Buffy walked through the city, sticking close to the dark alleyways. It had been two weeks since the battle of Sunnydale. The Slayers and the Scoobies had taken up temporary residence at the Hyperion until they could figure out their game plan. She, Connor, and Angel had moved into the penthouse that Wolfram and Hart had given their new CEO. None of them were super comfortable there yet.
Angel's friends had been excited that Buffy was joining the team. Despite her and Gunn's rocky start, they were becoming friends. Fred was happy to have another woman on the team again. Wesley had actually cracked a joke about his and Buffy's past relationship as stuffy Watcher and wayward Slayer. He was happy to get the chance to work with her again. Most of all, though, Angel's friends were delighted that Angel was finally able to be happy with the woman he had given his entire heart and soul to.
Buffy had decided to get away and go for a patrol. Wolfram and Hart could be suffocating, as they had discovered. There was always someone there ready to do whatever was needed at any given moment. If the law firm wasn't evil, it would be kind of fun. Mostly, Buffy just wondered who was being sacrificed to get her a latte.
"Hey." Buffy jumped as Angel appeared beside her. "Sorry."
"It's ok." She shrugged. "Guess I wasn't paying much attention. What are you doing here?"
"Thought I would join your patrol. Sounded like fun."
She laughed. "We've really got to teach you the proper definition of fun."
"Probably."
A woman's scream rang out two blocks over and Buffy and Angel took off running. "Please, you don't have to do this." The woman begged. "I can get you money. You don't have…. Somebody help!" She started to scream again just as Buffy made it around the corner.
Angel moved past her and tackled the vampire away from the woman. "Doesn't sound like the lady's interested. Maybe you're coming off as too needy."
The vampire kicked out at Angel and knocked him a few feet back. Buffy took over and kicked the vampire in the ribs with a satisfying crunch of bone. Angel joined the fight and they batted the surprisingly agile vampire between them before Buffy managed to kick it backwards onto Angel's waiting stake. They grinned at each other as the vampire burst into dust.
"What ju…. I don't understand." The woman said.
"It's really best if you don't try." Buffy said.
"Just get yourself home and stay out of dark alleys. You'll be all right." Angel added.
"But…. who are you?" The woman called after them as they headed for the mouth of the alley.
"It doesn't matter." Angel answered. Buffy was about to make a comment on his dramatic aloofness, but a dozen cars screeched to a halt before them. A group of armed men dressed completely in black commando gear blocked the alley's exit and they were pointing guns in their direction.
"Angel!" A man yelled before grabbing his radio. "Area's secure. Angel is unharmed, as is Miss Summers. Hostiles contained. Sweep area and confirm." The man pulled off his ski mask. "Angel, sir."
People dressed in power suits stepped out of the cars and walked towards them. "Angel!"
"We got report of your movement and came for backup." The lead commando said.
"But…." Angel started.
"I'm Agent Hauser. I run your operations team."
"Angel!" The little lawyer cried, running up to them. "Hi. Glad we caught you. Really would…." He turned to another lawyer and someone holding a notary stamp. "Get the forms from her." He turned back to Angel. "Really would prefer it if you didn't leave a rescue scenario until we had a chance to control the scene. Of course, that is your decision, sir, but…."
"How did you guys…."
"Tracking monitor in your lapel. And what a time-saver, too, huh?"
The notary stamp holder was talking to the woman they had just rescued. "This is to confirm that you have been rescued by Angel, C.E.O. and President of Wolfram and Hart, and his girlfriend, Buffy Summers, and this is to indemnify Wolfram and Hart…."
The lawyer began pushing Buffy and Angel in the direction of the girl. "If we can just get a couple pictures of you three, that would be great. Now, uh, the vampire that you terminated, he actually did work for one of your clients. So, but, hey! First week, no one will squawk, ok?"
"You run a law firm?" The woman asked.
"No. I mean…." Angel looked at Buffy for help as the cameras flashed. "Well, sort of. Well, just lately."
"I need you to initial here concerning your immortal soul." The notary guy said
The woman signed the document. "You did this for publicity?"
"No! I help…. The helpless."
"Would you like me to bring your car around, sir?" The lawyer asked. "Or anything at all? Would you like a mocha, Miss Summers? Latte? Decaf?"
Buffy stood at the bathroom mirror brushing her hair out. "You're saying you want to give me a paycheck from this place? For doing what? Being your girlfriend?"
"No. That would make you a prostitute. A very, very well-paid prostitute." Angel said from his perch on the counter next to her. She shot him a glare. "Look, all I'm saying is: you're here, you're planning to help, so…. You might as well get paid, too. Haven't you always been annoyed that saving the world lacked a paycheck?"
"Yes, but this paycheck you're offering? It comes with an insane amount of strings. And probably blood. And evil clothing that's bugged with tracking devices." She groaned. "I'm going to have to throw out all those beautiful clothes that showed up in my closet over the last week now, aren't I?"
"Is there such a thing as co-C.E.O.?"
"I don't know."
"As C.E.O. and President, couldn't I make that a thing?"
"I don't know."
"You wanted to help me bring this place down, so…." He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her neck. "Help me. Be my co-C.E.O."
