Part Four

Spike sat at the bar, a beer in one hand, his boat ticket in the other. He stared down at it, taking another swig of his drink. Back to Europe. He hadn't been on his own continent since … Prague. And that idiot mob. They'd almost killed Drusilla, left her weak and ill - fading from her unlife, and him desperate to put it right anyway he could.

That was what had led him to Sunnydale in the first place, taking Dru to the hellmouth - hoping it could restore her to health, put colour back in her cheeks - metaphorically speaking. But then that was exactly when it all went wrong for old William the Bloody. Or right. Depending on your perspective. That was when he first met Buffy.

The slayer. She was to have been his third. And he'd arrived in Sunnydale so cocksure and confident that he would claim his next prize. Only the slayer had been Buffy. Not just some girl with a stake and a holier than thou attitude - but Buffy. And she had been … nothing that Spike had ever expected.

He took another sip, and stared down at his ticket some more … remembering that first time he'd seen her. God she was just a child, when he had glimpsed her through the crowds, dancing with her friends - and he had lured her outside and watched her fight. And from then on, he had always been in the shadows, watching her fight. The way she moved, the tricks she played, the way she always found a way... he'd never seen anything of her like before. Never seen anything to equal her.

Drusilla had known before he did. Had pushed him away in South America - running around with chaos demons and fungus demons and every grotty demon bloke she could lay her hands on. At the time, he thought it was the truce - his teaming up with Buffy to stop Angelus and save the world - that had disgusted Dru so much. But he knew now it wasn't. Dru had seen his heart - had understood completely that it now belonged to the slayer.

Well, Spike didn't have the second sight, like Dru did. And - he wasn't one of the world's greatest thinkers either. It had taken him quite a bit longer to work out what he felt, to work out why he kept going back to Sunnydale, to Buffy, to seek a fight he knew he couldn't win. So many little plans, and silly schemes - and all so that he could just be close to her. Fight her. Watch her.

But eventually, even he had worked it out and then had come a time of lurking in the shadows, following her, stalking her - trying to prove to her that he loved her, and she could love him too. It had been a hopeless task. He was a soulless, evil demon and his love was a twisted, dark and selfish love. Not what Buffy wanted or needed or ever would consider accepting; but even once she made it clear that she could never love him, he still couldn't let go. Couldn't bear to move on and leave her behind. Because, whilst his love might have been twisted and dark and selfish - it was also real, and true. It was the only good thing about him - if anything could be said to be good about him back then. He loved someone who was truly noble and good - so he would try to be those things too. He'd fail miserably, but god he would try.

And occasionally - just occasionally - he would manage to get it right. When he had stood up to Glory, been brutally tortured, but utterly willing to die in order to protect Dawn - to protect Buffy from the pain of losing Dawn. That was when she had first seen that he meant it when he said he loved her, and it was the first time she had kissed him - not under the influence of a spell. Just a fleeting kiss, but sweet and heartfelt - to say thank you for what he had done. To reward him for his bravery and his loyalty. A monster should not be capable of that kind of loyalty, and she had understood just what it meant that Spike was. He was trying, and he would keep on trying - just for her.

But then she was gone - just like that. And he had spent a hundred and forty seven nights in bitter grief, cursing himself, thinking of a hundred different ways he could have done anything better, quicker, faster. He had saved her, every night for a hundred and forty seven nights he had saved her - but not when it counted. But then Will had pulled her abracadabra - so stupid and dangerous and she had no right to do it - but Buffy was back. On the hundred and forty eighth night he had got Buffy back - and when he had looked up those stairs, and seen her alive - and realised it was really her - it was the happiest moment of his entire existence.

