Fic: High (2/5)
Title: High
Author: girlpire
Rating: E for everyone?
Pairing: I'd probably call it gen, but there are lots of Spangel references.
Disclaimer: This story is based on the "Angel" series, with which I am not affiliated in any way. Joss Whedon is my master, etc.
Distribution: Please no. kthnxbye. :)
Summary: Post-NFA. What's left of Team Angel is fighting the good fight in Chicago, and a vision leads Spike and Angel down into the sewers to rescue a young English man called Jacob.
Warnings: None for this part.
Author's Notes: This story is a prequel to [ Like Drowning], the Angel/Kate story I wrote last summer. Since this comes chronologically before that one, you don't need to have read it to understand this one. It's based on these prompts from frimfram: Spike saving Angel, a ghost train, and a reference to St. Petersburg. shapinglight was kind enough to look over my British English in this part, but some of it has been rewritten, so any mistakes are entirely my fault. (What can I say? I tweak.)
*The story has been broken into four five parts. Part one is [ here]. This is part two. I'll post the third part tomorrow night.
Previously: The man takes an anxious step forward. "Exactly how happy would you say he is?" he demands.
"Completely," Jacob reassures him. "Perfectly happy."
"Like the sort of happy you would be if, say, a beautiful young girl that you're in love with, who represents everything you want and everything you want to be, decided to shag your brains out on the night of her seventeenth birthday even though you're a stupid lunk with bad hair? That sort of happy?"
Jacob considers this. "Yes," he says finally. "Exactly that happy! So there's no need to be concerned." He offers the man an encouraging smile.
The man exhales deeply. "Bugger," he says.
*
High, Part 2 of 5
*
“You know, you’re taking this pretty well for a human,” Spike tells him, slicing down another silk pod from the wall with his sword. The contents rattle when it hits the ground, and they move on to the next one, not bothering to see what kind of bones it contained. After the first few dried-up corpses, Jacob stopped trying to identify the dead creatures.
“I once dissected a foetal baboon,” Jacob responds conversationally. “Dead things don’t really bother me.”
Spike rips open another sack and grimaces at the rotten pieces inside. “Didn’t mean this,” he says, gesturing toward the decomposing flesh. “I’m talking about the whole vampire thing.”
“So am I,” says Jacob.
Spike raises a scarred eyebrow at him. “Fair enough,” he says, moving on to the next sack.
They work in companionable silence for a few minutes, Jacob holding the torch up helpfully while Spike investigates the spider’s pantry looking for his... well, friend isn't the right word. Brother, maybe? Jacob isn't exactly sure what the relationship is between the two vampires. From Spike's brief explanation, he only gathered that Angel is another vampire, who has a depressing disposition due to the fact that he is impotent and has some type of physical deformity of the forehead, and who follows Spike around scolding him when he's done nothing wrong. The two of them apparently run a business rescuing people for pay, although they consider it more of a calling than an occupation. Also, Angel becomes especially violent when he's happy. Something to do with gypsies. It's a whole thing.
Jacob is currently wearing the trousers of the missing vampire. Spike found them further up the tunnel from where Jacob's pod was and graciously offered them to him. They are too large, and the outside seam of one leg has been ripped all the way up, but there was still a belt in the belt loops and he cinched it tight around his waist, pleased to be wearing any clothes at all. Angel's shirt and sword were nearby. The shirt was a total loss, but Jacob is carrying the sword in his other hand and has been using it to prod the hanging sacks interestedly. This whole experience has been very educational.
He thinks he'd probably be having a very different reaction to everything if he weren't so happy right now, but he doesn't mention that to Spike.
Spike cuts down another heavy cocoon impatiently. "This is taking too sodding long," he mutters. He slices open the bag neatly and reveals something orange with fur before glancing up at all the other storage sacks. "Too many bloody choices. He could be in any of them!" He growls and stabs the dead orange thing in frustration.
Jacob shines his torch further up the tunnel, looking for a sack that appears fresher. They all look very much alike to him. "How did you find me?" he asks.
"Could hear your heartbeat. Real soft, like. But I can't really do that with him."
"Oh." Jacob squints down the long tunnel, row after row of white odd-shaped lumps hanging silently in groups. He wonders again how far the tunnel goes, and as he looks he can just barely make out something quite large rising up from the middle of the tracks a good distance down the line from them. "What's that?" he asks.
"Slerdavin," Spike says, still looking down at the orange thing his sword is sticking out of. "It's a kind of demon. Probably been dead for a year, but these things don't rot."
"Not that - that." Jacob points down the tunnel with his sword.
Spike looks up and squints at the giant mound. "Dunno," he says. "Let's find out."
They follow the silk-lined tunnel until they reach the small hill jutting up from the tracks. It's long and thin and fills most of the tunnel, and it's completely covered in sticky white threads, as though someone has thrown a quilt over it.
"Some kind of nest, maybe?" suggests Spike.
Jacob walks around to the side of it. A largish square hole leads inside, and he steps closer, his feet sticking to the white silk and ripping it a little. He shines the torch inside and finds more of the same - dense white cloth covering amorphous lumps like snow. A metal pole sticks up in the middle of it all. "It's a train," he says.
Spike comes around to the side and peeks in over Jacob's shoulder. "A train," he repeats. "In the middle of a huge bloody spider web. Of course."
Jacob steps carefully up into the train and looks around. The webbing is thicker here than anywhere else, and his feet sink into it. He has to duck to keep from getting it in his hair, and it makes him smile. "It probably is the creature's nest," he says happily. "And look - there's what it was planning to eat next." He aims the torch beam at the single pod of snow white silk lying softly in the middle of the train like an egg.
Spike climbs into the train after him and squeezes by, approaching the pod cautiously. He sniffs the air near it. With his sword, he carefully slits the sack open and drops to his knees to peel back one side.
A naked man is curled inside, his knees drawn up and his hands folded innocently beneath his head. Spike peels back the other side too, and Jacob sees that the man has a tattoo of a griffin on his right shoulder. Near the tattoo, there is a set of deep wounds with purplish liquid seeping out. Spike pushes the man's arm and rolls him onto his back, and Jacob gets a good long look at his face. The man is quite handsome.
