Title: Forever Mine

Author: Merlin

Found By: Xandria

Rating: NC-17

Fandom: Angel Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Forever Knight

Pairings: Angel/Xander, Xander/LaCroix, LaCroix/Nick (implied) and Giles/?

Feedback: Yes

Archive: List archives and my site only

Note: Scavenger hunt

Criteria: C A crossover that uses Forever knight and Buffy and Angel

Disclaimer: All the lovely Angel and Buffy characters are the creations of Joss Whedon and are owned by Warner Brothers and Mutant Enemy...I can't remember who own the characters from Forever Knight, but I know it isn't me! No copyright infringement intended.

Category: First Time, crossover (/Buffy/Forever Knight)

Status: New; Complete

Date: 01/06/00

Series: If I can ever manage to justify writing Wesley/Doyle

Notes: Thanks as always to Claire for beta-reading :-) Thank gawd she's an avid LaCroix fan!!!!! This story was originally posted as an entry for the Angel Elders Crossover Challenge...so the credit for making me think of even attempting a crossover story should go to listmom Zoe or whoever suggested the challenge in the first place!!!

Forever Mine

By Merlin

Angel hurried homeward through the wet LA night. Good deed done for the night, he was anxious to get back to his apartment and out of his wet clothes. Vampires may not feel the cold, but there was nothing worse than the feel of wet clinging fabric. He was still several blocks from home when he passed a brightly-lit restaurant – one of several on the block. His eyes drawn to the warmth the place exuded, Angel paused rooted to the spot in surprise.

There was a table in the window – a small intimate table – and Angel knew both the occupants. Actually, he corrected himself, he recognised one…and recognised ‘what’ the other was. Xander Harris, member of the Scooby gang and friend of the slayer, was sitting at a small intimate table in a discrete LA restaurant; holding hands across said table, with a vampire.

Angel stood on the sidewalk and stared. What should he do? Why was Xander in LA? And why hadn’t Angel known he was here? Angel frowned as his eyes returned yet again to the clasped hands on the tabletop. It was clear what was happening here…the vampire was seducing Xander. What should he do? Warn Xander? Why was Xander allowing this to happen?

Angel’s decision was made for him, as the vampire in the restaurant looked out into the darkened street and fixed his eyes on the souled vampire. For a brief moment Angel felt as though every part of his inner being was under scrutiny. Then the stranger turned away, releasing Xander’s hand with a smile, before raising the hand to catch the waiter’s attention.

Ten minutes later the door to the restaurant opened and the stranger and Xander stepped out onto the street. The two men didn’t hesitate, they walked swiftly across to where Angel stood waiting.

"Xander," Angel said warily, glancing from the boy to the man he now knew to be a master vampire.

"Deadboy," Xander acknowledged. "Lucien seems to think that you’re worried about me. Don’t be."

"Lucien?" Angel turned a questioning look on the vampire.

"Lucien LaCroix," the blond vampire’s smile was predatory as he turned it on Angel. "And I understand you are Angel…or should that be Angelus?"

"I prefer Angel," the souled vampire matched the chilling smile with one of his own.

"Of course." LaCroix turned to Xander and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Xander sighed. "Don’t worry." He grinned at Angel. "I know LaCroix’s a vampire…."

"A soulless vampire…" Angel started.

"Soulless?" LaCroix threw back his head and laughed. "My dear Angel, whatever gave you that idea? I assure you that I most definitely have my soul, in fact…unlike you…I never lost it!"

Angel looked at the vampire…the older vampire he noted…in disbelief. "That isn’t possible…."

"My dear Angel," LaCroix continued in the same condescending tone, "there are many types of vampires in the world…and not all of us are uncouth savages! I assure you, I have a soul. A heart on the other hand…" his features froze momentarily, "well according to my son, I don’t have one!" He smiled again, a small, bitter smile. "I’m sure you and Nicholas would get along splendidly…he finds it hard to accept what he is too!"

LaCroix raised one elegantly manicured hand and down the street a limo pulled away from the kerb and rolled to a stop beside them. The vampire helped Xander into the car before turning back to Angel. "I do assure you that my intentions toward Alexander are entirely honourable. Whatever happens between us…will be because he wants it!" With that LaCroix climbed into the car and closed the door.

Angel was left standing in the rain as the car drove off down the street. He watched as it turned the corner and then was gone from sight, wondering why he felt as though his world lay shattered at his feet.

___________________

Giles raised his head and stared with bleary eyes at the bedside clock. Squinting he could just make out the red figures on the digital display. 1am? Who the hell was ringing him at 1am? Muttering under his breath, Giles reached past the bedside alarm and snagged the phone cable, pulling the handset up to his face.

"Yes?" he was never at his best at 1am.

"Giles?" It was Angel and the vampire sounded rattled.

"What’s wrong?" Giles was instantly awake, pushing himself upright against the pillows. "Has something happened?"

There was a pause, then Angel spoke again. "Giles, what do you know about ‘souled’ vampires?"

Giles blinked, surprised at the topic. "You don’t think you’re about to lose your soul again?" he asked, genuinely worried.

"No," Angel paused again. "I met a vampire tonight who claims that he never lost his soul…that he’s a ‘different type’ of vampire.

"I see." Giles frowned and made an attempt to change the subject, this was NOT a conversation he’d ever wanted to have with Angel. "Do you realise that it’s 1am? Couldn’t this wait until tomorrow?"

There was yet another pause, then the reason for Angel’s concern became clear. "He had Xander with him."

"Oh dear." Giles closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. "Did this vampire have a name?"

"LaCroix…Lucien LaCroix. Do you know of him?" Angel sounded worried.

"Oh my!" Giles opened his eyes again in surprise. "Yes Angel, I do know of him…and yes, he does still have his soul." He glanced at the clock and sighed, knowing he would never be able to get back to sleep again now. "Don’t do anything stupid. I’m coming to meet you. Stay at the office…I’ll be there as soon as possible."

Giles waited until he had Angel’s assurance that he’d do nothing until the former watcher arrived then replaced the handset. He lay silently for a few moments, contemplating the enormity of what he was about to do, before throwing back the covers and swinging his legs out of the bed. This was the moment the watchers had been dreading for centuries…and he was about to start the whole process off.

Giles pulled on a robe and padded silently downstairs to the bookcase, pushing two heavy volumes aside to reveal a third hidden behind them. A heavy book locked with a metal latch. Giles reached up a hand and felt the key on the chain around his neck. Now the moment had come he was strangely reluctant to take the first step…but if LaCroix had Xander….

Giles took the chain from around his neck and fitted the key to the lock on the book. He carried the book to the table and laid it reverently down. Taking a deep breath he turned the key, opened the book, and started to read.

___________________

Xander sighed as the door to their hotel room closed behind them. He relaxed against the familiar cool body as LaCroix drew him into an embrace. His face was tipped upward and equally cool lips captured his in what turned into a searing kiss. Xander’s hands rose of their own accord, running through the short cropped hair of his lover.

LaCroix broke the kiss and pulling away from Xander’s hands, ran a soft finger down the side of the boy’s face. "He upset you."

It took a moment for Xander to catch the vampire’s meaning. "Angel? No…not really…."

"His opinion matters to you," LaCroix said softly. The finger slipping sideways and running down Xander’s neck.

Xander shivered at the sensation. He considered lying to LaCroix, but knew his lover would know… "Yes…a little…maybe."

LaCroix smiled charmingly at the boy. "And if he knew of the offer I have made you?"

Xander laughed bitterly. "He’d tell me not to trust you. That all vampires are soulless monsters who prey upon the living without mercy…."

"Am I without mercy, Alexander?" LaCroix whispered.

"Totally," Xander murmured.

"Good," LaCroix said, the satisfaction evident in his tone. "I’d hate for my reputation to be sullied…."

Xander grinned. "Don’t worry, your reputation’s safe with me!"

"So it should be," LaCroix said seriously. "You know what I’m offering Alexander and you know what it means."

"I know," all the humour had left Xander’s voice, "but I still find it hard to equate it with what I’ve been told…."

LaCroix took the boy’s hand and led him to the couch. He settled them together, Xander’s head resting on his shoulder, their fingers intertwined and then began to speak. "Long ago my kind became aware of the dangers of mortals learning of our existence. This was a dark time for our race and the ‘enforcers’ were created…a group dedicated to our survival and protection. They hunt down and punish any of our kind who endanger our race as a whole…."

"But…" Xander started to protest.