She wasn't the same of course - not after the big, dirt sleep - she couldn't be. And in her pain, she had turned to him. Only he was still soulless, still twisted and selfish and - though he wanted to make everything right - he had no idea what was wrong. He didn't know that of course. William the Bloody - last of the big thinkers - had thought he had all the answers and he had taken advantage of her misery, without meaning to, and pulled her further and deeper into the darkness. It wasn't until she pulled herself out - ever the hero - and he tried to drag her back down, that he finally understood. Finally saw that - no matter how he tried, or how much he loved - he was a monster. And she didn't want that. Didn't deserve that.

And it had all seemed so simple for Spike, soulless Spike. Buffy had loved Angel - Angel had a soul. She didn't love Spike. Spike didn't have a soul. So he had to get one - and then she would be able to love him. And so that's what he did.

It wasn't until after his soul was restored - as he felt it burn his way through his chest and into his unbeating heart - that he really came to understand. Getting a soul wouldn't wash away the past, wouldn't undo the hurt - he couldn't just tumble back into Sunnydale and ask her to love him just because he'd done this thing. For her. That wasn't how love worked.

He took another, very deep drink of his beer - and placed his ticket down on the bar. They'd built something together, Buffy and him. There had been trust and respect and affection. Maybe love. She had told him she loved him, in the end. She had called him a champion and he had died for her and she had told him she loved him. But where did that really leave them now?

The Vinji and the Sahrvin had been shown into the conference room and placed at different sides of the table. Harri and Gunn were each speaking to a tribe, making the strange clicking sounds with their tongues - trying to smooth things over, trying to explain the plan for the day. But both demon clans were still angry - Cordelia could tell that, even without understanding a word they said. Their tense body language, their angry tones - the way they sometimes snapped across the table at the other clan - this was a whole big mess and she kind of wished she hadn't found herself in the middle of it.

'Dupree's murderer still walks free - this gathering is cursed.' The Vinji elder clicked and grunted.

'What she say?' Angel asked Gunn.

'They wanna walk.' He switched to the Vinji's language, 'we'll make it right.'

'Tell them my ex husband is on the case. He's a very fine detective and he solves cases like these all the time,' Harri said across the table. She had just relayed this message to the Sahrvin, and they seemed to be calming down at the prospect of justice.

Cordelia watched as Gunn spoke to the Vinji, giving them Harri's message. The Vinji elder nodded agreement - but added a caveat. 'If you cannot offer the blood of the killer, one of your own must die.'

Both Harri and Gunn looked troubled. 'What?' Angel asked them, seeing the expression on their faces. 'What she say?'

'Seems like it's bad luck to get things going before we cough up a little eye for an eye,' Gunn explained to him. 'Seeming as though we don't have the actual bad guy, they're willing to accept a substitute.'

'They want a blood sacrifice?' Angel looked scandalised, and yelled for his assistant. 'Harmony!'

It was Cordy's turn to look scandalised. 'What?' she said, 'I know Harmony can be a little vacuous, I know she makes mistakes, but you can't just kill her to please some feuding demon guys. That's definitely workplace discrimination.'

'I'm not going to kill her,' Angel replied through gritted teeth, 'I want her to go and find out if Fred managed to get anything off the body.'

'Oh - right - well - I'll go find Fred and you guys, stay here and try not to ritually sacrifice anyone.' And Cordelia scuttled off in the direction of the lab, glad to leave the conference room, and the fight brewing inside of it, far behind.

Harmony and Doyle arrived at the staffroom. The first thing they saw was Dan, Lorne's assistant, bent down in front of the fridge - grabbing the unicorn covered thermos. Before Doyle had even time to register what was going on, Harmony had crossed the length of the room - practically blurry with speed - and grabbed hold of Dan. 'Aha! The smoking thermos! Trying to get rid of the evidence?'

'What evidence? I was trying to reach Lorne's protein snack.'

Doyle had sidled up the pair of them now and was watching the scene. He raked his eyes over Dan - who was even shorter and slighter than Doyle - and very pasty looking. He didn't look much like a killer. Or a Machiavellian mastermind out to derail a summit, come to that. But Harmony was on a roll. 'Ha! You expect me to believe that? Go on! Admit it!'