"It's too bad," Jacob says. "For some reason I thought it might be your friend. But I suppose that would be highly improbable, wouldn't it? For him to be in such an obvious place like this." He tries to feel sympathetic and hopes that he doesn't look too happy. "Guess we'll just have to go back to checking the sacks on the wall, eh? But don't worry, there aren't that many..."
"It's him," says Spike.
"It's... oh. Really?" Jacob peers more closely at the man's face. "I was picturing more of a... well, the way you described him, I assumed he'd look a bit more... troll-ish. Slightly less godlike."
Spike gives him an incredulous look. "Godlike?" he repeats. "You think he's godlike?"
"He's a beautiful man," Jacob says.
"Like hell!" Spike frowns down at the unconscious vampire. "Look at his hair. It's stupid."
Jacob shrugs apologetically. "Well, I am in an altered state of consciousness," he offers. "Maybe I only think he's attractive because I've been bitten by a venomous demon spider."
Spike looks slightly less unhappy after this comment.
"If it helps, I think you're attractive as well," Jacob goes on pleasantly. "Then again --" he gestures to himself "-- venomous demon spider victim." He smiles before adding, "When the effects wear off, I'm sure I won't come across nearly as homosexual as I probably am right now."
"Here's hoping," Spike mutters. Still kneeling beside Angel, he shrugs out of his long leather coat and lays the black material over the naked man, tucking it around his body. He looks as though he's about to pick the man up, but he stops and glances at Jacob. "You still feeling perfectly happy, then?" he asks.
"Positively gay," Jacob assures him.
"Right," says Spike, glancing back down. The vampire on the floor suddenly yawns, stretching lazily beneath the coat with a soft humming sound. Spike swiftly punches him in the head and the movement ceases. "Just in case," he explains to Jacob. He scoops the leather-wrapped vampire into his arms and stands. "Let's go. We need to chain him up before he wakes. He'll either be evil or very, very angry."
"Why would he be angry?" asks Jacob. "Haven't we saved him?"
"We have," Spike agrees. "But I punched him in the head, and you're wearing his trousers. Angel here is nothing if not overprotective of his Armani."
Jacob takes a small step back and gestures toward the train door. "Lead the way," he says.
*
The trip back up the tunnel is much longer than the trip down it was. Jacob supposes this is because he's walking now and not so much being dragged by a large blue arachnid. He had not realized until now how far he must have been dragged after he passed out, but it reminds him to be grateful for the happy-poison that's still keeping him from feeling the scrapes and bruises along his back. He rather hopes it doesn't wear off any time soon.
Angel is draped across Spike's arms like a sleeping child, wrapped modestly in the dark leather of the blond vampire's coat. Spike carries him effortlessly through the long tunnel, and Jacob finds it fascinating that the smallish man can hold the bigger one so easily without seeming to tire. It must be due to the increased strength that comes from being a demon. His own arms would probably be worn out already just from carrying the torch and both swords, but again he has the spider venom to thank for keeping him going. He wonders if it will cause any long-term damage to his nervous system, but he can't really bring himself to mind. Long-term damage would be completely worth it for the high he's got right now.
They eventually come across Jacob's ruined clothes on the floor of the tunnel. Not a stitch is salvageable, but Jacob pauses to get his wallet and lighter from the pocket of what used to be his jeans. He places them in the pocket of Angel's torn Armani trousers and continues walking, the ripped material flapping softly around his leg.
When they finally reach the end of the tunnel near the sewer entrance, Jacob stops again to gather up his blanket and wrap it around his shoulders before climbing down through the hole. He reaches up and helps Spike manhandle the other vampire down as well and is propping the pliant body against his chest when the blond enters the sewer beside them. Before picking him up again, Spike takes Angel's chin in his hand and turns his head to one side, then the other, considering him. Then he punches Angel again hard before sweeping him into his arms and beginning to walk again.
"What was that for?" Jacob asks, following.
"Just don't want any nasty surprises before we get back," Spike tells him.
"He was still unconscious," says Jacob. "You didn't have to hit him again." He looks at the sleeping vampire's angelic face.
Spike glances at Jacob sideways before answering, "He's got a tendency to wake up."
They arrive at the sewer entrance in silence. They both look at the ladder, then at Angel, then at each other. Jacob climbs up first. He opens the manhole cover and crawls out into a dark alley, turning back to watch Spike come up after him, the unconscious vampire balanced precariously over his shoulder.
"Have you done this before?" asks Jacob, still impressed at the ease with which the smaller man handles the dead weight of his companion.
"Once or twice," Spike grunts, heaving Angel up towards Jacob, who - with significantly less finesse - helps lift him the rest of the way out of the sewer.
"You don't seem worried about him."
Spike climbs out of the hole and recovers it, dusts himself off. "More worried about us, really," he says. He wraps the leather coat more securely around Angel's naked body before picking him up again. "You would be too, if you'd ever met Angelus."
"He can't be as bad as that, can he?"
Spike tilts his head to the side and looks at Jacob seriously. "Have you ever been eaten alive?" he asks.
Jacob almost laughs. "Of course not," he says. Then he adds, "Although if it hadn't been for you, I suppose I might have experienced that later tonight."
"I have," Spike continues. "It hurts. A lot."
Jacob doesn't really know how to respond to that. "I'm sorry," he says.
Spike shrugs. He indicates the body in his arms and asks, "D'you know how many people he's eaten alive?"
Jacob blinks. He looks down at Angel's relaxed mouth, his softly closed eyelids. Then he looks back at Spike and shakes his head slowly.
"Neither do I," says Spike. "Neither does he."
Jacob takes a moment to process this information. He's still almost absurdly happy, but he thinks it might be wearing off, just a bit. Just enough to be sort of horrified as well. "And he did that... because he was happy?" he asks.