LaCroix hushed him. "There were those among us who refused to recognise the authority of the ‘enforcers’ or to comply with the required code of conduct. Less civilised than the majority they killed purely for their own pleasure…unheeding of the danger they brought to the rest of the community. They were loners, isolationists, not teaching their childer, as is our way. Instead they created new vampires and then abandoned them without teaching them of the ways of our kind. These offspring were, as a result, as savage and barbaric as their sires before them. When the enforcers took up their role…this group became outcast to us." He smiled sadly. "It was a bitter blow, many of us lost those we would have considered family. Over time the outcasts grew in numbers, but they were truly lost to both us…and themselves. The skills past down from sire to childe over the generations were lost and they became ever more barbaric, turning on each other…."

"Angelus…." Xander murmured.

"Precisely," LaCroix said. "Which is why steps were taken to…cull…this disruptive element. There was a small group of humans trusted by the enforcers who were set the task of finding a way eradicate the outcasts…."

___________________

Giles pause in his reading and caught Angel’s eye. "It took them several generations but finally they managed to develop the ultimate weapon to be used against the outcasts…."

"The slayer," Angel said heavily.

"The slayer," Giles confirmed. "Buffy and all those who came before her are the result of a well established vampire society endeavouring to eradicate their outcasts…."

Angel rose to his feet and started pacing across the kitchen floor. Giles remained in his seat at the table, he knew something of what the vampire was going through. He’d read the relevant passages at home, before making the journey to LA. It was a miracle that he hadn’t killed himself or anyone else on the way here, his mind certainly hadn’t been on the road. The knowledge that the vampire community had actually formed the watchers was still echoing in his mind.

"So," Angel continued to pace as he spoke, "no vampires are truly soulless…it’s just that the outcasts…those of my lineage…have allowed their demon nature to completely overwhelm their human side?"

"That’s what the book says," Giles confirmed.

"And these ‘true’ vampires have skills that we ‘outcasts’ have lost?" Angel scowled at his use of the word.

Giles nodded. "The book was very explicit. Some form of telepathy, mind control, speed greater than that you possess…and flight."

"Mind control?" Angel latched onto the one thing of interest to him in the list. "Could LaCroix be controlling Xander’s mind?

"It’s possible," Giles conceded reluctantly. "But it does seem very unlikely. If LaCroix simply planned to feed on Xander…then the boy is undoubtedly already dead…."

"But?" Angel turned his unblinking eyes on the former watcher.

Giles swallowed nervously, aware that Angel was just a fraction away from gameface. "LaCroix has a certain reputation with the ladies…and um…men."

"No." Angel said the word flatly and with no room for compromise.

"Xander may well be LaCroix’s latest…conquest." Giles said bluntly.

"No!" Angel all but roared. He stalked across the room toward Giles. "Xander is mine!" he hissed across the table at the mortal, his hands flat on its surface, golden eyes glittering with an expression Giles only now recognised.

"You want him!" Giles breathed.

"Of course I want him!" Angel roared, turning from the table and standing looking out across the apartment. "Why do you think I left?!"

"But…Buffy…." Giles stammered.

Angel’s shoulders sagged. "Buffy," he murmured. He turned back to the former watcher, his face once again human. "Buffy could never love ALL of me…and there is more to me than just Angel," he closed his eyes for a brief moment, "and I thought Xander was beyond my reach…."

Giles rose cautiously to his feet and walked around to Angel’s side. He laid a gentle hand on the vampire’s shoulder. "Xander has never been out of reach for you."

"You mean?" Angel turned hopeful eyes on the other man.

Giles smiled. "Didn’t you ever notice how much more strongly he reacted to you than to the others?"

"He hated me." Angel said flatly.

"No," Giles said firmly. "At first he hated what you were…but he never hated you…not even when he realised he was attracted to you. When he left Sunnydale last summer it was to try and come to terms with his feelings for you…." Angel just stared at him. Giles shrugged. "I asked," he said in reply to the unasked question, "and he told me. So now we know ‘what’ we’re dealing with…" he indicated the books on the table, "now let’s see what else we can find out more about Lucien LaCroix."

___________________

"Wow!" Xander relaxed back against the vampire’s shoulder as his mind slowly absorbed all that he’d been told.

"Indeed." LaCroix sounded amused. "I keep forgetting how very young you are…."

Xander twisted around slightly so that he could see the older man’s face. "Is that a problem?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

LaCroix smiled down at him indulgently. "My dear Alexander, let me assure you…your age will ‘never’ be a problem…."

"But I’m a lot younger…." Xander started.

LaCroix bent down and captured his lips in a light kiss. "Yes," he said when he paused to allow his mortal lover to breathe, "our ages are vastly different. Even your Angel…" his smile faltered slightly, "is a child in comparison to me." His smile turned slightly wicked. "But it is YOU I want to take as my childe!"

Xander blinked at the reminder of LaCroix’s offer and all that it would mean. LaCroix had been brutally honest, laying out the choice that he must make…and pointing out both the good things…and the bad.

"You don’t have to make your decision now." LaCroix rose to his feet, pulling Xander up with him. "In fact I’d rather you did not."

Xander frowned. "Why not?"

"Two reasons." LaCroix ran a possessive finger down the side of Xander’s face. "Firstly, because I would like you to meet my other childer before you make your decision. Jeanette…" he smiled softly, "will tell you how wonderful our life is and…" he sighed, "Nicholas will tell you how terrible it is."

"And the second reason?" Xander asked, determined not to let his nervousness at the thought of meeting LaCroix’s childer show.

LaCroix’s finger trailed down the side of Xander’s neck and around to the front of his shirt. "Because I want another night with my warm…mortal…lover…" he punctuated each word with a light kiss. "Any objections?"

"None." Xander’s voice was husky.

"Good," LaCroix purred, his fingers proceeding to unbutton Xander’s shirt.

Xander closed his eyes and swayed on his feet. There was something seductive about the vampire’s voice…something that made him feel as though he was wrapped in cotton wool…as though his mind…."

"Alexander!" LaCroix’s sharp voice startled him back to the present.

"What?" Xander opened his eyes, and found himself, lying naked on the bed, his equally naked lover reclining at his side. "What happened?"

LaCroix smiled apologetically. "Nothing…yet." His eyes glowed golden for a moment. "I’m sorry, it seems I hypnotised you unintentionally." He trailed a hand across Xander’s chest.

"Accidentally hypnotised?" Xander let his scepticism show.

"Mmm…" LaCroix’s fingers brushed across a nipple. "If I take a mortal lover, I don’t normally allow them to remember the experience."

"Oh…" the word turned into a gasp as the fingers released his nipple and drifted lower.

"Oh…indeed." LaCroix murmured, rolling over and pining Xander to the bed beneath his heavier weight. His tongue flicked across the nipples that his fingers had abandoned, before tracing a path down Xander’s chest and stomach as the vampire moved lower down the bed.

Xander groaned as the tongue continued its southward journey, accompanied by small nips that didn’t break the skin. If LaCroix were like this with a mortal lover…how much better would the sex be if he too were a vampire? "More…." It took Xander a moment to realise that the croaky voice was his own.

"As you wish." The purr was back in the vampire’s voice.

Xander felt the drift of soft fingers across his perineum, dipping lower…and then a warm mouth swallowed his cock. Xander cried out, his head and shoulders arching off the bed at the sensation. LaCroix merely reached out one hand and pushed him flat again, angling his body so that he could hold Xander flat with one hand…and continue to play with the other.

Xander whimpered and accepted his passive role in this…knowing that he could not fight LaCroix’s will. The fingers of his left hand, drifted down to gently stroke the vampire’s hair. A finger eased its way into his body as LaCroix’s mouth kept up its movements over his heated flesh…a lubricated finger…Xander thought…wondering when the vampire had the time to….

"Stop thinking!" LaCroix admonished, his mouth momentarily abandoning Xander’s cock. "Just feel!"

Xander rolled his eyes expressively, but did as the vampire said. He was willing to lie here and enjoy the sensations for as long as LaCroix was willing to play…. Not long it seemed, for LaCroix’s motions increased and Xander felt his climax build quickly…too quickly. He reached out a hand to stop LaCroix, but it was grasped and held away. Xander groaned as his climax was wrung out of him….

He was still recovering when LaCroix changed positions, pinning Xander to the bed once more as he thrust into him. Xander grunted at the sudden intrusion and glared at LaCroix.

