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Hell Is In the Details	By : SpikesHeart Category: Angel the Series > Het - Male/Female Views: 2390 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Angel: The Series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Hell Is In the
Details � Chapter 20 � Shame the Devil

These proceedings are at
an end. We have heard enough to make a decision. The trial for Justice wished
for William the Bloody has been granted. The trial against Angelus of Aurelius
has begun!

But
the sweetest words were yet to come:

You may stand down,
vampire. We shall recall you as it becomes necessary.

Spike
closed his eyes and dropped his head into his hands in relief. Buffy grabbed
him around the waist and hugged him for all she was worth. They had done it -
made it to the actual trial.

We require he who was as
a human called Liam, as a vampire first Angelus, and now known as Angel to
stand trial for his egregious behavior and treatment of his erstwhile childe,
William the Bloody, now known as Spike. Approach the bench.

All
eyes turned to the steed carrying the knight and Angel. Unceremoniously, the
knight shoved the still handcuffed vampire off the horse, in the direction of
the Tribunal.

Angel, you stand accused
of discharging your claim of Sire�s Rights to Spike in a willful and malicious
manner. We are curious as to why you
evoked the ancient and inexorable penalty against your childe.

Angel
stood, his lips thin and tightly pressed together in defiance. He didn�t think
�because� was going to go over very
well in answer to their question. In fact, it no longer seemed like a really
good answer to his own ears.

Need we remind you,
vampire, that you are facing judgment, and must answer all questions directed
towards you? We shall rephrase the query, inasmuch as why might have been too difficult for you. Please tell the court what heinous crime the youngest Master
Vampire the Aurelian Order had ever spawned committed
to warrant removal from his Family and the Order like an incompetent fledgling.

�I don�t feel the need to defend myself. What
I did was totally within the rights of vampiric law
and custom. The monster called Spike � that I created over a cry ary ago when I
was Angelus � he was responsible for the death of many thousands of innocents �
a burden I carried on my soul. His death in the Hellmouth
freed me. To find him suddenly standing in my office again, mouth running and
attitude unrepentant made me livid.

�It
wasn�t ped. ed. We had been fighting for two days straight over his demands
that I support him and coddle him and tell him where to find�� Okay, best skip that tack. �He was
hounding me and baiting me with his �holier than thou� attitude � telling me he
was the superior vampire. No respect towards me as his Sire. ~�I thought we might be able to work things
out between us, being family and all. No amount of your bitching can change
that.�~ Nothing was going to change between us, and it had to end.

�I
figured that his reputation alone would do him in, so I just made access to him
easier. I wasn�t looking to make a profit, just to get rid of the problem. n
cn
class=SpellE>Pret and Dante�s were supposed to take care of that for me.
All legal and above board.�

The issue before the
court, Angelus, is <i>not</i> the legality of your
actions, but the morality. You are
an ensouled vampire, as is your spawn. There were less severe options open to you at
the time � you could have had Security bar him from your presence and premises.
Simple solution to a simple problem.

�Spike�s
like a vicious little rat. Once he sinks his teeth into you, he won�t let go.�
Gods, Angel knew the hole he was digging for himself was getting deeper and
deeper, but there was no where else to go. Bluster was all he had on his side.
�It had to be done.�

This seems to be your
modus operendi regarding family problems, vampire. I
recall an incident regarding your own Sire, punishable by dusting if we follow vampiric Lore to the letter. You dusted Darla. However, it
was in defense of the Slayer, so you were never called to task for the offence.

However, this was not
the last of your treasonable acts committed with your soul in place. There was
the incident of allowing your newly resurrected Sire/grandchilde
and childe to kill off a roomful of lawyers, then attempting to burn both
family members. These offences wweigweigh heavily in your judgment, along with
your betrayal of the childe you removed from your order.

Angel
was incensed. �I thought this was a fair trial. I hear nothing but accusations
and prejudgment. If you�ve already judged me guilty, why the
pretence for the trial?�

This is not a trial to
judge your guilt or innocence. This is a trial to decide your punishment. This
is a vengeance court. The Slayer wished for it, and it has been granted.
Justice will be served and meted out in whatever form
William the Bloody decides upon. He has earned that right.

�No!� Angel protested, fear for his unlife becoming his overwhelming thought. Surely Spike
would demand his final death. �It�s not right! I�ve devoted my souled existence to helping humanity � atonement for the
evils I�d done as a murderous demon. The Powers That Be won�low low their
Champion to be put down by the likes of him.�

The bench demons conferred amongst
themselves for a few moments, before the middle one spoke.