"No fair." Buffy breathed as he nipped at her neck and earlobe. "You're using sex to coerce me into an evil paycheck."
His hand drifted up the front of her shirt, fingers tracing the ribs just under her breasts. "Is it working?"
"Maybe." She turned in his arms and he lifted her to sit on the counter, working his way down her neck. "I don't really know how to run a law firm, though." Her legs wrapped around his waist.
"I don't either." Angel muttered from her clavicle. "We'll figure it out."
He moved back up her neck and their lips met in what promised to be a fiery kiss, but a loud knock at the bedroom door followed by, "Dad! Buffy!" killed it quickly. "Why is there a Playstation out here with the TV? That wasn't here last night, right?"
Buffy laughed as Angel groaned. "Hey, you're the one that wanted kids." She joked, kissing him quickly. "We'll finish this later. Right now," She gently pushed him backwards and hopped off the counter. "I promised Connor we could go see a movie today and go sightseeing since he's never actually seen LA. So, I need to finish getting ready."
Angel pouted slightly. "I want to go."
"One, it's daytime out. And two, you've got a law firm to run."
"You do too."
"Hey, I said it was maybe working. I didn't accept your offer. Right now, I'm content to be your girlfriend and not get paid for that."
Angel sighed. "At least promise me that you'll think about it."
"That I can definitely do." She reached up and kissed him again. "Go make some evil lives miserable. I'll see you later."
Connor and Buffy roamed the Santa Monica pier and enjoyed the noises of the world around them. They'd enjoyed the rides and the games. Connor had won a stuffed pig for Buffy while she had gone to the bathroom. He said it looked like her Mr. Gordo and he wanted her to have him since the real Mr. Gordo was now gone.
"I'm still sorry about your home." Connor said again.
She shrugged. "I know. I am, too, but honestly, that place hadn't felt like home in a long time."
"The only home I ever really knew was a cave in a hell dimension, but…." He trailed off.
"But…?" She nudged him with her shoulder.
"But you and dad…. The three of us together…. It's starting to feel like home. Like…."
"Family?"
"Yeah. It's honestly the first time I've actually felt that way about him."
Buffy smiled up at Connor. "That's good, though. Your father loves you."
"I know. I'm getting that. He loves you, too."
"Yes, that he does." She stopped walking and he turned to look at her. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"I sense a but to this whole conversation."
Connor sighed. "I guess I'm just worried that now that we're back here and he's going back to work with them, it'll go back to the way it was before when they all hated me. In Sunnydale, no one really knew me or the things I'd done. Or if they did, they didn't act like it. Here…. They still look at me with that look."
"Connor, you messed up. What you did to your dad was horrible, but Angel forgave you. Gunn, Fred, Lorne…. They'll come around, too. You're not the same person that left LA with me all those weeks ago. You've just got to show them that."
"How?"
"Just be you, Connor. You're a good kid. And," She took his arm and started walking again. "If they don't come around, I'll dangle them over the balcony of our penthouse by their feet until they do." He laughed and shook his head as they continued on.
Buffy and Connor walked into the conference room carrying bags of Chinese takeout. Angel had called and said they would be working late going over the files his liaison to the Senior Partners had left them. Connor had suggested bringing them food since it was past dinner time.
"Oh, thank you, sugar dumpling!" Lorne cried.
"Don't thank me. This was all Connor's idea." Buffy said.
"Thanks, man." Gunn said, descending on the proffered bags with Wesley and Fred.
Angel walked over and kissed Buffy happily, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Thank you both for this."
"How's it going?" Buffy asked, looking at the scattered piles of file folders and papers spilling off the conference table and out of the surrounding boxes.
Angel generously made room on two of the chairs that had started collecting files so Buffy and Connor could sit down. "It's, uh…."
"We're in over our heads." Fred said.
"So, it's a Hellmouth full of scary dawn-of-time vampires bad?" Connor asked.
"Might as well be." Wesley said.
Connor shrugged. "We've faced that and lived to tell the tale."
"Sunnydale didn't." Buffy said.
"But still…. We've got this." He looked at Buffy as the others gave him a confused look. "What can we do to help?"
"You want to help us?" Fred asked.
"Connor's gotten used to research, I think." Buffy said. "We did a lot of that back in Sunnydale."
"But he wants to help us."
"I told you guys going with Buffy would be good for him." Angel said, clapping a hand on his son's shoulder with a proud smile. "Of course you guys can help us. We're not actually researching. Just going through the files and getting to know our…. Clients."
"Oh." Connor said. "That sounds…. Less fun."
"Trust me. It's even less fun than that." Gunn said, digging into his pint of beef lo mein.
"Anybody interesting so far?" Buffy asked, sitting down and picking up some of the files in front of her.
"Apparently old Joe Kennedy tried to get out of his deal with the firm." Lorne said.
"That explains a lot." Angel said, sitting down next to Buffy.
"Yeah, but George, Senior, he read the fine print. There's no one these guys don't have a piece of."
"Here's a winner," Gunn said. "Corbin Fries. On trial for smuggling Asian girls in for cheap labor and prostitution. Been charged with drugs, gun running, nothing stuck."
