Witches, Vampires and Invisible Men Part 5
Author: Tazzy (jellicalat1@yahoo.com
Rating NC-17
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em wish I did
Author's notes: See part 1 for rest

The first thing that he noticed when he opened his eyes was that the struggle in him that he had been fighting for over a century was no longer there. Slowly, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and winced as his head decided to announce its presence by throbbing.

"Angelus?" The word was full of questions and uncertainties and he looked over to see Spike standing at the edge of the circle, a mix of emotions on his face. Carefully, he stood up and swayed slightly before he caught his balance.

"I'm all right, Will," he stated, automatically using a name he hadn't uttered in nearly a century. "Just a bit disoriented." He glanced around and noticed the lanky form stretched out on the floor with his arms shackled behind his back and Willow passed out nearby. He knelt next to the redhead and smiled at Spike, who had taken a step towards him. "She'll be fine. Just passed out."

There was a wariness in those blue eyes that confused him for a moment before it dawned on him why his Favorite Childe would be nervous around him. "It looks like Willow's spell worked," he announced, making sure his voice carried across the room.

"Are you sure?" inquired Wesley as he approached the circle from where he had been standing.

He spread his arms as if offering himself up for inspection and quickly flashed his game face. "The demon is silent and I have no urge to turn Los Angelus into a buffet, but the guilt is lessened."

Just then, Willow groaned and he helped her sit up. "Owie, head hurts," she muttered before opening impossible green eyes and staring straight into his own. A smile spread across her face. "Glad to see it worked." With his help, she carefully stood up and broke the circle, stumbling slightly as she stepped across the herbs and crystals. Instantly, Spike was there, holding her up and from the startled look on the peroxide blonde's face, he had acted before thinking. A faint blush crossed Willow's cheeks and a soft smile appeared on her face.

"Okay, if no one else is going to ask it, I will," interjected Cordelia, folding her arms across her chest as she leveled her gaze at the dark vampire. "So what do we call you: Angel or Angelus?"

That question caught him by surprise. "I hadn't really thought about it," he confessed, running a hand absently through his hair. "But Angel is fine." Cordelia nodded once in acceptance and he had a feeling it was more in not having to spend money changing the business cards than anything else. Frowning slightly, Angel nodded towards the sleeping man still on the floor. "What's he doing here?"

"Apparently a 'gland' decided to take Darien for a walk and he tried to interrupt the spell because he thought we were trying to trap him or some such bollocks," announced Spike as he stepped back from Willow.

Angel nodded, remembering his conversation with Darien before the spell. "I'll take him back upstairs," he stated as he brushed past his Childe to approach the sleeping man. With a practiced ease, Angel had the manacles unfastened and Darien scooped up in his arms before anyone could protest. Within a few minutes, he had returned Darien to the bed he had started out in and returned to the lobby to find everyone watching him expectantly. As casually as he could, Angel strolled over to the couch and sank down on it, smiling slightly as Spike, Wesley, Willow and Cordelia claimed various seats scattered throughout the lobby.

"So what are you going to do about Wolfram and Hart?" inquired the ex-Watcher, watching him with a calm gaze.

Angel's answering smile was purely demonic. "They want Angelus so bad, we'll give them Angelus," he replied, his voice taking on a hint of an Irish accent. "And make them regret doing it."

Flipping her long hair over her shoulder, Cordelia frowned slightly. "We have to find out why they want Angelus so badly," she objected. "That means getting into their records and files somehow."

A distant look appeared in Spike's eyes as he absently fiddled with a cigarette. After several minutes of not saying anything, Angel politely cleared his throat and dragged the peroxide blonde back from wherever he had been. "What?"

"I was just about to ask you that," replied Angel, cocking his head as he studied his Childe.

Sighing, Spike lit the cigarette and let a familiar smirk fall into place. "I was just thinking about that party we went to back in 1890, I think it was," he stated, gesturing with his cigarette as he spoke. "Remember, it was the talk of London high society for a month before hand because one of the royals was suppose to be there."