"Sometimes," Spike tells him. "Most of the time it was the other way 'round." He starts walking out of the alley, his back to Jacob, and Jacob follows. "Think you can get us a taxi?" Spike adds. "It's a bit of a walk back, and this fat git's not exactly a featherweight."
*
Jacob hails a taxi while Spike tries propping Angel inconspicuously against the side of a building. Jacob thinks amusedly about the picture the three of them must make: a shortish bleached blond in all black, a handsome unconscious man in a leather coat, and a tall grinning fellow wearing torn trousers and a blanket, carrying two swords and a torch. Good thing it's so late there's almost no one around to see them.
Despite the near complete lack of traffic at 4:30 in the morning, two taxis pass by the odd trio before a third finally pulls over. The driver pays little attention to them after a cursory glance, and all three crowd into the backseat, Angel propped in the middle. Spike gives the driver an address, and by the time they arrive, Angel has sagged almost completely into the blond's lap. Jacob finds this a lot funnier than he thinks he normally would. When they come to a stop, Spike drags Angel out of the stale-smelling vehicle, leaving Jacob to pay the fare.
As the taxi pulls away, Jacob looks up to see where they are. If he had thought to expect anything, it probably wouldn't have been a shabby-looking Chinese restaurant attached to four or five equally shabby-looking shops at the edge of the city, but since he hadn't thought to expect anything, he's not too surprised. One of the shops is an adult novelty store called Cloud Nine. Spike is rewrapping the other vampire in the leather coat, which had fallen partially down his shoulders.
Jacob peers in the darkened window of the Chinese restaurant. "I don't believe they're open at this hour," he says.
"Who?" asks Spike, carefully considering Angel's closed eyes. Jacob wonders if he's about to punch him again.
"This lovely establishment with the bead curtain and the 'Closed' sign on the door," Jacob clarifies. There's an unlit neon sign in the window that reads, "Hao-Chi," which he assumes is the name of the restaurant, but he doesn't know how to pronounce it, so he doesn't.
Spike punches Angel hard in the side of the head, then looks up at Jacob. "That's not where we're going," he says. "The stairs. Over there."
Jacob has to take several steps closer to Spike before he sees the rickety metal staircase hugging the side of the brick building. At the top of the stairs, there is a single white door, which presumably leads to the attic of the restaurant. There aren't any windows. "Oh," says Jacob. "Do you, er... live there?"
"Something like that," Spike mutters as he gathers Angel into his arms again. He begins walking toward the stairs. Suddenly, he looks up and calls, "Blue!"
Jacob jumps a little at the unexpected exclamation. He’s even more startled when a figure suddenly drops off the roof of the building and lands quietly beside them. The thin brunette woman pays no attention to Jacob but gives Angel's unconscious form a brief once-over. To Spike, she says in a strangely uninflected voice, "You have disabled him. Has his soul again been stripped from this body?"
"Not sure yet," Spike answers her. "But we should chain him just in case." The two of them start up the staircase together, and Jacob follows, looking curiously at the woman. "Any visitors while we were gone?"
"The wolf, the ram, and the hart have made no advances since we arrived," the woman says. "Perhaps this place is unknown to them."
"Yeah, and perhaps they're waiting for us to assume that before they attack," Spike suggests. Then he says, "I don't s'pose you noticed if that leggy red-head popped by Cloud Nine tonight? Or what she was wearing?"
The woman's tiny fists clench and her voice lowers a fraction. "No," she says, before adding bitterly, "I have been reduced to a watch dog in the company of half-breeds."
"But a very pretty watch dog," Spike points out.
She narrows her eyes at him. "I understand now that I am no longer what I was, vampire, but I do not think that you understand what I still can be," she says. "If I truly have a place in this fight, as you continue to tell me, I wish to be a warrior, not a bystander."
Spike sighs, shifting the larger vampire in his arms. "I understand, pet," he tells her. "I do. We'll discuss it with Sleeping Beauty later. If he's not evil."
They reach the top of the staircase and the woman opens the door and enters. Spike walks in after her, accidentally (one assumes) knocking Angel's head against the door frame. Jacob follows them inside and closes the door behind himself.
They're in a larger space than Jacob had imagined they would be. It is the attic of Hao-Chi, but the space also extends over the top of the next two small shops as well. Thin, unfinished walls divide the attic into three rooms - the large one they are standing in and two small rooms off to the side. A quick glance confirms the lack of bathroom or kitchen facilities, but there is a small lift in the corner which presumably leads down to the restaurant below. There isn't much furniture, just an overstuffed green couch that looks as though it's also someone's bed, a coffee table, an armchair, a small folding table with four chairs, and a desk, at which sits a bald black man wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
"Honey, we're home," Spike says to the seated man with a small grin. "What, no kiss?"
"Man, what took you so long? I thought this was just a basic hack-and-slash job," the man responds.
"Yeah, s'what I thought too, but then His Highness here had to go and get himself bloody sewn up in a bag. Took ages just to find him."
"Angel okay?" the man asks, peering at the unconscious vampire in Spike's arms.
"Should be fine. Do you remember where we put the chains?"
"Chains?" The man frowns. "Why would we need..." His voice trails off as his eyes suddenly widen. "Did you let Angel get laid?" Before Spike can reply, the man has opened a desk drawer and snatched a sharp wooden stake from it.
"Now, now, no need to be flashing your wood about." Apparently hearing the way this sounds, and off the other man's raised eyebrow, Spike corrects himself, "That is, there's no call for waving about sharp instruments of death. It's just a little happy-poison. Might be nothing. Just wanna be safe, innit."
"There is no 'safe' when it comes to Angelus," the man replies grimly. "Check the trunk at the end of Angel's bed. I think there are some chains in there."
Spike nods and disappears into one of the smaller rooms with Angel. A moment later, some rummaging sounds drift back out into the large room, where the bald man and the thin woman are now both looking at Jacob. He shifts from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling naked beneath his blanket.
"So," the man says, watching him appraisingly. "You're a friend of Spike's?"
