(( )) = thoughts.

((What the hell is he doing in there?)) Spike closed the drawer of Angel’s
dresser and scowled at the still closed door of the bathroom. Since he had
found nothing of interest in the dresser, he moved on to the desk set in
the corner. When Angel hadn’t come out of the bathroom after fifteen
minutes, Spike stopped fearing an immediate and painful death and started
snooping. The bedside table was first, but all that was in there were some
candles, matches, a few broken pencils and, of course, a picture of the
Slayer. It was a nice one, too, framed and everything. ((But in the drawer
and not where he can see it- hmm.))

After another fifteen minutes passed with no indication that Angel was ever
coming out of the bathroom, Spike started roaming the room, poking his nose
into dark corners and lifting the lid to one of the two trunks pushed up
against the wall. That one contained weapons, books and a few other odds
and ends. The other trunk was locked. He thought about popping it open,
just to see what it was that Angel felt the need to lock away, but decided
against it- for now.

And now, here it was, at least forty-five minutes after Angel had done his
kiss and run act. ((It can’t take *that* long to pile on another gloop of
hair-gel.)) Slamming the drawer on the desk, Spike finally lost his
patience, went over to stand in front of the bathroom door and pressed his
ear against it. ((Nothing- maybe he fell asleep or-or died of mortification
after he realized he really did kiss me- or maybe he’s just gotten out of
the shower and needs a hand with something- Oooo... well, better see what
the problem is or we’ll never get out of here-))

He cleared his throat, knocked once and opened the door slowly. "Angel?"

"Hmm?"

"Um.. are you about ready to..- what are you doing?" Angel was running some
kind of high-tech magic wand thingy back and forth in front of the dark
blue shirt, which was hanging on the shower rod.

"Steaming the wrinkles out of this shirt." Angel switched off the device in
this hand and slipped the shirt off the hanger and onto his body. "I kind
of.. uh.. gripped it too tight- earlier."

Spike studied Angel for a moment. ((He doesn’t look mortified- or angry..
or anything.. just.. just- normal.. damn!)) "Yeah, well.. about earlier.. "

"What about it?" Angel tucked his shirt into his pants and fastened his
belt. "Are you ready to go?" He edged past Spike and out the door, brushing
Spike’s ass with his hand as he went past, so casually it could have been
an accident.

Spike narrowed his eyes as Angel slipped on his shoes and headed for the
living room. ((So that’s the way it’s going to be, is it? Well, two can
play that game.)) He followed Angel into the living room and grabbed his
duster off the coat tree. "So, where are we going?"

"Why do you keep asking me that?" Angel slipped on his own coat and turned
off the lights.

"Because I want to know where we’re going and you never will say."

"You’ll see when we get there- now stop whining and let’s go."

"I don’t whine."

"Whatever."

"I don’t!"

"Just get in the elevator, would you? I want to go check the messages
before we go."

"You really don’t do anything but work, do you?" Spike grumbled but got in
the elevator, propping himself against the side. He shoved his hands in his
pockets and glared at Angel’s back as he shut the door.

Angel pressed the button that would take them up to the office and casually
took the two steps that would press him up against Spike. "I don’t usually
to more than work- but I have a guest to entertain now, don’t I?"

Spike’s mouth dropped open in shock. Which was fortunate since Angel was
now busy nibbling on Spike’s lower lip then moved on to dipping his tongue
inside for a taste before returning to his teasing nibbles.

After a moment, Spike tried to pull his hands out of his pockets to- to
something. He just wanted to touch.

When the elevator jerked to a stop, Angel stepped back and smirked. "Having
fun yet?" He didn’t wait for answer but turned, slid open the door and
stepped into the office. "This will just take a minute, so don’t start
complaining again.- Flipping off the light in his office, Angel left Spike
to puzzle things out and went to Cordelia’s desk. The message light was
flashing, so he pushed play and started sorting the mail that had been left
out.

((*What* has gotten into him? Not that I'm complaining... well, maybe I am.
When did Angelus turn into such a tease? No, not Angelus, Angel... Unless
he's just doing it as revenge for what I said earlier... damn! I'll *never*
understand him.))

‘Angel- dammit, pick up the phone-. I know you’re there.. you never go
anywhere. SHIT! Great, you pick tonight to have a life- look, I had another
one of those lovely visions.. so you two better get your undead asses over
here right now! Oh, and bring the really big weapons, we’re going to need
them. Some aspirin, too, while you at it, I ran out. And bleach-boy.. you
better not give him any trouble or I’ll"’ __beeeeep_ The tape ran out of
room before Cordy could complete her threat.

"SPIKE!"

"Don’t have to yell, I’m right here." Spike came through the door to the
outer office. "I could have sworn I heard Cordelia screeching in here."

"Answering machine. She’s had a vision, we have to go. I’ll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"Weapons."

"Right."