"And that's one of our human clients." Wesley said, looking over Gunn's shoulder.
"Looks like the trial's not going too well this time."
"Hmm, first good news all day." Angel said.
Gunn closed the file and looked at the piles around him. "I can't even remember which pile is which."
"I'll get my secretary to go through it in the morning." Angel paused. "Do I have a secretary?"
"I imagine they'll find you someone who can stomach the idea of working for the side of the righteous." Wesley offered.
"My impression is a lot of these guys are just opportunistic." Gunn said. "They'll go with the flow."
"You do realize that you'll have to go through the staff here and make sure there aren't any die-hard evildoers plotting our deaths." Buffy said.
"And here I was, worrying about the clients." Wesley sighed.
"We're doing the right thing…. Right?" Angel asked.
"Well, uh…. We're doing it tomorrow, exalted one." Lorne said. "My horns are falling asleep."
"Yeah. You guys enjoy your dinner and get some rest."
"What about you?" Fred asked.
"I'll work a while yet. Go on."
"I'll stay." Buffy offered, picking up a container of crab Rangoon. "I've got energy to spare."
"I'll stay, too." Connor said. "Don't want this food to go to waste."
Angel looked at Buffy and Connor as the others filed out of the room. "You guys don't have to stay."
"I want to." Buffy said. "I seriously have way too much energy these days. I think that Slayer spell did it to me."
"You haven't been sleeping much the last couple of weeks." Angel agreed, grabbing a pint of General Tso chicken. "Also, your punches are packing a little more of a wallop these days."
"Could you sound any older?" Connor joked.
Buffy laughed and Angel shook his head at his son. "What did you two do today?"
"We saw a movie before spending the afternoon at the Santa Monica pier. It was fun."
"Connor won me a stuffed pig that kind of looks like Mr. Gordo." Buffy added.
"That was nice of you, son. She loved that pig."
"I know. That's why I got it for her." Connor said with his mouth full. He swallowed his food. "I didn't like that she lost all her stuff in Sunnydale."
"I don't like it either. I wish there was a way to get some of it back."
"The most important things I owned came with me." Buffy said. "I've got my ring," She twirled the Claddagh ring on her finger around. "My cross necklace, and my memories. The only thing I wish I could replace are the pictures of my mom. I don't want to forget what she looked like."
"I'll take care of that." Angel offered.
"How?"
"I'll figure something out." He smiled at her and Buffy leaned over to kiss him.
"So, tell me about this paycheck. How much are we talking?"
"You're in?"
"How much are we talking? If I'm going to sell my soul and have every move I make tracked, the number better be high for it."
"I think I can match my figure."
"How much is your figure?"
Angel stood up and walked back to his office. Buffy followed him, leaving Connor in the conference room with the food. He went to his desk and pulled out a large file. "Here, this is the contract I signed."
"You didn't look at the numbers?"
"I wasn't in this for the money." Buffy lifted a skeptical eyebrow at him. "I'm not, but it's a nice perk. I can take my girlfriend out for nice dinners and evenings away."
"Smooth." She reached the page with Angel's salary and her eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god. That's, uh…. That's a lot of zeroes."
"Is it?"
"Did you not look at this thing before you signed it?"
"Honestly?" He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Uh, no. They offered me information to help you and I saw it as a chance to do some real good by taking this place down from the inside."
Buffy nodded. "And we will." She set down the folder. "Ok, I'm in. Hand me a contract and I'll sign."
"Are you sure?"
"Now you're iffy about it?"
"I just want you to be sure. Once you're in this, you're in. I don't know if there's any backing out of that contract."
She walked over to Angel, taking his hands. "This is what I want. You and me, shoulder to shoulder, fighting the good fight together. Like we were meant to do all along."
He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "I'll get Wesley on your contract."
"What about this liaison to the Senior Partners? Shouldn't we be going through him?"
"It's not a him and I don't trust her as far as a teacup chihuahua could throw her."
"A her, huh? A pretty her?"
"I don't know. I was more focused on getting rid of her. She's rude." Buffy grinned. "What?"
"Nothing. You just make me happy."
Angel smiled and pulled her into his arms. "You make me happy, too."
"Yuck, get a room." Connor said from the doorway. He held a bag full of Chinese food. "I'm gonna take my food to the apartment."
"I thought you were going to help go through the files."
"Yeah, but I have no idea what I'm looking at and I don't work here. Besides, I figured you guys were about to abandon me cause of all the sappy stuff happening in here."
Angel glanced at Buffy still in his arms. "We weren't…." He released her. "We were coming back."
"It's cool, dad. You two haven't been able to be together for a long time. I don't care if you want to get all lovey dovey with each other. I'll pick on you about it because your faces are funny when I do, but I'm happy you guys are happy."
"Thank you, son."
Connor shrugged. "No problem." He headed for the elevator before Angel could say anything else. "Thank god for soundproof walls." They heard him mutter before the elevator doors opened.
Angel looked down at Buffy. "What did you do to him in those few weeks?"
