lit_gal | Kin of the Soul

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

So, this is the first Sunday chapter... I hope to have another, but no promises. Two yesterday was pushing it. But, I couldn't leave you guys hanging now that Faith's showed up.

( 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 ) ( Part Thirty-five ) ( Part Thirty-Six ) ( Part Thirty-Seven ) ( Part Thirty-Eight ) ( Part Thirty-nine ) ( Part Forty ) ( Part Forty-one ) ( Part Forty-two ) ( Part Forty-three ) ( Part Forty-four ) ( Part Forty-five )

"New wardrobe?" Faith asked as she wandered toward the stairs.

"The old one was sadly lacking leather," Angelus agreed. Graham was staring up at Faith, his face a riot of emotion that Xander couldn't even hope to understand. However, if he got in the middle and tried to protect Faith, this was going to be even uglier, and from the stake in Faith's hand, this just might get really, really ugly. Xander hurried to Graham's side and caught his arm, pulling him back toward the front desk.

"You sent people after Graham."

Angelus shrugged without denying it, and now he was circling around to take a good position to attack the stairs. "If I sent them after you, you'd kill them all."

"If I find out who you sent, I still will," Faith said with a cocky smile. "So, you really want to throw down with me? Is that why you sent some assholes after Graham?"

"Faith, I'm fine," Graham called out. Faith glanced over, and Xander knew that was a tactical mistake. Graham did too because he flinched, but Angelus didn't strike.

Instead, Angelus kept on talking. "If I want to send someone after you, I will. You are mine, and I did not give you permission to be absent from the court."

"Oh babe." Faith shook her head. "If that's how you want to play this."

"It is. You will acknowledge my claim or I will drop your dead body at Graham's feet." Angelus sounded weirdly cheerful about that, but Xander could see Graham go absolutely pale.

"He doesn't want to kill her," Xander whispered. It was kinda pathetic as far as reassurance went, but it was all he had to offer, and maybe it was enough because Graham let Xander pull him back behind the counter. Faith spared them both a look, and Xander felt guilt curdle in his guts. He was the idiot who had decided to come back, and now she was putting her life on the line for him and Graham. Maybe Spike should leash him so he couldn't go doing anything this stupid again. Angelus wasn't Angel. He would kill Faith if she didn't fit into his neat little idea of clan.

"I'm not that easy to kill. You should know—you trained me to know how to kill vampires."

Angelus chuckled. It was a scary sound. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Angelus laughed outright this time. "Are you afraid Faith? Because if you don't yield, this is your valley of death."

"Somehow, I'm not worried," Faith said with as much brassy arrogance as normal, and that was quite a lot. Xander watched as minions gathered together in corners—corners particularly near the exits. Oh, if Angelus survived this, he was going to turn them all into dust. And oddly, Harmony, who had been out with them the whole time, had now vanished. Graham clutched the counter so tight his knuckles turned white.

"You should—" Angelus didn't finish. Instead he struck out, throwing a knife across the room mid-sentence, and Faith threw herself backwards to avoid the weapon. That left her off balance, and she went to her butt on the stairs, and Angelus leaped into the fight. For a second, they grappled on the stairs, and then they went flying down the stairs, their arms still locked around each other. Graham grabbed for his knife, and Xander caught his wrist.

"Do, and she has to kill him or be killed because he'll gut you." Xander clung to Graham and he prayed that he was giving the right advice because if Angelus killed Faith anyway, Graham was never going to survive. Xander realized that for the first time. As much as Xander had felt like he was dying when Jenny spell had ripped Angel away, that's how much Graham hurt now. Only now, Graham was having to watch it happen and make a decision about whether or not he was going to try to stop it. If this went bad, Graham was never going to forgive himself or Xander, and Xander was going to be right there with him on the unforgiving. "She's been his since she was fifteen years old. He won't want her dead," Xander pleaded, and he wasn't sure if he was pleading with Graham to not get in the middle or pleading with the universe to make it true.

Graham slowly let his fingers relax, and Xander took the knife. If Graham had it, he would be too tempted. It was like him and the vial, and sometimes it was really hard to not do something stupid when the choices were to be stupid or do nothing. Graham's face closed down, all emotions gone as he watched the fight, but Xander could see his fingers grip the counter so hard that the muscles stood out on the back of his hand like cords.

"Getting slow old man," Faith said as she broke away from the close combat. Her lip was bleeding, and she wiped it, smearing the blood across her cheek.