How can you consider yourself to be a Champion of the people,
when you cannot champion your own family? Unsouled,
your spawn fought alongside the humans you abandoned on the Hellmouth.
Of his own accord, William the Bloody regained his soul and continued to fight
alongside those same humans to push back the First. He sacrificed his existence
for the fate of all humanity.

And yet, when he resurrects in your presence, your first impulse
is to have him murdered, knowing of his sacrifice from the Slayer, herself, who
had mourned and honored his passing. You no longer hold sway with The Powers
That Be. Your fate will be in our hands.

Angel paled. This court held influence over
the demon world. Hell, the Tribunal held influence over multiple dimensions. If
he survived Spike�s �vengeance� wish, Angel would find his unlife
severely altered.

We recall William the Bloody to the bench.

The call for Spike to return to the
Tribunal startled everyone. It seemed as if the blond vampire had just been
excused; now they wanted him back again, and this time, he�d be standing up
there with Angel.

William, hereafter known as Spike, you stand before us as an Orderless vampire. Is there someone who will take up your claim?

Spike stood , head
bowed and silent. He might have won his �justice� but he�d never again have a
familial place.

Hearing no response, the Tribunal judge
looked out at the assemblage. Is there
none here willing to take ownership of this vampire? To bring
him into their family? To be responsible for his
actions and his safety? Who will stand up for this Orderless
creature?

Buffy walked slowly and surely to Spike�s
side. Taking a deep breath and praying she wasn�t screwing this up for the long
run, the Slayer looked up at the Tribunal and began: �I stand for Spike, your
Honor. I request the right to speak freely before agreeing to anything,
however.�

Your request is granted, Slayer. You may speak your piece.

�Thank you. I have a question about the
whole ownership thingy. I understand the Order. I�ve been overly familiar with
its� vampires over the years. But my whole issue in seeking justice was for
Spike�s freedom. I don�t believe anyone should own anyone. I think Spike�s more
than earned the right to be his own vamp.�

Angel snorted, toeing the ground. Buffy�s mortal
naivet� amused him.

Spike silently appealed to the Tribunal,
who granted his unspoken request. He turned to Buffy, to try and explain just
what was at stake for him.

�Pet, it�s a lovely thought. Freedom an� such. It�s just not the way vampire society
works. Order is important to the demon. It marks specific demons from the days
of the Old Ones, when pure bloods roamed the world. An� Family is as you can
imagine � same�s human. A place where they have to
take you in. Where there�s fuck all you can do that they won�t eventually
forgive you for. Usually.

�I�ve been around for a long time, Buffy.
Might have had no civil words with my Sire in over a century, but I never
thought he�d cast me out at this point in our history. Angel, Spike, same room
� fight. A given, and something I could hold onto.

�It�s not that I won�t survive being Orderless and without Family, just that it�s something both
man and demon crave. To belong.� His expression was
even more heartbreakingly eloquent than his words. �I�ll miss him� it, the
connection� even now.�

And Buffy got it. She hadn�t the first time
he�d tried to explain it to her � the other day at Lorne�s, when she wanted to
go after Angel on his behalf � but she got it now. She made up her mind.

Facing the Tribunal once more, she said,
�Your Honors, I�ve made my decision. I am willing to claim Spike as mine,
Family.�

Spike grabbed her by the shoulders,
spinning her around to face him. �You dozy girl! Do
you have any idea of what you�re doing? The responsibility you�re taking on?
The risk you�re putting yourself and Dawn in?�

Buffy raised her hand, gently stroking the
vampire�s cheek, something she�d grown very fond of doing. The look in his eye
� the gentleness, warmed her spirit. �I�ve asked you this before, Spike� do you
trust me?�

�You know I do, luv,�
he murmured.

�Then shut up and let me get on with this.
Do you think they�re gonna��

We need your decision now, Slayer, to further the proceedings.

�Sorry, your Honor,� she said. �As I said
before, I am willing to claim Spike as my Family.�

You are mortal, and unfamiliar with the demon hierarchy. We need
to ascertain what level claim you are committing to. As the Slayer, you are
known more for killing vampires than championing them. Is this to be a
surrogate Sire/Alpha claim, a mating claim, or both?�

Oh shit! Mating claim? What in
God�s name had she gotten herself into? Not that it didn�t have its appealing
facets, but was that what they were to each other? They�d only just found each
other again these past few days.

Spike was well and truly gobsmacked that Buffy hadn�t taken a runner at the mere
mention of a mating claim. That she would consider him Family was impressive
enough, but anything else? Bloody hell how the woman had
grown up. He decided to take pity on her wibbling
state.
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Hell Is In the Details