She shrugged. "Treated him like a normal person. Talked with him. Didn't judge him for past mistakes. Let him make his own decisions. Just…. Could you talk to your friends about the way they treat him? Connor is a good kid, but they need to lighten up on him and give him a chance to show them that."
"I'll talk to them."
"Also, about Connor…."
"Yeah?"
"I think we need to give him the chance to just be a kid. He's never had that chance. It's always one thing or another that requires him to fight the bad guys, but…. Now that we're working here and we've got lots of resources at our disposal…. Connor just needs to be a kid."
"Should we send him to school?"
"He might have some objections to that since he knows my history with school. But, we'll just have to ask him."
"I think that's a good idea. It'll help him figure out who he is and where he wants to fit in the world." Angel looked out of the windows of his office and realized there was no one out there. "Oh."
"What?"
He grinned and hit a button on his desk. The windows fogged over as he walked back around and locked his office door. "I want to finish what I started this morning." Angel stalked over to her and pulled her tightly against him.
Buffy sat at Angel's desk the next morning and rifled through the papers there. She and Angel had stayed up all night alternating between making love around the office and looking through the client files. Angel had gone to hunt down some blood for breakfast. Buffy had snacked on cold Chinese food for hers. She picked up an envelope that was addressed to Angel and put it aside for him.
Deciding she would like some coffee, Buffy looked at the phone and decided to try calling Angel's cell phone. She hit what she thought was the speaker phone button, but instead the phone said, "You have reached ritual sacrifice. For goats, press one, or say 'goats.'"
"Oh god!" Buffy quickly hung up.
"Everything ok?" Angel asked, walking back into the office and closing the door.
"I wanted to ask you to bring me some coffee and I hit the wrong button." She said, looking at the phone distastefully.
He smiled and walked over to the phone, hitting a button on it. "Hello?"
"This is Angel's office." An oddly familiar voice said. "How can I help you?"
"This is Angel."
"No, this is his new assistant."
"No, this is Angel."
"Are you sure?"
"Less and less. Can I get a cup of coffee and a cup of blood? Lots of cream and sugar."
"For the blood?"
"For the coffee!"
"Oh! Right away."
Angel grinned at Buffy and hit the button to hang up. Instead, he switched to the other line where the sacrifice hotline was apparently still going. "To sacrifice a loved one or pet, press the pound…." Angel's eyebrows raised in surprise and he hit the button to hang up, holding it down.
"Yeah. And you wondered why I hesitated about working here." Buffy said.
"We'll have to do something about that." Angel grabbed a chair and pulled in behind the desk to sit next to her. Just as he sat down, the phone rang. "Hello?"
"It's Wesley. Can I stop in?" Wesley asked.
"Sure. I was going to call you this morning anyway."
"We might be into a situation."
Buffy and Angel exchanged looks. "Come on by."
"Harmony?!" Angel said. Buffy looked up to see the blonde thorn in her side walk in with a tray holding two coffee urns, 2 mugs, a small pitcher of cream and a small container of sugar.
"Hey! Boss." Harmony said, setting the tray down on the desk. "Hi, Buffy! I didn't know you would be here."
"You're my secretary?"
"Hello! Assistant."
"Explain why I shouldn't kill you." Buffy said, standing up threateningly.
"Secretary's fine."
"No, it's not fine. Where is it fine? You've been working here?"
"Uh-huh."
"Why?" Angel asked, following Buffy around the desk.
"Well, duh! I'm a single undead gal trying to make it in the big city. I have to start somewhere. And they're evil here, they don't judge. They've got the necrotempered glass, no burning up, a great medical plan, and who needs dental more than us vampires?"
"This is surreal."
"Now, before you go threatening to fire me…."
"She threatened to kill you."
"Don't let's quibble. Before anything, just think: I'm strong, I'm quick, I'm incredibly sycophantic…. if that means what that guy said…. and I type like a superhero…. If there was a superhero whose power was typing. And, hey, we keep the same hours. Creatures of the night unite." Buffy and Angel just stared at her as she started to pour warm blood from one of the coffee urns. "How do you like your blood, boss?"
"Tell me that's not…."
"It's pig's blood. I'm totally off the human blood. That's not even a thing."
Angel sniffed it before tasting it. "It tastes…."
"Pretty good, right? The extra ingredient is otter." Harmony looked at Buffy. "I guess the coffee is for you. How do you take it?"
Before Buffy could answer, Wesley walked in with a brief knock on the door. "Angel, it's one of our cases. It's becoming problematic. Harmony."
"Hey, Wes." Harmony chirped.
"You knew that she was…." Angel started.
"Wes is the one that picked me out of the steno pool."
"But why…. You, uh…."
"Well, I thought a familiar face would be just the thing in a place like this." Wesley said.
"You turned evil a lot faster than I thought you would."
"Nonsense."
"We're gonna get along great, boss. The whole gang. Buffy's here and Cordy is gonna lose it when she finds out…." Harmony noticed that Buffy, Angel, and Wesley were exchanging frowns. "I mean, you are gonna tell her you're ok with this, right? I mean, I know she was mad at me for trying to kill you all, but she wouldn't…. I mean…."
