Musical Wars
Chapter 8 -- Payback
Morning came with slightly stiff muscles and the sound of British cursing. Xander sat up in bed and looked around at the room, hoping for some inspiration, but he couldn’t see any good hiding places. Crawling out of bed, he opened the cabinet and grabbed clean clothes before heading to the bathroom for his morning ritual. By the time he had gotten ready for his day, Spike had reappeared in the main room, his hair still in soft waves and his jeans dirty.
“Soddin’ things are in,” Spike said as he hit play on the stereo and Xander could see the smug expression on Spike’s face as he started singing along with the punk rock.
“You throw the old laundry away, and I’ll keep the new laundry clean.”
“Deal. I’ll start dumpin’ it; need to get it far enough away that it can't be tracked.” Spike disappeared though the hallway door again, leaving Xander still considering possible hiding places for those missing CD's
Xander suddenly found himself looking at the CD cases on the shelf. The evil vampire had obviously hidden his music in the last place he would look, especially since he hadn’t found it yet. As he looked at the cases on the shelf, he had a sudden suspicion. Dashing over to the shelf, he grabbed Garth Brooks and snapped open the case. He looked in at the black and white CD and smiled. Evil vampire. Reaching up for the Dead Kennedys, he quickly slipped Garth Brooks into the case before dropping the punk CD on the bed.
Working quickly, he switched all the CD’s on the shelf even while the song on the stereo continued to scream. When he had a stack of punk music, he darted into the storage room and scanned the shelf for the plastic bags he had seen earlier. Grabbing one, he dashed back into the room and put the CD’s inside. And now for something to hide the package inside. With a smile, he grabbed a black pair of jeans and folded them with the CD's inside.
"Ready, pet?" Spike asked as he reappeared. He walked over and turned off the CD player. "Need to get goin'."
"Almost. I can't find my knife." Xander tried to focus on looking innocent.
"Oi, you and your soddin' weapons."
"I'm still looking through stuff out here," Xander said with a pleading look. For nearly a minute Spike simply glared back before rolling his eyes.
"Fine, I'll bloody look in the other rooms." As soon as Spike left, Xander grabbed the last punk CD out of the stereo and slipped in Patsy Cline before adding to his hidden stash.
"Spike, I found it," Xander yelled as he took his knife out from under the pillow and slipped it into his boot. When Spike returned he had a definitely annoyed expression.
"Goin' to pin your bloody weapons to ya," Spike complained, but Xander simply grabbed the jeans without a word. At Spike's raised eyebrow he shrugged.
"I owe Mike a pair of jeans. Last week this vamp I didn't know pinned me up against a wall and made me come in my jeans." From the smile on Spike’s face, he remembered.
"Right, enough talkin' time to start moving."
"Why the hurry? I can't believe you care this much about my punctuality at work."
"I don't. However, got some work of my own to do."
"What exactly are you up to?" By this time they had reached the top of the stairs and Spike stopped to lock the gate.
"If Q wants to take power, he's got to take it; I'm just backin' him up."
"He really didn't seem like a take over the world type of demon to me, Spike. He seemed more like a 'if you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone' type." Xander followed Spike to the motorcycle, but he didn't get on right away. "Maybe he just doesn't want to take over the city." Spike looked over, one eyebrow lifted in an expression that merged amusement and disbelief.
"Some demons live like that," Spike acknowledge without starting the motorcycle. Xander swung up behind him and pushed up against the vampire. It really was the best way not to fall off given Spike's driving. "Vamps are different, though," Spike continued after a long moment. "Vamps need to know their place, who they're above and who they're below. Not really comfortable without that. When Q was on his own, he didn't fit anywhere, but now he knows he's under me and with some promptin', he's happy enough to be over all the soddin' minions we can collect."
"But doesn't that make the minions under you?" he asked, suddenly unsure about belonging to a vampire who controlled an army of undead. Cool idea for a movie of the week, not such a cool idea for real life since armies required provisions. Yeah, like calling them provisions would ease his conscience about vampires' source of their essential daily vitamins and minerals.
"If I fought for him, yeah. But I just sorta sit back and advise, help him spot the weak masters to pick off, take out a few key players. Leave the battles to him and his minions 'cause if he can't take a few pansy-arsed minions and decade old childer, he deserves to die."
