Wesley locked his office door and started down the hall to leave for home. Gunn bumped into him while trying to read a legal document and walk at the same time, "Sorry." He grunted as he folded the document.

"Gunn, have you seen Angel?" Wesley asked as they walked towards the main entrance.

"No, Fred said he went to see Spike. I thought maybe they got into it again and he needed some time." Gunn replied, "Why?"

"Well, I confronted him yesterday about something and I think he may have acted on it. I'd like to know what happened." Wesley explained as he opened the large door.

"What was the confrontation about, Wesley?"

"Well, it seems he has deliberately been keeping Buffy from Spike and visa versa, he had a list of people not allowed to talk to Spike. I tried to tell him that if that was the case it would surely backfire, if they want to see each other they will find a way. When Fred said he went to Spike's I thought perhaps he was going to come clean with him about the deception. I tried to call Spike's place earlier and there was no answer."

Gunn shook his head, "If he was lying to Spike and he went to confess then he's a big pile of dust or he and Spike have come to an agreement and gone out to drink on it."

Wesley nodded in agreement, "Let's hope it's the second option."

"Or maybe option number three, they both got in a good shot at each other and are both waiting to be vaccumed off of Spike's floor." Gunn smiled at the look Wes gave him, "I'm teasing Wes, I'm sure they are both fine."

"You're probably right, Angel and Spike will probably both show up in the morning. Goodnight." Wesley told him as he walked towards his car.

******

Spike sat up against he headboard, Buffy was sleeping, one arm flung over his chest, her head buried in the crook of his arm. He couldn't help but smile , her hair was tickling his arm and she was snoring softly. He wasn't sure he had ever seen her look so peaceful. He looked at the clock on the bedside table, it was already seven p.m. He should probably think about some supper, Buffy would probably be hungry again when she woke up. They had spent most of the afternoon catching up for lost time, relearning every inch of each other's body.

She moved turning her head, one green eye looking up at him, a lazy smile on her face. "Good morning?" She questioned as she sat up and yawned.

"Not quite, sweet. It's about seven p.m. I was just thinking you might be hungry again." He pushed a stray hair behind her ear, "You probably worked up an appetite." He winked at her.

"Were you watching me sleep?" She asked curiously.

"Guilty as charged." He ran his hand up and down her bare arm, "I never dreamed it could be this good, Buffy. Didn't want to close my eyes, scared when I opened them again you might be gone."

"I'm not going anywhere." She kissed his chest.

" So are you hungry? You want me to order a pizza?" He kissed the top of her head as she continued to trail kisses all over his chest.

"In a little while, I'm not quite hungry enough." She looked at him a gleam in her eye.

*******

Angel stirred in his cell, he head was a bit fuzzy as he looked around the room and tried to get his bearings. He tried to pull the bars apart to no avail, he felt tired and slumped back on the small cot.

"Hello." A voice came into the room. Angel looked around and saw a speaker mounted in the corner of the cell.

"Who are you?" Angel stood up, demanding an answer.

"That's not important right now. Don't you want to know why you're here." The voice answered.

"Enlighten me." Angel paced the cell.

"First, how are you feeling? A little tired maybe?"

Angel began to realize just how tired he was, "What have you done to me?"

"I'll get to that part of the story soon enough. As you know the fact that there are two vampires vying for the Shanshu has caused some problems. We know that you are trying to change Wolfram and Hart, repair some of the damage the firm has done in the past. We can work with that. We aren't too sure about Spike though, he doesn't seem to trusting of good ole' W and H even if you're based there. The simplest way to solve the problem is to get rid of both of you."

Lindsey laughed, "So, you've dissappeared Angel, and soon you're little friends will be looking for you, it won't be so hard to convince them that Spike played a part in your dissappearance especially when they find out that you lied to him about dear Buffy. "

"Buffy." Angel said her name softly.

"Her coming into town was a miracle for us, it's going to make this all so much easier. I'm sure they'll have no problem believing that Spike got rid of you out of anger. Afterall recently he almost dusted you for a cup of mountain dew."

"You....you set that up?"

