Musical Wars
Chapter 2
Xander reached into his pocket and pulled out the number Cordelia had given him. He watched the rotary dialer click counter-clockwise after every number, which gave him just about enough time to start panicking. He'd known Gunn for years, and he couldn't accept Xander. And Willow might date a werewolf, but Xander had his demon groove on more than three nights a month. He almost hung up when the other end started ringing.
“Hello?” a timid voice answered.
“Willow?” Xander asked hesitantly.
“No, just a minute,” offered the voice, and Xander waited.
“Hello?” Willow finally answered, or at least the voice sounded Willowish only deeper, and louder, and distinctly unWillowish.
“Willow?” Xander asked uncertainly.
“Yes.”
“It’s Xander.”
“Xander? Xander Harris? Oh my goddess, Xander Harris. It’s Xander from Jr. High,” Willow practically squealed, and he assumed she was talking to the other person in her room because he really didn’t need reminding. Well, he didn’t need reminding most of the time, and really there wasn’t any way for her to know that he occasionally needed reminding about who he was unless she’d talked to Cordelia. And Cordy had pinky promised not to tell about the whole inner demon thing. And when had Jewish Willow Rosenberg started talking about goddesses? He didn’t think her rabbi would be amused.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he offered when the squeals had died down. He reined in his urge to nervous babble since he had lots of stuff he didn't want to babble about to her, and suddenly he wished they hadn't come to Sunnydale. He wasn't sure he even knew this person.
“Oh goddess, where have you been? I tried to call you back after that fight and your phone was disconnected and the letter I sent got returned and why can’t you just be on the Internet like normal people, and I so did not mean that to come out as bitchy as that just sounded because I am so happy to hear your voice, and I totally don’t want to make you disappear again.” Xander could hear soft voices in the background. He guessed that the other woman was talking to Willow, probably about the need to breathe.
“Wow, did Willow Rosenberg just say ‘bitch’? Isn’t that against your geek code or something?” Xander asked. “I thought I was the bad boy rebel in the group.”
“You can be any part of the group you want if you want, and I’m not talking well tonight…too many midterms and lattes I think. And how did you get my dorm number? Did you call my parents?” Willow’s voice suddenly took on a brittle edge and Xander wondered what the story was behind that, but considering his own parental history, he understood the desire to keep friends and parents separate. Separate rooms, preferably separate cities, if possible, separate continents. After Spike had responded to his own mother’s none too subtle hints about safe sex with a detailed description of a sexual act, yep, he got the whole separation of friends and parents idea.
“I ran into a certain cheerleader on stakage duty,” Xander said. He knew that she knew about vampires, but he didn’t know if she knew that he knew, and he really didn’t know if the other woman knew at all.
“You mean stagage as in her big acting career with the audience and the stage?” Willow asked suspiciously.
“Nope, stakage as in wooden pointy things. She’s taken up with Angel, or she’s taken over Angel, I’m not sure which.” Xander’s demon grumbled again in clear dislike for the woman, but Xander had to admire anyone who could so completely terrify full grown men and Master vampires.
“Angel? You know Angel? Wait, Cordelia’s working for Angel?” That was the same old confuzzled Willow voice; Xander could almost see her expression with wide eyes and a confused wrinkle between her eyes. Xander smiled as he found things hadn't changed all that much.
“Hey, two vampire hunters wandering around L.A.: we’re bound to run into each other sooner or later, and how could I forget Cordelia Chase although I might have let it slip that we had the whole ‘I hate Cordelia Chase’ club thing, so you might want to avoid talking to her for a while,” Xander confessed with a short laugh.
“Vampire hunter? Xander? Oh goddess, I’m confused.”
“Um, Willow, do you mean to be using the “v” word with someone else in the room?”
“What? Oh, Tara. It’s fine; she knows all about vampires. Tara and I live together…I mean roommates, like collegy type roommates what with the dorm.” Willow stopped suddenly and Xander swore he could hear her blush. It couldn’t be. Xander waited, unsure what to say in the face of a possible revelation, or not a revelation. Maybe everyone else knew and she was hiding it from him. Or maybe he was just trying to make the whole world gay after his own gay revelation. “Tara helps with the whole slayage thing; she has some magic. Actually, she has a lot of magic.”
“Like with the witchiness?" Xander tried to get his mind around Willow being down with the magic. Yeah, Cordelia had explained about Willow and the whole spell-gone-wrong that turned Angelus loose, but Xander had this image of 14-year-old Willow accidentally reading a spell out loud. Hanging with a witch made her seem, well, even un-Willowish.
"Um, yeah. You know she and I kinda met in the whole wiccan group, and most of the wiccans are more like Catholics only with the 'blessed be' instead of the… well, whatever Catholics say, but you know, into the ceremony. She and I are more into the magic."