'Admit what?'

'That you stole my thermos and filled it with human blood!' she yelled.

'Human … what?' his face crumpled and he looked terrified at the very prospect.

'Uh - Harmony - I'm not sure this is the guy,' Doyle tried to tell her. But she wasn't listening. 'It's so totally obvious you hate me!' she was still screaming, but she was crying now as well. 'You've probably been watching me sweat all day - laughing.'

'Hate you? I don't care enough about you to hate you!'

Doyle winced - that was a hard enough thing for anybody to hear, and Harmony was already at breaking point right now.

One of the women from the office stepped up, 'hey, leave him alone!' she yelled. Harmony turned her head - and vamped out. 'Mind your own business.' There was the sound of half a dozen chairs scraping back, hastily - and then everyone ran from the room. Dan was still trying to wriggle out from under Harmony's grip - but it was no use - she was far too strong for him. 'You murdered that guy - and put him in my bed!'

'Murdered - oh god…' he was crying now, blinking his eyes and staring upwards as if praying.

'You did this to me and now you're gonna confess', she had wrapped her hands around his throat.

'I'm - I'm - I'm sorry. I didn't. What guy? Please don't kill me. I swear…'

'Harmony, love, I don't think this little weasel has it in him to…' he stopped talking when Dan was suddenly hit over the head with a glass pitcher and knocked out. He and Harmony both turned to see who had done it. A petite woman was standing behind them. 'Why did you do that?' Harmony asked, her vampire features melting from her face as she considered this woman with bemusement. It was the woman she'd spilt coffee on the day before, but …

'To make it look like you did it,' the woman said.

'Why would you …' she suddenly gasped, 'it was you!' she yelled indignantly, pointing her finger at spilled coffee woman. But then she looked confused again. 'Wait … who are you?'

Cordelia wandered down the corridors. She was lost. Wolfram and Hart was huge! And she had no idea where Fred's lab was. She couldn't help but remember all the times Angel had broken into this place over the years, including last year when the whole lot of them had gone hunting for Kali through a swarm of zombies and had nearly been made into chow mein by The Beast. How had they ever found their way around? How had Angel managed to get into Lilah's office so many times? This place was like a maze. A really crappy, no fun, corporate maze.

She turned a corner - and heard a distant moan. 'Hello?' she called out. 'Is there anyone there?' The sound came again - and she headed in the direction of it. 'I can't see you,' she called out. She listened carefully, the noise seemed to be coming from inside the walls - but that didn't make sense. She carried on down the hallway - until she came to a door marked 'maintenance only' - a janitor's closet. She knocked, 'hello?' The muffled moaning noise sounded again and she pulled the door open.

It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the cupboard - and then she blinked in surprise. Fred, Lorne and a guy she didn't know lay bound and gagged on the floor, staring back up at her.

'You don't remember me?' The woman stalked closer to her, Harmony backed away - bumping into the counter. She glanced at Doyle, nonplussed - who also had no idea what was going on. Things seemed to have taken a turn for the … strange. Harmony shrugged at the woman - she had no clue. 'Think steno pool,' the woman said.

'Sambuca!' Harmony said, remembering her at last.

'Tamika!' Tamika slammed her hands down on the table as she yelled her name. Both Harmony and Doyle flinched. 'Well - you were only there, what? 5 weeks?'

'More like 4 and a half,' Harmony agreed breezily. Doyle had narrowed his eyes and was watching things closely, he couldn't be sure - but it seemed like maybe this had nothing to do with the summit after all. Maybe it was more personal than that.

Tamika's next words confirmed it. 'I've been there for Five. Years. I type 80 words a minute, I have an exceptionally pleasant phone voice.' They would have to take her word for it on that - her current tone of voice was terrifying. 'But you're the one who sits at the best desk in the building. You're the one in the in crowd.'

