Rating: 15 (British style cos I'm not sure how American works)
Pairing: Willow/Spike (sorta)
Disclaimer: None of the BtVS characters belong to me. They belong to
Joss, Mutant Enemy etc. Don't sue me; I'm a poor, poor student.
Dedication: This is to all my friends who have had to listen to me
drone on and on about writing this fanfic. Thank God you're all
patient people or I might very well be dead by now!
Spoilers: Season 2 A:tS and Season 5 BtVS
Notes: Riley hasn’t gone bye-bye yet and he’s still in the Initiative
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Part 1
Cordelia absently bit at her lip again and turned over another page of the magazine she had been trying, and failing, to read. Glancing over at the closed door the young woman frowned. It was over half an hour since Angel had disappeared into his office with their latest prospective client and there had been no sign of him since. The seer couldn’t tell whether the fact the meeting seemed to be taking along time was a good thing or not. Still, there hadn’t been any shouting yet and there certainly hadn’t been any fighting which was certainly a tick in the positives column.
“Noisy much?” she exclaimed as the main door to the office burst open, hitting the wall with a clatter and revealing a very mused looking ex-watcher. Wesley stepped inside, a disgruntled expression on his face and kicked the rebounding door shut again while struggling with a large box. Huffing and puffing the British man dropped the package on Cordelia’s desk causing a flurry of dust to rise. Cordelia wrinkled her nose is disgust. “Do you have to put that there?”
“Well it is rather heavy,” he answered, rubbing his hands together to get rid of the excess dirt. The seer just raised her eyebrows and gave him a knowing stare. Wesley sighed and picked up the box placing it on the floor in front of the desk. When he straightened again Cordelia had returned to her magazine. “What’s going on in there?” he asked with a nod towards their boss’ closed office door.
Cordelia shrugged. “He’s with a client so who knows?”
Wesley looked hopefully at the door before bringing his gaze back to the beautiful young woman and perching on the desk clumsily. He jumped as said door was opened and a tall, handsome man with slightly greying hair and jet back piercing eyes appeared shortly followed by Angel.
“I wish that you would reconsider Mr Angel,” the man said. Even as he said the words the dark vampire was shaking his head in reply.
“No, I’m afraid that I can’t do that for you.”
“If it’s the fee then I can easily afford to offer you more…”
“That won’t do any good Mr Philipson. It wouldn’t matter how much money you offer.”
Philipson’s expression became angry, his stance tense. “Can’t or won’t?” the man asked.
“Perhaps a bit of both.” The room fell into silence as Philipson seemed to reassess the situation. Almost cautiously the man seemed to glance around, first at Wesley, then at Cordelia and finally at Angel.
“I’ll leave my card,” the man said as the pause in the room dragged on for an unbearably long time. He reached inside the pocket of his dark grey suit and pulled out a wallet and in turn a card that had been tucked there. With the card held before him Angel had no choice but to take it from the man who was obviously not going to give up until he did so. Philipson plastered a fake smile onto his face as the vampire took the card. “It was good doing business with you Mr Angel. I hope you’ll have a change of heart and if you do then don’t hesitate to contact me.”
After turning his sunny smile on the other two inhabitants of the room the greying man turned on his heals and left the via the main entrance to the hotel. Angel watched the door close and leaned against the back of the couch he was standing by letting out an unneeded hiss of breath. For a second the vampire looked exhausted.
“Anything wrong Angel?” Wesley asked giving up on trying to balance on the edge of the desk and standing up.
“If Mr Philipson calls again Cordelia then I’m not in,” the older man answered. He played with the small white card he was holding for a second or two before flicking it into the ‘In’ box on the brunette’s desk knowing that it might never see the light of day again. When the vampire turned his back on her desk Cordelia picked up the card and popped it into her patented filing system – nice shoes, nice suit, needs to get a colour on his hair.
“What, permanently? Did we forget the concept of pay checks again?”
“Trust me when I say you really don’t want me to take that job,” Angel replied before walking back into his office and making sure the door was closed properly behind him. Cordelia and Wesley exchanged knowing glances.
Part 2
Opening the refrigerator door Angel took out a bag of blood and reluctantly poured it into a glass. Distastefully he took a sip before hurriedly putting the drink back down and pushing away from the counter top. The vampire rubbed his hands through his hair in frustration.
As much as they needed the money he knew that there was no way he could take this job in good faith. Cordelia and Wesley might complain but he was not changing his mind this time. Philipson was bad news. He had sensed it the moment he met the man. It wasn’t just the job that he had proposed to Angel; there was more to it than just that.
Charles Philipson had first called a little over three days ago to request an appointment with Angel. He had arranged to meet with the vampire on the following day, Tuesday, and then again called only shortly before hand to cancel. Angel had not even felt any regret at the cancellation, instead he had felt surprising relief only to have it taken away again when Philipson had called back again and arranged yet another time. Reluctantly he had agreed to the business meeting at Cordelia’s insistence ignoring his own instincts.
The offer that the man had put on the table for Angel was simple. For a very lucrative fee Philipson proposed that the vampire break into an auction house that was supposedly running an illegal trade in antiques. The information had peaked Angel’s interest marginally but not significantly and he had said nothing, remaining quiet until the smart looking businessman offered up more information. What Philipson had to given him was surprising to say the least. What the man wanted Angel to do was break into the auction house and remove from it a relic that was supposedly in storage there. He had even gone so far as to give the vampire a copy of a seventeenth century etching of the object itself.
Angel now picked up the copy and held it up to his eye. There was something disturbingly familiar about the image that was impressed in it. The vampire was almost entirely sure that he had seen it somewhere before; the question was where.
The object depicted was circular with five curving blades protruding from the base to fine points and completely smooth all over in appearance except for five apparent gems surmounted on the disk. At the top of the disk, where it appeared to reach the peak of its dome there was a series of slight indentations that had no purpose at all as far as Angel could tell. The vampire placed the etching down on the counter crossed to his bookshelf where he searched the titles until he came up with the one that he had been looking for.
The chosen book was covered in dark leather with flaking gold writing engraved into the front and the spine on the title. Opening the book he began to carefully flick through the pages with delicate fingers for fear that the pages would fall apart. He started when he came to a small identical replica of the etching that Philipson had given him. Seeing it there before him Angel found himself having to look twice. Taking an unneeded breath he reached for the phone knowing that the call he had to make might very well end up painful and upsetting.
Part 3
Stepping into his sitting room Giles was forced to pause as the redhead seated at the desk to clear a space for the tray that he was carrying. “So where is Buffy again?” he asked carefully pouring the tea into a delicate chine cup and passing it to Willow.
“She’s out on a date with Riley,” the girl answered taking the cup and turning back to the screen of her computer. “I think that they’re both feeling a little over worked lately.”
Giles shuck his head in despair. It was nine o’clock at night and the slayer should really have been patrolling, not running around with her boyfriend god only knew where.
