Banner by Me
Banner by Me
Chapter 4
“I think we should let them know we’re here,” Wesley said in response to Doyle’s recent discovery.
“No!” Spike was adamant. “A bloody week and they’re just now noticing the boy is missing?”
“You wouldn’t let me call her,” Angel reminded him.
“One has nothing to do with the other. They’re his mates. They should have known! Suspected, at least.”
“I agree with Spike,” Cordelia said.
Spike was surprised to have support from her corner and he nodded at her to show his thanks. He’d not expected anyone to agree with him. About anything.
“It can’t hurt to let them know we’re here,” Wesley reasoned.
“Then they’ll want to know why. And when they find out about Xander…” Cordelia shook her head. “They’ll want to take over, and that’s not gonna happen.”
“So we don’t mention him. I’ll just say I had a vision,” Doyle said.
“Which will explain us being here. But what about Spike? And Wesley? And Oz?” Cordelia arched a brow and waited for Doyle to answer.
“We’ll leave them here.”
“Slayer’s gonna know I’m here. No way Angel comes to town and she doesn’t swing round for a visit.”
“Spike’s right,” Angel said. He held up his hand before either Doyle or Wesley could speak. “Doyle, you and I will go to Giles. We’ll mention your vision about soldiers being in Sunnydale and that they are doing something to the demon population. We won’t mention anything about Xander, or that anyone else is with us.”
“And then what?” Wesley wanted to know.
“We pump him for information,” Angel replied, adding, “I doubt he’ll want to tell Buffy I’m in town, so that will play to our advantage. If not… Wesley, how good is this concealing spell?”
“It would take a very powerful witch to sense the magic surrounding the mansion.”
“Good. Doyle, let’s go.”
~*~*~*~*~
“We’re closed,” Giles called out when the bell over the door rang. He’d told Buffy to change the sign after she and Willow had departed.
Giles came around the corner, and only years as a veteran watcher kept him from flinching when he spied Angel and another man standing in his store. The other man looked somewhat familiar and he couldn’t help but ask, “Have we met?”
“Not formally,” Doyle replied. “I was in here earlier, buying a few things.”
“Ah, yes. Of course.” Giles turned to Angel. “Angel.”
“Rupert.”
“What brings you back to Sunnydale?”
“Doyle… he’s my link to the Powers That Be. He had a vision about soldiers being here in Sunnydale. We came to help.”
“Really? I, that is… we’ve noticed some peculiarities, but nothing— Soldiers, you say?”
“Yes,” Doyle replied. “And they’re doing something to the demons here. Experimenting li—ow!”
“Have you noticed anything strange? Fewer demons around, perhaps?” Angel interrupted.
“Buffy has mentioned that patrolling has been, in her words, ‘rather boring,’ of late. I didn’t think anything of it other than a temporary lull in demonic activity.”
“Well, we just wanted to let you know,” Angel said. “So you could let Buffy know.”
“And you drove all the way to Sunnydale to mention this? You couldn’t just call?”
“Visions don’t work that way,” Doyle lied. “Have to come to the scene of the crime, so to speak. If not, I’ll just keep getting the same one, over and over.”
Giles pursed his lips but didn’t refute what Doyle was saying.
Angel grabbed Doyle by that jacket and ushered him to the door. “You’ll let Buffy know?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Good. That’s good. We’ll just be leaving then. Back to Los Angeles.”
“Angel, do you really think that’s wise? I mean, if the situation was so dire as to warrant a vision by these Powers, don’t you think you should stick around? Maybe help Buffy until this latest crisis is averted?”
~*~*~*~*~
“What do you mean you’re meeting the Slayer at the Bronze?” Spike demanded.
“That’s what I said,” Angel replied, not for the first time. “Apparently, Willow is… moping and Buffy is taking her there.”
“I don’t see why—”
“She refused to meet at the magic shop. Willow needed her help and she is taking the night off from slaying.” Angel glanced at Oz, wondered if Oz understood what he was saying. Willow was feeling down and Buffy was trying to cheer her up.
“How do you take a night off from slaying?” Wesley wanted to know. All he got was a frown from Angel.
“Look, Spike. This may actually work to our advantage, having Buffy with us. We could use another fighter. We have no idea the scope of this thing with the soldiers. It makes sense—”
“She’ll spend more time trying to stake me than finding Xander.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
“Fat lot of good that’ll do. Evil here.”
“You’re behaving,” Angel replied. “You are behaving, right?”
“Gave you my word, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did. Look, I’ll talk to her, Spike. Now, I’ve got to go.”
~*~*~*~*~
Spike waited until Angel had disappeared and gave him several extra minutes head start before he stood and headed for the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Cordelia demanded.
“Where does it look like I’m going? Out.”
“I don’t think so. Hello? Soldiers. Remember?”
“I’ll be careful.”
Cordelia snorted. “I doubt that. I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Well, you’re not going out by yourself. What if you get caught? You’re the only one that knows how to get inside this base.”
“She’s right,” Oz said.
“Who asked you?” Spike growled.
“I’ll go with him, Cordelia,” Oz said, ignoring Spike’s outburst.
“Do you think that’s wise? What if Willow sees you?”
“We’ll stick to the shadows. I doubt our intention is to be noticed, am I right?” Oz gave Spike a pointed look.
“Fine. I’ll take the mutt. Don’t wait up.” He glared at Cordelia, then at Wesley and Doyle, and slammed out the front door.
Oz hurried after him.
“So, what are we doing, exactly?” Oz asked when they were almost to the Bronze.
“Making sure Peaches sticks to the game plan.”
“You think he won’t?”
“Slayer and him have a history,” was all Spike said.
Oz couldn’t ask him anything else, because they’d reached the club and the music was too loud to hold any kind of conversation.
“Come on,” Spike muttered, nodding towards the stairs. “Slayer’s at that table in the corner and I don’t want her to see us.”
“How did you…?”
“Gotta sixth sense where slayers are concerned. You get a better handle on your werewolf, you’ll be able to tell as well. Now, let’s go.”
They jogged up the stairs and found a spot in a darkened corner overlooking the first floor. They could easily see Buffy’s table and watched as she and Willow sipped their drinks and bobbed their heads in time to the music, though Willow was a lot less enthusiastic.
During the next hour, the two girls would occasionally leave their table and step out onto the dance floor, but for the most part, they were content just to sit and talk. About what, Spike wasn’t able to determine. He wondered where Angel was, and why he’d not shown his face yet.
Probably doing his skulking stalker thing.
He forgot about Angel a moment later when a Neanderthal-type guy approached the Slayer’s table; something about the way he walked set him on edge. She seemed to know the guy because she stood and gave him a halfhearted hug then gestured for him to join their table. He nodded and he turned to the waitress passing by to order a drink and Spike saw red.
Literally.
He had every intention of hopping the railing and dropping down in front of their table, taking the soldier by the throat and dragging him out of the Bronze, but Oz must have sensed something because he’d latched onto his waist and wouldn’t let go.
“Are you crazy?” Oz hissed.
“Let me go. I’m gonna kill him.”
“In front of Buffy?”
“I’ll kill her too if she gets in my way.”
“And then what? Think, Spike!”
“Listen to Oz,” Angel said, suddenly at Spike’s back. “Come on. We’re leaving.”
“Angel…” Spike still struggled to get free. Revenge was on the tip of his tongue and he could taste it.
“I know, Will.” Angel whispered in Spike’s ear. “But now is not the time.”
It was only the promise in Angel’s voice that made Spike stop struggling and walk out of the Bronze without another word.
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