Darkening Angel Chapter 40
Merry Giftsmas! Look - an update! 40 chapters? How the heck does that happen? Let it be an object lesson on posting WIPs.
Warning: Wes is a bit of a dick in this - Wes fans, I apologize.
Promise: The plotiness will be fading back to more porn soon!
Previous chapters in memories
Chapter 40: The Act
Spike awoke the next morning feeling tired, sore and dirty. It was the way he usually felt coming back to consciousness in Angel’s bed these days. But what he did not feel was that anxious panic, the need to take his pills that pulled him up through the despair and got him vertical.
Angel’s arm moved against his and a sudden fear of exposure did the job. Spike fumbled with the pill bottle, opening it and shaking a few pills into his hand. He stared at them, feeling nothing but disgust at the idea of putting them into his mouth. Disgust and relief. It had worked. He was free.
“Spike?”
He quickly dropped the pills back in and closed the jar. “Just taking my pills,” he said, as calmly as he could manage.
Angel wrapped his arms around Spike from behind and pulled him back down into the crumpled, sex-smelling sheets. “You always get so nervous about your pills,” Angel chuckled fondly.
“Yeah,” Spike said, and thanked his stars he had an excuse to be nervous. He relaxed a little, even, against Angel’s shoulder. But then Angel’s hand was traveling down Spike’s side and he realized, suddenly and terribly, that he was not the least bit turned on. All the effects of Angel’s various suggestions were gone, and Angel would know in seconds as his fingers stretched past the hallow of Spike’s hip.
Spike dove under the covers, taking Angel’s cock in hand. “Feeling randy, sunshine?” He gave the broad head a lick and to his relief Angel stopped pawing at him and fell back, knees widening to grant him easier access. Typical, Spike thought, but he supposed he should be grateful. Angel’s cock tasted of petroleum-based lube, sticky and stale, but he got that cleaned off quickly and then just swallowed him down. He had a brief feeling of disgust and nearly gagged, but practice (and he’d been getting a lot of that) helped him just get on with it. He looked up at Angel, his eyes half-lidded, expression benevolent like some indolent god. Spike wondered when Angel had changed, who this was, really. He’d always been a petty dick, but he used to care, at least with the soul. He’d care about others. The soft hairs on Angel’s thigh tickled against his ear as he writhed. For some reason that was what sparked anger in Spike.
“Ow!” Angel’s hips lifted off the bed and he pulled back the covers. Spike had inadvertently vamped out. He shook his head, getting himself under control and licked the beads of blood from the scrape he’d left along the side of Angel’s cock, gently teasing it back to full hardness. He closed his eyes and pretended to be lost in the sensation. Pretended he liked what he was doing. Hoped that if Angel couldn’t see his eyes, he wouldn’t know what he was thinking.
More and more he was thinking how long it took to get someone off when you honestly weren’t in the mood. His jaw ached and his neck was uncomfortable and the smell bothered him and the sounds Angel made bothered him and he wondered how he had so recently actually enjoyed this. He tried to concentrate on the satiny texture of wet cock in his mouth, the sensual pleasure of gentle friction. It was pure relief when he felt Angel stiffen, his legs straightening, thighs tightening around Spike’s shoulders. Spike took him deep so he wouldn’t have to taste it. He pressed his face into the musty hairs of Angel’s groin and counted slowly to three, lest he be seen to pull away too quickly. Around him, Angel was falling into languor like a snow pile melting.
Spike carefully extracted himself and turned his back to Angel.
Angel put his chin on Spike’s shoulder. “Is something wrong, baby?”
“Nah. Just… got a bit carried away, there.”
“Here, let me take care of you.” Angel’s hand rubbed gently over Spike’s hip, reaching for his groin.
Spike caught it. “Already came, yeah? Now I’m tried.”
He could feel Angel’s grin. “Just from pleasing me, baby? Wow, that’s hot.”
“Don’t get too hot; I’m knackered.” Spike reached behind himself and gave Angel’s semi-hard cock a squeeze. “Give me a mo’ and we’ll get that big bloody barge-pole of yours right where it belongs again.”