"I thought she knew." Wesley said to Angel.
Angel sighed. "Cordy's sick. She's in a coma."
"I…. I didn't…. What happened? Is she gonna be ok?"
"We don't know."
"Cordy was my best friend, like…. my whole life. She's my role model. How can she…." Harmony took a deep breath and perked up suddenly. "So, anyway, I really think you should not fire me, and Wes does, too."
"Harmony, would you ask the men in my office to join us, please?" Wesley asked.
"Righty-ho." Harmony bounced out of the office.
"If there's a way to help Cordelia, we will find it." Angel nodded and Wesley looked at Buffy making herself a cup of coffee. "I didn't expect to see you here this morning, Buffy."
"Actually, that's why we wanted to talk to you." Angel said. "She's going to be co-CEO with me. We need a contract that matches mine to get her on the payroll."
"Co-CEO?"
"She's in this with us. And I want her with me."
Buffy shrugged. "We're a package deal."
Wesley nodded. "You two are a formidable team together. It makes sense. I'll talk to HR."
"Great!" Anel said. "What's the case?"
Wesley handed folder to Angel. "Corbin Fries. The lowest piece of pond scum I've met in, oh, hours. He's about to get 20 years for kidnapping, pimping…."
"I saw the file." Angel handed the folder back to Wesley.
"Yeah, well, personally, I think he deserves to be eaten by weasels, but he's hinting we'd best help him."
"The way you said hinting sounds a lot more like threatening." Buffy said.
"You would be correct."
The door opened and two men walked in in front of Harmony. The one leading the pack was clearly Corbin Fries. The second man was a lawyer that worked for Wolfram and Hart. "Mr. Fries." Angel said, slipping into his suit jacket.
"Mr. Fries, this is Angel and that's Buffy." Harmony said.
"I've been bringing them up to speed on your case."
"Them? Who's she?" Fries asked, gesturing at Buffy. "Is she a present for me?"
Buffy started to advance on Fries, but Angel suddenly had an arm around her waist. "She's co-CEO of Wolfram and Hart and not someone you want to make angry."
The lawyer walked up to Buffy and shook her hand politely. "Desmond Keel."
"One of ours." Wesley explained.
"Nice to meet you." Buffy said, turning her glare away from Fries.
"Would anybody like coffee?" Harmony asked, holding up the coffee urn from the tray she'd brought in.
"Oh, yeah, let's all chit-chat and have tea and crumpets cause I got so much time." Fries said. "Here's the skinny: Tomorrow the DA Puts my tit in a wringer for good and all, and that does not stand with me. Butt-munch here, he got his law degree at dog training school and the prosecution has everything they've ever dreamed of."
"Because you're guilty." Buffy said, crossing her arms.
"Of course I'm guilty. What the hell are you changing the subject for? The point is, when Holland Manners was running things, this would've never got to trial. Now, I bring a lot of money into this firm, more than most, and I don't do that so I can be handed over to the frickin law." He pointed at Buffy with a disgusting smirk. "You gotta get me off."
"Excuse me?" Buffy growled.
"You think I give a ferret's anus about your new regime here? Yeah, I know who you are, Angel, and I care to the sum of zero. You're my lawyers. And if you don't do every last thing to keep me out of jail, you will regret it."
"Well, we can't dance around this one." Keel said. "We're not in a position to have anyone killed. Not that we would. And the jury's, uh, tamper-proof. Literally. I think one of the DA's shamans has conjured a mystical shield around them."
"So this one has to be won on the merits of the case." Wesley said.
"Now, we have top men on this…."
"Who are doing jack!" Fries snapped. "I am not gonna be made an example of. Either you get me off tomorrow…."
"I think you should calm down." Angel said.
"To hell with calm down. Either you get me off or I drop the bomb."
"Bomb?" Wesley asked.
"Let me put it this way: If they bring in a conviction, bye-bye, California. I say the magic word, the only people left standing are gonna be the ones that are already dead."
"Oh, well, that's a relief." Harmony said. "I mean…. Hey!"
"Why don't you send this sweet piece of meat to wet the judge's appetite?" Fries leered at Buffy and Angel suddenly lashed out and punched the man in the face. Blood spurted from Fries' nose and he glared at Angel through watery eyes.
"Getout." Angel growled.
"Blow everybody up?" Fred asked. She and Lorne had joined Angel, Buffy, and Wesley in Angel's office.
"Well, he said 'drop the bomb.'" Angel said. "We don't know what that means."
"We very nearly found out." Wesley accused.
"What? I'm not allowed to hit people?"
"Not people capable of genocide."
"Those are exactly the types of people I should be allowed to hit! Besides, he was making lude comments about my girlfriend. I had every right to break his nose."
"For the record, Angel beat me to it." Buffy said.
"Hey, back to the here and now, chickadees." Lorne said. "Where do we stand?"
Wesley sighed. "We need to find out about this bomb and somehow disable it in case that jury comes in with a conviction. We think it may have some mystical element."
"Fries said, 'I say the magic word.'" Buffy said. "He probably means exactly that."
"Which is my department. We also think it probably isn't an explosive. This isn't the sort of man to risk his own life. So that could mean more magic…."
