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[lit_gal]

Once upon a time there was Kin of the Heart where Angel and Xander learned to be friends. Now we're working towards something entirely different.

Kin of the Soul
Slash: Angel/Xander, Angel/Spike
Rated: ADULT
banner by objectivelypink


Still spurting!!  FOUR chapters in three days... and finally we might have a few answers here... either that or people are lying. ;)

( Part One ) ( Part Two ) ( Part Three ) ( Part Four ) ( Part Five ) ( Part Six ) ( Part Seven ) ( Part Eight ) ( Part Nine ) ( Part Ten ) ( Part Eleven ) ( Part Twelve ) ( Part Thirteen ) ( Part Fourteen ) ( Part Fifteen ) ( Part Sixteen ) ( Part Seventeen ) ( Part Eighteen ) ( Part Nineteen ) ( Part Twenty ) ( Part Twenty-One ) ( Part Twenty-Two ) ( Part Twenty-Three ) ( Part Twenty-Four ) ( Part Twenty-Five ) ( Part Twenty-six ) ( Part Twenty-Seven ) ( Part Twenty-eight ) ( Part Twenty-nine ) ( Part thirty )  ( Part Thirty-one )  ( Part Thirty-Two ) ( Part Thirty-Three ) ( Part Thirty four )



"If he can track me, this is feeling a little pointless," Xander said, watching as Spike knelt down beside a car and picked the lock.

"Just try to call Cordelia again," Spike muttered around the lock pick sticking out of his mouth. Xander sighed. Vampires. You couldn't explain anything to them without them thinking you were trying to tell them what to do. Xander pulled out his cell phone and tried Cordelia's number again. They'd all agreed to keep the cell phones powered down at the lair, so he didn't give himself good odds of getting through. Yeah, Angel was an idiot with technology, but none of them were willing to bet their security on Angelus overlooking the ability to track them. Of course, that had been before they knew Angelus had an old-fashioned tracking spell.

"What?" Cordelia snapped through the phone.

"Cordy?"

He was answered by a sigh. "Xander," she said in that tone of voice that meant she was trying really hard to not yell at him. Oddly, his mother had that same tone of voice. "Unless you are about to be eaten by something big and hairy, you need to get back here and confiscate all the plumbing tools. We do not hand you powerful explosives and send you out into the world, and you should not hand Graham a tool and expect him to do anything other than hit things with it. Clear?"

Xander blinked as he considered the damage Graham could have done. "Um, totally," he agreed. "Did he find the shut-off valve?"

"Eventually." From the way Cordelia said the word, it hadn't been fast enough.

"Are there any working toilets left?" If there weren't, they could add lair shopping to the list. Actually, they'd probably need to do that anyway because Xander knew where the lair was, and he was not betting on his ability to not share that information with Angelus once he was captured. Nope. Xander was an idiot, but he wasn't a big, huge idiot, and Spike wouldn't expect him to be. The minute Angelus thought to ask where the lair was, Xander was going to sing like a song bird... like a record player... like Wesley. Hell, Xander didn't even mind that Wesley was doing the magic thing because if he didn't do the magic thing, they'd find pieces of him all down 7th street and Xander's stomach could not take that.

"Yes, we still have toilets, but we also have a very large mess that you helped make by letting Graham touch tools."

"We kinda have a mess, too."

"What is it?" All the frustration vanished from her voice.

"Angelus has a tracking spell on me. Spike had some magical light doo-dad, but we're doing the running for our lives bit."

There was a long silence on the other end, and Xander could just picture her expression.

"What's the plan?" she asked.

"Other than not coming back to the lair? I'm kinda clueless. Spike has gone all non-talkative."

Spike opened the door on the fancy car he'd decided to steal. "I was trying to work, pet. Here, hand it over." Spike held out his hand, and Xander surrendered the phone. The less he knew the better.

"We're heading over to Wolfram and Hart," Spike said. Well, there went the whole plan to keep him out of the loop. Xander rolled his eyes. "Be ready to move if you don't hear from us in an hour." Spike looked over the top of the gray car. "If Angelus catches us, can you hold on an hour?" Spike asked.

"If it meant giving them time to run, absolutely," Xander agreed. Spike nodded in approval.

