night. It's now," he checked his watch, "nearly eight in the evening. You've never checked on him all day. Would you like to know where your son has been?"

"What the fuck are you trying to pull?" Tony Harris yelled from where he was cowering on the couch.

"Ripper," Ethan practically purred as he smiled at his lover, "Would you care to explain to the Harris' about their son's condition?"

Giles simply sneered at the couple before speaking. "Alexander had a fracture to the peri-orbital and intra-orbital areas around his left eye, resulting in blood and fluid build up behind his eye, causing a build up of pressure on the eye and optic nerve that had to released by surgical means."

At the blank stares of the others, Ethan snorted and groaned, "Try again, Ripper and use small, simple words so they have a chance of understanding."

Giles smirked and leaned into Tony's scruffy face and spoke loud enough for his wife to hear. "You gave him what's called a Blow-In fracture. You broke his cheekbone and the bones directly surrounding his eye. Because you refused to seek medical attention for him after you beat the daylights out of him, the wound continued to bleed beneath the skin and into the area behind his eye. He had to have surgery to relieve the pressure but we may have been too late. Xander might lose the use of his eye."

Sobs sounded from the trembling woman but Ethan scowled at her. "Don't waste your tears, you vapid bitch. You never even so much as checked up on him today, even after you knew your husband had knocked him around so hard he'd lost consciousness."

"No," the distraught woman cried, "I didn't...I didn't know."

"Of course, you did," Ethan whispered to her, speaking to her softly as stroked the tangled hair away from her tear-streaked face. "You've known all along. We've come to make things right. To make things right for Xander."

The woman looked up, fear overcoming the tears in her eyes.

"Oh, don't worry," Ethan reassured her, "I don't hit women."

Her smile answered his own until he continued, "But I can't promise anything for Ripper. He's a little put out about this whole thing. And it's been a while since he's had a chance to play."

Ethan stood, turning away from the woman frozen with shock, to walk toward his lover. He leaned in for a brief but passionate kiss from the other man while Tony Harris growled his displeasure.

Ripper turned his head, the tip of the bat still pressing the larger man deep into the couch.

"Do we have a problem? Something you'd like to say? Because I'd love to hear anything you have to say about us. You had a little problem with your boy, isn't that right? Is that why you beat him, hurt him, nearly killed him? Can't stand the idea of having a queer for a son?"

Finally, Tony couldn't take it any longer and he shouted out, "That's right! I saw that little blond faggot kissing my boy. Out in the front yard where anyone could see them. I won't have it. Not in my house. I wont!"

Ripper smiled, wicked and wide, as he leaned in close to the livid man.

"Don't worry. You won't."

Ethan walked over to the ancient, out of date stereo and turned it on, twisting the knobs until he found something he liked. The haunting guitar floated out of the speakers and over them all as Ethan and Giles laughed.

"How appropriate, eh, Ripper?"

Ripper smiled at his lover as he sang the opening refrain. "Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again."

Ethan nodded and Ripper hefted the bat high in the air, singing all the while.

"Within the sounds of silence."

Tbc...