That actually made Harmony laugh. 'You think I'm in the in crowd?'

'Oh - I see you in all the important meetings. You're on the fast track. Well that's all about to change. I have witnesses who saw you attack Danny, and when Mr. Angel hears that I saved him - your job will be mine by the end of the day.'

'Oh yeah - well - I have a witness too,' Harmony pointed at Doyle.

Tamika looked him over, taking in his rumpled shirt and beaten up leather jacket and the faint air of disreputability that Doyle just always seemed to manage to carry with him. She dismissed him out of hand. 'Whoever your new boyfriend is, Mr. Angel will believe a room full of his own staff over a homeless hobo a killer dragged in from the streets so he could vouch for her.'

'Now that's not very kind!' Doyle protested.

'You think Angel will believe you over him?' Harmony said - she laughed, and vamped out. 'You're in way over your head, Sambuca.'

'Guess again.' Tamika mistook her words, assuming Harmony's threat was that she was a vampire - not that Doyle was a reliable witness, and she vamped out as well. Proving, in her mind at least, that they were even. Doyle backed right off - and stood in the corner, watching.

'Oh - I should have smelled you,' Harmony said.

'Maybe you would have if you didn't wear so much tacky perfume.'

'Chanel is not tacky!' She launched at the other vampire. But Tamika grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the wall. Doyle sprang at Tamika then, trying to drag her away from Harmony, but the vampire woman released one hand from Harmony's throat and used it to backhand him, sending him flying across the room. He landed heavily on the floor, his nose stinging. Tamika regained her grip on Harmony. 'Saw you at the bar last night and I said to myself "this is it Tamika - this is your chance". So I slipped a roofie in your drink whilst you were busy slutting it up.'

Doyle stumbled back to his feet - still wincing from the pain.

'Then I followed you home with that guy and waited until you passed out. Then had myself a little snack.'

'That's just - ugh!' Harmony struggled under Tamika's vice like grip. 'I'm so gonna kick your ass.'

Tamika grabbed some chopsticks from the side and held them up, ready to stake. 'Dust can't kick!'

But Harmony kicked Tamika in the chest. She stumbled back across the room and straight into Doyle. The two of them tumbled to the ground, in a tangle of arms and legs - and then there was a desperate struggle to be the first one back standing, whilst Harmony grabbed some chopsticks of her own and bore down on them both.

Tamika tried to get back to her feet, but Doyle reached out and grabbed hold of her ankle, bringing her crashing back down. The two of them rolled over and over. Tamika was stronger, but Doyle was able to use his greater weight and height to his advantage, finally pinning her under himself. 'I got her,' he called out to Harmony, panting with the exertion of vampire wrestling. Harmony raised her makeshift weapon, ready to strike the killing blow, but Doyle stretched out a hand in alarm. 'Wait! If you kill her now there's no proof you're not guilty. We need to take her to Angel.'

Harmony hesitated and - in that moment - Tamika took her chance to punch Doyle on his already stinging nose, and throw him off her before jumping back to her feet. She grabbed her chopsticks and held it out like a sword. Harmony split hers in two and held one in each hand and Tamika followed suit. They circled each other warily, never taking their eyes off each other. But that was a mistake, for Tamika at least. Doyle - still on the ground - stuck his leg out and brought Tamika down again. She landed flat on her back and Harmony rushed her. 'You're gonna tell Angel the truth,' she yelled. But Tamika only headbutted her, sending her staggering backwards. 'The first thing I'm gonna do when I get your desk? Smash all those ugly ass unicorns!'

Harmony saw red.

...

Doyle wasn't even sure how it had happened. One minute the women had been evenly matched, Harmony having a slight advantage by having Doyle as back up, but Tamika more than able to hold her own and then … it was like a Viking Beserker attack. Just a pure frenzy of crazy and violence, and now Harmony had Tamika in a headlock and was marching her down the corridor, yelling at her, whilst Doyle jogged along behind them, trying to keep up with the incandescent vampire.

