Blue On Black-Ch.4

Angel was awakened prematurely by the most unearthly scream he'd ever heard in his entire unlife.

The sound seemed to pierce his brain, immediately chasing away the remnants of sleep even as he dashed out of his bedroom, cursing vehemently as he dodged the stray beams of sunlight that criss-crossed the hallway.

The scream came again, and he followed the sound to Spike's bedroom, bursting in only to stop in confusion.

He'd expected some demon to have broken in, but the room was empty, except for the blonde vampire that was writhing, tangled in the sheets, still fast asleep, his expression one of horrified fear.

Spike whimpered, thrashing in the throes of some terrifying nightmare, but didn't wake.

Angel reached out and shook him, and Spike woke with a strangled sound, curling into a little ball in the bed, shaking like a leaf.

A sound at the doorway caught Angel's attention, and he turned to see the little boy, Alyum, standing there, watching Spike.

He padded over to the bed, slapping Angel's hand away as the dark-haired vampire tried to prevent him from getting too close.

Alyum looked up at Angel with a heavy knowledge in his eyes that no one that young should ever have. He seemed to wrack his brain a moment for the proper words, then finally settled on, “Every day.”

He watched as Alyum climbed onto the bed, approaching the shaking vampire without fear. The boy shook Spike's shoulder. “Iliam?”

Spike didn't seem to know where he was, and his only response to Alyum was a low, warning growl.

The boy didn't seem fazed by the animalistic sound, and responded with what sounded suspiciously like a curse in his native tongue, then pulled back a tiny fist, and punched Spike in the face with all his strength.

Spike let out a yelp and his eyes abruptly cleared, leaving him blinking at Alyum, who gave him a grin. “ `Wake now?” the boy questioned.

The blonde vampire laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, mate, I'm awake now,” he said, sounding slightly baffled at the boy's easy acceptance of the vampire's strangeness.

Spike looked up, seeming to just realize that the dark-haired vampire was there. He shrugged. “Every bloody day,” he admitted, trying to sound nonchalant.

A haunted look passed over the blonde vampire's face, then was gone in a split second. “My first Slayer,” he said quietly.

“I still don't feel too bad `bout killin' `er,” Spike said. “She attacked me first. But…I lied to `er. I had `er arms pinned behind `er back, an' was about to kill `er, an' she asked me to tell `er mother she was sorry,” he told Angel. “I told `er I didn't speak Chinese.”

The sun had just set and the crew of Angel Investigations, plus Spike and Alyum, minus Cordelia and Wesley, had just settled into the lobby to research the latest entrail-eating demon, when there was a blinding flash of light.

Everyone threw up hands to shield their eyes on reflex, and when the golden-white glow faded, Alyum shrieked and hid behind Spike.

Cordelia blinked in confusion at the little boy and Spike, then looked at Angel. “What did I miss?”

“ `Delia!” Angel exclaimed, rushing forward and engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug.

Cordelia couldn't have been more shocked if he'd bitten her and it showed on her face. “Hey, whoa, who are you and what have you done with Angel?” she demanded as he let her go.

Fred and Gunn gave him strange looks, but let it go, turning to Cordelia with smiles.

Cordelia smiled. “Long story. The gist is that the half-demon thing? Well, apparently Skip conveniently left out the part about me doing this whole ascension thing.”

At Angel's sudden wary look, Cordelia said, “Oh, not like graduation. More of a higher power type thing.”

Alyum moved in front of Spike protectively, glaring at Cordelia as menacingly as he could.

Cordelia's eyebrows practically disappeared into her hairline. “Oh, now that is just priceless,” she said with a smirk.

Spike's eyes widened and he clapped a hand over the boy's mouth. “ `Ey, now that is not somethin' I taught `im!”

Everyone gave him looks as if to say `Yeah, right', and Spike scowled, digging in his pockets for his cigarettes.

The blonde vampire had just gotten a cigarette out of the pack when Alyum reached up and grabbed his wrist, glaring at him. “Kill you,” he told the vampire.

“Oh, bloody hell,” Spike groused. “Fine, whatever. It's gone, runt,” he said, crushing the cigarette in his hand.

Spike looked up to see everyone looking at him as if he'd just grown another head. “What?”

After Spike had stalked out of the room to sulk, Cordelia turned to Angel. “That was too weird.”

