Taunting Angelus

Angel gets one in

            Angel was fed up.

He was a good vamp.

            He did the right thing.  Helped people…and didn't eat them.

            He had the soul to tell him what he had done in the past was wrong and he felt bad about it.

            So why was he being punished now, he wondered.

            Now…he wasn't suffering because of a prophecy, demon, or anything else.  It was because he had one extra person on his staff now…. Spike.

            It had been weeks, months since Spike had appeared in the white room of their Wolfram & Hart offices.

            And in these weeks, Spike had driven him to the point of madness.

            True…not everyday…but close enough to it… Spike, or Gunn, who was his partner in crime, would find something…even something little to drive him around the bend…stealing his hair gel, putting crosses & holy water near his 'special' human blood, the ordeal he had to go through when he went to visit Spike's new apartment, the list went on and on.

            Angel had decided that what was good for him, was just as good for Spike.

            It had taken him nights to do, because he hadn't wanted to arouse suspicion, but he had rigged up the hotel lobby just for his get-Spike-back prank.

            And tonight was the night.

            Luckily for him, Fred and Wesley were both helping him out.

            When he had asked them why they were helping, Wesley had shrugged and simply said,

            "Spike's gotta be taught a lesson."

            He figured it was because Spike & Gunn had pulled a prank on him a few days ago.  He was kinda fuzzy about the details, mostly due to him being asleep during that prank, but Gunn and Fred had assured him that Spike had gotten Wesley good…and Wesley was obviously still ticked off at him.

            Fred, on the other hand, had merely said,

            "I get to be in on one…and it looks like fun.  Sort of."

            Angel shook his head and gave her a small grin.

            He had told them both his plan while the other two were out fighting some demon four nights ago.

            Now… a couple of days later, everything was set up.

            Angel had rigged the floor to do something special when Spike stepped on it.

            Now the trick was to get Spike to walk over the trigger, or over the area near it, without arousing either Spike's or Gunn's suspicion.

            Wesley had gotten pranked, again, a few days ago, because he had tried to get Spike & Gunn back and they had realized what was going on.

            Angel and Fred had found Wesley hanging on one of the wall displays in his underwear.

            The boys had stripped him, gagged him, and then hoisted him up on the display and after admiring their work, left him there, knowing the others would find him in a couple of hours and get him down.

            Wesley had been livid, and Angel and Fred had to struggle to hold in their amusement at his predicament.  It had taken all of Angel's reserve to keep him from laughing then…it had been way too funny.

            The memory of walking into the study and finding Wesley hanging up on the wall by his underwear's elastic band, barely, legs swinging and arms flailing, was still enough to make him smile wickedly.

Not to mention, Wesley's tirade, once they had gotten him down, and the mention that he was gonna be pulling his underpants out from his nether regions for weeks…. courtesy of one big huge wedgie being hoisted up like he had had given him.

            Angel smiled again at the memory and then decided to prepare, the boys would be back in a few hours and he couldn't wait to watch Spike get pranked.

            A few hours later, Gunn and Spike walked into the hotel.

            "Man, I'm tellin' you.  The way you wailed on that vampire was pure poetry in motion.   You've gotta show me how to do that."

            "Like you didn't show some moves."

            "Naw…not like the one you showed the Michael Jackson vamp."

            Spike laughed.

            "Michael Jackson vampire?"

"Oh yeah…there was this vamp that was totally decked out like Michael Jackson. He had a wig on for the hair.  He had the thriller jacket.  The pants. The shoes. Hell he even did a moon walk before Spike started wailing on him."

Fred laughed.

"Yeah…that's what we were thinking before Spike took him out."

After looking them both over Fred said,

"Well at least neither of you has to change this time."

"Yeah, we got lucky.  The demons we were hunting were fighting the vamps we ran into.  Apparently they had had some sort of agreement and someone didn't hold up on their end.  Anyway, two of the demons had already been killed by the vamps and we just came up and finished it."

"Well," Fred said, grabbing Spike's bag of weapons, " Gunn, help me bring these into Wesley's office, you know he's gonna want a full report.  Spike, you stay far away from Wesley…he's still furious with you."
            "Like he could hurt me," the slayer shrugged.

"Yeah I know…but do me the favor and keep your distance."

"Why isn't he mad at me, I helped," Gunn asked following Fred.

            'He said something like you're just the follower…. Spike's the real problem," she threw over her shoulder after giving Spike a wink.

            Spike smiled and then turned to look around.

            What to do, what to do, he wondered and then he saw Angel walk through a doorway in the back.

            Suddenly, he smiled.

            When in doubt, mess with Angel.

            With a spring in his step, he started to make his way across the floor.

            Halfway across the lobby, he stepped on Angel's trigger and ended up hanging upside down, swinging back and forth, as the rope holding his legs together, held tight.