'And then you're gonna tell Angel how you stole my thermos,' Harmony was detailing, 'and filled it with human blood. And how you tricked me…'

Tamika stamped on Harmony's foot and then wrenched herself out of the headlock, whilst the other vampire was still dancing around in agony. 'My lips sealed. The key? Lost it!' She began to kick Harmony over and over, making her fall back.

'Ladies, please,' Doyle yelled, grabbing hold of Tamika by the waist and hauling her backwards - but she got in one lucky kick, striking Harmony directly in the head. Harmony fell to the ground and the sudden momentum of Tamika stopping struggling propelled Doyle over backwards and he and the vampire crashed to the ground once more.

The only thing that stopped the fight being audible inside the conference room was the screeching and clicks coming from the feuding demon clans. They were still angry - still snapping at each other across the table - still unable to sit down and start brokering peace whilst they believed this meeting to be cursed. 'If you can just be patient,' Harri said to them in their language. 'I'm sure we'll have news soon. We're as angry about Toby's death as you are.'

Angel and Gunn sat at the head of the conference table, their arms folded - their expressions a little defeated. 'What is she saying?' Angel asked, 'none of this was on the tape.'

'They're still demanding a -'

'Whoreman has failed,' The leader of the Vinji snapped at Harri.

'We demand a sacrifice,' agreed the Sahrvin.

Suddenly the glass of the window was smashed in, and cascaded to the floor in a thousand shining fragments, as Harmony and Tamika came crashing through and tumbled to the ground. Harmony grabbed the other vampire and hauled her up onto the the head of the conference table - and pulled back, raising her makeshift chopstick stake high. 'Harmony - no!' Doyle cried out from behind her. But it was too late - and Harmony plunged the chopsticks down into Tamika's heart, and Tamika exploded into a cloud of dust, on the table.

There was a sudden deafening silence in the conference room - and Harmony looked up, her vampire face melting away once again. 'Oops - I didn't mean to do that, yet,' she said regretfully.

The two clans of feuding demons stared at the spot where Tamika had just been dusted. 'Works for me,' the Vinji said.

'I'm good' agreed the Sahrvin - and, much calmer, they settled back in their chairs to start brokering a lasting peace.

The team were gathered in Angel's office - except for Gunn who was still working away alongside Harri in the conference room. Fred, Lorne and Rudy were all nursing their bruised heads with icepacks - whilst Cordelia was giving them the once over, checking for concussion and administering paracetamol just like it was the old days.

Angel was sat behind his desk, his arms folded across his chest and his glower face on. Harmony was stood in front of him, her head hanging low. 'You should have just come to me,' he said to her.

'Gee I wish I'd thought of that,' Fred muttered sarcastically.

'Harmony's been under a lot o' pressure,' Doyle tutted. 'I'd like to see how you all would cope if you woke up in the mornin', roofied, and with a dead guy in y' bed. Especially on a day when y' know the dark avenger is feelin' cranky.'

'I'm not cranky,' Angel protested, trying to keep his voice even, 'I just don't understand …'

Harmony hung her head even lower - and when she spoke her voice was small. 'I'm really, really sorry you guys. I totally wouldn't have hit you over the head and put you in the closet if I didn't have a really good reason. It's just ... I was scared and … I know you never wanted me as your assistant. And OK … I know I made some bad choices. But it's not like I have a soul. I have to try a lot harder.'

'You know she isn't wrong,' Cordelia said, she was balanced on the arm of Fred's chair - checking her head lump. 'I mean - this time last year you didn't have a soul and …' she chuckled darkly. 'Well, we wouldn't all be sitting round discussing this politely if it was soulless Angel in the room now would we? You'd have killed us all and done unspeakable things to our corpses.'

'Thanks Cordelia,' Angel said, trying to shut her up.

'I'm just saying - Harmony's done a great job of not killing people - you should give her props for that. 'Cause you sure couldn't do it.'

