•••

“So what’s your story, ‘Wil?’” Xander leaned back, glad to out of the spotlight for once.

Angel and Wil looked at each other. Angel shrugged. It was Wil’s story. “I have a soul.”

“What?” Xander squeaked. Even Oz looked a bit shocked at the announcement. “Angel, he’s kidding, right?” Angel shook his head. “No way!”

“Way,” Wil retorted, imitating Xander’s speech. “Long story short, the reason Buffy is back is because I traded myself for her. I get a soul and do the redemption thing, and Buffy gets to come back.”

Xander stared at the vampire for a long time. It was a difficult story to swallow, since Spike had never been the type to do anything selfless. Ever. Oz gently patted Xander on the shoulder. It didn’t faze the werewolf one bit, apparently, to have another souled vampire hanging around.

“Right,” Xander said, still peering doubtfully at the vampire. “So that explains the ‘Wil’ thing, the weird, not-Spike clothes, the equally weird, not-Spike hair, and the fact that Cordy will get within ten miles of you?”

Wil nodded. “Pretty much. Soul will do funny things to you.” He hadn’t expected Xander to jump for joy at the announcement, nor had he figured the boy would believe it at first. That didn’t bother him at all. Actually, Xander’s opinion didn’t mean much to him. True, He had spent a bit of time tormenting Xander, but the boy had in return made sure that he suffered at every possible moment. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out that Xander was using him as a punching bag, taking out all his aggressions at being ignored, belittled, and demeaned. Even the soul couldn’t make Wil feel very guilty about Xander.

“Cool.” Oz nodded absently. Wil smiled at the werewolf. If only he, and a lot of other people, could have that kind of calm. The orange-haired boy had just been practically run out of town by the love of his life, and he looked like he’d just toked up. Of course, he may have just toked up. Wil couldn’t smell it, but the behaviors were sure there.

Xander closed his eyes and slumped. This really was too much. “You know, someday I’m going to want to hear the entire story, long version. But now? Now I just want a beer. Or ten. Maybe more.”

“Beer we can do,” Angel said, making for the kitchen at light speed. Wil smirked at his Sire. Angel never could handle this type of situation. He liked to brood himself, but couldn’t stand seeing anyone else do it. And, from the looks of things, Xander was about to settle in to a long, nasty session of ‘woe-is-me.’

“You know that beer’s going to take hours to get,” Wil said, softening his smirk to a smile. Xander looked up at Wil, grinning.

“Still emotion-avoiding broodboy, eh?” Xander quipped, looking a bit better already.

“Only so much a slow, comfortable fuck can cure, mate,” Wil shot back, grinning.

“Okay, did not need to hear that, not-really-bleach-boy. Way, way too much information. Not discussing Angel and sex in the same sentence. Makes my skin crawl,” Xander said, grimacing. “Wait a minute. You’re fucking Angel? What about the soul? Or does that only work with girls?”

Wil rolled his eyes. “In your language, a happy is a happy, Xander. We bound our souls so they can’t be lost again. As good as I am in bed, Angel’s soul isn’t going anywhere. Neither is mine, for that matter.”

Xande visibly relaxed. “Good to know. I still don’t want to know about gay vampire sex. It’s icky.”

“He’s good, isn’t he?” Oz asked Wil.

Xander’s jaw dropped. Wil grinned widely at the werewolf. He should’ve known Oz had it in him. The boy’s face was calm, but a glint in his eyes told him that the boy was playing with Xander. Wil decided that this could be a lot of fun.

“Best I’ve ever had, and that’s saying something. Big, thick cock, long fingers. Christ in a handbag, the endurance. Go all day, he can,” Wil said, nodding sagely. “Hells, half the time I can’t walk afterwards.”

Oz nodded along with him. “He bottom too?”

Wil laughed softly. “Finest ass on the continent. Tight, too. Darla turned him a virgin. Cherry every damned time.”

At this point Xander lit out for the kitchen like all the hounds of hell were on his tail. Once he was safely out of sight, Wil and Oz cracked up, slumping flat on the floor in laughter. Once he had recovered, Wil sat up, looking over at Oz. “Didn’t know you had it in you, mate.”

Oz quirked an eyebrow. “He’s a great guy, always took care of Willow, but he has a cob up his ass.”

Wil guffawed. “That’s one way of putting it.” Something occurred to Wil. “If he wasn’t so damned straight, you’d have gone for him.”

Oz simply nodded. It wasn’t something he discussed with many people. Devon knew, but then Devon knew a lot of things about Oz that no one else did. Band-whore act aside, Devon was a good friend.

