•••

“Wes, did it work?” Cordelia worriedly asked the ex-Watcher. She moved forward tentatively.

Wesley bent down next to Angel. He couldn’t check for a pulse or breath, but at least they weren’t dust. If they’d just wake up…

Angel moaned. He felt like he’d been run over by a truck or ten. He reached out to one side, hitting Wil gently. The younger vampire groaned in response. The brunette vampire felt a warm hand ghosting over his face. “Wesley?”

The ex-Watcher answered anxiously. “Angel? Did it work?”

The vampire blinked, then sat up, dizzy. “I don’t know. Try ripping my soul out and we’ll see.” The human looked taken aback, then embarrassed.

“Stupid question?” Wesley joked.

“No stupid questions, just stupid people,” Wil muttered, sitting up against his Sire. Why did spells always leave him feeling so incredibly bad? Fred reached out, rubbing the back of Wil’s neck soothingly.

“Hey! Way to be grateful for the soul-superglue spell, fangless!” Cordelia snapped, simultaneously hugging the blonde vampire. The five friends laughed, some of the tension broken. Only Gunn hung back, unwilling to become involved. The ex-cheerleader frowned briefly at him, and then returned to her friends.

“Honestly, there is no good way to test the spell. We’ll just have to wait and see,” Wesley finally said, helping Angel off the floor.

“Well, that sounds moderately less painful than Angel’s suggestion,” Wil replied, still leaning on Cordelia. “How long did that take, anyway?” He was surprisingly hungry, to the point that the human looked downright edible.

Cordelia grinned at Wesley. “It’s 12:00.” They had started the spell at 9:00 pm. It was now 12:00 noon.

Angel frowned. “That’s not right. It’s daylight out…it took that long?” He stared at the humans. They’d been in the room for half a day?

“Yeah. We waited for the first few hours, and then took shifts. I mean, we love you and all, but jeez, girl’s gotta sleep, you know,” Cordelia joked.

“Vampires have to sleep too. During the day, to be exact,” Wil murmured, staggering into the kitchen. Neither he nor Angel had completely regained their footing, so both resembled drunks. The brunette vampire followed his childe, equally hungry. Their human companions trailed into the kitchen, stopping once they realized that they didn’t want to watch the vampires drinking blood.

Angel and Wil had recovered somewhat by the time they made it up the stairs and to their rooms. The humans had left them there, leaving the hotel for their respective apartments. Cordelia took Fred with her, making sure the vampires would have the rest of the day to sleep in peace before returning to work the coming evening. Angel caught his childe’s arm as Wil started toward his own room.

“Wil—“ Angel began slowly, trying to form a coherent sentence. Bright, if sleepy, blue eyes met his. The older vampire gave up trying to figure out what he meant to say and simply pulled Wil with him into his room. He tossed back the covers, shoving the younger vampire into bed. He soon followed, curling around his childe as the pair immersed themselves in blankets. Angel lay there, feeling the blonde slowly relax and drift off to sleep. He soon joined him, soothed by the mere presence of his childe in his arms.

•••

Several hours later, a wheaten mop of curls emerged from the bed. Wil looked around blearily. He was definitely not in his own room. Actually, unless he was mistaken, he was currently occupying his Sire’s bed. That would explain why there was a large, male vampire wrapped around him. Wil replayed the last memories he had, and then gave up, assuming that Angel had had some role in him ending up here instead of in his own room. Not one to let such an opportunity pass him by, the blonde vampire snuggled back under the covers and into his Sire’s embrace, burying his head in Angel’s neck.

Angel smiled. He’d sensed his childe wake and felt his muscles tighten when he realized that he wasn’t alone. He was pleased that Wil had chosen to stay. They didn’t have to move for a few more hours, and the time could be spent together. The older vampire had moved past merely enjoying spending time counseling his childe; being with Wil was now his favorite way to pass the time, no matter what they were doing.

“Sire?” Wil said softly. Angel’s smile widened. Wil rarely used the deferential title, preferring to use Angel since it did not infer status.

“Hmm?” Angel murmured, nuzzling his childe’s hair gently. He ran one hand up Wil’s back, rubbing circles between his shoulder blades.

“Just…Sire.” Wil relaxed further, practically melting onto Angel and the bed. /Ah, right there./ He was a puddle of goo under Angel’s hands.

Angel continued the idle caress, listening to the sounds of his fingers running over silk. He closed his eyes, focusing his other senses on Wil. His childe had his own unique scent, which was more pure now that the blonde had stopped smoking like a fiend. Angel was, of course, addicted to that lovely perfume. He didn’t remember being that way before, when they had been Angelus and Spike. Perhaps it was the soul that added a fuller note. The brunette let his hand fall away, only to hear a low growl in response.

Wil growled when Angel stopped rubbing his back. He felt his Sire chuckle, then resume petting. The younger vampire moved closer, pressing himself into Angel. A low, rough rumble began deep in his chest.

The older vampire grinned more than ever when he heard Wil start to purr. At this point, the blonde could be thrown out of a window with no resistance, he was so relaxed. They could continue this way for hours, and Angel had no objections.