"Clearly, you need a reminder of who is in charge." Angelus actually looked mussed. His shirt was out on one side, and his sword had vanished altogether. Xander looked around, but he couldn't see where it had fallen.

"Not you," Faith said with a snort. "If you want to play daddy with Xander, that's between you two." Xander felt his face flush with heat.

"She's just trying to throw him," Graham whispered, reaching over to put a hand on Xander's arm. And from the look on Angelus' face, she was doing a pretty good job.

"If you want me to play daddy, you don't have to play these games. You won't be the first to call me daddy and beg to please me. And I won't be the first you've begged and spread your legs for and called daddy." Angelus delivered the line with a smug smile that shocked Xander so much that he nearly vomited on the desk. Faith took a step back like he'd slapped her, and her face went cold.

"Oh god, no," Xander whispered. Sometimes he could tell himself that he loved Angelus. Sometimes he could see the fractured remains of Angel left behind, like a broken window that lay on the ground still in the shape of the square, each fragment lying in its spot. But this wasn't Angel. Angel had been the one to reach out for Faith, to try to help her heal from the pain of her past. This... this was a monster who was taking the same memories and twisting them into a weapon. Angelus was all sharp and broken edges that sliced into anyone who got too near.

Faith attacked with a flurry of kicks that drove Angelus back toward the desk. Xander watched the fight with a cold horror slowly settling over him. He had wanted Faith to just surrender, and now he didn't know what he wanted. He wanted to go back to the fifth floor and lay the floor one board at a time, working until he was too old to stand up straight anymore. He wanted to forget that Angelus had said that and find a way to slip back into his comfortable lies. He wanted Faith to stick a stake so far in Angelus that she could erase the words he had just used to rip through her.

Angelus grabbed her, and the fight turned into a close quarters scramble for supremacy and then Angelus went flying backwards into the banister. It snapped, and Angelus reached over and grabbed the broken section of railing, ripping it free and brandishing it like a club. "I never knew you liked being hurt. If that's what you want, I can provide that for you." Angelus smirked.

"You're going to die," Faith said with a cold fury.

"Not today," Angelus said with such cheerfulness that Xander found himself hating Angelus just a little bit more. Faith looked utterly devastated—her anger was carved into every twitch of her body, and she was almost vibrating with rage. She was also on the verge of losing so very badly because Angelus was totally in control. "Today, I think I have a girl who needs to be brought back under control."

"Fuck you," Faith said. She leaped in for an attack. Angelus brought his weapon around, but Faith wasn't that blinded by anger—not yet anyway. She leaped to the side and then spun around, delivering a kick to Angelus' exposed side.

"Again, if you want to fuck, you don't need these games," Angelus offered sweetly.

Faith flew at him, and Xander cringed as he realized she had totally lost all concentration. She left her side totally vulnerable, and Graham cringed even before Angelus' foot caught her in the stomach and sent her crashing against the wall. Xander gasped, and Graham darted out from behind the desk, but before he was halfway across the room, Angelus had Faith's arm up behind her back, and his other arm across her throat.

"Boy," Angelus warned Graham darkly, "on your knees."

Graham stopped, his fists clenched at his sides. Angelus wrenched Faith's arm up behind her, and she gasped in pain. Immediately, Graham dropped to his knees, his back stiff and his fists clenched on his thighs, and Xander had absolutely no idea how to fix any of this. The illusion was gone, and this wasn't Angel. The minions pressed forward, the boldest leaving the doorways and halls where they'd been sheltered in order to watch Angelus... actually, Xander wasn't sure what Angelus was going to do.

"So, you're finally home. Is that idiot childe of mine here? William?" Angelus called up into the hotel. Silence answered him. "So, alone?"

Faith didn't answer until Angelus wrenched her arm up again. Graham jerked, and Faith gasped out, "Yes, I'm alone."

"Your boy there was worried about you," Angelus said, his eyes focusing on Graham. "He was afraid he had put you in a bad situation, but I think he put you in exactly the situation you want to be in."

Xander moved to the front of the desk, his heart breaking just as badly as it had on the day he realized that Angel's soul wasn't trapped or stolen, but just gone. This was his fault. He'd given Angel that moment of perfect happiness, even knowing the curse was there. He'd held Graham back. Xander looked down at his hand where he still had Graham's knife.