The vampire pushed Xander’s legs back further, his expression slightly apologetic. "It’s your own fault," he said simply.

"My fault!" Xander managed to gasp as LaCroix shifted slightly and nailed his prostate.

"Your fault!" LaCroix confirmed. "Because we stopped to talk, I haven’t had time to…" he broke off as though embarrassed at admitting to a weakness.

"Eat." Xander finished for him. "Why didn’t you say so?" He grunted as LaCroix slid slightly deeper on the next thrust. "There must be a bottle around here somewhere…" his voice trailed off as he saw the golden glow in LaCroix’s eyes, watching as it turned to an unearthly red.

"I was hoping," LaCroix breathed, leaning forward and pushing Xander’s legs back impossibly further, "that this time I could feed from the source…."

Xander felt a moment of panic at the suggestion and felt vaguely stupid for the fact. It made sense after all. If he were to become LaCroix’s childe then the sharing of blood between them would become a necessity. Besides…a childe should not deny his sire anything…Xander frowned, unable to pinpoint the origin of the last thought.

"Yes," he whispered the word, his eyes fixed on the vampiric mask above him, wondering why in this intimate moment his mind should choose to comment on how very different it was to Angel’s gameface.

Xander closed his eyes as his lover’s face moved closer, felt something brush against his neck…and then nothing…no pain…no teeth in his neck…no mouth sucking. Surprised he opened his eyes…only to see darkness…a darkness that was suddenly suffused with a glorious red colour…he could hear voices too, talking in a language that he didn’t understand, but which he felt he should. Faces swam before him…a small child, her face suffused with anger and unholy hate…a woman, he knew instinctively to be Jeanette…and a man…a golden man…with eyes that looked into his very soul….

Xander awoke to find he was lying in LaCroix’s arms, cradled against the vampire’s chest.

"You are awake." LaCroix’s voice drifted against his ear, the words a statement of fact.

Xander sleepily murmured his assent.

"We must leave soon," LaCroix continued, equally softly.

"Hmm…" Xander tried to burrow into the vampire’s side.

LaCroix laughed delightedly. "You, my dear Alexander, are a joy to behold. Maybe I should have done that before…."

"Done what?" Xander asked, slightly more awake now.

"Shared blood." The vampire sounded amused.

Xander sat up in alarm. "I’m a vampire!"

LaCroix’s voice turned serious, no humour in his tone now, "Would that be such a bad thing?"

"No!" Xander hastened to reassure his lover. "I just thought that you wanted to wait…."

"I did," LaCroix said. "I do. Do not fear Alexander, the choice is still yours to make. I merely fed you a little of my blood in order to intensify our coupling…."

"Oh." Xander settled back against LaCroix’s side, his mind sorting through the images he’d seen. "The blond man I saw…."

"Nicholas." LaCroix said softly.

"You love him." Xander frowned, just a hint of accusation in his tone.

"Yes. He is my son." LaCroix tightened his hold on Xander. "As I hope you will be."

"Do you love me?" Xander asked the question before his brain could silence his mouth.

"Yes," LaCroix said calmly. "Which is why I offered you the gift."

"Like you love Nicholas?" Xander pushed.

LaCroix sighed. "No," he admitted. "I love all my childer. But Nicholas is my heart." He looked down at Xander. "Does this bother you?"

Xander shook his head. He wouldn’t dare say it, but he was actually relieved to hear the vampire say it. He’d felt the intensity of what LaCroix felt for Nicholas…and was certain he never wanted to feel that same intensity directed at himself.

"Good." LaCroix kissed him gently on the temple. "Know this Alexander, I love you as a sire loves his childe…." He stopped as he caught sight of the clock on the nightstand and sighed. "We must go."

"Where?" Xander asked. He’d assumed they’d spend at least another day in the hotel.

"Toronto," LaCroix prompted. "You slept for a while. It will soon be dawn and while the limo is shielded I would be gone before I have to chance the sun. But first there is something I want to show you…."

"Where?" Xander asked.

The vampire pointed at the ceiling.

Xander frowned. "I can’t see anything."

LaCroix shook his head indulgently. "On the roof," he said.

"Oh…okay." Xander smiled self-consciously, rolling away from the vampire as soon as he was released.

"And Alexander?" LaCroix said softly.

"Yes?"

"Clothes would be a good idea!"

___________________

Angel’s hands clenched on the steering wheel of his car as he drove across the city. Kate had not appreciated being woken to provide information in the early hours of the morning, but she had found out where LaCroix was staying. He’d fended off all her enquiries about the case he was supposedly working on, knowing he’d have to give her answers eventually. That didn’t matter…all that mattered to him was reaching the hotel before LaCroix could hurt Xander. It was bad enough that the other vampire had dared to touch the boy…if he found out that LaCroix had done more….

Angel felt his features ripple momentarily and concentrated on controlling his gameface. He needed to save Xander…and in order to do that he would have to walk through a hotel filled with humans…now was not the time to lose control. Something had broken loose inside of the vampire, something he wasn’t willing to allow to be re-caged. He didn’t understand what was happening to him…but he knew he was going to kill LaCroix for daring to touch what was his….

Angel parked the car and made his way into the hotel, pushing his way through a crowd of revellers who had clearly only just returned to the hotel and reached the reception desk. It was the work of moments to discover which room…or rather suite of rooms…LaCroix was staying in. Angel didn’t stop to wonder at the pale face of the receptionist or the way the man’s hands shook as he reached for a spare key. After all, the vampire, had no way of knowing that his eyes glowed gold with anger.

Angel exited the elevator, ignoring the whispered comments of the humans he’d travelled up with. The whole floor appeared deserted and approaching LaCroix’s suite Angel could not detect the heartbeat of the mortal he sought. He sniffed the air and caught the faint trace of a familiar scent, allowing it to draw him toward another set of stairs and the roof.

He exited onto the flat roof, his hearing able to detect Xander’s heartbeat now, thrumming on the edge of his consciousness. He followed it, climbing over a low parapet and out across the vast expanse of roof, moving between ventilation ducts and skylights without really seeing them.

LaCroix and Xander stood together at the far end of the roof. The vampire’s arms were wrapped around the boy’s waist and Xander leant back against LaCroix’s shoulder as the vampire told the boy about the city’s history. Angel couldn’t hear all the words…the sight of the other vampire’s hands on Xander’s body had blinded him to anything else…Xander was his…. "Mine!" he hissed, as what remained of his control finally shattered and his demon-half was set free.

LaCroix released Xander, turning to face Angel, an ironic half-smile gracing his features. "My dear Angelus, how good of you to join us."

"Xander is mine!" Angel padded forward, his eyes fixed on the pale-faced boy at LaCroix’s side.

The older vampire laughed lightly. "Really?" he asked softly. "Is this true, Alexander?"

"No." Xander said the word firmly and flatly. "Angel’s in love with Buffy…not me."

Later Angel would remember the words and recognise the bitterness that laced them, but in this moment he heard nothing but rejection. "Mine!" he repeated and pounced.

The blow was unexpected and sent him reeling back across the rooftop as LaCroix casually backhanded him, without even moving from his place at Xander’s side. Angel climbed to his feet, wiping blood from the side of his mouth with an unsteady hand. His eyes fixed on Xander, seeing the pity in the boy’s eyes. His demon roared in outrage and Angel started to move….

In the blink of an eye, LaCroix gathered Xander into his arms and stepped off the edge of the roof, plummeting from sight.

"Noooo!" Angel lay flat on the roofs edge peering down, shock bringing the sanity he hadn’t realised he’d lost. His eyes raked the ground below, searching for the flattened remains and the gawking onlookers. Instead he watched in disbelief as LaCroix landed neatly on his feet near the mouth of an alley, Xander, clasped safely in his arms. He watched as the vampire set Xander down. They spoke for a moment before the limo he’d seen before drew up and LaCroix helped the boy into the car. The older vampire glanced up at the rooftop and Angel knew the other could see him…then the older vampire joined Xander, slammed the door behind him and the car sped away.

Angel rolled over onto his back, staring at the slowly fading night sky, almost tempted to wait here for the dawn. LaCroix could fly! He felt like crying or laughing hysterically. What would be next? A giant bat?!

He rose slowly to his feet and walked back into the hotel. This wasn’t over yet. Xander may think he knew what he wanted, but Angel knew what was best for the boy. He smiled to himself as he made his way out to the car. Kate had found the hotel…and either she or Giles would find out where LaCroix had taken the boy. And then…then he would reclaim what was his….

