*****

The thunderstorm was petrifying, the worst storm in Sunnydale history. "Hell," Xander thought, "you could throw in all of Northern California and accurate."

He refused to believe Giles emphatic denials of the storm being linked to the Hellmouth, since most of the lighting struck the old high school. He admitted to himself that the cemetery was hit just as bad, if not worse. That was why he now found himself digging through the rubble of what was left of Spike's crypt at four am. "Willow, remind me again why I'm scraping the remaining skin off of my hands on these rocks to help a mortal enemy?"

"Spike's not our enemy anymore."

"He's not?"

"No, Spike's our ... nonenemy." The red head smiled nervously as she tried to lift a large stone.

Tara came to the rescue of her girlfriend. Helping Willow with the stone, she turned to Xander and said, "Um...besides he saved your lives."

Willow and Tara shared a smile as they disposed of the stone. They considered the vampire more then just a nonenemy. His first attempt to show the Scooby Gang he was on their side was to compliment Willow on her choice of a girlfriend. The blonde told the witch that her bisexuality made her more vampire like, which wasn't a great compliment, but for Spike it was a big effort. After the shock and grudging acceptance of the rest of the gang, the women were grateful that someone took it in stride, even if he did tell them he knew all along and went on in graphic detail to describe how.

Willow shuddered with embarrassment at the memory of that conversation. Still Spike was trying to be nice. The least they could do was dig him out of the wreckage of his former crypt before the sun came up and fried him.

"Xander, he's part of the gang now. We have to at least try to help him."

The young man reached down to grab another large stone before Willow got the chance to go after that hernia she seemed so keen on inducing. "Okay, but can't we try to help him in a less break your back kind of way?"

"Xander!" The women answered in unison.

Thirty minutes later, Willow still had not managed to give herself a hernia, Xander still had skin on his hands and Tara spotted the edge of Spike's trademark duster. "Um, guys? Over here I think."

The trio worked quickly to uncover the complete garment and the unconscious body within it. Spike's skin was barely discernible from the stones he was lying on. He was a pale whitish grey, his peroxide hair appearing yellow in contrast. Blood was seeping out of gash on the side of his head in a steady flow.

Tara bit her lower lip. "Vampires bleed a lot."

Xander worked on removing the remaining rubble pinning Spike in place. "Yeah, it must be all that stolen blood," he tried to joke, but even he was shocked by the Englishman's appearance. He wondered if they would be able to do anything more then watch Spike turn to dust. He didn't want to admit it to himself, and he certainly didn't want the girls to know, but he was scared. Spike was the only one who could match him barb for barb. Xander began to dig a little faster.

"No, I mean, they bleed a lot, because the um, blood wont clot. It can't because... " She ran one hand across the other as she gestured down towards the blond. "Because of the way they feed, you know?" She cast a pleading glance at Willow as she rocked from foot to foot.

The blood drained from Xander's face, "Oh shit, Spike's going to die. I mean I know he's already dead and all, but he's going to be dead dead." He scrabbled to clear the remaining debris off their nonenemy.

Willow knew she had to act fast. She did not have time to panic or lapse into motionless shock. She took off her sweater and used it to clean the dust and grit from the wound. She smoothed Spike's hair away from the cut in an attempt to see the gash clearly. "Tara, get my bag. I think there's a stapler in there."

"Wait."

"What? He's dead and we have to close this wound some how to stop the bleeding."

"I just meant wait. I have a sewing kit in my bag." The two witches smiled at each other, instinctively working together in a crisis. They stitched the wound, and freed Spike from the remains of his home just in time to get him to Gile's before the sunrise. The trio hoped Giles knew something about fixing vampires.

He did not. He reminded the young people, that his duties as a Watcher include staking vampires, not curing them. Giles inspected the wound, congratulated Willow on her fine work, applied a clean bandage over the stitches, and called Angel when Spike remand unconscious the next evening.

Xander stopped by on his way home from work just as Giles was hanging up the telephone. "Xander good, you're here." He stared threw the boy for a moment. "I ah, I need you to help me get some blood for Spike. Angel says he needs to feed in order to start healing."

Xander wondered why the vampire was the only one who never looked through him. "G-man, the big, not so bad keeps a stash in your fridge."

Giles glanced back at his kitchen. The watcher noticed his refrigerator always contained blood no matter how many unwelcome appearances his fellow Englishman made. He wondered how the boy knew and decided he didn't want to know. "No, Angel specified human blood."

"Wait a minute, hold on here! I'm not opening a vein for defanged boy, nonenemy or not. I don't care if Willow says we have to be nice to him." Xander was rapidly backing towards the door trying to remember if Watchers could lose their souls.

Gile's took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "No Xander. You've once again taken the facts and run amuck with them."

Xander knew he may have overreacted, but he had not run amuck. "You said Spike needed human blood."

Giles replaced his glasses and spoke slowly. "Yes, and I need you to stay here and watch Spike whilst I procure it."

Xander hopped over the back of the couch and made himself comfortable. "Oh. Okay G-man, why didn't you say so."

Giles winced at the reappearance of the unwelcome nickname and muttered on his way out the door. "I would have if you had the patience to listen."

Xander fidgeted for a few minutes until he was sure Giles was gone, and was not returning anytime soon for some forgotten item. He entered the bedroom where they had left the vampire earlier in the day. The drapes were completely closed; the only light came from a small bedside lamp. Xander gasped and froze.

He didn't know whether he wanted to back out and quietly shut the door or rush to the side of the bed. Spike looked even worse then when they had first found him. The sheets had more colour than his face. His skin was almost translucent, blue veins visible across his forehead. It was stretched back, so Xander could clearly see the sharp outline of Spike's cheekbones and jaw, and his eyes appeared to have sunk in to his skull.