"Funny enough, I think I'd be sorry if he died, and god, aren't I supposed to be cheering for the other side here?"
"If it makes ya feel any better, dozens of vamps a night are goin' down in these fights; won't be much of an army left by the time, and if Ajani's smart, he'll keep it small to avoid Peaches." Spike kick started the motorcycle and Xander had to raise his voice.
"Hey, you called him 'Ajani'."
"The git looks like he might survive, guess he deserved to be called whatever he wants." At that, they sped down the street, dodging through cars and even up on the sidewalk once as Spike avoided rush hour traffic.
Xander arrived at the club just as the doors opened, in other words, late. Rushing past the bouncers, he went to make a dash for the kitchen when a cool hand stopped him.
"We find Carlos first, pet." Spike turned, scanning the half-full club until finally zeroed in on something that Xander could only assume to be Carlos since the club lights weren't bright enough for him to really see anything. Spike urged him toward the south wall, and he followed Spike's touch blindly until he finally spotted the bouncer leaning against a table talking to someone. When they got there, Carlos looked up with a cautious smile.
"Spike," he nodded toward the vampire.
"Mate," Spike replied indifferently. "Got him from here?" Xander couldn't control his need to roll his eyes at being discussed while standing inches away.
"Yeah," Carlos confirmed with his tight smile.
"Right then,” Spike turned, and Xander could tell from the expression that he had something on his mind.
"Spike?" he asked suspiciously.
"Didn't say good mornin' to ya, pet. Thought I'd say a proper goodbye." Xander watched as the yellow rings appeared around Spike's eyes, and he started backing up until he bumped into the half wall. Spike stalked closer and put a hand on either side of Xander's waist, leaning against the wall. Oh yeah, familiar territory here, Xander thought as he cursed himself for reminding Spike about their first meeting. The vampire obviously wanted an encore, and he braced himself to not embarrass himself this time by coming in his jeans.
"Wot? Don't ya want to give me a proper send off?" Spike asked in feigned innocence, looking strangely innocent for a hundred year old serial killer. Spike leaned in for a kiss, and he met the lips half way, pressing forward as Spike's tongue invaded, explored, demanded and took, Spike himself slowly leaning forward until he could feel himself pressed back into the half wall.
He felt one of Spike's hands move up to cradle the back of his head and pull him forward, away from the wall. He followed willingly. Just when he began to feel light-headed from either lust or lack of air, his lips were freed, and a mouth descended on his scar just as a slim hand slipped down the back of his jeans. Xander gasped and lunged forward, trying to get some friction against his cock, and not caring who saw his mounting lust.
He could hear Spike chuckle without lifting his head, the slim fingers now playing with the sensitive skin between his cheeks, and he shifted his legs apart to give Spike more room to work in the tight confines. His own hands locked onto Spike's shoulders as Xander Jr. sent so many signals to his brain that he feared he would collapse. Now the hand disappeared from his neck, and pulled his one arm free, twisting it up behind his back and forcing his body into the vampire, trapping him against the cool body. The suction at his shoulder stopped just before a quick lick and nip left him whimpering and clawing one handed at Spike's back, but Spike stepped back and held him up by one arm as Xander felt himself sway unsteadily.
With an evil smile, Spike turned and left with saying over his shoulder, "Serves ya right for teasin'."
Xander groaned as he looked around and saw the lustful eyes considering him and his temporary inability to walk. Well at least he'd earn enough in CD's to replace any that Spike broke once he discovered his own had left the lair. Suddenly terrified, Xander looked around and found the jeans on the floor where he dropped them. Oh lord, if those CD's had broken, he would be seriously sorry. He tried to bend down to pick it up, but groaned again as the tight jeans and his engorged cock conspired to prevent the motion.
"Let me," offered a voice, and he watched a balding man stoop down to retrieve the package. When the man stood up, Xander smiled his thanks and held out his hand.