“Don’t be too harsh on her Giles,” Willow said interrupting what had been about to be another gesture of despair.
“It’s a little hard not to,” was his strained reply. Seeing the upset expression appear so readily on her face the watcher became suddenly angry with himself. “However I suppose that I can try.” She smiled making him seem to feel instantly better. Giles took a seat opposite Willow and sipped the tea, glad of its calming effects. The slayer was truly one of the more infuriating aspects of his life both because she was more independent now and despite it.
“I think I might have found that demon that Buffy ran into the other night,” she told him; turning the computer screen so that he could see. “It’s a Talwathra demon. They’re from Eastern Europe. I don’t think there’s anything practically noteworthy about them. Not that I can find out from the database that we compiled anyway. Maybe there something in one of your books or something.”
Giles nodded slightly in agreement although he doubted that would actually be the case. “There might be but we did place most of the information I have onto the computer. I’ll look into it later. If what you say if correct then there no real hurry.”
Willow looked momentarily concerned. “But what if…”
“Don’t worry about it Willow,” Giles said smiling. “I’m sure I can manage.”
The young witch glanced around the empty apartment sadly. It was so empty nowadays. Everyone always seemed to have something to do instead of dropping by the watcher’s house to do research or just hang out together. Anya and Xander were still going strong, Buffy was wrapped up in bliss with Riley, even Spike didn’t bother to bother Giles anymore now that he had his own crypt and things appeared to be looking up between him and Harmony in there own strange way. She never saw Olivia around either. Like herself ever since Tara left Giles was now alone.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the ring of the telephone and Giles quickly reaching for it to prevent any further conversation between the two. Silence echoed in the room as the watcher began to talk to the person on the other end of the line and Willow could hear her own breathing. The redhead watched the mix of emotions that flowed across his face as the speaker at the other end answered his initial questioning ‘hello’. Almost immediately, even without Giles mentioning his name, Willow knew that it was Angel. Even after more than two years since the vampire’s return from hell he was still having difficulties accepting that Angel was once again good.
Willow shook her head and moved off into the kitchen to wash up her half the tea set.
“Do you know who that was?” Giles said appearing only a few minutes later when she was up to her elbows in soapsuds and leaned in the door with glasses held loosely in one hand.
“I can take a fair guess – Angel.” The watcher nodded. “What did he want? Did Cordy have a vision?”
“No, no. Nothing like that.”
She pulled her hands out of the washing up water and dried them on a towel. “What was it then?”
“It was rather a strange conversation actually. He rang to ask if we could research something for him.”
“And?” she prompted knowing that there surely had to be more to the concerned look on his face than a bit of research could cause. Giles rubbed his brow.
“As far as I could tell Angel was concerned about a relic that he believes might be of magical origin. The man who brought this particular relic to his attention wanted Angel to steal it for him.”
“What?! I hope he said no.”
The man frowned at her outburst, surprised that the young witch could be shocked by anything so simple having lived on a hellmouth her entire life. “Of course he did Willow. The point that worries Angel, and myself I must confess, is that this man not only knew that the auction house from which the relic was to be stolen is corrupt but that Angel is also a vampire.”
Willow whistled. “How?”
“I think Angel would be better equipped to answer that question. My job is to just research.”
“Want some help with that?” she asked perkily.
“It would be appreciated.”
“Great! Or not so great because of the whole worry part of it but great because it means that we’ll be able to figure out what to worry about exactly all the quicker - wait that’s not right either. What I mean is…”
“I think I understand,” Giles said indulgently.
The redhead smiled sheepishly. “So what was the name of this relic again?”
Part 4
Kick, punch, then duck, roundhouse kick and then another punch. One rapid spin and grab the stake from behind his back and plunge it into the vampire’s heart. The demon exploded into dust before his eyes leaving him to hastily brush his remains from the black leather of his duster. Spike stumbled back a step, still horrified that he was forced to kill his own kind and ran from the cemetery.
Already he knew that the vampire’s friends had discovered his demise and were no doubt on his trail. He hated being this weak. He was a goddamned master vampire, in age and in strength, and now here he was running from a pack of fledglings that he should have been able to kill in two seconds flat. It was humiliating above everything else. Especially considering whom he was now forced to run to for help more often than not.
Spike took the waist height fence that surrounded the cemetery at a leap and quickly changed direction to throw the chasing vampires off his trail, knowing that the idiots would probably be too stupid to think of following his scent. Idiots, that what they were and here he was running from them. It was ridiculous.
Moving quicker than any human could clearly see he passed through the streets unnoticed for the most part. It was only minutes before he came upon his ultimate destination, pausing at the door briefly to straighten his duster and tuck the stake he was still clutching at behind a random plant pot. Having sufficiently composed himself the vampire pushed open the door to the watcher’s place making sure that it slammed lightly against the wall as it swung open.
“Spike!” he heard a voice squeak in surprise and focused on the redheaded witch who was holding her hand lightly to her chest as if it would calm the wild beating of her heart that he could hear pounding in his ears. Taking in the appearance of the shocked girl before her open laptop computer he began to wonder whether coming here had been the right decision. It was obvious that she was researching something and it was probably a big something that he didn’t really want to know about. Still, it had to be better than having to fight a load of inept fledglings that thought that just because he couldn’t bite anymore he was an easy target for some status boosting.
“’Ello pet,” he answered, doing his best to swagger into the apartment and pretend that he couldn’t just about sense said fledglings just about to enter the courtyard outside. With some satisfaction he slammed the door in their faces knowing that it was probably a bad idea but unable to resist anyway.
Shrugging off his duster and walking right past the seated witch he went to the kitchen and flung open the refrigerator door, moving various grocery items until he found what he was looking for. Triumphantly he held up a package of blood, no doubt courtesy of Willow, before grabbing the box of Wheetabix of the shelf and mixing them together in a bowl. With spoon in hand he went back through to the living room and settled himself down on the watcher’s lumpy couch.
“Oh, its you. I might have guessed what with all the noise,” Giles said appearing at the top of the stairs and staring in dismay at the blonde vampire who was relaxing below.
Spike smirked at him. “I know you’re glad to see me really Rupert,” he said.
“Contrary to whatever you believe Spike I do not wait in avid anticipation of your arrival each evening. In fact you could say that I rather dread it.”
“Red,” he whined glancing over his shoulder and seeing an instant rush of sympathy in her eyes. “Rupert’s is picking on me again!” He scooped another mouthful of Wheetabix and blood into his mouth and tried to look mournful knowing that if he kept it up long enough Willow would be forced by her own morals to try and make it up to him.
“Do not take any notice of him Willow,” Giles told her, wagging a finger of disapproval in her direction. “You know very well that he’s doing it on purpose. He’s an expert at it – especially with you!”
“Giles that’s not fair!” she protested managing to make the watcher look guilty.