"We'll check in every hour. We miss by more than five minutes, you move, and you move somewhere that Xander and I don't know, so don't go back to Gunn."

Spike listened for a long time, his expression growing softer with each passing moment.

"No worries, luv. He's tried to kill me more than once, and he hasn't exactly done a bang-up job. We're going to see if we can get this tracking spell off, and then we'll be back, safe as houses. Keep an eye on the slayer because she's the other one the big lug is talking about reclaiming."

Spike listened to the phone and gestured for Xander to get into the stolen car. With another eyeroll, Xander pulled down his sleeve over his hand before he opened the passenger side door. Considering his luck, the police would find his fingerprints and arrest him. Then again, arrested would probably be a lot safer than unarrested right now.

"No," Spike told Cordelia as he got in and used his knee to crack the casing around the steering wheel. "He threatened ta torture me if I killed Faith, and he's still calling Xander his husband, so I'm figurin' he wants to reclaim them more than kill them. Mind you, that means Graham is in a world of hurt. Faith loves him, so Angelus will use that to keep her at his side. Right now, I don't know if he'd chain Graham up in the basement and torture him whenever Faith brasses him off or if he'd turn Graham and make him a loyal minion or childe who would keep an eye on Faith. I don't think we want to find out, either."

With practiced ease, Spike hotwired the car while still holding the phone up with his shoulder and listening.

"Just be safe," Spike finally said before he pulled the phone down and hit the end button. He tossed the phone back to Xander and pulled out into traffic. "If Angelus touches one hair on her head, I'm going to turn him into a pile of dust." From the tone, Spike wasn't kidding, either.

"Will he?"

"Will he what?"

"Hurt her."

Spike didn't answer right away, and Xander supposed that was an answer—not one he liked, but an answer. "He'll most likely turn her," Spike finally answered. "Some demons, like vampires, go straight for the violence. But there are plenty of demons who consider verbal intimidation an art form, and she's a bloody genius at it. She's got a reputation in the demon community, so he'll probably want to keep that."

"But she won't be your Cordelia," Xander said softly. Spike already had one lover pick Angelus over him and a vamped Cordelia would want her sire. Xander didn't even want to think about how much that would hurt.

"We won't ever find out because Peaches isn't getting anywhere near her." Spike vamped out and glared at the traffic murderously. If Angelus wanted to play mind games on them, Xander figured he was actually doing a pretty good job.

"Oh hey, what do you mean he called me husband?"

Spike glanced over. "He keeps calling you m'fhear."

"Which means man, but in a fond way... right?" Xander frowned as it dawned on him that Angel wasn't always one for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"Yeah, I suppose it does, but if I called you 'my man,' I think it's slightly more than fondness, pet. The same word means husband."

Xander stared at Spike and tried to figure out how he felt about that. Angel calling him husband, but being too Angelish to tell him it meant husband was actually sweet in a neurotic kind of way. Angelus calling his husband.... Xander thought about their last time together, the way he'd moved with more confidence, his hands on Xander's waist holding him down.

"He loves me," Xander said slowly.

Spike answered with a half shrug. "I don't know if the bastard can love anyone except himself, luv. He loves how you look at him—he loves the way you want him. He's right, you know. Even down there, you looked to him for answers. If he'd caught you first, would you have even been sorry?"

Xander stared at the passing traffic and chewed on his lip. He didn't know the answer to that question, but it wasn't making him happy to even think about it.

"Yeah, thought so. As long as you're that loyal, he's going to value you. I don't think he's had that kind of devotion much in his life. I know he never had it in his unlife. The sorry bastard really doesn't have a lot of people who would choose him over a pint of fucking ale."

"You would," Xander said. Spike didn't answer as he stared out the front window. Hell, last time Angelus had come out, Spike had come running when he'd called. But now... now he had to choose between protecting Cordelia and being with the only part of his vampire clan that still wanted him, and Xander didn't doubt for a second that Angelus wanted him.

"We're quite the pair," Spike finally said.

"Yep," Xander agreed. "Fucked and Fuckeder."

Spike gave a snort of laughter as he took a turn. "That we are. But it doesn't mean the bastard has us beat yet. We get this tracking spell off you, and then we find the witch before Angelus can rip her throat out. I find people don't generally provide many answers after their vocal cords have been ripped out of their necks."