As was to be expected, the world intruded on their peace. The vampires listened as first Cordelia and Fred, and then Wesley and Gunn arrived at the hotel and began milling around. They could tell that the humans were trying to stay quiet and not bother them overly much. Reluctantly, Angel released his childe, rolling away to exit the bed.

“We have to get up, Wil,” Angel said, hoping the younger vampire wouldn’t fight him on this.

“I know,” Wil snarled, snaking his way off the bed and to the door. “See you in a few.” The blonde left for his own room and Angel heard the shower come on from beyond his wall. Smiling at the memory of peaceful sleep, Angel took his own shower, and then dressed for work.

•••

“You’d think that after a couple of years of this, I’d learn better than to stand near Angel when he’s fighting a slime demon,” Cordelia moaned, surveying her ruined clothing. Indeed, she was covered in bright yellow muck from head to toe. Gunn smirked at her predicament.

“Yeah, you’d think, or maybe you wouldn’t. Doesn’t matter, you’re riding in the back.” He just laughed at her indignant sputtering.

“Angel! Tell him that’s not fair! Whatever, can I ride with you? Please?” Cordelia looked hopefully at the vampire.

Angel shook his head violently. “No way. Gunn’s truck is perfectly suited for…transporting you directly to a shower. I just had the car detailed.” He, of course, managed to fight several of the slime demons without so much as a drop of the resulting mess getting on his clothing.

“Wesley?” Cordelia begged, hoping for a reprieve.

The ex-Watcher backed away, fearful that the woman would cover him in slime. “I promised to give Fred a ride back on the motorcycle, which I’m sure is quite allergic to whatever that stuff is.” Fred glowed at the mention of her promised ride.

Cordelia stomped to the back of Gunn’s truck. “Fine, but see if any of you get cookies from me!” She hopped in, situating herself as comfortably as possible. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Boy, slime makes her mad,” Gun muttered, climbing into the cab. “We got anything else to do tonight?”

“No. Why don’t you drop Cordelia off, and then get some sleep.” Wesley made sure Fred’s helmet was securely strapped on, and then rode away; Fred’s excited squeals audible to the remaining people.

Angel nudged Wil toward the convertible. Wil, like Cordelia, had been hit by slime, but only a little on his clothes—otherwise the younger vampire would be joining the former cheerleader in the truck. “Oh, and Cordy? I hear club soda gets that stuff right out.” He ducked flying projectiles and livid curses as he drove away, taking his slightly slimy childe home.

Gunn chatted with Cordelia on the way back to her apartment. More precisely, he talked to Cordelia while she fumed in the truckbed. “You know, Delia, if you’d take more self-defense lessons, or at least do what we ask you to, you wouldn’t get slimed so much.” He waited for a particularly long string of curses to stop. “I mean, you’re vision girl, not vampire girl. This isn’t your gig.” He was then treated to a diatribe chronicling her high school adventures on the Hellmouth, where Cordelia Chase kicked vampire ass on a regular basis, thank you. “At least when Wesley tells you they shoot lots of yellow snot, remember to duck?” Silence followed that statement. “Cordelia?” He asked, worried that maybe she’d bounced out of the truck.

Cordelia sat back in the truck bed, tears streaming down her face. She didn’t need Gunn telling her how useless she was in helping the gang. She got the visions, told Angel about them, and the tough guys took care of it. She couldn’t even stay out of the way of demon mucous. Well, fuck them. She didn’t notice the truck pulling into a spot in front of her apartment building.

Gunn leaned over the side of the truck, watching Cordelia mutter to herself. The tears were obvious, even through a thick coating of slime. “Hey, Cordy, what’s with you?” He asked, more coldly than he intended.

Cordelia snapped her head up at the question. She’d had enough of his insulting banter for one day. “Nothing.” She jumped out of the truck, surprising Gunn by landing deftly on high heeled shoes. “Get lost,” She said, a perfect imitation of how she spoke to underlings in high school. She forced herself to saunter casually into her apartment building, refusing to run or look back.

Gunn watched her go, perplexed. Yeah, he’d been a little hard on her, but damn. Sometimes her inner bitch came out to play for no good reason. It wasn’t his problem. The vampire hunter started his truck and drove away, the promise of rest a welcome one.

“Wheee!” Fred screamed, jumping off the bike. “Can we go again, please, Wesley?” She begged shamelessly. It had felt like flying.

Wesley grinned. Fred had certainly enjoyed the short ride back to the hotel. “We’ll go again soon, Fred.” He ushered her into the hotel, noticing that the vampires had already arrived and retired. “See you tomorrow then. Don’t forget to lock up.” He waited until she’d locked the doors behind him, and then rode off for home.

Fred tripped up the stairs, still high from the ride. She stopped by Wil’s room, noticing that the door was cracked open. She widened the crack and peered in. As she had suspected, the blonde was absent. Smiling, she pulled the door closed. She’d seen Wil leave Angel’s room the night after the spell, and had thought that the two had been staying in Angel’s room during the days since then. It made them happy, so it made her happy. Whistling softly, she went to her own room, collapsing on the bed.