The memory surfaced and Angel felt himself smiling at it. It had been at the ancestral home of a family whose wealth and title dated back to the Roman invasion of the British Isles, and on top of that, the father was a member of the Watcher's council. There had been some rare books on blood magic that had interested the Master and he had suggested that Angelus and Darla go to the party and retrieve them for him. They had decided to take Spike and Druscilla because they had a better chance of getting the books if there was a distraction in another part of the house. They had managed to get in and while Spike and Druscilla were having fun in the ballroom, Darla and Angelus snuck into the library and made off with several of the Watcher's books. "Yeah, I remember that. You and Dru enjoying yourselves in a Watcher's estate while Darla and I browsed through his library." A chuckle escaped the dark vampire. "I don't think it helped his cause any when he tried to explain to the Council that the Scourge of Europe somehow made off with his books."

"Well, if it worked then, why can't it work now?" demanded Spike, lifting his scarred eyebrow to accent the question. "Look, it's getting close to Halloween, an' if they wanna make nice with their demon clients, then they'll probably wanna throw some kinda party. All we have ta do is make sure we get invited an' then we can browse through their records while someone else is drawin' their attention away." He shrugged. "The only question is who plays Peepin' Tom an' who plays distraction."

Willow stifling a yawn caught his attention and Angel suddenly realized just how late it was. "It's late so why doesn't everyone get some sleep and we can continue this discussion in the morning," he offered, standing up. "There are enough rooms here for everyone, if you want."

Claire stood up with Hobbes. "Thanks but we have rooms nearby," stated Hobbes, starting towards the stairs. "SO we'll collect Darien and we'll talk to you in the morning." He vanished upstairs only to return a few minutes later with a rumpled looking Darien. The trio nodded before vanishing out the door, and Spike stood up as well.

"Suppose, we'd better get back to Sunnydale too," stated the peroxide blonde in a voice devoid of emotions. "After all, we only showed up ta get that book."

Angel was surprised at that voice. Spike only sounded like that when he desperately wanted to keep his emotions from showing. "Actually, I was hoping that both of you would stay to help me with this," confessed Angel, facing both Spike and Willow. He knew that Spike didn't trust him, but considering how he had treated his Most Favored, this didn't surprise Angel at all. He vowed to try and bridge the chasm that had developed between them from first the soul and then the way the demon treated the crippled vampire upon his re-emergence in Sunnydale. Surprise flickered across the peroxide blonde's face before it settled into a suspicious glare, and Angel approached Spike, laying a claiming hand on his shoulder. "After all, Angelus would hardly be seen without his Favorite Childe. Especially after all these years."

"And what if they know about what happened on the Hellmouth a few years ago?" The question was whispered out on a breath of air as if Spike was afraid of the answer.

"If they have the nerve to ask about that, then we'll rip their throats out," purred Angel, reaching up to cup the sharp cheekbone that he spent hours sketching. Now was a good of time to start bridging the gap. "Besides, I was wrong to treat you that way. I know that now." He looked into disbelieving blue eyes, and prayed to anyone who would listen that his boy believed him. "Forgive me?" Those blue eyes waiver slightly before Spike nods once, accepting the peace offering extended towards him. A soft sigh reminds them that they're not the only one's in the lobby and Angel looks over as a look of misery flashes over Willow's face before it settled back into its sleepy mask with a touch of triumph that she had been wearing since discovering that the spell worked. "Spike, why don't you get your bags out of the car while I show Willow to a room."

The younger vampire opened his mouth as if to protest, but caught the look in Angel's eyes, silently pleading for him not to argue and he closed his mouth with a snap before strolling out of the lobby. The dark vampire turns to Willow and holds out a hand to her. "Come on, let's get you settled for the night," he offers.

"Thank you but it's not necessary," she objected. "I'm sure you and Spike have a lot of stuff to catch up on." Her voice is casual, but Angel can hear an underlying current of pain and he suddenly realized the extent of her feelings for his childe.

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about Spike," he began, casually, as they mounted the stairs. At her puzzled look, he continues. "You do know that he cares about you deeply, don't you?" When her confusion didn't fade, he took a breath and continued. "Will has always worn his heart on his sleeve and when he loves, it's absolute. I often used that against him in the past when we were together, but now, I want to regain my friend." He stopped and turned to look at Willow who also turned to face Angel. "Tell him how you feel about him. Despite all his blustering, he's been hurt and hurt badly when it comes to love, making him more timid about exposing his feelings."

A melancholy smile crossed Willow's face. "I'll talk with him," she said, softly. She stood on tiptoe and kissed Angel's cheek before starting down the hall when she stopped. "Oh, I think it might be best to somehow remove the chip from Spike's head if nothing else so he can defend himself against humans."