He looked so small and helpless. Xander had never seen how fragile Spike appeared before. Without the nasty personality animating the corpse and the street thug clothes, the vampire was considerably smaller then Xander pictured him. He looked almost human, albeit a very ill, almost dead human. Xander slowly approached the bed wondering how Giles could leave him like this?

He wanted to do something to help, but as usual had no idea what he could do. He softly stroked the peroxide hair. It was soft, criminally soft for someone that put that much time and effort into burning all the colour out of it. He wasn't sure if it was normal for vampire to feel like ice when you touched them. He pulled the spare blanket over Spike and resolved to ask Buffy, just how cold vampires were supposed to feel.

Xander noticed no one had bothered to clean Spike up. They simply stopped the bleeding and dressed the wound. At least he could do that. He remembered when he was hurt, warm water washing the blood away always made him feel better.

Xander was making his third trip to the bathroom for clean, hot water when Giles returned. He followed the Watcher into the kitchen and waited while Giles removed thick plastic bags from a Styrofoam cooler. "I don't want to know how you were able to get eight units of human blood in less then twenty minutes. Do I?"

"No." Without looking up Giles handed Xander a bag. "Warm this up and see if you can get him to take it. Angel said he would require a lot of blood quickly. I'm going to try to get some more." Giles finished unpacking his cooler and left Xander standing in front of the microwave.

Xander warmed two of the bags, transferring the contents of one into a large tumbler. He left the other in the bowl of hot water, hoping that would keep it warm. He searched the kitchen for a straw and tried to figure out how he was going to get the unconscious vampire to drink the blood.

He returned to the bedroom, setting the tumbler on the bedside table and the bowl on the floor beside it. He sat on the bed and pulled Spike up until he was sitting against Xander. He reached over to retrieve the tumbler, using his free arm to hold Spike firmly against his chest. Xander hoped his warmth and the sound of his heartbeat would pull the vampire closer to consciousness. He waved the tumbler under Spike's nose. "Come on Spikey, time to wake up and eat. It's human blood. You know you want it."

Nothing. He might as well be talking to a corpse. Xander reminded himself that he *was* talking to a corpse. He sucked some of the blood up in the straw. Maybe if Spike could taste it, he would begin to feed. He painted the vampire's lips with the blood and dribbled some into his mouth. "Spike, please drink. You need this to heal. Spike, wake up!"

No response. He tried to remember what his mother did on the rare occasions she had helped him when he was sick. How did she get him to take his medicine? She never called him by his nickname; she always used his full name. What was Spike's real name? Will. Okay, what else did Mom do? She sounded nice, not as if she was trying to force him. She sounded reassuring and calm. O.K., he could do that.

Xander took a deep breath and pulled Spike closer. "Will, drink. It'll make you all better." He danced the straw against the vampire's mouth again. He tried to remember his mother's words, and sound as reassuring as possible. "Good boy. Drink it Will. You'll feel much better."

On the fourth pass the blonde opened his mouth and started to suck on the straw. Xander held the vampire, stroking the soft blond hair while he hummed. The young man remembered how good it felt when his mother did the same thing. As soon as Spike emptied the tumbler, Xander took the straw and popped it into the remaining bag, not wanting to waste any time transferring the blood into the glass. He wanted to get as much into Spike as he could while the blonde was drinking.

He continued to pet the vampire and make soothing noises while he fed. When Spike finished the second container, Xander released him. Reassuring him as he stood up, "There now. Isn't that better?" He turned to get more supplies from the kitchen. He wanted Spike to drink as much as he could. A small whimpering noise made him turn back to the bed.

Spike was curled up in the blankets, only his eyes showing. The blue eyes locked on Xander. "Sire, please don't leave me. I'm scared."

Xander froze. "Fuck," his only thought.

He glanced toward the bedroom door, happy that Angel wasn't there. Another whimper returned his focus to the bed. "Sire, please."

Fuck. Spike was definitely talking to him. Oh God! Spike thought he was Angel. What was he supposed to do? Xander shifted from side to side chewing his lip.

"Okay," he thought. "Spike's sick. He doesn't know what he's saying. Angel said to give him blood and he'll heal. Just gotta get more blood into the adorable looking vampire and he'll be the Big Bad again. That's good right? Okay, don't think too hard Xander. Just feed the vampire."

The young man turned and approached the bed. "Spike," his nervousness making him speak sharply, "I have to get more blood. You need it to heal." Shit. That probably didn't sound very reassuring; judging by the way Spike curled under the blankets..

Comforting. He had to remember to be comforting. It was the only way he was going to get Spike to drink enough to heal and end this embarrassing mess. The upside was when it was all over, he would have enough material to tease the blonde menace for months.

Xander smiled and rested on the edge of the bed, pulling the blankets away from Spike's face. "Hey," he started in his gentlest voice. "I'm not leaving."

He returned to stroking the blonde hair. It was like cat fur, so soft that it was hard not to touch. "I just have to go to the other room for a few minutes to get more blood for you. You need to drink as much as you can, Will."

Spike turned into the touch almost nuzzling the young man's hand. "Sire."

"I'll be back as soon as possible." Xander leaned down and kissed the vampire on the forehead. He remembered it felt so good when his mom did that, almost like she really cared.

Giles returned again while Xander was in the kitchen heating up four more units of blood. He was torn between getting enough so he wouldn't have to leave his patient again or bringing back more then the vampire could possibly consume. How much was a lot of blood?

Couldn't Angel have been more specific with his instructions, telling him something closer to, "For a vampire Spike's size: five pints for a normal feed, six if he's injured, eight if it's really bad."

Xander wished be paid more attention when Spike was staying at his place, but it was so gross to watch the Englishman feed, and the stuff he used to dunk in his blood for "texture" was even worse. Twinkies were meant to be treated with more reverence.