Spike hung upside down, looking around…and before he knew what he was doing, he was laughing hard.

So he finally caught me, he thought.  No wonder Angel hadn't stayed in the lobby for a minute or so… lured by a simple trap…I must be loosing my edge.

            Angel came running into the lobby, having heard his trap spring and was delighted and disappointed.

            He was delighted that he had pranked Spike, and he was now hanging upside down.

            But he was disappointed…cause Spike didn't seem to mind much.

            He was laughing it up.

            Damn, he thought.  What good is pulling a good prank if Spike wasn't gonna get upset.

            Wesley, Gunn, and Fred came running into the lobby and seeing Spike burst out laughing.

            Gunn, however, was the only of the three to move forward to see if there was anyway to get Spike down.

            Spike, however warned him back.

            "I wouldn't get any closer if I was you, he's probably rigged the floor pretty well…couldn't be sure to catch me with just one trigger you know."

            Gunn stopped and nodded, looking down at the floor and up at the ceiling.

            "Must be some good traps…I don't see anything."

            "Oh…those would be cloaked…he's not gonna make them so we could see them…what kinda prank would that be?"

            "You seem quite alright with it," Fred told him.

            "Well…I could be mad…but, hell…he got me fair and square…why should I be mad?  I appreciate a good joke as much as the next."

            Fred shook her head and then looked over to see how Wesley was taking it.

            Spike did the same.

            "Bet your loving this, aren't ya Wes?"
            "There does appear to be some…happiness attached to seeing you upside down, hanging helplessly."

            Spike looked toward Gunn, and winked before saying,

            "I think someone is still kinda upset for the strip and hang we did for him earlier in the week."

            "Ya think?" Gunn asked, rising to the fun.

            "I don't know why…all we did was…"

            "De-pants me and hang me up on the wall like a rag doll," Wesley shouted.

            Spike gave him a glance, a smile, and a wink and then said,

            "Yeah…that."

            Wesley roared and stepped forward, forgetting the rest of Angel's traps…and was quickly hoisted upside down next to Spike as another trigger went off.

            Spike was grinning widely now, laughing his head off.

            Gunn was cracking up as well.

            "You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves," Fred chastised them and then turned to Wesley, "And you…didn't you hear him warn Gunn of the possibility of being strung up as well."

            She shook her head before appealing to Angel,

            "You're gonna have to get them down.  We're not stepping over there…they're your traps."

            Angel sighed and walked toward them, barely missing being snared as a third trap was sprung.

            "Jeez Angelus, how many of the bloody things did you set up?"
            "A few."

            Spike laughed.

            "Be quiet or I'll decide not to let you down," Angel muttered as he finally reached Wesley and cut him down first.

            "Hey…human here… blood rushing to my head and all.  How about cutting me down sometime soon?" Spike told him.

            "I'd rather leave you up there until your head explodes," Angel muttered as he made his way over to Spike.

            "Now, now Angelus…that's not nice.  Even my pranks don't last but so long.  Come on now…fun's been had.  You're the man for the day, get me down, my head's starting to hurt and I'm getting dizzy."

            "I don't know why I should bother…I could just drain you now and be done with you," Angel said, looking at Spike's neck.

"Oh no…the big bad vampire has me at last…. help me, help me…save me," Spike mocked in a girlish voice.

Gunn, Fred, and Wesley laughed.

            Angel sighed and whipping out a knife, sliced through the rope holding Spike, catching Spike seconds before his head would have hit the floor.  He lowered him down and then cut his bindings off.

            Free and feeling oh so much better now that he was upright again, Spike whacked Angel on the back and said,

            "Good prank…but you do realize…"

            "What?"

            Spike's grin got wider before he said,

            "This means war."

"Oh hell!"

            Spike laughed as he and Gunn headed out for the night, laughing.

            After they were gone, Fred asked Angel,

            "So…was it worth it?"
           

            Angel thought about how he felt when he saw Spike ensnared and hung upside down by the trap he had set and smiled,

            "Yeah…whatever he comes up with next…it was worth it."

            "Just remind me to remind you of that next week, when he finds some way to get you back."

            "I will, I will."

            "And Angel?"

            "Hmmm?"
            "Are all the traps gone?"

            "I think so."
            "Be sure please…I don't want to be crossing the room and find myself caught hanging upside down because you had one extra one you forgot about."

            Angel smiled, and then uttered a phrase,

            "Hasin wo ke…reveal!"

            The hotel shimmered and then the final rope trap that hadn't been triggered was revealed, standing close by where Gunn had been standing.

            Angel grabbed a pillow off of the nearby couch and launched it at the trap.

            The trap sprung and snatched the pillow up.

            "There all gone now," Angel told Fred.

            "Glad to know," Fred said with a smile and a pat, before she went upstairs.

            Angel cut the pillow down and tossed it back on the couch, before heading downstairs with a ghost of a smile on his face.