"Yes," says Jacob. Then, "Well, actually... no, not really." He doesn't like the way this sounds and hurries on, "I mean we've only just met. But he seems a decent fellow. Over time, I'm sure we would..." An amused smile quirks the corner of the man's mouth, and Jacob starts over. "I was attacked by a large blue spider. Spike killed it."
"I'm Charles Gunn," the man says, putting out his hand over the desk. "Call me Gunn."
"Jacob," Jacob says. He unthinkingly puts forward his right hand and the sword he's carrying hits the desk, leaving a gash in the wood. They all look at it. He shifts the sword to his other hand and reaches for Gunn's again. He shakes it firmly, noticing as he does that the man is sitting in a wheelchair.
"Nice meeting you. This is Illyria," Gunn tells him, gesturing to the woman.
"Oh, what a lovely name," says Jacob pleasantly, turning to face her. He puts out his free hand in her direction as well, but she looks down at it strangely, and after a moment he lets it drop.
"So I guess Spike told you what he is," Gunn says. He starts twirling the stake between his fingers.
"A private detective, yes," Jacob answers.
The stake stops in mid-twirl. "That all?"
"And a vampire," Jacob adds. "But he's not evil."
Gunn nods slowly, twirling the stake again. "And you don't mind?" he asks.
"That he's not evil?"
"That he's a vampire."
"Course he don't mind," Spike calls from Angel's room. "The man dissects unborn monkeys."
Gunn makes a face. "Okaaay... And that's relevant, how?" He pauses. "On second thought, don't tell me."
"It was just the once," Jacob says hurriedly. "I'm a biologist. Sort of."
"Sort of?" asks Gunn.
"Well, I'm actually a writer," Jacob clarifies. "Sort of."
The other man smiles. "I get it," he says. "I'm sort of a lawyer." He gestures at the small room containing Spike, Angel, and some clunking chain noises. "They're sort of demons."
"I'm sort of a demon," Spike calls back. "This one's sort of a fairy."
Gunn rolls his eyes. Jacob smiles and turns to the brown-haired woman. He asks, "And are you sort of anything, then?"
The woman quickly turns her head to look at Gunn, her hard expression unchanging. He gives her a tiny nod. Some kind of moment passes between them that Jacob doesn't quite understand, and then the woman closes her eyes. When she opens them again, they're startlingly blue. Her lips, forehead, and sections of her hair also turn blue as he watches.
"Oh," Jacob says, blinking rapidly. "Oh my God." He reaches up to take off his glasses, but realizes that he isn't wearing them.
She cocks her head to one side and takes a step toward him. "You recognize me?" she asks.
"No," Jacob whispers, shaking his head slowly. He tries to think if he’s ever seen something so beautiful.
"You called me a god," she presses, taking another step toward him.
Jacob opens his mouth, unsure of how to respond, but Spike interrupts. "Everyone's godlike to this one, love," he says as he enters the room again. "He's been poisoned, you know."
Illyria tears her intense stare away from Jacob, and he breathes out slowly. He's actually starting to feel kind of dizzy. "He is injured," Illyria says to Spike. "He bleeds beneath this unattractive covering." She gestures at Jacob's blanket.
"I'm... I'll be fine," Jacob says. "Don't worry about me."
"I wasn't," she says.
"He doesn't want to go to the hospital," Spike tells her with a shrug. "Doesn't need any pain killers, either. Don't really know what to do with him."
"We should probably get him cleaned up," Gunn says. Suddenly he asks, "Are those Angel's pants?"
Illyria looks down at Jacob's legs. "They are damaged," she observes. "The vampire will be unhappy."
"You know, it's getting rather late," Jacob says. "I should just go back to my hotel." He carefully lays the two swords on the desk and pulls the blanket tighter around his shoulders, which are beginning to twinge uncomfortably. "I'm sure I'll be fine. And I'll return the trousers tomorrow, if that's alright...?"
"No," Illyria decides. "You are unfit to travel. You will remain in our care until you are well." All three men look at her in surprise.
"I thought you said you weren't worried about me," Jacob says.
"I am unconcerned. Spike will take excellent care of you."
The vampire raises his eyebrows. "Spike will what?" he asks. "What is Spike doing?"
"You will tend the wounds of your stray human," Illyria commands him. Her tone is determined.
"Sorry pet, I have a potentially evil serial killer to be guarding, if you'll remember," Spike reminds her.
"Gunn will guard your leader until he wakes," she replies.
Gunn nods. "Sounds like a plan."
"And while we're carrying out your orders, you'll be doing what, exactly?" Spike asks, sounding a bit annoyed.
"It is late," Illyria tells him. "I intend to sleep." Conversation effectively ended, she marches out of the white door, leaving the three men staring after her.
"She's sort of... a woman," Gunn finally says.
"She sleeps outside?" asks Jacob.
"She doesn't sleep," Spike mutters. "Just stands in one place with her eyes open and kicks you in the face if you get too close. It's fucking eerie."
Gunn pulls a crossbow from beneath the desk and places it in his lap. "Guess I'll go watch Angel sleep," he sighs. "If anything happens... well, you'll know because you'll only be about five feet away." He acknowledges Jacob with a friendly nod and then rolls away from the desk, heading toward the small room Spike chained Angel in.
"I suppose you'll have the other bed tonight," Spike tells Jacob. "Go on. I'll get the disinfectant."
Jacob starts stiffly toward the other small room. His scraped back is beginning to feel slightly painful, but he tries to be glad that the spider's venom is wearing off. He passes Gunn rolling back out of the first room.
"Damn, Spike," Gunn says. "Next time you chain the boss to the bed naked, a little warning would be nice."
"Oh, right. He's naked," Spike warns.
"Too late, man! Now I'm gonna have big-ass vampire package haunting my dreams."
"Like you didn't already."
Jacob enters the second room, smiling a little at the friendly bickering of the two men. He hadn't thought about how tired he was until now. He collapses face-first onto the smallish bed, stretching out full-length and tossing his blanket onto the floor. His feet hang off the edge. He's asleep before the two men stop talking.