Angel bypassed the elevator and ran down the stairs to his apartment. He
was back in only minutes with a sword, an axe, two small crossbows, plenty
of bolts, several stakes, and a carefully capped vial of holy water, just
in case. "Let’s go."

Spike followed Angel down to his car and took a few of the weapons off his
hands before getting in. "So what are we hunting?"

"Don’t know. She didn’t say, just said to bring the big weapons- and
aspirin. Are you up for this? I mean, it could be anything."

"For some maim and kill time I’d... well, maim and kill. Don’t worry about
me, I’ll be having the time of my un-life- whatever it is we’re after."
Spike caressed the axe like it was an old friend. "Haven’t seen one of
these in years, from you’re personal collection?"

Angel skidded the car around a sharp corner and shook his head. "No, found
it at an auction."

"I guess I’ll have to start going to auctions then."

Vision 1b

"About time you got here! I just hope we’re not too late" Cordelia drifted
off as she took in Angel’s appearance. "What exactly have you been doing,
Angel?

"What are you talking about? The vision Cordelia- focus." Angel grabbed her
hand and pulled her out to the car. "You can tell me where we’re going on
the way."

"OW! Pushy much? I bet you didn’t bring the aspirin either, did you?"

"Yes, it’s in the car and before you ask, yes, there’s water, too. Now..
vision?"

"Believe it or not, we’re going to a bondage club."

"A WHAT?"

"Oh, hi, Spike." Cordelia squeezed into the back seat, ‘accidentally’
knocking Spike over the head with her purse. "Yeah, a bondage club on
Seventh. Something’s getting out of hand over there. I’m not sure what, but
it looked like some kind of demon thingy."

"Great a bondage club complete with demon." Angel pulled out into traffic
and headed for their destination. "Did you call Wesley?"

"Yeah, but he wasn’t home so I left a message on his machine with the
address. So why are you all rumpled and not wearing black?" Cordelia popped
a few aspirin in her mouth and washed them down with the bottled water
sitting on the back seat. She then pulled out her nail file and started
doing her nails.

"I’m not rumpled and you’ve seen me wear other colors before."

"Twice. I’ve seen you wear something other than black, twice.. well, now
three times. And you are too rumpled.. like you’ve been-. EWW!" She smacked
the back of Spike’s head. "What did you do to him, you pervert?"

"Me? Me? I didn’t do anything to him, pet. Why does everybody think it’s
always me?" Spike turned in his seat and gave Cordelia his best innocent
look. "You know I’m too afraid of you to do anything to your precious
boss."

An unladylike snort came from the back seat. "Yeah, right. Just keep your
paws off him until this is over. I don’t want to get killed because you’re
trying to cop a feel. And I don’t believe I just said that."

"Why? Are you jealous? Want to join in? You can be the luscious cream
filling in a vampire sandwich." Spike wiggled his eyebrows at her and
leered. "What do you say, pet, interested?"

"As if! I really don’t want to know any more about ‘the games vampires
play’, if it’s all right with you."

"Angel knows a lot good games or at least he used to, but then again, he’s
getting a little old and stuffy, so you’re probably better off not even
asking. Wouldn’t want to embarrass him about his Alzheimer’s or- what’s
that other word? Um- starts with an I- means limp di-."

"I am still sitting here you know."

"Just drive, Angel." Cordy put away her nail file and leaned closer to
Spike. "So, is it really true?"

"Spike normally didn’t have a problem following her train of conversation,
but this time she had him stumped. "Is what true?"

"You know, about Angel’s-. um.. .thing. He really can’t-."

"HEY! That’s enough! I will not have you discussing my co.. uh.. thing!"

"We’ll wait till he’s not around to finish this." Spike stage-whispered and
turned back around in his seat.

"Cordelia.. I forbid you to discuss my- to discuss my private life with
Spike!"

"You forbid me? Excuse me, but who died and made you Lord and Master of all
you survey?"

What started as a grin while teasing Angel, something he knew he’d pay for
later, quickly became outright laughter at Cordelia’s words. It was just
too close to his own words a week earlier. "How.. how-" Spike wiped the
tear from his eye and tried again. "How did you know about that one?"

"I don’t get it." Cordelia asked from the back seat. "What’s so funny?"

"Nothing!" But Angel was hard-pressed to keep from laughing himself. "Just
don’t believe anything this twerp tells you."

"Okay-. whatever Oh, look.. there’s the place."

Angel pulled over to the curb and turned off the engine. "All right, we’ll
go in like we’re just visiting. Everyone stick together until we see what’s
what. No running off to enjoy the shows- got that Spike?"

"Yeah, yeah- same for you, right?" Spike opened his door and climbed out of
the car, hiding the axe underneath his coat. Before he could take two
steps, Angel was in his face.

"I’m serious, Spike. No funny business. Look out for Cordelia first,
everything else, including killing the bad guy, second. Got that?"

"I got it the first time, Angel. I said I would help you and I will."

