83
New Broom
Spike and Rose lay cuddled together in the darkness in Lorne's spare room, but neither of them were sleeping. They were both keyed up and tense, Rose being the worst of the two. Spike had to content himself with just holding her, letting her know he was there for her.
"Spike?" Her voice was little more than a whisper, but it sounded abnormally loud, breaking into the stillness as it did. "There's something I have to tell you."
It sounded a little ominous. Hadn't there been enough bad news going around today that he needed to hear more? But there was a certain urgency in her tones, and, if he didn't know better, he could swear, a hint of guilt. "What is it, sweetheart?"
"Something happened," Rose began tentatively, not wanting to say it, but feeling it needed to be said. "The other day. The one when we had that meeting at our place. I was going to tell you, I swear I was. But somehow, I just forgot."
Spike started stroking her hair. He enjoyed it, and it seemed to have a soothing effect on Rose. "The whole place has been a zoo for the past week," he pointed out. "I think I could see my way clear to giving you a bit of slack."
"I'm not sure you will, when you know what it is," Rose muttered. And yet, despite herself, she could feel some of the tension leaving due to Spike's ministrations. "He.., he came to my office that day. He needed me to translate a note from the Q'xlzr. I thought it was Angel then, but now I think it was Angelus, he was behaving so oddly. Maybe if I had remembered to tell you..,"
"Hush," Spike admonished gently. "You've never even been around Angelus before. Hell's bells, pet, I was sparring with the bastard every day and didn't pick up on it. And I've known him longer than any of the rest of this lot."
Rose was determined to lay claim to the blame. "But if I had told you," she insisted, rolling over so she could face him, a meaningless gesture in the dark. "It might have been that one thing that would have caught your attention, made you realize..,"
"When you say odd," Spike interrupted. "What exactly do you mean, luv?"
"I got a paper cut," Rose mumbled, snuggling into him. "I didn't have any tissues, and it was going to drip on my paperwork. And he.., he licked the blood off."
The tension he'd eased out of her was returning with a vengeance. Spike could feel the tautness in her body, hear the brittle edge to her voice. He kissed her forehead, worked his way down her nose, until he reached her lips. It was a soft, gentle kiss, intended to comfort and reassure, rather than arouse. "Why is it bothering you so much, babe?" he murmured between kisses. "Because you didn't figure out it was Angelus from such a little clue? Because you felt like not telling me was the same as keeping secrets? Or maybe, because it turned you on just a bit?"
"Maybe a little bit of all of them," Rose confessed so quietly that even Spike had to strain to hear her. "Spike, I didn't mean.., I would never..,"
"I know you wouldn't, sweetheart." Spike cuddled her close.
"I'm, sorry," Rose mumbled. She hadn't done it on purpose, would have avoided it if she had known, and yet, she still felt incredibly guilty.
"If you don't stop feeling guilty when you didn't do anything wrong," Spike warned sternly. "Then I shall have no choice." He paused a second, and rolled on top of her. "But to shag your brains out," he finished.
Rose stifled the giggle which was born of equal measures of relief and hysteria. "There's a body of opinion that thinks you've already done that," she informed him. "I love you, Spike."
"Then let's chase the shadows away for a while," Spike invited. "Let's just forget all the troubles and love each other. Let me love you, babe."
"Let's love each other," Rose suggested. And for a time, they were able to lose themselves in the loving and forget their problems.
&&&&&&&
Oz tiptoed into the living room to check on the twins. It wasn't the first time, and it probably wouldn't be the last. He'd had responsibilities before, but never any that weighed on him like this. The twins lay there, curled up, face to face. Ariel's thumb was close by her mouth, as if she was keeping there in case she wanted to suck on it. Alaric's face twisted into a scowl for a brief moment, in the throes of a dream, then smoothed out again. They looked, sweet, innocent, and incredibly precious. He leaned against the doorway, just watching them. How different they were from when they were awake. Right now, they looked like any other kids their age. Somehow, this wasn't the same as when he'd checked in on them when they were toddlers, taking their afternoon naps.