*
Continued [ here].
*
Author: girlpire
Rating: E for everyone?
Pairing: I'd probably call it gen, but there are lots of Spangel references.
Disclaimer: This story is based on the "Angel" series, with which I am not affiliated in any way. Joss Whedon is my master, etc.
Distribution: Please no. kthnxbye. :)
Summary: Post-NFA. What's left of Team Angel is fighting the good fight in Chicago, and a vision leads Spike and Angel down into the sewers to rescue a young English man called Jacob.
Warnings: None for this part.
Author's Notes: This story is a prequel to [ Like Drowning], the Angel/Kate story I wrote last summer. Since this comes chronologically before that one, you don't need to have read it to understand this one. It's based on these prompts from frimfram: Spike saving Angel, a ghost train, and a reference to St. Petersburg. shapinglight was kind enough to look over my British English in this part, but some of it has been rewritten, so any mistakes are entirely my fault. (What can I say? I tweak.)
*The story has been broken into four five parts. Part one is [ here]. This is part two. I'll post the third part tomorrow night.
Previously: The man takes an anxious step forward. "Exactly how happy would you say he is?" he demands.
"Completely," Jacob reassures him. "Perfectly happy."
"Like the sort of happy you would be if, say, a beautiful young girl that you're in love with, who represents everything you want and everything you want to be, decided to shag your brains out on the night of her seventeenth birthday even though you're a stupid lunk with bad hair? That sort of happy?"
Jacob considers this. "Yes," he says finally. "Exactly that happy! So there's no need to be concerned." He offers the man an encouraging smile.
The man exhales deeply. "Bugger," he says.
*
High, Part 2 of 5
*
“You know, you’re taking this pretty well for a human,” Spike tells him, slicing down another silk pod from the wall with his sword. The contents rattle when it hits the ground, and they move on to the next one, not bothering to see what kind of bones it contained. After the first few dried-up corpses, Jacob stopped trying to identify the dead creatures.
“I once dissected a foetal baboon,” Jacob responds conversationally. “Dead things don’t really bother me.”
Spike rips open another sack and grimaces at the rotten pieces inside. “Didn’t mean this,” he says, gesturing toward the decomposing flesh. “I’m talking about the whole vampire thing.”
“So am I,” says Jacob.
Spike raises a scarred eyebrow at him. “Fair enough,” he says, moving on to the next sack.
They work in companionable silence for a few minutes, Jacob holding the torch up helpfully while Spike investigates the spider’s pantry looking for his... well, friend isn't the right word. Brother, maybe? Jacob isn't exactly sure what the relationship is between the two vampires. From Spike's brief explanation, he only gathered that Angel is another vampire, who has a depressing disposition due to the fact that he is impotent and has some type of physical deformity of the forehead, and who follows Spike around scolding him when he's done nothing wrong. The two of them apparently run a business rescuing people for pay, although they consider it more of a calling than an occupation. Also, Angel becomes especially violent when he's happy. Something to do with gypsies. It's a whole thing.
Jacob is currently wearing the trousers of the missing vampire. Spike found them further up the tunnel from where Jacob's pod was and graciously offered them to him. They are too large, and the outside seam of one leg has been ripped all the way up, but there was still a belt in the belt loops and he cinched it tight around his waist, pleased to be wearing any clothes at all. Angel's shirt and sword were nearby. The shirt was a total loss, but Jacob is carrying the sword in his other hand and has been using it to prod the hanging sacks interestedly. This whole experience has been very educational.
He thinks he'd probably be having a very different reaction to everything if he weren't so happy right now, but he doesn't mention that to Spike.
Spike cuts down another heavy cocoon impatiently. "This is taking too sodding long," he mutters. He slices open the bag neatly and reveals something orange with fur before glancing up at all the other storage sacks. "Too many bloody choices. He could be in any of them!" He growls and stabs the dead orange thing in frustration.
Jacob shines his torch further up the tunnel, looking for a sack that appears fresher. They all look very much alike to him. "How did you find me?" he asks.
"Could hear your heartbeat. Real soft, like. But I can't really do that with him."
"Oh." Jacob squints down the long tunnel, row after row of white odd-shaped lumps hanging silently in groups. He wonders again how far the tunnel goes, and as he looks he can just barely make out something quite large rising up from the middle of the tracks a good distance down the line from them. "What's that?" he asks.
"Slerdavin," Spike says, still looking down at the orange thing his sword is sticking out of. "It's a kind of demon. Probably been dead for a year, but these things don't rot."
"Not that - that." Jacob points down the tunnel with his sword.
Spike looks up and squints at the giant mound. "Dunno," he says. "Let's find out."
They follow the silk-lined tunnel until they reach the small hill jutting up from the tracks. It's long and thin and fills most of the tunnel, and it's completely covered in sticky white threads, as though someone has thrown a quilt over it.
"Some kind of nest, maybe?" suggests Spike.
Jacob walks around to the side of it. A largish square hole leads inside, and he steps closer, his feet sticking to the white silk and ripping it a little. He shines the torch inside and finds more of the same - dense white cloth covering amorphous lumps like snow. A metal pole sticks up in the middle of it all. "It's a train," he says.
Spike comes around to the side and peeks in over Jacob's shoulder. "A train," he repeats. "In the middle of a huge bloody spider web. Of course."
Jacob steps carefully up into the train and looks around. The webbing is thicker here than anywhere else, and his feet sink into it. He has to duck to keep from getting it in his hair, and it makes him smile. "It probably is the creature's nest," he says happily. "And look - there's what it was planning to eat next." He aims the torch beam at the single pod of snow white silk lying softly in the middle of the train like an egg.
Spike climbs into the train after him and squeezes by, approaching the pod cautiously. He sniffs the air near it. With his sword, he carefully slits the sack open and drops to his knees to peel back one side.
A naked man is curled inside, his knees drawn up and his hands folded innocently beneath his head. Spike peels back the other side too, and Jacob sees that the man has a tattoo of a griffin on his right shoulder. Near the tattoo, there is a set of deep wounds with purplish liquid seeping out. Spike pushes the man's arm and rolls him onto his back, and Jacob gets a good long look at his face. The man is quite handsome.