'Again - thanks - I always enjoy your unique perspective.'

Cordelia rolled her eyes, 'unique? Please. We were all thinking it.' Doyle smirked. Even Lorne and Fred were having to bite back smiles. Angel only glowered even more darkly.

The connecting door between the office and the conference room opened then and Gunn came in. 'How's it going in there?' Wesley asked him.

'Well - so far no heads are rollin'. I tell you - that Harri chick is somethin' else. Man, does she know all their customs and their history and language. She's like Wesley on steroids. I just can't figure out how one normal human person can know so much about demons.'

Doyle shifted uncomfortably. Cordelia let out a bark of laughter. 'Harri's an ethnodemonologist,' she explained, 'she started studying demons back when chicken little, here, went through his big change. They were still married at the time.'

Gunn whistled. 'Well, I gotta hand it to you, Doyle - your ex is really something.' His eyes lingered on where Cordelia was gently tending to Fred's head and he smiled, glad to see something so familiar after so long. Some things never changed. 'Then again - your current is really something too - you got game when it comes to the ladies, Irish.'

'It's pure animal magnetism,' Doyle assured him. Cordelia snorted. Gunn looked round the room, 'so how are things going in here?'

'Harmony could have handled it better,' Fred said. 'But she didn't kill anyone.'

Rudy got to his feet, still clutching his ice pack to his head. 'You should be clean in two days,' he said to Harmony, 'I'll be watching you.' He left the room. Harmony hung her head lower. 'I know,' she said, sadly. 'He won't have to be watching 'cause … I'll just pack up my desk.' She turned to leave.

'Harmony?' she turned back when Angel called her. 'Just get us some coffee.' He gave her a small smile. She shook her head in disbelief and walked out, frowning. 'Seriously?' she heard Doyle say behind her, 'that's it. Girl goes through hell and saves the summit and you say …' he whistled. 'Have I ever told you recently how incredibly grateful I am that you're not my boss anymore?' The door closed behind her - and she didn't hear Angel's retort.

'Well - I guess, it's time we should be pushing off too,' Cordelia said, grabbing her purse and getting to her feet. 'Come on, Doyle - this took way longer than we thought - and we still have those books to look at.' He got to his feet and followed her out into the lobby, closing the door behind him - but once they were out of earshot he pulled her round a corner. 'What?' she asked looking surprised.

'Listen - I was thinkin' - maybe you should go to Harmony, talk with her - go out with her tonight.'

'Why?' She looked completely bemused.

'Because - she's had a really hard day and she could use a friend. Besides, you've done nothing but work for months now. You don't ever get out - talk to anybody that's not me. I think it'd be good for y'. A girl's night. Cordelia and Harmony, queens of Sunnydale, out on the town.'

Cordelia actually began to smile as she considered the idea - it had been a long time since she'd allowed herself to cut loose. 'But what will you do? Go back and read those prophecy books all alone?'

'Later, perhaps - but those books have been takin' a lot out of me. I know they're important - but they're so borin'! I'd forgotten how much fun just runnin' around, solvin' a case was. I think I might milk this a while longer - just bein' normal, not all prophecies and promised ones. I thought I might stick around and chat to Angel some more. And you know how cranky he is. He needs my quick wit and wise words to keep him on the straight and narrow. And I need a break from the doom and gloom and pulse pounding fear.'

'Well, OK - but don't stay too late. We really do have to be getting on in the morning.' She gave him a quick kiss, 'I'll see you at home?' He nodded, and she walked away to find Harmony.

On the way back to Angel's office, Doyle bumped into Harri coming out of the conference room. 'Hey,' he said to her, smiling but a little uncomfortable.

'Hi.'

'Look,' he shifted his feet and rubbed the back of his neck, 'I'm really sorry about just springing up on y' this mornin'. I honestly had no idea that you worked with this Dupree guy. I wouldn'tna … well … maybe I wouldda called first, if I'd known.'