"It really wasn't difficult. I'm sure Spike will be out of the picture soon enough, Gunn or Wesley will probably stake him for you. Now, that tiredness you feel, well it's just the first stage of a poison, I think you're familiar with it in it's original form, we mutated it so it doesn't work quite as quickly as it did before, but the cure remains the same. The blood of Slayer is the only thing that can save you now. Buffy saved you once before, but I don't see her rushing to the rescue of the man who lied to her and kept her lover from her, even if she could find you. "

"What do you get out of this?" Angel asked staring at the speaker in the wall, there was something very familiar about the voice.

"I get to win. I get to be in control." The speaker clicked off and Angel was left alone in the quiet cell.

*******

"Is that pizza here yet? I'm starving." Buffy exited the bathroom wearing only Spike's tee shirt and a towel wrapped around her freshly shampooed hair.

"I was the one who wanted to order it two hours ago, remember?" He laughed, "You had other plans."

She wrapped her arms around him, "Are you complaining?"

"Never." He kissed the tip of her nose, "Pizza should be here any minute."

Buffy settled on Spike's couch a light blanket over her legs, within a few minutes the pizza had arrived. Spike sat next to her enjoying the meal. She finished off three slices in a short time " I guess I really was hungry."

He grinned, "I'm glad to see you eating, used to worry about how thin you were."

"I know, but I don't have all of that stress anymore."

"Speaking of stress, as much as I hate to bring it up,pet. I know Angel, and he will be back, I'm surprised he hasn't already been back. How are we gonna handle that?" He asked as he leaned back against the sofa cushions.

" 'We' has a nice ring to it." She took his hand, "I'm not sure Spike, I'm still angry at him but....."

"But he's Angel." Spike finished for her, "And he's always going to have a small part of you."

She sighed, "Yes, he is but....you have the largest part of me, Spike. I'll forgive him, but he has to understand that he can't interfere in our lives anymore. I'll go see him tomorrow. Let's not think about it now."

"Fine by me, got plenty of other things to occupy my mind tonight." He pulled her close again, the pizza was forgotten as they pulled the blanket over them.

*****

Wesley stopped by Angel's office on his way in. Harmony still had not heard from him. He made his way to his office and unlocked his door. "We have a problem." Eve told him from behind his desk.

"Yes, we do. How did you get in my office?" Wesley demanded.

"That's the least of your problems.I've called for Gunn and Fred. Angel is missing."

"Are you sure?" Wesley asked calmly.

"Yes, the senior partners keep tabs on him, he's not been seen since yesterday morning. He's not at his place, I checked. "

"What's up?" Gunn asked as he came into the office.

"I'm here." Fred sat down across from Wesley's desk, "Is something wrong?"

"Angel is missing. The Senior partners believe Spike is behind it, they've been at each other's throats for weeks now. And if Spike really believes in the Shanshu, then it'll be much easier for him if Angel is out of the way. I thought you might want to look into this before the firm takes action." Eve sat on the edge of the desk swinging her legs.

Wesley listened to Eve, something wasn't right here. He wasn't sure but if the partners thought Spike had truly done away with Angel, he doubted they would let he and the others look into anything 'first'.

Gunn spoke first, "Listen, I really don't think Spike would do anything like that. Yeah they fight alot but I don't think he could actually off Angel."

"No, he couldn't." Fred shook her head in agreement.

Wesley decided on another tact, "I'm not sure, think about it. We don't really know how or why Spike was brought here, we really don't know his intentions."

"Wesley!" Fred cried out, "How can you say that?"

"I suppose he does have a point, Fred." Gunn nodded his head thoughtfully.

"I think Gunn and I should go pay Spike a visit." Wesley stood.

"Why not me?" Fred asked feeling left out.

"Because if Spike is up to something it could be dangerous." Wesley explained as he and Gunn left the office.

"The garage is that way, Wes." Gunn told him as they left the building.

"I know, we're taking a taxi." Wes replied as he hailed a taxi cab, "I'll explain on the way."

"Okay, why are we taking a cab?"

"Because I doubt even Wolfram and Hart has every cab in LA bugged. I'm not so sure about our cars. Gunn, I don't think Spike is responsible for Angel's dissappearance. I've learned that nothing is ever as it seems at this law firm."