“Just don’t let him take advantage of your…of your good nature is all that I am saying.”
“I won’t! Now do you want to know what I found out or not?”
“You actually found something out?” Giles asked in apparent amazement coming to stand behind her so that he could view the screen over her shoulder.
The vampire left his bowl on the low coffee table in front of the couch and wandered around until he too could see what she had displayed on the screen. “What this then pet?”
“Just a bit of research for Angel,” she answered trying to half dismiss his grandsire’s name with her tone.
“What does the poof what now? Doesn’t he have that prom queen chit to do stuff like that from him?” he asked deliberately addressing his question to the witch and ignoring the watcher’s entire existence.
“She was the spring queen not the prom queen and yes, Cordy does help him out now.”
“So why isn’t she doing this instead of you wasting your time. Don’t get me wrong Red; I’m sure you like spending all your time locked away in this apartment with no one but Rupert here and a bunch of musty old book for company it just seems strange to me that you would rather be doing it that being out enjoying yourself.” He stopped when he saw that the annoyed look on her face was getting a bit too serious and shrugged his shoulders dismissively. “But then we both know that what I think doesn’t really matter.”
He watched amused as her inner turmoil at how to answer without giving the wrong impression or offending him showed in the features of her face. “That’s right… I mean of course we care what you think but you’re not right anyway.”
“Spike leave Willow alone; Willow could you please show me what you found?” the watcher interrupted giving a little irritated sigh.
Willow nodded. “Um, sure. Well from the emailed image of the etching that Angel sent me I was able to cross-reference the object’s features with the possible name for it that he found. While several promising matches came up I managed to narrow it down considerably once it dawned on me that the name Angel found and the different names that I was finding left right and centre were actually the same one just in different languages.”
“And?” Spike asked wondering where the young witch was going. Sometimes to way she seemed able to think around corners amazed him.
“And when I managed to translate about sixty or seventy percent of the names I found that there was a very definite pattern emerging. Each name seemed to describe a type of weapon; a few went so far as to say that it was one of mass destruction. The strange part was that most said that the particular relic that Angel has given us is part of the weapon not all of it. I found some more pictures other than the etching that Angel was given. Do you want to see them?”
Giles paused in thought before answering. “Yes, yes, that would be most helpful. Would it be possible to get a list of the various names that you found?”
Willow grinned broadly and held up a sheet of paper that Giles took from her and held up to study. Something clearly dawned the watcher and he left the paper on the desk before hurrying over to his overloaded bookshelves. Absently Spike picked up the discarded list and glanced through the names given on it.
“Where the hell is it?” Giles cursed shoving one book roughly back onto the shelf and reaching for another. This one too he replaced and stepped back to scan over the titles of the books there. “I know it is here somewhere.”
“I know this one,” Spike said suddenly. The vampire looked up to find the startled faces of the watcher and the witch looking back at him. “Its in Alrianon, a demon language I learnt a while back.” He was aware that Willow had come to stand next to him and was attempting to peer over his shoulder at the list. The vampire lowered it slightly so that she could see.
“That’s one of the ones that I was unable to translate.”
“Well that one means ‘Dark Bringer’.”
“If fits in with the other translations that I found Giles,” the redhead said.
The watcher closed the book he was holding but kept his finger in it to hold the place. “Can you remember where you know it from?” he asked.
“It was something that Dru once rambled about during one of her vision thingies. I didn’t think much of it at the time, what with her always going off like that, but I did remember it because at one point she started going on in Alrianon.” He shrugged. “Dru doesn’t speak any demon languages.”
“Can you remember what it was she said?” Giles asked. Over the past few months or so since Spike had actually started to cooperate occasionally to help the group the watcher had begun to understand just how accurate the demon’s crazy ex-lover could be with her visions.
Spike pulled out a pack of cigarettes ignoring the annoyed expression that suddenly played Giles’ face and lit one up, taking a long drag before answering. “Bits and pieces. What’s it worth to you?” The watcher groaned and began to dig around in his pocket for his wallet.
“Spike please,” Willow said laying a hand on Giles’ arm to stop him. “Don’t you think it’s more important to track down whatever this thing is first?” The look in her eyes brought an odd urge to the vampire and only half believing what he was doing he waved the extended wad of cash away.
“It was something along the lines of the ultimate weapon finally coming, an great battle, forces of light verses dark and all that. She kept saying something about the prophecy of the light coming to light in the shadow of the dark’s reappearance. I thought it was complete gibberish.”
Willow frowned. “I think anyone would. It kinda makes sense now though.”
“I realise that,” he answered dryly. The redhead blushed and ducked her head in an attempt to hide behind long hair that was no longer there. She backed away from him and went back to sitting before her computer, almost using it as a protective shield.
Giles turned to the witch. “Willow I want you to continue to look through the database and find our anything new you can with the information that Spike has given us. Spike I would appreciated it very much if you would ring Xander and see if he and Anya can come over here to help research and then write down everything that you can remember about Drusilla’s vision.”
“Do you think that we should call Angel and let him know what we’ve found so far?” she asked. “He might be able to find something in Los Angeles that could help.”
“I will do but I think that Angel is concentrating on investigating the auction houses.”
“He should be told so he can expect what to run into,” the redhead protested.
“Watcher told you that he’d tell the poof Red. Don’t get pissed off at him.”
The witch stared at Spike in amazement, with eyes wide and lips slightly parted in shock. “Fine,” she said finally. “Can you hurry up with that list so I can get started?”
“Will do pet.”
Part 5
The crime scene wasn’t pretty. Angel stood across the road from the area where the police had put up tape to cordon it off from the public. Even from here he could smell the blood that laced through the air, its sweet coppery taste calling to his demon. The vampire repressed the urge and quickly grabbed hold of the arm of the brunette who had been about to march right past him. She turned around; anger flaring in her eyes and obviously waiting for an explanation.
“Cordelia hold on,” he said.
“Why? This is the place I saw in my vision. Shouldn’t you be going and doing the whole detective thing already?”
“Listen, you really don’t want to go over there. It won’t be very nice.”
“Duh! It’s a murder scene isn’t it? I wasn’t exactly expecting a band and free drinks.” She spun on her heals and started to walk away from him again. Angel hurried to keep up with her and stepped in front of the Sunnydaler.
“Cordelia I can smell the blood from here and there’s a lot of it.”
The young woman’s face visibly paled and she swallowed. “Blood?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe I’ll go wait in the car,” she said hurriedly and held her hand out for the keys which he dutifully handed over. After watching to see that Cordelia had made it safely into the car and that she had locked the doors behind her Angel stepped off the curb and walked reluctantly in the direction of the crime scene. Sometimes he really hated this job.