"Or it could be a virus, ebola kind of thing." Fred offered.
"Right." Angel said. "The main thing is, any of this stuff could've come from right here. Keel, the lawyer, says he doesn't know anything and I believe him."
"Why?"
"He's terrified."
"It's going around." Lorne agreed.
"Fred, can you go through the lab records here?" Buffy asked. "Maybe Wolfram & Hart deals in viruses. If they do, that would be awesome to know because, you know, bad."
"Good idea." Fred said.
"Lorne, you're in the courtroom." Angel said. "Monitor the case. Let us know how it's going."
"But lunch with Mary-Kate…." Lorne whined. "She was gonna tell me about Ashley's new piercing."
Harmony walked into the office. "I paged Gunn three times. Still nothing."
"Why isn't he here?" Fred asked.
"Why is she?" Lorne asked, giving Harmony the stink eye.
"Long story." Harmony said.
"Maybe not." Buffy threatened.
Harmony gulped a little and looked at Angel. "Oh, I got Spanky's address."
"Spanky?" Lorne asked.
"I'm with him." Buffy said, gesturing at Lorne. "Spanky? I mean, there's not a lot I don't know about you, but…."
"He's a freelance mystic that showed up in Fries' files a few times." Angel said, chuckling at Buffy. "I figured we could do some legwork. You in?"
"Of course.
"Can you get there by sewer?" Fred asked.
"Not this time." Angel said. "Harmony, call the penthouse and let Connor know we'll be back soon." He held out his hand to Buffy and she took it, letting him lead her to the private elevator. As the doors closed, he leaned down and kissed her. "Thank you."
"For what?" Buffy asked, holding onto his neck so he couldn't move away. Not that he wanted to.
"For coming on board with me."
"Technically I haven't yet. I have to sign that contract first."
"Well, you're here and that alone means a lot to me."
"We've got too much time to make up for. I never want to be without you again." She stood on tiptoe and he met her lips just as the doors to the elevator opened. They just stood there together, locked in the embrace for a long moment. Finally, they broke apart and walked out into the dark garage that was full of classic sports cars from every decade.
Angel's face lit up as he looked at all of his cars. "Oh god, they're so beautiful!"
Buffy cocked an eyebrow at him. "You're into old cars?"
Angel grinned sheepishly. "Classic muscle cars. Yeah."
"It's amazing that there's still things about you I don't know."
"You know the important things. That's all that matters."
A man walked out of a door towards them with a tactical team behind him. "Sir."
Angel eyed him warily. It was the man from a couple of nights ago that had swooped in after he and Buffy had saved that woman. "Hauser, right?
"We got word there's a floater you wanted brought in."
"How exactly did you get that word?"
"That's my job, sir. You want us to bring him in?"
"We'll take care of it."
"Traditionally, my unit handles all the wet work."
"I know you meant field work."
"Of course."
"We'll take care of it." Angel turned and ushered Buffy towards the yellow Corvette. "Later on, you can tell us all about tradition."
Buffy glanced back as Angel pulled out of the garage. "Can we fire that guy?"
"I'm not opposed to it."
She looked over at Angel bathed in sunlight and smiled. It was a sight she would never take for granted.
Angel knocked on the door of the apartment and waited. Buffy checked her nails as they waited. Finally, a man in his 50s opened the door wearing a sweaty tank top. He scowled at them. "So what do you want?"
"We're here from Wolfram & Hart. Here about a job." Angel said.
The man's demeanor brightened. "Well, then get your butt in here. Pardon the sweaty. I was working out. Uh, you guys want a drink? I got a pitcher of daiquiris."
"I'm good, thanks." Buffy said.
"So am I. And I'm about to be better."
"So tell me," Angel said, stopping in front of a wall full of paddles and whips. "Why do they call you 'Spanky'?"
"I'm a big 'Our Gang' fan."
"That's what I figured."
"Look, I'm gonna be up-front with you guys. I got nothing against people doing their thing. It's a wide and wonderful world, but I don't spank men. It's not a judgment. Men have fine, firm asses. You've been to the web site, you know how much I work on mine. I figured that you were here for some couples' play, but when you said Wolfram & Hart, I assumed you were here about a mystical job."
"We are." Buffy said. "The one you did for Corbin Fries."
"Yeah? Ok, I don't discuss my old jobs. Mystic-client privilege."
"You're gonna tell us what you did for Mr. Fries." Angel said calmly. "Now or very soon from now."
Spanky took a moment before answering. "I built him a container, a mystical vessel. You can put anything you want in it."
"Like a bomb." Buffy said.
"A bomb, a curse, a golden retriever. Anything. I don't know what he wanted it for. The vessel just holds it until the magic word dissolves the vessel." Spanky set down his daiquiri.
"Where did you place the vessel?"
Spanky lunged at Angel, intending to get his forearm around Angel's neck, but Buffy moved faster than either men could track and she had Spanky on his knees with his arm twisted at a dangerous angle behind his back. She looked a little shocked at her own speed, but quickly maneuvered Spanky to the floor with his face pressed painfully into the carpet by her foot.
