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Title: Rebellious Desire (18/19)
Author: jasonsnene
Pairing: Angel/Xander, Spike/Riley, Graham/Andrew
Rating: NC17
Betas:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
carinas_carinae and aayesha_r Warnings: AU, M/M, some violence , uh...maybe a bit of angst. Just a smidge really...kinda.
Banner by: purpledodah
Summary: Modern, slashy version of a historical romance novel I read recently. Just, you know, cause I wanted to.
Previous Parts
Rebellious Desire 18
Xander made sure Spike was completely hidden beneath Giles’ desk before crouching down behind it himself. He checked his phone, making sure the ringer was off, then handed it to Spike. “Watch for Angel to call,” he whispered. “The ringer is off so just keep your eyes on the display.”
Spike nodded. “Xan, what’s the plan here?”
“Well, hopefully we just hide here and stay safe until Angel gets here.”
“So you aren’t planning on going all hero-commando on me, yeah? Cause Angel will kill me if something happens to ya.”
Xander looked Spike in the eye. “No heroics here. I promise. But I will keep you safe.”
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Riley knew something was wrong the moment he approached the house. There wasn’t a guard at the door and there was no movement around the house. He stepped out of his car and moved quietly to the trunk where he armed himself and prepared to go inside. Riley hesitated for a brief moment then picked up his phone to call Angel.
Angel didn’t offer a greeting when he answered. “Ri, get over to Xander’s. Someone’s in the house, and Xander and Spike are there. Kate and I are on our way now.”
“I’m already here. No guards in sight. I’m heading in. What’s your ETA?”
“I’ll be there in less than 10. Ri…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep them safe.” Riley closed his phone and went inside cautiously. A quiet click from behind the door was his only warning that someone was hiding behind him. He spun around just as two shots rang out.
Riley didn’t feel it at first, only realizing he’d been hit as his body flew backwards. He hit the ground hard, his ingrained training helping him maintain his hold on his gun. He tried to raise his arm to fire, but the limb didn’t seem to want to cooperate.
A booted foot coming towards his face was the last thing he saw.
****************************************************
“Shit.” The sound of gunfire inside the house startled both Spike and Xander. Xander worried over the shots, wondering if someone he knew was lying just outside the door wounded, or worse.
He raised up to his knees, resting his arms on the desk. His gun was out, aimed towards the closed office door. It wasn’t much of an advantage; a well placed bullet could hit him, or come through the desk and hit Spike.
“Xan? That wasn’t one of our guys doing the shooting, was it?”
“It doesn’t look like it. If it was Angel, he’d have let me know somehow.”
Spike moved closer to Xander and peeked out from beneath the desk. “If I’m quiet, do you think I could call Ri?”
It wasn’t a good idea, but Xander could imagine how much Spike wanted to hear Riley’s voice. He would like to hear Angel’s right about now. “Go ahead. Just keep it really quiet, okay?”
Spike loosened the death grip he had on Xander’s phone and flipped it open. He knew just how scared he was when he saw how much his hands were shaking. Finally getting the number entered, Spike hit send.
Neither man expected to hear the answering ring outside the room they were in. Spike, realizing Riley was close, crawled the rest of the way from under the desk. As the phone rang for the third time with no answer, Spike began to panic.
He remembered the shots fired moments before and freaked. “Riley!” Spike screamed out his lovers name and started to scramble around the desk. Xander grabbed Spike’s arm and jerked his friend to a stop. Spike fought to free himself, and Xander’s attention on the door wavered.
Spike pulled free and ran to the door just as it flew open. Xander didn’t have a clean shot; Spike was between him and the door. “Spike, DOWN!”
His friend slowed then started to drop to the floor just as a shot rang out. Xander saw Spike’s body jerk then felt a searing pain in his arm. He ignored Spike’s cry of pain, ignored his own body’s response. He ignored it all, focused and fired.
There was a cry from just outside the doorway. Xander still hadn’t gotten a clear view of the assailant. All he saw was an arm and a gun, and that’s what he’d aimed for. He moved slowly towards Spike and kept his gun pointed towards the doorway, watching for any sign of movement even as he knelt at Spike’s side.
Spike groaned quietly when Xander touched him. Xander squeezed his hand, and Spike squeezed back, although a little weakly. Rising to a crouch, Xander crept towards the door.
Seeing nothing, he eased his way around the frame, keeping as much of his body behind the door as he could. Finally he caught a glimpse of a body lying just outside the door. It wasn’t moving.
Xander carefully eased his way out of the office and approached the still form. He knelt by her side, easing the gun out of her hand. Carefully checking for other weapons, Xander didn’t find any and moved back into the office to check on Spike.
His friend was struggling to his feet, one hand pressed to a bleeding shoulder. “Bloody hell. What is it about you that makes me always get shot?” Xander’s mouth fell open in shock then he met his friend’s eyes and realized that he was joking.
He couldn’t quite manage a smile in return, but did get his own comeback. “At least she didn’t get you in the crotch.”
“She?”
“Yeah. I shot her.”
Spike pulled Xander to him, realizing just how tense Xander was. His reaction to stress was to snark and joke. This was no joking matter. Spike realized suddenly that he’d forgotten about Riley and pulled away from Xander to rush out the door.
He froze when he saw the body outside the office. “Fuck. Eve. I should have known.”
Xander knelt beside her, pressing his hands against the wound in her chest. Spike saw Riley lying by the front door and ran to him. Riley was just coming to, his nose bleeding, and one eye swollen nearly shut from where Eve had kicked him in the face.
“Ri? You okay? Where are you hurt?”
