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Dressed Like a Human	By : Kimmy Category: -Buffy the Vampire Slayer > Slash - Male/Male > Angel(us)/Spike(William) > Angel(us)/Spike(William) Views: 1882 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is fanfiction. I do not own Angel the Series nor Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I get no money from writing this story.

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Title: Dressed Like a Human (2/4)

Author: Kimmy Jarl

Rating: R

Warnings: M/M sex

Pairing: Spike/Angel

Disclaimer: This is fanfiction. I do
not own Angel the Series, and I get no money from writing this story.

Setting: Post NFA

Summary: When Angel fought in that
alley behind the Hyperion, one part of him wasn�t there. One part of him was in
the rainforest.

AN: Written for the grazieprego Spangel Ficathon. More or less inspired by my prompt: �Let�s pretend we�re human and
that we meet for the first time.�

II

The first
night after the battle, Angel caught one of the troll-creatures behind a
dumpster, rooting through a pile of trash. He killed that one with his sword.
The second troll he tracked through the sewers for hours, and caught it in an
alley, feasting on the flesh of a dead woman. He killed that one with his
hands.

Then it was
nothing, and nothing, and then he found a couple of vampires in an abandoned
building, sharing the blood of a tattooed man between them. Angel staked one of
them, the other got away, and the tattooed man died. Back to
business as usual.

One week
after the battle, he went to visit Gunn in the hospital.

The
Initiative had confiscated a whole floor of the hospital, though very few of
them had actually been wounded. Angel found Gunn next to a stripped bed,
shrugging into an army jacket.

�Hey, man,�
Gunn said.

�Hey.�
Angel stood in the doorway, hands in the pockets of his coat.

A stubble
of dark hair covered Gunn�s head.

�I hear
you�ve taken up residence in our old haunt,� Gunn said.

�Yeah,�
Angel said.

The
Initiative had set up base in the Hyperion, and while Angel searched for the
last of the demon army, the soldiers were doing some cleanup of their own,
involving vans and roadblocks and possibly chain-saws.

�Can�t be
easy,� Gunn said, straightening the collar of his jacket, not looking at Angel.
�That place is filled with ghosts.�

There was a
small painting in a frame on the wall behind Gunn.

�I hadn�t
noticed,� Angel said. He�d been staying away, really, most of the time.

�No?� Gunn
picked up a small knapsack. He loosened the string to root thought the
contents. �Back to the streets for me,� he said. He glanced up at Angel. �I�m
sure Anne could use a lawyer.� Gunn shrugged. �Just, you know, so you know
where I am if you need to find me.�

Angel
nodded. �Right.�

Angel
backed away, so he no longer blocked the doorway. The corridor was empty, none
of that hustle he�d been expecting to see in a
hospital.

�Wait!�
Gunn said from behind him.

Angel waited.

�Are� you
alright?�

�Fine.�

�Yeah. Fine.� Gunn smiled. A grim smile.
�See you around, Angel.�

�See you
around.�

***

Most of the
soldiers had moved out by now and the corridors of the Hyperion were empty too.
When Angel walked through the second floor, he heard Spike talking to someone
down in the lobby. Angel stepped up to the balustrade, slow and quiet so he
wouldn�t be noticed.

Spike was
sitting on the counter. He looked relaxed, his knees wide, a big mug in his
hands. He was wearing dark jeans and a torn t-shirt. No coat. Even at this
distance, Angel could smell the blood in the mug that Spike was holding. Pig�s blood. Cordelia used to drink soup from that mug.

�

�But why
not drink human blood then? Isn�t that what vampires do?�

It was the Initiative
major, Hemmingway, his back to Angel. Angel remembered telling him that first
day, that, no, there was no need to order human blood from the hospital, pig�s
blood would do well enough, but thanks.

�It�s the
taste,� Spike said. �The taste of humans brings on the bloodlust, makes a
vampire more� grr.� He put the mug down and raised
his hands like claws and growled in a way that was about as threatening as a
parent playing pretend with his children.