"Small problem. Actually, a couple of small problems, but the first would be that we've been looking for Jenny and we haven't found her yet. Even Willow is coming up with a big zero."

Spike's snort made it pretty clear that he didn't trust Willow's answers, but Xander did.

"Hey, after her close encounter of the legal kind, she is not going to side with Jenny Giles on anything. She got fingerprinted. They took her mug shot and put her in a military holding cell until Giles could come up with bail and gave her a military defense lawyer and made her go into court and everything. Do you have any idea how totally freaked she was? No way is she going to keep any more secrets. She's scared so straight she's afraid to bend over and tie her shoes."

"Don't bloody care," Spike answered. "Besides, we don't need the witch. Angel's been so concerned about playing by the rules that he hasn't used all his resources."

"Resources as in ripping out of throats?" Xander guessed.

"Threats of, anyway. Wolfram and Hart has offered to help track her, but Angel is trying to live by some moral code he doesn't even fucking understand. He wouldn't even talk about taking help from that lot."

"Not hanging out with bad guys and taking evil favors really isn't a bad moral rule," Xander pointed out. He then grabbed for the dash as Spike raced a truck for an open parking space. The owner of the truck laid on his horn for a long second and then promptly peeled out, his tires spinning against the pavement and sending smoke up into the air, so Xander was guessing Spike had vamped out on the guy. In LA, road rage had a whole new meaning.

Spike stopped the car and turned to really look at Xander. "For you, maybe. I'm a demon, pet. I lost my soul a long time ago, and if it takes evil to get what I want, I don't have a problem with that. I've fought over at Wolfram and Hart's fight club, Twenty-One, a half dozen times, and I've taken out a half dozen of their best slaves. I got some good violence and a share of the take. They got to make arse loads of money advertising that they had a Master Vampire fighting in their ring. As long as everyone got something they wanted, it worked out."

"But—"

"No arguments. You don't get a vote in this, and that means you don't carry the blame and you don't get to whinge."

"Pointing out the truth does not whining make... or even whinging."

"Your truth, pet. And with the soul, it might have even been Angel's truth. But the rules have changed, and I'm not going to play by Angel's rules. If he doesn't like that, he can get his pansy-arsed soul back into his body and tell me himself." Spike opened the door and Xander had the feeling that the debate was over. Vampires. He got out and looked up at the tall building.

"This is such a bad idea," Xander said softly, but no one had asked him for his vote. Spike strode toward the front door in all his vampy glory—coat billowing after him. Feeling like the ugly stepsister, Xander followed. "Such a very bad idea," he muttered as he followed into the lobby of Wolfram and Hart's big old office building.

"Welcome to Wolfram and Hart, attorneys at law. How can I direct you?" A woman with a perky smile asked. For some reason, her smile made Xander shiver, and he briefly wondered if it was rude asking someone their species.

"Lilah Morgan, please," Spike asked in a voice way more polite than Xander normally heard from him.

"Spike!" A woman called out his name with affection as she came out of an elevator. She looked like corporate Barbie with her tailored suit and smile, and Xander's backbone wasn't just shivering—it was doing the mambo. "A little birdie told me you were coming."

"The little birdie tell you anything else, luv?" Spike asked as he took her hands and gave her a peck on the cheek the way French people did in the movies Angel liked—the ones you had to read.

"Oh, all sorts of things. I hear you have a small problem."

"A small one," Spike agreed.

"We specialize in solutions. I'm sure we can work out a deal." Lilah pulled back and gave Xander a quick glance before focusing on Spike. "So, are you looking for information or perhaps just someone's head in a nicely gift-wrapped box."

"If I wanted someone's head in a box, I'd put it there myself," Spike said firmly. "I just need to know where I can find the person whose head I'm about to remove."

"So, the only question is who you plan to target."

"The only question is how much you plan ta charge," Spike corrected her.

She laughed. "Have I mentioned how much I enjoy doing business with someone so practical?" Lilah smiled at them and stepped aside with a gesture toward the elevator. "So many of our clients are all 'should we' this and 'what if' that. They just do not appreciate the services we offer." Lilah made the doubting clients sound unreasonable, but Xander was starting to think doubting these people was the smart thing. And while normally he was totally willing to trust Spike's ability to protect him, this was feeling so very not smart. He glanced over at the doors that led out onto the street and then at Spike. Spike cocked an eyebrow at him, but he kept on talking to Lilah.