Gunn made himself comfortable in the car seat, "So what do you think they have planned?"

"I don't yet, but if they thought Spike had done anything to Angel don't you think they would have staked first and asked questions later? I'm afraid we're being played but I don't know why?"

The cab stopped in front of Spike's building, Wesley pulled out a small notebook and began to write in it, "Follow my lead when we get inside."

Gunn nodded as they walked to Spike's door, "I'll go along for now, Wes. But if it does turn out he had anything to do with this, I'll take him out."

Wesley knocked twice before he heard feet padding towards the door.

"Okay, I'm coming." Spike answered the door in jeans that were still unbuttoned, his hair a mess of unruly curls, "Wesley, Gunn?"

"May we come in?" Wesley asked pressing a page from the notebook in Spike's hand and nodding for him to read it.

Spike quickly read the note, not clearly understanding why Wesley thought his apartment might be bugged, but willing to go along till the other man could explain.

"You seen, Angel, man?" Gunn asked walking towards the livingroom.

"Not since yesterday." Spike answered still a bit confused.

"He's missing. No one's seen him since he left to come see you." Wesley said accusingly, nodding at Spike to assure him this was part of the act.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spike retorted angrily.

"Nothing. It's just that there's no love lost between the two of you and now he can't be found." Gunn explained his voice dead serious.

"Spike? Is there someone here?" They heard Buffy's voice before she entered the room.

All eyes turned towards her.

"Buffy?" Wesley asked surprise apparent in his voice.

"Speaking of love.....so this is i the /i Buffy?" Gunn stared at the small blond.

"Wesley, umm........how are you?" She blushed slightly as she realized that she was still just wearing Spike's shirt.

"I'm good, when did you get here?" Wesley asked as Buffy sat down and pulled the blanket on the couch over her bare legs.

"Yesterday morning."

"So did you see Angel when he came by?" Gunn asked taking the chair across from her and offering her his hand, "By the way I'm Gunn. I work for Angel."

"Yes, I saw him. Why is something wrong with Angel?" She shook Gunn's offered hand.

Wesley began to scribble on another piece of paper.

"He's missing and frankly we think Spike might have been behind it, you're arrival here doesn't make it look any better for him. I know that Angel tried to keep the two of you apart. Perhaps Spike wanted some pay back." Wesley's voice was hard.

"He was fine when he left here and Spike was with me all day and all night. There is no way he did anything to Angel!" Her voice rose with anger.

Wesley passed her the note - iI believe you, please play along for now, I think this place is bugged./i

"Of course you would offer Spike an alibi." Gunn replied with a harsh laugh as he stood.

"We're leaving now, but we are looking into this and if we get any information linking you to this, Spike - we will be back." Wesley turned to Buffy, "Good to see you Buffy, I wish it were under different circumstances."

Buffy's eyes were wide as she watched the two men leave. She watched as Spike began to frantically search for the bug, "I can't believe they think you are behind this." She told him as she joined in on the search.

"I can't either, luv. I thought that we were becoming friends, guess I'm always second to Angel." His voice was wistful, but he smiled at her as he held up the small silver disk he'd found on the bottom of the cordless phone base.

"You aren't second with me." She replied sincerely as she followed him to the kitchen and watched him drop the bug down the sink and wash it down the drain.

They went back into the livingroom, "I think we're safe to talk here, but I don't know about the other rooms."

"What's happening?" She asked as she hugged him tightly.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out. I need to hit the streets find out if anyone's heard anything." He started towards the bedroom to get dressed.

Buffy began to pull her clothes on too. "What are you doing?" He mouthed the words.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm going with you." She mouthed back, "We're doing this together."

****

"You still sure Spike had nothing to do with this?" Gunn asked as they settled in the cab, "I don't want to think he was involved, but with Buffy here, maybe the jealousy got to him. People do things when they get desperate. I know."

"It's because Buffy is here that I'm more sure then ever. You heard the concern in her voice when she asked about Angel, it would hurt her if anything happened to him. Spike wouldn't do that to her. You saw them together. Spike doesn't need revenge, he's got the girl." Wesley sighed.

TBC

TBC