Nexus Chapter 25: Part 1
Once back at the hotel, Angel loped up the stairs toward Xander´s room, halting abruptly when he heard the chatter of voices coming from his boy´s bedroom. It was just short of eleven o´clock, and everyone was there, helping to cheer up the invalid. Easing through the open door, he saw Cordelia lounging beside Xander with the ease of an old girlfriend. Fred was nearby, perched on the edge of the mattress. Gunn was sprawled in the chair by the bed, and Wesley, more relaxed than usual, leaned against the bureau. Lorne held court in the middle of the room, recounting a lively tale about the time Barbra had wandered into Caritas.
Angel lurked in the shadows by the doorway, not wanting to disrupt the merry mood quite yet. His attention on his boy, he saw that, although Xander was laughing along, his reaction was a little forced, and he looked tired, the humor not quite reaching his weary eyes.
He´s exhausted, the demon pointed out. Get them out of here. He needs his rest.
Yes. Just! Angel gathered himself. I´ll send them away, and I´ll care for him. But! The vampire swallowed. I need you to back off.
Ye´re insane! the demon ground out. After all this, ye expect me to withdraw and let ye make things worse?
I´ll make it right. But you´ve got to let me. This time, you´ve got to let me do this alone. You were right, and I was wrong, and after this, we´ll care for him together. But right now, you´ve got to back off. Xander´s got to know that it´s me, that I love him without your influence. It´s the only thing that´s going to make him feel safe.
Ye may be right, so I´ll hang back, but so help me, if ye screw this up!
Yeah, yeah, I know. Just go away, will you? Just go away, and let me do this.
Aye. I´ll pull back, and leave ye to it. But don´t ye put a foot wrong; if ye hurt my boy any more!
OUR boy, Angel snapped to the demon in his head. Ours. Just go away!please.
Angel shuddered as he felt the sudden emptiness that was Angelus´ departure. It should have felt good; it was what he had wished for more than anything for most of the last century, but things were a little different now; the demon had become his closest link with Xander, and his absence was disconcerting. But, at the same time, it was reassuring; if he had needed any proof of his own love for Xander, he had it now. In the demon´s absence, he could feel his own passion for his boy, burning hot as sunshine.
Angel waited patiently until Lorne had delivered his punch line in typical style, sending the group into gales of laughter. At the next lull in the conversation, he stepped forward, feeling awkward. His movement caught Xander´s eye, and the vampire saw the desperate longing in his boy´s gaze in the moment before the youth mastered himself and carefully hid his feelings away.
We´ll get to that soon enough, thought the vampire grimly, before turning a forced smile on his co–workers and, as tactfully as he was able, ushering them out of the room. When they were at last gone, he turned back towards Xander, carefully controlling his own eagerness.
“They´re gone, Xander, and you need your rest. What do you need before you go to sleep?”
With a sharp heart pang, Angel saw Xander draw old defenses around him like a security blanket.
Xander, tired, in pain and disappointed, was in no mood for it. He thought he was starting to figure this game out. In fact he´d played it before; Cordelia taught it to him back in high school when they were dating. She´d treat him like crap until he was on the verge of growing a spine and telling her where to get off, then she´d gift him with one of those wide sweet smiles and five minutes in the janitor´s closet, and he´d be back to grinning goofily whilst being led around by the nose.
It wasn´t fun then, what with the self–esteem issues and the huge crush and all. This time around, it was so the opposite of fun that he didn´t even have a word for it. Well, maybe a few. Like horribly painful. Or soul–crushing. Of course heartbreaking was kind of a cliché. And this was not so much a break, more like erosion, like a slow grinding away of the whole person, from the center out. And Xander was starting to feel pretty small. And he wasn´t even getting janitor´s closet time to compensate for the misery. So much for the “no more butt–monkey” resolution. In fact, this was probably his greatest butt–monkey performance ever. Time to ring down the curtain, while there was still enough Xander left to make an exit with some dignity.
This time yesterday, all he wanted was for Angel to come and be with him. But now, having finally gotten a clue, he gave the vampire that empty grin and set about getting rid of him as soon as possible.
“Oh, hey, I´m good. I´m totally fed and watered, and ready to crash.” He paused, the fake smile fading. “Thank you for taking the time to stop by to see me.” Xander yawned pointedly. “Guess you were right about needing my sleep.”
Angel winced inwardly at both the formal tone and the obvious dismissal, beginning to feel very apprehensive indeed. “I should have been here well before this.”
