Title: The Soulmatchers in LA.
Author: Sunglow999
Pairing: Spike/Buffy
Rating: R (Just to be on the safe side)
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon & Mutant Enemy, except Cassie and Orion – they belong to me.
Spoilers:- AtS: The Price and parts of Deep Down.
BtVS: Hells Bells.
Timeline: Two months after the end of The Soulmatchers. Buffy and the gang have neutralised the threat from Warren,
Jonathon and Andrew.
Chapter 1: Trouble in LA
The two shadows made their way noiselessly down the alley that led to the demon karaoke bar known as Caritas and stopped outside the darkened building.
"You sure this is the right place, sis?" The tall platinum haired shadow asked, his toe idly kicking the door.
"Positive. Cordelia gave me the address. Look." The dark haired shadow pointed to the blackened sign half hanging down over the door. "Caritas."
"Looks like they had some unhappy customers."
"We'd better get over to where Angel hangs out." Cassie dug a small white card out of her back pocket and squinted at it. "The Hyperian Hotel."
"Let's go then."
They took a cab across town and soon found themselves walking up the steps of the big hotel that now housed Angel Investigations.
"Anyone home?" Cassie called out as she pushed open the door and stepped inside.
Silence met her enquiry and she reached out with her senses. They immediately told her that there was no one else in the building apart from her and Orion.
"No-one's here, Orion."
"Do we wait?"
"Let's make ourselves comfortable." She pointed to the round sofa in the foyer and Orion sprawled bonelessly along one side while she settled herself cross-legged on the other. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift back two months to the day she first saw her soulmate.
He'd appeared in the doorway of Buffy's house, bringing weapons of destruction to help free Orion from the grip of a powerful warlock and she'd known exactly who he was. Her blood had tingled; all her senses magnified tenfold. When she'd imagined her soulmate he'd never been over six feet tall, green skinned with red eyes, horns and a hooked nose; or that he'd come from another dimension. She and Cordelia had talked about Lorne and Cordy had answered all the discreet questions unaware that she was being skilfully interrogated. She'd discovered that he was an empath demon who could read people and demons when they sang. He was also kind and peaceloving with a strange colourful dress sense; and after hearing about primitive, drab Pylea she could understand why.
She frowned slightly; if his club was closed for repairs, where was he? And where was everyone at AI?
Orion had been asleep for an hour when the doors of the hotel flew open and a teenage boy burst in, swiftly followed by Gunn and Fred. The boy stopped dead on seeing Cassie who had opened her eyes and was looking at him. He immediately identified her as being a vampire and a stake appeared in his hand as if by magic. As he sped towards her, ready to kill her, two things happened; a barrier sprang up between her and the boy, and Orion, instantly awake, moved to his sister's side, ready to protect her with his life.
"Connor! No! They're friends!" It was Fred who got the boys attention.
"Connor? This is Connor?" Cassie looked at him in surprise.
"It's a long story." Gunn came forward.
"They're vamps, how can they be friends?" Connor demanded.
"Another long story." Gunn replied. "Put the stake down, it won't do any good anyhow."
As Connor dropped the stake back into his pocket, Cassie dropped the barrier.
"Where is everyone?" She asked.
"That's what we'd like to know." Fred sat down behind the reception counter. "Angel and Cordelia have been missing for over a month and Lorne's gone to Las Vegas."
"We've been chasing up leads for the last month but it's as if they've dropped off the face of the earth." Gunn said.
"Have you tried a location spell?"
It was only Orion who caught the slight tensing of Connors shoulders and all his senses went on high alert. As Cassie continued to question Gunn and Fred, Orion studied the boy. His body language screamed hostility and mistrust and Orion had the sneaky suspicion that he knew more than he was letting on.
"I'll be in my room." Connor didn't wait to be excused before bounding up the stairs and slamming the door of his room behind him.
Fred let out a shaky sigh and Gunn moved to comfort her, knowing how upset and tense she was.
"So, tell us what's happened in the last two months, and how baby Connor is now a teenager." Cassie invited.
The twins listened as Fred explained how an old enemy of Angels, Holtz, with the help of Wesley, had taken Connor and jumped into the hell dimension of Quortoth, only for Connor to reappear two weeks later a full grown teen. How Wesley had had his throat cut and how Angel had tried to smother him in the hospital; how the hotel had been infested with water draining manifestations; how Wesley had saved Fred and told them never to ask for his help again. She finished by telling them how Connor was distraught at the disappearance of his father and Cordelia and that he was driven to help them search for them.
"Have you tried Buffy and Spike?" Cassie asked.
"Why?" Gunn was mystified as to how they could help.
"Spike's one of Angels childer. Blood calls to blood; he should be able to pick up on where he might be." Orion said.
"What about you? Aren't you related to Spike?"
"Spike, yes, but through genetic bloodlines, not childer bloodlines."
"Fred, you want to make the call?" Gunn asked.
"In the meantime, I'm going to go see Wesley." Cassie stood up.
"Uh, Cassie, you ought to know, he's not exactly as he was the last time you saw him. He's changed; a lot." Gunn warned.
"Don't worry. Cassie has a way of talking to people who don't want to listen." Orion grinned as he watched Cassie leave.
"Do I want to know?"
"No."
***
It didn't take long for Cassie to find Wesley's apartment and she was soon knocking on his door. When he eventually answered she was shocked at the change in him. He was unshaven, his eyes bloodshot and his clothes were rumpled as if he'd slept in them.