Gunn smiled. “He loves that kid,” he told her, gesturing to where Alyum was playing with a stake he'd found lying around.

“So, what's his name, and how did Spike end up with him? Kill his parents?” Cordelia asked sarcastically.

Angel gave her a slightly disapproving look. “No, Spike didn't kill his parents,” he said. “His name is Alyum. Spike stumbled across him in the subway in Bucharest, on his way back from the Trials in Kampala.”

“But…don't you have to want whatever they give you? I thought the reward was supposed to be your heart's desire,” Cordelia argued.

“He fell in love with Buffy,” Angel told her. “The chip that kept him from hurting people was pissing off his demon. So, his demon came forward at the worst possible time and almost made Spike hurt her. He left, and went straight to Kampala.”

When Spike re-entered the room, he was painfully aware of Cordelia's eyes boring into him, and did his best to ignore her, though Angel could tell that she made the blonde vampire uncomfortable.

Spike handed Alyum a tennis ball and pointed out the door, toward the atrium area of the Hyperion, and the boy gave him a wide smile before scampering outside to play.

The blonde vampire watched his small charge play for a few minutes, a small smile lingering on his lips.

Angel came up beside him, watching as Alyum chased the ball through the flowers, stomping a few of them to smithereens in the process. “He looks happy.”

“No. Hurts to bloody think about it,” Spike told him. “But…Criminy, Peaches…I can't even take `im outside during the day. What kind of life is that?”

“He doesn't know any better,” the blonde argued. “I took `im away from starvin' on the streets, Angel. This is the best he's ever had it. He has no idea what he's missin'. What about other kids his age? He'll never see any of `em if he stays with me. He won't know there are others his age to play with.”

Angel smacked Spike upside the head. “Will you stop? He's happy. He's safe. He can play with kids his age in school. You're worrying for nothing.”

“Nothing, eh? Then why'd you leave Buffy?” Spike shot back. “I seem to remember the argument bein' that she didn't know what she was missin' if she stayed with you. You said you wanted `er to have someone who could take `er into the sunlight. How's that different than this?”

Angel shook his head. “That wasn't the real reason. I mean, that was part of it. But, I was more worried about breaking the curse again,” he said. “I couldn't be that close to her and not love her. You know what I mean, Spike. You're in love with her. Could you live in Sunnydale, see her every night, and not touch her?”

“You're lucky, Spike,” Angel said. “You've got a soul that can't be taken from you, a little boy who worships you, and you can go back to Sunnydale, fix things with Buffy, and be happy. I know her. She'll forgive you, eventually.”

“She'll never love me, Angel,” Spike said quietly. “She said she was just usin' me.”

“That's all she let herself do, Spike,” Angel told him. “She's the Slayer, and letting herself fall in love with someone who is pure demon goes against everything that she is. She couldn't love you, and be the Slayer.”

“An' just because I have a soul, things are supposed to be different?” Spike scoffed.

“They can be,” the dark-haired vampire told him. “Your soul makes you more than just a demon. It lets the man inside come out. She loved me, even after I tried to kill her when I lost my soul. Give her time, Spike. She only fights that hard if there's a reason. I think she tried to end it when she realized you meant more to her than you should. With your soul, there isn't anything to stop her.”

“You do realize that this is the most I've heard you talk in over a century, right? You're not careful, you might lose that rep as the silent Brood King,” Spike joked.

“Did you just make a joke?” Spike asked, eyes wide. “Bloody hell, keep it up, an' you'll gimme a bleedin' heart attack.”

Spike went outside to smoke, laughing and holding his cigarette out of Alyum's reach as the boy tried to scold him into putting it out.

Finally, he went back to playing with the ball, and Spike leaned against the building, watching him.

Finishing his cigarette, Spike ground it out beneath the heel of his Doc Martens and joined Alyum, tossing the ball back and forth and chasing each other through the atrium, laughing and tackling each other to try to steal the ball.

“Is this what he was like when he was human?” Cordelia asked, joining Angel at the window.

“I don't know. When we stumbled onto him, he was crying his eyes out over a woman. I never saw him happy before he was turned,” Angel answered.

Angel thought for a moment. “Twenty, I think. Yeah. He'd just turned twenty.”

