A Man's Worth
Chapter 3
A/N: Part Three of the series.
WARNING: This is not a happy fic. For those of you expecting something joyous, stay away from this story. You've been warned.
DISCLAIMER: You all know this belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in airing this show.
FEEDBACK: As you wish
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VanishedShouldn't 'ave left. Maybe Glinda would still be alive and Red wouldn't 'ave gone all psycho on them. How was I to know?
It's not as if I could 'ave helped them. This soddin' chip an' all.
But it still hurts. That Tara was sweet, an' she deserved so much happiness.
Maybe it's me. Every girl I think is nice dies or gets hurt.
Maybe I'm a disease.
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Two months and twenty-seven days ago.
He expected violence.
Hell, he wanted violence, anything to get his mind off the ideas that were plaguing his mind. He had come to L.A. looking for the great poof and had found nothing. Spike knew where the hotel was (he kept track of his enemy, of course) and he knew that there were some humans working for Angel.
There were none of them inside the hotel.
He looked around and shouted and screamed but there was no one around.
Spike smelt the offices and it seemed that there had been no one there for about a day.
"Anybody home?" He screamed at the top of his lungs. The only answer he received was the creepy silence that reigned over the hotel.
No one was around and the vampire noticed the recent signs of a battle. He shrugged and walked out. There had to be a way to reach the grand poof. He was, after all, a champion for the Powers That Be. The unsouled vampire resumed his search for the souled one.
After hours of looking around, Spike grew tired of the game. He decided to call it a night and walked into a motel, the only place he could afford at the time.
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Two months and six days ago.
Spike was about to give up. He'd spent a long time looking for Angel and it seemed that he'd vanished from the face of the earth. It'd been a while since the last time he'd been in L.A., and his name wasn't as feared and respected as it was before.
L.A. was indeed the city of angels, and it seemed it was Angel's territory.
That is, until he dissappeared without a trace.
Spike was tired of asking and it seemed that there were some other people looking for Angel. The very same humans that worked for the souled wonder. Two humans and a boy that was hauntingly familiar. Dangerous, yet familiar.
The sensation was not comfortable and he felt as if he was losing his time. Every day he regretted his choice of leaving the slayer and Dawn. He tried to call them but every time he phoned the slayer would pick up the phone. He really wanted to talk to her, but he feared that as soon as he'd cross words with her he'd go running back to Sunnyhell. He couldn't do that.
Not without seeing the poof first.
But as the days went by, the chances of finding the other vampire turned from slim to zero. Spike had combed the entire city four times and he had killed most demons that could be helpful. He even thought about using the services of the lawyers that had contacted him as soon as he step foot in the city, but he wasn't so pathetic to ask help from such a duvious source.
Bottom line, Spike was ready to give up and return to Sunnydale with his hands empty and another plan foiled.
However, one last instinct told him to look out for the other human that worked with Angelus the last time he heard from the poof.
Time to look for the other watcher.
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Wesley was bored.
Not that the sex with Lilah wasn't great, but he was tired of putting up with her games.
He had better things to do. And he knew how to do them.
He waited patiently while Lilah got dressed and left. Probably, his neighbors'd think that she was a call girl, coming and going at high hours in the night.
Finally, Lilah left and Wesley gathered his equipment. He was halfway through his weapons inventory when he heard a knock at the door. He frowned, for he wasn't expecting anyone at such hours. Maybe it was the boy who delivered his custom made weapons, but he had made clear that they were not to stop by unannounced. He picked up a sword and approached the door.
"Who is it?" He asked.
No one answered. After a few moments, there was another knock. Wesley gripped the sword tightly and adjusted his wrist pieces on each arm, one with a retractable sword and the other with a stake.
He slowly opened the door, and was greeted with a sight he never thought he'd see.
"G'night, watcher boy."
Wesley raised his sword and pointed it at Spike's neck, without leaving the safety of his home.
"William the Bloody. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"
Spike smirked. This was not the man he had heard so much (or little, really.) about. He seemed as detached as he was.
"Need your help, mate."
It was Wesley's turn to smirk.
"And what makes you think I will be of any assistance to you?"
"Because I think you'll want to find Angelus as much as I do."
Wesley's eyes hardened and he took a step forward, still carefully within his own apartment.
"Do you know anything?"
"Not really, but all the traces lead to the ocean. You think our ol' Angelus is sleepin' with the fishes?"
"Could be." Wesley said, as he turned around and paced around. "My own research leads me as well to the ocean, but that's as far as it goes. Angel could very well be anywhere in the world now."
"Haven't heard any news 'bout the souled wonder in the ol' world, 'ave we?"
"Not one. Are you assuming that Angel is trapped in the ocean?"
"Could be."
Wesley once again stared at Spike, who in return stared back at the ex-watcher.
"Why are you looking for Angel?"
"Ol' score to settle."
"You want to kill him?"
"Wouldn't be too smart of me to say that I want to, innit?"
"Right. Heard you couldn't harm anything. That you were neutered."
"Prefer the term 'incapacitated', thank you very much."
"Only humans, right?"
"Only humans."
"Come in. We have much to discuss."
End of Chapter.