"It's too bad," Jacob says. "For some reason I thought it might be your friend. But I suppose that would be highly improbable, wouldn't it? For him to be in such an obvious place like this." He tries to feel sympathetic and hopes that he doesn't look too happy. "Guess we'll just have to go back to checking the sacks on the wall, eh? But don't worry, there aren't that many..."
"It's him," says Spike.
"It's... oh. Really?" Jacob peers more closely at the man's face. "I was picturing more of a... well, the way you described him, I assumed he'd look a bit more... troll-ish. Slightly less godlike."
Spike gives him an incredulous look. "Godlike?" he repeats. "You think he's godlike?"
"He's a beautiful man," Jacob says.
"Like hell!" Spike frowns down at the unconscious vampire. "Look at his hair. It's stupid."
Jacob shrugs apologetically. "Well, I am in an altered state of consciousness," he offers. "Maybe I only think he's attractive because I've been bitten by a venomous demon spider."
Spike looks slightly less unhappy after this comment.
"If it helps, I think you're attractive as well," Jacob goes on pleasantly. "Then again --" he gestures to himself "-- venomous demon spider victim." He smiles before adding, "When the effects wear off, I'm sure I won't come across nearly as homosexual as I probably am right now."
"Here's hoping," Spike mutters. Still kneeling beside Angel, he shrugs out of his long leather coat and lays the black material over the naked man, tucking it around his body. He looks as though he's about to pick the man up, but he stops and glances at Jacob. "You still feeling perfectly happy, then?" he asks.
"Positively gay," Jacob assures him.
"Right," says Spike, glancing back down. The vampire on the floor suddenly yawns, stretching lazily beneath the coat with a soft humming sound. Spike swiftly punches him in the head and the movement ceases. "Just in case," he explains to Jacob. He scoops the leather-wrapped vampire into his arms and stands. "Let's go. We need to chain him up before he wakes. He'll either be evil or very, very angry."
"Why would he be angry?" asks Jacob. "Haven't we saved him?"
"We have," Spike agrees. "But I punched him in the head, and you're wearing his trousers. Angel here is nothing if not overprotective of his Armani."
Jacob takes a small step back and gestures toward the train door. "Lead the way," he says.
*
The trip back up the tunnel is much longer than the trip down it was. Jacob supposes this is because he's walking now and not so much being dragged by a large blue arachnid. He had not realized until now how far he must have been dragged after he passed out, but it reminds him to be grateful for the happy-poison that's still keeping him from feeling the scrapes and bruises along his back. He rather hopes it doesn't wear off any time soon.
Angel is draped across Spike's arms like a sleeping child, wrapped modestly in the dark leather of the blond vampire's coat. Spike carries him effortlessly through the long tunnel, and Jacob finds it fascinating that the smallish man can hold the bigger one so easily without seeming to tire. It must be due to the increased strength that comes from being a demon. His own arms would probably be worn out already just from carrying the torch and both swords, but again he has the spider venom to thank for keeping him going. He wonders if it will cause any long-term damage to his nervous system, but he can't really bring himself to mind. Long-term damage would be completely worth it for the high he's got right now.
They eventually come across Jacob's ruined clothes on the floor of the tunnel. Not a stitch is salvageable, but Jacob pauses to get his wallet and lighter from the pocket of what used to be his jeans. He places them in the pocket of Angel's torn Armani trousers and continues walking, the ripped material flapping softly around his leg.
When they finally reach the end of the tunnel near the sewer entrance, Jacob stops again to gather up his blanket and wrap it around his shoulders before climbing down through the hole. He reaches up and helps Spike manhandle the other vampire down as well and is propping the pliant body against his chest when the blond enters the sewer beside them. Before picking him up again, Spike takes Angel's chin in his hand and turns his head to one side, then the other, considering him. Then he punches Angel again hard before sweeping him into his arms and beginning to walk again.
"What was that for?" Jacob asks, following.
"Just don't want any nasty surprises before we get back," Spike tells him.
"He was still unconscious," says Jacob. "You didn't have to hit him again." He looks at the sleeping vampire's angelic face.
Spike glances at Jacob sideways before answering, "He's got a tendency to wake up."
They arrive at the sewer entrance in silence. They both look at the ladder, then at Angel, then at each other. Jacob climbs up first. He opens the manhole cover and crawls out into a dark alley, turning back to watch Spike come up after him, the unconscious vampire balanced precariously over his shoulder.
"Have you done this before?" asks Jacob, still impressed at the ease with which the smaller man handles the dead weight of his companion.
"Once or twice," Spike grunts, heaving Angel up towards Jacob, who - with significantly less finesse - helps lift him the rest of the way out of the sewer.
"You don't seem worried about him."
Spike climbs out of the hole and recovers it, dusts himself off. "More worried about us, really," he says. He wraps the leather coat more securely around Angel's naked body before picking him up again. "You would be too, if you'd ever met Angelus."
"He can't be as bad as that, can he?"
Spike tilts his head to the side and looks at Jacob seriously. "Have you ever been eaten alive?" he asks.
Jacob almost laughs. "Of course not," he says. Then he adds, "Although if it hadn't been for you, I suppose I might have experienced that later tonight."
"I have," Spike continues. "It hurts. A lot."
Jacob doesn't really know how to respond to that. "I'm sorry," he says.
Spike shrugs. He indicates the body in his arms and asks, "D'you know how many people he's eaten alive?"
Jacob blinks. He looks down at Angel's relaxed mouth, his softly closed eyelids. Then he looks back at Spike and shakes his head slowly.
"Neither do I," says Spike. "Neither does he."
Jacob takes a moment to process this information. He's still almost absurdly happy, but he thinks it might be wearing off, just a bit. Just enough to be sort of horrified as well. "And he did that... because he was happy?" he asks.
