Taking Names

Spike slipped through the now empty room. He'd obviously made a mistake in his choice of entrances. He'd thought those bloody females would never leave off nattering and that he'd have to put their lights out. Hardly gentlemanly, that. By taking an even more circuitous route than Angel had, he finally wound up in almost the same identical spot. This time, however, the view was different. There, in the middle of the now finished circle lay a trussed up Angel.

"Stupid git," Spike muttered. "Knew he'd walk right into it."

Another thing that had changed since Angel had looked down from this vantage point was that now the coven were all assembled. They were taking positions around the circle, ready to begin.

Spike detected a furtive movement off to one side. He looked and saw that it was wolf-boy and Percy. But no Gunn. Spike figured he must've drawn the short straw when it came to who got to tend to Lorne. So that just left the three of them. And the ponce, who was obviously in no condition to do much of anything.

&&&&&&&

The new phone rang, loudly and clearly, and Rose nearly jumped right out of her skin.

Harmony answered the phone. "Hello. Oh, hi, Fred. Was that you earlier? Spike kind of broke the phone. He isn't? He didn't? Wait a minute, I'll ask." Harmony placed her hand over the receiver. "Rose, do you know if Spike took anyone with him?"

Rose shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted. "I suppose he could have. But if he did, he didn't say anything to me about it. Is Wesley missing?"

Harmony nodded. "Sorry, Fred," she replied. "Rose doesn't know for sure. But it's probably a pretty safe bet. We will, and you call if you hear first. Bye."

"Do you really think Wesley is with Spike?" Rose asked. She was torn between being relieved that Spike wasn't alone, and even more nervous, if that were possible, at the thought of someone else she cared about being in danger.

"I'm not sure even Spike would try to take on a whole coven by himself." Harmony giggled, then paused and thought for a moment. "On the other hand, he might..,"

"Harmony!" Rose was beginning to wonder if it had been such a good idea to call Harmony in the first place. One more remark like that and she was going to need to be sedated.

&&&&&&&

"Up there," Oz whispered, and pointed Spike out to Wesley. A thought suddenly struck him. "Do we have anything even remotely resembling a plan?"

Wes looked sheepish. "Well, actually, no," he admitted. "I guess that's what we get from letting Spike take charge."

"Then let's just watch Spike and follow his lead," Oz suggested. "And it might not hurt if we got a little closer."

&&&&&&&

Spike saw his remaining allies close in and flank the stage. Good. Now, he thought, ought to be a good time to make a grand entrance. He swung himself over the edge of the catwalk, and dropped, light and graceful as a cat itself onto the stage floor, right in front of the true leader of the coven. "Hallo, Ethan," he said casually. "I heard you met my kids the other day. Adorable, aren't they?" Spike laughed, and it was not the happy, comfortable sound a laugh ought to be. His face, which in the ensuing tedium he'd let go back to human, wrinkled up again. "See the family resemblance?"

About half the coven members dropped whatever they were holding. In many cases, it was lit candles. A couple of trailing robes caught fire before the candles flickered out, and all sense of organization began to deteriorate. And one man had a suspicious looking wet spot on the front of his robe.

Wesley and Oz took advantage of the disruption to make their way onto the stage. Most of the coven were so rattled that they offered no resistance, and those few that did weren't any real trouble. Wesley started cutting Angel's bonds while Oz kept look out. But Spike was still the main distraction.

"What are you doing working with him?" Ethan didn't specify who 'he' was, but then, he didn't really have to.

"Oh, haven't you heard?" Spike asked innocently. "Souls are all the rage now. One of these days all the vamps are gonna have 'em."

Ethan looked around helplessly. The coven had scattered to the four winds. His sacrifice was being released. It looked like it was time to cut his losses and beat a hasty retreat.

Spike reached out a hand and grabbed the collar of his robe. "No, you don't," he chided. "You've been a very bad boy, mate, and there's people as what want to give you a good talking to."

