Chapter 5

Wesley rubbed his eyes, reaching for his cup of coffee as he set the book down. He looked down, and wrinkled his nose. "I would be out of coffee again," he muttered, going to refill his cup from the pot hidden somewhere among the papers and books scattered over the table.

Angelus was standing at the counter, staring at the window at the night sky. His mood was less that friendly as he waited for the coffee to finish brewing. He needed something to wash the taste of the cold bottled blood from his throat. "You find anything else?" he snapped.

Wesley scowled at the vampire a moment. "Yes. More questions, for the most part. There's very little information on this kind of demon. And less on the type of demon Natalie is." He settled back into his seat. "Though I do have some information on the demons."

Angelus poured himself a cup of coffee, setting the pot back and ignoring Wesley's cup. "So spill it, geek boy. Give us something to work with."

"Coffee first. Then answers." Wesley glared at Angelus a moment, his temper frayed by the lack of sleep.

Angelus watched as the researcher prepared his coffee, an idea forming in his head. "What if she was created?"

Wesley paused, setting the cream down, his expression thoughtful. "That is entirely possible. And it would explain why there have only been two of her kind sighted, both female, and both looking nearly identical." He finished making his coffee, setting it on a clear spot on the table as he fished a book out of the piles. "And if she is created, there would be some kind of ritual involved. And that I can look up."

"Morning, oh geeky one." Alexa slid down the banister, looking entirely too cheerful for someone who couldn't have had more than a couple of hours sleep. "Find anything?"

"Get to looking. I'm gonna go find Spike and have a little talk with him." He grabbed Wesley's arm. "And hurry up. I'm not happy." He gazed at Alexa, grinning at her. "Ah...fresh blood in the morning." He slapped Alexa's behind as he walked past.

"Maybe," Wesley mumbled, his eyes rapidly scanning the book, searching for a ritual or spell that would allow someone to make a demon.

Alexa glared at Angelus. "Do that again, and you'll be short a hand!"

Angelus paused and grabbed Alexa aroudn the waist, pulling her against him. He dropped his head, his lips close to her ear. "You could try, darling, and maybe you'd succeed, but not before I mortally wounded you." He smiled, letting himself vamp and scrapping his teeth against her neck. "Want to try?"

Spike grabbed Angelus by the collar. "I told you earlier, leave Alexa alone. I'm not in the mood to share." He glared at the older vampire.

Angelus let his face return to normal and shoved Alexa away from him. He turned to Spike. "We need to make a plan."

"Of course we need a plan, oh brooding one." Alexa glared at Angelus from beside Spike a moment. "We also need more information than we have."

"Really? Tell me something more," Angelus snarled.

Spike shoved Alexa towards the coffee pot. "Get something to drink, muffin." He grabbed Angelus by the shoulder, and pointed the older vampire in the other direction. "What did you have in mind, Angelus?"

"We need to get Lindsay and what's her name to drop the system so we can get out of here." He pulled Spike deeper into the shadows. "You remeber how we used to track someone we marked? I think I could do the same thing with Shannon."

Spike nodded. "We don't need to get one of them to drop the system." He gave a half-grin. "I can get Alexa to do that." He looked out into the lobby, where Alexa had picked up one of Wesley's books, and was flipping through it. "She does have the codes, and she could be useful."

"And she'll want to go with us." He shook his head. "No. Just you and me." He punched Spike's arm. "Like old times. And it will be fun."

"Fun is relative, mate." Spike shrugged. "I'll get the codes from her."

Angelus laid his hand on Spike's arm. "No. Wait a minute." He watched as Lindsey came down the staircase, checking the clip in his pistol. "MacDonald! A word if ye don't mind!"

Lindsey looked over at Angelus. "What do you want?" he asked as he came over, tucking the gun into the holster on his thigh.

Angelus leaned against the wall. "I have a lead on Shannon's location but no one wants to play and let me out to get her." He cast Spike a sharp glance, quieting the vampire. "Now, I know my...girl...means something to you and I'd be willing to let you play hero if you come with us."

Lindsey's eyes narrowed. "And? There's something more to this than you're telling me." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not letting you out until I know what."

Angelus gave Lindsey his most innocent expression. "Nothing more. I just want to find Shannon. She's a smart girl and I'm sure she can help us unravel the mystery out there." He placed his hand on Lindsey's shoulder. "C'mon. Just a jaunt with us boys."

Lindsey paused, glancing over his shoulder. Jillian had come down, and joined Alexa and Wesley at the table, her laptop perched in front of her. "And them? We're just leaving them here?"

"Aye. They'll get in our way." He turned Lindsey away from the others. "I know you've got some handy training. And weapons. Who else do we need?" He tilted his head. "And you know Shannon would be grateful if you were there."

He nodded. "Fine. Give me five minutes to get some equipment, and meet me at the entrance to the sewer." He glanced at the trio at the table again. "And avoid them. Alexa's good at knowing when someone has something planned that doesn't involve her."

Angelus smiled. "Not a problem." He jerked his head to Spike and they slipped up the corridor to wait for Lindsey.