Faith didn't answer—she pressed her lips together tightly. Angelus moved forward, forcing Faith to move with him. It was pretty clear that she was fighting with every bit of strength she had, but Angelus just pushed her forward until they were standing right in front of Graham.

Graham had knelt up, his fists at his sides, and his jaw tightly clenched. "Graham here believes I'm a better defense than the military when it comes to the sort of evil that seem to always want the world to end. He confessed to me that he was willing to go to his knees, even to the soul. I wonder. Does he go on his knees for you?"

"Fuck you," Faith cursed, but her words were soft and tired.

"Sir," Graham started to say.

"Shut up," Angelus cut him off. Xander took a step forward, not sure what do to, but he couldn't do nothing. Angelus looked up at him and for one second, the confusion looked just like Angel—the illusion slipped back into place, and Xander sucked in a breath, his heart pounding painfully hard in his chest. Angelus shook his head and looked down at Faith again.

"So, you have some choices. Do you want to hear them?"

"What? You talk me to death?" Faith asked. The sarcasm was forced, and Graham was almost trembling. Xander took another step forward. If he attacked, he was dead, he really didn't have any doubt about that. His mom would probably follow shortly after, but somehow that didn't seem nearly as horrifying as standing still and watching a monster he set loose kill Faith.

"Faith, Faith, Faith," Angelus said in a scolding tone. "What I want is you back in your place, and you've been bad—in front of the minions no less. So, you need to be punished. Should I treat you like one of my clan, like a childe who has done something particularly stupid? Maybe you'd like that. It'd be familiar territory for you." Angelus made a production of sniffing along Faith's neck. "I remember having to bring Spike in line over and over. That boy doesn't look half-bad with a cock in his mouth. Or maybe I should treat you like Graham here and put you on your knees until you remember who your master is. Maybe you will take your place with the humans and bend your neck, offering me your blood. Or maybe you refuse to yield at all, and then this will be the valley of death for you and your boy."

Angelus gave Faith's neck another sniff and then he pushed her roughly away. Graham went to follow, but Angelus put his hand on Graham's shoulder, pushing him back down. "See how I marked your boy?" Angelus asked. He pushed on the side of Graham's neck so that the red marks were clearly visible.

Faith looked at Angelus and then at Xander. Her gaze burned him, it tattooed guilt so deep into his soul, that Xander thought he really might be able to outbrood Angel himself—if Angel weren't dead and gone and if they didn't all have to deal with the monster who'd been left behind. Xander let the hand with the knife fall to the side. If Faith wanted to take it from him, he wouldn't stop her. He wasn't sure if he's stop her if she took it and plunged it into his chest. Actually, that seemed like justice right now.

"So, you mark me, and then we all go back to being one happy family?" Faith circled, but Xander knew there was no way she'd risk jumping Angelus when his hand was resting against Graham's neck.

"You go back to obeying me, and we all go back to being one happy family. Bending your neck in supplication and asking my forgiveness is just how you prove that you'll obey better this time around."

"So, you just want me to roll over and be your bitch?" Faith checked. The words were strangely not-angry, and given just how hard Angelus was pushing her into a corner, Xander couldn't quite figure out where all her angry was.

"You are my slayer. You always have been, and you will either show me that you remember that or I will remind you again. Boy, explain to her why you would stay with me, even if I gave you the chance to walk out that door right now."

For a second, Graham just bit his lip, but Angelus leaned a knee into Graham's back in warning and he held up his right arm. "The cuff doesn't allow me to leave the hotel. It will cripple me with pain if I try."

"Fuck," Faith sighed. She let her eyes fall closed for a second, and Xander could feel her surrender.

"Faith, just take off. I'd rather live with those consequences than see you trapped." Graham blurted the words, his gaze darting up to Angelus as if just expecting to get hit for daring to say it. Instead, Angelus chuckled.

"He actually means those words, Faith. You found yourself a man who would rather die by torture than let you lose one drop of blood over him." Angelus patted Graham on the cheek like he might a dog he liked, and Xander could see the disgust in Graham's face.

"So, that's the future you have planned for me—the pet slayer you keep on a leash and trot out for the other demons to see and poke at?"

Angelus frowned at her, and Xander could see the confusion for a second before the smirk was back in place. "You're my slayer, your future is whatever I say. If demons stand up against me, I will send you to destroy them. You will walk by my side, and the vampire courts who have not yet submitted will be left in ash and ruin. And if a demon pokes at you, you will rip off its arm and force the creature to eat it."