It’s the romance that gets me, Spike thought to himself as Angel gave him a big squeeze and a wet kiss over his ear. “Baby, you’re so sweet, but I have to get down to the office.”
Which was why I offered, Spike thought.
Angel gave him a fond pat on the ass and got out of bed. Spike lay still, because that was what was expected of him. He wanted to run to the shower, but he waited, and wondered how long he could keep this up. He could hear the falseness in his own voice - but Angel wasn’t concerned, yet, had no reason to notice. How long would that last?
Angel threw him a kiss as he stepped into the bathroom. Whatever Fred was doing, Spike hoped it was quick.
***
“… and those are pretty much all of Knox’s files and projects? You should probably assign them to someone else? He was, heh, kinda doing a lot. Kinda your number two and all that.”
The skinny young man fidgeted, leaning over her desk as though he wasn’t sure if he should point at a particular folder or not.
“Thanks, um…”
“Eng. I sorta came in under Kathy as a research assistant?”
Fred rubbed her temples. “Thanks, Eng. I’ll get back to you.”
“Um…” Eng scratched his elbow, looking on the cusp of asking another question. Or statement. Everything he said sounded like a question whether it was or not and Fred was seconds from snapping at him that she had only intended to spend five minutes getting caught up on the lab before finding Wes. It had been an hour and she still had four people waiting to see her. Taking a month off and nearly dying, not to mention losing an important staff member because he tried to kill you, really increased work load.
“So, kinda like, the etheric spectrometer? Some guys were in here looking for stuff, I guess because they didn’t know what was happening to you? And they knocked the sample holder into the sensor array?”
“Just… send me an email, Eng. Go. Write it now. I have another meeting and I’m late.”
Fred burst from her office, leaving a confused Eng in her wake, no doubt still formulating a response replete with “kinda” and “ums” Her expression alone was enough to stop the next two lab-coated figures coming at her with clipboards.
Wes was in his office, bent over a dusty old book. “Just a moment,” he said, not looking up, his finger tracing a line of crooked, alien-looking text.
“Okay, but just a moment.”
Wes stood, smiling. “Fred! I didn’t know it was you. You look… well, amazing!”
Fred held out her hands in her lab coat pockets. “This old thing?”
“You look radiant.” He stepped around the desk and held out his arms to her a moment, then dropped them and fidgeted uncertainly. “Are you back at work permanently?”
Fred shook her head and threw her arms around him. “You silly. Oh, I wish I didn’t have serious things to talk about.”
“So don’t,” Wes said, and smiled nervously. “I have time to just talk. This…” he waved at his desk. “It can wait. Not apocalyptic. Not at the moment.”
“Isn’t it sad that’s how we prioritize things around here - apocalypse or not.” Fred sat on the edge of the desk. “We need to talk about Angel and Spike.”
Wes looked slightly puzzled, but he sat in a guest chair and smiled. “What about them?”
“Wes! Angel is abusing Spike.”
“They’re both consenting adults, Fred, and it’s not illegal, what they’re doing. Not in California.” Wes looked in danger of blushing.
Fred rolled her eyes. “We have gay people in Texas, too. That’s not what I meant. I mean Angel has Spike on mind-controlling drugs. He’s using him.”
Wesley shifted uncomfortably, then got up and went back behind his desk. He laid a bookmark in the old tome and closed it.
“Oh my god,” Fred said, watching him. “You knew.”
“It’s not like I entirely approve,” Wes said. “But however unfair the situation may seem, nothing was done without Spike’s consent.”
“Being treated like property? Having his thoughts changed? You really think he consented to that?”
“Technically, yes. It’s all documented. I know it looks awful, Fred, but Angel is much easier to deal with, and happier now. Besides, there was that whole Nolex business, remember.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, Spike… I mean, he volunteered for that, remember. Things which you or I would consider intolerable aren’t so bad for him. In fact, if you read up on vampire sexual practices - and I strongly suggest you don’t - you’ll find that what goes on between Spike and Angel is actually, well, rather tame.”
Fred set her fists on the desk in front of Wes. “Spike came to me, begging for help. He was at his wit’s end.”