___________________

Xander sat and stared nervously at the polished top of the table in front of him, one finger idly tracing a moisture pattern on its surface. What the hell had he got himself into? He was sitting in what was certainly the strangest club he'd ever been in, waiting for his lover to finish broadcasting his radio show.

Xander shook his head slowly as he remembered his surprise at that revelation. Lucien LaCroix, former Roman general and master vampire…was also the ‘Nightcrawler’, a radio presenter and something of a celebrity in Toronto. Giles would never believe it! He sighed softly at the thought, knowing he’d never be able to tell the former watcher about his discovery…knowing he could never go back to his old life…not without risking being staked. He could never see Giles again…or Willow…or even Angel….

"Something troubles you, mon petit?" Jeanette asked as she slid into the chair next to him.

Xander smiled shyly at her, he liked Jeanette and he hoped she liked him. LaCroix had explained how vampire relationships worked and Xander liked the idea of having Jeanette as a sister….

"Is it Nichola?" Jeanette lifted his chin and stared into his eyes.

Xander swallowed hard and shook his head as far as her hand would allow. "No," he whispered.

"Hmm," Jeanette didn’t sound convinced. "He will never hurt you…."

"I know," Xander said as she released his face. He did know Nicholas would never hurt him, in fact he’d told Xander as much, but even without the words Xander had known, it was in the way Nicholas looked at his sire….

"Then it is your vampire friend, Angelus?" Jeanette pushed.

Xander frowned at the name. "Angel," he corrected.

"Angel," Jeanette repeated smiling. "Is it Angel who concerns you?"

The instinctive denial died on Xander’s lips as he realised it was indeed Angel he’d been thinking about….

"You love him…." Jeanette said softly.

Xander’s head shot up quickly and he glanced around to see if LaCroix had heard, but his lover was nowhere in sight.

Jeanette grasped one of his hands. "He knows," she said simply. "It is in your eyes whenever his name is mentioned."

Xander groaned, looking down. "He’ll kill me…."

"Who?" Jeanette teased. "LaCroix…or Angel?" She laughed at the look on Xander’s face. "LaCroix knew about your attraction to Angel from the first…and you shared blood with him, non?" Xander nodded reluctantly. "He knows," Jeanette repeated, rubbing the back of Xander’s hand reassuringly. "He wants you to become his childe…but if you take another lover it won’t hurt him…can’t hurt him…because the bond between you will still be there. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Xander nodded.

"Good." Jeanette rose to her feet and pulled Xander to his. "Now enough of this sulking in the corner. Come listen to the show and then later…" she smiled, "you can truly become a member of our family."

"Do you mind?" Xander asked, half-terrified of the answer, sure that she was only doing this for her sire, whilst feeling nothing but contempt for him….

"Mon dieu!" Jeanette shook her head. "What sort of life have you had?" She pulled Xander into her arms and captured his lips with hers. He was breathless when she released him. "Remember this Alexi, you will be my brother, the son of my father and if you ever need help you can come to me. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Xander whispered, sure his face was now as red as Jeanette’s dress.

"Good." Jeanette towed him across to where LaCroix was winding up the show. "And don’t you forget it!"

___________________

Giles glanced across nervously to where Angel sat at the wheel of their hire car. He knew that the vampire’s curse hadn’t been broken a fact that would normally have reassured him. But now there was this new evidence…the evidence that said vampires never lost their souls at all…that all that happened was that they lost control of their demonic side….

Which meant that Angel and Angelus were not the two separate entities that he’d liked to label them as being. That he was sitting in a hire car with a vampire who had tortured him and who would kill him without a moments thought…except for the guilt he’d feel…. Somehow Giles wasn’t convinced that guilt would be enough to stop Angelus from doing everything in his power to retrieve Xander…and this was Angelus. An Angelus who was slightly saner…or at least occasionally prone to bouts of sanity…but that thought wasn’t even faintly reassuring.

Giles edged further across in the passenger seat, wedging himself with his back to the door. He’d considered staking the vampire at least once during the flight north…and only the thought that Angelus might be able to save Xander had stayed his hand.

Angelus growled something too low to be heard and reached for the radio. He flipped stations for a moment before settling for a local one. A soft, monotonous, almost hypnotic voice filled the car:

‘ Tonight my friends our thoughts have been with our families and with what they mean to us. The importance of familial bonds, and the joy that our children bring into our lives.

The creation of a new life…the birth of a new child, is something that should bring joy not only to our immediate family, but also to our community as a whole.

So tonight our thoughts go out to all those who are brought into our world and to what they mean to us.

This is, as always, The Nightcrawler.’

Angelus took one hand off the steering wheel, his fist punching into the radio, silencing it.

Giles sat silently, grateful that the hire car wasn’t in his name and hoping that he wouldn’t meet the same fate as the radio. It seemed almost as though LaCroix’s message had been directed at Angelus…to deliberately inflame the younger vampire. Clearly LaCroix knew they were in Toronto and Giles was beginning to wonder just how powerful Lucien LaCroix really was….

The Raven was easy enough to find. Angelus parked…or rather abandoned…their hire car in the street and strode into the club. Giles followed right behind him, surprised when two men he took to be bouncers admitted them without a word.

Inside the music pounded and people danced. A typical club…except Giles noticed for the two vampires necking in the corner. He blinked and when he looked again, they looked no different from any of the club’s other patrons. Strange, he could have sworn….

"Can I help you?" The soft voice belonged to a woman…a devastating woman…whose deep red dress contrasted beautifully with her pale skin…dark hair…and ruby lips…. The woman smiled at him. "You must be Giles," she said softly. "Alexi has…."

"Where is he?" Angelus hissed, his left hand reaching out and grabbing the woman by the throat.

"Gone." The woman hissed back, her own eyes turning golden.

Before anything else could happen, Angelus was forcibly pulled off the woman and manhandled away by a fierce looking blond man.

The woman shook her head slightly and rubbed her throat with one hand. "Where was I?"

Giles smiled at the vampiress, all thoughts of Xander gone from his mind. "I believe you were going to tell me your name?"

"Ah, yes." She took his arm in hers, leading him towards the back of the club. "My name is Jeanette…and you and I, my dear Rupert, have a lot to discuss…."

___________________

Nicholas couldn’t remember being this angry in a long time. His temper had been on the boil ever since he’d learned that his father was going to take another childe…another son. It wasn’t that he doubted his father’s affection for him…and he’d never hurt the boy…but the fact that LaCroix had felt the need to create another male childe…had stung.

So he’d been looking for a fight when he’d seen the outcast and the human enter The Raven and when the younger vampire had dared to touch Jeanette…he’d taken great pleasure in breaking several of the man’s fingers when he’d prised them away from his sister’s throat.

The outcast was broadcasting his anger and pain so loudly that it was almost distressing and as he hauled the wildly struggling vampire into the back office, Nicholas reached out and deliberately took control of the man’s mind. The change was instantaneous. It was as though a switch had been thrown and the outcast stilled immediately in his grasp.

"Better?" Nicholas asked, making sure of his grip on the other man’s mind.

"Yes," the younger vampire’s voice was hoarse. "Thank you."

"For what?" Nicholas asked.

"Stopping me." The vampire’s voice lowered slightly. "I hadn’t realised HE was loose again…."

"He?" Nicholas asked, physically releasing the outcast, while maintaining his mental hold.

"Angelus," the vampire whispered.

"Angelus," Nicholas repeated with a frown. "And you are?"

"Angel."

"I see." Nicholas did see, somehow at some point this vampire had learned to control his demon half and was able to distinguish between the two. A remarkable achievement for an outcast and one Nicholas would have thought impossible….

"I was cursed." Angel it seemed was watching his facial expressions. He grimaced. "I thought it gave me back my soul."

The corners of Nicholas’ mouth twitched. "For better or worse," he said evenly, "they are tied to us, even unto hell." Angel winced. "What?" Nicholas asked.

Angel shifted uneasily. "I spent a hundred years there."

"Where?" Nicholas frowned.

"Hell." Angel shuddered and fell silent.

After a few minutes Nicholas realised that the younger vampire was serious. "You went to hell?"

Angel nodded. "I was sent back."

"Why?" Nicholas was intrigued, he’d always assumed, not unreasonably he thought, that it was a one way trip.

"To atone." Angel refused to meet his eyes. "Now I help people."