Caught up in musing on the sacred nature of Hostess products, he remained unaware of Giles' return until the watcher opened the refrigerator. The door bumped Xander, startling him and causing him to drop the bag he was removing from the microwave.

"Really, Xander. You should be more careful. You're as messy as Spike in the kitchen."

Xander thought Giles must be really upset or extremely neat. Spike was the one always after Xander to clean up the basement room. "Hey. The bag didn't break. No harm. No foul. And you snuck up on me."

For the first time that day Giles looked directly at the boy. "You're right Xander. I'm sorry." He removed his glass and absent mindly polished them, while staring at the kitchen clock. "This has just all come at a very inconvenient time for me." He glanced at the spare room Spike was occupying. "I have a prior comment tonight, and a conference I was to leave for in the morning."

Xander lay his free hand on the librarian's shoulder. "No problem. You just go off and do your retired librarian stuff. I'll baby-sit the Big Bad." Xander smiled to let Giles know he didn't mind.

Giles did not see the smile. "Xander, don't you have things to do?" He waved his glasses in the direction of the front door. "Anya?"

"She went to that summer witch school with Willow and Tara this morning." Xander's hand fell and his shoulders slumped. He'd been complaining for weeks about being left alone for the summer; even Spike had commented on it.

Of course, the vampire's comments were along the lines of, "It wouldn't be a big change for Xander to be alone, since everyone ignored him all the time anyway." Maybe he was right. Giles obviously had been ignoring the young man.

"What? Oh yes, quite right. You did mention that." The Englishman was obviously distracted. "Still Xander, do you want to take care of a sick vampire? It may be a lot of work and I know how you feel about Spike."

Xander perked up. Giles did care; he just didn't want to burden Xander. "No, I like playing nurse. It's something I'm good at. Buffy and Riley should be back from their trip tomorrow, so they can help. I can handle it G-Man." The watcher couldn't hide his look of annoyance at the nickname. "I mean Giles. Sorry."

It was Giles turn to lay his hand on Xander's shoulder. The boy was so eager to prove his competence. "Yes, I believe you can handle it. I'll make arrangements to have the blood delivered while I'm away. In the mean time, shouldn't you be getting back to your patient?"

Xander jumped. Spike! Poor Will. He was so frightened and Xander had told him that he would return in a few moments. He abruptly grabbed the warm bags of blood and headed for the back room. He paused in the doorway as a thought accrued to him. "Giles? Could you leave Angel's number by the phone? I may need to call him for vampire advice."

His heart sank when he returned to the room. Spike was in the middle of the bed completely under the blankets, curled into a tight ball, rocking himself and humming tunelessly. He rushed to the side of the bed wondering why it felt so bad to have disappointed and scared the vampire. He should be gloating. This was the perfect revenge for all of the times Spike scared and hurt him., but it just felt like he was kicking a wounded puppy. After growing up in his family's house, he didn't have the heart to punish the helpless.

"Will," He sat on the edge of the bed. "Come here, you poor vampire. I brought you more blood."

"Sire." Spike quickly shifted into Xander's lap.

Xander shrugged and made himself comfortable. Shifting Spike to his earlier position, leaning against the young man's chest, he reached over and grabbed the first container of blood. "Drink. Be a good boy and drink all of this."

The Big Bad laid his head down on the mortal's shoulder. One hand reached up and started to play with the hair at the base of Xander's skull while he drank. Midway into the second bag, Xander noticed a faint rumbling noise coming from the vampire.

Xander kept up a steady stream of encouraging comments. "There now isn't that better. That's it, Will. Drink it all. Good boy. I'm proud of you." The whole time he ran his hand up and down Spike's back, trying to sooth the vampire. By the end of the fourth bag, Spike appeared to be asleep still wrapped around the younger man, with one hand tightly curled in his hair.

Xander tried to untangle himself and leave the bed, but he found that even asleep and with head injuries, vampires were stronger then humans. Spike was clinging tightly to him and Xander's attempts to move only made Spike take a more tenacious hold around the mortal.

Xander sighed. Obviously the blonde was not going to let his *Sire* leave again. He shrugged and pulled the blankets around both of them, relaxing into sleep with his arms protectively embracing his charge.

Much later Giles returned from his meeting with the representative from London, which had lasted longer then expected. Exhausted, he peeked in to check on his unwelcome house guest and the boy. What he saw in the dark room made him resolve to talk to Xander in the morning and call Angel. He didn't know what disturbed him more: the sight of one of Europe's bloodiest vampires curled around a boy Giles often thought of as a son, or the sight of the same vampire sucking his thumb. Something was very wrong with Spike.

*****
Part 2:

Much earlier then he would have liked, Giles came in to wake Xander and the vampire. "Xander, come on. It's time to wake up." Giles tried shaking the boy, hoping the shoulder his hand was on belonged to the human, not the vampire. It was difficult to discern as they were so closely entangled.

"Come on, my boy. I need to leave in an hour and we have to talk before then." He tried shaking a little more vigorously, and waving the mug of coffee he had prepared for the boy under his nose.

That did the trick. Xander woke with a groan and struggled to automatically reach for the coffee. The cold blonde form enveloping him prevented anything close to movement on his part. With his eyes still closed, Xander nudged his bed companion. "Let me go, Klingon."

Spike rolled them over, away from the evil noise and nasty light. His action freed the young mortal's arms. Xander used them to push at the cold body lying across his torso. "Move, Will. I have to get up." Remembering Spike's fears of the night before he added, "I'm not going to leave you. I just need to get out of bed." He petted the blond hair reassuringly.

It appeared to work; Spike relaxed enough for Xander to sit up. He relieved Giles of his coffee burden. After finishing half the mug in two swallows, he opened his eyes. "You wanted to talk, G...Giles," he amended at the last minute, remembering that Giles hated the nickname.