"Sometimes," Spike tells him. "Most of the time it was the other way 'round." He starts walking out of the alley, his back to Jacob, and Jacob follows. "Think you can get us a taxi?" Spike adds. "It's a bit of a walk back, and this fat git's not exactly a featherweight."
*
Jacob hails a taxi while Spike tries propping Angel inconspicuously against the side of a building. Jacob thinks amusedly about the picture the three of them must make: a shortish bleached blond in all black, a handsome unconscious man in a leather coat, and a tall grinning fellow wearing torn trousers and a blanket, carrying two swords and a torch. Good thing it's so late there's almost no one around to see them.
Despite the near complete lack of traffic at 4:30 in the morning, two taxis pass by the odd trio before a third finally pulls over. The driver pays little attention to them after a cursory glance, and all three crowd into the backseat, Angel propped in the middle. Spike gives the driver an address, and by the time they arrive, Angel has sagged almost completely into the blond's lap. Jacob finds this a lot funnier than he thinks he normally would. When they come to a stop, Spike drags Angel out of the stale-smelling vehicle, leaving Jacob to pay the fare.
As the taxi pulls away, Jacob looks up to see where they are. If he had thought to expect anything, it probably wouldn't have been a shabby-looking Chinese restaurant attached to four or five equally shabby-looking shops at the edge of the city, but since he hadn't thought to expect anything, he's not too surprised. One of the shops is an adult novelty store called Cloud Nine. Spike is rewrapping the other vampire in the leather coat, which had fallen partially down his shoulders.
Jacob peers in the darkened window of the Chinese restaurant. "I don't believe they're open at this hour," he says.
"Who?" asks Spike, carefully considering Angel's closed eyes. Jacob wonders if he's about to punch him again.
"This lovely establishment with the bead curtain and the 'Closed' sign on the door," Jacob clarifies. There's an unlit neon sign in the window that reads, "Hao-Chi," which he assumes is the name of the restaurant, but he doesn't know how to pronounce it, so he doesn't.
Spike punches Angel hard in the side of the head, then looks up at Jacob. "That's not where we're going," he says. "The stairs. Over there."
Jacob has to take several steps closer to Spike before he sees the rickety metal staircase hugging the side of the brick building. At the top of the stairs, there is a single white door, which presumably leads to the attic of the restaurant. There aren't any windows. "Oh," says Jacob. "Do you, er... live there?"
"Something like that," Spike mutters as he gathers Angel into his arms again. He begins walking toward the stairs. Suddenly, he looks up and calls, "Blue!"
Jacob jumps a little at the unexpected exclamation. He’s even more startled when a figure suddenly drops off the roof of the building and lands quietly beside them. The thin brunette woman pays no attention to Jacob but gives Angel's unconscious form a brief once-over. To Spike, she says in a strangely uninflected voice, "You have disabled him. Has his soul again been stripped from this body?"
"Not sure yet," Spike answers her. "But we should chain him just in case." The two of them start up the staircase together, and Jacob follows, looking curiously at the woman. "Any visitors while we were gone?"
"The wolf, the ram, and the hart have made no advances since we arrived," the woman says. "Perhaps this place is unknown to them."
"Yeah, and perhaps they're waiting for us to assume that before they attack," Spike suggests. Then he says, "I don't s'pose you noticed if that leggy red-head popped by Cloud Nine tonight? Or what she was wearing?"
The woman's tiny fists clench and her voice lowers a fraction. "No," she says, before adding bitterly, "I have been reduced to a watch dog in the company of half-breeds."
"But a very pretty watch dog," Spike points out.
She narrows her eyes at him. "I understand now that I am no longer what I was, vampire, but I do not think that you understand what I still can be," she says. "If I truly have a place in this fight, as you continue to tell me, I wish to be a warrior, not a bystander."
Spike sighs, shifting the larger vampire in his arms. "I understand, pet," he tells her. "I do. We'll discuss it with Sleeping Beauty later. If he's not evil."
They reach the top of the staircase and the woman opens the door and enters. Spike walks in after her, accidentally (one assumes) knocking Angel's head against the door frame. Jacob follows them inside and closes the door behind himself.
They're in a larger space than Jacob had imagined they would be. It is the attic of Hao-Chi, but the space also extends over the top of the next two small shops as well. Thin, unfinished walls divide the attic into three rooms - the large one they are standing in and two small rooms off to the side. A quick glance confirms the lack of bathroom or kitchen facilities, but there is a small lift in the corner which presumably leads down to the restaurant below. There isn't much furniture, just an overstuffed green couch that looks as though it's also someone's bed, a coffee table, an armchair, a small folding table with four chairs, and a desk, at which sits a bald black man wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
"Honey, we're home," Spike says to the seated man with a small grin. "What, no kiss?"
"Man, what took you so long? I thought this was just a basic hack-and-slash job," the man responds.
"Yeah, s'what I thought too, but then His Highness here had to go and get himself bloody sewn up in a bag. Took ages just to find him."
"Angel okay?" the man asks, peering at the unconscious vampire in Spike's arms.
"Should be fine. Do you remember where we put the chains?"
"Chains?" The man frowns. "Why would we need..." His voice trails off as his eyes suddenly widen. "Did you let Angel get laid?" Before Spike can reply, the man has opened a desk drawer and snatched a sharp wooden stake from it.
"Now, now, no need to be flashing your wood about." Apparently hearing the way this sounds, and off the other man's raised eyebrow, Spike corrects himself, "That is, there's no call for waving about sharp instruments of death. It's just a little happy-poison. Might be nothing. Just wanna be safe, innit."
"There is no 'safe' when it comes to Angelus," the man replies grimly. "Check the trunk at the end of Angel's bed. I think there are some chains in there."
Spike nods and disappears into one of the smaller rooms with Angel. A moment later, some rummaging sounds drift back out into the large room, where the bald man and the thin woman are now both looking at Jacob. He shifts from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling naked beneath his blanket.
"So," the man says, watching him appraisingly. "You're a friend of Spike's?"