"So you do the witchiness, too. Very cool. Now you have someone to practice spells with.” Xander had only meant to be supportive, but the sudden choking on the other end made him worry that he had just said exactly the wrong thing.
“Um, yeah, right. So, where are you calling from?” Xander heard her dismissal and knew that he wasn’t understanding something. He knew the science-nerd Willow, the Willow who had a crush on Rob Lowe and Albert Einstein, the Willow who played doctor with lab tests and stethoscopes. This Willow with her magic and her Tara….he didn’t know this Willow.
“I’m passing through town with a friend, and I thought we might touch base,” Xander offered, suddenly unsure about meeting.
“You’re in Sunnydale? At the hotel?” Willow’s voice back to bouncing.
“Um, actually staying with a friend of a friend kinda thing. We just pulled in and I’m totally exhausted.”
“Oh, so can you meet tomorrow?” Willow asked, and Xander couldn’t take the uncertainty in her voice. Right, no running without making at least one token visit. Then maybe he should consider Spike's suggestion they wander China.
“Of course, that’s why I’m calling you. I thought we might be able to get together after I catch some sleep. Maybe sevenish at the Bronze?” The silence reminded Xander that he didn’t know Willow the way he had because he couldn’t figure out why she was hesitating.
“Can we make it four?” Willow finally asked. Xander glanced toward the bedroom where Spike slept. He hadn’t been out of the lair alone since Spike had totally blown a gasket over his taking on a roomful of vampires. Honestly he hadn’t asked to go because he really didn’t want to hear Spike’s answer. If Spike said ‘no’ then he would have to deal with knowing that he wasn’t allowed out of the lair, and he wasn’t sure what his reaction would be. Realizing that he had let the silence go on too long, Xander tried his best to sound cheerful.
“I’m really tired and I have some work to do around the place…sorta my way of paying rent. Can we make it 5?” Xander knew that he might have to cancel what with 5 still being well before sunset, but maybe he could convince Spike to let him go.
“I’ll meet you out front; it can be so hard to find people inside,” Willow bubbled, but Xander could hear the strain.
“You think I’m a vampire,” Xander said even as the realization hit him.
“I didn’t say that. Xander I would never accuse you, and I really want us to catch up, just two old friends telling each other everything that’s happened in the past few years.” Xander didn’t miss the fact that she wasn’t denying it, just claiming that she would never be so rude as to say it.
Of course he was also kinda leaving out the part where he was part vampire, but really, it’s not like he was going to kill her fish or something. Xander nearly giggled at that story, and no it wasn’t funny. He just couldn’t get over a sadistic Master vampire like Angelus going after fish. Of course baby Aurelius was a little less amused with his comments on the master of the line, and Xander’s vision wavered between vampire and human.
“Fine, broad daylight it is. Feel free to bring your crucifixes and holy water because I know I keep mine handy. So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah. And Xander?” Willow paused. “I’m really happy to hear from you. I’ve missed you.”
“Me too,” Xander agreed before they both said goodbye. Xander hung up the phone and stood with his hand resting on it. Why had he come here? He couldn’t make things go back to the way they were. He couldn’t get back the three Musketeers: one was dead, one had a baby vampire in him, and the third had grown very suspicious over the years.
Xander slowly turned and started walking back towards the bedroom. His sharp-eyed vision had stabilized was now drawn to a corner where a mouse trusted the darkness in the room to run the length of one wall and then stop and look around. Xander reached the table and picked up a heavy book as he considered the creature. The mouse, utterly secure in the knowledge that no human could see in the dark turned small eyes towards him, and Xander stood with the book in his hand before he finally put the book back down on the table with a sigh.
He wandered into the bedroom, and Spike lay sprawled face down in the middle of a four-poster bed, and Xander started shedding clothes as he crossed the large room. By the time he pulled the covers down revealing Spike’s body and started climbing in bed, he was naked and fully expected Spike to jump him.
Instead, Spike rolled to one side and reached around his waist, pulling him into an embrace. Xander found himself struggling to hold off tears that didn’t seem to make much sense, and Spike only pulled him closer, wrapping a leg around him.
“It’s stupid; I don’t know why I’m so upset,” Xander finally said as he pushed the tears back to a point that he didn’t have to worry about actually crying.
“It’s alright, pet. You lost the Willow that was yours; she disappeared under this stranger who sounds a mite bit more suspicious.”
“You heard.”
“Yeah, still evil pet. I don’t exactly feel bad about eavesdropping.” Xander would have gotten angry over the lack of privacy, but the fact is that he was just relieved to not have to explain it all.
“So, can I go?” Xander suddenly flashed on being five years old and asking permission to go visit Jesse.
“Yeah, as long as ya stay put until I come and get ya. Don’t want ya wander around the Hellmouth after dark. We’ll go visit the court after you see your friend.”
“Thanks.” Xander tried to keep the frustration out of his voice, but he knew he’d failed miserably when Spike’s arms gave a quick squeeze.