"What chip?" Angel's question was met with the door closing behind the witch who obviously didn't hear it. Growling softly, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall as he thought about everything he had learned about the Sunnydale gang from Cordelia's phone calls, but nothing other than "Spike's now working with Buffy" he had no idea what had happened to his bleached blonde childe after the whole torture for the ring affair. 'Looks like the only way I'm going to find out what's going on is to talk to Spike.'

The soft sound of footsteps alerted him to his childe's arrival and he looked up as a look of frustrated grief crossed Spike's face. Instantly, Angel realized what was wrong. He was standing close to the door Willow vanished behind and Spike obviously thought that he was going to take the redhead away from him. "I'm not going to take Willow from you, Wil."

That earned him a glare from the peroxide blonde. "Why not?" he snarled, keeping his voice low so as not to wake Willow. "You've enjoyed taking everything else from me, so why not Willow?"

"Because you love her," Angel replied with a shrug. "Let's go out and get something to drink. Celebrate our freedom from a unbalanced Angelus." Spike opened his mouth as if to say something before shutting it again and nodding in agreement.

An hour and two bottles of Jack Daniels later, Angel was definitely thankful that vampires couldn't get alcoholic poisoning even if they did sober up faster. The two vampires had been trading amusing stories about their time apart and reminiscing fond memories of their hunting days, and Angel was glad that he had his Wil back at his side.

"And then Dru managed ta slip outta her dress 'fore I could stop her and jumped inta the fountain 'cause the goldfish asked her ta swim with them," chuckled Spike. He tossed back the last of his drink before filling his glass again from the third bottle of Jack Daniels that was sitting on the table and finished his story, his Cockney accent fading. "Took me half an hour ta get her outta there, much to the delight of the men."

Laughing, Angel rested his head on his fist as he drained his glass. "So what's this about a chip?" he asked, finally voicing the one topic that they had been dancing around since they arrived at Caritas. He was startled as the humor suddenly fled from Spike's face and the peroxide blonde grabbed the bottle, draining it in seconds. Whatever this was, it was obviously bothering the younger vampire very much. He had never seen Spike act like this even when he was terrorizing him before the Alcathla incident.

Within seconds, the whole story came out from Spike returning to Sunnydale after torturing Angel for the Ring to the fall of the Initiative and him making nice again with the Slayer. By the time he had finished, Angel was barely restraining himself from pounding on the first human he saw. If the Initiative hadn't been destroyed, then he would have gladly shown them the true power of a pair of Master Vampires who had terrorized Europe for two decades. Something began ticking the back of Angels mind, a half fact half idea that was demanding attention and he frowned down at his hand that was still wrapped around half a glass of Jack Daniels.

"There was a case several months ago," began the dark vampire, trying to voice his thoughts in the hope that it would become clearer. "He was rich, had lots of contacts and was involved with computers. If anyone in this town knows how to get that chip out, he would." He tried to remember the man's name but the alcohol he had consumed was making that simple task very difficult. "What WAS his name again?"

"I believe David Nabbit is the name you're trying to remember, tall dark and handsome," remarked a casual yet flirting voice from beside their table. Angel looked up at Lorne before grinning. "He'll definitely be able to help you with Blondie's chip problem."

That caused the smile to fade from Angel's face. For Lorne to sound so sure about it meant that the Powers That Be had decided to intervene. "Are the Powers really interested in helping a vampire without a soul?"

Lorne took a sip from the pink drink in his hand before cocking his head, studying the two vampires. "They've decided that he's a valuable asset to have on your team, and plus, they've also agreed that what those soldiers were doing was wrong on so many levels," replied the green skinned Host. "Besides, if he can control his impulses without a chip in his head, they figure if he nibbles on a rapist here, a mugger there, he won't have to kill anyone and it works out for all."

Blue eyes peered at him across the table, completely sober and shining with brittle hope, but there was a slight wariness in them as well, as if Spike had been offered this false hope before only to have it crushed before his eyes. With a start, Angel realized that very thing had happened before in the deal with Adam. He had also seen that same hope when he had returned as Angelus only to crush it when he started taking his frustration from the Slayer out on Spike. Perhaps, this time, he'll be able to keep that hope shining in his boy's eyes. "C'mon, Wil, let's get home 'fore we're too drunk ta find out way."

"Oi! I'll have you know that I have yet to be too drunk to find my way home," announced Spike in a superior voice as he stood up and swayed unsteadily on his feet. Chucking, Angel hooked an arm around his childe's leather clad shoulders and they stumbled out of Carita's together.