"Vampire?" Spanky croaked out.
"Slayer. You can quit struggling. I'll break your spanking arm and put you out of business. Now tell us everything you know on Fries or Angel is going to start figuring out what each of those paddles does."
"Unlike you, I don't have a problem spanking men." Angel said.
Buffy shot him a look and he cringed at what he'd just said. Three hours later, Buffy and Angel were back in their office at Wolfram and Hart. They'd left Spanky lying unconscious and bleeding on the floor of his apartment. Night had fallen on the city below and Buffy was sitting on the couch staring out at the cityscape.
"How could anyone do that to a child?" She asked. "To their own child?"
Just then, the liaison to the Senior Partners sauntered into the office. She apparently didn't even see Buffy sitting on the couch. She walked up to a glowering Angel standing over his desk. "Rough day at work?"
"His son." Angel growled. "He took a lethal virus, and he stuck it inside his son."
"Hits you where you live, doesn't it? How is Connor adjusting…."
"That's not a name I want passing through your lips."
"And what would you like passing through my lips?"
Buffy stood up and walked towards Eve. "Who the hell are you and why are you speaking to my boyfriend in that tone of whore?"
"Oh, the Slayer. I hear you're finally joining us. I'm Eve."
"I don't care. Why are you hitting on someone who's taken? Do the Senior Partners approve of that level of skank?"
Eve just laughed and held out a thick folder. "Here's your contract, sweetie. You don't have to sign in blood. Black ink will work just fine. Everything matches Angel's contract. Welcome to the team." Eve looked between Buffy and Angel. "I'm curious how you two are gonna play this whole Fries situation." The only answer she received were glares from the two superhumans. She sighed. "Here's the news from this sector: If every case hits you this hard, you're not gonna last a week."
Angel shook his head. "I don't want you coming into this office again unless one of us asks for you. I don't want to hear another word right now unless you decide to start helping out."
"How do you know I'm not?" Eve headed for the door. She stopped and looked at Buffy. "You can just drop that off with Harmony in the morning. She's expecting them so she can get them to HR and we can get you officially on the payroll." With that, Eve was gone.
"I really don't like her." Buffy said. "She'll probably be the next one with a broken nose." The blonde sighed. "Quick, give me a pen so I can sign these."
"Before you change your mind?"
"Oh no. After meeting her, I definitely need to be around more to deal with Slutty Poppins and remind her who you belong to."
Angel chuckled. "I don't think there's a doubt in anyone's mind who I belong to, Buffy."
Buffy took the offered pen from him and signed the contract where the tabs told her to. "There. I'm officially in this thing with you."
He gave her a lopsided grin. "Let's go check on Connor. See what he's been up to all day."
Buffy and Angel were back in their office the next morning. Connor had played on the Playstation most of the day and discovered a love for watching TV. Angel had commented that he was rapidly turning into a teenager.
The desk phone began to trill and Angel grabbed it. "This is Angel."
"Angel toes, Lorne." The green, empath said. :Hey, listen, I'm gonna go ahead and recommend we get that boy into isolation pronto."
Angel hit the speakerphone so Buffy could hear the conversation. "How long do we have?"
"The defense is drawing it out, but the judge is making merry sport of them, and, well, now the jury's looking at Fries like he's O.J…. without the commanding performance in 'Towering Inferno.'"
"Do you think he's gonna say the word?" Buffy asked.
"Before they even deliver the verdict. He's dead meat and he knows it. I think Fries, Junior, is about to become Patient Zero."
"All right. Thanks." Angel said. "Uh, Buffy and I'll get to the school. Stay in there."
Wesley walked into the office just as Angel hung up the phone. "How's it coming out there?" Buffy asked. "Has Fred found anything?"
"Fred's got the lab techs on track for an antidote, but it could be days." Wesley answered. "Same with removing the mystical container, I'm afraid. If we could get them to suspend the trial…."
"Not gonna happen." Angel said, grabbing his and Buffy's coats. "We've gotta get to the school."
"Uh, boss…. Bosses?" Harmony said, walking into the room.
"It can wait."
"Maybe not."
"Go to the courthouse. Plan C. We'll let you know when we've isolated the boy."
"The special ops team already left for the school." Harmony cried, stopping them in their tracks.
"What?" Buffy asked.
"They left and they called for the cleaners to meet there. I have it from some of the girls, 'cleaners' means a big job. Lots of bodies."
"We're definitely firing that guy." Buffy said to Angel.
"How long ago?" Angel asked Harmony.
"10 minutes." She answered.
"We'll never beat them on the street." Buffy said.
"We gotta try." Angel said.
"Um, bosses?"
"What?!" Buffy and Angel cried.
Buffy ushered the last of the students out the back of the building and to the waiting school bus. She and Angel had gotten there long before the special ops team thanks to the helicopter they apparently owned. They had managed to get everyone out of the building and spirited away on waiting school buses. Corbin Fries' kid had been taken back to Wolfram and Hart on the helicopter. Angel was inside waiting on the team to arrive.