Riley groaned and tapped his chest. Spike pulled his shirt open and saw the Kevlar vest underneath. He let out a sigh of relief. “I’m okay. She got me twice at close range. It knocked the breath out of me, and then she clocked me in the face. Fuck.”
They all heard several cars slam to a stop in the driveway, and moments later Angel thundered through the door. He took a quick glance around, taking in the situation in a moment and rushing to Xander’s side. He checked Eve’s pulse and pulled Xander’s hands away. She was dead.
Kate came through the door next and immediately called for ambulances. Angel was tending to Xander’s wound while Spike and Riley were helping each other. More officers poured in, and soon the house was swarming with detectives and investigators. Angel stayed by Xander’s side, trying to keep his lover from drifting further and further into shock.
Later that evening, Spike and Xander were side-by-side in hospital beds, Angel and Riley by their sides. Fortunately, neither had been shot in places that would cause permanent damage. The bullet had simply grazed Spike’s side and hit Xander’s arm. All in all they were extremely lucky.
Kate was currently explaining to them all what had happened. Xander was the first to speak. “So, Eve thought that she could, what? Just kill me off, and then she’d get her hands on the money? That doesn’t make sense.”
“No, it really doesn’t. But we do know that she was using Lindsey and feeding him a bunch of lies. Now that he’s come to his senses, he sees just what she was doing. We’re also checking into your Uncle Wesley’s illness. It’ll take some testing, but we think she switched his medications for placebos.”
Angel swore. “She was right under our noses this entire time. I didn’t even have her investigated very thoroughly.”
“Oi! She had us all fooled, pet. Played the simpering fool well, that one did. She must have seen dollar signs when she looked at Lindsey and got greedy.”
“Poor Lindsey. How’s he holding up?”
Angel stared at Xander incredulously. “Poor Lindsey? Are you kidding me? Xander!”
“Come on, Angel! You’ve got to admit that he’s a victim in all this as well.”
Spike and Xander seemed to agree on that front, but Angel and Riley weren’t convinced. Riley grabbed Spike’s hand and threaded their fingers together. “Well, for what it’s worth, I still think he should have suspected something.”
Xander shook his head. “She played him just as well as she played us all. She knew his weakness and exploited it. Just as she did Wesley’s. I really just want to know why.”
“We may never find out.” All eyes turned back to Kate. “I’m sorry, Xander, but without questioning her, we may never learn exactly what her motives were.”
At that moment, the hospital door flew open and Andrew ran in, followed by Graham. “Xan! Oh my god! Are you okay? Well, of course you aren’t okay, you got shot! Oh my god! Spike! You too! Oh my god! I’m just…just…oh my god!!!”
Graham rolled his eyes and pulled Andrew to his side. His husband wasn’t exactly the best in times of crisis. Graham could tell that Andrew would soon be in full out panic mode. He looked at Angel and shrugged his shoulders in apology. “Hey, Xander. Looks like we missed all the excitement.”
“You could say that.”
The door opened again, and this time it was Giles rushing into the room. “I leave for one day, one single day for some stupid meeting that I should have postponed, and look what happens.” He hurried to Xander’s side and proceeded to look him over carefully before pulling his son to him.
Xander winced once as his wounded arm was jostled, and Angel gently pulled Giles away. “He’ll be okay. She just winged him.”
Kate looked around at all the gathered men and laughed to herself. Only in L.A. She met Angel’s eyes over the crowd and gestured to the door. He followed her out after whispering quick words in Xander’s ear.
When the reached the hall, Kate pressed the button for the elevator and turned back to Angel. “We’ll have to do a full investigation, but the preliminary results clearly show self defense. I’ve spoken to the D.A. and unless something changes, there won’t be any charges filed.”
Angel shook her hand then gave her a quick hug. “Thanks, Kate. For everything.”
“I’d say anytime, but please never let this happen again.”
“I’m with you there.”
“Is everyone on your team okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll do a full investigation of my own to find out how she got past all the guards, but all of them will be okay. It just doesn’t make sense, Kate.”
“Well, I didn’t want to say anything in front of the others, but it looks like it does all come back to that bad business of Xander’s father. Eve’s father was in on the deal as well, and when Giles backed out, he lost everything. I can’t confirm anything yet, but my gut is telling me that’s the key.”
“So she blamed Giles for everything?”
“It looks that way. According to Giles, he backed out of the deal at the last minute, using Jenny, Xander, and the new baby as his reasons. Eve’s father blamed them for losing everything and when she met Lindsey, she thought she’d found her way in. Then Xander showed up, and the timing must have seemed perfect to her. It’s all just supposition at this point, but I’ll keep looking into it.”
The elevator doors opened, and Kate stepped inside. Angel watched her go then went back to the crowded hospital room. Xander was looking exhausted, so he shooed everyone except Riley out and insisted that Xander needed to rest. Both Xander and Spike looked relieved.
Angel watched as Xander drifted off to sleep, the pain medicine finally kicking in. His heart clenched when he realized just how close he’d come to losing Xander. As soon as Xander woke up again, he was going to find out just how much he was loved. Angel wasn’t going to let him out of his sight again.
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*squish*
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Eve who would have thought. Although there is one more chapter. A new twist right before the end maybe?
Can't wait.
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Glad you're enjoying!
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Excellent story!
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*hugs*
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Cos I dont think I am showing up on my friends friends page so no one knows when I am updating.
If you dont see it could you navigate to my LJ and leave a message on that alert post telling me you cant please so I know?
I would really appreciate this!
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Yep, the other WIPs will soon have their turn. It's actually been a little easier on Chad the Muse only working on one at a time.
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*sniff* One part and it´s over? *sniffs more*
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