“It's the hair, and the way he dresses. Makes him look older, tougher,” Angel said. “When his hair's brown, and he's in slacks and a dress shirt, he could pass for a senior in high-school, easily.”

Cordelia laughed as Spike collapsed to the ground, looking exhausted. Alyum didn't look through, though, and pounced onto the blonde vampire's stomach, poking at him.

Spike responded by shifting to his game-face and rolling until he pinned the boy, tickling him mercilessly. When the vampire let him up, Alyum scampered away, his face flushed, laughing.

Spike shook his head and flopped onto his back again, his demonic visage retreating behind the human mask as he tried to catch his metaphorical breath.

“Iliam!” Alyum's voice suddenly had an edge of terror to it and Spike was on his feet in an instant.

A group of leather-clad demons seemed to come from nowhere, swarming around Spike and keeping him from reaching Alyum, who was kicking and struggling in the grip of a dark-haired man.

Several of the demons went down under the blonde vampire's rage, but the man laughed and retreated with his captive before Spike managed to free himself.

Angel and Cordelia had barely reached Spike before he snapped the last demon's neck, Angel chasing after the kidnapper.

When Angel came back empty-handed, Spike shook his head in horror. “Oh, God…I lost him.”

Angel got on the phone to Sunnydale while Cordelia and Gunn hit the books, looking for any prophecy in the near future, or the mention of anyone who matched the description of the man who'd taken Alyum.

Fred was on the computer, putting out an all points bulletin amoung their demon allies throughout the city and dropping an email to Lorne in Vegas to see if he could make heads or tails of the kidnapping.

Spike paced back and forth, chain-smoking and growling constantly, his demonic visage seemingly a permanent fixture for the time being.

“Buffy and Xander are on their way,” Angel said, hanging up the phone. “Willow, Dawn and Anya are checking the books on their end to see if anything's coming up.”

A look of pain flickered across Spike's face at the mention of Buffy, but he gave a sharp nod and resumed pacing, muttering profanity under his breath.

“I've got the Brackens and Corlarians looking for him, and Lorne said he'd ask around in Vegas to see if anyone knows anything they'd need Alyum for,” Fred said.

Gunn looked up from the books he'd been sifting through. “No prophecies I can find.”

Angel was at his side in an instant, pulling Spike's fist free of the shattered wood and plaster, turning the blonde vampire to face him with one hand on his shoulder. “Getting mad isn't going to find him any faster,” he said.

“Hello, higher being here?” she said, raising her hand. “I should be able to ask the PTB what's going on. God, I can't believe I didn't think if it sooner.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes at him, but didn't argue. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her body emitting a soft, golden glow for the space of a few minutes.

When she opened her eyes, she looked worried. “He's a sorcerer. Human, but he gets immortality by sacrificing seven children every fifty years. He steals their life-force, what makes them young,” she said. “He's already got all seven, but he won't kill them until dawn. We've got time to wait for Buffy and the others. I know where he is.”

Everyone except Spike looked relieved. If anything, the blonde vampire just looked more worried.

“We'll get him back, Spike. Rafel, the sorcerer, won't hurt him until the sacrifice,” Cordelia assured him.

When Buffy walked through the door, Spike abruptly left the room, seemingly unable to look at her.

“It's not my place to tell you. He's a guest here, so don't stake him,” Angel told her, not explaining anything more.

“The guy we're looking for is named Rafel. He's a sorcerer, and is going to sacrifice the kids at sunrise,” Cordelia said, filling Buffy and Xander in.

“He's got a protection amulet around his neck. It's a green, glowy thing,” Cordelia said. “That's where he stores the life-force he steals from the kids. Break it, and he's just human, and you can kill him.”

“Well, technically, you won't have to,” Cordelia said. “He's older than Angel. Break the amulet, and he'll start aging immediately.”

“Okay, got it. Break the amulet thingy,” Buffy said, nodding. “What's the catch?”

Cordelia smiled. “Catch? Oh, the twenty Ecklar demons he's got guarding him. They're pretty easy to kill, though. Just like humans. Break their necks, stab them, shoot them, whatever. They die pretty easily.”

“I get my hands on `im, I'll make it seem like bleedin' eternity,” Spike growled as he re-entered the room.

“Bet you've just been dying to have an excuse to torture someone,” Xander snarked, looking at Spike with loathing.