Since coming to Los Angeles the vampire had realised that there was a certain set of rules by which the local police force seemed to work. For one they were a lot more observant than those he had become used to in Sunnydale. These officers actually seemed to notice when cases were more than a little unusual and tended to look into it a little further. It was annoying discovering that he was going to have to be a lot more careful about his actions now that he was living in L.A. but necessary all the same. He’d been around over two centuries already and if he hadn’t leant how to be careful in that amount of time he was never going to learn.
The crowd around the crime scene had already begun to leave signalling to Angel that the police must have done a good job of closing it off to the public. If they hadn’t then the fascination of the morbid that no doubt resided in the onlookers would have kept them glued in place for a much longer time. However he was disappointed that they had chosen to move on so quickly knowing that the cover the crowd could have given him would have been a definite advantage. Stepping over a pile of vomit that told him that at least one person had seen the actual scene the vampire tried to blend into the shadows only to be shaken as he saw the exact person that he didn’t want to see at the moment.
Kate stood arms crossed and head held high as she talked with two uniformed officers, one of which was holding a pad and reading off it to her. The blonde detective nodded and asked a question that was just out of the vampire’s hearing before turning slightly and looking directly at him. She did not even try to hide her annoyance from her features at his presence before excusing herself from the two men and coming to meet him at the police tape.
“Kate,” he said in greeting.
“Angel. What are you doing here?”
“Cordelia had a vision. It said that I should be here.”
“A vision?” the tall blonde said disbelievingly. All that was missing was a snort of laughter. “Well you’re too late anyway.”
The vampire glanced past her to where he could a thin streak of blood trailing down one wall of the alley they were standing before. “What happened?”
“You know I can’t tell you that.”
“Come on Kate, when Cordelia has a vision it normally means something big is going to happen. Can I at least take a look at the scene? You don’t have to tell me anything; I’ll just figure out what I can from what I see.”
His pleading tone did nothing to lessen the detective’s resolve. “This is police business Angel, there’s nothing… nothing spooky about it!”
“’Spooky’?” he asked suddenly grinning. By the look on the woman’s face she didn’t appreciate his reaction.
“Yes ‘spooky’,” she answered whispering the last word under her breath and inclining her head towards the vampire.
Angel sighed. “You have my card, if you change your mind call me.” She didn’t say anything as he turned and headed in the direction of his car.
“Well?” Cordelia asked as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“It didn’t go exactly as I planned.”
Part 6
Buffy grinned and tried not to. He was bound to notice sooner or later that she didn’t appear to be any particular hurry to keep up but the urge to hang back and stare at his butt as they patrolled was just too strong. Suddenly her boyfriend stopped and she ran right into him.
“Some slayer you are,” Riley said holding out a hand to help the tiny blonde up. “Can’t even manage to stay on your feet!”
“Hey!” she said leaping to her feet and play punching him in the arm while being careful not to put too much force behind it. The last time she had hit him too hard she’d broke a rib. Special drugs or no special drugs courtesy of Professor Walsh, Riley was still very human.
“So what do you want to do now?” he asked wrapping an arm around her shoulders and hugging her small frame close.
A mischievous light came to Buffy’s eyes and she wrapped her arms around his waist, effectively stopping them from moving any further. “I think slayer smoochies are in order for a certain guy.”
“And who would that be then?” Riley asked innocently.
“Well I was thinking I could go to the Bronze and pick a random guy and then I thought, why do that when you have this big hunk of lovin’ right here.” She went up on tiptoes to meet his head as he leaned down into the kiss. The kiss deepened until finally Riley pulled away leaving the slayer looking more than a little like a ruffled kitten.
“We should go to Giles’ and report to him.”
“What happened to slayer smoochies?” she said pouting.
“They can wait a little while. He’ll want to know that you killed that demon.”
“We killed that demon,” she corrected quickly. Riley put his arm around her again and gently steered her in the direction of the watcher’s house. “So what did Graham say when you talked to him about Willow?”
“Not much. He’s smitten with her though. I can tell.”
The blonde had returned to grinning. “They’re going to make such a cute couple when they both wake up and see it,” she said.
“Buffy don’t you think that we should let them get on with it themselves?” Riley asked becoming slightly exasperated with her. A large part of him knew that the slayer was only thinking of what she felt would be good for her best friend but and equally larger, if not larger part was screaming at him that playing matchmaker could only be a bad thing. He suddenly became aware that she was giving him her patented ‘slayer knows best look’ and gave up. Besides, they had reached Giles’ house and as usual Willow was no doubt inside therefore putting an end to any conversation about her love life. Secretly he was grateful.
The apartment was, unsurprisingly, a hive of activity when they entered. After coming to terms with just who and what his girlfriend was the ex-commando was still having problems accepting that her friends, civilians, spent their time and risked their lives every day to help her. It might be difficult to accept but he would accept it because otherwise it he would risk losing the girl who he now loved deeply. Anyway, the truth was that he was starting to realise just how useful they could all be in their own little ways.
Riley jumped out of the way as a hyper looking Willow rushed past him holding a book high in the air. “Is this the one?” she asked passing it to Giles who was seated on the floor surrounded by similar looking books and sheets of printed-paper.
“Good God!” the older man exclaimed. “I think you’ve found the one I wanted.”
“Way to go Wills!” an exhausted looking Xander exclaimed.
“Just needed a fresh, well maybe not fresh exactly, but you know, kinda new eye on it,” the redhead said grinning.
“Does this mean we can go now?” Anya asked, appearing from behind the couch. “I’m bored with research.” She pushed herself up to her feet and came to stand next to where Xander was seated on Giles’ breakfast barstool.
“What’s up?” Buffy asked, taking in the scene in the room with her usual coolness. Nothing much seemed to surprise the slayer in her anymore. When Riley had first met her, the blonde had been lost both inside and out but now she was almost a completely different person. He liked to think that his presence had been a factor contributing to her obvious growth. “New demon to slay cos I already got that one from the other night?”
“The Talwathra?” Giles asked sounding pleased and suddenly ignoring the book in his lap and turning to face the girl.
Buffy shrugged. “Was that what it was called? Anyway it’s dead. Back to my original question – this looks like a research party which normally means I have work to do and it kinda helps if you tell me what.”
“Well,” the watcher said suddenly looking uncomfortable. “It doesn’t exactly concern you but if you want to help then it would be very appreciated.”
“Still missing the ‘what’ part of the question Giles,” the blonde pointed out.
“Oh yes, erm, well…”
“Angel rang and he wanted us to research something for him and it kinda snowballed and we’re pretty sure its something to do with a doomsday weapon now,” Willow said quickly. Riley watched, feeling anger grow steadily in him as his girlfriend’s face dropped.
“Angel?” she asked weakly. Some of the strength seemed to drain out of her and she leaned momentarily against the wall before realising that everyone else in the room was looking at her. The slayer pulled herself together somewhat and turned back to her watcher who was still sitting on the floor but with a much more nervous manner about him.