"I always appreciate your services, pet." Spike gave Lilah a leer that would have sent most women running for a sexual harassment lawyer. This woman just leered right back. It was kinda creepy.

"Any time you need servicing, you know I'm here." Lilah actually wiggled her ass at Spike before heading for the elevator. "Does your human need anything?" she asked as she got on and kept the doors from sliding shut with her hand.

"Eyes off, luv," Spike warned, but Lilah's eyes hadn't actually been on Xander for more than a quick glance, and she didn't even twitch when Spike went all yellow-eyed glare. "I brought him here because someone put a tracking spell on him, and I need it taken off."

"Well, that's disappointing. And here I thought you were going to bring me something challenging."

"Might be that I need some information on a cyber-witch. Let's talk about the price for getting the tracking spell off my human, first."

"Fair enough." Lilah gave Spike another smile as the doors started to slide shut and then the whole world flashed brilliant white. Xander stumbled back, his eyes burned by the brightness, like when he'd been a kid and Willow told him not to look at the sun so he had looked just to prove she was wrong when she'd said it would burn his eyes out. He'd seen spots for a week, but right now, seeing spots would be an improvement over the absolute whiteness that filled his vision. Xander couldn't even see Spike.

Blinking against the light, Xander looked around at a room full of a whole lot of nothing. "Okay, this is unsurprisingly unfun. Gee, who would've expected evil tricks in an evil law firm?"

"Ah, if it isn't Mr. Harris. So nice to meet you. I'm Holland Manners." An older man with thinning hair and a creepy smile walked out of the whiteness and offered his hand. Xander just stared at him. While many people had pointed out that he was sometimes not the smartest, even he knew that shaking hands with evil was not high on the smart scale.

"Yes, well, so much for manners." The man pulled his hand back, but he didn't seem upset. Behind him, a chair appeared out of nowhere, and a little girl sat kicking her feet and flipping through a comic book. "I actually wanted to offer our services."

"Evil services?" Xander so did not like where this was going.

"Well, I prefer to think of us as practical rather than evil. Some people just don't appreciate that there is a certainly reality that we all have to deal with. We are simply more realistic about choosing our battles."

"So, you choose battles you can win," Xander summarized.

Holland stopped and really looked at Xander, looked at him like he was one of the stoner kids who sits in the back row and he'd just said something particularly stoned. "Do you choose battles you think you're going to lose?"

Xander thought about that. He'd confronted Angel about being a pedophile back when he'd thought Angel was a killer who would shove him down the nearest storm drain. He'd screamed out a warning to the couple in the park during Angelus' first appearance, and he'd been fairly sure that was going to end badly. He'd tried to stake Spike the first time he'd seen him on the street, and Spike had basically grabbed him by the back of the neck like a naughty puppy and shaken him until his teeth rattled. "Um, actually, yeah. You'd think I'd be dead by now what with all the fighting of losing battles, but obviously I'm tougher than I look."

"I like you," the little girl piped up. "I liked you better when you turned out a vampire."

Xander's backbone was doing the salsa thing again. "I don't think I ever turned out a vampire. And isn't it a little past your bedtime?"

"You turned out a vampire once, but that didn't end right. This should be my sunset."

"Yes," Holland interrupted, "there is a certain protocol when it comes to ending the world."

"We're ending the world?" Xander looked at them in horror. He definitely hadn't gotten that memo.

"We're not ending the world. They're trying to do it all wrong." The little girl crossed her arms and put on a pout that would have made Harmony jealous.

"They are?"

Holland stepped forward and raised a hand like he was going to put it around Xander's shoulder, and then he stopped. "It's all wheels within wheels, isn't it? Well, suffice it to say that we here at Wolfram and Hart are very aware of your problem and willing to take steps to help you solve your problem."

"You want to bring Angel back?" Xander frowned because he definitely wanted Angel back, but unlike Spike, he wasn't so sure that going through an evil law firm was ever a good idea. Ever. Not ever in the history of the whole universe.

