"So, she didn’t turn up. This can’t be the first time you got stood
up on a
date!" Cordelia said as she and Wesley entered the office.
"It’s just so rude! A phone call. That’s all it would have taken. You
Americans are some of the most inconsiderate-"
"Hey! Watch it! When in Rome, don’t badmouth the Romans!" Cordelia warned.
Wesley shook his head as he took off his coat. He was about to hang
it up
when he noticed that the elevator was coming up. "Isn’t it rather early
for
him?" Wesley asked as he headed towards the answering machine to check
for
messages.
Cordelia shrugged and waited in front of the elevator for Angel. Suddenly,
she let out a little yelp when she saw Spike step out instead of Angel.
"Spike!"
Hearing Cordelia and recognizing the name, Wesley immediately grabbed
the
vial of holy water from his pants pocket and ran to step in front of
the
brunette. "Stay back, vampire!"
Spike looked at Wesley with amusement. "If I had a dime for every time
some
barmpot said that to me. Hello Cordelia." Spike frowned and added,
"What's
with your hair?"
Cordelia's hand was halfway to her hair before she caught herself. "What
are you doing here? Where’s Angel? Did you-?" Cordelia trailed off.
"I staked him, pet. What else would I be here for? See this grey stuff
under my boots? Say hi! That’s Peaches." Spike replied, as he leaned
against the wall.
Cordelia’s eyes flashed with anger then she calmed herself down. She
strode
over to the phone and punched in a few numbers. She waited a few moments
then turned to face Spike. "Hello Angel. There’s an overgrown blond
cutip
standing in the office right now. I was wondering what I should do
with it.
Huh huh. Really? Ok. Would that be up his own ass or would any ‘man
in the
street’s ass do? Ok. See you later."
Cordelia then came back to stand beside Wesley. "So, did you get that
or do
you need me to tell you what Angel wants me to do with you?" she asked.
"Unless it involves you, me and a king-sized bed, luv, nah!" Spike replied
with a leer.
Cordelia shook her head exasperatedly and went to sit at her desk. Wesley
still blocked Spike but as Spike walked forward, he kept inching back.
"Cordelia! He’s a vampire! How can you just relax?"
"Angel said that he’s harmless. And why is that, Spike? He said something
about you not being able to bite? What is it? Fang decay?" Cordelia
asked,
curiously.
"None of your bloody business, pet. All you need to know is I’m going
to be
bunking with Gel-boy until he fixes a problem of mine." Spike growled
as he
sat on the edge of the desk, toying with an antique dagger.
Wesley looked confused. "I’ve heard about you. Spike aka William the
Bloody. Childe of Angelus. Aren’t the both of you supposed to hate
each
other? Why would Angel help you?"
Spike stared at Wesley until the younger man began to get nervous. "Who
the
hell is this piss-ant anyway?" Spike asked Cordelia while still staring
at
Wesley.
Wesley Pri-" Cordelia began to say.
"I’m Wesley Wyndham Price. I used to be a Watcher until they fired me.
Now
I hunt rog..." Wesley replied.
"Listen up, Assley. Soulboy and I do hate each other but this is about
paying up debts. So shut your gap and stay the hell away from me before
I-"
"Before you what, Spike?" Angel’s voice reached them from the direction
of
the elevator. As Angel entered the office, he stared at Spike with
a
mocking look. "Before you bore them to death? You can’t hurt a human
or
have you forgotten? I don’t appreciate the fact that you waltz right
in
here and threaten my colleagues especially since they have more of
a right
to be here than you do."
Spike glared at Angel but remained quiet.
"So what’s the deal with him, Angel? I asked but apparently, it’s none
of
my business." Cordelia said, smirking at Spike.
"He’s been neutered. A government group called the Initiative captured
him
and placed some form of chip in his head. He can’t bite or hurt a human
in
any way. Giles took him in and Buffy and the rest have been taking
care of
him. He arrived here this morning, asking for my help."