Giles was too stunned to speak. Xander had remained sitting on the bed while he was talking to Giles, Spike's head in his lap. The boy continued to run his fingers through the blond hair and across the vampire's neck as he drank the coffee. He signalled for the boy to follow him out of the room and heard the soothing noises he made, reassuring the vampire of his intent to return, before following. Xander sounded like a trainer speaking to a wild horse.

He sat Xander down at the kitchen table and refilled their mugs with tea and coffee. "Xander, why did you call Spike, *Will*?"

The young man tried to shake himself awake. "He wouldn't respond to anything else. When I used *Spike* he just lay there unconscious."

The watcher sipped his tea, thinking. "So you decided to try another name?"

After his second mug of coffee, Xander felt one or two synapses begin to fire. "You said to give him blood." Giles stared at Xander, very confused. Xander decided to tell the watcher everything that had happened. Maybe he could make sense out of the whole weird "Sire" thing.

Giles listened as he finished his tea and made breakfast for the two of them. He was proud of the way the boy effortlessly, and apparently instinctively, acted as a nurse to the injured demon. He was afraid Xander's action placed him in a much larger and more complex role in Spike's mind. He was not sure what was happening with the vampire, but he knew the head injury must have effected him beyond the now healed gash.

His fears were confirmed when his fellow Englishman wandered into the kitchen. Spike whimpered at the bright overhead light and rubbed his eyes. He no longer held the appearance of one of a wicked master vampire. He resembled a little boy awoken by a nightmare and seeking comfort. Spike reinforced the image when he sat on the floor by Xander's chair and buried his head in the young man's lap. Xander attempted to reassure his charge. Giles decided it was time to call Angel, no matter how early in the day it was.

Xander ended up talking to Angel after Giles decided he couldn't afford the time it would take to tell the boy's story to the vampire, and then relay Angel's comments to Xander. The young man had volunteered to care for the injured vampire and seemed to performing admirably. Giles decided to let him continue while he finished preparing for his trip.

"What did you say to Spike when you were feeding him?"

Xander exhaled in exasperation. Angel made him repeat the story twice before making any comment and his first one sounded like a demand for another repeat performance. "Deadboy, maybe you should get your ears checked or something. I told you that twice already. I thought vampires were supposed to have this amazing hearing."

"Alexander," Angel sounded as exasperated as the young man he was speaking to did, "I need to know the exact words you used verbatim. It's very important."

Xander repeated the conversation word for word. "Happy Deadboy, or want to go for round four," he finished.

"Shit," was the only reply.

Xander dropped the phone. He'd never heard Angel curse before, not even when he lost his soul. He knew Angel did not like Xander's term of endearment for him, but he thought the vampire at least tolerated it. He picked up the phone and started to pet the blonde head still in his lap. Xander was no longer sure which one of them he was reassuring. "Angel? Um... I'm sorry. It's just that you called me Alexander. Only my parents do that."

Xander thought he heard Angel wince. "I'm sorry Xander." The vampire paused.

A minute later he still hadn't resumed talking. "Angel? " Xander made sure his patient's ears were covered. "Is Spike going to be all right?"

"I don't know," Angel sighed.

"Oh." Xander would have repeated Angel's profanity if he didn't feel an overwhelming sense of failure. "What did I do wrong? Did I make him worse? I'm sorry Angel. Will you be able to fix him?"

"Xander," again Angel paused. "There's nothing I can do. He thinks you're his Sire."

Xander abruptly stood up. "Okay, that's impossible." He frantically paced around the small kitchen. " I mean no offence Angel, but I'm nothing like you. Okay we both have that male thing and dark hair, but you've got that whole unbeating heart thing going and I don't. I mean my heart still works, or at least it was before this phone call."

The sight of wide, scared blue eyes peeping out from beneath the table, where vampire dove as Xander jumped up, halted his panic faster then any of the claiming words the boy could barely hear coming from the telephone. Spike looked exactly like Xander felt every time his Dad came home angry and drunk. He could not do that to anyone else, not even a soulless vampire. Spike was ill and it was his responsibility to take care of him.

"Angel, can I call you back in a few minutes? I need to take care of someone right now."

Angel agreed, relieved to hear the boy ready to assume responsibility. If Cordelia could show signs of maturity, why not her ex-boyfriend? He was going to need to be mature. Xander was now responsible for a fledging vampire.

He disconnected and left Angel to his brooding. Xander got down on his hands and knees and crawled toward the frighten demon under the table. "I'm sorry, Klingon. I'm sorry I scared you. Come out and I'll make you a nice cup of blood. You can drink it while we sit on the couch and finish talking to Angel." He inched closer to Spike and held his hand out, trying to show the vampire he meant no harm and sooth him at the same time.

Spike leaned his head against Xander's hand. "Pet?"

Xander pulled the vampire into a hug. The familiar word reminded the young man how very wrong things where. He hoped that he had not damaged Spike permanently. He bit his lip and placed a small kiss on the soft hair under his chin. "Are you hungry? Do you want some blood?"

When Spike finished drinking Xander resettled them on the couch. He dialled Angel's number and sighed. He resolved to be strong enough to listen to whatever the besouled vampire had to say. He was not going to frighten Spike like that ever again.

"Angel? What do you mean Spike thinks I'm his Sire?" The injured vampire moved into Xander's lap at the mention of the word *Sire*. He placed the young man's hand on his head and rubbed it along his hair. Xander thought the behaviour was rapidly becoming addicting for both of them.

Xander tuned back into the telephone conversation. "... and when fledges first rise they imprint on who ever feeds them. It's instinctive; we have no control over it." Angel sighed "Normally the imprint is reciprocal, and the need a Sire feels to care for the fledge is as powerful as the fledgling's need to obey their Sire." Angel paused again and Xander pictured him brooding and avoiding eye contact with the telephone. "I don't know what will happen with a human."