"Payment first," the man demanded as he held the jeans behind his back. Realizing that Spike had set him up for a very difficult start to his shift, he just smiled and held his arms out in a clear gesture that the man had access. The man moved in, putting the jeans, and Xander noticed the CD's as well, on the half wall before leaning his own body into Xander's in an imitation of Spike's position. Xander braced his hands against the half wall as he felt the man's hand slip down the front of his jeans, the fingers sliding in until they found the slightly moist head, rubbing along the slit until Xander had to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from coming. Something in his head, oh who was he kidding, the baby vampire in his head told him he couldn't come for someone else no matter what Xander Jr. wanted.
The light rubbing continued until Xander threw back his head and gasped as he thrust up against the willing fingers. Then he felt a hand pull his head back down as he was kissed roughly and a second hand slipped into the back of his jeans with the familiar warm feeling of paper money. When he opened his eyes, he found the balding man gone, his tip presumably down the back of Xander jeans, and a much taller and more muscular replacement kissing him. He tried to catch his breath, but the man quickly braced his knee against the wall, forcing Xander up onto his toes if he wanted to avoid crushing his balls. He tried scooting his feet closer together, but the thick knee prevented him from coming even close to closing his legs, leaving him vulnerable, trapped, and unable to come in a room full of hungry strangers.
Xander really thought Spike had gone too far this time, so he looked around for Carlos, determined to get a rescue. He quickly spotted Carlos still standing by the same table, but the Largis demon bouncer simply shrugged and gave him a little wicked smile. Seeing that the bouncer wasn't going to interfere, Mr. Tall and Muscled pressed his knee up a little higher, and Xander blushed when he heard himself make a very unmanly squeak. Tall and Muscled reached forward and pinched one of his nipples, harder than Spike ever had, and he tried to jerk back but couldn't with the wall behind him.
"Hey," he protested, his voice breaking in the middle, so he tried again with a deeper tone. "Hey, don't…” he didn’t get any farther when the fingers on his nipple tightened, leaving him gasping and looking to an impassive Carlos for help. Tall and Muscled leaned forward without moving the knee and kissed him again, teeth nipping at his tongue and lips even as the man trapping him chuckled. He felt another set of hands pull his right arm away from the wall, and he pulled away from the aggressive mouth, nearly bending himself backwards over the half wall, his hair tangling with the plants.
"Hey now," he complained again as a blue-shirted Hispanic man held his wrist and ran warm fingers up and down his arm.
"You mind, man?" Blue Shirt asked, but the question went to Tall and Muscled whose knee disappeared for a moment, but before Xander could react, Tall and Muscled had placed a left knee into his crotch, trapping him even while moving to the side so the second man could move in. The second man smiled and trailed a hand up Xander's arm and down his chest, a five dollar bill threaded between his fingers. He watched, helpless, as the man's fingers disappeared down the front of his jeans, leaving the money just over his left hip before the fingers moved in to tease Xander Jr. who already ached with a need to come. The man ran a fingernail lightly over the sensitive skin, and Xander could feel his whole body shake with the familiar feeling that announced that he was about to embarrass himself again, but this time his cock simply refused to take the last step, his semen remained trapped, and his cock throbbed.
Blue Shirt smiled his gratitude to Mr. Tall and Muscled, and hey didn't he get any gratitude since it was his body being used here? Of course Spike who had set up the show for this purpose and Carlos who refused to step in might also deserve some gratitude he thought as he shot the bouncer another dirty glare. The pressure on his balls intensified and he returned his attention to Tall and Muscled who looked annoyed at being ignored, but no problem because he couldn't ignore the man now. No matter how he struggled to lift onto his toes, his balls were pressed up into him from the imprisoning knee.
"Please, enough now," Xander asked, but Tall and Muscled simply smiled and wrapped a thick hand around his left wrist, pulling the hand up to the top of the half wall and pinning it there so that Xander had no hope of freeing himself, and obviously no chance of rescue since Carlos had just nodded off another bouncer who had come to break up the party. He started considering breaking Spike's CD's himself when an older blond man moved in and ran a warm hand down his chest, soothing the sore nipple.
The man looked into Xander's eyes for a minute, and then both hands came to his chest, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. Xander opened his mouth to protest, but the knee at his crotch pushed up, and he froze. Carlos would never let him get seriously hurt, but the man would obviously let him do some suffering, so he decided not to see how far that went. He closed his mouth and allowed the blond man to unbutton his shirt and push it back before running his hand through the hair gathered on his stomach and disappearing into his jeans. He wasn't surprised when the man's hand followed the line of hair down into the jeans, his fingers teasing his already engorged cock head until Xander lowered himself onto the knee slightly just so that the pain would keep Xander Jr. in line. The blond man smiled and slipped his own bill into his jeans.