“He doesn’t want you to get involved but he thought that I could help him with the research. I only asked Willow to help because she was here and when it became apparent just how large this might turn out to be I asked Xander and Anya to come over and help. I-I didn’t think you’d want to get involved.”
“No, she doesn’t want to be involved!” Riley exclaimed. At the outraged expression that suddenly appeared on Buffy’s face he knew that he’d be in for trouble later. “No Buffy I’m going to say this. Its not fair that he’s forever running to you every time that even the slightest problem arises…”
“Riley I would hardly call this a ‘slight problem’,” Giles interrupted. “We’re talking about a weapon of mass destruction and if it falls into the wrong hands who can tell what might happen.”
Riley tried to ignore the looks on the faces of the others in the room. He glanced back at Buffy who was stood with her arms crossed and an unfathomable look in her eyes. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting she gave him a small, reassuring smile. “Riley has a point,” she said finally.
“But Buffy,” Willow said. “There’s no way that we can not help him!”
“I know that Wills. Its just, I won’t, can’t have having to do with this! I can’t afford to be around him again.” Tears began to rise in the blonde’s eyes. “Don’t you get that?” she appealed, voice turning slight shrill at the end. The expression on Willow’s face seemed to be one of both compassion and pain.
“Of course I understand that,” the redhead answered.
Slowly, tiredly the slayer clenched her jaw and tried to rid herself of the growing need she felt to cry. While his heart went out to his girlfriend Riley couldn’t help be upset by her reaction. They might not have been together now for well over a year but it was forever obvious to him that the vampire was not ever far from her thoughts. It hurt but he knew that she couldn’t help it. “Riley?” he heard her say. “Can we go now?” After looking back at the others briefly he nodded and went to hold the door for her.
“Look,” Buffy said suddenly. “If it seems like things are going to get out of control then tell me. You know I’ll be there in a flash to help.”
“Of course,” Giles answered with what he hoped was a friendly grin.
Part 7
There was a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that he had more information that the police did. While they had the crime scene he had someone who had seen the actual crime. Angel knew that it was wrong of him to think like that, to be this smug about it, but he couldn’t help it as he watched Cordelia clap her hands together and look up with him with a big grin on her face.
“I take it you found something?” he asked coming out of the door to his office and walking over to her desk.
“Yup! You have to look at this. After finding out the name of that guy who was murdered last night I did a search on him and you’ll never guess what I found out.” She paused and Angel realised that she really was waiting for him to guess. He glanced at Wesley out of the corner of his eye, appealing to the other man for help.
“Erm… I don’t know Delia. Can’t you just tell me?”
“Oh, you’re no fun!” she exclaimed tucking her hair behind her ears. “So, the guy who was killed, Raymond Donnelly, 45, a wife and two kids he also worked for an auction house called Berkman and Waal.”
Angel groaned. “An auction house? Why don’t I like the sound of that?”
“Now hold on Angel, Cordelia’s vision doesn’t have to be connected with Philipson.” The vampire looked at the Wesley with a disbelief filled gaze. The ex-watcher ducked his head slightly and nodded. “Well maybe – look we can’t jump to conclusions. The first thing we should do is find out exactly why the man was killed. What else can you remember from your vision Cordelia?”
“Oh you mean beside the all blood, guts, and gore?” she asked sounding more than a little annoyed.
Moving around to the other side of the desk Angel stood between what he could tell was undoubtedly the beginning of another round of arguments. “I think what Wesley meant to say is will you go over the details again. Perhaps we missed something before.”
The tall brunette sighed and pushed herself up to her feet. Angel watched in amazement as she actually poured herself a cup of coffee and risked taking a sip. “There was the man in that alley and he was hurrying, like he knew he was being followed or something and then there were these men and they attacked him and that’s when it got really yucky.”
“Can you not think of anything more detailed? How did they kill him? What did his attackers look like exactly?”
“Well duh Wesley, if I knew what they looked like don’t you think I would have told you by now?” She glanced back down at the mug of coffee with a frown on her face and quickly placed it down on the side. “How come I seem to be the only person in this city who can’t make coffee?” she asked absently.
“Delia,” Angel said, bringing her attention back to the other two men in the room.
She let at explosive sigh. “Okay, okay, okay! They were really strong. At first I thought that they were human but then I wasn’t so sure. I mean one of them completely ripped the head off the guy so I’m thinking that whoever it was definitely climbed off the spook train before going to kill this Donnelly guy. Plus Donnelly’s actions and emotions and stuff were screaming completely horrified.”
Wesley grabbed a pad from the young woman’s desk and picked up a pencil. “So whoever it was probably was not human.”
“There was more than one of them,” she interrupted. “They were stalking him for quite sometime and they trapped him in the alley between them.”
“The newspaper said that the police thought that the body had been searched either before or after death, most likely afterwards,” Angel said. “The question we should be asking ourselves is what would a demon be looking for on a corpse.”
“Vampires have been known to rob their victims,” Wesley said.
“But the body wasn’t drained. Which leaves us… nowhere.” Angel ran his fingers quickly through his hair in exasperation.
“Perhaps Giles will ring again soon,” Cordelia said taking in her bosses expression.
“I hope so.”
Part 8
From where she was sitting Willow could see that Xander had gone to sleep with his head fallen back and his mouth open to let the occasional snore escape. As she watched he shifted and snuggled closer to the cushion that he had been hugging close for the last hour or so. Beside her Anya muttered something in her sleep, obviously directed at her boyfriend but then fell silent. Half of the witch wished that she could get up and away from between the ex-demon and the vampire, the latter of whose shoulder she had somehow ended up leaning on in early morning, but she knew that to try and do so would no doubt wake them both. And experience told her that neither tended to be a happy bunny when awakened when they would rather be asleep.
Willow wondered where Giles had gone. Before she had fallen asleep he had been working at his desk but by skilfully twisting her head she could see that he was no longer there. Apart from the sounds of breathing from the three mortals the apartment was silent.
This was very bad, Willow decided. No, actually it went beyond that. This was very, VERY bad. At some point in the near future she just knew that she was going to have to get up to go the bathroom and there was the question of food as well; she hadn’t eaten since lunch to previous day expecting to be able to get something after finishing researching but with all the excitement of Angel’s phone call had forgotten to get anything.
She tensed as her stomach rumbled, the movement causing a book that had been resting on her lap to slip and fall to the floor with a loud clatter. Willow found herself sat on the floor as Spike leapt to his feet knocking over the coffee table and Anya jerked awake also upsetting the redhead’s precarious perch on the couch between them. Glancing at her childhood friend Willow saw that he had merely huddled closer to the cushion and heard him mutter, “I’m coming mom. Just a few more minutes.” Pulling herself together Willow picked up the troublesome book, placing it on the table before getting to her feet only to meet the angry eyes of a fully vamped Spike.