Ethan felt a cold wave of panic wash over him and in desperation, he pulled out of the robe and began his flight. Only to be confronted by Oz. And his fear gave way, in some small part, to confusion. He knew that the man was a werewolf, so what was he doing standing there, fully human, during a blue moon? But when the figure in front of him remained human, he decided to take his chances. He shoved past Oz and raced down the aisle.

"Bad move," Oz growled, growing fangs, and set off in pursuit.

When Spike caught up to them, Ethan was pinned to the floor by a werewolf, which seemed to be suffering from an attack of indecision. Then, its jaws opened.

Ethan shut his eyes.

"No, Oz!" Spike warned urgently. "Bloke's a big enough pain without you turning him into a werewolf too." The werewolf turned its head to look at him and growl warningly. "Oz," Spike said a little desperately. "I know you're in there. Don't do it. You'll spend the rest of your life flogging yourself over it."

By then, Wesley and a groggy Angel had joined them. The wolf looked from Spike to the newcomers to the man pinned beneath him. Then suddenly, he was Oz again. And a very embarrassed Oz at that. He hadn't thought to bring along a change of clothes. Suddenly changing back, in the altogether, on top of another man was one he didn't think he was going to live down. Or be allowed to.

"I've got him covered now, Oz," Wesley said quietly. He produced a gun from a pocket.

Without a word, Spike shrugged out of his duster. Between the lot of them, it was the only thing they had that would make Oz decent enough to take out in public.

Oz rolled off Ethan and gratefully accepted Spike's wordless offer. Nothing was said for long moments, then, it started. Spike first, of course, just an ill-suppressed snigger. But it rapidly became contagious, even to Oz himself, who had to admit that it probably would have looked pretty funny to him too, if it had been someone else.

Ethan wasn't getting the joke. He looked up helplessly at the four of them. Despite his merriment, Wesley's gun hadn't wavered so much as an inch. And it was still pointed right at him.

Spike was just hoisting Ethan up off the floor, preparatory to leaving when Angel's cell phone rang. "Who in the hell would be calling me now?" he grumbled. It was the first thing he'd said since he'd been freed. "Hello?" That was all it took, then, even to Wesley's entirely human ears, the sound of an angry tirade came through loud and clear. Angel leaned towards Spike and held the phone between them. "I think this is for you, too," he said.

"Of all the inconsiderate, stupid things the pair of you have ever done," Rose's voice came through. "And you didn't even have the good sense to take along an ops team? What are you paying them for? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

Spike backed away, rubbing his ear theatrically. "No sense listening to it all now," he remarked. "We'll just hear it again when we get back."

"She'll probably have even thought of a few more things to say to us," Angel agreed. He carefully switched the phone off, hoping that Rose wouldn't notice it until she'd wound down. Hopefully, when she saw them, she'd be so relieved that she'd forget that she was mad.

Spike turned to Oz. "Hit me," he said.

"What?" Oz was totally confused, but he was pretty sure that he didn't want to hit Spike.

"Hit me," Spike repeated. "A good one. Right in the face where it will show."

"Oh no you don't, Spike," Angel grumbled. "You are not going to get out of things by having Oz hit you just to gain Rose's sympathy. You'll take your medicine like a man."

Spike sighed, making quite a production of it, which is what it was, since he didn't have to breathe. "I'm starting to think this grown-up gig is more trouble than it's worth," he complained.

"I'll be sure to mention that to Rose," Wesley remarked. "I'm sure she'll find it extremely enlightening."

"You wouldn't," Spike said in shocked horror.

"You'd better not, Wes," Angel advised. "Because before any of you could hear it, Rose mentioned getting a call from Fred. You're in the soup too."

"I'm not sure I ever thought I'd say this," Oz commented. "But I think I'm kind of glad that I'm not in any kind of relationship right now."

"Not to worry, Oz," Spike said companionably. "I'm sure that Rose will yell at you too."

"That's not exactly a comforting thought," Oz replied.

