72

Regrouping

They had retrieved the children, and now, everyone was gathered at Wesley and Fred's apartment, since Spike and Rose's was no longer deemed safe, Angel having long since had an invitation. They had met to discuss the current situation, but the discussion had quickly devolved into an argument. Between Spike and Rose, who, despite the fact they were exchanging heated words, still appeared to be joined at the hip.

"The subject's not open to discussion, pet," Spike stated firmly. "I want you and the kids as far away as possible from that bas.., oof." He'd forgotten the children were present. They were too busy absorbing the conversation to contribute to it, for the most part. The grunt had been caused by Rose's elbow contacting with his ribs.

"I agree that it would be best to get the children out of harm's way," Rose conceded. "But I'm staying. And that is a subject that is not open to discussion."

"He bit you." It seemed to bother Spike more than it did Rose. He squeezed her so tightly that it elicited an involuntary squeak of protest from her. "Sorry, luv. But I heard some of the things he was saying to you. And bad as it was when I saw the two of you under the influence of that love spell, it didn't half give me the creeping horrors the way the thought of Angelus getting his hands on you again does."

Rose in fact did have a rather bulky bandage on her neck. But her incredible resilience showed in that it was the only visible effect she retained of her ordeal. "Well, I know better than to leave my trank gun behind now," she replied. She was still feeling dreadfully embarrassed at that particular faux pas. "And I refuse to be cosseted and coddled while the rest of you go into danger."

"We'll have to go back to work," Wesley pointed out. "It's the only way that we'll have a chance of keeping Angelus in check."

"Maybe we ought to pair up," Lorne suggested. "You know, so no one's ever alone."

"That would be really awkward," Fred remarked. "I mean, it would be easy enough for Wes and Rose to stick together, but the rest of us all work in different departments. How could we work it?"

"I can bloody well take care of myself," Spike declared. He still hadn't surrendered on the subject of getting Rose to safety, but he just hadn't yet thought of a workable argument. "How do you feel about things, Harm? After all, you're his assistant. Be kind of hard to move you or stick a bodyguard on you."

"I'll be fine," Harmony answered, trying to sound braver than she felt. "After all, I'm a vampire too. What can he do to me?"

"Stake you," Spike replied. He didn't want to scare her, but he didn't want to sugar-coat things and give her a false sense of security, either. "You stay on your guard, Harm. And keep that trank gun handy."

"So that leaves me, Charles and Lorne," Fred mused. "How are you going to work that out?"

"I'm packing." Gunn held open his jacket to reveal that he was equipped much as Spike was. "Just worry about covering those two."

"I'll leave Rogers running ops," Spike decided. "Valentine, as of now, you're on special assignment. You keep a sharp eye on Fred, and I'll babysit the demon."

Oz had also been silent, but now, he spoke. "I take it you want me to hightail it somewhere with the kids?"

"You're damn right I do." Spike frowned in thought. If things had been as they once were, he'd send Oz and the kids off to Sunnydale to get them under the protection of the Slayer. But there was no more Sunnydale, and to be fair, if there was, he'd probably never have come to L.A.

"England," Wesley interjected. "The Watcher's council would be happy to keep guard over the twins, I'm sure. And I have no doubt that they'd extend their protection to Oz."

"I'm not sure I trust that lot," Spike muttered. "Might find it hard to get the kids back."

"We don't have a lot of options here," Fred pointed out. "We could at least call and sound them out on it."

Alaric and Ariel looked at each other, obviously engaged in one of their telepathic conferences. They finished and turned back to the group. "No." they said in chorus.

"You'll do as you're told," Spike snapped, reacting before thinking that he really hadn't been too keen on the idea himself.

"We can help," Ariel protested.

"We can tell what Uncle Angel is thinking," Alaric reminded him.

"We don't even have to be real close to him," Ariel added.

"We just have to know where he is," Alaric finished.

"Does anyone ever listen to me?" Spike complained. He was feeling very picked upon at the moment. He turned to the twins. "We appreciate the offer, kids. But we can sort Angelus out ourselves. Keeping you safe is a lot more important than whatever help you can give."