(Yeah. You really, really should have.) Xander bit his tongue to hold back the bitter retort, instead beaming gamely up at Angel, his smile still not reaching his eyes. “No, you´ve been great. I mean it; thanks for putting me up. And for taking me in and looking after me, and all. And staying at the hospital all that time. But the doc says I should be up and around soon, and I´ll be getting out of your hair. I should be able to get another construction job in Sunnydale with no problem,”
A crap lie, thought Xander, but HE doesn´t need to know that. “So, no problem.” Xander continued. “Another day or so, and I´ll be well enough to pack up my stuff and be on my way.” Another ostentatious yawn. Go away, just go away and let me lie here and bleed, he thought tiredly.
The vampire stood frozen in shock, something vital inside him threatening to crumble. Just stood there like a statue while Xander plumped his pillows, scooted down in the bed and reached for the lamp.
“Um, if you don´t mind, could you close the door behind you when you go?”
Some little part of Angel that wasn´t falling into a complete breakdown was weirdly proud that he could produce such a demonic snarl with no input whatsoever from the demon. “You are fucking well not leaving here!”
Which, as it turns out was the exact wrong thing to say.
Xander sat back up slowly and watched his hands twisting in the covers for a moment. When he brought his gaze back up to the vampire´s, the false smile was gone, his expression closed, guarded. “Listen, Angel; I think we both know by now that things aren´t working out between us. I´m glad we had a chance to spend some time together, but that´s obviously all it´s going to be. And I need to get back home and get on with my life and let you get on with yours. I´ll always be grateful for everything you´ve done for me, and I´ll always think of you as my friend.”
Angel had once been stabbed through the gut with a sword by someone he loved. Now he was experiencing a strange sense of déjà vu, and knew he was standing on the brink of a long exile in hell. Terror clawed at his throat, and, perhaps inevitably, he again said the wrong thing.
“You´re forgetting something here. You can´t leave.”
Xander frowned at him, momentarily confused.
“You´re my Bond Claimed. You can´t leave.”
His mouth hanging open, the youth stared at him for a long moment, then spoke softly. “YOU have got some big brass balls.” His jaw tight, Xander glared at him, face pale and eyes blazing. “When I was a kid, I used to watch the neighborhood cats play with mice. They´d pin ´em by the tail and keep ´em that way, wouldn´t kill ´em, wouldn´t let ´em go. Well, I´m giving you notice, Mr. Cat. This mouse would rather cut off its own tail then stay here to be tortured.”
“Tortured?!? What!” Angel shook with pain and bewilderment. What was happening? Where was his sweet Xander? He wondered if it were the meds making him behave this way? Or––oh God––what if there was some brain damage after all?
“Xander,” he moved carefully closer to his boy, speaking soothingly. “Baby, what makes you think you´ll be tortured here? Are you afraid Angelus!”
“YOU SHUT UP!” Angel stepped back, shocked to his core by the rage on Xander´s face. “Don´t you DARE blame him for this. My Angelus would never be as cruel to me as you´ve been.”
Cut to the bone by that, Angel caught the edge of the bureau for support, gasping through the pain. (stick the sword through, twist and twist.)
Oblivious to the vampire´s pain and energized by his fury, Xander threw back the covers and surged to his feet. Oh, God, big mistake. Dizziness overcame him as the knifing pain in his leg forced a cry from him, and he was falling, his vision going black.
Before he could catch Xander, Angel felt the demon slam back in with the impact of a tornado, and an instant later, he had been forcibly removed from the nightmare he had managed to create.
The floor wasn´t near as hard as he´d thought it would be. His brain unscrambling, Xander opened his eyes cautiously to find himself nose to nose with the vampire who was cradling him in careful, strong arms.
“Ye´re not t´ do that again, do y´ hear?” The vampire´s command was gruff with worry, but his touch was so very tender.
“A–a–angelus?” Xander stared hopefully into the beloved face.
“Aye, sweet. It´s me.”
Trembling, depleted by physical and emotional stress, Xander closed his eyes and clung as Angelus settled him carefully back into the bed. Once he had his boy tucked in, his leg carefully arranged, Angelus turned and stepped away just long enough to remove his coat, shirt and shoes, then settled in beside his mate, pulling Xander gently into his arms, stroking the back of his head with a familiar soothing motion.
“Is it really you?” Xander murmured softly into the side of Angelus´ throat.