Xander was about to get angry when he realized Angel wasn't implying Xander was totally incompetent. He remembered Spike bragging about being Angel's favourite Childe and that was why no matter what he did to the Scooby gang, Angel would not stake him. Angel was worried that Xander wouldn't take care of Spike.

He looked down at the vampire curled up in his lap. Spike's head rested on his shoulder and both arms wrapped around Xander's waist. He was rubbing his cheek across Xander's collarbone and the low rumbling noise coming from his chest completed the cat like image.

"Don't worry. I'll do everything I can to take care of Will until he's better." Xander swore he heard Angel breathe in relief at his words.

"Okay, here's what you're going to have to do. There are some complications because of the way he was sired." Angel chuckled as the astonished young man tried not to drop the telephone again. "From the first, Spike had to be unique among vampires."

Xander stroked Spike's face, hoping to lull the vampire to sleep. He believed rest might be the best thing for Spike and might aid the healing processes. Spike's head wound was closed, but still visible.

"When Drucilla turned him she..." Angel struggled to find a way to explain the horrible night, a disaster so bloody it terrified Angelus. He still was not sure how the three of them survived the night. "She did it wrong."

Xander didn't even pretend to know what Angel was talking about. "So Spike started life, I mean um deadlife, as a minion?"

Angel sighed. If only Drucillia would have let it rest at that point. She was determined to have her "Blue eyed doll" and "Daddy" had to fix him. It was a miracle the boy survived the repeated drainings after receiving so little vampire blood. Angel laughed at his own choice of words, if it was a miracle, it was a godless miracle. He shuddered remembering Will's agonized screams. "No, he was never a minion."

The pain in Angel's voice convinced Xander that he did not want to hear the back-story. The vampire sounded haunted. He couldn't remember the powerful vampire ever sounding wounded. "Never mind how he was turned. How was he different and how does that effect what I need to do to take care of him?"

Xander could *hear* the vampire slipping into brood mode. "Deadboy, snap," he broke off, chuckling. "Sorry, I'm being tickled." He moved the vampire's hands. "Stop it, or no more nummy treats for you."

Angel heard a familiar whimpering. "Xander, is Will there with you?"

"Yeah, why? Is it bad for him to hear this?" He moved to cover his patient's ears, not that he was sure it would do anything with vampire hearing.

"No no," Angel rushed in. "It doesn't matter. At least I don't think it does. It's just that Will, I mean Spike..."

"It's alright, I've been calling him Will." The vampire, hearing his name, looked up at Xander.

"Good, that's the name we used when he was a fledge. *Spike* didn't come about until much latter. Most likely, he'll respond best to Will. It should be a reassuring name , to him." Angel sighed recalling the pain Angelus inflected on William to turn him into Spike. There were some memories he hoped the younger vampire never regained.

Xander, he needs you right now." Angel was surprised how spontaneously the boy slipped into a caregiver role. He prayed it was not just a passing fancy, since his Childe was completely dependent on the mortal. "He needs you more then a normal fledgling because, after we turned him, Will ended up with a baby vampire demon."

Xander didn't drop the telephone since he was using the couch to hold it against his ear, enabling him to use both hands to pet Spike. "Angel, what's a baby vampire demon? You better not say a vampire that only eats babies." He forced himself to remain calm for Spike's sake, but he wonder why he always leapt before looking.

The young man once more heard the strange sound of Angel chuckling. "No. When vampires are turned we wake up with a lot of innate knowledge. I think it's because we have such horrible Sires and need to know things they can't be bothered to teach us. Will rose without any of that knowledge. He bonded with me, but I had to teach him everything about being a vampire. He was more helpless then Drucilla his first few years."

"Is that why he's your favourite; you raised him from a baby?"

Xander knew he was speaking with Angelus when the vampire's voice lost its soft hesitancy and gained a sharp confidence. "I moulded him. I made Spike into a ruthless master vampire. He was pure evil and tied to me tighter than any of my other offspring. I loved my boy."

Spike whimpered and tried to hide, causing Xander to shift uncomfortably. Obviously it was a relationship based on fear. Xander knew he was right not to trust the older vampire; Angel could become evil at any time.

Now aware of who he was speaking with, Xander asked, "So I need to train him like you did?" Xander was disgusted. Here he was a Sire by default and he was expected to behave like his own parents. Angel could go back to Hell if he thought Xander would ever stoop to that level. No, Spike was going to get all the care and kindness Xander knew children were supposed to receive.

As suddenly as he made his appearance Angelus was gone. "No Xander. I don't think you could be that harsh and I'm sure it is not the best thing for Will. With the implant, the less blood thirsty he is the better off he'll be."

"Angel, I want him to get his memory back. He needs to be trained to be *Spike*."

"You're right, but I think you can accomplish that with out brutalizing him."

"Good. What does he need to know? Where's the best place to start?"

*****
Part 3:

As suddenly as he made his appearance Angelus was gone. "No, no Xander. I don't think you could be that harsh and I'm sure it is not the best thing for Will. With the implant, the less blood thirsty he is, the better off he'll be."

The young man thought for a moment, he knew that was the wrong plan, "No Angel, he needs to get his memory back."

He looked down at the blond; Spike had found a way to squeeze between Xander, and the back of the sofa with his head tucked under Xander's shirt. Adorable, cuddly Spike was nice; but Xander knew it meant vampire sitting for the rest of his life and when he was gone, Will still wouldn't be able to take care of himself. "Will needs to be trained to be *Spike*. He needs to remember who he is before he can change."

