Title: Solid Ground – Part 6 – Crypt Keeper
Author: Xanfan
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: eventually, X/A
Summary: SLASH - Xander is assaulted by his secret boyfriend and needs to get out of Sunnydale to
heal. He and Tara go to L.A. to recover from their screwed up lives.
Spoilers: Up through most of season six of BtVS, goes AU at end of Entropy. Through season 4 of
Angel, Okay, just pretty much anything from all seasons of both shows is fair game.
Warnings: SLASH M/M, violence, description of non-con.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective
owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way
associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is
intended.
A/N: Anya broke up with Xander after “Once More with Feeling” He began another relationship not long
after that. Buffy never told Tara why she wanted to know if she ‘came back wrong’, so Tara doesn’t know
about her and Spike. Tara doesn’t die, because she isn’t there to get back together with Willow. This
takes place right after Xander & Buffy see Anya and Spike on video, courtesy of spy cams.
___________________________________________
Angel left Cordelia and Connor to watch Xander and took Tara back to her dorm to pack. He told her he
had an errand to run while she packed her stuff and would pick her up later to go to Xander’s and start
packing up his things. They would need to stay in town for a night or two, but they wanted to be ready to
leave as soon as Xander was able to.
Tara gave him a knowing look before she got out of the car.
Angel drove to the cemetery that he knew housed Spike’s crypt. He parked as close as he could get and
walked the rest of the way.
As he neared the crypt, he became aware of the fact that the area smelled of his youngest childe, but
that he couldn’t locate him specifically. He did, however, smell another demon.
When he threw open the crypt door, he surprised the big wrinkly, loose-skinned demon who was sitting
in Spike’s chair watching T.V. and eating chips.
“Who the hell are you, and where’s Spike?” Angel roared.
“I-I’m Clem. You’re Angel, right? Spike told me all about you. Don’t worry, I’m sure most of it wasn’t true,”
Clem replied nervously.
Angel blinked.
“Where’s Spike?” Angel asked, trying to maintain his temper, knowing that this particular type of demon
was typically not hostile and didn’t have evil intentions, aside from the whole kitten-eating thing.
“He left. Said he needed a change of scenery, that the hellmouth just wasn’t doin’ it for him anymore. He
said I could stay here if I wanted, watch the place for him,” Clem offered with an unassuming smile.
As Angel’s anger cooled, the smells in the room caught up to him. He was almost bowled over by the
smell of Xander’s blood.
He barely held back a roar of pure fury when he realized that this was the place that Spike had raped
Xander.
“Dude, did you know that you’re growling?” Clem asked.
Angel managed to get himself under control and shook off his gameface, not realizing until he did that
he had even let his vampire face come forward.
“Do you know Xander?” Angel asked.
“Xander? Yeah, sweet kid. Played poker a time or two with him, had to play for money though, couldn’t
stand the whole ‘kitten poker’ idea,” Clem said, the fondness apparent in his voice. “We’ve become
friends. You know, most humans are bothered by the loose skin thing, not him though. And he sure
loves Spi…..uh Sprite, sure loves his Sprite, can’t get enough of that soda…” Clem trailed of nervously.
“I know about him and Spike,” Angel said.
Clem gave a sigh of relief, glad he had not revealed the secret.
Angel looked at him appraisingly. “Do you know where Xander is?”
“No, kinda surprised when Spike said he was leaving town, maybe he took Xander with him?” Clem
suggested.
“Xander is in the hospital,” Angel said quietly.
“He is? Is he okay? What happened to him?” Clem asked, his voice filled with genuine concern for his
friend.
“Spike happened.”
“Huh? What do you mean ’Spike happened’? What……..” Clem’s voice trailed off as he looked over
towards the stone tomb where he had seen Spike washing off blood before he left.
Angel followed Clem’s gaze to the stone structure and realized that was where most of the lingering
smell of Xander’s blood came from.
“Xander’s your friend, too. Right?” Angel asked.
“Yeah, he really is,” Clem said sadly.
“Can you do something for me?” Angel asked.
“What?” Clem asked wearily.
“Can you take this business card and call me if you hear from Spike, or if he comes back?” Angel said,
extending the business card towards the demon.
“I guess I can do that, for Xander…..Are you sure Spike was the one to hurt him?” Clem asked, taking
the card from Angel’s hand.
“Yeah, I am,” Angel said sadly. Inwardly, he was screaming in conflicting emotions, anger over what had
been done to Xander and sorrow at this act that effectively lost him his favorite childe for good.
“Will you…will you tell Xander…tell him I’m sorry and I hope he gets better soon?” Clem asked.
“Sure,” Angel replied.
“Are you taking him away from here? If you are, that’s good, I don’t think this place is good for him,
anymore. If it ever was,” Clem said sadly.
“Yes, he and his friend Tara are coming home with me.”
“Tara? She’s great. Been a real good friend to Xander.”
“I know. And Clem, the Slayer and her group don’t know anything about this, so if you run into them,
could you not say anything?” Angel asked.
“They don’t know? But….never mind. No, I won’t tell them anything,” Clem said, afraid he knew why the
Slayer wasn’t to be told about this. He wasn’t stupid, a little slow on the uptake sometimes, but not
stupid. He had hoped Spike would get a clue and give up on Buffy, for his own and for Xander’s sake.
He knew nothing good would come of the situation, but he hadn’t dreamed that it would be this.
Angel nodded and left the crypt. He headed back to pick up Tara and take her to Xander’s apartment.
Part 7
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