Rather than shoot back an insult that would have Xander trying to think of a comeback for weeks, Spike cast his gaze downward, oddly accepting of the young man's hatred.

Buffy frowned at the non-Spike action, but refrained from comment, turning her attention back to Cordelia. “So, let's go.”

Everyone grabbed an assortment of weapons and headed out the door, ready for action.

Buffy cut him off with a dirty look. “I don't want to hear it, Spike. Stay the hell away from me,” she said, then stalked to Xander's car, climbing in without a backward glance.

Stung, Spike stopped walking and stood there, a mixture of pain and longing on his chiseled features.

Spike nodded and followed Angel to his car, blocking everything but saving Alyum from his mind as they went into battle.


	Fortune, fame Mirror, vain Gone insane But the memory remains Angel was awakened prematurely by the most unearthly scream he'd ever heard in his entire unlife. The sound seemed to pierce his brain, immediately chasing away the remnants of sleep even as he dashed out of his bedroom, cursing vehemently as he dodged the stray beams of sunlight that criss-crossed the hallway. The scream came again, and he followed the sound to Spike's bedroom, bursting in only to stop in confusion. He'd expected some demon to have broken in, but the room was empty, except for the blonde vampire that was writhing, tangled in the sheets, still fast asleep, his expression one of horrified fear. “Spike,” Angel called out, going to the younger vampire's side. Spike whimpered, thrashing in the throes of some terrifying nightmare, but didn't wake. Angel reached out and shook him, and Spike woke with a strangled sound, curling into a little ball in the bed, shaking like a leaf. A sound at the doorway caught Angel's attention, and he turned to see the little boy, Alyum, standing there, watching Spike. He padded over to the bed, slapping Angel's hand away as the dark-haired vampire tried to prevent him from getting too close. Alyum looked up at Angel with a heavy knowledge in his eyes that no one that young should ever have. He seemed to wrack his brain a moment for the proper words, then finally settled on, “Every day.” Angel blinked. Spike had nightmares every day? He watched as Alyum climbed onto the bed, approaching the shaking vampire without fear. The boy shook Spike's shoulder. “Iliam?” Spike didn't seem to know where he was, and his only response to Alyum was a low, warning growl. The boy didn't seem fazed by the animalistic sound, and responded with what sounded suspiciously like a curse in his native tongue, then pulled back a tiny fist, and punched Spike in the face with all his strength. Spike let out a yelp and his eyes abruptly cleared, leaving him blinking at Alyum, who gave him a grin. “ `Wake now?” the boy questioned. The blonde vampire laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, mate, I'm awake now,” he said, sounding slightly baffled at the boy's easy acceptance of the vampire's strangeness. “Does this happen often?” Angel asked. Spike looked up, seeming to just realize that the dark-haired vampire was there. He shrugged. “Every bloody day,” he admitted, trying to sound nonchalant. “What were you dreaming about?” Angel inquired. A haunted look passed over the blonde vampire's face, then was gone in a split second. “My first Slayer,” he said quietly. “I still don't feel too bad `bout killin' `er,” Spike said. “She attacked me first. But…I lied to `er. I had `er arms pinned behind `er back, an' was about to kill `er, an' she asked me to tell `er mother she was sorry,” he told Angel. “I told `er I didn't speak Chinese.” He looked up at the older vampire. “I lied to `er.” Heavy rings on fingers wave Another star denies the grave See the nowhere crowd Cry the nowhere tears of honor Like twisted vines that grow Hide and swallow mansions whole And dim the light of an already faded prima donna The sun had just set and the crew of Angel Investigations, plus Spike and Alyum, minus Cordelia and Wesley, had just settled into the lobby to research the latest entrail-eating demon, when there was a blinding flash of light. Everyone threw up hands to shield their eyes on reflex, and when the golden-white glow faded, Alyum shrieked and hid behind Spike. Cordelia blinked in confusion at the little boy and Spike, then looked at Angel. “What did I miss?” “ `Delia!” Angel exclaimed, rushing forward and engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. Cordelia couldn't have been more shocked if he'd bitten her and it showed on her face. “Hey, whoa, who are you and what have you done with Angel?” she demanded as he let her go. Angel just laughed slightly hysterically. Fred