Angel was impressed; the boy was putting some thought into this. "You're right." Maybe Xander was growing up. Still did Xander know what he was getting into? He was human, not even close to a master vampire. How was he going to train the purest vampire Angelus created? Angel remembered his earlier words, Spike was a unique vampire, because he knew love. "I think you can accomplish that with out brutalizing him."

"Good." Xander settled in for a long conversation. "What does he need to know? Where's the best place to start?"

Two hours later, he was wishing he had taken notes and that Spike wasn't laying on his bladder. "Whoa, Angel, information overload here. I have to call a time out." He looked at the nearest clock worried about getting to work on time; he did not want to lose two jobs in one week. "Can I call you back tomorrow?"

"Xander, you can call anytime with questions. I'm up all night and I'll get Cordeila to show me how to work this stupid cell phone." He paused, unsure of how to word the next part without it sounding like a threat and scaring the young man off. "Xander, Will was very sweet as a fledge, very sweet... he's still my favourite."

Xander understood the implied threat. "Don't worry, Angel, I wont hurt him." He hugged the defenceless vampire to his chest, "I'm not going to let anyone hurt him." Xander was determined Will would not suffer the same type of childhood he had.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few weeks later

Xander tottered into Giles' living room sweaty, tired, and two hours late. "That's it. No more bus guy for me. It's time to write a strongly worded letter to the Transit Company." He walked into the kitchen retrieving a cold drink for him and putting blood in the microwave to heat for Spike. "I mean a very strongly worded letter here. Two buses passed me by without even stopping. Two!"

He suddenly noticed a missing cold presence. "Hey, where's my sweet vampire."

Buffy was waiting impatiently for Xander to take a breath and get a clue. She resisted the urge to berate him for not calling and letting them know what was going on. "He freaked."

Xander's hostile glare made her defensive.

"Hey, Buffy is now a member of the official baby-sit the wounded vampire club; but you know how your *sweetling* reacts to me. Xander, he knows I'm a slayer; and he knows when you're supposed to be back. He needs you. Remember what Angel said?"

She managed not to wince at the mention of her ex, impressing Xander and apparently listening to Angel's advice. "Spike needs to be with his Sire all the time."

He knew Buffy was right and he felt guilty every time he left the vampire, but he had to work. Without money he could not pay the rent his parents demanded or purchase Spike's blood. It didn't help that Angel was right also. Will was the sweetest person Xander had ever taken care of, just wanting to be close to him. He was beginning to understand why Angel brooded all the time.

The microwave beeped. He picked up the mug of warm blood. "Where is he?"

Buffy saw the familiar lines forming on Xander's forehead. Sometimes, he reminded her of Angel. She did not want to make her friend feel bad, but she didn't know how to help the blond vampire

Spike seemed to instinctively know Buffy was a slayer. He hid behind Xander every time she entered the room and would not remain alone with her. Riley had to tackle him to prevent him from walking out into the daylight after Xander was an hour late.

"I'm sorry." She sighed and made a vague gesture with her hand, "He's under the bed, humming.".

Xander closed his eyes and banged his head against the wall. Something he'd discovered in his twice daily conversations with Angel was that Will only did the humming thing when he was terrified. " Great. He's regressing."

Angel was right. Buffy was right. He couldn't leave the vampire alone. Xander was responsible for him and fledges needed to be with their Sire all the time. He needed to find a job where he could bring Spike along with him, something that paid well enough to cover rent and blood.

Buffy saw the frown deepen on Xander's face. She wished she could do something for her friend, He was more worried about his Childe than himself. Buffy patted Xander's arm reassuringly and smiled as he passed her on his way into the back bedroom..

Xander crawled to the edge of the bed. He could not understand the vampire's fondness for cramped dark places. Despite what Angel said, he knew vampires would sleep in coffins if they didn't cost more than beds. He set the mug of blood down next to the point where the humming was loudest. "Sweetling, I'm here. Come out and get your blood."

The humming stopped, but there was no other sign that the vampire knew Xander was there. He wondered if Spike was punishing him for being two hours late. Xander decided that ignoring his existence was exactly the type of thing Spike would do, amnesia or not. "OK stay under the bed. I'll come back after I'm done patrolling with Buffy."

Spike displayed his vampiric speed and was almost instantly at Xander's side. Xander was sure Spike would do anything not to miss a chance to fight. He might be afraid of the Slayer, but when Xander wanted Spike to learn to fight by joining the nightly patrols, the vampire enthusiastically skirmished. His demon still revelled in the violence.

He laughed at the vampire's display of eagerness and his own actions of the night before. The two of them were helping Buffy clean out a cavern full of demons when a Taskar demon attacked the young man. Spike leapt on the eight foot demon's back and neatly severed it's spine, using the same move Angel was so fond of employing. Xander was so proud of his charge that he ran over and pulled Spike into a hug, spinning him off the ground and repeating, " My sweet, wonderful vampire, my sweet boy, you did so well. You're such a good vampire." He stopped spinning and released the vampire, kissing him on the forehead.

Buffy and Riley frowned upon Xander's frequent and animated praise of Spike's more bloody mayhem, but he reminded them the point was to return the vampire's memory, not to create a kinder and gentler William the Bloody.

*****
Part 4:

When they returned from patrolling Xander was too busy trying to figure out which was the lesser of two evils, the slayer or ex-initiative boy teaching the vampire how to fight, to notice Spike sneaking up on him. Suddenly the vampire jumped on his back and began nuzzling his neck.

Xander stumbled toward his bed and spun around falling back on top of the vampire. Before Spike had time to recover the young man rolled over and pinned him, straddling the blond. Xander's smile was pure evil as he leaned forward to try something he'd wanted to do since Angel first told him about it. Angel warned him that Will was very ticklish and could easily be reduced to helpless giggles if you hit just the right spot; Angel always used the weakness as revenge for his Childe's sneak attacks.