“Aye, sweet.” The vampire murmured low against his ear. “I´ve got y´ now.”
“Where´s Angel?”
Good question. Angelus, having been called back to consciousness by the very strong sense that something was terribly wrong, had at first stayed quiet, keeping his promise. But when he felt Angel´s anguish, saw Xander fall, he had flung himself forward. To his amazement, an instant later, he found himself, Angelus, catching his boy in his arms. He was out, and Angel felt far away.
He sighed. Gods, what a mess. “I reckon he´s off somewhere lickin´ his wounds. He took that pretty hard, y´know.” He slid his hand down to the back of Xander´s neck, massaging gently. “It´s not true, sweetling, what ye accused him of. He´s clueless, an´ he´s clumsy, but he´s not deliberately being cruel.” He cuddled Xander a little closer and rubbed his chin against dark, silky waves. “Not that he didn´t deserve it fer bein´ such a fool, but ye cut him to the quick. And ye´ve scared him badly, too.”
Frowning, he pulled away a little and lifted Xander´s face with a gentle finger under the chin. “Now, m´very own, tell me you were bluffin´.”
Xander´s voice was low. “I don´t know.” He hid his face against Angelus´ shoulder and drew a deep shuddering breath. “When I´m with you, I can´t imagine voluntarily leaving, but...” He swallowed hard around the lump that had been growing in his throat for hours, threatening to force him to burst into tears like a little girl, probably at the most inopportune moment. “!it´s really, really hard. I thought everything was going to be alright. When I woke up in the hospital, he was there!”
Angel chuckled softly. “WE were there.”
Xander smiled through his sadness. “I know, honey. I know you´d never voluntarily stay away from me when I was hurt. Oh.” Xander´s face fell. “Was that you making him be there?”
“No, Acushla.” He rocked Xander a little, pressing kisses next to the bandage on Xander´s temple. “From the time you were hurt until just the other day, we were in perfect accord, he and I. No one could have kept either of us from you.”
“You must have been scared.” Xander reached up to stroke the vampire´s cheek. “I´m sorry,” he whispered softly.
“My heart, I´ve never been so scared. If we´d lost ye!” The vampire shuddered, tightening his arms around his boy´s warm body. “He was scared, too. Scared bad. And pissed off.”
“Oh.” Xander was quiet for a time, letting himself be comforted by his mate´s touch. “Hey, did someone ever track down the rest of the vamps and Sle´gaus? Did Wes and Gunn do it while you were at the hospital?”
Angelus growled softly, his eyes flashing gold. “What do you think?”
Xander looked up into the suddenly fierce countenance so close to his, then gave Angelus a tiny smile. “I think the problem´s been taken care of. You did it, didn´t you?”
“Aye. Well, we did. As soon as you were out of danger, we went after them, the soul and I. Gunn insisted on going along, but Angel made him swear he´d not kill them; the death of those two who touched ye was for us to give.”
Xander stared up at him wide eyed, looking endearingly like a child begging for a bedtime story. “What happened?”
Angel smiled down at him, rubbing his back affectionately. If Xander was his vampire mate, he knew that he would kneel before him, lay the Sle´gau´s club at his feet, and present the vampire´s fangs to him on a velvet cushion. Gilded, perhaps, and set in a gold bracelet to adorn his boy´s strong wrist. But Angelus wasn´t entirely sure how Xander, as a human, would react to the gesture, so, for the time being the trophies stayed hidden away in Angel´s room.
As it was, he settled for kissing Xander softly, then telling him, as solemnly as an oath, “They died slowly, they died hard, and they died at Angel´s hands.” Another light kiss. “This I promise ye, dearling, Angel may be very poor at wooing, but when it comes to those who would hurt ye, he´s as ruthless as I have ever been.”
“HE hurts me.” Xander whispered miserably.
“Aye, he finally understands that. I can feel him at the back of my mind, sweet. He´s withdrawn far away; he´s not with us. But I can feel his pain, and his shame.”
“I don´t want him to be in pain. I just!” Xander´s choked, unable to go on.
“Acushla.” Angelus´ voice was very, very tender. “Do y´ believe he loves ye?”
“Yes.” And then suddenly it was all too much, and Xander was fighting not to cry.
“You´re right, dearling. He does. And we´re going to make this right. But for tonight, it´s just ye and me, and I´ll take care of ye.” He began to rock Xander again, cradling him like a child. Looking down into the dark eyes glistening with unshed tears, he crooned softly. “I´ve got you, dearling.”