and Gunn gave him strange looks, but let it go, turning to Cordelia with smiles. “Where you been?” Gunn asked. “We've missed you!” Fred told her. Cordelia smiled. “Long story. The gist is that the half-demon thing? Well, apparently Skip conveniently left out the part about me doing this whole ascension thing.” At Angel's sudden wary look, Cordelia said, “Oh, not like graduation. More of a higher power type thing.” “Oh,” Angel said, his expression clearly saying that he didn't get it. “And what is he doing here?” Cordelia demanded, pointing at Spike. Alyum moved in front of Spike protectively, glaring at Cordelia as menacingly as he could. Angel sighed. “Long story. He's got a soul.” Cordelia's eyebrows practically disappeared into her hairline. “Oh, now that is just priceless,” she said with a smirk. “Quiet, bitch!” Alyum piped angrily. Spike's eyes widened and he clapped a hand over the boy's mouth. “ `Ey, now that is not somethin' I taught `im!” Everyone gave him looks as if to say `Yeah, right', and Spike scowled, digging in his pockets for his cigarettes. The blonde vampire had just gotten a cigarette out of the pack when Alyum reached up and grabbed his wrist, glaring at him. “Kill you,” he told the vampire. “I meant they'd kill you,” Spike told him. “I'm already dead.” The boy tugged on Spike's wrist. “Bad,” he insisted firmly. “Oh, bloody hell,” Spike groused. “Fine, whatever. It's gone, runt,” he said, crushing the cigarette in his hand. Alyum smiled. “Good.” Spike looked up to see everyone looking at him as if he'd just grown another head. “What?” Gunn chuckled. “Man, you are so whipped.” Spike glowered at him petulantly. Fortune, fame Mirror, vain Gone insane Fortune, fame Mirror, vain Gone insane But the memory remains After Spike had stalked out of the room to sulk, Cordelia turned to Angel. “That was too weird.” Angel shrugged. “He's changed.” Gunn smiled. “He loves that kid,” he told her, gesturing to where Alyum was playing with a stake he'd found lying around. “So, what's his name, and how did Spike end up with him? Kill his parents?” Cordelia asked sarcastically. Angel gave her a slightly disapproving look. “No, Spike didn't kill his parents,” he said. “His name is Alyum. Spike stumbled across him in the subway in Bucharest, on his way back from the Trials in Kampala.” “He lived through the Trials?” Cordelia sounded impressed. Angel nodded. “And they gave him his soul.” “But…don't you have to want whatever they give you? I thought the reward was supposed to be your heart's desire,” Cordelia argued. “It is. He wanted a soul,” Angel said. “But, it's Spike,” Cordelia protested. “He fell in love with Buffy,” Angel told her. “The chip that kept him from hurting people was pissing off his demon. So, his demon came forward at the worst possible time and almost made Spike hurt her. He left, and went straight to Kampala.” “Wow…just…wow,” Cordelia said, shaking her head. When Spike re-entered the room, he was painfully aware of Cordelia's eyes boring into him, and did his best to ignore her, though Angel could tell that she made the blonde vampire uncomfortable. Spike handed Alyum a tennis ball and pointed out the door, toward the atrium area of the Hyperion, and the boy gave him a wide smile before scampering outside to play. The blonde vampire watched his small charge play for a few minutes, a small smile lingering on his lips. Angel came up beside him, watching as Alyum chased the ball through the flowers, stomping a few of them to smithereens in the process. “He looks happy.” Spike nodded. “I should give `im up, shouldn't I?” Angel looked at Spike in surprise. “Is that what you want?” “No. Hurts to bloody think about it,” Spike told him. “But…Criminy, Peaches…I can't even take `im outside during the day. What kind of life is that?” “He doesn't seem to mind,” Angel pointed out. “He doesn't know any better,” the blonde argued. “I took `im away from starvin' on the streets, Angel. This is the best he's ever had it. He has no idea what he's missin'. What about other kids his age? He'll never see any of `em if he stays with me. He won't know there are others his age to play with.” Angel smacked Spike upside the head. “Will you stop? He's happy. He's safe. He can play with kids his age in school. You're worrying for nothing.” “Nothing, eh? Then why'd you leave Buffy?” Spike shot back. “I seem to remember the argument bein' that she didn't know what she was missin' if she stayed with you. You said you wanted `er to have someone who could take `er into the sunlight. How's that different than this?” Angel shook his head. “That wasn't the real reason. I mean, that was part of it. But, I was more worried about breaking