Xander looked up at the crowd and saw how many customers stood around, and whimpered, but that only brought on another low rumbling laugh from Tall and Muscled who, Xander decided, must have been a relative of Spike's in a previous life because they had the same evil sense of humor. Xander braced himself as another customer moved in. He had no idea how long he stood there, trapped as man after man rubbed the slit of his cock; caressed the head; slid cum-slicked fingers down the shaft; stroked, rubbed, bit, or sucked his nipples; and pressed into him. The only constant was Tall and Muscled who massaged his left shoulder, imprisoned his left arm, and tortured his balls. Schizophrenic much?
Suddenly, the man pulled him forward off the wall, his shirt still hanging open and now half hanging off his right arm. The man's one hand slid down the back of his jeans even as the other twisted his arm up and pushed him into the man's embrace. For a moment all he could think about was the relief of having his balls released, but then his vulnerability frightened him and he tried to pull back.
"Spread those legs or this is going to hurt even worse," the man roughly whispered in his ear and think fingers forced themselves farther down the back of his jeans. Xander had almost reached the point of panic when a familiar voice came from inches away.
"Let him go or I'll redecorate with your blood before tossing you out on your ass." Carlos said in such a calm and business-like manner that the man didn't respond for a couple of seconds, and then the invading hand retreated and he felt his arm fall free.
"Just having some fun. Boy knows how to play or he would have come long ago," Tall and Muscled smirked, and Xander could only lean back against the wall and watch as Carlos stared the man down and then stood guard as Xander buttoned up his shirt.
"Yeah, thanks for the rescue there," he sarcastically snapped. The words came out a little harsher than he intended, but he had wanted help earlier.
"Your master set you up for that; I wasn't going to interfere."
"Not my master," Xander grumbled as he tried to adjust his jeans and found them so full of money that he simply exposed his manly bits to death by paper cut. Glancing around and realizing that he had too much of an audience to get away with any subtle action, he simply stuck his hand down his own jeans and rearranged the tips to avoid an embarrassing hospital visit. Oh god, his mother was still listed as next of kin. What would she say to the doctor who explained this injury?
"Okay, the vampire who tells you where to go, what to wear and who to talk to set you up for that," Carlos amended himself with a slight sigh of either frustration or amusement. Xander was too busy trying to relax enough to walk to actually pay attention to the difference.
"I think I'm dying," he complained as he picked up the jeans and CD's. He tried to walk to the back with his head held high, but he knew full well that he did more of a waddle. Dignity be damned when the equipment is in danger of exploding. He got into the back, and Ross turned, a snarl on his face as he clearly prepared to tell off his missing helper. Obviously he looked worse than he suspected because Ross first stopped dead, his expression of annoyance chiseled into frozen flesh, and then the man began to laugh. Really laugh. Xander hadn't known the man long enough to tell him off, so he restricted himself to a dirty glare as he shuffled past half naked dancers to the bathroom.
In the bathroom, he quickly stripped off his jeans and recovered a nice stack of bills before he turned to the task of relieving other needs. He leaned against the tile and remembered his first day when the sight of Charlie in that loin cloth caused his side trip, but now his mind focused on only one man as he stroked himself. He had expected to finish in one or two strokes, but he continued, his orgasm building ever closer to the edge, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to fall over that precipice into release. He could feel his fear grow as he realized that something was wrong. The demon in his mind began to circle in distress at his distress, and he pushed it to once side and he concentrated on imagining Spike's hand touching him. The image aroused him, but in his current condition, that wasn't really of the good. He stood, still leaning against the tile, as a slow panic grew. A knock on the door interrupted his horror.
"Xander, I've got something for you," Carlos called from the other side. Xander walked over so that he would be hidden from the door, and cracked it open. Carlos stood there with a bin of ice and a thin towel.
