Shanshu-Just...Not: Comfortable
by lost
Getting straight to the point...
Though, i'm afrad it'll be another short one.
________________________________________________________________________

How long had they been in this new dimension? A month and a half.

They had seen no more demons, no more portals, or anything, since two weeks ago, when a group of Ash'qua, pronounced Ash'qwa, tried to kill a few hundred humans for a sacrifice to...well, they didn't know what, exacltly, but it couldn't have been anything good.

Gunn had replaced the broken window, and righted all the furniture.
Illyria/Fred could act more human easily around...well, humans.
Angel had gotten used to once again being called Liam, living with his wife, two of three kids, and a grandchild.
Connor settled easily, just like the time Angel 'gave' him to the other family, gave him a new, better-depending on your persepective-life.
Spike was used to being called William since, well, he practically was him now. All he remembered from his demon days was the part from the soul, since just before the First had taken him. He remembered hating Angel, but he couldn't remember why.

All in all, they were, for the most part, ... happy.

******************************************************************************************************

"...it seems reasonable that you can't remember much, Spike. Little body, little brain, though much bigger than your old one."
Gunn heard Angel say as he walked back into the kitchen from the back garden. He knew, rather than saw, that the former vampire was smirking.

"Sodd off." Little Spike grumbled. That, he remembered saying a lot.

"What's up, guys?" Gunn asked, sitting beside Angel on the kitchen counter, sipping a beer.

"Nadda." Connor replied, sitting at the kitchen table, doing his homework. Fancy that, going to college, and getting homework. He'd hoped that was left behing in high school, though he didn't mind, since he never *really* went to high school. But he did remember it from has fake life. And isn't that confusing, he thought, if you didn't know about his past.

"Angel..." Spike piped up again.

"What?"

"Why did I hate you?"

The former vampire hesitated. Luckily, he was saved from answering, since Max, 'his' brother-in-law, came into the kitchen.

"Are ya sure you don't mind lookin' after Clayton?" He asked.

"No problem." Angel said.

"Will you stop worrying?" His wife, Fiona asked, joining them in the kitchen. "Clayton likes coming here, since he only gets to come once a weekend every six months."

"Aren't you two gone yet?" Mary asked. "Go on. Shoo." She had to practiaclly drag her brother out, followed by an amused Fiona.
Their son, Clayton, almost eight, waved them goodbye.
"Liam, i'll see you later, i'm meeting Julian for lunch. Bye everyone." Julian was her boss, meeting over dinner for a possible promotion.

"Have fun." He called, just before the front door closed again.

Angel, Gunn, Connor, Spike and Clayton were left alone in the house.

"Hey, little man." Gunn said. "How ya doin'?"

"Good." He replied simply. "Uncle Liam, can I have a soda?"

"Er, sure, help yourself."

"Thanks." Clayton went to the fridge. His mum had taught him to always be polite, especially to family.

*******************************************************************************************************

Connor packed the game away he'd been playing with Clayton.
"It's nine, shouldn't you be asleep?"

"But it's the weekend." He whined. "I get to stay up till ten." He said proudly.

Connor just had to smile. Him and Clayton were in the kitchen together, while the others had gone into the living room-except Spike, who'd been put to bed three hours ago by Mary.

******************************************************************************************************

Spike escaped his bed, and he made his way down the stairs, still in his pj's. He couldn't reach the dresser to get changed, so he didn't bother.

He met Angel in the kitchen, but he knew everyone else was still sleeping.

"You never answered my question yesterday." He said simply, as he climbed onto the dining chair.

"Nor do I have to."

"Why d'ya s'pose that, then, mate?"

"Spike, what's the point? You'll forget it when you loose the rest of...whatever it is you're loosing, and it won't even matter. It hasn't matttered in a long while."

"It does matter." He practically growled.

"Why?"

"Because I want to know."

"William." Said in *that* tone of voice, he quieted. Angel sighed. "That's why, partially."

He thought about that a moment. "I don't understand." He said eventually.

The former vampire bit his lip. It didn't really matter, did it? Spike would forget it all sooner or later, he knew. He was getting the second chance in life, to forget it all, to really live once more. Why did he want to remember?

"I don't want to forget." He then said, as if he was reading Angel's mind. "I've never complained 'bout being a vamp before, except all that crap that happened to be. I still don't give a damn about destinies and attonment. That's *your* job, Peaches, and I don't fancy it for meself, thank you so very much."

"It doesn't matter whether you want I tor not, it's yours. Better enjoy it."

"And all you get is to be human again? A heart beating, and *your* blood runnin' through your veins, not borrowed from human or animal? Is that what you get?"

He sighed. "That's what I get."

And for once, it didn't bother him.
Spike, as annoying as he is, had...well, he'd won and lost, in a way.
Angel supposed it was better to live and learn, not to just forget and move on.
His mind, well, Liam's way of thinking was that human, people, to damage to each other, more than a single bear or fox will do to someone. That reasoning was infecting Angel's way of thinking, and for once...he felt at peace with it.
He could be happy remembering.
He *was* happy.
___________________________________________________________________________

It was sappy, and i'm pulling my eyes from their siockets as we speak because I can't believe something so sappy could sprout from my mind.
But, stuff does happen in the next chapter, i promise. All violence and stuff. Back to the things we all love and enjoy. Plus, the guys learn what happens to them when they're all happy.
But i've said enough.
Until then.

TBC ...

This story archived at: The Slayer\'s Fanfic Archive
The Slayer\\\\\\\\'s FanFic Archive - http://www.slayerfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=18860