"This is just bloody fucking unfair!" Spike glowered at the trio standing in front of him. At that moment, he would have given anything to have a moment of solidness, if for nothing other than to hit Angel right in the face. "I can't believe you're taking the witch and the Watcher, but you won't take me!"
"You can't go, and that's that." Angel rolled his eyes. "You can't even leave the city, Spike. What do you expect us to do? Wait until they come to L.A. to get it done?"
"But... why do they need to go? All Red's gonna do is drool over the divas."
"I'll have you know that I do not drool." Willow stood with her back straight and folded her arms. "I'll just very politely ask that one with the legs if she's ever thought about kissing a witch."
"Stacy Keibler doesn't bat for your team! She bats for my team! And so does Trish Stratus. And Victoria. And..."
"And it's just because they haven't met the right girl. The right witch. You never know, Spike. I mean, I thought I batted for your team, too. And really, I do have a thing for blondes and the one with the legs is very blonde and very... leggy."
"And very straight! Get off it, bird! She's not for you!"
"Would the both of you stop it right now or I'll bloody well hand spankings to you both!" Everyone turned towards Giles. Willow's eyes were wide. Spike merely smirked. Giles took in a deep breath and thought about his words for a moment. It wasn't the most thought-out threat he could think of, but at the moment, it seemed the most appropriate. They were behaving like children, and a parental threat seemed apropos. "Er... shut up, the both of you."
"But, Giles..."
"Willow, we are not going to Detroit so you can try to find a new girlfriend. And Spike, you can't leave the city, so you can't go. Besides, we're not going to see a show. We're going to save lives."
"Lives that you don't know." Spike growled. "How do you expect to get in there, hm? Red's going to pop off a spell to blind you to security? Nothing against you, luv, because you're good, but I don't know if you're that good."
"You have no idea how good I am." Willow pouted. "And besides, we don't need spells because Giles knows that Regal guy. He was going to be a wrestler, you know."
"Giles! A wrestler!" Spike started to laugh. His guffaws grew so hard that his body jerked backwards. He fell to the floor... then through the floor. He stopped just as he passed through the ceiling of the lab. Fred looked up at him and he winked at her. "Hey, luv. Working hard on that spell? Right right... good job." Then he floated back up through the floor into Angel's office. "Don't you laugh," he said, pointing at Angel.
"Would I laugh?"
"You always laugh." He growled again, then pointed at Giles. "And I don't give a toss who you know backstage. You don't all need to go. Why do I get stuck here babysitting Gel Boy's vision girl?"
"You're not babysitting Cordy, you're staying here because you can't go. And if she gets another vision, you can move the fastest to get a call through." Angel sighed and his body shook. He didn't know why he was arguing with Spike, anyway. There was nothing that could be done, and even if Spike were corporeal, Angel still wouldn't have taken him with them. "The point is that you can't go, and even if you physically could, you wouldn't, so stop messing with Willow and go away so we can set strategy."
"What need is there for strategy? The bird doesn't know who she is. So, grab her, brainwash her, let Red do her mojo, then bam... the bad ol' Slayer is back in the action."
"Right now, the important part is keeping her alive." Angel looked to Willow and Giles, and sighed. He hadn't had the time to tell them everything in Cordelia's vision yet, and this seemed to be the only time they would have. The Wolfram & Hart jet was almost ready, and they needed the basic stuff out of the way to plan.
As best he could, he relayed what Cordelia had seen. She hadn't been able to come up with anything else about what attacked Faith. All she could impress on him was that she didn't know who she was and that she cared too much for the people around her. If they died, Faith would die, and they couldn't let that happen. No one was prepared to bring in a new Slayer. No one was prepared to fail Faith again.
When he was done, Angel's body sagged. He leaned against his desk and was quiet for a few minutes as the sun diffused through the UV-protectant windows and fell over his shoulders. Slowly, he rose his head to the others and looked at them. "For so long, Faith was alone. She had no one. Now, she's got people, and they're going to die unless we do something. Whatever it was, it was too strong for her alone. If they die, then Faith dies, and I'm not about to let that happen."
Giles looked to Willow, then back to Angel. Until then, his top priority had been to get Faith home and recover her memory. The only thing Angel had told them on the phone was that Faith's memory was gone. Knowing, though, that she would allow herself to be killed... Priorities had to change. The Slayer cared so much for these people that she would allow herself to die? Faith hadn't cared about anyone, but now...
Giles sighed. "We have to make sure they all live. And then..." He sighed again and shook his head. "Then, we decide what to do about the Slayer out there on her own."
"Uh huh, and while you're at it," Spike said, "you had better bring me Triple H's autograph!"