�Really?�
Hemmingway said. He sounded interested, in a skeptical sort of way. �I didn�t
know that. Is it true for Angel too? Even with the soul?�

�Sure,�
Spike said. �The soul makes him feel more human, but it doesn�t change the fact
that he�s a vamp, does it?�

�Makes him
feel more human? Is that what a soul does?�

�What else
would it do?� Spike drank deeply � and noisily � from the mug.

Angel
frowned. What was Spike playing at?

�Right.�
Hemmingway crossed his arms over his chest. �And feeling such kinship with
humans, he doesn�t want to see them get hurt?�

�You got
it.� Spike raised the mug, an ironic toast.

�I�m sure
there�s more to it than that.�

�There
always is.� Spike shrugged and leaned back on the counter.

�The
Initiative have re-categorized dozens of Sub T:s on
account of being somewhat harmless to humans. Vampires are definitely not one
of them. Except for him � and you,� he added, almost as an afterthought.
�You�re anomalies.�

�Not going
to argue with you there, mate.�

�Of all the
Sub T:s that-�

�Demons.�
Spike interrupted, suddenly smiling. �Forget that Sub T business. Just call us
demons. It�s liberating.�

�I�ll take
your word for it,� Hemmingway said, a bit uneasily.

�Come on,�
Spike said, wheedling. �Demons. Dee-mons.�

�Yeah, yeah.� The major backed away, glancing at the doorway. �Look, I have some work
to do. Do you know when Angel might be coming back?�

Angel froze, his hands on the balustrade.

�Not a
clue. Out heroing, keeping the
streets safe for the little kiddies. Protector of the city, Angel is.�

�So I�ve
seen.� Hemmingway nodded, sounding strangely respectful. �I�d like to talk to
him before I leave.�

�Why?�
Spike tilted his head to the side. �You want him to speak to your men? Kind of a thank you and goodbye?�

�You think
he will?� Hemmingway was smiling now, Angel could hear
it in his voice.

�Wouldn�t
hurt to ask,� Spike said, his face solemn.

Angel
wondered how the major didn�t see that Spike was toying with him. Angel waited
for a self-satisfied smirk to appear on Spike�s face when the soldier turned
his back. Predictable. But the smirk didn�t come. The
soldier left and Spike just sat there, hung his head and kicked the counter,
once, twice, with the heel of his boots.

�You
haven�t told them,� Angel said, and Spike�s head jerked up. He looked around,
eyes wide, until he noticed Angel up on the balustrade.

Angel
walked to the stairway. Slowly, one step at a time. He
felt weighted down. �You haven�t told them about the soul.�

�None of their bloody business.�

�It doesn�t
make sense. They think you�re soulless, and they�re just leaving it at that?�
Angel heard the sound of his own voice. It was dull. Like he didn�t care.

�Tamed,
aren�t I? Took the leash off themselves, they did.� Angel gave a brief nod. He
only had a sketchy knowledge about what Spike was talking about, but he
understood well enough. �Besides,� Spike said. �I�m working for you. Seems you�re famous.�

�They don�t
know as much as they think they do.�

Angel
reached the end of the stairs. It occurred to him that he hadn�t spoken to
Spike, not once since the day of the battle.

�Seems you�re something of a legend. You have a groupie in Sammy.� Spike smiled
like someone sharing a joke. Like he wanted Angel to smile
back. It wasn�t working.

�You mean
that Hemmingway?�

�Uh-hu. I don�t think he believes in the soul,
though.�

�Doesn�t
believe�?�

�I know!�
Spike gasped, both hands to his chest, putting on a show. Angel could see him
doing it. �I mean, look at you!� Spike gestured, a magician presenting a trick.
�You are a living testament, the proof of divinity.�

�Shut up.�

To his
surprise, Spike did shut up. He looked down and kicked the counter again, once,
twice.

Spike had a
bruise on his jaw. Angel wondered how it had gotten there.

�We should
talk,� Angel said. �Let�s go before he comes back.� Angel looked around, but
they were still alone.

�Sammy?�
Spike jumped down from the counter. �He�s not so bad. Reminds me of that git Andrew, not sure why.� He frowned, looking at the
ceiling, mimicking deep thoughts. �Maybe it�s the hair.�

�Yeah, whatever.� Angel turned and walked up the steps, not waiting for Spike to follow.