Xander closed his eyes and turned his face into Angelus´ body and sobbed while his vampire held him, rocking him lightly and purring.
Xander quieted after a long time and looked shamefacedly up at the vampire. “Sorry.”
Angelus smiled down at him, then kissed away the last tears. “Don´t apologize, sweetling. Ye´ve grown into a fine, strong man, but ye´ll always be my boy, and I hope ye never think ye´re too grown up t´ lie in my arms and let me kiss away yer tears. That´s mine to do, always.”
He touched his lips to Xander´s, sighing when his mate pressed up eagerly, deepening the kiss. Withdrawing reluctantly, he studied Xander´s flushed face, smiling tenderly. “Ye´re strong, and ye´re brave. And ye´re perfect in my eyes, and so ye´ll be as long as I exist.” He wound his fingers in Xander´s silky hair, massaging the scalp beneath. “And it´s the same for the soul.”
Xander sighed and closed his eyes, leaning into the delicious touch. “In my head, I know that. But in my heart, it´s hard to believe it. Okay, so maybe I overreacted tonight; it´s only been a couple of days. But after the way he was in the hospital, and after I woke up in his arms the night I came home, I thought it was going to be okay. Then he was gone, and he stayed away. At first, I asked about him, and they´d tell me that he was out killing vampires, and I thought, okay, he´ll come when he gets back. Then he was sleeping, or he was downstairs with a client, or he had gone out for blood!Finally, I got the message and stopped asking.”
Angelus groaned softly. “Aye, well, he´s a fool. But he´s a fool in love. Do ye know that the night ye were attacked, he cried too?” The vampire sighed. “Can I ask ye to be patient for just a little longer, sweet? He was on the verge of a breakthrough tonight, determined to try to set things right, but yer announcin´ yer intention of leavin´ threw him. He didn´t handle the situation well.”
Xander laughed bitterly. “Boy, I´ll say.”
Angelus grinned down at his boy. “Aye, well we´re goin´ to have our hands full trainin´ that one. But he´s tryin´. He asked me to stand aside tonight, so that ye´d know it was him and him alone makin´ his amends to ye.”
“So, my timing was pretty bad, huh?”
“Nay, now, don´t blame yersel´ for this. ´Twas him that made this mess, him and me, as well. Before ye got hurt, I was letting´ him try to do this in his own time, and I should´ve pushed harder. He really didn´t know he was hurtin´ ye while he got himself sorted, but I did. I let it go on too long, and I´m sorry, my precious. Will ye forgive me?”
Instantly, strong young arms tightened around him. “You know I´d forgive you anything.”
“Yes, I know; I´m only sorry ye´ve had so much to forgive.”
“I´d forgive him anything, too, if he asked me to. But!those weeks before I got hurt? Pretty awful. And really hard on the old self–esteem. I mean, he was mostly treating me like a guest or something during the day, then at night!” Xander´s face clouded at the memories. “At night, I´d lie there in my bed, wanting you and him so bad that I HURT, and knowing that he was just down the hall, and it was like he was perfectly happy with the arrangement!”
Xander was startled by the sharp burst of laughter that erupted out of the vampire´s chest. “That what you think, is it?”
Angelus jostled Xander gently. “Boyo, ye´ve always been a great deal more clever than y´ give yourself credit for, but y´ do let your insecurity override your own good sense. Ye couldn´t be more wrong. I was standin´ back, tryin to give him space––and that was a mistake, givin´ him enough rope to hang all three of us––but he lay there tossin´ and turnin´ night after night, sleepless and tormented for want o´ ye, breathin´ in yer scent, hearin´ yer heartbeat down the hall, so hard f´r ye it was agony.”
Xander´s brown velvet eyes were wide. “Really?”
“Really and truly, dearling.” The vampire grinned. “So don´t give up on this idiot of ours. He´s a might slow, but he means well.”
Xander laughed at this, feeling much, much better.
The vampire continued. “I don´t rightly know how it is that I came to be in control tonight. He´s let me share his space in the last few weeks, but by all rights I shouldn´t be able to just take control like this. I suspect it only happened because he knew he was about to lose you, and letting me take over was his last chance.”
“So, now what?” Xander leaned trustingly into the broad chest.
“Now ye´re goin´ to have a good night´s sleep, an´ when ye wake, ye´re probably goin´ to find Angel beside ye. He wants a little time alone with ye to prove himself, an´ I´m inclined t´ let him have it.”
