112

Meetings and Greetings

The courier knocking on the office door made both researchers jump. Well, it wasn't like they didn't have reason to be edgy anyway.

Wesley took the clipboard and signed for the delivery without reading anything. It was therefore something of a surprise to him to see the messenger hand the document he carried to Rose, who was staring at the missive with a wary expression on her face.

"What is it, Rose?" He wanted to know what could affect her like that. And, he was just plain curious.

"Cariadoc Stenslow," Rose muttered, totally failing to enlighten Wesley in the slightest. "The CEO of Havoc & Associates," she added, which illuminated some things for Wes, and made others still murkier.

"Why would Havoc's CEO be writing to you?" Wesley queried. Unthinkingly, he perched on the edge of the desk.

"I have been to see him before," Rose reminded him. "Angel called it a 'fishing expedition'. But it couldn't be for that now, could it?"

"I sincerely doubt it," Wes remarked. "Instead of wasting time, sitting here speculating, why don't you read it and find out, Rose?"

Rose tore open the envelope without any particular enthusiasm. Both Cariadoc Stenslow and his nasty little assistant made her flesh creep. She scanned the brief note quickly, as if she could minimize the contamination by limiting the amount of contact. "He wants to see me," she murmured a tad apprehensively. "He says it has something to do with a soul."

&&&&&&

"Not a sodding snowball's chance in hell," Spike declared at the hastily convened meeting. "Rose is not going into that place again. End of discussion."

"We haven't had a chance to discuss anything yet," Fred pointed out reasonably. "If we can work this right, it could be the break we're looking for."

"I agree," Wesley said. "If, as the evidence supports, Stenslow is the person responsible for the removal of Angel's soul, he may be coming to the realization that he's made a grave error in judgment."

"How does the idea sit with you, blossom?" Lorne asked. "Because no matter what the rest of us have to say, it's really up to you."

"And me," Spike interjected. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "'Spose we tell the bugger it's a package deal? If Rose goes, I go with her."

"I'm sure they'd welcome you with open arms," Gunn said sarcastically. "Get real, Spike. In the circles Havoc & Associates are used to dealing with, you're not exactly an anonymous face."

"I am," said Val quietly. and not altogether comfortably. He wondered if these bouts of nobility were going to be permanent.

All eyes turned to look at the ex-flower-child, making Val even more uncomfortable than he already was.

"It might work," Wesley remarked. "I doubt if they ever figured out that Angel was Rose's escort on her initial visit. Given that, they'll probably think that Val is just another company man."

"Can I say something?" Rose asked, a little plaintively. A few people had the grace to realize that she'd never even been allowed to answer Lorne's question. "I think that if they were going to kidnap me, they wouldn't send me an invitation by courier. It would point to them too obviously."

"Unless obvious was what they wanted," Gunn pointed out. "Remember, they aren't going to be expecting us to call the police, and we probably wouldn't. If they put the snatch on you, it would be because they think it's a way to get Angelus into line with their plans."

"There always has to be a glitch in things somewhere, doesn't there?" Lorne sighed. "Spikester, would you trust her with the valiant one as her bodyguard?"

Spike fought a brief, but intense, internal struggle. Part of him cried out against anyone but him protecting Rose. That, and he still had confidence issues where Val was concerned. But he had to admit that four years had made a reasonably decent fighter of the younger vampire, and given that he was a vampire gave him an edge on most other sorts anyway. He chewed his lip in indecision. "All right," he grumbled. "But anything happens to Rose, and I'll personally stake you."

"I'll let myself get staked before I let anything happen to her," Val promised. He couldn't believe that Spike was actually trusting him with Rose's safety.

Harmony stood on tiptoe and kissed Val's cheek. "I'm so proud of you, honey-bunny," she cooed.

Rose and Fred looked on fondly, while the rest of the males assembled got one of 'those' looks on their faces.

"Honey-bunny?" Gunn repeated incredulously. And he'd thought Blondie Bear was bad.

Lorne was the first to recover. "Does Stenslow say when he wants to see you, Rosebud?" he asked. "Or is he leaving the time up to you?"

"He just asked me to see him," Rose replied. "I guess I could call and make an appointment first."

"Do that," Wesley urged. "But try to make it for tomorrow, that will give us time to make any refinements to the plan that may occur to us."

"I'll get you his number," Harmony said. "I've got it on file."