He straightened. He really ought to try to get some sleep himself. But he knew that as soon as he laid down again, he'd start hearing imaginary noises in the night. And then, he would be getting up to check on the twins once more. He idly wondered how Spike and Rose managed to get any sleep. But maybe you got used to it after a while.
&&&&&&
Lorne cautiously lifted the pillow off his head. So far, so good. Things seemed to have quieted down. For a moment he wondered about Spike and Rose, how the two of them could be getting physical at a time like this. Then, he thought about it some more. With the situation so dire, and no one knowing what sort of disaster tomorrow would bring, maybe it wasn't such a bad, or inappropriate idea. A reaffirmation of love and life. He sighed. He could understand it, he supposed. But he sure couldn't sleep through it.
&&&&&&
"Ready?" Spike asked in a whisper.
"Ready," Wesley replied.
"Be sure to keep Rose between us," Spike said, for what was probably the tenth time. At least.
"Yes, Spike," Wesley answered. He was trying to be forbearing, he knew he'd be just as jumpy if Fred was in danger. But he was nervy enough without Spike repeating the obvious again and again.
Rose suppressed a sigh. But she held her tongue. It felt strange, somehow, creeping around in the building where they worked, where their home was. It didn't feel right. But if she and Spike were to have a safe place to stay without further imposing on their friends, they had to get in and perform the ritual that would uninvite Angel. Angelus, she corrected herself. Once he was Angel again, and she held onto that particular belief with grim determination, then, he would be welcome in their home once more.
The building was eerily, ominously silent. But they made it to the senior partner's suit unimpeded. Then, they opened the door.
To see Angelus sitting on the sofa as if he were a welcome visitor.
"I kind of figured the you guys would show up here sooner or later," he remarked casually. He leaned back, put his arms up on the back of the sofa. "And I thought I'd take it upon myself to be the welcoming committee."
"Consider us welcomed and get the hell out," Spike suggested. His face resembled a thundercloud.
"Or what?" Angelus said with a laugh. "You'll stake me? We already know that you won't do that, Spike. Especially not as long as I'm behaving myself." He looked to either side of himself, as if making sure that his hands were unoccupied. "See, I'm being a good little boy."
"Then why don't you sod off?" Spike advised. "You see, Rose always does the housecleaning of a weekend, and she hasn't had a chance to get to it yet. And she don't like having visitors when she feels that the place is a mess."
"So what's that make Wes there?" Angelus asked. "Your long-lost brother? Or were you planning on a threesome?" He stood, making a show of keeping his hands in sight. "Just wanted to let you all know that there's a staff meeting first thing in the morning."
Wesley had been surreptitiously drawing his trank gun when Eve emerged from the next room.
"I like what you've done with the place," she said conversationally. "It has that lived-in look that it didn't have before." She looked straight at Wes. "If you shoot him with that, the senior partners will consider it a case of gross insubordination. The senior partners don't like insubordination."
"So if the three of you will just move away from the door, we'll leave," Angelus said. "I'll see all of you in the morning. I'm sure I can trust you to pass along the word."
Spike and Wesley moved out of the way cautiously, making sure to keep Rose between them at all times.
Eve was the first out the door, but Angelus lingered in the doorway for a moment, taking in the whole apartment, it seemed. Then, his eyes gravitated to Rose, and he gave her a very thorough once over and licked his lips suggestively before he left.
"Like hell I won't stake him," Spike muttered. "Would've at least tranked him, but I knew he wasn't alone. Heard the breathing in the other room. I wasn't sure what we were up against."
"This is a disquieting development," Wesley murmured. "Not only is he Angelus, but he now has the senior partners backing him up. That is going to hamper us considerably."
"It might work to our advantage too," Rose suggested. "The senior partners surely wouldn't sanction him biting the staff, would they?"
"From what I've heard of the senior partners," Wes replied. "They probably would. So we still stick to the buddy system."
&&&&&&
A few hours later, Spike was returning to the apartment. "Saw the Watcher safe to his car, luv," he announced. He looked around, saw no sign of Rose. Then, he heard the sound of water running and followed it to the bathroom.