the curse again,” he said. “I couldn't be that close to her and not love her. You know what I mean, Spike. You're in love with her. Could you live in Sunnydale, see her every night, and not touch her?” Spike was silent for a while. “No.” “You're lucky, Spike,” Angel said. “You've got a soul that can't be taken from you, a little boy who worships you, and you can go back to Sunnydale, fix things with Buffy, and be happy. I know her. She'll forgive you, eventually.” “She'll never love me, Angel,” Spike said quietly. “She said she was just usin' me.” “That's all she let herself do, Spike,” Angel told him. “She's the Slayer, and letting herself fall in love with someone who is pure demon goes against everything that she is. She couldn't love you, and be the Slayer.” “An' just because I have a soul, things are supposed to be different?” Spike scoffed. “They can be,” the dark-haired vampire told him. “Your soul makes you more than just a demon. It lets the man inside come out. She loved me, even after I tried to kill her when I lost my soul. Give her time, Spike. She only fights that hard if there's a reason. I think she tried to end it when she realized you meant more to her than you should. With your soul, there isn't anything to stop her.” “You do realize that this is the most I've heard you talk in over a century, right? You're not careful, you might lose that rep as the silent Brood King,” Spike joked. Angel gave him a small smirk. “Oh, no. Can't have that.” “Did you just make a joke?” Spike asked, eyes wide. “Bloody hell, keep it up, an' you'll gimme a bleedin' heart attack.” Heavy rings on cigarettes Up to lips that time forgets While the Hollywood sun Sets behind your back And can't the band play on? Just listen, they play my song Ash to ash Dust to dust Fade to black Spike went outside to smoke, laughing and holding his cigarette out of Alyum's reach as the boy tried to scold him into putting it out. Finally, he went back to playing with the ball, and Spike leaned against the building, watching him. Finishing his cigarette, Spike ground it out beneath the heel of his Doc Martens and joined Alyum, tossing the ball back and forth and chasing each other through the atrium, laughing and tackling each other to try to steal the ball. “Is this what he was like when he was human?” Cordelia asked, joining Angel at the window. “I don't know. When we stumbled onto him, he was crying his eyes out over a woman. I never saw him happy before he was turned,” Angel answered. “How old was he?” she asked. Angel thought for a moment. “Twenty, I think. Yeah. He'd just turned twenty.” “He looks older than that,” Cordelia commented. “It's the hair, and the way he dresses. Makes him look older, tougher,” Angel said. “When his hair's brown, and he's in slacks and a dress shirt, he could pass for a senior in high-school, easily.” “That's kind of creepy…Isn't he like a hundred and change?” “One-hundred and twenty-six last October,” Angel said. “You kept track?” Cordelia asked, surprised. “He's family,” Angel said with a shrug. Fortune, fame Mirror, vain Gone insane Fortune, fame Mirror, vain Gone insane This little tin goddess. Cordelia laughed as Spike collapsed to the ground, looking exhausted. Alyum didn't look through, though, and pounced onto the blonde vampire's stomach, poking at him. Spike responded by shifting to his game-face and rolling until he pinned the boy, tickling him mercilessly. When the vampire let him up, Alyum scampered away, his face flushed, laughing. Spike shook his head and flopped onto his back again, his demonic visage retreating behind the human mask as he tried to catch his metaphorical breath. “Iliam!” Alyum's voice suddenly had an edge of terror to it and Spike was on his feet in an instant. A group of leather-clad demons seemed to come from nowhere, swarming around Spike and keeping him from reaching Alyum, who was kicking and struggling in the grip of a dark-haired man. Several of the demons went down under the blonde vampire's rage, but the man laughed and retreated with his captive before Spike managed to free himself. Angel and Cordelia had barely reached Spike before he snapped the last demon's neck, Angel chasing after the kidnapper. When Angel came back empty-handed, Spike shook his head in horror. “Oh, God…I lost him.” Drift away Fade away Little tin goddess Ash to ash Dust to dust Fade to black Angel got on the phone to Sunnydale while Cordelia and Gunn hit the books, looking for any prophecy in the near future, or the mention of anyone who matched the description of the man who'd taken Alyum. Fred was on the computer, putting out an all points bulletin amoung their demon allies throughout the city and dropping