•••

By the end of the week, Wil was visibly improved. The increased feedings had made a big difference, but then so had time. Vampires healed quickly, and the medicine kept him immobile and let his bones knit faster. Angel was pleased with the progress, since it meant the vampire would be up and about soon. It also meant that he could stop feeling guilty for wanting Wil when he was so gravely injured.

In the meantime, though, Angel wanted to wipe the floor with Xander. The boy kept smirking at him, every time they ran into each other. When he’d asked Xander about it, he’d just grinned and chuckled. Nobody else seemed to know, although they too were prone to laughing at him behind his back. Angel’s only real consolation was that Xander, now fully healed, was being run ragged by Oz and Gunn, who had taken over his training. They wanted Xander to learn to use his new abilities, now that they knew what they were. Angel was too preoccupied with Wil to help much, but he heard them running Xander up and down the halls, setting up obstacles and going after him.

It had taken the boy a couple of days to get the hang of his increased speed and agility, but once he did, nobody could come close to catching him. Angel even had a hard time tracking Xander with his eyes, he was so fast. And after the kid realized that he could get a couple of steps up a wall while he was running, he made a habit of racing around people and over their heads when they went down hallways. Angel had tried everything to stop him; including using a staff to knock him down when he tried to buzz Angel, but it hadn’t worked. It was like Xander knew he was coming. Then again, maybe he was improving his control and could use the empathy to guess what Angel was going to do. It never occurred to the vampire that the empathy would tell Xander where he was or exactly how sexually frustrated he'd been.

Wil was groggy when he went to give him his first feeding of the day and the blonde barely woke during the entire process. Angel was glad, since he had a difficult time facing Wil when he was so affected by the process. After the feeding and medication, Angel went downstairs to see if Cordelia had anything at all for him to do.

“Sure,” Cordelia replied. “You can go visit Lorne. He’s feeling left out.”

Angel shrugged and went downstairs. It was something, and since the sun was out he couldn’t exactly go trotting down the street. He found the green demon muttering and swearing at his paperwork.

“Angel!” Lorne said happily. “Long time, no see!”

“How’s the club doing?”

Lorne grinned. “Better than this damned computer. It won’t even start, so I have to do all this by hand.”

Angel looked at the machine. He knew almost nothing about them, other than that they needed electricity and didn’t like him. “Did you plug it in?”

Lorne scowled at him. “Yes, Angel, I plugged it in. You’re no help at all.”

Angel shrugged. He’d just exhausted his knowledge of computers, and his nonuse of the machines was well known. “Sorry. That’s Cordy’s domain.”

“So, how’s Wil?” Lorne asked.

“Getting better,” Angel answered.

“What’s bothering you?”

“Nothing.”

“Hmm,” Lorne murmured. “So, did Cordelia send you down here to cheer me up?”

Angel nodded. “She said you were feeling left out.”

“Well, I’m not. I much prefer the safe confines of Caritas to running around on the streets, getting beaten up. Believe me, I’d rather be alone and healthy down here than bruised up there,” Lorne declared. “And you all can come down here when the club’s open, you know.’

“We will, once everything settles down. Everybody’s still reeling,” Angel replied.

“Yeah, but don’t isolate yourselves up there. You’ll lose touch with the city,” Lorne said. Angel knew he was right. If they didn’t keep their ears open to the community, they would lose track of their main opponents, Wolfram & Hart. Not all their information came from Cordelia and Xander’s visions, and Xander’s seemed to focus on the most helpless of the helpless—which were not the law firm's most common victims.

“I better go see what the others are getting themselves into,” Angel said after a few more minutes. “But I’ll be sure we’re down here more in the future.”

“You do that,” Lorne said as Angel walked out. “Because things are going to get messy again before very long.”

•••

Oz ducked as Xander whizzed by, narrowly missing the lightweight practice mace Xander swung at him. The young demon was getting quite good, which was vital to his survival. Although becoming a demon had slightly improved his health, it brought along a host of drawbacks. There would be other demons after him now, ones that fed on Raphe, or simply wanted the challenge of catching one. Oz didn’t want to see Xander die even younger than he would have if he’d stayed human.

“Did I get you?” Xander asked as he slowed down. Oz shook his head. “Damn!”

“You’re anticipating it too much,” Oz commented. “Stop hesitating. Look and swing.”