Wes sat down, hands clasped on the desk. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Sorry? Wes, we have to help him!”
“Angel is in a fragile state, since becoming CEO. I wouldn’t recommend it. Perhaps it’s better that Spike suffer, for the good of us all.”
Fred backed away. “How can you even say that?”
“Fred… please, I’m sorry. I know it’s unpleasant, but if you knew how delicate everything is you’d understand why I don’t wish to pull Spike, forgive the blunt imagery, out from under Angel.”
“I need help to do this, Wesley.”
“And I’m telling you not to do it. Just take a moment, see what’s going on, see the situation for what it is.”
Fred backed out of the office, shaking her head. Wes looked pleadingly at her.
“I’ll send you some files,” he said. “Don’t be angry at me, Fred.”
She turned and stomped down the corridor. Getting Wesley to help had been the lynchpin of all her plans. Who else could get access to the manumission forms and the magical pharmaceutical release forms?
She saw a dark figure in a sharp suit ahead of her. “Charles!” She rushed to catch up to him.
He turned on one heel, a big smile lighting up his face. “Fred!” He set his briefcase down and gave her a hug. “I didn’t expect to see you back so soon!” He held her out at arm’s length. “You’re a breath of fresh air.”
“Can you spare me a few minutes? It’s about Angel. He…”
“God, I wish could, but I’m on my way to court.” He kissed her forehead and then picked up his briefcase. “See my assistant - he has my schedule. We’ll do lunch!” This last was shouted over his shoulder as he waved.
Fred sighed, feeling defeated and confused, she went back to her office to tackle the paperwork and email Gunn’s assistant.
She had been so sure the boys would be willing and able to help. She hadn’t counted on going alone, or even having them work against her. What had happened to everyone? Had she been this preoccupied, this buried in inconsequence, before she nearly died from it?
She pushed open the door to her lab and all around the large room faces popped up from behind equipment and goggles, looking at her expectantly. Fred felt heavy all of a sudden - heavy and tired. She trudged to her office, prepared to lose the battle to preoccupation, for a while at least. She just hoped Spike wasn’t suffering in the meantime.
Continued -->
Warning: Wes is a bit of a dick in this - Wes fans, I apologize.
Promise: The plotiness will be fading back to more porn soon!
Previous chapters in memories
Chapter 40: The Act
Spike awoke the next morning feeling tired, sore and dirty. It was the way he usually felt coming back to consciousness in Angel’s bed these days. But what he did not feel was that anxious panic, the need to take his pills that pulled him up through the despair and got him vertical.
Angel’s arm moved against his and a sudden fear of exposure did the job. Spike fumbled with the pill bottle, opening it and shaking a few pills into his hand. He stared at them, feeling nothing but disgust at the idea of putting them into his mouth. Disgust and relief. It had worked. He was free.
“Spike?”
He quickly dropped the pills back in and closed the jar. “Just taking my pills,” he said, as calmly as he could manage.
Angel wrapped his arms around Spike from behind and pulled him back down into the crumpled, sex-smelling sheets. “You always get so nervous about your pills,” Angel chuckled fondly.
“Yeah,” Spike said, and thanked his stars he had an excuse to be nervous. He relaxed a little, even, against Angel’s shoulder. But then Angel’s hand was traveling down Spike’s side and he realized, suddenly and terribly, that he was not the least bit turned on. All the effects of Angel’s various suggestions were gone, and Angel would know in seconds as his fingers stretched past the hallow of Spike’s hip.
Spike dove under the covers, taking Angel’s cock in hand. “Feeling randy, sunshine?” He gave the broad head a lick and to his relief Angel stopped pawing at him and fell back, knees widening to grant him easier access. Typical, Spike thought, but he supposed he should be grateful. Angel’s cock tasted of petroleum-based lube, sticky and stale, but he got that cleaned off quickly and then just swallowed him down. He had a brief feeling of disgust and nearly gagged, but practice (and he’d been getting a lot of that) helped him just get on with it. He looked up at Angel, his eyes half-lidded, expression benevolent like some indolent god. Spike wondered when Angel had changed, who this was, really. He’d always been a petty dick, but he used to care, at least with the soul. He’d care about others. The soft hairs on Angel’s thigh tickled against his ear as he writhed. For some reason that was what sparked anger in Spike.
