Time Tossed Interlude
by Redwulf

Chapter 1
Through the Looking Glass Boldly


She rammed through the portal head first, tucking and rolling to her feet with her pulse pistols gripped tightly in either hand. The petite redhead was dressed in black urban camo outerwear over nomax Kevlar. Her black combat boots made no sound as she backed up to the wall and scanned the alley for signs of life. Or unlife.

When nothing showed, she flipped her right hand pistol into its holster and reached over her shoulder into the rucksack on her back. From one of the many compartments she grabbed her portable computer. As she booted it up, the Holographical Display Monitor flashed her desktop background; a photo of herself and a gorgeous young man with bleached blond hair. He was sitting behind her with his chin hooked over her shoulder, the smile on his face one of sublime happiness.

“Soon, Will,” she whispered. Her eyes watered threateningly and she had to force herself to swallow the enraged howls of pain that surged within her.

One brief stroke of his beloved image was all she allowed herself before she was all about the mission once more. She immediately she opened a window and began scanning through links as fast as the expensive, magically enhanced device would let her. Yay for Willow Rosenburg, powerful witch and computer hacker extraordinaire.

"Shit!!!" The girl's voice was heavily laced with an angry southern drawl. "2004? Fuckin’ November third? Will isn't even born yet," she groaned.

As other pertinent facts ran across her screen, she growled again. "Los Angeles? Dammit, that means Finn is thousands of miles from here."

She continued to follow the links with an avid eye until a slow grin slid across her face when she realized something else. "Ahhh! Mr. Kenticot is here, though.”

‘Warning Will Robinson, payback's a bitch!’ she thought smugly as she closed the computer down and shoved it back into the pack.

Reaching down, she pulled a compact black object from her right thigh pouch. She pointed it skyward and with the press of a button, a grappling hook flew out attached to her device by a silken rope. After the hook had lodged itself into the roof above, she hit a second button and was immediately jerked skyward. Whizzing thirty stories up, she used her momentum to vault over the ledge and onto the roof. Once she gained her feet, she pressed a third button on the device and the grappling hook released itself and began reeling back into the device.

Looking around her at the Los Angeles skyline, she quickly got her bearings. Moving at a leisurely trot to the other side of the building, she pointed the gun again and leapt from the building as the grappling hook shot forward.

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Spike's Apartment Angel the series season 5

Lindsey Mac Donald was amazed that a vampire as famous as William the Bloody was so easy to fool. Just stroke his ego and voila! Instant sucker. Of course it helped that Lindsey, the Senior Partners, and Angel had so many spells on the poor guy. Everyone had a magical finger in Spike’s pie, it seemed. He was lucky he was able to even decide what kind of blood he wanted.

"Spike, you can capture this girl...right?" Lindsey asked.

"Of course, mate,” Spike answered as he led the person he knew as ‘Doyle’ to his door.

The door suddenly flew open to reveal a short redheaded girl in combat gear. "Papa Smurf, I'm home!” she sang out.

Spike fell back into a fighting stance as 'Doyle’ moved out of the way. "Who the bloody hell is Papa Smurf?" Spike asked embarrassed to actually know what she was talking about.

"Puuulease like you never watched the show with Dawn?" The girl snickered as she sauntered inside.

"Slayer..." Spike began as he caught her scent. "You here for a reason?"

"She's not what she seems, Spike,” Lindsey cut in anxiously, knowing his time was up.

Toni pulled out her computer and pressed a button. The Holo above it showed Lindsey’s face, and Giles’ voice began to drone out his stats.

"Lindsey Mac Donald. A former partner at Wolfram & Hart. Highly dangerous and well connected. Though he is assumed dead, numerous sightings have been reported to the Council. If seen, he is to be handled with extreme caution."

"She's lying,” Lindsey protested as he eased towards the door. "C'mon, Spike! You know my name is Doyle."

Spike stood eyes blinking as if to try to wake up. He barely registered the computer flying gracefully towards him in time to grab it, but did hear the girl's cry of ‘catch’ in time to do so.

A blue sphere hit the floor and burst, showering bright sparks around the room. Several spots on Spike's clothing burst into flames and the girl rushed to his side and began slapping them out.

Lindsey staggered as he felt his protective magics seep away. Whatever that blue ball had been, it was inexorably leaching his power from him. He had to get away before the senior Partners knew he was here. Even as he reached the door, the little slayer drew her weapon and drilled him dead center in the back with a debilitating stream of electricity. He fell to the floor with his clothes smoking around him.

A fully vamped Spike slowly turned towards the small girl. "Who are you and what the buggerin’ hell is going on?"

“I’m Toni Du Bois and I’m here to help you.” Toni snickered at him, further pissing him off. "Let me guess; you're going to rip off my head and drink from my brainstem?"

"I don't kill Slayers anymore, but for you I might make an exception. Talk. Fast."

"Buffy sent me,” Toni lied easily. "If she, Faith, or any of the slayers had come, Wolfram and Hart would have known immediately. I've been training since I was eight, but I’ve never been registered as a fully active slayer. Wolfram and Hart doesn’t recognize me as such, so Buffy and Faith sent me to help you."