It worked. Xander loved that he could reduce a master vampire to giggling. He stopped and looked down at his Sweetling. Will was beautiful. His eyes sparkled. His hair, finally free of gel, was tousled, and he panted as he came down from the giggling fit. Xander shifted, releasing Will's hands and forearms from under his knees.

Spike's hands immediately travelled up Xander's thighs, along his waist and across his back, pulling the human down for a hug. Spike stroked his face along the young man's and whispered, "Precious," in his ear. The vampire called Xander by the pet name every time he wanted affection.

Xander noticed the requests were becoming more frequent and less innocent. He knew he should ask Angel about how close the Sire/Childe relationship was exactly, and the nature of that closeness; however, he wasn't sure he wanted to know that much about Spike and Angelus. He decided the behaviour was a sign of increasing maturity from the vampire. He hoped it meant Spike was closer to recovery.

For now he realized it was time to feed the vampire, so he forced himself to pull away from the embrace and the trails of fire the vampire's tongue was lighting along his neck. Spike's hands managed to linger on his butt as Xander rolled off the vampire.

He prayed his mother had not gone on one of her erratic cleaning sprees and cleared out the contents of his mini fridge. She always threw away anything couldn't or didn't want to identify. They were staying in his room tonight because Giles was due back in the morning. The watcher said they were free to use his spare room as long as they needed, but Xander thought he might like some time alone to unwind after his conference.

Xander was a little worried about sleeping with the vampire in his own bed. Spike would not sleep if Xander were more then five inches away from him and at Giles' house, the young man used the excuse of being guests to prevent the vampire from sleeping in the nude. He had no excuse here, and could not find it in his heart to continue to deny Spike the skin contact he seemed to crave. Xander was concerned about where that contact would lead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xander dreams

"I never knew his eyes were so blue," he thought. "They sparkle like blue diamonds." He wondered if the Hope Diamond was as clear and breath taking.

He didn't think he had ever known anyone as exquisitely beautiful as his sweet vampire, and probably never would again. By comparison, the rose Xander was brushing Will's face with was an ugly, dried weed. He let the cool, soft petals slowly trace the line of his Childe's face, from jaw to cheekbones, up the forehead, down the noise and quickly brushing the eyes. He knew the vampire enjoyed the feather light touch on his eyelids, but he selfishly refused to deprive himself of the sparkling, azure jewels for more than a few seconds.

Will was in his favourite position, sitting at his Sire's feet. Xander sat on the couch. The vampire leaned sideways, placing his head against Xander's thigh. A soft rumbling sound started coming from the blonde's chest.

Xander placed one hand on that kitten soft hair to hold his Childe in place while he continued outlining the contours of Will's face. His lips traded places with the rose and he placed tiny kisses over the smooth skin. Will's face was cold in a refreshing way, like ice water after a marathon. Xander decided to find out if the vampire tasted like the sweet cream his skin colour suggested, and was delighted to find more texture than simple ice cream.

He licked his way toward Will's panting mouth causing the low rumbling to increase in volume. Xander's mouth meet his Childe's and he gently pulled Will into his lap. He was glad the vampire was only slightly smaller than he was as he did not want to overwhelm or intimidate the wounded demon. He was pleased when his sweet vampire displayed his lack of fear by returning his caresses.

Xander licked the salty, wet lips until they parted and allowed his tongue the entrance it was seeking. "Slow. Gentle," he reminded himself. He didn't know if Will remembered doing this and he certainly had no experience in this particular area. He had never seduced anyone and he didn't know if he would every get a chance to repeat this intimacy with the lovely creature in his arms. He needed to make it last as long as possible.

Xander cupped Will's face in his hands and allowed his fingers to stray into the blond hair. He noticed dark roots beginning to show and reminded himself, that he'd promised to learn how to bleach it out for the vampire. In the mean time, he again marvelled at the softness of the peroxide locks twined around his fingers. It was like petting a fuzzy bunny, it was always guaranteed to make him feel better after a horrible day. Xander knew, petting Spike was the thing he would miss the most when Spike's memory returned. The mortal didn't how he would cope without constant access to his Sweetling. He forced the concerns from his mind and returned his attention to the increasingly passionate kiss.

He slid his tongue over the vampire's teeth, finding their smooth texture fascinating. He danced his tongue around the back of them as the vampire's fangs emerged. He was willing to admit that the mortal danger those fine points of bone represented heightened his arousal. Angel told him that a Childe never bites or drinks the blood of their Sire without permission, so he knew he was safe with or without the chip. It was just the idea of what those teeth had done.

Will's panting became whimpering and Xander could feel his body vibrating with the amplified rumbling purr. The vampire's hands drifted under the young man's shirt and traced patterns over his abdomen. Xander's fingernails travelled down along the vampire's throat, scratching trails to his collarbone. Will broke the kiss and howled, shifting to his true visage. Xander's fingers returned to his face, "Ssh, it's alright, I won't hurt you. Ssh, it's OK Sweetling."

The vampire returned Xander's hands to his throat. "More, Precious, more, now." He leaned in for another kiss careful to keep his fangs from piercing his Sire's lips. Even without his complete memory intact Spike was demanding.

Xander chuckled as he scratched his way toward his sweet vampire's nipples. He rubbed around and across them until they were hard nubs under his fingers. At Will's whine, he pulled the tee shirt up over the blond head, dropping it to the floor, grateful that men did not wear bras. Confusing Xander, Will continued to whine when Xander attempted to re-establish the kiss. The mortal understood when the vampire pulled at his shirt. He figured turn about was fair play and allowed his Childe to divest him of the unnecessary garment.