“Ow!” Angel’s hips lifted off the bed and he pulled back the covers. Spike had inadvertently vamped out. He shook his head, getting himself under control and licked the beads of blood from the scrape he’d left along the side of Angel’s cock, gently teasing it back to full hardness. He closed his eyes and pretended to be lost in the sensation. Pretended he liked what he was doing. Hoped that if Angel couldn’t see his eyes, he wouldn’t know what he was thinking.
More and more he was thinking how long it took to get someone off when you honestly weren’t in the mood. His jaw ached and his neck was uncomfortable and the smell bothered him and the sounds Angel made bothered him and he wondered how he had so recently actually enjoyed this. He tried to concentrate on the satiny texture of wet cock in his mouth, the sensual pleasure of gentle friction. It was pure relief when he felt Angel stiffen, his legs straightening, thighs tightening around Spike’s shoulders. Spike took him deep so he wouldn’t have to taste it. He pressed his face into the musty hairs of Angel’s groin and counted slowly to three, lest he be seen to pull away too quickly. Around him, Angel was falling into languor like a snow pile melting.
Spike carefully extracted himself and turned his back to Angel.
Angel put his chin on Spike’s shoulder. “Is something wrong, baby?”
“Nah. Just… got a bit carried away, there.”
“Here, let me take care of you.” Angel’s hand rubbed gently over Spike’s hip, reaching for his groin.
Spike caught it. “Already came, yeah? Now I’m tried.”
He could feel Angel’s grin. “Just from pleasing me, baby? Wow, that’s hot.”
“Don’t get too hot; I’m knackered.” Spike reached behind himself and gave Angel’s semi-hard cock a squeeze. “Give me a mo’ and we’ll get that big bloody barge-pole of yours right where it belongs again.”
It’s the romance that gets me, Spike thought to himself as Angel gave him a big squeeze and a wet kiss over his ear. “Baby, you’re so sweet, but I have to get down to the office.”
Which was why I offered, Spike thought.
Angel gave him a fond pat on the ass and got out of bed. Spike lay still, because that was what was expected of him. He wanted to run to the shower, but he waited, and wondered how long he could keep this up. He could hear the falseness in his own voice - but Angel wasn’t concerned, yet, had no reason to notice. How long would that last?
Angel threw him a kiss as he stepped into the bathroom. Whatever Fred was doing, Spike hoped it was quick.
***
“… and those are pretty much all of Knox’s files and projects? You should probably assign them to someone else? He was, heh, kinda doing a lot. Kinda your number two and all that.”
The skinny young man fidgeted, leaning over her desk as though he wasn’t sure if he should point at a particular folder or not.
“Thanks, um…”
“Eng. I sorta came in under Kathy as a research assistant?”
Fred rubbed her temples. “Thanks, Eng. I’ll get back to you.”
“Um…” Eng scratched his elbow, looking on the cusp of asking another question. Or statement. Everything he said sounded like a question whether it was or not and Fred was seconds from snapping at him that she had only intended to spend five minutes getting caught up on the lab before finding Wes. It had been an hour and she still had four people waiting to see her. Taking a month off and nearly dying, not to mention losing an important staff member because he tried to kill you, really increased work load.
“So, kinda like, the etheric spectrometer? Some guys were in here looking for stuff, I guess because they didn’t know what was happening to you? And they knocked the sample holder into the sensor array?”
“Just… send me an email, Eng. Go. Write it now. I have another meeting and I’m late.”
Fred burst from her office, leaving a confused Eng in her wake, no doubt still formulating a response replete with “kinda” and “ums” Her expression alone was enough to stop the next two lab-coated figures coming at her with clipboards.
Wes was in his office, bent over a dusty old book. “Just a moment,” he said, not looking up, his finger tracing a line of crooked, alien-looking text.
“Okay, but just a moment.”
Wes stood, smiling. “Fred! I didn’t know it was you. You look… well, amazing!”
