Angel looked down at the letter in his hand, then back up at the deliverer. “What is this?”

Anya looked back at the dark vampire. “A letter from Spike.” She sat in a chair opposite Angel’s, across the wide oak desk.

“Why do I have it? And don’t tell me it’s because it’s addressed to me.”

Anya shrugged and glanced at her feet. She shifted her legs, crossing them at the ankles, admiring her new shoes. “Spike needs access to his accounts and you are going to give it to him.” She reached down and rubbed at the toe of one black shoe, removing a smudge that marred its patent leather perfection.

“And why would I do that?” Angel growled at his visitor.

“Because, it’s his money. I did research. I found that all of the accounts listed in that letter, along with these additional accounts…” She opened her purse and pulled out a small piece of notepaper that she shoved at Angel. “…Were initially opened with funds withdrawn from the account of one William Bradley Jamison. That particular account was set up in 1872 by the affore mentioned Mr. Jamison. You will release those accounts to him, because they are the end result of Spike going to college and working as a lawyer for five years before you and your crazy entourage killed him. Now cough up the names and access codes so that I can go practice walking down the catwalk again.” Anya scowled at the demon before her, unknowingly intimidating the hell out of him.

Angel silently reached under his desk and pulled out a ledger. He picked up a pen and began jotting notes from the book in front of him. “Fine. Here are the codes. Why are you doing this for Spike? Your boyfriend hates him!”

Anya took the proffered paper, examining it to ensure that all the information was present before folding it to fit into her purse. “I am not my boyfriend. I like Spike. I even admire him. He, like me, was pulled from his life without warning and without choice. He is a survivor and I will help him in any way I can because I know exactly what he is going through. Unlike you, I care for my friends; I consider them family.”

She shook her head as Angel tried to speak. “If you were any kind of demon, you have rushed to your childe’s side as soon as you heard that he had been attacked and violated.” She ignored Angel’s indrawn breath and continued. “Regardless of whether or not you were his actual sire, you are his family and instead of coming and getting him and taking care of your own, Spike had to beg his mortal enemy for asylum…”

Anya took a deep breath and stood. “You are nothing in this Angel. You gave up your rights to anything of Spike’s when you didn’t come for him. We done?” Angel nodded mutely and Anya strode out the door, following the sounds of laughter towards the ballroom.

*****

Giles stood in the doorway of the Magic Shop, smoking a cigarette he had found stashed under the research table. Spike wasn’t the only one in the family that knew how to snoop. Xander had just called to let him know that he and Spike would be at the shop right after sunset.

Giles could tell from the lad’s tone that something serious had happened. He was fearful of what had happened this time with that bloody incapacitating chip. Giles glanced up at the clock on the wall and took one last drag off of his cigarette. He crushed it out against the wall and threw the butt into the trashcan just inside the door.

Giles stalked back to his office and at down in his chair. He was about halfway through a book on microchips and it was very slow reading. The bell rang and he gratefully rose from his chair to walk into the main room of the store.

He stopped at the looks on the two men’s faces. “What on earth has happened?”

Spike fell heavily into a chair, ignoring his nephew.

“Mrs. Sanderson happened. We’re not sure how, but she’s done something to Spike’s chip. It’s not working at all from what we can tell.” Xander sat in the chair beside Spike, dropping his head to the table and rolling his forehead along the surface.

Stunned, Giles sat across the table from them.

“Really? It doesn’t work at all?” Xander lifted his head enough to shake it before dropping it back to the table.

“We really haven’t tested it, but it hasn’t fired since last night.” Xander’s voice was muted as he spoke to his shoes.

“Spike?” Giles was concerned about the lack of reaction from the vampire.

Xander glanced over at him and commented, “He’s been like this since we left her apartment a couple of hours ago.”

Spike jerked his head up to look at the watcher.

“Go ahead and dust me. I won’t fight you.” The blond leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, placing his hands on the arms of the chair to insure that they wouldn’t interfere with the stake he knew was on its way.