"How?" Nicholas seated himself in one of the two comfortable armchairs in the room and indicated for Angel to take the other. Angel took a card from his pocket and handed it over before taking the offered seat. Nicholas examined the card closely, the corners of his mouth turning upwards as he recognised the drawing….

"Don’t say it…" Angel’s tone was dry, "I know what it looks like."

"Angel Investigations?" Nicholas thought for a moment. "I’ve heard of you guys." Angel looked disbelieving. "I have," Nicholas assured him, "I’m with the police here and we’ve done some liaison with the LAPD…your agency’s name cropped up…."

"I bet…" Angel murmured.

"In a good way," Nicholas insisted. "So what brings you to Toronto?" He deliberately slipped the question in while the man’s guard was down and felt the younger vampire’s demon howl in outrage and throw itself against the mental barriers he’d erected.

Angel however just glared at him. "You know why I’m here."

"You want Alexander." Nicholas said.

"Xander," Angel corrected. "I’ve wanted him from the very first time I saw him…."

"Then why did you date the slayer?" It was a brutal question and clearly not the one Angel had been expecting.

"Because," the outcast said softly, "she was available…and he was not."

"Why not?" Nicholas pushed.

Angel muttered something inaudible. "My soul was safer that way!" he finally spat.

"Ah." Nicholas glanced up at a light knock on the door. "Enter." A young fledgling brought in a decanter and two glasses on a tray. He placed it on the small table between them before turning to leave. He paused in the doorway. "Jeanette said to tell you it’s from the special stock," he murmured before leaving, closing the door behind him. Nicholas sighed and poured two glasses of bloodwine.

"Problem?" Angel asked, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the glasses.

"No," Nicholas said handing over one of the glasses, "But my sister knows I prefer to only drink the blood of animals…."

"Me too," Angel muttered.

"However," Nicholas said taking a sip of his drink, "I think we both need this…and it’s infinitely better than cows blood!"

"Pig." Angel muttered, but obediently sipped from his glass.

"Pig?" Nicholas queried.

Angel nodded. "It’s much better than cow…it doesn’t feel like it’s about to congeal in your throat."

Nicholas wrinkled his nose. "So you don’t hunt."

"No," Angel paused, "not unless I have to."

"Have to?" Nicholas asked.

"Demons." Angel took another sip of his drink.

"Ah." Nicholas smiled slightly. "I don’t think anyone would mind you hunting demons!"

Angel snorted. "Only when it cuts into their chances of stardom!" He laughed lightly. "As Cordelia is always telling me."

Nicholas waited until the soft laughter died away and Angel started to look contemplative, before he voiced his next question. "Do you know why my father brought Xander here?"

Angel glanced up in surprise. "Your father?"

"My father…my sire." Nicholas refilled both their glasses. "You haven’t answered my question."

Angel closed his eyes briefly, his face a mask of pain. "To turn him. To make him like us."

Nicholas sat back in his chair, amazed at the sudden revelation. This creature…this outcast…this fellow vampire had a depth of compassion that Nicholas had been taught the outcasts couldn’t feel. Clearly he loved the boy and was concerned about his fate. "If my father brings Xander across," Nicholas said softly, rolling the stem of his wine glass between his fingers, "then he will be like us…not like you." He winced slightly as the words left his lips, suddenly realising how patronising they sounded.

"Good," there was a wealth of satisfaction in Angel’s tone, "because I wouldn’t wish my existence on anyone."

"Indeed," Nicholas found himself unconsciously mimicking his father’s speech patterns, "which is why we created the slayers."

"Kill me."

"What?" Nicholas’ head shot up, certain he’d misheard.

"Kill me," Angel repeated. "You’re the one holding Angelus in check, if you release me I will become him again…and I would rather die…."

Inwardly Nicholas could sympathise with the outcast’s feelings, but he schooled his features to an impassive mask. "What about your atonement?"

Angel shrugged. "The Powers That Be will have to find someone else." He chugged the wine in his glass, rose to his feet and placed the empty glass on the table beside him. "Do it now."

Nicholas just sat there and made stunned fish impressions. Angel worked for The Powers That Be? They had accepted an outcast? Angel was the chosen one? And LaCroix had taken his only chance of…. Nicholas was on his feet in an instant, knowing what he must do. LaCroix was about to make a mistake…a mistake that could kill them all. He grabbed Angel by the shoulders, shaking him a little. "Come on," he said, "we still have time to stop him!"

Angel shook his head, then frowned, clearly puzzled. "You won’t kill me?"

"Later," Nicholas said. Anything to get the younger vampire moving. "But first we have to save Xander!"

The boy’s name galvanised Angel into movement and his face became reanimated. Nicholas ushered the younger man out of the back door of the club and away before Jeanette even realised they were gone.

___________________

Xander stared nervously around the apartment, looking for some clue as to why they had left the club when they had. LaCroix had finished his broadcast and then whisked Xander away…not to his own quarters at the club…but to this city apartment, that clearly was not his own. He could hear the vampire muttering curses as he raided the cupboards in the kitchen. It seemed that…for whatever reason…LaCroix had brought him back to Nicholas’ apartment…and it was sadly lacking in what LaCroix considered necessities.

Xander glanced at the crate of bottles by the door, delivered by the chauffeur. He didn’t know how long LaCroix planned on staying here, but the vampire seemed to have stocked up on enough blood…. Xander’s eyes widened as a thought crossed his mind. How much blood did it take to create a new vampire?

"Alexander?" LaCroix’s soft voice caught his attention and Xander raised his head almost guiltily. "It is time," LaCroix said, "to make your decision."

Xander swallowed hard. This was it…THE decision…the one that would change his life…or unlife…forever.

"Yes," he barely breathed the word. Knowing there would be no going back, no redemption. Buffy would kill him on sight…Willow would pity and avoid him…Giles would revile him…and Angel…. "Yes," he said again, his voice stronger this time. "I want to be your childe."

LaCroix held out his hand and Xander walked across the room to take it. "Be certain," LaCroix squeezed his hand reassuringly, his eyes searching Xander’s face. "Do you know why you want this?"

Xander flushed. "Yes," he murmured, unwilling to vocalise his reasons…even to himself. He wanted to belong...to LaCroix…to Jeanette…and Nicholas…and to share even a little of Angel’s life….

"Have you any last questions?" LaCroix pressed.

Xander blinked, surprised that the vampire was giving him so many opportunities to back out….

"I would not want you to regret this…as Nicholas does…." LaCroix whispered.

That made sense. Xander shook his head. "No questions," he said firmly, "I’m ready. Do it!"

"So impatient!" LaCroix teased, a small smile gracing his usually impassive features. "But I think we can find a better venue…." He led Xander up the stairs to the bedroom, never once releasing his grasp on the boy’s hand.

Xander stared at the scene before him, from the large bed covered in dark silk sheets, to the glittering candles that covered almost half the floor and back to his lover’s face. Somehow he didn’t think the room usually looked like this…it wasn’t Nicholas’ style….

LaCroix’s smile widened as though he were reading Xander’s mind. "I made some changes," he murmured softly. "Nicholas offered the apartment…we’re less likely to be disturbed here…" he pulled Xander into his arms, "and I want this to be special for you…."

Xander swayed in the vampire’s embrace, feeling more at peace than at any other time in his life. This was what he wanted more than anything else…. He felt hands undress him and then urge him to lie on the bed. He did as they commanded, feeling the sheets against his overheated skin. A hand trailed gently down the side of his face and he looked up to see LaCroix bent over him studying his face as though memorising his features. There was a hint of sadness in the vampire’s eyes and Xander remembered LaCroix’s comment about enjoying his warm…mortal…lover….

Before Xander’s thoughts could turn into concern, the expression left LaCroix’s eyes. The vampire kissed Xander passionately on the lips, then moving almost too quickly to be seen, moved his teeth to Xander’s neck.

There was no pain and Xander watched as his view of the outside world dimmed and disappeared. He was floating, alone in the darkness, in the distance he could see a light and he instinctively moved toward it. At once, as though his movement had triggered it, he heard a voice calling out in the darkness and he paused. "Alexander…" the voice was soft…insinuating…persuasive…but the name wasn’t his. Xander took another step toward the light.

"Alexander!" This time the voice sounded sharp…worried, but the name still wasn’t his. Xander took another step toward the light.

"Xander!" There was something different about the voice this time. Laced with desperation and exasperation it was nonetheless familiar to him.

Xander paused and frowned as he tried to place the voice. "Angel?" his voice sounded strange to his ears.