Rose was already in the shower, scrubbing herself so vigorously that Spike was moved to wonder just how many layers of skin she intended to take off. The bandage was gone from her neck, and the wound looked exceptionally large and ugly in contrast to her delicate build and fair skin.
"You could've waited for me, babe," Spike chided softly. Rose didn't even seem to notice he was there, but continued with her, scouring, would be the word that summed up her actions best. With a sigh, Spike kicked off his shoes, and joined her in the shower, still fully dressed.
Rose started. She had been so absorbed in what she was doing that Spike's return hadn't truly registered.
Spike removed the loofah from her hands. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" he asked gently, taking her into his arms. "You're not that dirty. And you're usually not quite so dedicated to getting clean that you don't hear me talking to you."
"I haven't had a chance to wash since yesterday when he.., he..," Rose's voice broke off for a moment, then, she found it again. "And then, when he looked at me like that, I just felt so.., contaminated."
Spike continued to hold her as the water rained down on them. Eventually, she stopped trembling.
&&&&&&&
"Glad that you could all make it," Angelus observed, as the last of them filed into his office bright and early the next morning. "As you may have guessed, there are going to be a few changes made around here. Change is inevitable when the seat of power passes to another set of hands. But I wanted you to know that I hope you'll all continue working here. You're all good at what you do. You're valuable assets to the firm." He halted in his monologue, waiting to see what kind of reaction he'd get.
"You're going to change everything back to the way it was, aren't you?" Fred accused. She looked like she was going to be sick.
Angelus shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? I think the Crusader Rabbit pose is a little inappropriate now, don't you?"
"And you just expect us all to change sides at the drop of a hat?" Gunn asked. "The rest of us don't have detachable souls. Or morals."
"Tell you what," Angelus offered. "You all have some vacation time on the books. Before you make any irrevocable decisions, why don't you step back a bit and think it over? Any takers?"
The group assembled looked at each other. On one hand, they were all agreed that Angelus would bear watching until such a time as they could restore his soul. On the other, the mere thought of working in concert with the senior partners worst plans was exceptionally repugnant to them.
"Might we have a few minutes to discuss this amongst ourselves?" Wesley suggested quietly. "It's rather a big decision, after all."
"Help yourselves to the conference room," Angelus invited. "I am sure as hell not letting you kick me out of my own office." He looked around the group again, and his eyes came to rest on Gunn. "Your door should be repaired by the time you get to your office, Gunn. That is, if you decide to go back to your office."
&&&&&&&
The group rapidly reassembled in the conference room.
"Well this is a pretty mess," Lorne remarked. "What are we going to do, kiddies? If we start playing along with the senior partners, we're worse than he is. We are supposed to be the good guys."
"Think he'd leave us alone just 'cause we quit?" Spike inquired sarcastically. "He'd track us down, one by one. Reckon we could shuck and jive the senior partners for a little bit."
"I can't leave until I get the kid's passports," Gunn pointed out. "And it might not hurt if I pushed through on the paperwork for you and Rose, Spike. If we end up having to work elsewhere, you're going to need some legitimate i.d."
"So we just try to fake them out for a while?" Fred queried, utterly incredulous. "Do you think the senior partners, or even Angelus will buy that?"
"You heard the ponce," Spike commented. "They want us here. They've got the best, and they know it. 'Sides, they probably want to keep an eye on us as much as we want to keep an eye on him. That should cut us a bit of slack."
"But what if it doesn't?" Lorne asked worriedly. "I've heard stories about the senior partners that would make even Gunn's hair stand on end. They're definitely more than enough to give this little green demon a case of the shudders."
"I suggest that we go along with things for the moment," Wesley advised. "If it looks like the situation is getting too sticky, then we may have to cut our losses and run."
&&&&&&&
They filed back into Angelus' office. By tacit consent, Wesley was the spokesman for the group.
"We'll stay," he announced. "For the time being, at least."
"Happy to hear it," Angelus replied. "Now I'm sure all you boys and girls have plenty of work waiting for you. Don't let me keep you from it."