&&&&&&

"Isn't it awfully late there?" Rose asked later, after they'd gone home. She found that her hands were shaking.

"Not too late," Spike answered. "Besides, they won't have had time to adjust to the time-change yet."

Rose pushed the final button, finishing the number, then just stood there and listened to the phone ringing. She nearly dropped it when someone answered.

"Hello? Yes, is that you, Rupert? This is Rose. They are? May I speak to them, please?" Rose looked at Spike, who came up close and wrapped his arms around her. Soon enough, she started speaking again. "Hello, darlings, it's mummy. I miss you too. He's right here, I'll hold the phone so we can all talk." Rose slanted the phone sideways, and Spike rested his head against hers. It was awkward, but doable. "I love you so much. I can't wait until we can bring you back home where you belong."

&&&&&&

The next morning, Oz and the children joined Slayers and Watchers alike in the common dining hall. The Slayers around them were all whispering about the newcomers. There were so many voices and thoughts that the twins didn't even bother trying to sort them out. Either audibly or mentally. Instead, they looked down at what had been placed before them. And, as the evening before, it fell short in their estimation. But, they kept their comments to themselves.

'Plain oatmeal?' Alaric was disgusted.

'Mummy cuts up bananas in it when she makes it.' Ariel wasn't any more impressed with breakfast than her brother was. 'I hope all the food's not this disgusting.'

'And we have to be polite and eat it no matter how gross it is.' Once again, Alaric was grumbling. 'I hope we get to go home soon.'

'I hope so too,' Ariel replied wistfully. 'Did mummy sound like she'd been crying?'

'Maybe.' The twins were finding that their mind-reading did have limitations, and half a world away was simply too far for it. 'Probably. Do you think they'll get Uncle Angel back? Or do you think daddy will have to dust him?'

'Of course they'll get him back.' Ariel didn't sound as sure as she'd like to. 'Daddy wouldn't dust Uncle Angel.'

'But he might if he's still Angelus,' Alaric pointed out. 'He might have to. To keep mummy safe.' What the twins had picked up from their brief contact with Angelus' mind, especially in regards to his plans for Rose, were nightmare notions, and the twins had had a few already. They'd probably have more before they got home and once more felt secure, wrapped in their parent's love for them.

"Hey, little fellow." One of the Slayers sitting near them was trying to get their attention. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Sorry," Alaric mumbled less than graciously. "I think we're still on California time."

"Did you ask us something?" Ariel asked, and felt a surge of frustration that her legs were too short to reach across the wide table to kick her brother in the shins as a reminder to behave himself. She gave him a very quick mental dressing down to make up for it. But a kick in the shins would have been better.

The Slayer smiled at them. "My name's Maggie," she introduced herself. "What are your names?"

&&&&&&&

Stenslow hung up the phone and rubbed his hands together in satisfaction. "She'll be coming around this morning, Travers," he informed his aide. "Have coffee served here when she arrives. I want to put her at her ease."

"Do you really think that you'll obtain any useful information from her?" Travers asked. "After all, I'm sure that by now, the Wolfram and Hart people have guessed, if they don't know, that we engineered the removal of Angel's soul."

"All the more reason for Ms. Powers to be cooperative," Stenslow pointed out. "I'll make her think that I regret the decision and that I want to make amends. That ought to get her on our side."

"Wouldn't it be more expedient, sir, to just abduct her and then use her as a bribe to get Angelus to play along with us?" Travers suggested.

Stenslow looked impatient. "We're walking a thin line here, Travers," he remarked. "As long as Angelus is running things, Wolfram and Hart is a house divided. We don't want it to fall, that would kill off the last of our profits. So, we play it carefully, trying not to irritate either side unduly." He paused in thought. "Besides, she's living with a vampire. I already have enough vampire problems without adding to them." He rubbed at the bandage on his neck.

&&&&&&&

The twins had been given a holiday from their lessons, so that they could be taken on a tour of their temporary home and become familiar with the layout. A man in his mid to late twenties with unruly light brown hair arrived to give them the grand tour.

"Hi there." He leaned down and gave them a sappy smile. The twins confirmed their initial thought by scanning his mind. He was one of those people who thought that because you were a kid meant you were a mental defective or something. They'd show him.

"A thriving center of activity," the man said in pompous tones. "Unknown to the outside world, because they do not want to know. But those who do know, know that this place and those who are trained here are all that stands between them and the darkness. This is best illustrated by a little tale I like to call 'The Slayer of the Vampyr'."