Xander broke in. “You´re not going to stay away long, are you?”
“Nay, nay. If all goes well, we´ll both be here together with ye after the dust settles. But for a time, you and the soul will have to work things out between ye. And I don´t think he´s goin´ t´ give ye´ much grief from here on out. An´ if he does, call for me, and I´ll be here.”
Xander looked uncertain; Angelus kissed the beloved furrow on his boy´s brow. “Give him a chance, my precious, but make him earn it.” A whole series of kisses spread across Xander´s face, then a tender question: “Can ye sleep now, sweetling? Ye must be very tired.”
Xander nuzzled slowly against Angelus´ throat. “Yeah. Tired. But I hate to go to sleep when you´re here with me. Don´t want to miss a minute!”
“Shhhh, Dearling. Go to sleep. I´ll be here watching over ye, and when ye awake, Angel will be with ye, and I promise, he´ll make it all up t´ ye. I´m sure o´ it. And as soon as ye´re done makin´ him crawl, as well he should, I´ll be here, too, and all will be well. Ye´ll see.”
Angelus´ hands worked their magic; stroking, petting, soothing; murmuring hypnotically, he soon lulled his exhausted boy to sleep. Then, setting his purr on autopilot, he moved on to the next order of business.
“I´ve cleaned up your mess, Lackwit.”
“Is he alright?”
“Aye, no thanks to you, ye great clumsy oaf. At least ye had sense enough to let me through before it was too late.”
Too wretched for pride, Angel was silent for a time before he spoke. “It was already too late when I got there tonight; he´d made up his mind to leave.”
“Have ye altogether lost yer meager wits?” Angelus regretted as never before the disembodied nature of their exchange. If ever anyone needed a few sharp clouts about the head, it was his alter ego. “If ye´d just taken him in yer arms, all would have been well.”
“I´ve hurt him.”
“That ye have, and I´d cheerfully tear yer head off, if I could. I wish ye knew how much I want to just take him and go far away where ye nor anyone else could find us. But I´m stuck with ye, and Xander loves ye, Gods help him. So, here I am playin´ Cyrano f´r ye, ye stupid fool.”
It was hard, but it had to be said. “Thanks. I´ll do better, after this.”
“See that ye do. It´s not that hard; all ye have to do is hold him an´ tell him ye love him. Do that, an´ everything else will work itself out. An´ when ye´ve got yer doubts, don´t run from him, ye git. Go t´ him and lay yer fool head in his lap and tell him what ails ye.”
The demon´s voice was low. “He´s more than we deserve, ye and I. Lovin´ and loyal, all he wants from ye is a bit of attention an´ affection. Don´t fail now; he´s taken a chance for ye, and Gods know I´ve given up much for the chance to be with him. I told ye before, he´ll be the makin´ of ye. So, it´s all up t´ ye now. I´m trustin´ ye with my precious treasure. Now make it right, y´ great silly sod, and give us both some peace.”
Draped across him, snoring softly, Xander was a welcome weight anchoring Angel as he drew his wits about him. It was always a disconcerting experience, coming back from the demon´s control, but so very different this time. He probed the corners of his mind, finding the demon withdrawn, as promised. It felt wrong these days to be on his own, as if part of him were missing. Not to mention the fact that he was so very inadequate where Xander was concerned. So very likely to get it wrong.
Terrified anew at the prospect, Angel tightened his arms about the sleeping youth, then shuddered with sudden fierce pleasure when Xander responded by hugging back in his sleep, nuzzling into the vampire´s smooth skin. Angel thought about all the weeks he´d been missing out on this, and conceded that the demon was right––he was a fool.
An hour later, Angel still lay awake. He wanted to sleep; he fully intended to spend the next day with Xander, spoiling him rotten, and he wanted to be alert enough to avoid making any more stupid mistakes. But it was hard to sleep when you knew your whole future was in the balance. Add to that a crushing sense of guilt, and you had a sure–fire recipe for insomnia.
At least, lying awake was not terribly unpleasant in the present circumstances. His senses were pleasantly overwhelmed by Xander, Xander´s scent, his heartbeat, his warmth.
So Angel whiled away the time admiring his sleeping boy, touching, breathing him in, kissing his dark hair again and again. And he anticipated the morning; planned what he would say when his boy woke to find Angel in his bed!Angel frowned. He´d screwed up on a daily basis, but his first and worst mistake was the separate beds. His eyes keen in the darkness, he surveyed the drab, impersonal hotel room. This was definitely high on the ´to be corrected´ list.