Xander nodded and backed up the hall to try again. This time Oz varied his movement, rushing Xander from the other side and jumping straight at him. A sharp pain in his side told him that Xander had succeeded.

“How about…are you ok?” Xander asked, watching Oz hold his side.

“Yeah. Even the soft ones hurt a little,” Oz explained. Xander looked contrite.

“You should wear padding, or we should quit this. I’m not going to keep hurting you.”

Oz reached over and took the mace, setting it down on the floor. “You have to learn,” He said. Xander shook his head, but Oz wouldn’t budge. “Look.” He lifted his shirt, showing that there wasn’t even a bruise forming where the weapon had hit.

Xander ran his hand down the smooth skin, looking for any sign that he’d marred it. Sure enough, it was perfect, disturbed only by the winding tattoo that crept along Oz’s body. After a moment, he remembered where they were and stepped back. “How about some lunch before we finish?”

“Sure. Hamburgers again?” Oz asked as they walked down the stairs.

“You know it,” Xander said jokingly. “I’m gonna have to go on supplements.”

“You should just eat the—“

“No. I’d rather drink the protein shakes,” Xander insisted, referring to the weightlifting supplements that Wesley had gotten for him. It was difficult for Xander to get everything he needed while still avoiding his natural diet, but they were working on it. No one really blamed him for wanting to avoid insects if he could find something else to consume.

“Ok,” Oz said, shrugging. Whatever made Xander happy. He wouldn’t be too thrilled with the bug thing either.

When they got to the kitchen, they found Fred and Wesley searching the fridge. “You did go to the market, Xander, like you were supposed to?” Wesley asked. “I was sure there would be more food, chocolate at the very least, but all I can find is a massive amount of blood and some sour milk.”

Xander grinned nervously. “Oops?” Oz rolled his eyes and grabbed the van keys.

“We’ll be back in a couple of hours. Xander’s got some hamburgers in the freezer,” He said, dragging Xander out behind him, protesting the entire way.

•••

When Angel went to feed Wil again, he found the vampire both awake and aware. “Back already?”

Angel grinned. “It’s been the entire day, Wil. You need to feed again.”

Wil rolled his eyes. “I suppose.”

“As if it’s a hardship,” Angel retorted. He unbuttoned the top few buttons on his shirt and leaned over Wil, placing his throat right on the vampire’s lips. Wil nuzzled him briefly before sinking in.

Once again Angel found himself pulled under, intoxicated by the bite. He swayed but managed to keep his balance, even with his vision blurring. Frantic to keep his composure, he closed his eyes. It did help a little, steadying him some.

Wil released him a couple of minutes later, noting the flush and dazed expression on Angel’s face. He knew that it affected his Sire, but was surprised to see how much. He obediently opened his mouth for what he hoped would be one of the last doses of the disgusting medicine.

“You should take more,” Angel said as Wil swallowed. He knew he was crazy, offering himself like that, tempting himself. Wil tried to shake his head, but Angel stopped him. Wil sighed softly as he reopened the just-closed wounds, reveling in the lifeblood of his Sire trickling into mouth.

Angel didn’t realize he had started moaning until Wil pulled away, startled. “Angel?” He backed up suddenly, embarrassed by his lack of control.

“I’m sorry, Wil. I should go,” Angel said, rushing toward the door.

“No.”

Angel turned back to Wil. “What?”

“No, you shouldn’t go,” Wil said.

“I should,” Angel insisted. “I can’t…”

“You can’t what?” Wil pushed.

“You know what it’s like, Wil,” Angel growled. He must know; after all, when they shared a bed Angel often fed off Wil to elicit just that reaction.

“Yes, I do. But I don’t see why you should go,” He replied.

“It’s not right, I want to…”

“Why don’t you?” Wil asked.

Angel’s head shot back up. “What? Wil, you’re bedridden, I can’t—“

“Take care of yourself?” Wil interjected. “Wasn’t that what you were going to go do anyway?” Angel’s expression told him that he was planning to do just that. “You can do that just as easily here, can’t you?”

Angel stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Or am I not good enough to even watch you wank yourself?” Wil asked harshly.