"Xander…" the voice said again…sibilant…seductive….

Xander turned away from the light, peering into the darkness, trying to see the owner of the voice. "Angel?" he asked again, taking a step back toward the voice. As he did so the darkness around him began to change, no longer so dense it was now shot through with a deep red colour that wove in and out of it. Intrigued Xander took two more steps, fascinated as more colours appeared, twining around him like vines and anchoring him firmly in place. Even if he had wanted to, he could not have turned back to the light now…he was captured and held…and yet he was not afraid.

Images started to form around him…memories that he’d not had before, it was as though he were reliving events that had happened centuries before his birth. He let everything wash over him, feeling a strange contentment and lassitude wash over him, accepting all that was offered. Smiling at the one face that he wanted more than any other…Angel….

___________________

LaCroix fought the urge to panic as the boy turned away from him. It happened…it was a fact of their existence…sometimes you were unable to bring a person across…if their soul was particularly strong and their desire to die was stronger than their will to live.

The vampire struggled to maintain the link as Xander took another step toward the light. He was losing Nicholas slowly to his quest for mortality…and he was determined not to lose Alexander as well. He called to the boy twice, but to no avail. In desperation he widened the link to his childer and felt Nicholas’ reassuring presence touch his mind.

In an instant LaCroix relived Nicholas’ conversation with Angel and realised the true depth of his mistake. Through the hold Nicholas had on the outcast’s mind, LaCroix read Angel’s deepest feelings for the boy and found the way to call his childe back to him. "Xander," he projected as much of Angel as he could into the call…and felt the boy respond.

"Angel?" The boy paused and then slowly turned away from the light and toward LaCroix.

The master vampire lay on the bed, Alexander in his arms, watching his youngest childe’s face in the candlelight, as the blood-gift did its work. He reassured both Jeanette and Nicholas through the link and felt their relief. There was a slight pause and then Nicholas hesitantly suggested that he would delay his and Angel’s arrival, to allow time for ‘Xander’ to fully recover.

LaCroix thanked his eldest son for the courtesy and simply tightened his hold on Alexander. All he could do now was wait…wait for his youngest childe to awake…and for his favourite childe to arrive bringing with him the man who was to take Alexander from him.

___________________

Nicholas drove from The Raven toward his apartment, his attention half on the road and half on the silent vampire at his side. Angel seemed so vulnerable and so completely different from the outcast who had stormed into The Raven an hour before. It was clear to Nicholas that Angel really cared for…loved…the boy LaCroix had chosen.

They were halfway to the apartment when Angel doubled over in his seat. "No!" Nicholas didn’t hesitate, he pulled the car to the side of the road and stopped. If he was about to lose control of the outcast he didn’t want to be in the middle of traffic. Angel was making strange whimpering sounds, but before Nicholas could establish their cause, he felt the touch of his father’s mind.

/Nicholas…/ LaCroix sounded upset and in an instant Nicholas knew why…his father had tried to bring Xander across and the boy was fighting him…Xander was choosing to die rather than accept the gift LaCroix was offering him.

Whatever his feelings about his own condition, Nicholas felt a pang of grief, knowing what the boy’s death would do to his father…and to Angel. In that instant Nicholas felt his father’s mind reach further tapping into the hold he had over Angel’s mind. There was a flash of light behind his eyes as he felt LaCroix, absorb all he could and then seem to reach even further down, into the outcast’s very soul.

It was over as quickly as it had started, leaving Nicholas stunned and shaken sitting in the car with a silently weeping outcast and all trace of his father’s presence gone from his mind. It took him a few minutes to work out what his father had done and he was about to contact his sire, when LaCroix activated the link, a brief contact to reassure him that the boy had made the transition. Nicholas breathed a sigh of relief and silently promised his father to delay their arrival. Then closing the link, he reached out and pulled the silently grieving outcast into his arms.

___________________

Giles watched in consternation as Jeanette broke off in the middle of their discussion. The vampire’s eyes unfocussed suddenly and a golden tinge tinted them. Her face flickered momentarily between its human guise and its true demonic form. Giles resisted the urge to reach for the ever-present stake in his pocket. His hostess had vouched for his safety while he was under her roof…and strangely he trusted her.

Jeanette swore violently in French and Giles felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. The term was enlighteningly explicit and not something he’d have expected to come from the cultured vampire’s lips. He felt the corner of his mouth twitch and repressed the urge to smile. Clearly the elegant and refined lady before him had coarser roots than she was willing to admit to!

"Merde!" Jeanette swore more softly this time as her eyes refocused all trace of the demon gone from her face.

"Trouble?" Giles asked, his heart beginning to race as the probable cause for her concern occurred to him.

Jeanette glared at him, her expression colder than before. "You didn’t tell me that Angel worked for The Powers That Be."

Giles tensed at the accusation in her tone. "I didn’t think it was relevant."

"Relevant?" Jeanette snapped. "Your friend asked Nicholas to kill him! Do you know what they would have done to Nicholas if he had?"

Giles sighed. "So he didn’t kill him?"

"No," Jeanette spat. "But only because the idiot finally admitted he was working for The Powers That Be!"

Giles breathed a sigh of relief. "So he’s still alive…."

Jeanette’s face relaxed into a small smile. "Relatively speaking…."

"And Xander?" Giles pushed, fearing the worst.

Jeanette shook her head slightly. "Nichola and your Angel went to stop LaCroix…."

"But they were too late," Giles finished sadly.

Jeanette nodded. "But be reassured Rupert, he is OUR kind of vampire, he will not be like the outcast and kill indiscriminately…."

"But he will kill." Giles said bitterly.

Jeanette shrugged. "It is what we are," she said simply. "Now, where were we…."

___________________

Angel, composed himself with difficulty, unsure whether he was ready for the forthcoming confrontation. When Xander had still been alive he’d had no compunction about bursting in on him and LaCroix, but now….

"It’ll be okay." Nicholas took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

Angel looked at the other man, seeing deep into his eyes for the first time. "You love him," he said with something akin to wonder.

"Xander?" Nicholas asked.

"LaCroix." Angel’s eyes narrowed, at the thought that Nicholas was interested in Xander.

"He’s my father." Nicholas said simply.

Angel raised one sardonic eyebrow, but said nothing.

Nicholas sighed and released the younger vampire’s hand. "Yes," he admitted at last.

"So why…." Angel started.

"Because," Nicholas’ voice lowered, "it would give him too much power over me…."

Angel smiled sadly. "Isn’t that what love is all about?"

"Power?" Nicholas sounded surprised.

"Trusting another enough to allow them that power over you."

"As you trust Xander?" Nicholas asked.

Angel shrugged, feeling a wave of sadness wash over him. "It’s of no consequence. Angelus is loose. When this is over, you will have to kill me…."

"And what of Xander?" Nicholas asked sharply.

Angel frowned. "He will have LaCroix and the rest of his chosen family…."

Nicholas made a sound of disgust low in his throat, but was saved from further comment when they paused outside an apartment door. He unlocked it and pushed it open….

"You don’t knock?" Angel asked surprised.

Nicholas grinned. "Firstly it’s my apartment and secondly they know we’re coming."

Angel followed Nicholas into the apartment, almost walking into the older vampire when he stopped abruptly. "What…?"

LaCroix and Xander stood by the large windows, framed against a panoramic backdrop of night-time Toronto. Both vampires were in the middle of a heated discussion with two strangers, who turned to glare at Angel with varying degrees of hostility.

"Ah, Nicholas...and Angel," LaCroix’s voice was calm, but Angel could see the glitter of anger in his eyes, "how good of you to join us."

"What do they want?" Nicholas spoke to his father but never took his eyes off the strangers.

"To kill Angel." Xander said flatly.

"He is an outcast," one of the strangers said, and with a flash of insight, Angel realised that the two men were enforcers. "They are all to be eradicated."

"I think," Nicholas said with deliberate calm, "that you might find that more difficult than you realise…."

The shorter of the two enforcers snorted. "I doubt that!"

"There is," LaCroix said with a crocodile smile, "the small matter of Angel working for The Powers That Be…."

The enforcers shared a look. "That is impossible. No outcast has the control necessary…."

"I was cursed," Angel interrupted. "Then I lost control for a while and was sent to hell…and then I was sent back to atone…."

"Hell?" One of the enforcers scoffed. "You expect us to believe…."

Angel felt a peculiar wrenching sensation as the control of his mind was wrested from Nicholas and the enforcers forcibly relived his memories.