Angel�s
room was on the third floor, one of the smaller ones, empty of furniture except
for a single bed pushed up against a wall. The Initiative, for some reason, had
swept the floor and stocked his bathroom, filled the cabinet with shampoos and
lotions.

Angel
turned around and found Spike closing the door behind him, looking at Angel,
waiting for him to speak. Angel wasn�t sure what to say. The room felt very
small.

When he
looked at Spike he could see his soul. It was strange, seeing it there, knowing it was there, incongruous on a
vampire, like a shirt that didn�t fit.

�I went to
see Gunn.�

Spike
nodded. �Good. He�s been asking about you.�

�Yeah,
well.� Angel hunched his shoulders. �He has a place to go. Where
he can do good.�

Spike was
squinting at him, like he wasn�t quite making sense. �What are you on about,
then?�

�I guess
you�ll be next. Buffy�� No, not Buffy. �Andrew. I�m
sure he�ll be happy to see you.� Angel�s voice was tight and angry.

�What?�
Spike stared and him, blinking. �You�re well and truly off, aren�t you?�

Off? Maybe
he was. There was a strange disconnection between his actions and his
registration of what he was doing. He looked to the side, and he thought: I�m
looking to the side.� �Do what you want,�
he said. �I don�t care.� And he thought: that�s what I said.

�You��
Spike took one step forward and then back, hectic, like he couldn�t stand
still. �But I thought�� Spike stopped before him, anger in his voice. �I�m on
your team, remember?�

�What do
you expect me to do, Spike?� Anger was easy to find.

�Oh, I don�t
know. Fight. For truth� and justice. All that crap.�

Angel
glared. He had a good glare.

�I can�t
believe it!� Spike threw his arms up in the air. �I�m bloody useful, I�ll have
you know. Saving babies� and � and babies! I nearly died with you fighting a
fucking army, in case you�ve
forgotten! And now�� Spike�s voice trailed off. Now he just looked sad.

�It�s not
like that,� Angel said. �You�ve been great, really.�

Very� enthused.

The echo
was chilling, in a distant sort of way.

Angel
closed his eyes.

�You really
don�t get it, do you, Spike? I don�t have a team anymore. It�s over.�

�Over?�
Spike said the word like he wasn�t sure what it meant. �How can it be over?
It�s never over. Never. You�d think dying would make
it over, but oh no it doesn�t...�

�Yeah,
well,� Angel said. �I�M TAKING A BREAK!�

They stared
at each other, silenced by his shout. Angel wasn�t sure what his face showed,
but Spike caved, just like that.

�Yeah. A break. You should do that. Take a break. A vacation,
like.� Spike backed away.

Angel
filled his lungs with air, letting it go very slowly. A
vacation?

I should go to the rainforest. To live like a worm.

He filled
his lungs with air again. It was relaxing.

The room
was very silent.

�What�s
with the bruise?� Angel asked, deliberately changing the subject. Changing it into a simple conversation.

Spike
touched the side of his face. �The Blue Wonder,� he said. �Still packs a
punch.� An uncertain smile, like he wasn�t sure about Angel�s simple
conversation thing, but ready to play along.

�Illyria.�
How could he have forgotten about Illyria, even for a second? �How�s she
doing?�

�Usual. Up
on the roof a lot. Contemplating the color of the sky, or
some such. She�� Spike shrugged, looking uncomfortable. �She keeps
asking questions. Seems she�s gotten it into her head that she needs a teacher.
Someone to guide her.�

Angel
paused. �You?�

�Seems
like,� Spike muttered. �But who the fuck knows.�

Angel felt
a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. �You, Spike, guiding a god. The mind
boggles.�

�Yeah,
well.� Spike lifted his hand to rub at his neck. �I�ll do my best.�

�I�m sure
you will.�

It was a
strange moment. For a second they were both there,
sharing the same time and place, both surprised by the fact.

Before looking away in acute embarrassment.

�Well, I
should��

�Yeah.�

Spike
headed for the door. Turned around before opening it.

�So about
this vacation thing��

�

�Yes?�

�If you�re
planning on taking off, going somewhere, like say, Australia��

Australia?

�Don�t
leave without saying goodbye.�

Spike left, and the door closed behind him.
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