"Well, that is still under debate among the Senior Partners. However, I am authorized to help you find Jenny Calendar-Giles." Holland gave Xander a conspiratorial smile.

"And the price?" Xander had no intention of paying any price. He'd read enough stories with evil geniis and backfiring wishes to know that this was going to end so very badly for him. So, he just had to stall and spend a whole lot of time praying that Spike found him.

"No price." Holland backed off and leaned against the chair the little girl was sitting in. "We don't happen to like some of her choices, and if we give you the information, there's a good chance that one of you will kill her. That would fit nicely into our plans."

"You do know that by saying that, I'm really a lot less likely to go along with killing her, right?" Xander looked at the two of them. Why was evil so confusing... and normal looking?

"Unless we're using reverse psychology," the little girl sing-songed and then she giggled.

"We have no ulterior motives here." Holland held up a hand in a placating gesture. "Prophesy is just starting to slide out of our control a little too fast. The entire prognostication department is in an uproar. Two psychics have had their heads literally explode from the force of the visions. And Angel and Spike are in the center of all those visions. We're just trying to clear the field of a few pawns so it's easier to see how all the pieces are laid out on the board."

"And Jenny is a pawn? And why do I suddenly feel very pawnlike myself? And hey, if you try to take me off the board, you do know that Spike is going to be big with the unhappy, right? I mean, your lawyer will be dead before she can say 'wait a minute.'"

"Ms. Morgan knows the danger. After all, she was there when Spike beheaded both purveyors of the demon fighting club on the grounds that they looked at him wrong. I don't think she would be surprised at finding herself dead. That said, we have no intention of removing you. Your death would distract both vampires from the action at hand."

"Ending the world," Xander guessed. Shit. Yep, Angelus was definitely up to his old tricks. Xander's chest tightened in pain as he considered having to stake Angelus, but if he was doing world-ending badness, there were not a whole lot of choices. Angelus had to die. There were some drugs that would make Angelus happy as a clam if he drank Xander's blood. While Xander had always been on the "Just Say No" bandwagon, if it gave Faith and Spike better odds, maybe he should get some of those and let Angelus catch him. Hey, he could get stoned and see if it was as good as Oz always made it look. Xander's eyes burned as he thought about having to live with knowing he'd helped kill the man he loved. He was really considering turning Angelus to dust, and with him, killing the last bits of Angel and the last hope of getting Angel back.

Suddenly the little girl was right there in front of him, and Xander jerked back in shock and fear.

"It should be my choice—I am the ending—I am the omega. I am the face of Ra that watches the world end, but every door, he is there. I should live until I see the sun blink out and the world returned to the darkness that birthed it." Her face shimmered, and pulses of light escaped as if they were slipping past the cells of her body.

"Um, okay?"

Holland stepped forward. "You see, we aren't that interested in timelines. When you work for beings that exist eternally, whether Armageddon is five years or five millennia in the future doesn't really matter much."

"In that case, can I vote for five millennia?"

Oddly, the little girl smiled at him. Holland chuckled. "I admit, I had hoped to pay off my mortgage before any world-ending events. Which brings us back to the point of our little visit. You see, I am the head of Special Projects here at Wolfram and Hart." While Holland was talking, the little girl who clearly wasn't a girl and probably wasn't all that little wandered back over to her chair and threw herself in it. Yep, all the body language screamed annoyed five year old.

"Xander?" Holland called, and Xander focused on the man again. Now Holland looked a little annoyed. He sighed and obviously started over with his little spiel. "My division has been tracking Angel because it is clear that he is a player in the end days, but it's not yet clear which side he's on."

"Um, that might have to do with his whole missing soul," Xander admitted. He figured guys this organized had probably figured that one out already.

"You would think so." Holland's mouth twisted into a grimace. "However, since he lost his soul, the psychics have been dropping like flies, and it's hard to tell which side is ahead at this point. We also have to consider the fact that the Powers that Be helped Mrs. Calendar-Giles with the removal of the soul.

Xander nearly swallowed his tongue. Shit. Shit and more shit. Blair insisted that the Powers were eudaemon who wanted to do the right thing, but if they thought yanking out Angel's soul was good, Xander was putting them on the evil list. That or the stupid list. Stupid was a very real possibility.