"Yes," says Jacob. Then, "Well, actually... no, not really." He doesn't like the way this sounds and hurries on, "I mean we've only just met. But he seems a decent fellow. Over time, I'm sure we would..." An amused smile quirks the corner of the man's mouth, and Jacob starts over. "I was attacked by a large blue spider. Spike killed it."
"I'm Charles Gunn," the man says, putting out his hand over the desk. "Call me Gunn."
"Jacob," Jacob says. He unthinkingly puts forward his right hand and the sword he's carrying hits the desk, leaving a gash in the wood. They all look at it. He shifts the sword to his other hand and reaches for Gunn's again. He shakes it firmly, noticing as he does that the man is sitting in a wheelchair.
"Nice meeting you. This is Illyria," Gunn tells him, gesturing to the woman.
"Oh, what a lovely name," says Jacob pleasantly, turning to face her. He puts out his free hand in her direction as well, but she looks down at it strangely, and after a moment he lets it drop.
"So I guess Spike told you what he is," Gunn says. He starts twirling the stake between his fingers.
"A private detective, yes," Jacob answers.
The stake stops in mid-twirl. "That all?"
"And a vampire," Jacob adds. "But he's not evil."
Gunn nods slowly, twirling the stake again. "And you don't mind?" he asks.
"That he's not evil?"
"That he's a vampire."
"Course he don't mind," Spike calls from Angel's room. "The man dissects unborn monkeys."
Gunn makes a face. "Okaaay... And that's relevant, how?" He pauses. "On second thought, don't tell me."
"It was just the once," Jacob says hurriedly. "I'm a biologist. Sort of."
"Sort of?" asks Gunn.
"Well, I'm actually a writer," Jacob clarifies. "Sort of."
The other man smiles. "I get it," he says. "I'm sort of a lawyer." He gestures at the small room containing Spike, Angel, and some clunking chain noises. "They're sort of demons."
"I'm sort of a demon," Spike calls back. "This one's sort of a fairy."
Gunn rolls his eyes. Jacob smiles and turns to the brown-haired woman. He asks, "And are you sort of anything, then?"
The woman quickly turns her head to look at Gunn, her hard expression unchanging. He gives her a tiny nod. Some kind of moment passes between them that Jacob doesn't quite understand, and then the woman closes her eyes. When she opens them again, they're startlingly blue. Her lips, forehead, and sections of her hair also turn blue as he watches.
"Oh," Jacob says, blinking rapidly. "Oh my God." He reaches up to take off his glasses, but realizes that he isn't wearing them.
She cocks her head to one side and takes a step toward him. "You recognize me?" she asks.
"No," Jacob whispers, shaking his head slowly. He tries to think if he’s ever seen something so beautiful.
"You called me a god," she presses, taking another step toward him.
Jacob opens his mouth, unsure of how to respond, but Spike interrupts. "Everyone's godlike to this one, love," he says as he enters the room again. "He's been poisoned, you know."
Illyria tears her intense stare away from Jacob, and he breathes out slowly. He's actually starting to feel kind of dizzy. "He is injured," Illyria says to Spike. "He bleeds beneath this unattractive covering." She gestures at Jacob's blanket.
"I'm... I'll be fine," Jacob says. "Don't worry about me."
"I wasn't," she says.
"He doesn't want to go to the hospital," Spike tells her with a shrug. "Doesn't need any pain killers, either. Don't really know what to do with him."
"We should probably get him cleaned up," Gunn says. Suddenly he asks, "Are those Angel's pants?"
Illyria looks down at Jacob's legs. "They are damaged," she observes. "The vampire will be unhappy."
"You know, it's getting rather late," Jacob says. "I should just go back to my hotel." He carefully lays the two swords on the desk and pulls the blanket tighter around his shoulders, which are beginning to twinge uncomfortably. "I'm sure I'll be fine. And I'll return the trousers tomorrow, if that's alright...?"
"No," Illyria decides. "You are unfit to travel. You will remain in our care until you are well." All three men look at her in surprise.
"I thought you said you weren't worried about me," Jacob says.
"I am unconcerned. Spike will take excellent care of you."
The vampire raises his eyebrows. "Spike will what?" he asks. "What is Spike doing?"
"You will tend the wounds of your stray human," Illyria commands him. Her tone is determined.
"Sorry pet, I have a potentially evil serial killer to be guarding, if you'll remember," Spike reminds her.
"Gunn will guard your leader until he wakes," she replies.
Gunn nods. "Sounds like a plan."
"And while we're carrying out your orders, you'll be doing what, exactly?" Spike asks, sounding a bit annoyed.
"It is late," Illyria tells him. "I intend to sleep." Conversation effectively ended, she marches out of the white door, leaving the three men staring after her.
"She's sort of... a woman," Gunn finally says.
"She sleeps outside?" asks Jacob.
"She doesn't sleep," Spike mutters. "Just stands in one place with her eyes open and kicks you in the face if you get too close. It's fucking eerie."
Gunn pulls a crossbow from beneath the desk and places it in his lap. "Guess I'll go watch Angel sleep," he sighs. "If anything happens... well, you'll know because you'll only be about five feet away." He acknowledges Jacob with a friendly nod and then rolls away from the desk, heading toward the small room Spike chained Angel in.
"I suppose you'll have the other bed tonight," Spike tells Jacob. "Go on. I'll get the disinfectant."
Jacob starts stiffly toward the other small room. His scraped back is beginning to feel slightly painful, but he tries to be glad that the spider's venom is wearing off. He passes Gunn rolling back out of the first room.
"Damn, Spike," Gunn says. "Next time you chain the boss to the bed naked, a little warning would be nice."
"Oh, right. He's naked," Spike warns.
"Too late, man! Now I'm gonna have big-ass vampire package haunting my dreams."
"Like you didn't already."
Jacob enters the second room, smiling a little at the friendly bickering of the two men. He hadn't thought about how tired he was until now. He collapses face-first onto the smallish bed, stretching out full-length and tossing his blanket onto the floor. His feet hang off the edge. He's asleep before the two men stop talking.
*
Continued [ here].
*