"What do you want?" He demanded, his voice still husky from the knife wound.
"To come in?"
He stepped aside but she stayed where she was, waiting for the spoken invite.
"Come in." He eventually said, and she stepped inside. "Drink?" He asked, holding up the bottle of scotch he still had in his hand.
"No thanks, and I think you've had enough already."
"Oh, I don't think so. I've not had nearly enough." He took a swig straight from the bottle.
"This isn't going to help Angel."
"What makes you think I want to help Angel?"
"Oh, the fact that you've got someone locked up in that closet over there and that she knows where Angel is."
Wesley stared at her, the bottle slipping out of his hand to land on the floor.
"How..?"
"You forget, Wesley, I'm psychic. I know she's the one that slit your throat and that he's at the bottom of the ocean somewhere. The boy's involved as well, isn't he? Orion picked something up from him but he's well shielded; I'll have to search quite deep when I next see him." She sat down on the sofa. "Want to tell me about it?"
"You mean you don't know already? Haven't you already dug around in my mind?"
"No, Wesley, I respect you too much to do that. I don't respect murderous little bitches though." She looked over at the closet.
Wesley sank down onto the sofa beside her and leaned his head back, his eyes closing. At this angle, Cassie could see his scar quite clearly running from below his left ear and round over his larynx. He didn't look like he had been sleeping and Cassie was tempted to cast a charm to allow him to sleep without dreaming as she suspected he had nightmares of both the knife slicing his throat and of Angel trying to suffocate him. However, she discarded that idea when he opened his eyes and looked at her, his eyes haunted; she suspected he needed to talk to someone who would not make judgements on him.
"Talk to me, Wesley." She invited, an age-old wisdom in her eyes promising understanding and forgiveness, even though he had done nothing to her that required forgiveness. She laid her hand on his cheek and stroked the tears that he was unaware that he was shedding away with her thumb.
Her compassion was the last straw as far as he was concerned and Cassie suddenly found her arms full of an ex-watcher at the end of his tether.
"Oh, God!" Wesley buried his face in the crook of her neck and let all of his grief out, the isolation of the last few weeks finally catching up with him. Cassie held him while he cried and soon he was at peace but still reluctant to let her go.
"Feeling better?" She finally asked and he nodded. "How about I make us some tea so that we can talk." One more nod from him and she carefully extracted herself from his clinging arms.
Two hours later she had the entire story again but from Wesley's perspective. She had pumped him full of tea and while he had a shower and a shave she cooked a light meal for him. While he ate she browsed through a book that was open on his coffee table.
"You know, Lilah Morgan isn't the best person for you to be involved with at the moment." She brought the book back to the table and placed it gently in front of him.
Wesley looked at her, unsmiling, and carefully put his knife and fork back on the plate.
"That's none of your business." He said quietly.
"Yes it is." She laid her hand over his clenched one and eased it open. "I'm a Soulmatcher. I work for the Powers That Be. Everyone has a part to play and yours is an important one. Allying yourself with the other side, even briefly, could tip the balance in the fight. I know you've been hurt by both Angel and the others, but they need your help and expertise, even if they don't know it yet."
"I can't go back, Cassie."
"I'm not asking you to. Buffy and Spike are coming to LA to help find Angel, they'll need to see your houseguest to get a rough idea of where in the ocean he was dumped."
"She hasn't been very co-operative."
"No, I don't suppose she has." Cassie debated with herself for a second then decided he had the right to know something important. "Wesley, you need to finish with Lilah for another reason."
"What's that?"
"You remember I matched Buffy and Spike?"
"Yes, Angel wasn't best pleased, as I recall."
"No." Cassie took a deep un-needed breath. "Wesley, it's your turn to be matched."
Wesley stared at her, a dawning hope in his eyes.
"No, it isn't Fred." Cassie laid her hand on his arm consolingly. "She was never meant for you."
"Oh."
"The Powers decide these things, Wesley, and their decisions are often hard to comprehend. They leave us to stumble around trying to interpret the prophecies, making mistakes and generally trying our best with nary a pat on the head for a job well done. After fifteen hundred years of matching souls Orion and I are coming to the end of our servitude and believe me, it has become a chore rather than the calling it started out as, and we're ready for a change. However, I digress. Your soulmate isn't easily accessible, and there's trouble heading her way. She's going to need all of us to help her."
"Where is she?"
"I can't tell you just yet."
"And you can't just throw these cryptic statements at me without some sort of explanation."
"You'll know who she is when you see her again." She patted his hand.
"I've met her already?"
"Yes, and that's all I'm going to tell you. Now, I'd better get back to the hotel. Will you be alright now?"
"Yes. Thank you, Cassie, for listening."
"Any time, Wesley. I'm a good listener. Now do as I say and get rid of that Lilah, no matter how good in the sack she is."
"Yes, Mother."
"You're a good man, Wesley."
"I haven't felt good these last weeks."
"I know. Now get some sleep, Orion and I will be round to see you tomorrow, we'll bring Buffy and Spike."
"Oh joy." Wesley remembered his dealings with Buffy when he was her Watcher and didn't really want to see her.
Cassie wisely said nothing, just patted his hand again and let herself out of his apartment.
Alone once again, Wesley lay back on the sofa, pondering her words and wondering just who the hell was his soulmate.
TBC
A/N. Next chapter, Buffy and Spike come to LA to help rescue Angel.