“Oi, what’s got your knickers in a twist, not that you’re wearin’ any knickers, mind you. You look good all knickerless.”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie, pet. Shouldn’t ever lie to your sire.” The arms gave another warning squeeze.
“Right,” Xander answered sarcastically, “like you never lie to Angel?”
“Angel’s not my soddin’ sire; he never did anything a sire does, except maybe make my unlife miserable on those occasions when we met. But enough about Angel, I asked ya a question, pet.” Xander lay in silence and tried to figure out his words before he started babbling and got himself in hot water. When he pissed off Spike, both Spike and his inner demon got all cranky, and having a cranky brainmate was not of the good.
“Okay, don’t take this the way my mother did when I was twelve and said this, but I really am too old to have to ask permission just to go out with friends.”
“We’re on a Hellmouth, luv. Don’t really want you wandering around after dark considering the kind of nasties you could run into.”
“Willow seems to be doing just fine,” Xander replied about two seconds before his brain pointed out that this exact argument hadn’t worked on his mother, either.
“She’s a witch, pet: a witch who works with a slayer.”
“And I’m half vampire.”
“With only half control of your bloody senses. Don’t want you out there when that demon of yours gets angry and stops workin’ for ya. If this were New York, and ya wanted to walk the park at night, I'd give ya a new knife and tell ya not to get the muggers' blood on your shirt, but this is Sunnyhell, pet. Now I’m a good deal older and a hell of a lot cannier than you, so ya won’t go out without tellin’ me where you’re going and ya won’t go outside after dark alone.”
“I’m not that young,” Xander complained.
“Compared to me, ya are. What’s more, you’re my childe.”
“And we're back to the squicky incest thing, so can we please not bring up anything else that leaves me with a lingering need for therapy?”
“Soddin’ human,” Spike guffawed in his ear, and Xander expected the naughty touching to commence. Instead Spike just shifted and pulled him closer before starting to purr. Xander heard the low rumbling sound and let himself sink into the demon’s contentment as his own purr began in response. Willow could wait, his frustration could wait because as long as he was curled in his sire’s arms, all was well with the world.
Xander woke to the sound of punk music being blasted out of a tiny radio obviously not up to the task. He winced when a particularly loud, high note made the speaker screech and whine.
“Oh my god, what are you trying to do, kill me?” Xander clutched his ears as he curled up and tried to block out the noise. The volume dropped and Xander opened his eyes to consider his smirking sire.
“Bloody bored waitin’ for you to wake up, haven’t you slept enough yet?” Spike asked.
“This is incontrovertible proof that you are evil,” Xander moaned as he started to roll out of bed.
“Never said I wasn’t pet. So, you ready to train?” Still naked, Xander started pulling doors open in search of a bathroom. After two closets and another room infested with mice he finally found it. It was a much smaller room than before, but most of the room was taken up by a claw foot bath that was a near replica of the one they’d left in L.A.
“Pee first, train later, and do you have some sort of bath fetish I don’t know about?” Xander asked as he stuck his head around the corner. Spike was dressed in just black jeans, the top button open and straddling a bench as he polished a sword. He looked up with those beautiful blue eyes and snorted. Xander pulled his head back and took his cock in hand in front of the toilet.
“You try growin’ up in a city full of factories during an age when bathin’ wasn't on the agenda for the working classes," Spike shouted over the sound of the Xander peeing. "No wonder Darla wanted ta hunt in the fancy homes. One time, Dru dragged me down to a poor section of town, trailing this sewin' girl, and I don't know how Dru managed to feed with the stink. Whole sections of London stunk of factory grit and body odor, so I appreciate hot running water thank you very much ya git. So, you ready yet?”
“Still peeing, as you obviously know unless your horrible music has caused permanent hearing damage.” Xander yelled back. When his bladder finally emptied, he started the water running into the bath. Xander had no more than reached the open bathroom door when a movement out of the corner of his eye made him throw himself backwards moments before a heavy object swung through the air inches from his body.
Xander’s bare feet slipped on the floor, and he wind-milled his hands trying to regain his balance before catching the edge of the counter. Spike appeared in the doorway with a long wooden staff in his hand and a wicked smile on his face that made his cheekbones stand out in even more sharp lines.
“That the best ya got, pet?” Spike challenged him in a fierce voice.
“Spike?” Xander demanded in a girly squeak. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Um, Spike… huh?” Xander stood in the bathroom with his heart pounding in his ears. His demon vision had fled the minute he saw Spike, but now it flickered in and out making a whole disco ball effect against the white tile. Spike stood leaning against the side of the open door with a hip thrown out casually and his bare chest thrown out and the staff held casually in one hand.
“Here’s the deal, pet. You get past me and you can visit your little friend. You lose and you’ll just have to wait until sundown so I can escort ya like a good little fledge.”