Wil and Oz sat in comfortable science until Angel and Xander returned from the kitchen. Xander was carrying two beers, and from Angel’s expression, Wil knew that the boy hadn’t said a word. He wasn’t sure how Xander had been able to look at Angel without choking after his and Oz’s conversation.

“So, how long are you going to stay in town?” Angel asked Oz. They’d been over it before, but it couldn’t hurt to ask again.

Oz shrugged. “Dunno. No plans.”

“Xander?” Angel looked at the boy questioningly.

Xander stared at the floor. “No plans here either. Got laid off a few weeks ago, girl’s gone, kind of pissed at Willow. No reason to go back. But I can be gone in five seconds, you know.”

Angel frowned. “That wasn’t what I meant. There’s more than enough room here, for both of you. Fred would love to have someone else to experiment on.”

At their horrified faces, he explained. “She’s still picking up the nuances of cooking.” That didn’t get rid of the bad looks, but they eased back from ‘horrified’ to ‘disgusted.’

“No problem, deadboy. No problem at all,” Xander replied, smiling weakly. He still wasn’t sure that crashing at Angel’s was a good idea.

•••

Wil was translating on of Wesley’s many prophecies when Xander found him in the library. The vampire was completely absorbed in his work, so Xander took the time to study his old nemesis. The past few days had given Xander a great deal of insight into Wil—something to compare to what he knew of Spike.

The humor and general snarkiness were still there, but Wil was more human. It mattered if what he said hurt people, and he seemed to really care about others. Wil laughed at jokes, not at people. He helped Fred learn to cook, and made suggestions to Wesley instead of merely insulting him.

He also bossed Angel around and liked to make Gunn uncomfortable by necking with him in the lobby. Gunn was a surprise to Xander. He’d gotten the gist of Cordy’s situation from a combination of discussions with Fred, Wesley, Wil and Angel. What he found when he actually met Gunn was not what he was picturing. The standoffish vampire hunter wasn’t the egotistical monster Cordy painted him to be, or the intolerant jerk that the others currently considered him.

Actually, Xander saw a lot of similarities between himself and Gunn. They had had their innocence ripped away from them most cruelly in much the same way. Like himself, Gunn was less concerned with all the implications of each and every slay—his philosophy was simple. You killed the bad guys, you saved the good guys, and you had a beer afterwards.

That said, he wanted to thrash Gunn soundly for making Cordy cry. No one, not even Xander, had the right to bring even one tear to Queen C. One day fairly soon he and Gunn were going to have a long man-to-man talk over a few beers, and he was going to let him know what was what.

“Xander? Did you need something, or were you just in here to passively absorb knowledge?” Spike asked, looking up from his book. Despite what Xander thought, he could sense when the boy came in a room. If the heartbeat wasn’t warning enough, the boy’s smell would do it.

Xander flopped down in a chair across from Wil. “You busy?”

Wil looked down at the books and papers in front of him. Then he looked at Xander. “Why, no, I’m not busy at all. I’m just keeping the chair cold for Wes. What do you want?”

Xander squirmed. “Why’d you do it? You know, the soul.”

Wil leaned back in the chair, stretching his back. “I loved her, that’s why. It wasn’t her time to die, that bloody bitch of a hell-goddess did it.”

“Oh. Then why did you leave? I mean, you just vanished,” Xander asked, curious.

“She hated me, didn’t want me around. I was in pain. What do you expect? I like a little pain as much as the next vamp, but not like that.” Spike closed up his books and stacked the papers he’d been working on. It was obvious he wouldn’t be getting anything else done today.

“And Angel just took you in?”

Wil smiled softly. “He’s my Sire, mate. He has to take me in. Besides, it’s a kinship thing, beyond the Sire-childe bond. We understand each other.”

“Because of the soul?” Xander asked.

“Among other things,” Wil answered. “Like Sire, like childe.”

Buffy. Xander suddenly knew what Wil was talking about. Xander wondered idly what Buffy would say to two of her old admirers shacking up together, and seeming so happy about it. He didn’t think she’d be too pleased. It would serve her right.

“Want anything from the kitchen? I’m going to grab a soda.” Xander stood up, waiting for Wil’s response.

“Wheetabix. Cow’s blood.” Wil waited to see what Xander would do.

To his credit, Xander managed to suppress his disgust until he was away from the vampire. “He did that on purpose. Who the hell eats their blood with cereal? Did I just say that?”

Xander was surprised to find Angel in the kitchen when he got there. “Deadboy, how’s it hanging?”

“Like a Minoan bull. You?” Angel was warming a mug of blood in the microwave.

