2004

There was a time when a vampire wouldn't have made it past the front door of Wolfram and Hart's L.A. office, but things were different now that a vampire was actually running the place.

David sauntered in through the front door, saluting the guards in the lobby. He took the elevator up, as he had been instructed, and in no time, found himself in a plush office that clearly belonged to the man in charge.

He didn't bother to sit. As it turned out, he didn't need to.

"David! Good to see you, mate! Been a while." Spike sat lazily behind the desk, putting his feet up. "What brings you here?"

"I need your help with a little extermination job."

"I'm guessing we're not talking vermin here?"

"Only the two-legged variety. Fledgling vamps, a whole nest of 'em. Their Master got himself killed not long ago, and they've been running wild. I need to take them down, but I need backup, as I happen to be between packs again at the moment."

"Anything for you, my friend. Do you happen to know where this nest is?"

"I do. I can take you there right away."

"Give me a chance to get my gear together and then we'll -"

"What the hell are you doing in my office?"

Spike jumped at the sound of the voice. "We're just talkin'."

"This is a place of business. Talk to your friends on your own time."

"This is business," David said. "Hello, Angelus. It's been a long time."

"It's Angel."

"Right." David smiled. "I heard you'd changed. Didn't know you had a law degree, though."

"I don't. It's a long story. Get out of my chair, Spike."

"Just keepin' it warm for ya." Spike got up, reluctantly, and moved around to the other side of the desk.

"What business is it you're here about?" Angel asked David.

"I have a nest of misbehaving fledglings that needs cleaning out. I could use some backup."

"How big is this nest?"

"Six males, four females."

"Ouch!" Spike shuddered. Female vamps were known to be more cunning and vicious than their male counterparts (case in point: Drusilla), and four of them in one nest would truly be a challenge.

"What's in it for me?" Angel asked.

"I'm prepared to pay the standard fee," said David. "Plus, you get to help rid the world of some nasty little children. So everybody wins."

Spike clapped his hands. "Right, let's go, then. Can I drive?"

But Angel was looking at David curiously. "Why do I get the feeling there's something you're not telling us?"

"I don't know. Why would you get that feeling?"

"Oh, I don't know . . . maybe the way you sold us out in Paris."

"I did not sell you out! How was I supposed to know the man was a hunter? He smelled just like one of us!"

"He bathed in the blood of our people, to disguise his scent! You should have known that!"

"Sorry I didn't get the memo. Can we go now?"

"Yeah, can we go?" Spike echoed. "We won't need weapons or nothin'. The three of us can take 'em on ourselves. Haven't had a good fang brawl in ages."

Angel sighed. "Yeah, okay. Let's go. But I drive."

"Oh, come on!" Spike protested. But he followed along just the same.

The nest was very cleverly hidden, underneath an abandoned factory outside of town. The supposedly secret entrance was hardly hidden at all.

"Fledglings," Spike scoffed. "No brains among the lot of 'em. Which one of us goes in first?"

They looked at each other.

"You're the boss," David said to Angel.

"But you brought us here."

"True. But the Alpha Male should go first. That would be you."

"Hey, I'm an Alpha, too!" Spike protested. "Least, I was . . . you know what, I'll cover the rear. Make sure they don't sneak up on us."

"You do that," Angel said. "All right, David, you take point. Don't get too far ahead of us."

"Right." David started off down the narrow, winding passageway, letting his intuition guide him. Gradually he became aware of something behind them.

"Do you guys hear that?" he asked.

Spike shook his head, but Angel appeared to be listening.

"Voices," he said. "The fledglings?"

"No," David said. "I know those voices." He about-faced and took off in the other direction.

Angel looked at Spike, who shrugged. "Don't look at me. I don't hear anythin'."

"I can't believe I'm missing my nephew's birthday party for this," Sam Emerson said as he made one last check of his supplies.

"We'll have you back in time to help him blow out the candles," his best friend, Edgar Frog, said. "New vamps are so dumb. They go to all the trouble of hiding their nest, and they practically leave the back door open for us. It's like they wanna be killed."

"Where's the Super Soaker?" Edgar's brother, Alan, asked.

"It's in with my stuff," said Sam. "I filled it before we left, just like you told me."

"Good," Alan said. He laid it across his lap, made the sign of the cross over it, and said a prayer in Latin, which he had memorized off the Internet.

It was so much easier not having to break into a church to steal their holy water. With this prayer, it was simple: water was everywhere; all they had to do was bless it. Once, in a pinch, Edgar had even blessed an entire Coke machine, and used the bottles of water from it to dispatch a nasty vamp. Afterwards, they had holy Cokes, which tasted the same as regular ones.

"Okay," Edgar said. "We stick together on this one. The guys should be easy; we each take two, they're done. But then we have to deal with the women."

"Nothing meaner than a female vamp whose boyfriend has just been dusted," said Sam. "Four of them? Are you serious? They're usually pretty rare."

"They're sisters," Edgar told him. "And they were mean bitches before they were vamps. Let's go get 'em."

"Guys," Alan said, looking beyond them.

"Let's go, Al! Bring the stakes -"

"Look!" He pointed, and Edgar finally turned around and looked.

"Holy shit!"

"Hello, boys," David said. "Bet you weren't expecting to see me again."

(A/N: this will be a multi-chapter fic. Next part coming soon!)