“He keeps saying that, too.” Xander stood and roamed into the training room, slamming the door behind him. Giles heard the heavy bag begin to swing as Xander hit it.

“Spike, look at me.” When he was ignored, Giles swiftly moved his chair around the table and pulled at the vampire’s chair to turn it to face him. When Giles was knee to knee with Spike, he tried again. “Spike.” Giles reached out and touched the vampire’s knee. Spike slowly drew his head up and looked into the watcher’s face.

“You know, I was really ok with the pain. You want to know why?” Giles nodded. “Because I’m a ponce. I bloody care about you soddin’ humans! I care about what happens to you and I care about what happens to Glinda and, God help me, I care about the bloody Whelp! I’d still like to kill the Slayer, but this is the first time that I have actually been happy since Angelus left! I was ok with the pain…” Spike’s voice wavered and tears began to fill his eyes.

Spike began to plead with his nephew. “Please, Rupert, stake me. I don’t think I can handle being rejected by yet another family. I can’t live alone any more, please stake me.” The tears began to roll down Spike’s face as he begged for his own death. “Please,” he breathed.

Giles sat back in his chair, astounded. The vampire didn’t want the chip out. The vampire considered them his family and feared their rejection. The vampire was more human than Giles felt at this moment.

“No,” he said softly. Spike jumped up, roaring and in game face.

“Stake me, you fucker!” He attacked Giles and the training room door flew open.

“Giles!” Xander flew across the room, trying to pry Spike’s hands from around Giles’ throat. Giles let go of one of Spike’s arms and waved Xander away.

“N…n..nno,” he hissed through his mostly closed throat.

Spike released him and fell to the floor, his face in his hands. “Why not?”

Giles stood and rubbed his throat. He looked down at the broken man in front of him and then at the white-faced young man clinging to the counter. “Because we care about you, too.”

*****

As Anya roamed the hotel, she bumped into something big and pretty. “Hello.” She smiled into a bright green face with red eyes.

“I don’t believe we’ve met!” Lorne smiled brightly at the small blonde woman in front of him.

“No… I don’t believe we have.”

Lorne extended a hand to Anya who daintily shook it. “I’m Lorne.”

“Anya.”

“Well, then, now we’ve met. Can I buy you a drink?” He offered Anya his elbow and she snaked her arm through it.

“Sure!” The odd pairing walked out of the hotel, chattering loudly.

*****

“Spike?” Xander pushed open the bedroom door.

“Yeah, pet?”

“Can I come in?” Xander stopped the door’s progress, waiting for an answer from the blond.

A sigh.

“Yeah, pet.” Xander nudged the door up against the wall and walked to the edge of Spike’s bed.

The three men had studiously overlooked Spike’s breakdown in the shop. After Spike had cried himself out on the floor, Giles had offered each of them a shot of something that had made Xander’s toes curl. Spike had then shaken off his melancholia and brought out the Big Bad.

Giles, Spike and Xander then went out to patrol. They had dusted only one vamp in a two-hour period before Giles had given in and admitted that there really wasn’t much use in patrolling and everyone could go home. Xander and Spike had driven back to the apartment in silence.

Spike had gone to bed as soon as he walked in the door. Xander couldn’t. He had too many unanswered questions running through his mind, hence his standing at the foot of Spike’s bed in the middle of the night.

“Did you want something, Xander?” Startled, Xander looked down at the man in the bed.

“Um… I kinda wanted to talk about…” He glanced back at the door, considering if he could walk out and then, in the morning, convince Spike that this had all been a dream.

“You want to know why I kissed you?” Xander nodded wordlessly.

Spike sighed and sat up in the bed, insuring that his blankets covered him to the waist.

“C’mere.” He patted the bed next to him. Xander crawled up the bed, settling in next to the vampire.

“I kissed you because I wanted to. You’re bloody funny and sexy, and I wanted to see what it would be like to kiss you.” Spike looked into Xander’s chocolate eyes, willing the boy to believe him.