Xander caught himself just before he whimpered. He was still caught off-guard by Angel’s newfound sense of humor. All gay-vampireness aside, he could see that Wil was a good influence on Angel. He’d never seen Broodboy so…happy. It was weird, actually. He half expected to meet Angelus.

“Wil wants Wheetabix and cow’s blood. Ugh.” Xander pulled a soda out of the fridge.

“We’re out of cow. But don’t bother. I need to talk to him anyway.” Angel poured a bowl of cereal for Wil, topping it with a mug of just-heated blood. Xander left as the vampire was heating another mug for himself.

When Angel got to the library, he found Wil buried in one of Wesley’s more obscure tomes. The smell of blood caught his attention, and he looked up, expecting to find a very disgusted Xander. Seeing his Sire instead brought a smile to his face. “Hey, Angel. Bringing me dinner?”

Angel set the bowl down next to the books, then picked them and the paper up and pushed them well off to the side. Grinning at Wil, he threw one leg over the blonde’s lap and sat down on top of him, face to face. “You didn’t wake me.”

Wil leaned forward, resting his head on Angel’s chest. “You were sleeping.”

“No shit.” Angel leaned back and picked up the bowl. “I don’t see how you can eat this.”

“It’s good. You should try it,” Wil said, reaching for the bowl. Angel held it away. Once Wil stopped trying to get the bowl, Angel brought it back. “That’s not fair, Angel. I’m hungry.

Angel dug the spoon into the bloody cereal and held it to Wil’s mouth. The blonde opened up obediently and Angel carefully spooned in the mass.

“Nummy,” Wil said around the mouthful. Angel shook his head and fed him another spoonful. Wil just grinned around the stuff, showing off bloody, cereal covered teeth.

“That is so disgusting. Did you do that when you stayed with Xander? No wonder he freaks at the mention of Wheetabix,” Angel commented, continuing to feed his lover.

“You love it,” Wil said between bites.

“Almost as much as Wesley’s singing,” Angel retorted.

“I’m crushed. It’s the food of the gods,” Wil said, faking hurt. Angel just smirked at him.

Wil finished the cereal and Angel set the bowl aside. When Wil reached up for a kiss, Angel deftly avoided his cereal-and-blood flavored mouth. “No kiss?”

“Not with that mouth,” Angel said, grimacing.

Before Angel could get up, Wil grasped him at his waist and lifted him up. Instead of letting him stand, Wil sat him on the table behind him. Ignoring Angel’s protests, Wil reached for Angel’s crotch.

“Wil…” Angel warned.

“Lemme have my fun, since you won’t kiss me.” Wil batted Angel’s hands away as he unzipped Angel’s fly. Proof was in the pudding, they say, and Angel was definitely interested, no matter what he said.

Angel’s protests ceased abruptly when Wil swallowed him whole. The blonde deftly tongued the sensitive vein on the underside of Angel’s cock, eliciting a groan. Angel tried to resist, but Wil knew him far too well. Within minutes, he had been brought to a quick and harsh climax.

Wil shoved his chair back, standing up. Angel passively accepted the deep kiss Wil gave him. A wicked gleam in his eye, he said, “Guess what my mouth’s had in it isn’t so important after all.” The blonde left the library though the side door, leaving Angel on the table, limp cock hanging out of his fly.

Oz was sitting in the lobby when Xander came back down the stairs. When he headed for the library, Oz grinned. The werewolf almost stopped him, but decided better of it. He didn’t want to embarrass Wil or Angel, but the look on Xander’s face when he saw them would be priceless.

Xander opened the library door, hoping to sneak in on Wil. Instead, he found Angel…and Wil? Yeah, that was definitely Wil…doing…

Once he remembered how to use his legs, Xander propelled himself out of the library. Oz thought that the red he was blushing was really quite flattering. “They still at it?”

Xander stared at Oz. “You knew?” He asked. “And you didn’t stop me? They’re…they’re…”

“Wil looks like he’s really, really good. At least, Angel’s not complaining,” Oz remarked, unfazed by the activities in the library.

“And to think I thought you were good for Willow,” Xander muttered as he ran up the stairs.

Oz watched the boy go, wondering just what that meant. Oz hadn’t done anything to Willow. Hells, for all her ‘waiting until the right moment’ stuff, she was no naïve innocent. Oz had spent way too long trying to be something he wasn’t—human—to waste time and energy hiding himself any more. So if he wanted to make commentary on Angel and Wil’s sex life, he would. If Xander couldn’t handle what went on between the two vampires, he needed to find somewhere else to live.