"Fine just remember, Cordelia first, everything else second." Angel turned
and walked towards the entrance to the club.

"What was that all about?" Cordelia was busy stuffing one of the crossbows
into her voluminous purse.

"Nothing you need to worry about, pet. Let’s go. Have you ever been to one
of these places before?"

"No, have you-. never mind, stupid question. What’s the big?"

"You’re not the queasy sort are you? ‘Cause if you are, you’d better stay
outside and cover the exit."

"Angel and I have faced some icky stuff and it’s never been a problem
before. You’re starting to scare me, Spike, so just spill."

"This will mostly be humans hurting humans. Oh, out front it’s mostly just
for show, leather, chains, whips, collars, leashes, that sort of thing, but
there’s sure to be back rooms where the real action is. It may not be
pleasant-. to you, I mean."

"Okay- ick-.but I’ll be fine. Just don’t leave me alone, okay?"

"I won’t let anything happen to you, Angel would kill me if I did." They
caught up with Angel, who was browbeating the bouncer into letting them in.

"Nope, sorry fellow. This is a private club, gotta join to get in."

"Well, how do we join?"

"Got to talk to the owner."

"And the owner is?"

"Inside."

"How are we supposed to talk to the owner if we can’t go in and ask if we
can join?"

"Not my problem."

"Bloody Hell! Just give him some money and let’s go!" Spike was more
impatient than usual since he’d been promised a bit of violence.

"I tried that all ready, he won’t budge." Angel gave the bouncer another
disgusted look and went back to stand next to Spike and Cordelia stood. "I
guess this job pays really well. Come on, we’ll go in through the back."

"No I’m going to distract him and you bonk him on the head. I am so not
going trudging through a stinky alley in these shoes." Cordelia held out
her foot and showed them her new shoes.

"Uh.. right.. nice shoes Cordelia. Okay, sounds like a plan." Angel rolled
his eyes at Spike and then moved off to execute the ‘bonk on the head’
plan. ******

"He went down awful easy." Angel rubbed his fist and stepped over the
downed bouncer.

"I think he knew what we were up to and at least this way he won’t get
fired if we really aren’t supposed to be here-. oh..wow!" Cordelia looked
around in amazement at the interior of the club.

Chains hung from the ceiling at intervals, more for decorative value than
any darker purpose. The dance floor was just like any other, but the
dancers were like nothing she’d seen before. The music was slow and bass
heavy, just right for grinding against each other and calling it dancing. A
few patrons were nearly naked, sporting only tight leather short, shorts
and collars with chains attached.

"Where do these people buy their clothes? I’ve never seen this kind of
stuff a Neiman-Marcus."

"There’s a place over on.. I mean, I don’t know, Cordelia. Let’s have a
look around." Angel headed towards the bar, meaning to start there since
there didn’t appear to be anything amiss in the main room. But he knew
there were back rooms and that access was going to be difficult. "Was your
vision any more specific in the location of this demon? Could you see what
kind of room it was in?"

Cordelia gripped Angel’s arm tightly and shook her head. "No, I just saw
the front of this place, not inside. If I’d seen inside I might have
thought twice about coming with. This is-well, creepy. Do this many people
really get off on pain?"

"Yes, and these are just the ones that joined this club." They reached the
bar and Angel slid onto one of the stools, catching Spike doing the same
out of the corner of his eye. Cordelia remained standing beside him,
clutching his arm.

"Excuse me-. We’re looking for someplace a little more private to break in
our new.. uh.. friend, here." Angel motioned to Cordelia and smiled
knowingly at the bartender. "Help us out?"

"Sure, buddy. See that guy over there? Pay him and he’ll give you a key.
Now, you want something to drink?"

Angel and Spike both craned their necks to see whom the bartender was
pointing at. "Uh.. yeah my friend will order for us." He looked at Spike
and communicated his intentions without saying a word. "Cordelia, stay with
Spike, I’ll be right back." He slid off his barstool and headed across the
room.

"Where is he going?"

"To get a key, luv. Now be a good slave and sit on daddy’s lap.. what would
you like to drink?"

"Rum and coke-" Cordelia ignored Spike’s suggested seating arrangements and
just pressed herself closer to him when someone jostled her on their way to
the bar. "Hey! What do you mean slave?"

Spike tugged on her arm and brought his lips to her ear. "Just go with it
for now, okay?"

Cordy nodded and whispered back. "If I didn’t get the visions from TPB, I
would think you two were up to something kinky."

Spike chuckled and ordered the drinks. By the time the bartender handed
them over, Angel was still not back and Spike was beginning to get
concerned. He turned completely around on his stool and visually searched
the club. "Damn!"

"What?" Cordelia took another sip of her drink.

"The poof is gone."

"Gone where?"

"If I knew that I wouldn’t mention it, would I? He was just supposed to go
get a key and come back. Now he’s no where in sig-" A high-pitched scream
followed by a guttural roar sounded above the pounding music. Then all hell
broke loose
 

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