"He speaks the truth!" The older enforcer sounded amazed.

Angel’s mind was released abruptly…but Nicholas no longer controlled him. For a moment his demon seemed about to be set free, but then a gentle touch on his arm distracted him. He turned his head to see Xander smiling at him. Angel found himself suddenly dumbstruck, as Xander slipped an arm around his waist and blatantly cuddled him. Angel’s demon stopped howling and subsided into silence.

"The boy is controlling him!" The younger enforcer snapped in annoyance.

"Impossible!" LaCroix spat back. "I brought Alexander across less than two hours ago. Do you really think such a young fledgling could control an outcast?"

"Angel has control of his own mind," Nicholas said softly. "Why else would The Powers That Be have chosen him?" He smiled suddenly…a parody of a smile…. "What I find most intriguing," he turned a steely glare on the enforcers, "is why the community wasn’t told that outcasts could take back control of their own minds and be returned to us. Did the enforcers deliberately lie to us?"

The enforcers exchanged a telling look.

"I would suggest," LaCroix said smoothly, "that you should be going now…I’m sure we’ve given you plenty to think about…."

"If you’re thinking of threatening us…." The shorter enforcer started.

"Thinking?" LaCroix smiled nastily. "Let me assure you, I’ll do more than think about it. Let me just suggest that you stay well away from my son and his lover…."

Angel watched as Nicholas shut the door behind the two enforcers, slamming it with more force than was strictly necessary. "Good riddance," Nicholas muttered, clearly rattled by the confrontation.

"Lover?" Angel, looked across at LaCroix, and then down at Xander, who was still plastered against his side.

"You do not want my son?" LaCroix sounded outraged, but his eyes danced with amusement. "My dear Angelus…Angel," he corrected, "how could you resist?"

Angel’s mouth was in motion before he’d thought the words through, something that he’d thought a thing of the past. "How do you and Nicholas resist?"

LaCroix blinked in astonishment and his mouth opened soundlessly. Xander turned his face into Angel’s shoulder, but the vampire was sure he felt a suppressed giggle.

"My relationship with my father is…" Nicholas started.

"Less than satisfactory." Angel finished for him. "You love him…he loves you…yet neither of you is willing to admit it…."

"You denied your love for Xander," Nicholas pointed out, "and look at all the trouble that has caused."

"I denied my feelings for Xander, because I thought they would cost me my soul!" Angel responded. He frowned as a thought occurred to him. "Which of you is controlling me now?"

"None of us." Nicholas grinned. "We figured if we gave your demon what it wanted…Xander…it would behave itself!"

"So you mean…?" Angel looked at Xander and the boy released him, but only to move to within arms length.

The newest vampire grinned at him. "You’re stuck with me deadboy!"

Angel nodded solemnly. "I think I can live with that."

"Cool!" Xander turned his attention to LaCroix. "So dad, when are you and Nick going to stop dancing around and do the horizontal hustle?"

LaCroix looked horrified. "Dad?" he growled.

"Horizontal hustle?" Nicholas sounded amused.

"You know bro’…." Xander grinned and made a hand gesture.

"OUT!" LaCroix roared.

Xander laughed. "But, dad…."
"Out!" LaCroix roared again. "Go ask Jeanette for a room for the day!" His voice softened slightly. "Nicholas and I have things to discuss."

Xander grinned. "Well if you’re sure you don’t need us…."

Angel grabbed the boy’s hand and pulled him toward the door. He paused in the doorway and turned back to look at Nicholas. "Keys?"

"Keys?" Nicholas frowned.

"To the car?" Angel prompted. "Unlike you, I don’t have the option of flight!"

Nicholas threw him the keys and Angel tugged his soon to be lover from the apartment.

___________________

Jeanette glanced up as Xander and Angel re-entered The Raven. "Alexi…Angel…." She stared at them both for a moment, then smiled. "I see that congratulations are in order!" Xander blushed. She reached over the counter for a bottle and three glasses and poured then each a drink. "To love," she said and raised her glass, waiting until both men had matched her gesture before taking a sip.

Xander pulled a face as he tasted the bloodwine for the first time and Jeanette repressed the urge to laugh. Nichola had had the same reaction the first time he’d drunk the wine as well. Angel took the boy’s glass from his unresisting hand and placed it on the bar.

"So," Jeanette smiled at the two younger vampires. "What brings you back here so soon?"

This time it was Angel who blushed. "We need a room," he muttered.

"A room?" Jeanette gave in to her urge to tease. "A single room? A twin room?"

Xander frowned at his sister. "A double room as you well know. It seems we were in the way at the apartment…."

"In the way?" Jeanette’s amusement faded. She hadn’t been able to contact either Nichola or LaCroix since their brief reassurance that the enforcers had left. "What happened?" Her heart sank as a thought occurred to her. Surely Nichola and LaCroix weren’t fighting again?

"No." She must have broadcast her distress quite strongly for Xander responded to it. "Not fighting…."

"Then what?" Jeanette felt her face broaden into a smile.

Xander nodded, grinning inanely.

Jeanette placed her glass on the bar, grabbed her brother’s face in both hands and kissed him soundly. A low growl made her pull back and she saw the outcast’s glittering eyes fixed on her.

"Um," Xander’s grin widened, "I don’t think you’d better do that again…he seems to be the jealous type!"

Jeanette wrinkled her nose at her youngest brother, but heeded the warning. "And so are you? Non?" She grinned.

Xander shrugged. "What can I say? It seems to run in our family!"

Jeanette laughed and took Angel’s empty glass from him, placing it next to the other two on the bar. She linked her arms with two younger vampires and led the way toward the back stairs. "I have just the room for you…."

Angel paused suddenly and looked around, a concerned look on his face. "Where’s Giles?"

"Safe," Jeanette reassured him, unable to keep the fond smile off her face. "He’s safe," she grinned, "and asleep!"

___________________

Angel paused in the doorway of the room they’d been given, unable to look at Xander…or at the impressively large bed that took up most of the floor. Jeanette had left them with an impish smile, and the instruction to ‘enjoy’ themselves.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" Xander smirked as he tugged the older vampire into the room and closed the door behind them. It wasn’t, Angel thought ruefully, the gentle seduction scene he’d always imagined. Where, he…the older and more experienced of the two…would gentle introduce Xander to the joys of making love…. "I…" his mouth dry, Angel found it hard to vocalise what he was feeling.

"Think I’m attractive? Want to fuck me through the floor?" Xander suggested. Angel felt his blood stir and his demon howl at the thought. Some of what he was feeling must have shown on his face, because Xander was instantly conciliatory. "I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair."

"Or wise," Angel said, frowning at the boy. "My control is still precarious, it’s better if you don’t push it too far…."

Xander nodded. "So we take it gently." He quirked a lopsided grin at Angel. "Can I kiss you?"

Angel nodded, not trusting his voice. Gentle hands framed his face and gentle lips brushed softly against his. Angel brought his own arms up to wrap around Xander’s back and he leant into the kiss, his tongue pushing against the younger man’s lips demanding entrance. Xander’s mouth opened and Angel’s tongue plunged deep inside. His arms tightened around the younger vampire and he pulled the boy impossibly closer.

Xander pulled back first. "Whoa!" His lungs strove for air they didn’t need. He grinned at Angel. "More?"

"More." Angel agreed, his voice husky.

Xander’s hands moved to unbutton Angel’s shirt, tugging it from the waistband of his pants, with scant regard for the quality of the fabric. Gentle hands skimmed across his skin, sliding the silk back and off his shoulders. Angel groaned as a wet mouth followed the path of the teasing hands and laved a peaked nipple. His demon growled a warning. Immediately Xander released him and stepped back. Angel opened eyes, he hadn’t been aware of closing.

"Too much?" The boy asked, his voice as husky as Angel’s had been.

Angel didn’t reply, instead he set about divesting the younger vampire of every stitch of clothing he wore. He didn’t stop until Xander was naked...and then set about removing his own clothes with the same intense dedication. Finally naked, Angel stalked his lover as Xander backed away across the room toward the bed.

The back of Xander’s knees hit the bed with an audible thump and the younger vampire sprawled backward across it. Angel grinned at the sight, for once his human and demon sides were in perfect harmony and he was enjoying himself.

"Angel?" Xander sounded slightly uncertain.

"Yes," Angel reassured him, understanding his lover’s concern.