"Hey! They aren’t the only one taking care of me all right? I helped
the
Watcher when he became a Fyarl demon. Plus I also helped the Slayer
on her
patrols!" Spike added, indignantly.
"So it was a symbiotic relationship." Wesley said.
"A Symba who?" Cordelia asked.
"Symbiotic. A scientific term referring to a parasitic relationship
where
the host and the parasite help each other," he explained.
"Are you calling me a parasite, you little piece of-" Spike grabbed
Wesley
by the throat and then immediately crumbled to the floor holding his
head
as pain shot through it. "OW!"
Angel, Cordelia and Wesley looked on as Spike gathered himself and stood
up, still rubbing his head.
"What was that?" Cordelia asked Angel. "Is he having a vision like me?"
"No. It believe we just saw why Spike can’t hurt humans." Angel explained
with a smile."Are you ok?" he asked Spike.
"Abso-bloody-lutely fantastic. Fuck!" Spike cursed as he glared at Wesley.
"Where did you get this baboon from any way? What happened to Boil
or was
it Doyle? At least he had style."
The other three went silent. Wesley looked at Angel and Cordelia, knowing
that it was a touchy subject for the both of them. Especially Angel.
Spike didn’t miss the looks on their faces. "What? Did he bite the dust?"
Cordelia moved away and went to sit at her desk.
Spike nodded, understanding. "Too bad. You made a bad trade for this
little
prick. That guy didn’t-"
"Drop it, Spike." Angel warned and went to the desk, to look through
the
mail.
Spike filed away their reactions for future taunts and reached into
the
pocket of his duster for a cigarette. "Fine. So Peaches, when are you
getting to work on this chip in my head."
"Not now, Spike. I have more important things to deal with." Angel said
as
he reached for the phone.
Angered at being dismissed in that fashion, Spike grabbed the phone
and
slammed it down in its cradle. "We had a deal. The sooner you get the
chip
out of my head, the sooner I get out of this dump."
Angel coolly met Spike’s gaze. "What do you want me to do Spike? Bash
your
head in and dig the chip out? Because if that’s what you want, I’ll
be
happy to oblige."
"Don’t get cute with me, Angelus." Spike ground out from clenched jaws.
"Then use your brains. I can’t possibly do anything until I find out
more
about this group and other demons that have had a similar procedure
done to
them. That information isn’t going fall into my lap, Spike. It’s going
to
take time." Angel explained.
Spike drew back, his eyes still stormy with anger. "All right. I’ll
get out
of your way but I want to know everything that you find out. Understood?"
Angel nodded. He knew that this whole situation with the Initiative
had
shaken Spike’s cocksure attitude and having had to go to the Slayer
couldn’t have been any easier. But Angel was glad that Spike has gone
to
Buffy. He knew that Buffy would keep her word and she had.
Spike popped the cigarette into his mouth and smirked. "I guess I’ll
leave
you three to your little*detective* work, he said as he headed for
the
door. "Look out all you would-be criminals! The three stooges are on
to
you!" Spike ad-libbed as he closed the door behind him.
As soon as he was gone, Cordelia confronted Angel. "Angel, what were
you
thinking? You do realize that once that chip is out of his head, Spike
is
going to start killing humans again. Correct me if I’m wrong but that
is
still a bad thing, right?"
"I’m not going to help him take the chip out, Cordelia. I don’t know
if
that is even possible. But he does need to stay away from Sunnydale.
It’s
not safe there for him any more."
"And you care because-?" Cordelia trailed off.
"Because I owe him. It’s almost 1. Why don’t you and Wesley take a lunch
break." Angel suggested as he picked up the phone receiver again.
"In other words, you want some privacy. Come on Wesley. You can buy
me
lunch." Cordelia said as she picked up her purse and steered Wesley
to the
door.
Angel waited till they had left, then dialed the number. He waited a
few
minutes before someone answered. "Hello? Willow? Is Buffy there?" **