As they walked down the street, Angel sent a silent "Thanks" for the wonders of vampire metabolism as he felt the affects of the alcohol he had consumed slowly fading with each step. Spike also seemed less drunk and steadier but Angel figured his bleached blond childe had more experience with this sort of condition, especially in the last several months. "Ah Will, I've missed ye at me side," purred Angel, reaching over to brush his fingers through the white blond hair and Spike closed his eyes as he leaned into the caress. "Ye had better take good care o' yer witch. She cares fer ye greatly." He was surprised to hear the Irish in his voice, but the small smile on Spike's face was worth it.

Just then, Spike froze and looked around, warily, as if expecting the shadows themselves to suddenly attack him and Angel cocked his head, trying to sense what had scared his childe. Finally he heard it, the soft pounding of a human heartbeat drawing closer to them. "I'll keep ye safe, Wil," whispered Angel before turning to look back at their follower. "Are ye gonna come out an' face us or are ye plannin' on followin' us around fer th' rest o' th' evenin'?"

A young man with Oriental features carefully emerged, his dark professional suit out of place for the chilly, windswept streets, but the wariness in those dark eyes announced that he knew exactly what he was facing. "I apologize but I wasn't following you," he said, his voice polite but with no trace of the Far East. "We just happened to be wandering in the same direction, sir."

Spike snorted and glared at the man. "Like we have any reason to believe you," he announced, resting an arm on Angel's shoulder and leaning against the larger vampire like he was a doorframe. He glanced up at the dark vampire. "Think we should give 'em a head start, Sire?"

"Wil," Angel began in a warning tone only to get an innocent look back that asked "Who me?". He sighed and shook his head in a friendly exasperation that he only had with his Favorite Childe. The heartbeat was starting to pound faster and Angel looked over at the man to find him staring at them with a wide-eyed look that seemed to be a cross between excitement and panic.

"Wil, as in William the Bloody?" asked the man, his voice still professional and calm despite the excitement and panic on his face. He glanced at Angel. "And that would make you Angelus, correct?"

Angel smirked and folded his arms across his chest. "Perhaps I am, lad. Ye've heard o' us then?" Something about this man was sending warning signals down Angel's back and he was not about to stop listening to his instincts after all this time.

The man nodded once. "Yes, we have extensive files on both of you," he stated before turning and vanishing back down the street.

Spike frowned and jerked a thumb in the direction that the man went. "What do you suppose that tosser wanted?"

"I'll tell ye later, Wil," Angel whispered, his eyes darting around. "Fer now, let's get back ta th' hotel." He didn't feel comfortable talking about this in the open and he was relieved when Spike nodded once. Turning, they quickly made their way down the street, not stopping until they were safely back into the Hyperion.
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Gavin tried to contain his excitement as he hurried back to the office building. He really didn't need anything from there but he knew that the Chairmen of Wolfram and Hart would definitely be interested in this development. Angelus and his Favorite Childe, William the Bloody, were back together again after nearly a century of separation. That HAD to mean that Angelus no longer had that soul of his or if he did, it was no longer in control.

'Definitely have to let the Senior Partners know about this,' he decided as he sat down at his desk. Maybe he would finally get a promotion out of Junior Clerk position. Before he could pick up his pen to write, a tickling itch began between his shoulder blades and he looked up to see one of the Senior Partners standing there with a curious look on his face. "Sir, I didn't hear you come in."

"What are you still doing here, Gavin?" he asked in a pleasant voice. "It's nearly two in the morning."

Gavin took a breath and stood, respectfully, as he faced the Senior Partner. "Sir, I just ran into Angelus and his childe, William the Bloody," he announced before launching into his report in full detail. By the time he was done, the curious look on the Senior Partner's face had been replaced with one of thoughtful interest. "With all due respect, if Angelus has truly lost his soul and reverted back to his old habits, then perhaps we should extend a polite invitation for him to come to the annual client's Hallowe'en party and then propose that he sign on with us."

The Senior Partner nodded. "Good idea, Gavin," he agreed. "The invitation will be sent first thing after sunset so I suggest you leave about half a hour before." He turned to leave only to pause and glance over his shoulder. "Oh, I wouldn't mention this little errand to Lilah or Lindsey. They can both be so jealous at times." Gavin nodded as the Senior Partner vanished back into the darkness he had come from before leaving the office for the night. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.