Xander grinned, clearly relieved at his words, then scooted backward up the bed to rest against the pillows. Angelus howled in the back of his mind, Angel grinned maniacally…and pounced.

___________________

Xander awoke with a groan and stretched as far as the body plastered against his side would allow. His lover…a wide grin split Xander’s face…his lover, had an arm wrapped tightly across his waist, anchoring him to the bed. Angel, it seemed wasn’t just brooding and jealous…he was also possessive. Part of Xander wondered at his total acceptance of the situation. Wasn’t it just yesterday, that he’d been thinking, how lucky he was not to have LaCroix’s brand possessive love directed at him? What was it about Angel that made him happy to be owned?

"My dark brooding personality?" Angel murmured against his shoulder.

Xander frowned down at the older vampire, curled against his side, certain he hadn’t said the words aloud.

"You didn’t." Angel released Xander and stretched, rolling away slightly. "For some reason I read your thoughts…."

Xander bit his lip as he considered the reason for this latest development…and the consequences of it. "You were there…" he said finally.

"There?" Angel queried. Clearly the link was no longer sharing his thoughts.

"In my head," Xander explained. "When LaCroix brought me across." He paused. "Can you still hear my thoughts?"

Angel shut his eyes and concentrated. "No," he said at last, sounding disappointed.

Xander leant up on one elbow and laid his free hand on Angel’s chest. "And now?"

Angel’s eyes widened and a small smile drifted across his face. "So soon?" he murmured.

Xander grinned. "What can I say?" he quipped. "I’m young!" He waited for Angel to work it out.

"You have to be touching me?" Angel guessed.

Xander nodded. The bond isn’t as strong as it is with my family…but there is a bond."

"Good," there was a wealth of satisfaction in Angel’s voice. "Unless you…."

Xander glared at Angel, doing his best imitation of his sire. "No regrets," he said firmly.

Angel smiled. "No regrets," he agreed.

Xander leant forward, intending to kiss his lover, but a knock at the door distracted him. "Go away!" he shouted.

Jeanette’s laughter filled the room as she opened the door and peered inside. "It’s time you two came downstairs."

Xander glared at his sister, resisting the urge to reach for the bedcovers and pull them up to his chin. "Out!" he snapped.

Jeanette simply grinned. "LaCroix sounds more forceful!" she teased.

"Out!" Xander roared, doing a credible imitation of his father.

Jeanette merely shook her head. "LaCroix is waiting downstairs. I suggest you come down…before HE comes up!"

Xander sighed, his anger deflating. Jeanette he could argue with…but not LaCroix. "Five minutes," he said, scowling.

Jeanette nodded and shut the door as she left. Angel was already out of the bed and hunting for his clothes. Xander sighed and joined his lover.

They walked downstairs together and the bartender nodded to the back office. LaCroix and Jeanette were waiting for them, together with Nicholas…a very smug looking Nicholas…with an air of self-satisfaction….

"Don’t say it!" Nicholas warned.

"Who me?" Xander gave him his best innocent look.

Nicholas growled something too low for Xander to catch, but it made LaCroix laugh. Xander frowned at his brother, trying to work out….

"Alexander?" his attention was drawn back to his sire.

"Yes, father?" the words came naturally to his lips, as did the obedience.

LaCroix smiled slightly. "Such good manners!" He glanced pointedly at Nicholas.

For a moment Xander saw an angry glitter dance in the depths of his brother’s eyes, but then Nicholas relaxed and grinned ruefully.

LaCroix turned his attention back to his youngest childe. "We were discussing your future."

"My future?" Xander frowned, truthfully he’d never thought about it.

"You can’t go back to Sunnydale." The voice came from a chair in the corner and belatedly Xander realised that Giles was in the room. "Buffy would try and kill you," the former watcher continued, "before you had a chance to explain."

Xander nodded, that much he’d worked out for himself, and he didn’t relish telling the slayer he’d taken up with her ex-boyfriend either! "I want to tell Willow…."

"Write her a letter," Giles suggested. "Give her a contact number, but not an address…" In case she gives it to Buffy…the words were unspoken, but clearly obvious.

Xander nodded, wondering if perhaps it would be better not to contact Willow at all. Now for the question he’d been dreading having to ask. "Giles, are we alright?"

Giles sighed. "Yes, Xander." There was a pause and then a heavier sigh. "I can’t say I’m delighted at your decision…but it seems to have worked out for the best."

Xander nodded it wasn’t the reply he’d have wished for, but a lot better than he’d expected. He turned back to his sire. "So what do I do?"

LaCroix fixed a steely gaze on him. Xander resisted the urge to fidget. "Go back to LA with Angel," LaCroix said at last. "I don’t like the thought of you being so far away…but you have to stay close to Angel…and he has to return." LaCroix sighed. "Even I dare not challenge The Powers That Be."

Xander nodded regretfully. "Will I see you?"

LaCroix rolled his eyes in an expression clearly learnt from one of his sons. "Of course!" he snapped. "I’m your sire!" He glared at Angel. "And you WILL remember that!"

Angel nodded sullenly, clearly he didn’t like the idea that there were times he would not have Xander exclusively to himself.

"There is also," LaCroix said with a crocodile smile, "the matter of your education."

"Education!" Xander turned a look of horror on the room in general. "But I’m no good in school…."

"You WILL learn!" LaCroix frowned at him. "We have decided, that you…and Angel…are in a unique position…that of being able to help reintegrate the outcasts into our society. To that end, you will need to learn about our history and how to harness your talents…."

"But…" Xander started.

LaCroix raised one eyebrow and effectively silenced Xander’s protest. "I will visit you from time to time and help you master your vampiric skills and we have found a teacher to help you study vampire lore…."

"Who?" Xander asked.

There was a cough from the corner. "That would be me."

Xander frowned at Giles. "But you live in Sunnydale…."

Giles shook his head. "The library is gone…I have no job…Buffy doesn’t really need a watcher anymore. I think I can justify a move to LA."

"Cool!" Xander grinned, happy for the first time since LaCroix had started to plan out his life.

LaCroix shook his head sadly. "Such language," he reproved.

Xander ignored the half-joking reprimand. "So when do we leave?"

LaCroix raised one sardonic eyebrow. "You are so keen to leave us?"

Xander blushed. "I…."

Nicholas laughed. "Ignore him Xander, he’s just trying to get a rise out of you. You can leave whenever you want."

Xander nodded, torn between his desire to spend more time with his family and his desire to spend time alone…naked…with Angel. "Tomorrow," he said finally.

LaCroix nodded. "So be it."

___________________

Angel kept his eyes on the road and tried to ignore the fidgeting of his lover in the seat next to him. He'd been amazed find that his car was still in the airport parking lot where he…or rather Angelus…had left it. Angel’s mind was filled with chaotic thoughts as he tried to work out what he was going to say to his co-workers. Giles had written a brief note and left in the office when they left…Angelus had only been interested in reaching Xander…but now Angel was beginning to wonder what Cordelia and Doyle would have to say.

He winced as he thought how HE was going to explain what had happened. Perhaps he would just start with the basics. Tell them that Xander was now a vampire…a different type of vampire…and that they were lovers. Angel flinched as he thought of Cordelia’s probable response to THAT statement. Maybe he’d just start with the vampire bit….

Angel’s eyes were drawn to Xander again and he fought the urge to grin foolishly. He frowned as he realised that his lover was distracted and watched in the mirror as the boy leaned over his seat to address their passenger.

"Giles?" Something in Xander’s voice bothered Angel.

The former librarian glanced up from the book he was reading. "Yes, Xander?"

"Did you sleep with Jeanette?"

Angel lost control of the car for a moment and it swerved violently. He couldn’t believe Xander had actually asked! It was something they’d both wondered about, but to actually ask the man!

"I…" Giles paused and Angel frowned, suddenly concerned. "I haven’t the faintest idea," the human said at last.

Angel felt a small smile drift across his face and glanced across at his lover. He had a feeling Jeanette would be visiting LA in the near future. Xander had sat back in his seat, a smug look on his face. He reached out a hand and it gently brushed Angel’s leg, opening the link between them. / I always wanted a large family / Xander’s mental voice matched the smug look on his face. / And a nephew sounds about right…. /.

Angel let his own amusement trickle down the link. / There’s just one thing… /

/ What? / Xander sounded equally amused. / Anything! /

Angel grinned and thought clearly. / You get to tell Cordelia! / The horrified look on Xander’s face lasted for the rest of the journey.

Finis