“Um, sorry,” she whispered quietly. The vampire muttered something unintelligible under his breath and disappeared into the kitchen. Realising that Anya was going to lie down and go back to sleep Willow quickly followed after Spike hoping that he wasn’t too mad with her.
Entering the small room she was momentarily blocked by Spike who was hunting around in the refrigerator for something to eat. Being careful not to knock into the man Willow edged by him and leaned against the counter top. When he reappeared the vampiric mask had slipped away to reveal his more handsome human guise.
“Pop that in the microwave for me luv,” he said passing her a blood bag and picking up a mug from the side and giving it to her with a disarming smile.
She reluctantly cut the corner from the bag and poured it into the vampire’s mug, put it in the microwave and set it going. “You know I’m starting to think Giles is right – you do take advantage of me sometimes.” Even with her back to him she could tell that Spike was smiling at her.
“Of course I do! I’m evil,” he reminded her. Willow winced at the none too quiet level of his voice.
“So you keep telling us, although I have to say mister, I haven’t seen much evilness lately. Not that I’m complaining.” A slight pout came to his lips only working to make him look sweet and adorable. Willow pushed the thought out of head knowing that she should be silently gagging at it. Spike was anything but sweet and certainly not adorable in any way, shape or form. Nope, not at all.
“Don’t worry pet, the moment I get this bloody chip out I’ll be back to my old self again.”
“And that’s meant to make me feel better?” she asked in disbelief.
He grinned. “Not in the least.”
“That’s not funny. Here I am being nice and helpful and all you do is threaten me and try to scare me. Well ha, I’m not scared.” Turning back to the microwave to avoid the brief hurt expression in his eyes of being reminded once again of his misfortune she watched the last few seconds count down. Jesus now I sound like Xander she thought anxiously tucking her hair behind her ears. Jumping slightly when the microwave pinged to signal its finish she drew in a hissing breath and stepped back a little ways to leave room to open to door only to be stopped by Spike’s hard chest as he leaned past her and did it himself. Willow trembled at the sudden contact and let out a small yelp of surprise.
Spike chuckled at her involuntary action.
“Hey Wills,” Xander said appearing in the doorway, his hair tussled from sleep. “Dead-boy Junior causing you any problems? Wait I forgot, he can’t.”
“Ha bloody ha,” the vampire cursed. “You’re so funny but get a new line Chubs because that ones getting real old real quick.” This said Spike left the room quickly, carrying the mug of blood and not even glancing at Willow once. Feeling oddly protective of him Willow hit her childhood friend on the arm making him drop the box of cereal that he had been holding.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“You shouldn’t be so mean to him.”
“Wills he’s a vampire, a killer, remember? I seem to remember him kidnapping us and trying to kill us? That last one several times.”
Willow screwed her nose up and scowled at him angrily. “He hasn’t done that in a long time,” she said and left the kitchen knowing it was a ridiculous thing to say and that Spike would undoubtedly kill them all any chance that he got. The vampire in question was half smirking, half frowning when she entered the living room. He had seated himself in the chair that Xander had vacated and was gingerly sipping his meal while studying her over the rim with cold blue eyes. Nervously she smiled and seated herself at the desk where all her research had been neatly piled together.
“I’ve been thinking,” Giles said appearing at the top of the stairs.
“Ugh! I am never going to get any sleep in this place,” Anya said sitting up and glaring angrily at the watcher as he descended the stairs into the living room.
“We have to get the information that we have to Angel as quickly as we can,” he said ignoring the girl as best he could. “After you all fell asleep I continued to research and I believe that I have found a spell that should be able to neutralise and possibly destroy the weapon. Unfortunately it needs a magic practitioner to perform it.”
“Angel’s performed spells before. I don’t see why it’s a problem.” Willow said with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Erm, well, yes, but I don’t believe that he is strong enough to control the forces that may be involved. Besides everything else that he is Angel still has a demon inside him and vampires, of all demons, were never meant to control such powers. Which is why I think that Willow should go down to Los Angeles and to cast the spell.”
“I should what?” the redhead cried in surprise.
“She has a point,” Anya said. “Can we all please remember her history with magic?”
“Hey!” Willow exclaimed resisting an urge to throw something at the girl.
“Well its true,” Anya muttered under her breath taking a slice of toast from her boyfriend who sat down on the couch next to her.
“Anya honey, shut up,” Xander told her. The ex-demon slumped back with a pout on her lips.
Willow drew her shoulders back and tried to look confident. “I so could do that spell. Whatever spell that is.”
“Then it’s a good job that you are going to do it,” the watcher said handing her a book. “I’ve marked the page for you so there can be no chance of there being any mistake when you perform it. The ingredients that I already had are packed in a box ready and the research that we collected is also prepared for you. Now I suggest that you go home and collect a change of clothing and whatever else you may need while I ring Angel and tell him that you’re going to be visiting. That way there is no delay before you can set off for Los Angeles.”
“What? Wait!” she spluttered. “How am I going to get there? I don’t have a licence or a car for that matter.”
Giles rubbed his brow nervously. “Spike’s going to drive you,” he said hurriedly.
“I’m what?” the bleached blonde asked being suddenly drawn back into the conversation at the sound of his name being spoken. “And why exactly should I do that?”
“I’m about as excited about the prospect of letting you of all people go off with Willow as you are Spike but the truth of the matter is that there is no one else,” Giles answered. “If there was then I would ask them but there isn’t. Xander has work as does Anya who I don’t even know if she has a drivers licence. Buffy won’t be helping, not that I would let her within a mile of a car and I don’t think I need to mention what Riley’s thoughts on the idea would be.”
“What about you?” Spike spluttered. He was suddenly aware that there didn’t seem to be an escape in sight. The prospect of having to see his grandsire was none too exciting especially considering the fact it would no doubt end up in the cheerleader screeching, the idiot watcher fainting in fright and himself ending up in a lecture from the older vampire if not a black eye on top of that.
“Unfortunately that is impossible. I cannot possibly leave Sunnydale at this time. There is simply too much work for me to do.”
There was a half laughing, half coughing noise from Xander. “So you’re going to send Willow off with him instead,” the young man said. “That’s just asking for her to get attacked or bitten or killed or something and when she does I’ll know just who to blame. That’s it, I’ll drive her.”
“That’s unfair,” Willow protested loudly, taking in the hurt expression on the watcher’s face.
“You can’t drive her!” Anya said. “I don’t want you to. I won’t let you. Besides you have work and work equals money which is something you need more of.”
“Xander I’m sure I’ll be fine with Spike,” the witch said, interrupting before he could say anything else. She glanced down at the watch on her wrist. “Its three o’clock now and sunset will be just after six tonight so I’ll go home and get a bag together and then come back here.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” Spike asked.
The watcher turned to him. “No actually, you don’t.”
Part 9
Dropping the shopping bag she had been carrying courtesy of her latest pay check the brunette reached for the ringing telephone and composed herself. "Angel Investigations; we help the helpless."