'It's OK,' she smiled at him warmly. 'I'm glad I found out what happened to Toby. And I'm glad I've been able to help out at the summit - you know Vinjis and Sahrvins really are a fascinating culture, the intricacies of their customs, the way they developed such highly sensitive codes of conducts…' she trailed off when she saw his slightly glazed expression. 'But I guess you still don't share my interest in demons, huh?' she asked him .

He shrugged, 'well, I kill a lot o' 'em, if that counts.'

'You know it really is good to see you again, Francis,' she said, her voice was softer. 'You look well, you seem happy…' He nodded at her general assessment of him. 'And you and Cordelia…?' she asked.

'We're - uh - we're gettin' married,' he admitted.

'I'm glad to hear it.'

'Well … I hope I make a better husband second time around than I did the first.' He thought of yesterday - and how he felt that same rage that had become such a staple of his character in the dying days of his last marriage. It was that that had driven Harri away, in the end. But - just yesterday - he had felt that rage and overcome it, he hadn't dragged Cordy down into his misery, or turned his anger on her. He'd mastered it - all by himself. So maybe he really could do better this time. Maybe he really was better, after all.

She smiled again, a little sadly this time. 'Well - I better…' she gestured with her head in the direction she had been headed.

'Right - right - I won't keep y'. Important work to do. Well - uh - I'll see you around?'

'Yeah. See you, Francis.' She walked away - and he headed back into Angel's office, glad he'd got a chance to speak with Harri properly - but also glad that conversation was now over.

Inside Angel's office, Gunn had disappeared back into the conference room - and Fred and Lorne had gone off to nurse their head bumps. Meanwhile, Wesley had gone down to the daycare centre and picked up Connor. The little boy was now sat on his knee, wearing a bright red baseball cap.

'Wow, Connor, cool hat,' Doyle said to him. 'Where did you get it?'

'Mewsum. Grrrr.' The little boy growled at him.

'Connor went to the Natural History Museum today,' Wesley informed the half demon.

'And the Au Pairs let him buy a whole load of junk. That hat - some toys - a colouring book,' Angel said, 'you think they'll charge that to the company or directly to me?' he worried

The two other men burst out laughing. 'Man you're cheap!' Doyle told him, 'you're the CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation, your son goes on an educational excursion and you're worryin' about the price of a colouring book?'

'Well - If I thought he was actually gonna colour it in… Probably just scribble all over it.'

'Well then I guess you better confiscate it - huh - you can colour it in yourself, keepin' in the lines…'

'I just like things done properly.' Angel fussed. Doyle laughed again, and sat down beside Wesley on the sofa, he stole Connor's hat and put it on his own head. Connor screeched and snatched it back off him.

'Did Cordelia go home?' Wesley asked him. He shook his head, 'she's with Harmony. I thought they could both do with some RnR. Lock up your nerds - the meanest girls in Sunnydale history are hittin' the town and takin' no prisoners.' Both Wesley and Angel laughed. 'What about you guys?' Doyle asked them both, glancing between them. 'After your big day - how are you doin'?'

'I'm just glad it's over,' Angel admitted. He put his hand to his brow and rubbed his forehead. 'But there'll be another just like it, soon enough. It never stops round here.'

'It never stopped before,' Doyle pointed out to him, 'at least here you're not havin' to worry about payin' the bills … and fendin' off lawyers.'

'Yeah…' but the deep sigh showed that the vampire did not really consider these factors to make up for all the downsides of being at Wolfram and Hart.

'Bigger picture, shades o' grey still gettin' to y'?' Doyle asked him. He nodded again - and gave that same sigh. 'Yeah.'

'Well … anyone fancy a drink?'

The two cocktail glasses clinked together. Harmony had taken Cordelia up to the Sky Bar and they had ordered Green Screwdrivers. 'Was he always this cranky?' She asked.

