div align="center"bPlaying with Fire

div align="center"bWritten by J.Wills

Disclaimer: No own, no sue!

Notes to Reader: This mostly follows the first three seasons with moderate season four references. However, SOME things are different.

CHAPTER 1

"I know you're afraid to admit defeat, but I'm not afraid of telling ya that your own business SUCKS. Angel's the super hero, not you dear. Ok, so you've got the books, a couple of weapons and some homeless bums with nothing better to do; but without Angel, you're half a man."

Wesley felt disgusted with himself for bedding the evil lawyer-ess, but he still did it anyway. It was the same thing every night, sex with Lilah, followed by harsh words at each other, followed by more sex. Right now, they were in between harsh words and more sex. She laid on top of him, kissing him all over his face, and then while she got her breath back she enjoyed making him feel small.

Wesley rolled Lilah off him and rolled on top of her, just looking down on her. "All business' have shaky starts, this one is no different. You're still reeling from my rejecting your offer to join Wolfram & Hart, I'll always be too good for that Lilah."

Lilah pushed her lips together and shook her head, "Oh yes. The great Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, what evil law firm could manage without him? The man that grows a beard whenever he's feeling unwanted. If memory serves me right, that all came about when ya precious little Texan rejected you in favour of the boy from the block."

Wesley said nothing; he pushed her head back down to the pillow and began passionately kissing her over and over.

The next morning, Lilah got dressed for work as Wesley still lay in bed and watched. "If you find yourself not being able to get any work done because of me, I'm not doing anything that can't be postponed."

Lilah looked back to him lying in bed and grinned, "I'll be in touch."

Wesley heard her say the words, but it left him feeling oddly hollow. He had returned Lilah's twisted smirk with a disinterested stare and watched as she picked up her handbag and left his apartment.

He got out slowly from his bed and walked to the window, staring at the grimy streets below, as he got dressed.

As he watched an old woman push a shopping trolley across the road, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Everything she had said to him last night was right, ever since he rescued Angel from the ocean bed, business slowly dried up. But at least until tonight, he tried to put his misguided night of passion with Lilah to the back of his mind. It had been so easy then - she was there, and he had a need - to feel again; anything except the black bitterness and despair that had been eating him alive since the day he returned home from hospital after having his throat cut.

For a couple of hours a night, he was able to escape the bitter turmoil of life and just enjoy the ride, even if it was with Lilah Morgan.

It was then that the phone began to buzz, and after 2 rings he answered. "Ange- Wyndham-Pryce Investigations, Wesley speaking."

After listening to what the caller had to say, he frowned bitterly. "No, I don't know why you can't get through Angel Investigations. No, I'm sorry I can't take your case. Well quite frankly, I don't care that a vampire gang is trying to muscle you out of your night-club racket. I suggest you either let them, or keep trying to contact Angel Investigations. Goodbye!" Wesley slammed the phone down, he was in no mood to hear how his business remained second best as long as Angel was around.

Wesley sat down in front of his desk, opening up his left drawer and pulling out a black book. Closing the drawer, he placed the book on the table and flipped through the pages. His last entry in the book was two weeks ago, this was the book he used to write down case notes. It mainly explained the case outline and how he solved it. Ideally, the book would have been filled with what kind of demon it was, and how he overcame it, or how he stopped the gates of hell from opening, ideally. Most pages were discussing how he managed to stop the gang of youth's blow up their school. Or how he got the elderly widow to confess to having her husband turned in to a vampire to avoid old age, thus still claiming the weekly pension until he tried to kill her.

He studied these pages for a half-hour, having nothing better to do with his time. Suddenly, he stopped, as if someone had distracted him from it. He quickly picked up his cellular phone, and speed dialled.. "Missing me already?" Lilah said with a pleasant smile. "If I didn't know better I'd swear you were falling for me."

"I want you to use your sources to track down a Shaman." He told her, ignoring her previous comments.

"So now you're resorting to dark magic to help your ever failing business?" She asked, as she raised her eyebrows.

"It's certainly going to come in handy for something." He told her, as he pulled a picture frame of himself, Cordelia and Angel closer to him.

TO BE CONTINUED