He peered down at the dark head pillowed on his chest. Xander was still on a high dosage of pain meds, and had barely shifted in the last hour. Experimentally, the vampire tightened his arms about his warm boy and rolled slowly, easing Xander off his chest. The soft snoring continued uninterrupted, and his boy didn´t move from the position he had been placed in.
Angel eased carefully from the lumpy mattress and stood, creeping from the room to move stealthily down the hall. The hotel lay quiet, all its residents save one deep in slumber.
Angel entered his own chamber, switched on a bedside lamp, and turned down the covers. Then, leaving the door open, he returned to Xander´s room. Moving slowly, he gathered his love into his arms with infinite care, watching closely for signs of waking. But Xander slept on, oblivious, and Angel carried him down the corridor to his––THEIR––room and tucked his baby in, closing the door and shedding his pants before slipping between the sheets with a weary sigh. Taking Xander again into his arms, he set himself to resume his vigil. Ten minutes later, the vampire was peacefully sleeping, his arms snug around his boy.
Angel was jerked out of sleep at an ungodly hour of the morning by the sound of a ruckus in the hall outside. Dammit, they were going to wake him up. Extricating himself carefully from his boy´s sweet embrace, Angel left their bed and strode to the bedroom door, jerking it halfway open an instant before Cordelia knocked. Pulling back from the threatening knuckles, he hissed “What!?!”
“Xander´s missing. We went to his room to give him his meds, and he wasn´t there.”
Angel peeked past Cordelia to find Wesley and Fred behind her, looking worried. Further down the hall, an impassive looking Hispanic woman stood, arms crossed over her ample bosom.
Easing out of the room and closing the door behind him, Angel straightened his shoulders, oblivious to the fact that he wore nothing but boxers. “Xander is NOT missing. He´s right where he belongs, asleep in our bed.” He felt a thrill of pride at his announcement. Why had he ever wanted to keep this a secret? “Keep it down; I don´t want him woken up.”
Fred and Wesley, sporting twin blushes, seemed to be unusually interested in the floor, the walls, and the ceiling, anything except the mostly bare vampire before them. But Cordelia took a long, leisurely look, a smile growing on her Just Peachy Pink–painted lips. “Well, alright then. The nurse is here.” Turning on one impeccably shod heal, she breezed away down the corridor, her embarrassed compatriots following behind her.
Feeling pleased with himself, Angel watched them go, then reluctantly turned his attention to the stoic figure still standing in the hallway, suddenly feeling very naked.
“So my patient´s in there?” Unruffled by the proximity of the large man in his underwear, Maria gestured toward the bedroom door behind him, stepping forward.
Angel moved to intercept her. “Um, yeah, but!Wait here, please.” He retreated into the bedroom to retrieve his wallet and pull on a pair of pants, then stepped out, again pulling the door closed behind him. “Listen, Xander said you did a great job, that you were good to him. And I appreciate that. But we won´t be needing you any more.” He took her hand and pressed a wad of cash into it.
“Thanks.” Maria barely glanced at the money in her hand, instead piercing him with a canny stare as she shoved the cash into her coat pocket. “So, who´s going to take care of him?”
“I am.” Angel vowed.
The slow smile that appeared on the stony face took him a little by surprise. “Well, good for you.” Then, businesslike, she propped the briefcase she carried onto a stand nearby and extracted a printed sheet, producing a pen and making a few quick notes. “Here´s his meds schedule, and instructions for taking care of the wound. Not too much to it, but pay attention to that list of signs of infection. There´s my number, if you´ve got questions.” She capped her pen and closed her case. “Call me if you need me.”
Angel gazed unseeingly at the paper in his hand, then looked up. “Uh, Maria?” She stopped and turned, regarding him patiently. “Thanks again. Xander really did like you, but!”
“!but care´s best when given by loving hands.” That slow, spare smile again. “Have a nice day, Mr. Harris.” She nodded, then about–faced and trudged down the corridor.
Angel stood and watched her go, thinking that, yes, he would have a very nice day indeed. After a moment´s pleasant anticipation, he eased the door open and peeked in at Xander, finding him still fast asleep, sprawled sweetly across their bed. Spirits higher than they had been for a very, very, long time, he made his way toward the kitchen to make his boy some breakfast.