"Cordelia?" a slightly surprised voice asked at the other end of the line.
"Giles? Wow! Its been what, all of five hours. What can I do for you? Actually wait; you're helping us on this one so I guess that should be the other way around, in other words, do you have information? Spill."
"Cordelia is Angel there?" the watcher asked, interrupting her.
The ex-cheerleader sighed. "No he's not. He's sleeping still. Can't you tell me? I work for him now you know."
"Yes I know that. Erm, if I give you a message do you promise me that you will tell Angel the moment that he wakes up?"
"Of course," she answered, rolling her eyes at the thought. "Its kinda my job to do things like that in between the head splittingly painful visions and defeating the forces of evil and all that."
"Very well, could you tell him that I am sending Willow and Spike with information and a spell to neutralise the matter that we talked of earlier…"
"You mean that weapon thing right?" she interrupted bringing the man to a startled halt.
"I thought he wasn't going to tell you about it?" Giles asked, surprise evident in this voice.
"He wasn't but I kept on at him until he cracked. It was the best thing for all involved. You didn't see what happened last time we didn't work as a team; not pretty at all." From the corner of her eye she saw Wesley coming down the steps at the back of the lobby giving her a friendly wave. The seer lifted her hand in return but signalled that he should be quiet.
"I'm really rather surprised he said anything. When we talked last he was quite adamant that you would not be getting involved any further then you already were."
Cordelia shrugged to herself. "Yeah well the vision change all that. After last time he went off to save to world without us they seem to have a habit of popping up whenever he feels like doing the same thing again. It's getting to be a pain what with his constant; 'oh I've got to protect you' deal. No pun intended. So the message was just that Willow and Spike are coming to visit? Ugh, he's not gonna like the 'Spike' part of that much at all. Can we say brood much? Do you know when we can expect them?"
"No, I'm afraid not. Spike can be rather an erratic driver at the best of times and he was about as enthusiastic about seeing Angel again as Angel will no doubt be about seeing him. I suspect that they might be quite some time."
At the other end of the line Cordelia wrapped a finger around the phone cord and nodded her head briefly. "I'll get Wesley to tell him," she said.
"You'll get me to tell whom what?" the man in question asked from across the room, a distinctly suspicious look falling into place on his face. The dark haired young woman shushed him with a withering glare.
"Good, just make sure he does get told Cordelia. I would hate for Willow and Spike to arrive unannounced."
"Relax Giles. I'm quite good at this sort of thing now I've had a bit of practise. Actually Angel's here now; do you want to speak to him?"
"No, I'll leave that to you. Thank you."
"That's okay. Bye Giles."
"Bye."
She placed the handset back in its cradle and turned to face the dark vampire who had just appeared in the lobby. Unsurprisingly he looked brooding but it did make Cordelia wonder how long the man had been up and about for. It normally took at least an hour for her boss to have got this level of brooding.
A smile plastered itself on her face and she stepped around the counter. "That was Giles," she told him.
"So I heard. Why didn't you wake me as soon as he called?"
"I didn't think I needed to bother. Anyway, he just wanted me to pass on a message."
Angel frowned. "And?"
"Huh?"
"What was the message?"
"Oh! He just wanted me to tell you that Willow's coming to help. Apparently they found something in Sunnydale and Giles wanted it brought here."
"Willow shouldn't be getting involved," the vampire interrupted. "She should stay in Sunnydale. Call Giles and tell him to have whatever it is mailed to me or give me instructions on where I can find it."
Cordelia nervously bit her lip. "Um, it's a bit late for that' she's kinda already set off." She watched him hurriedly run his fingers through his hair in a typically frustrated fashion.
"What time does her bus get in?" he asked finally. "I'll go pick her up."
"It doesn't."
"Pardon?" Angel paused reaching for his car keys.
"She's not getting a bus. Spike's going to drive her here."
"Suddenly I see why you wanted me to tell him this," Wesley muttered to himself.
"They're going to be here sometime later this evening," the young woman added. "At least that's what Giles thought. He couldn't be sure."
The dark haired vampire's mouth fell open. "Spike? As in about so high, bleached blonde hair, blue eyes, British, incredibly annoying…" Cordelia nodded reluctantly. "Oh great! On top of everything else… Well they can both just go straight home again."
"Hey don't get mad at me - I'm just message girl. Shout at Spike when he gets here if you have to shout at anyone."
"Don't worry I will."
"If anyone is interested then I believe that there may be some more information about the murder in today's papers," Wesley said holding one up for them both to see. When the vampire's held out his hand the younger man passed it over, open at the article in question. "I picked up several papers earlier but have only just had the opportunity to start going through them. As you can see Mr Donnelly was supposedly carrying some papers relating to the most recent acquisition Berkman and Waal, that's the auction house that he worked for. They were missing from his person when the body was discovered."
"It doesn't say what the paper were on exactly," Angel mused, quickly scanning the words. "Delia didn't you say that you found a homepage for Berkman and Waal?"
"Way ahead of you," Cordelia answered, reaching over the counter and picking up her list. "Recent acquisitions of Berkman and Waal," she read aloud. "A seventeenth century vase made by a unknown artist, one first edition copy of a rare book called 'The True Faith's Bible' complete with author's notes, a twin set of early Edwardian chairs, a modern sculpture by an artist only known as Lampton and the complete estate of a Miss Gertrude Turner."
Angel nodded in thought. "From the etching that Philipson gave me there is no way that the item they want can be disguised as a vase, a book or a set of chairs. That leaves the sculpture and Gertrude Turner's estate. Does it say exactly what was in the estate?"
The brunette shook her head. "Nope. 'Fraid not."
"Well try and find out. There'll be a list available somewhere." The vampire threw the newspaper down onto the coffee table in front of him. "I'm going to patrol. When Spike and Willow get here do not, under any circumstances, let them go off anywhere again before I get to speak with them both."
As the he swept out of the front door to the hotel Cordelia turned to Wesley with a knowing expression on her face. "Well that went better than I expected," she said with a smile.
Part 10.
It was difficult to see easily out of the car windows as they sped along but she tried anyway. It was certainly easier than having to try and make conversation with the intensely bitter vampire who was driving the vehicle. If it wasn’t for the music blaring out of the speakers at almost painfully loud levels Willow was sure that she would be able to hear his teeth being grinded together. By this point she couldn’t wait to get to Angel’s where she could be around other people; speak to other people.
Willow inhaled a deep breath through the crack at the top of the window as Spike stubbed out yet another cigarette in the Desoto’s ashtray. Yes, getting to LA was the only thing on her mind at the moment.
There was no way at all she was wondering about how she could make this already disastrous trip up to the bleached blonde vampire. Nope. No. Nada. No way. She quickly glanced across at Spike who had started singing his head off at the top of his voice and nodding in time with the drumbeat. How can he possibly see where he’s going while doing that?