“And now?” Xander’s question went almost unheard by Spike’s vampiric hearing.

“What do you mean, Whelp?”

“Now that the chip isn’t working and you can leave and become a Master vamp again…” Xander’s voice fell off.

“I am a Master Vampire. Nothing can change that, I earned that title.” Spike frowned at the younger man, who flinched away at Spike’s harsh tone.

“The difference is, now I am a Master with no electronic leash to curtail his activities, is that what you’re thinking?” Xander nodded again.

“Well, I still have a bloody leash, just not one that zaps my brain.” At Xander’s baffled look, he continued. “I bloody well care about you. You, Xander. I don’t want to see you hurt in any way, and that includes being hurt by me. You understand that? Do I still want to kiss you? Gods, yes. But I will not get in between you and Demon girl. I was second choice for too long. Won’t do it ever again.” With that, Spike rolled over and feigned sleep until Xander crept out of his bed, shutting the door quietly behind him.

*****

Xander stood outside the door, considering. He wasn’t sure if this was a good idea. He turned to leave when the door unexpectedly opened, revealing a smiling Mrs. Sanderson.

“Alexander, my dear, how are you? Please, come in.” She waved him into her home with an elegant sweep of her arm.

Xander walked into the sitting room to find the expected cup of tea waiting for him.

He sat down and picked up the cup and saucer, staring into its depths. “What did you do to us?”

Mrs. Sanderson responded in a gentle voice, sensing how on edge the man in front of her was. “I didn’t do anything to you. I made that soap, hoping that it would let you seek out what you desired most. It is not a spell to make you act a certain way; it is a charm of sorts. It helps you to focus and embrace your feelings without allowing them to strain you. Does that make sense?”

Xander nodded and sipped his tea.

“So, I’m not under a spell to… like Spike?”

“No, my dear. No spell. All the soap did was allow you to admit your feelings to yourself. I knew that you two boys wanted to be together. I just found a way to allow that without interfering too directly. All it did was open your eyes. Nothing else.” She looked deeply into the befuddled eyes before her. “Alexander, I did not put a spell on you or William. The feelings you have are your own and they are reciprocated, I assure you.”

“What about the chip?” Xander’s whisper attracted the attention of the feline sitting at the Wiccan’s side.

“I knew that William was out of balance and in pain. I did not know what caused it, but I fixed it.” Mrs. Sanderson brushed her fingertips along the fine line surrounding the brim of her all but transparent cup as she watched Xander’s response.

Xander stood and kissed Mrs. Sanderson on the cheek. “Thank you.” He leaned back down to rub Baggins on the head before walking out the door and up to his apartment.

*****

The days faded into routine. Spike and Xander would spend the morning in their separate beds, each contemplating the other, and the afternoon on the sofa, alternately watching sports and movies. The nights were spent patrolling. Riley wasn’t seen while the girls were gone and Tara remained hidden in her dorm room, completing her class work so that she would be free to begin her research.

Xander knew that Spike wasn’t hunting. He never left Xander’s sight except to sleep, and he hadn’t been sneaking out at night, Xander was sure of that. He had checked more than once.

Saturday afternoon, Spike, Xander, Tara and Giles sat at the research table in the Magic Box, beefing up their knowledge of Bermuda. No mention was made of the two kisses or of the now defunct chip.

“Hey, can we go here?” Xander pointed at a picture of a nude beach.

Tara blushed and Giles cleaned his glasses. “I think not.”

Spike smirked at the Watcher and continued his research into the tunnels that Tara had discovered on the island.

“This is interesting,” Tara commented. She read aloud, “Devil’s Hole is a natural pool where visitors can catch Bermuda Fish, sharks, green Moray eels and other interesting specimens with hookless lines.” She smiled at the thought of being able to be so close to nature.

“That is interesting. Anyplace else that we might see beasties in the natural?” Tara glanced up to insure that Spike wasn’t making fun of her before she answered.

