Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know

By Megan@Midnight

Seventh in the Blue series. Set sometime after Creative Sportsmanship.

Sands is sitting at the table eating peanut butter out of a jar with a knife when Spike walks through the door. Literally through, since he's learned Sands won't let him in, no matter how long he stands there and how much noise he makes. The last time he tried it he found Sands sitting at the window watching television, with headphones on. Ignoring him.

Then Spike realized something. Headphones or no, Sands know he's there. Has always known from the second Spike came through the door. Sands has been watching. Without moving a muscle, without so much as a twitch, he's followed Spike's every move. The plush chair is positioned just so the door is in Sands' peripheral vision, the window to his other side. He can see, but it looks to those who aren't paying attention that he's not. It was then Spike fully realized how dangerous this man really was. "I'd hate to see you in action, love." Sands smirked at the tv.

Now the man is licking crunchy peanut butter off a smooth edged, very sharp knife and flipping idly through a sheath of papers laying on the table. He doesn't look up as Spike walks over and says, "This came in the mail today." Sands gestures at the papers in front of him.

"What's that then?" Spike sits across from the CIA agent.

"This is from a lady of my acquaintance named Lilah Morgan. Heard the name?"

Spike has and says so. Angel's let the name pass his lips more than once, usually with a choice curse or too following it. Spike's noticed he never does it when the watcher's in the room though.

"Good, that's good." Sands says. "In all this legal mumbo jumbo she's sent me, most of it crap, there are a few points worth mentioning." He tips his head back, exposing the long line of his throat. Makes Spike want to drool and bite, and Sands knows it. Probably, the dead vampire thinks, why he does it in the first place. "The big one is, she wants out of this pretty city and into the arms of Wolfram and Hart, Cleveland."

"She wants you to go to Cleveland?" Spike can't help but be incredulous. Not in a million years, should he be dead so long, can he imagine Sands in Cleveland.

Sands nods and smiles. "Parently there this thing called a Boca del Inferno there. And a branch office for the firm. Ever heard of something like that?"

"A Hellmouth. Yeah, I've heard of it. You really don't want to be around one of those, mate. Nasty things, bring out all the creepy crawlies." Spike doesn't want to think of or mention Sunnydale. Not to mention that the Boca del Inferno is the thing that got him killed in the first place. Well second place. "That all the lady wants?"

Sands is watching him calmly. "No. No it's not. After I've sold my soul away for the firm she wants me to join her in heading up a thing called Special Branch. Now that just doesn't do it for me. I just don't see me in a law firm heading up anything called Special. Doesn't do shit for. I've seen Special things before. I've worked a few. They tend to put things in crosshairs that I'd rather not have in crosshairs." Sands gets more peanut butter on his knife and proceeds to lick some more. "And there's the fact I'd have to quit my job."

"Mate, you don't have job." Spike's having a little trouble focusing on Sands' words when he's watching that tongue. Make him want to do things he hasn't got the bits for. Well, technically he has no bits of anything at all, so the wanting not a pleasant feeling these days.

Sands smiles at him, brightly. "Sure, I do. I'm a CIA agent. I restore the balance where it's needed."

"Fine agent Sands, then why'd you kill the last couple of CIA agents that came after you?"

"Because they came after me. They'll do this for a while more, eventually they'll send someone I need to kill, who's worth my time, I'll kill them, and then they'll call me back." Sands is still smiling, still licking and looking for pleased with himself than ever.

"Call you back, where? Mexico?"

"Fuck that. Here. They'll call me back, here. I'm not leaving L.A. I like it. I think I'll stay." He laughs at Spike's expression.

Spike's completely bewildered by this man. "You're a loony. You've killed three of their people already. Why do you think, the CI fucking A would take you back and then let you tell them where you'll be? You belong in a nuthouse, pet."

"I'm the best," says Sands, smirking at the vampire. "I'm the best, and they know it." He looks as if he's about to go back to his peanut butter with the knife, then suddenly he changes direction and slams the blade through the stack of papers. "Fuck Cleveland."