'Oh - much much worse!' Cordelia assured her. 'You got the Angel I've been breaking in for four years. He was like a bear with a sore front paw when I first got him.'

'Well - he's still pretty sore these days. I mean - I save the summit by killing the skank who tried to frame me and all I get is "get us some coffees" - can you believe that?'

'One time he fired me - and then he gave my clothes away. Never even said he was sorry. Believe me you got off light.'

'Nuhuh - he doesn't listen to a word I say, I run errand after errand for him and he never says "thank you".'

'I don't think it's even in his vocabulary.'

'He doesn't appreciate anything I do for him and he gets so crabby if I'm just like half a minute late with his warm mug o' blood.'

'One time I tried putting cinnamon in his blood to give it some flavour, he said it looked like it had coagulated and refused to drink it.'

'Well yesterday he executed a guy right in front of me and then just asked me to clean it up! Didn't even say "please".'

'Textbook Angel,' Cordelia nodded. 'He once had me and Doyle dismember a giant squid monster in the sewer - no please or thank you - just said we'd taken our time getting there. It was a Sunday! Do you know how many enchanted swordsmiths are open on Sundays? Not many!'

'Is this a private Angel bashing party or can any bloke join in?' a voice interrupted them.

'Spike!' Harmony said in surprise.

Cordelia choked on her drink, as Spike pulled out a chair and sat down with them. 'You're solid again!' she said.

'They don't get a trick past you, do they?' he raised an eyebrow at her. 'So - Angelus - worst things he's ever done…?' The two women giggled, as he thought about it. 'Nah - the list's too long,' he said eventually, 'and not for the fainthearted.'

'So how come you're here?' Harmony asked him. 'Aren't you meant to be in Europe - slayer chasing - or whatever?' Cordelia choked on her drink again - but neither of the vampires noticed.

'I was going to,' Spike said, 'had a boat ticket and all. Then I put a little thinking into it. A man can't go out in a bloody blaze of glory, savin' the world, and then show up three months later, tumblin' off a cruise ship in the south of France. I mean, I'd love to - don't get me wrong - but, uh, it's hard to top an exit like that.'

Harmony rolled her eyes, 'but girls don't care about stuff like that, right Cordy?'

Cordy swallowed her sip of drink and nodded in agreement. 'Right - if anything ever happened to Doyle… I don't care how much of a hero he was in the end, or how insalubrious his return is - and knowing Doyle it would be - as long as I was getting him back, I wouldn't be asking questions.'

'See,' Harmony said, giving Spike a meaningful look. 'Just one look at you and she'll forget herself and she'll go all tingly. And it won't matter how horribly you treated her in the past or how you took her for granted…'

'I never took her for granted,' he interrupted - but then he caught Harmony's expression and realisation dawned '..oh.' He thought about it some more. 'I expect Buffy would be happy enough to see me. It's just, I gave up my life for her, for the world, and if I show up now, flesh and bone, my grand finale won't hold much weight… won't matter.'

'Yeah - not mattering. I get that.'

'Oh, come on, Harm,' he said to her, 'you matter to someone.'

She looked disbelieving, 'I do?'

'Yeah - the way I hear it, some girl tried to frame you. You must have mattered to her. Everyone's talking about it.'

'She did go to an awful lot of trouble to get you … into trouble,' Cordelia agreed. 'It cost her her life - that's what she was willing to risk, just to make you pay. She wanted to kill you and take your place - it's just like being back in highschool!'

'You're right,' Harmony said thoughtfully 'That girl hated me. She wanted me dead.' She smiled, as realisation dawned. It didn't matter that the mirror was blank, or that Mrs. Jacobi never said hello, or that her boss was the grouchiest, most ungrateful lunk of manpire to ever brood incessantly in a dark corner. It didn't make a difference. She was still Harmony - same as she'd always been - and people still wanted her dead. 'I matter.'

A/N next episode is 'Soul Purpose'