Fred held out her hands in her lab coat pockets. “This old thing?”
“You look radiant.” He stepped around the desk and held out his arms to her a moment, then dropped them and fidgeted uncertainly. “Are you back at work permanently?”
Fred shook her head and threw her arms around him. “You silly. Oh, I wish I didn’t have serious things to talk about.”
“So don’t,” Wes said, and smiled nervously. “I have time to just talk. This…” he waved at his desk. “It can wait. Not apocalyptic. Not at the moment.”
“Isn’t it sad that’s how we prioritize things around here - apocalypse or not.” Fred sat on the edge of the desk. “We need to talk about Angel and Spike.”
Wes looked slightly puzzled, but he sat in a guest chair and smiled. “What about them?”
“Wes! Angel is abusing Spike.”
“They’re both consenting adults, Fred, and it’s not illegal, what they’re doing. Not in California.” Wes looked in danger of blushing.
Fred rolled her eyes. “We have gay people in Texas, too. That’s not what I meant. I mean Angel has Spike on mind-controlling drugs. He’s using him.”
Wesley shifted uncomfortably, then got up and went back behind his desk. He laid a bookmark in the old tome and closed it.
“Oh my god,” Fred said, watching him. “You knew.”
“It’s not like I entirely approve,” Wes said. “But however unfair the situation may seem, nothing was done without Spike’s consent.”
“Being treated like property? Having his thoughts changed? You really think he consented to that?”
“Technically, yes. It’s all documented. I know it looks awful, Fred, but Angel is much easier to deal with, and happier now. Besides, there was that whole Nolex business, remember.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, Spike… I mean, he volunteered for that, remember. Things which you or I would consider intolerable aren’t so bad for him. In fact, if you read up on vampire sexual practices - and I strongly suggest you don’t - you’ll find that what goes on between Spike and Angel is actually, well, rather tame.”
Fred set her fists on the desk in front of Wes. “Spike came to me, begging for help. He was at his wit’s end.”
Wes sat down, hands clasped on the desk. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Sorry? Wes, we have to help him!”
“Angel is in a fragile state, since becoming CEO. I wouldn’t recommend it. Perhaps it’s better that Spike suffer, for the good of us all.”
Fred backed away. “How can you even say that?”
“Fred… please, I’m sorry. I know it’s unpleasant, but if you knew how delicate everything is you’d understand why I don’t wish to pull Spike, forgive the blunt imagery, out from under Angel.”
“I need help to do this, Wesley.”
“And I’m telling you not to do it. Just take a moment, see what’s going on, see the situation for what it is.”
Fred backed out of the office, shaking her head. Wes looked pleadingly at her.
“I’ll send you some files,” he said. “Don’t be angry at me, Fred.”
She turned and stomped down the corridor. Getting Wesley to help had been the lynchpin of all her plans. Who else could get access to the manumission forms and the magical pharmaceutical release forms?
She saw a dark figure in a sharp suit ahead of her. “Charles!” She rushed to catch up to him.
He turned on one heel, a big smile lighting up his face. “Fred!” He set his briefcase down and gave her a hug. “I didn’t expect to see you back so soon!” He held her out at arm’s length. “You’re a breath of fresh air.”
“Can you spare me a few minutes? It’s about Angel. He…”
“God, I wish could, but I’m on my way to court.” He kissed her forehead and then picked up his briefcase. “See my assistant - he has my schedule. We’ll do lunch!” This last was shouted over his shoulder as he waved.
Fred sighed, feeling defeated and confused, she went back to her office to tackle the paperwork and email Gunn’s assistant.
She had been so sure the boys would be willing and able to help. She hadn’t counted on going alone, or even having them work against her. What had happened to everyone? Had she been this preoccupied, this buried in inconsequence, before she nearly died from it?
She pushed open the door to her lab and all around the large room faces popped up from behind equipment and goggles, looking at her expectantly. Fred felt heavy all of a sudden - heavy and tired. She trudged to her office, prepared to lose the battle to preoccupation, for a while at least. She just hoped Spike wasn’t suffering in the meantime.
Continued -->