"And The First didn't get you?" Spike asked suspiciously.

"I was born and raised in the Louisiana Bayou.” She gave him an abbreviated version of the tales she’d heard while grandmother held her on her knee, about how The First had managed to kill off nearly everyone. All that remained were Granny, her mother, and her six sisters. As she spoke, the anguish that lingered seemed to deepen the thick accent she’d worked so hard to obliterate.

“My watcher was a voodoo woman that woulda make Marie Laveau shake with fear. Yeah, them Bringers came, and if you’d ever been down in the swamps, you’d know that not even Bringers can survive a passel of pissed off Cajuns. Or a hungry gator,” Toni supplied with a cocky smirk. “We killed every one of them crazy, blind bastards."

Spike found himself believing her story he himself had been to the Bayou a few times only Dru's insane ravings had kept him safe but he was still puzzled. "You were sent to me? Why not the Poof?"

"Shit's goin’ down here soon. It’s gonna be hard and fast. I was told to get in, find the rogue slayer, and get her and you the hell out of here. You were my primary contact. I’m allowed to use Angel, but it was stressed that while HE is expendable, YOU aren't. He made his decision long ago. Now, he has to live with it." Wasn’t the whole truth, per se, Toni thought to herself, but she was certain that Mrs. Summer's-Kenticott would agree with her.

If she didn’t throttle her first for daring to come on this mission. Of course being more than fifteen years in the past helped her chances of survival. Having a computer with every Watcher mission since the First was also a major bonus. She smiled inwardly at her chance to play deux machina.

"I was told if you resist to stun you, then chain you up and Fed Ex you to London,” she informed him with a grin.

"I see the bit was in on the planning,” Spike muttered. His mind was still a little muzzy from lingering magics, but things she was blathering about were starting to make a weird kind of sense.

"Was told to tell you she meant exactly what she said in the Hellmouth and that you’re a shirty, carrot topped poofter,” Toni said solemnly.

"What do we do now, luv?" Spike asked. There hadn’t been any true happiness in his life since he’d gone up like a Roman candle, bringing Sunnydale crashing down around his ears and The First to its knees.

Being brought back and dropped into Angel’s lap, metaphorically of course, seemed like the ultimate insult. Add that to the fact that his Slayer was partying it up in Rome, and Spike was one depressed puppy. No wonder he’d been such a sucker for Lindsey’s story.

But thanks to this little girl that seemed to know him and her amazing story, it seemed that his miserable existence was finally looking up.

"We contact Angel and have him meet you here so we can turn Lindsey over to him, and rub it in his face that the Council needs you in England."

Spike smiled slightly. "He had a meeting tonight with one of your guys. How should we play this?"

"The guy is Andrew, and before you ask, he’s a lot better than you think." Toni pulled a phone out of her bottomless pack and handed it to Spike. "Dialing seven will patch you directly to Angel's cell phone. When he answers, ask if it's a secure line. It isn't, but he'll think it is. Tell him to bring Andrew here as soon as possible. If he gets whiny, you can mention Lindsey playing ‘Doyle’ and how it worked till you remembered the little mick being dead."

Spike grinned at the girl in spite of himself. "Yeah, you're a slayer, General Cajun. Your little plan should work."

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Wolfram and Hart Offices Penthouse Suite

If Angel had to hear one more story from this little shit about his close friend; the beloved ‘vampyre’, Spike, he was going to rip the losers head off. One thing he was sure of; even Spike had better taste than to be friends to this little asshole.

When his cell phone rang, he answered it with obvious relief. Hell, even when he found out it was Spike, it was better than talking to Andrew.

"What do you want, Spike?" Angel grumbled.

"Peaches! Long time no annoy. Now, stop snarling and listen to me. Is this a secure line?” When Angel agreed that it was, Spike launched into his story.

Angel found himself growling as the tale unfolded. He never doubted that Lindsey would stoop to this level, and he actually felt pride that his grandchilde had caught him and wanted Angel to have him.

When he knew he had him hooked, Spike began to improvise.

"And I have a slayer here that Buffy sent,” Spike told him. "She knew she couldn't get to you at Wolfram and Hart, so she contacted me to get you here. She’s here to help out with the Dana situation." He was setting Angel up, but he loved it.

"But Andrew?" Angel asked.

"Is Giles’ toady. Buffy sent the slayer here to keep Giles from screwing it up. She knows he hates both of us." Spike nearly laughed at the look on Toni's face.

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Angel bought it.

He couldn't keep the smile from his face. He was Buffy's soul mate and Spike was her friend. When would Giles learn that she would always protect her friends and loved ones? He looked over at Giles’ little spy and his grin was truly malicious.

"Spike has an informant at his place," he told a suddenly worried Andrew. “We’re meeting him there. Let’s go.”

"An informant?" Andrew asked.

"Please. Did you really think that Buffy would trust YOU and Giles with this mission? She knows you guys hate me,” Angel stated regally as he led Andrew from the office.

‘But,’ Andrew thought, thoroughly confused. 'It was Buffy who choose this team.'


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