Angel grimaced. That wasn’t what he thought, not at all. “It’s not that, Wil. I…”

“You have a serious kink deficit in your life, that’s what,” Wil said. “Now, come over here, strip down, and drape yourself over that chair. I want a show and you’re conveniently turned on.” When Angel just kept staring, jaw agape, Wil got serious. “Now, Angel.”

Angel snapped his mouth shut and complied, pulling off his shirt as he walked over to the bed. “No, slower. I said I wanted a show,” Wil chided. Angel frowned for a moment, then stepped back a little, running his hands down his body until he reached his belt. The strap of leather slid oh-so-slowly out of the belt loops, making a soft hissing sound. Once it was free, Angel let it slither to the floor. He unbuttoned and unzipped his pants but left them on as he turned around to prop his shoe on the dresser, giving Wil a nice view of his tight ass. Once his shoe was untied, Angel repeated the procedure with the other. Wil was clearly appreciative of his efforts. That done, Angel toed off the shoes and pulled his socks off before returning to his trousers. He slid them to the floor, catching his boxers with them on the way down. Once he was naked, Angel did as Wil requested and draped his body over the chair next to the bed, giving the blonde a very intimate view of his body. He hooked one leg over a chair arm, opening himself up to Wil’s perusal.

“Touch yourself,” Wil commanded. Angel leaned back a little and ran one hand up a thigh to his cock, which lay thick and flushed against his belly. He ran a finger up the length and around the head, smearing the fluids there. His other hand reached lower, rolling his balls around, making him bite his lip to keep a moan in. He looked over at Wil, caught off-guard by the intensity of that gaze.

“Hold yourself, tightly,” Wil asked, watching avidly as Angel cupped himself and squeezed, putting delicious pressure on his balls. He wrapped his other hand around his shaft, also squeezing tight. The pressure made him squirm a little, and Wil’s gaze heated him up more.

“There’s lube in the drawer,” Wil said. “Stretch yourself,” He ordered. After a moment, Angel reached over for the lube. If Wil wanted to watch him do that, fine. He covered two fingers and reached down. Wil’s voice stopped him. “No, like I do it.”

Angel looked back up at Wil. He changed the angle of his hand, gentling the push of his fingers and circling them more in the manner that Wil did when he topped Angel. It was surreal, watching Wil watch Angel imitating him. The strange mirror-like atmosphere heightened his senses, making the gentle stretching even more erotic.

“Use another finger,” Wil said hoarsely. Angel added a second finger, scissoring them just like Wil did. It made him groan and clamp his hand down on his cock. “Don’t come,” Wil warned softly.

Angel nodded, never breaking their gaze. He continued to fuck himself with his fingers, brushing his prostate with teasing little strokes like Wil did it. If he let his mind wander just a little, he could almost feel Wil doing this to him; his thick fingers became Wil’s slender ones as the space between them shrank to mere inches.

“Another,” Wil commanded. Angel pushed a third finger inside himself, groaning at being filled in such a way. “Another," Wil said a moment later. Angel shifted a little and used another finger, trying to adjust to the awkward angle. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to regain some control, but he felt Wil’s eyes burning into him. When he opened his eyes, he found that blue-gold stare pinning him.

“Faster, and use your hand,” Wil said. Angel began to thrust his fingers more quickly, working himself on them. He also began to jerk himself off, using as close an approximation to Wil’s loose-fingered grip as he could do. He began to pant, feeling lightening crackle down his spine.

“Harder, Angel,” Wil whispered. Angel watched as his childe’s eyes flashed gold and inhuman ridges accented his brow. It was just enough and he arched off the chair, crying out as his orgasm took him.

When he looked at Wil again the blonde was still in gameface, watching Angel’s come drip down his stomach. Angel picked up a discarded sock and wiped himself clean. He crouched down next to Wil, who inhaled deeply, as though feeding off Angel’s fulfilled arousal. “You?”

Wil’s eyes widened. Angel reached beneath the covers, finding Wil achingly hard and weeping profusely. It wouldn’t take much to bring him off, only a stroke or two. He moved his hand, watching as Wil’s eyes rolled back in his head. His body was unnaturally still due to the medication, but it was obvious he felt the ecstasy. Angel waited for Wil’s eyes to open, but after a couple of minutes realized that the blonde had fallen asleep, drained by the exertion. He cleaned Wil up and tucked him back into bed. Angel would need a shower before he lay down next to the invalid.