“Yes, there are several places on the island that you can go to intermingle with nature. There are also over one hundred shipwrecked crafts that are accessible.” Spike and Giles shared a look before closing their respective books.

“Time to look at shipwrecks.”

*****

Xander and Spike stumbled into the apartment in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

“Ugh.” Spike silently agreed with Xander’s assessment as they pulled off their slimy clothes before they entered the living room.

“You know, you could start wearing underwear,” Xander commented wryly as Spike’s naked ass twitched across the room away from him.

“You know, you could stop wearing underwear.” Spike pointedly looked at Xander’s Blue M&M boxers. “Very manly, pet.”

“Hey! He’s on a motorcycle! That’s manly! There’s flames all over!” Xander quit arguing when he realized that Spike had beaten him to the shower. “Well, crap.” Xander used his shirt to rub the slime off of his arms and ankles before wandering into the kitchen to get a beer. He pulled a towel out of the hallway closet and spread it out on the couch, falling heavily onto it.

The remote was on the other side of the room, so Xander stared at the blank TV as he waited for Spike to finish in the shower.

He lifted the bottle to his lips and swallowed a mouthful. He listened as Spike began singing loudly. He didn’t recognize the tune, but enjoyed the sound of the other man’s voice.

He woke to the sight of Spike kneeling between his knees, hands on Xander’s thighs. “Wake up, Whelp.” Spike’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. Xander reached out with his beerless hand and stroked the strong angle of Spike’s cheekbone.

“Pretty…” Xander breathed.

Spike took the half-full beer bottle and placed it on the table before grabbing Xander’s hands and pulling him up off the couch. The towel stuck to Xander’s back and Spike tugged at it to get it off.

“Into the shower with you.” Spike gave Xander a little shove towards the doorway. Xander smiled and went into the bathroom.

Spike looked after the other man in wonder. It had been an eternity since someone had touched him without guile. Drusilla’s caresses were harsh and demanding. She drew blood even with her softest touch. Harmony, well, she’d had no idea that he might actually want her to touch him back.

However, there had been… no not going to revisit there.

Xander’s touch had scorched him. That innocent caress had almost made his dead heart start beating again. The kisses… the kisses were incredible, but this touch… He closed his eyes and drew his fingertips over the skin that was still tingling from the younger man’s hand.

Spike sighed and walked to his bedroom, stopping outside the door to the bathroom, scenting the air. Finally, he walked into his room and climbed into to bed to wait for the sunrise, thankful that Anya would be returning later today. Maybe he would be able to make it until she got home without kissing the boy again.

*****

Xander stood under the spray of hot water, lost in his own mind. Spike’s skin was cool and soft and smooth. He compared the vampire’s skin to others that he had touched. No one else compared. His fingers tingled where they had touched Spike’s face.

He turned his thoughts to Anya. Ever since they had moved in together he had wondered if he really wanted to be with her. She was bright and fun to be around, but…

He didn’t know what to think. He finished washing with the soap that he and Spike had bought the night after Anya had left, and wasn’t that a fun trip? They had spent an hour on the shampoo aisle of Super Wal-Mart while Spike sniffed and critiqued every item on the shelves. He had finally gone with the first brand he had picked up.

They had spent less than ten seconds on the soap aisle. Spike had buzzed through, tossed a red bathing sponge and a bottle of St. Ives Cucumber Melon bathing gel into the basket and then headed towards the register.

Xander inhaled the scent of the gel Spike had chosen. It was comforting and familiar, but he didn’t know why. He couldn’t place where he knew the scent.

He finished bathing and stepped out of the shower, quickly drying off and dressing in a green wife beater and plaid boxers. He stopped at the door of Spike’s room on the way by, listening breathlessly. He then went into his bedroom and fell onto the bed, face down and spread eagled. He stayed awake until dawn, hoping that Anya would get back before he jumped Spike and kissed him again.

THE TRIANGLE 8