"Thought you might need these." He took the bin, still confused, and Carlos pulled the door shut. Of course he knew exactly what he needed it for, he thought as he ran cold water into the bin, allowing the ice to turn it frigid before dunking the towel in the water, but how could Carlos know about his problem? He took a deep breath, looked at the towel floating in the ice water, and cursed Spike before using the towel on his own genitals.
Xander Jr. silently shrieked with pain and quickly shriveled, leaving his overly full and still sore balls looking even larger now that every drop of blood had retreated from his cock. Now he leaned against the wall to keep from shrieking out loud and bringing the entire staff to witness his humiliation. He gave his genitals one last swipe before dumping the water and redressing. The impressive pile of bills on the counter got divided into two neat piles and then deposited one in each front pocket before he opened the door to a serious Carlos.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, totally new problem, has never happened before because, ya know, the plumbing works just fine, temporary problem." Carlos watched with an amused expression, not answering so Xander just continued. "Totally temporary in the probably won't ever happen again…definitely won't ever happen again type way temporary." Xander stood silent for a moment, refusing to look at Carlos. "Okay, I have to know. How did you know? What? Could you hear me with your demony hearing? Smell me? What?"
"You really don't know, do you?" Carlos asked.
"Okay, I think that's pretty obvious. Normally, if you assume I just don't know, you'll probably be right."
"Pets can't come without their m…the vampires who tell them what to do, where to go and who to talk to."
"You mean that son of a bitch knew what would happen?" Xander asked, imagining all sorts of vampire tortures: holy water, sun lamp, crucifix tattoo.
"Says a lot about Spike that you didn't know," Carlos reflected.
"Yeah, says he's sadistic," he nearly shouted, and at that moment, a couple of dancers walked by the entrance to the hallway, giggling. Xander leaned his head back against the wall. Great, now everyone at work would think he was some sort of pain slut. Yep, purgatory and hell combined couldn't come up with worse tortures.
"Actually, I was thinking that maybe I didn't have to worry so much about you." His expression must have clued Carlos in on how much sense that statement didn't make to him because the bouncer continued without prompting. "Vamps control pets through emotions; they use the demon to amplify strong emotions until the pet can't think straight or fight back. Most use fear, leaving a pet trembling on the ground and afraid to do anything without a specific command." Xander opened his mouth to protest the implication, but Carlos waved him off.
"Yeah, I figured out that couldn't be the case pretty quick. But, and this was a real concern for me, some vamps use lust instead. Get a pet all worked up and then deny him or her the right to come. Eventually it leaves the human even more disabled than the one controlled by fear."
"You thought Spike was manipulating me through my deep and entirely normal for a human teenager lust," he guessed.
"Yeah. But if you didn't know this would happen, he's obviously never denied you before."
"True, and if he doesn't want to take up smoking in a more personal and immolation-by-lover type way, he won't ever do it again," Xander complained as he felt his genitals still throbbing. "I need to drop these off in a locker," he said as he started walking toward the employee area, trying to get his gait back to normal.
Once he had locked up his jeans and the CD's, he headed back for a tray of food. Ross started laughing again the minute he walked in the room. Ignoring the heavy guffaws aimed his way, Xander grabbed the prepared tray of pizza squares and headed out to feed the masses, Carlos close behind.
The first food run he made included multiple gropes, one proposition, two rescues from Carlos and one very ookie feeling. The second trip included even more gropes, one rescue and three ookie feelings. By the third trip, Xander knew for sure that he recognized the sand rubbing his backbone feeling, and he pulled Carlos to the side.
"We have vamps on the dance floor," he whispered.
"Oh shit." Carlos froze for a second, and then the bouncer's instincts kicked in.
"Tell T first, and then we'll get the number for those vamp hunters who saved him last time." Carlos moved to put the plan into action, but Xander held him back.
"Those vamp hunters are human. They aren't going to know who to stake, and I used to train with them so I can tell you that the training never covered trying to fight with a hundred humans in the middle." Xander knew the only possible solution, he just hated saying it. He considered possibilities. He didn't have Spike's number. Ajani was a big no. The vamp might not kill humans for food, but he wouldn't protect humans either. Besides, he was probably with Spike anyway. He looked at the floor, mentally searching for any other answer, but when he looked up, he could see Carlos' tacit demand for an alternative.
"We have to call Angel," he said calmly. Oh boy, Spike wasn't going to like this one.