an email to Lorne in Vegas to see if he could make heads or tails of the kidnapping. Spike paced back and forth, chain-smoking and growling constantly, his demonic visage seemingly a permanent fixture for the time being. “Buffy and Xander are on their way,” Angel said, hanging up the phone. “Willow, Dawn and Anya are checking the books on their end to see if anything's coming up.” A look of pain flickered across Spike's face at the mention of Buffy, but he gave a sharp nod and resumed pacing, muttering profanity under his breath. “I've got the Brackens and Corlarians looking for him, and Lorne said he'd ask around in Vegas to see if anyone knows anything they'd need Alyum for,” Fred said. Gunn looked up from the books he'd been sifting through. “No prophecies I can find.” Spike snarled and punched his fist through a wall in frustration. Angel was at his side in an instant, pulling Spike's fist free of the shattered wood and plaster, turning the blonde vampire to face him with one hand on his shoulder. “Getting mad isn't going to find him any faster,” he said. “Oh, God. I'm so stupid!” Cordelia exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at her questioningly. “Hello, higher being here?” she said, raising her hand. “I should be able to ask the PTB what's going on. God, I can't believe I didn't think if it sooner.” “So quit yammerin' about it and do it already,” Spike snapped irritably. Cordelia rolled her eyes at him, but didn't argue. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her body emitting a soft, golden glow for the space of a few minutes. When she opened her eyes, she looked worried. “He's a sorcerer. Human, but he gets immortality by sacrificing seven children every fifty years. He steals their life-force, what makes them young,” she said. “He's already got all seven, but he won't kill them until dawn. We've got time to wait for Buffy and the others. I know where he is.” Everyone except Spike looked relieved. If anything, the blonde vampire just looked more worried. “We'll get him back, Spike. Rafel, the sorcerer, won't hurt him until the sacrifice,” Cordelia assured him. Fortune, fame Mirror, vain Gone insane Fortune, fame Mirror, vain Gone insane But the memory remains When Buffy walked through the door, Spike abruptly left the room, seemingly unable to look at her. “What's he doing here, Angel?” the Slayer demanded angrily. “It's not my place to tell you. He's a guest here, so don't stake him,” Angel told her, not explaining anything more. “The guy we're looking for is named Rafel. He's a sorcerer, and is going to sacrifice the kids at sunrise,” Cordelia said, filling Buffy and Xander in. “So, we find him, and kick his ass,” Buffy said firmly. “He's got a protection amulet around his neck. It's a green, glowy thing,” Cordelia said. “That's where he stores the life-force he steals from the kids. Break it, and he's just human, and you can kill him.” “We don't do humans,” Xander said. “Well, technically, you won't have to,” Cordelia said. “He's older than Angel. Break the amulet, and he'll start aging immediately.” “Okay, got it. Break the amulet thingy,” Buffy said, nodding. “What's the catch?” Cordelia smiled. “Catch? Oh, the twenty Ecklar demons he's got guarding him. They're pretty easy to kill, though. Just like humans. Break their necks, stab them, shoot them, whatever. They die pretty easily.” “How long will it take for this Rafel guy to die?” Xander asked. “Probably ten or fifteen minutes. Not very long,” Cordelia told him. “I get my hands on `im, I'll make it seem like bleedin' eternity,” Spike growled as he re-entered the room. “Bet you've just been dying to have an excuse to torture someone,” Xander snarked, looking at Spike with loathing. Rather than shoot back an insult that would have Xander trying to think of a comeback for weeks, Spike cast his gaze downward, oddly accepting of the young man's hatred. Buffy frowned at the non-Spike action, but refrained from comment, turning her attention back to Cordelia. “So, let's go.” Everyone grabbed an assortment of weapons and headed out the door, ready for action. Spike caught up with Buffy outside. “Buffy, I'm so-“ he started. Buffy cut him off with a dirty look. “I don't want to hear it, Spike. Stay the hell away from me,” she said, then stalked to Xander's car, climbing in without a backward glance. Stung, Spike stopped walking and stood there, a mixture of pain and longing on his chiseled features. “Give her time, Spike,” Angel reminded him. “She doesn't know.” Spike nodded and followed Angel to his car, blocking everything but saving Alyum from his mind as they went into battle. Ash to ash Dust to dust Fade to black The memory remains.