As if determined to prove their usefulness, the twins developed the faraway gaze that most of those present had become familiar with. It took longer than usual, probably because they didn't have a precise location. But they evidently found him, because they both paled.

"He let the crazy lady out," Ariel said.

"He's thinking about terrible things he wants to do to everybody." Alaric looked distinctly shaken, and despite the fact that he'd said Angelus had plans that included everyone, his eyes turned to his mother.

"Stop that," Rose ordered, but gently. "I don't like the thought of you looking into his mind."

"Did anyone get that bit about letting the crazy lady out?" Val asked. "He's sprung Drusilla."

Silence reigned supreme for long moments as everyone digested the information. Drusilla on her own had been challenging enough to deal with, but paired with Angelus.., It was a combination that no one wanted to deal with.

Spike and Rose looked at each other, and for a moment, their resemblance to their children in telepathic communications was uncanny. But they used a language other than telepathy, the language of the heart and eyes.

"Call Rupes," Spike said resignedly. "But make sure he knows that they're only on loan. When the current situation has been dealt with, they come back home."

"I'll handle getting them passports," Gunn offered. He looked to Oz. "You have one?"

Oz nodded. "Yeah, I'll have to dig it up. And pack. How long do you think it will take you?"

Gunn looked thoughtful. "Nothing's going to be happening until Monday. All the offices are closed up tight for the weekend. I can make a few calls and get things set up, but late Monday, early Tuesday is the best I can do."

Oz turned to the concerned parents. "They can bunk in with me until we're ready to leave for England," he suggested.

"Angel ever been to your digs?" Spike asked cautiously. He didn't rightly know where he and Rose were going to stay, come to that.

"Not since I moved last month," Oz informed them. "He's been meaning to come over, but you know how it is."

"I don't care how it is," Rose declared. "Just as long as he can't get in there and hurt my babies."

That remark earned her a pained look from both of her offspring.

&&&&&&&

"Miss Edith and I don't like it here, Angelus," Drusilla said apologetically. "We've had such headaches, for so long, a long, long time." She laid the back of her hand across her forehead in an oddly theatrical gesture.

"It's just a little favor, Dru," Angelus assured her. "It won't take you long at all. Then you and Miss Edith can go wherever you want to go."

"Promise?" Drusilla looked up at him, batting her eyelashes, and he had a sudden flash of Ariel giving Angel the same treatment.

"Have I ever lied to you?" They exchanged a knowing look. Of course he had. "All you have to do, Dru, is get that pretty glass cube away from the man. He won't be expecting you. Only please don't break it."

"What's in it?" He had piqued Drusilla's curiosity now.

"My soul." He spat the word out as if it had a foul taste.

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. "Miss Edith and I will be ever so careful with it," she said. "But why do you want the nasty thing, Angelus?"

"So nobody can put it back," he growled. "As soon as it opens for business Monday morning, I'll have a car take you over there. Are you sure that you can do it?"

Dru gave him a coy look. "Silly, Angelus," she said teasingly. "Of course I can do it. But what am I to do until then? Are the pretty babies still here?"

"They're not here at the moment," Angelus admitted. "And I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't coming back for a while. But they're not exactly babies anymore, Dru. They're six years old now."

"So big," Drusilla mused. "And Spike is still with the human girl?"

"Forget about Spike," Angelus advised. "He's so.., responsible now. It's downright disgusting."

"Do you think we could get rid of his soul?" Drusilla asked.

"Drop it, Dru," Angelus ordered. He had his own agenda, and as far as he was concerned, Drusilla was here to run errands for him. Not go back to her own private crusade. He decided to distract her. She was much more easily distracted than Eve. He grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked back, hard, exposing her throat, then bent his head over the vulnerable spot.

Dru was practically purring.

&&&&&&

Wesley hung up the phone. "It's all set," he announced. "Giles said that the council will be more than happy to look after the children while we're dealing with Angelus. And he didn't have a problem with Oz accompanying them, either."