As soon as his Sire's naked chest was revealed Will dove down for a taste. Licking and nibbling until Xander was moaning and trying to pull him back up for another kiss. Xander opened his eyes just in time to see the evil glint in the yellow orbs, before Will took advantage of his vampiric speed and strength. He pushed and pulled, rearranging them on the couch with his Sire lying on his back and Will straddling his thighs.

The vampire leaned down and resumed his exploration of his Sire's torso with his lips and tongue. Somehow he managed to force himself back into his human guise, so when he nibbled his way along Xander's hip bone, the mortal felt only blunt teeth.

Xander wondered if he was going to explode. It felt like the mouth dancing over his body breathed fire. Every place his sweet vampire touched him tingled as if a thousand pins danced under his skin. Will was concentrating on his abdomen, but he felt like the entire surface of his skin had been lit with holiday sparklers, with one major exception. His increasingly hard shaft was maliciously ignored. Xander was sure somewhere in the deep recesses of the injured vampire's mind Spike was laughing. He moved lower and around Xander's groin never coming close enough to touch the part of Xander's body screaming out for that cool mouth.

When Xander was beginning to think it was possible to come without any contact between Will's mouth and his cock, the vampire shifted. He unzipped his Sire's paints and yanked pulling them, the underwear and Xander's socks off in one swift move. The human was beginning to wonder why the room felt warmer with fewer clothes on, when suddenly his cock was enveloped in a delectable coolness that only inflamed the fire raging in his body. Will continued to lick, suck and lightly nip at the new object of his focus. Xander thought he might be hyperventilating. He wondered if being fucked to death could feel this good. He forced his hands away from the couch arm over his head and back to the vampire's satiny hair.

The young man didn't know what he wanted, but he wanted more. Xander yanked the hair in his hands, trying to use the bleached locks as reins for the annoying head. He knew it must hurt, but the vampire leaned into the touch as if Xander was still caressing him with the flower.

Will hummed around his Sire's cock. Xander forced his eyes open and the sight of his Childe's beautiful lips around his penis almost pressed down to the base nearly undid him. Then Will looked up, meeting Xander's eyes, and swallowed. Xander arched up off the couch, every muscle in his body tensed, he could only release the tension one way. He came in that amazing mouth, watching blue eyes smile as the vampire continued to swallow.

Xander sank back down on the couch. He pulled his sweet vampire up to rest on his chest while Xander tried to remember how to breathe. The human knew what he wanted this time, but he needed to wait until the fuzzy little dots of light stopped dancing behind his eyelids. He rocked and petted the vampire while he waited. The low rumbling continued to come from Will's chest. It was strong enough that Xander felt the vibrations in his own chest. He rolled off the couch taking his sweet vampire with him.

Xander brought them to his bed, pushing his Childe down and falling on top of him. Xander wanted to taste Will, every inch of skin he could find and then to find out if vampire and human semen tasted the same. "Slow and gentle," he reminded himself. It almost worked to calm him down then he noticed the skin on the vampire's chest was glowing a near human pink. The blush deepen the closer it crawled to Will's groin. The shaft between his legs a pink plum appearing virtually deep purple against the surrounding pale flesh.

It was too much to resist. Xander ignored everything else and licked the clear drops pooling at the head. William tasted pleasant, not the salty bitter taste Xander knew from when he'd tested his own come. It was salty, but the underlying flavour was rich, coppery and not bitter. He couldn't wait to try more. He glanced back up at his sweet vampire and held his breath in awe.

Will's head was pressed all the way back, exposing the cords of his neck. Xander swore he could almost see a pulse in the stretched jugular. The vampire's eyes were squeezed shut and he was chanting one word repeatedly, "Precious. Precious. Precious." Xander punctuated each word by licking the vampire's cock from base to tip. He pulled the foreskin down and swirled his tongue around the head and sucked it into his mouth. Will's hands flew from shredding the sheets to his Sire's shoulders. Instead of the painful grip of talons Xander expected, the man felt his hair gently stroked and carded in the same manner he used to soothe the vampire. The mortal decided to reward his Childe and sucked his erection down as far he could before gagging.

Xander tasted as much of his sweet vampire's cock as he could get his tongue around. Moving his tongue and lips to get better access. He inhaled threw his nose and consciously relaxed the muscles in his throat. The vampire's length slid further in and he could hear the chanting above him speed up and begin to lose coherency.

Xander decided to try some of the things Anya did that he enjoyed so much. He discovered that lightly running his teeth along the skin of Will's penis was the quickest way to bring the vampire to the edge. Cupping and rolling Will's balls in one hand while running the fingers of the other along the sensitive skin behind the testicles was enough to send the vampire over the edge.

Xander swallowed trying to keep some of the fluid in his mouth. It was thick rich and different, almost like the holiday wine at Willow's house. Ho Hos took a permanent back seat as his favourite snack food. If his Childe's semen tasted this good, what would the vampire's blood taste like?

Xander had to find out. Angel said, that just a little vampire blood was not enough to turn a full grown human. It was too much to resist. He licked his sweet vampire clean, turned and bit the pale thigh next to his face hard enough to break the skin. He tasted the first rich drops of blood and began to suck, causing the vampire beneath him to howl and come again.

Xander woke up, hard and with a cold body wrapped around his own, completely disgusted with himself. The sweet creature in his arms was helpless and completely dependent on him. Xander was his caregiver and teacher. He'd just experienced the most erotic dream of his life. As a healthy young man in his prime, sex was never very far from his thoughts, but this was disgusting.

He checked Spike for any signs of bruising or bite marks, hoping he had not acted on the dream images. Satisfied it was only a dream, Xander rose from the bed. He felt horrible. This was worse then anything his father or uncles ever did to him. He was having dreams of sexually violating his Childe. It was time to call Angel and maybe turn Spike's care over to his real Sire. Xander was obviously worse at parenting than his mother and father.

*****