Holland kept on going. "Now, I am willing to put my resources and research material up against theirs any day of the week, but it's out of character for them to act directly without some sort of information."

"So, you think his soul coming out was of the good, and that I should help put his soul back in because that would be evil? I'm guessing your research material is not that good or you'd know that sales pitch really sucked. I'm not a fan of evil. Not even when evil would feel good." And Xander had to admit that a little part of him was actually okay with evil if it meant getting Angel back. He knew that part was wrong and on the verge of buying a one-way ticket to hell, but it was still there—whispering.

Holland gave him another of those 'isn't he just the dumbest thing you've ever seen' expressions. "Your masochism is well documented. The office even had quite a betting pool about whether you were ever going to land in Angel's bed or not, so your self-denial is actually quite well known."

"Okay, ewww."

"Especially considering I lost three hundred dollars," Holland said in a voice that made it sound like he was agreeing with Xander, which meant he had obviously been missing the point. Xander was starting to think he was not the only person in the room who had once ridden the short bus to school. "However, the point is that removing the soul may have been good or evil. Restoring it may be good or evil. We don't know. However, we do know that Jenny Giles should not be around to influence current events. Someone changed the flow of time, and a woman who should have died years ago, suddenly survived her fate. Powers have appeared and vanished and reappeared. Entire political careers have risen and others fallen, and all of it is moving against prophesy. Time is shifting. That should not happen." Holland actually looked bothered now, and the little girl was staring at Xander with this intense expression that made him wonder if she wasn't part vampire or something. Spike had that same stare.

"So, you want me to..." Xander let his words trail off because he wasn't sure what they wanted.

Holland gave him a fake-friendly smile. "We are simply providing some information on how to contact the Powers That Be and where a certain cyberwiccan has been seen purchasing supplies. What you do with it is entirely up to you. I can assure you that we are only attempting to..." he waved his hand, "clear the fog so that we can get a better understanding of the forces at work. There is no charge for this information." He raised his hand, and Xander could see a small piece of paper in it. Holland held it out, and Xander twitched. He wanted it. He wanted it badly, but the more he wanted it, the more he really thought he needed to look the gift horse in the mouth. Yeah, everyone said you shouldn't, but if you didn't poke around in the horse's mouth, you ended up with a tired old, worn out nag that ate you out of oats and never pulled a wagon. And sometimes the nag was really a demon wearing a horse skin and it would eat you the minute you turned your back. Yep, some gifts just cost too much to keep.

"Not interested," Xander said, backing up. Holland actually looked surprised. The girl, however, looked downright murderous. Children of the corn murderous, even. She stood up and walked toward him with a loose-gaited motion that didn't look remotely human.

"I am the sunset. I end the light and bring the darkness. Do you dare contradict me?"

"Um, no?" Xander guessed. And really, she was looking like someone you never, ever wanted to contradict. She stopped and blinked at him, and suddenly the child was back, her little-girl smile looking more like a young Harmony than a demonic ender of worlds.

"I will end the world. Sooner or later—that's my job," she announced in a smug voice before she went back to her chair. Holland looked at her, and Xander wondered if maybe someone shouldn't suggest therapy for this whole building. These lawyers had issues. And maybe Spike without his soul was okay hanging with them, but all of them were giving Xander the wiggins so bad he was about to break out in hives.

"I'll escort you back down. But if you ever need our assistance, please know that you are welcome to call on us any time. Honestly, our goals are not mutually exclusive," Holland stepped forward and clapped Xander on the shoulder, and suddenly Xander was in an elevator going down.

"So... I can just go?"

"Of course. You are the consort of a favored client's sire. It's in our best interest to keep our client and you satisfied in any way possible. I'll call Lilah and let her know you will be waiting for Master Spike at the front desk. I'm sure Lilah has finished the incantation to remove the tracking spell. It was a very simple piece of magic, but I have to say, Mr. Windam-Price has some natural talent. You tell your master that if he ever wants to transfer the man's ownership, Wolfram and Hart will pay a fair price."

The elevator doors opened, and Xander found himself looking at the exactly same lobby he'd just left with Spike. The receptionist looked over and smiled at him, and lawyers strolled in and out of the main doors.

"Master Spike will be with you directly," Holland said, and with a little push, he helped Xander out of the elevator and the doors slid shut.