She made her way back into the school and could smell the smoke bomb the special ops team had set off. The sounds of multiple guns going off at a rapid rate made her pick up her pace. The gas had dissipated enough that she wasn't in any danger from it. The first guy closest to the door got thrown against the nearest wall. The second guy turned on her, but she grabbed his gun and pushed it into his face.
Angel was across the room in vamp face taking on Hauser. He spotted her taking out the rest of the team on her own, leaving only one stray and Hauser for him. She took her guys out into the hallway and he had a brief moment of worry when he heard the guns go off, but one of the bodies of the men fell through the window and he could see her wailing on the other two. Finally, he knocked Hauser to the ground and went out to join his girlfriend just as she finished off the last of her guys.
"Maybe we should get Connor a tutor." Buffy said. "Schools these days are so violent."
Hauser appeared in the doorway and pointed a shotgun at them. "You know that won't kill me." Angel said, rolling his eyes.
"It'll kill her and hurt you." Hauser said, cocking the shotgun.
"Agent Hauser, I'm honestly beginning to suspect that you're not part of the solution."
"You really think you can solve the problem? Come into Wolfram and Hart and make everything right? Turn night into glorious day? You pathetic little fairy."
"He's definitely not little." Buffy said.
"That's exactly what you both are. You're minuscule. A dust mote on the shelf of that great institution."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Really? You're going to tell us how insignificant we are? You're just some evil little goon with a god complex. I've had an actual hell god give me the same speech and you know what happened to her? I ended her. Careful who you start spouting off tiny bug speeches to."
"Clearly you think I'm just a trigger-happy jerk who follows orders…."
"Uh, no. Evil little goon with a god complex. Just said that."
"But I am something you will never be. I'm pure. I believe in evil. You and your friends, you're conflicted. You're confused. We're not. That is why you are gonna lose, because we possess the most powerful thing in the world…."
"Girl scout cookies?"
"Conviction." Hauser leveled the shotgun at Buffy's head, but Angel kicked Hauser in the chest, forcing the shotgun to point at Hauser's head, causing the gun to go off. His body fell to the floor and left a bloody splatter covering the wall where Hauser's head used to be.
"That was a bit dramatic." Buffy said as they walked towards the exit.
"Sorry." Angel said. "He was getting ready to shoot you. It was an act first, think later situation." He held the door open for her as they headed out to the waiting car.
Harmony walked into Buffy and Angel's office with two bottles of water. She handed one to Buffy and the other to Eve. Gunn had been missing for almost a full day, but he'd shown up earlier in court and gotten Fries off at the last minute. Apparently he'd allowed Wolfram and Hart to shove an insane amount of knowledge on laws into his noggin.
"It's very simple, really." Eve was saying. "Charles agreed to let us enhance his mind with a comprehensive knowledge of the law."
"Without asking us?" Wesley said.
"Mother, may I?" Gunn asked, snipping off the end of a cigar.
"Without telling us?" Fred asked again with a stern look.
"Cause I knew you guys would freak. Look, it's me here. They didn't evil me up. All I got stuck in my head was the law. And for some reason, a messload of Gilbert and Sullivan."
"Standard." Eve said. "Great for elocution."
"How can you possibly know they didn't do anything else?" Angel asked.
"Cause I saw the man in the white room. He does a lot of scary things, but lying ain't one of them."
"You needed a lawyer to get by here." Eve explained. "Charles had the most unused potential. His degrees are all forged, but he's the real deal."
"You want me to sing for Lorne? I could give him a little 'Pirates of Penzance.' All of it, actually."
"I would also point out that he did just save the day, without ever resorting to violence." Eve looked at Buffy and Angel. "How'd you two do?" She stood up. "I think you guys are gonna make it work. Yay, team. I'll see you around." She walked out of the office.
"Of course, saving the day meant getting the scumbag who was ready to sacrifice his own son off on a technicality and then returning said son to said scumbag." Lorne said.
"Fred and I have enough time to disable the charm now." Wesley offered. "He won't be in danger."
"And Fries is gonna have to dial down the criminal activities till this thing comes to trial again." Gunn said. "Which I can draw out for months."
"Is this gonna be our lives now?" Fred asked. "Fighting our own employees, our own clients? Are we really gonna do any good?"
"Yes, we are." Angel said. "We're gonna change things. We came to Wolfram and Hart because it's a powerful weapon, and we'll figure out how to wield it."
"Or kill ourselves with it." Wesley said.
"Yay, team." Fred said sarcastically.
"No, sooner or later they'll tip their hand, and we'll find out why they really brought us here." Angel picked up the envelope from his desk. "Meanwhile, we do the work our way, one thing at a time. We deal with whatever comes next." He ripped open the envelope and a very familiar amulet fell out. Buffy moved to pick it up, but a black whirlwind suddenly erupted from it. Angel pulled her away and they all backed off as the papers on the desk began to fly off. The whirlwind started to glow with flecks of orange as something began to materialize inside it. The skeletal form of a man began to form and slowly filled out. The wind faded and suddenly Spike was standing there, screaming in the middle of the office.
"Spike?" Buffy whispered.
"Spike." Angel growled.
Harmony stuck her head in the doorway. "Blondie bear?"