"It is though, ain't it, Peaches?" Spike asked Angel.

Angel gave Spike a dirty look for the Peaches comment, then turned to Oz. "It's kind of a mixed blessing, you might call it," he explained a little awkwardly. "You don't want to hear the yelling, but you're glad she's doing it because it means she cares about you."

&&&&&&&

A couple of calls on Angel's cell phone meant that they were met at the door to the law firm by an ops team which took custody of Nathan and led him to holding. They'd decide what to do with him later. Maybe Monday. Angel didn't really have a problem with letting him sweat out the weekend, or longer, wondering what was going to happen to him.

They made a brief stop at Angel's so that Oz could grab some clothes, and he was happy that he'd left some there. Then, to medical to see what was happening with Lorne.

"I'm sorry," a doctor was patiently explaining in tones that suggested that it was for the umpteenth time. "But you have to let the rest of the drug work its way out of your system first. No alcohol for at least twenty-four hours."

"Do you know how long it's been since I've gone a whole day without a drink?" Lorne demanded. "I'll go into the d.t.'s. I'll go into shock or something."

Gunn was grinning. "C'mon, Lorne," he said. "You'll make it. It's only until tomorrow. Then, I'll take you out and we'll both get blasted." He noticed the others. "Did we win?"

"Don't we always?" Spike replied with a smirk. Inspiration struck. He'd never been high on Gunn's favorites list, maybe he could get a reaction out of him before Angel spoiled it. "Hit me."

Gunn looked at Angel, who shook his head, but couldn't hide a grin.

"I see," Gunn mused. "Rose is pissed and you want to distract her, huh? Nothing doing, Spike."

"Bunch of bloody useless wankers," Spike muttered in disgust. "Shoulda stopped at a bar on the way back. It's always easy enough to get into a bar fight."

"You'll survive getting yelled at, Spike," Wesley said. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Spike. After all, he had some stormy weather coming from Fred's direction.

"It isn't that," Spike protested. "She's yelled at me before, and most certainly will again."

"And you'll live without getting any for one night," Gunn added.

"Rose don't play dirty like that," Spike said.

"Then what are you bitching and whining about?" Angel groused. "Lorne, are you good to go now?"

"As good as it's going to get, I guess," Lorne replied. "But what I wouldn't give for a good, stiff drink right about now."

"Then maybe you'd better all walk your happy butts up to the apartment to let Rose know that you're all right," Fred suggested from the doorway.

"When did you get here?" Wes asked, feeling his stomach tie itself into knots. He did suppose that he ought to have at least told Fred where he was going before he'd gone rushing off.

"About ten minutes ago," Fred answered. "Is everyone in one piece?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Spike grumbled. He brightened. "Fred, luv, will you hit me?"

By way of reply, Fred grabbed his ear and started tugging him along, and the rest followed like lambs to the slaughter. Which is what they felt like.

&&&&&&&

Once she'd spoken to Angel on the phone, Rose had gone from nervous to working up a full head of steam. The pressure of which built up when she realized that he'd hung up on her. Now, she was just dying for someone to blow it all off on. She'd had word from Fred that she'd arrived and would meet up with the rest, so now that there was nothing to really worry about, she worked on mad, and was doing rather well at it.

She was still pacing at the far end of the room, trying to figure out just what she could do that was as awful as they all deserved when the whole gang descended on the place. She turned to look, and saw them all there, hale and hearty, though Spike did have a reddened ear, which he was rubbing ostentatiously.

They all stood looking at her sheepishly, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

Even Harmony stood out of the way. She didn't want to get between Rose and the others.

Then, Rose flew at Spike and flung herself into his arms. "You're a jerk, Spike," she muttered the phrase she'd heard Angel use upon occasion. It was somewhat muffled by the fact the she had her face buried in his shoulder.

"Yes, luv, I am," Spike agreed, wrapping his arms around her.

And the whole group let out a collective sigh of relief.