It was nearly ten thirty by the time that they finally got to the city, a full two hours later than she had estimated. Even now she had the feeling that her vampire chauffeur was putting off doing what was necessary and driving them both over to Angel’s place.
“You do know the way don’t you?” she asked finally as they passed the same store for what she thought was the fourth time.
Spike turned to her and cocked an eyebrow. “Of course I know the way.“
“Then why aren’t we there already?”
“You know you can be very whiney sometimes witch,” he answered matter of factly. “I’ll tell you what you need…”
“Oh no you won’t Spike. I don’t want to know what you think I need.”
“…a bloody good shag.”
The redhead winced and felt herself flush. “Stop the car,” she ordered in as commanding a manner as she could manage.
“What?” Spike replied with mild surprise. Glancing aside he saw Willow’s face aflame and had to resist the urge to grin. Sometimes she was much too easy to play.
“I said stop the car. I want to get out now. It’s clear that you don’t know the way and I’m going to get a cab. If you want to go on yourself its entirely up to you. I don’t care.” She reached behind her seat for the overnight bag she had brought and her laptop carry case.
“No way Red. Slayer, or Angel, or even Chubs if by some miracle he was fast enough would have me hung, drawn and quartered if I let you wander off alone. There is a reason that the poof set up shop in L.A. you know.”
Willow huffed and slumped back into the passenger seat. “Please just hurry up and get there Spike. We’ve been driving forever and I’m tired.”
“It’s a good job that we’ve arrived then isn’t it?” he answered pulling up in front of the old hotel building. Spike ducked out of the door, slamming it behind himself and looked up at the Hyperion critically. It was in even worse repair than the last time he’d passed by while in Los Angeles. Stepping up onto the sidewalk his foot crunched through scattered glass shards causing the blonde vampire to glance down and around on the ground. As far as he could see in either direction similar fragments surrounded the hotel. What had his grandsire been up to?
Side by side they walked on towards to entrance to the hotel, Spike’s feelings growing more and more dark and Willow’s heart soaring at the thought of seeing her old friends again. As she stepped through the doors and into the foyer as bright smile stole onto the redhead’s face as she saw Cordelia reclining on a couch, papers surrounding her and Wesley seated across from the brunette in a chair reading a thickly bound book. The sight brought back strong memories of home and elicited a short giggle from Willow. Strange how things never seemed to change with the scoobies no matter where they were.
Hearing the short laugh Cordelia’s head shot up, her mouth first opening in surprise and then widening to a patented Queen C smile. “Willow!” the girl exclaimed leaping from the couch. “Wesley, look, its Willow! Willow and Spike. Oh my god Spike! Giles’ wasn’t joking.”
“Hey Cordy,” Willow replied walking forward to meet her advancing friend and hugging her hard. “Wesley,” she acknowledged over the brunette’s shoulder. The ex-watcher nodded his head and smiled at her.
“Willow, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Spike I wish I could say the same.”
“The feelings mutual Wussley,” the blonde vampire answered receiving a non-too gentle slap on the arm from Willow. “Well he is,” Spike reasoned. “Now where does the poof keep his blood, I’m starving?”
Wesley frowned. “I don’t think that Angel said anything about feeding you,” he mused.
“Feeding me?” Spike asked outraged. “I can bloody well feed myself without you running after me. Red I do believe that we might have found someone even more pathetic than the poof.”
“Just go get some blood Spike,” Cordelia interrupted waving in the vague direction of her Boss’s rooms. “But don’t wander off. Angel said that we’re to keep you here until he gets back.”
“Oh bloody hell,” Spike muttered dumping the bags that he was carrying unceremoniously on the floor and disappearing off into the hotel. Willow watched him walk away and felt momentarily sorry for him. She shook herself before the feeling completely took hold. Feeling sorry for Spike always lead to problems later on and there was enough here for her to worry about without that as well.
“I can’t believe how long it’s been,” Cordelia was saying bringing Willow back from her thoughts. “I mean, emails are one thing but actually seeing you is entirely different.”
The redhead turned back to face the other two in the room. “I know what you mean Cordy; its good to see you too. So where’s Angel?”
“Patrolling as usual. I think he’s feeling a little frustrated that we haven’t solved this case already.”
“Well if I have anything to do with it then he’ll be feeling just fine again real soon,” the witch answered cheerfully. She held up a folder and the book into the air and waved it.
“Is that it?” Wesley asked taking them from the girl.
“That and some supplies that are still in the car. I’ll get Spike to get them after he’s had something to eat.”
“Wow,” Cordy said shaking her head in amusement. “You have your own pet vampire!”
“She has a what?” an outraged voice called out behind them.
“Angel!” Willow squealed and flew up the steps to wrap her arms around the tall vampire. Under her embrace Angel stumbled back a pace but enveloped her with his great arms laughing a little. After a few minutes Willow drew back, blushing a little but tucked her hand in her friend’s larger one. “You have been away way too long mister,” she told him pulling him down the steps and towards the others.
“To be fair you haven’t visited either Willow,” he replied. “But I suppose that doesn’t really matter now. Where’s Spike?”
“I’m here you wanker,” the vampire in question said appearing and striding across the room with a mug in one hand. “Stop harassing Red and let her get on with business.”
Willow could feel the mood in the room tense at Spike’s words and for a second Angel’s hand squeezed too tightly in her own before being removed quickly. Disappointed the witch scowled at the blonde silently sending him annoyed thoughts as he slouched on a chair completely oblivious to the others in the room. “Can you go get the box?” she asked prodding the vampire on the shoulder.
“I’m eating,” he replied shortly.
She could feel Angel staring over her shoulder at his grandchilde and couldn’t help but turn around to catch a glance of the dark vampire’s irritated expression. Apparently she was the only one because Wesley quickly stood, grabbed Cordelia by the arm and offered to go to the car ignoring the brunette’s protest.
“Is that my blood?” Angel asked steeping past Willow and coming to stand in front of the younger vampire.
Grinning Spike looked inside the mug, at the mug and then up at Angel. “Why I do believe that it is!” he replied in mock shock.
Angel gritted his teeth. “Why you had to bring him is beyond me,” he said directing his comment at Willow but not in any malicious way. “I don’t suppose you can think of any way that he can make himself useful?”
“I am still in the room you know,” Spike said putting the mug down on the table in front of him and lacing his fingers over his stomach.
“I know, I just don’t care,” Angel answered kicking the blonde’s feet off the coffee table.
“Do you want me to tell you what we know now or wait for the others to get back in?” Willow asked quickly interrupting the two before things could escalate any further between them. Getting no reply she placed a hand on Angel’s arm causing him to break away from his staring contest with Spike.
“Sorry what was that Little One?” he asked.
She smiled at his term of endearment. “Do you want to know now what we found out or shall I wait until Cordy and Wesley get back?”
“I believe we should wait.”