Faith dropped her hands to her side and looked down at Graham before she looked over at Xander. "Are you guys alright?" Xander chewed his lip, not sure how to answer that. He wasn't okay.

"We're fine, Faith," Graham answered for him. "Angelus hasn't hurt us." Xander ducked his head at the way Graham pointed out that him and Graham hadn't been hurt. Yeah, they were fine, but Angelus had hurt Faith in ways that Xander never would have believed. But maybe he should have believed it because Angelus was a demon, and unlike Spike, he had always been focused on getting what he wanted.

"And I won't. Unlike some people, I am very careful to care for my possessions," Angelus said, and Xander flinched as he realized that was Angelus' way of being comforting, only not so much with the actual comfort. Angelus held his hand out, and Faith stared at it for a long second. She looked down at Graham kneeling at Angelus' feet, and then she took a step forward. When she reached up to take Angelus' hand, the expression of triumph on Angelus' face almost broke Xander's heart.

Maybe there were parts of Angelus that he would always love, but this was just under the surface—this desire to make sure that other people were under him—below him. And maybe that was okay for Xander because he'd never been exactly the type to be on the top, but Faith didn't need to get knocked down just so she fit neatly under Angelus. Xander frowned. Oh god, he so seriously hoped that she was going to be figuratively under Angelus because if Angelus had sex with Faith, Xander's genitals were going on a very long vacation from which they just might not come back. And Xander suspected that Angelus was not going to be amused by that.

Faith put her hand in Angelus', and he pulled her close, his other hand still on Graham's head. When Faith came close enough, Graham reached out and touched her leg, his silver restraint bracelet reflecting the hotel lights. Angelus let go of Faith's hand and reached up to run a finger along her cheek, and Faith took a deep breath before tilting her head to one side, her neck arching.

Xander sucked in a breath as Angelus slipped a hand around Faith's waist, pulling her close before putting his face to her neck. Xander was too far to hear the sound of feeding, like he had when Angelus had fed from Graham, but his imagination supplied the sound. Sooner than Xander expected, Angelus raised his head from Faith's neck, licking his lips.

"Slayer's blood. Better than brandy for warming ye." Angelus smiled at Faith, and Faith looked up at him, so open and vulnerable that Xander wanted to rush in between them and pull Faith away. She was too vulnerable and sooner or later, Angelus was going to hurt her. "So, is that idiot William coming home or am I going to have to go out and fetch him?"

Faith shook her head, and that tough mask slipped back in place. "I don't think he intended for you to find him."

Angelus glared at Faith, but she glared right back. "I'll bring him home, eventually, but the longer he's gone, the longer he's going to hang from my chains."

Faith shrugged. "I figure he knows that already."

"If he isn't dust before I catch up with him, he's going to wish he was," Angelus said in his cranky voice. "And he is obviously lairing up in the sewers like a rat. Go get bathed." Angelus nodded toward the stairs. Faith took one step backwards and then looked down at Graham still at Angelus' feet. Graham looked up for permission, and Xander figured there wasn't anything they could have done to make Angelus any happier. Too bad Angelus' perfect happiness couldn't reverse the reversal on the curse. Xander flinched. Or not. Right now, he didn't think Angel wanted to be back in his body, feeling the guilt of all the havoc he'd wrecked in his own family. It'd kill him. Again.

"Go on, boy. Your slayer looks like she needs some attention." With that, Angelus turned his back on the pair. A minion hissed, either in shock or appreciation at the strength Angelus must have to turn his back to a slayer, but Angelus ignored it as he moved toward Xander. With a confused look, Angelus took the knife from Xander's numb fingers. He looked at it for a second before turning back toward the stairs.

"Faith!" he called. She turned around, and he sent the knife flying at her. She plucked it out of the air.

"What the fuck?"

"Keep your toy's toys in their place," Angelus suggested in a tone that made it clear he wasn't joking. Faith looked over at Graham, and he held out his hand for the knife.

"Yes, sir," Graham agreed as he took it from Faith and slipped it back into place in his belt. Faith said something to Graham, and then the two of them turned to head up the stairs. Angelus slipped an arm around Xander's shoulder, and Xander couldn't suppress the shiver that ran through him.

"M'fhear, are you unwell?" Angelus asked with a frown.

"Um, kinda, yeah," Xander agreed. "I just don't feel well."

"We should get you to bed," Angelus quickly said, his Angel mask firmly in place as he studied Xander with something that looked a lot like love.

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