Gunn had been busy scribbling notes to himself. "I can get some of what we need set in motion," he muttered, half to himself. "I even have all the numbers I need programmed into my..," He patted his pockets. "Damn, I forgot my cell. And my spare is..,"

Blushing furiously, Rose pulled his spare out of its hiding place. It had been there so long that she'd nearly forgotten about it.

"Thanks, Rose." Gunn's eyes were wide, but the corners of his mouth were twitching. Then, he just couldn't resist. "Lucky phone."

There were a few sniggers going around the room. Including Rose's nearest and dearest.

Spike peeked down the front of Rose's top. "It left marks on you, luv," he observed He looked around at their audience and whispered something in her ear.

As red in the face as she already was, most of the others would be ready to swear that the blush deepened even further, which elicited another round of snickering.

Wesley was the first to recover. "If we're quite through," he chided. But his stern facade lost a little of its impact when he wiped his eyes. "I think the next order of business should be revoking Angel's invitation to our homes."

"Well, once we get my place secure," Lorne remarked, looking at Spike. "Then you and the Rosebud are more than welcome to squeeze in with me."

"We don't want to impose," Rose protested weakly. All of her things were back at their apartment, and she was beginning to feel a bit conspicuous in her workout clothes. Not to mention the bandage, and the fact that the clothes were now bloodstained.

"No imposition, blossom," Lorne observed. He went over to her and gave her a peck on the forehead. "I'd do a lot more than that if it was necessary to keep you away from Angelus."

"I think we'll take you up on it. Thanks, Lorne." Spike forestalled any more objections Rose might have. "But just for tonight. I don't think we're going to have time to get to everyone's place tonight with the disinvite, and our place is going to be the hardest to get to."

Rose looked down at herself and tried to become resigned to the fact that she was going to be wearing what she was currently wearing for more than twenty-four hours straight.

Fred caught the look, and grabbed Rose's hand and started tugging her along. "C'mon, Rose," she urged. "You and I are about the same size. Why don't we get you decent?"

Wesley had been busy looking out the materials that he'd need to uninvite Angel. The twins had been hovering over him, watching curiously.

"What's this, Uncle Wes?" Alaric asked. He picked up one of the items that Wes had pulled out of his cache of supplies. It was something that they didn't have at their home, for obvious reasons.

"What in the bleeding hell?" Spike was so overcome with shock that he had to sit down. "That's.., that's..," He completely lost the power of speech.

"This one is prettier." Ariel picked up a more elaborate example of the same thing. She looked at her father curiously. "Why should it hurt us?"

Everyone else in the room just stared open-mouthed for a few moments, as speechless as Spike.

"I don't believe it," Lorne muttered. "Wes, have you got a drink in the place?"

"I think we could all use a drink," Gunn commented. His eyes hadn't left the twins.

"We knew they were special," Wesley muttered weakly. He started pouring out drinks. He had to agree with Gunn on that point.

Oz, ever imperturbable, merely shrugged.

Spike finally found his voice again. "They're holding crosses," he croaked hoarsely. "Bugger me, they're holding crosses. And they're not..," His voice deserted him again.

"What's wrong, daddy?" Ariel couldn't sort out what was going on, or supposed to be going on, from the chaos in his mind. She walked over to her father, still holding the cross, and looked a little hurt when he flinched away from the object in her hand.

Alaric joined his sister. "How can these things hurt us?" he asked. He turned it over in his hands. "It's just a piece of wood."

"Mine's metal," Ariel corrected.

Her brother gave her an impatient look.

Spike, looking resigned, reached out his hands and grasped the crosses. As soon as the smoke began to rise, he snatched his hands away, but displayed the burn marks to his children. "That's what those things do to vampires," he informed them.

The twins exchanged looks. "But we're vampires," Alaric protested. "And they don't hurt us."

"What doesn't hurt you?" Rose and Fred emerged from the bedroom, Rose now quite respectably attired.

The twins smiled at her and held up the crosses.

Rose collapsed into a heap on the floor. It had been a long, hard day.