"We know about Slayers, you brainless prat," Alaric grumbled. "Mummy and daddy read us 'The Slayer's Handbook' when we were babies."

"And we've read it a couple of times ourselves since then," Ariel added. "And 'The Watcher's Manual'."

Oz sighed. The improvement in manners hadn't lasted long, although in this case, he found it hard to blame the twins. The guy was annoying. He gave the kids a reproving look, but couldn't quite bring himself to out and out scold them. He figured they'd read his disapproval in his mind. And, unfortunately, the qualifications.

Their guide blinked at them in surprise. He loved orating, and he was a little miffed that not only did his audience already know the story, but were unwilling to listen to it again, with his embellishments.

"Maybe we'd better start again," he muttered, crestfallen. "I'm Andrew."

"This is Alaric and Ariel," Oz began in the introductions. "And I'm..,"

"Oz?" said a new voice. A female voice.

Oz turned around abruptly, and barely managed to choke out the name. "Willow?"

&&&&&

Travers didn't even mention Rose's escort on this occasion. Evidently, Havoc & Associates now took it as read that when Rose Powers paid a visit, she would be under guard. Not, Rose hoped fervently, that she'd have to make too many more visits to the place. Or any, really.

"Good morning, Ms. Powers." Stenslow stood and greeted her every bit as enthusiastically as he had on their initial meeting. "So glad that you could make it. May I offer you something?" He waved his hand at the tray containing the coffee, and a few assorted nibbles.

Rose would have said no, just on general principle, but the coffee smelled really good. And having a coffee cup in her hands would give her something to fidget with without seeming too terribly obvious. "Only if you'll join me, Mr. Stenslow," she replied, giving him a smile that was every bit as artificial as his.

"My pleasure," Stenslow assured her. He poured her a cup. "Feel free to help yourself to whatever suits you," he invited.

"Thank you," Rose said politely. "But the coffee will be enough." She wondered when he was going to get to the point of the visit. She looked down at her cup and then back up at Stenslow. It was then that she noticed the bandage on his neck, similar to the one she'd had on hers. "Have you been bitten by a vampire, Mr. Stenslow?"

Stenslow patted the bandage. "As a matter of fact, I have," he admitted. "And that leads right into the topic that I'd like to discuss with you."

"I was assuming that you wanted to talk to me about Angelus," Rose remarked. "You did a very foolish and dangerous thing, Mr. Stenslow."

Stenslow sighed. He wasn't entirely sure that she wasn't right, but he wasn't ready to back down on that score just yet. He'd figure out a way to work with Angelus. But, the idea was to make her believe that he did agree with her. Wholeheartedly.

"I've been slowly coming to that realization, Ms. Powers," he said ruefully. "And unfortunately, I lost the only bargaining chip I had to gain Angelus' cooperation."

"And what would that have been?" asked Rose. She hadn't the faintest notion that there was anything that would have that effect.

"His soul," Stenslow said bluntly. "I had it locked away in our vaults, but then I foolishly allowed someone to see it. And that someone took it and bit me in the process."

"Not Angelus?" Rose guessed.

"No," Stenslow conceded. "A female vampire, who called herself Drusilla." He gave her an appealing look. "I know that you've had to send your children away to keep them safe, Ms. Powers. Help me, so that you'll be able to bring them back home in safety."

"If it weren't for the fact that so many other people are suffering for your bad decision," Rose said severely. "I'd leave you to deal with the consequences on your own. But the fact is, having Angelus on the loose is a threat to us all. So, I'll help if I can. What do you think that I can do for you?"

Stenslow almost laughed aloud with glee. This might just turn out to be easier than he thought. "Well, first off, I'd really like to know why Angelus seems to have such a fixation on you," he remarked. "If we understand that, maybe it will be the key to finding out what makes him tick."

Rose had her own theories on why Angelus was fixated on her, and she had no intention of telling Cariadoc Stenslow what they were. Time to play dumb. And it bothered her a bit that she was able to do it so well. "I really can't help you there, Mr. Stenslow," she answered, all wide-eyed and innocent. "Unless he just feels a need to get what he's been told that he can't have."

Stenslow eyed her consideringly. If he couldn't find out why Angelus seemed so hot for the lady, other than the obvious, the visit may well end up being time wasted. And he had a feeling that he didn't have much time to waste now that Angelus had possession of his soul.