Los Angeles Livin'

Disclaimer-Anything that you recognize isn't mine.

Summary-Sequel to California Trippin'. Crossover with Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Spike was dusted during the battle with the First. Still grieving over him, Max joined Buffy, Dawn, Giles, Andrew, Faith, and Alec in going to live in Europe. But when they receive news of a slayer in desperate need of help and send Max and Andrew to check it out in LA, they encounter someone they thought they'd never see again.

Pairings-Max/Spike, Faith/Alec, Fred/Wesley, Buffy/Angel. There will probably be more pairings as the story goes on.

Chapter Four

Max kept her gaze level with Spike's. She didn't want to get his or her own hopes up for a civilized conversation, but she just needed to get this over with. Even though she had referred to herself as his girlfriend to Cordelia, Max wasn't sure if she actually felt that way. She loved Spike, true enough. But after what he did, or didn't do, she found it difficult to trust him.

"One of us has to talk here..." Spike said, smiling nervously. Max bit her lip, still not sure how to begin without sounding like a bitch. "Max?" She took a deep breath and opened her mouth, only to find that someone else was talking.

"I see you've got company," a man was saying as he walked into the room. His hair was slightly long and he was decked out like an urban cowboy. Spike rolled his eyes while Max inwardly groaned at the intrusion. The man smirked. "Maybe you should have gotten a bigger bed." Spike growled softly at him. Max remained confused.

"And who are you?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest. The man held out his hand, still smirking.

"Since our friend over there seems to have forgotten his manners...I'll introduce myself. I'm Doyle," he said. Max didn't take his hand, staring at him suspiciously.

"Max," she finally replied. Doyle casually changed his attempt at a hand shake into scratching the back of his head.

"Didn't mean to interrupt, but I just wanted to check on our boy here," he explained before leaning in closer to Spike and whispering in his ear. "You haven't been out in the field lately." Spike raised an eyebrow at him as Max scoffed.

"Listen, 'Doyle', if you're looking for a private conversation with him, ya might want to wait your turn or go someplace else," she advised. Doyle gave her a disbelieving look.

"And why is that?"

"'Cause right now it's my turn. Besides, there ain't a chance in hell I'd miss a single word between you two, no matter how low you talk," she replied, smiling sarcastically.

"Vampire?" Max rolled her eyes.

"Please. Do I look like a vampire to you?" she asked, holding her arms out wide. Doyle smirked.

"Well, you're too tan to be a vampire...but the perfect body makes me wonder, ya know?" Max narrowed her eyes and made a move to attack him, but Spike quickly intercepted, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Just ignore 'im, luv. He's just a poncy git trying to get a rile outta ya," he said. Max became stoic, concentrating on anything other than the sensation of Spike's cold hands.

"Hey," Doyle argued. "Is that any way to treat your benefactor?" Spike whirled around to face him, his eyes blazing.

"Is that any way to treat a woman who would just as soon drop an anvil on your tattooed ass?" he growled angrily. Doyle raised his eyebrows, giving them a disbelieving look.

"Oh really? Somehow I doubt that..." he said to Max. She scowled.

"Find me an anvil and watch me go," she replied venomously. Despite himself, Doyle looked slightly worried. Spike smirked, glad that Max had succeeded in intimidating him.

"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, mind telling me what the hell you're doing here? And don't give me that 'came to check on you' bit," Spike asked. Doyle's face changed back to that annoying smirk.

"Just coming to..." he was cut off by his cell phone ringing. He checked the reading. "Hold that thought, I gotta take this." He walked across the room near the edge of the stairway. Max rolled her eyes at the obvious attempt to find an area where neither she nor Spike could hear his conversation. At least where Max was concerned, he failed. But Spike wasn't even bothering.

"Max, before we got interrupted by the long-haired Texan...were you gonna say something?" Spike was asking. Max was facing him but had her eyes on Doyle, eavesdropping on his conversation.

"Yeah, I was..." she said distantly. Spike frowned and tugged her farther into the kitchen. She didn't seemto careas Spike continued to talk to herand something from Doyle's conversation made her concentrate harder on eavesdropping.

"She's talking about some vision she had. Steering Angel right toward you," a woman was saying. Max couldn't see Doyle's reaction.

"Well now...I guess this calls for a change of plans," Doyle replied. Spike poked Max in the arm. She yelped in surprise.

"What was that for?" she cried out.

"You're not paying attention," Spike argued angrily. Max gave him an incredulous look.

"And so you decided to poke me?"

"Worked, didn't it?" Spike replied smugly. Max rolled her eyes and glanced over at Doyle who was putting his cell phone back in his pocket. Damn, she'd missed the rest of the conversation.

"Sorry kids, but I gotta go. Something's come up," he gave them a small wave goodbye before leaving. "Nice meeting you, Max."

"Now, back to...why the bloody hell aren't you listening to me!" Spike yelled when Max seemed to be deep in thought. She shot him a look, which he ignored. "You came here to talk. Why aren't you?"

"Because I think something's going down...soon," Max explained. Spike sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"You superhero types are all about business..." he muttered. Max raised her eyebrows at him.

"Coming from a superhero himself, I don't think that insult holds a lot of weight," she replied. Spike smirked.

"I'm a superhero now, huh?" Max stared at him blankly.

"Saved the world didn't you?" sheretorted seriously. Spike's smirk faded.

"Max, I..."

"We need to get back to Wolfram & Hart," Max interrupted, heading for the stairway. "Someone that Doyle was talking to..."

"Max."

"...said something about sending Angel right to him..."

"Max!" Max stopped walking and slowly turned around.

"Later, Spike. We'll have our talk later," she said softly. Spike briefly closed his eyes, trying not to let his last flicker of hope fade away.


"So, what are we bringing?" Dawn asked. Buffy grinned.

"Enough clothes to last you a lifetime," she joked. Dawn rolled her eyes and stepped into Buffy's room. Clothes were strewn across the floor and furniture. Several suitcases lay open on her bed with only a few necessities inside.

"Why am I suddenly beginning to take that statement seriously?" Dawn asked.

"Because you should," Faith's voice replied. Dawn and Buffy turned to find her standing in the doorway, holding a suitcase in each hand. "Now, I'm not as crazy as your sister...but even I know that plenty of stuff is gonna be needed on this 'little' trip of ours. You'll need everything from your Barbie flower underwear to a nice polished mini-axe." Buffy cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah? Then why do you only have two suitcases?" she countered. Faith smirked.

"These ain't mine," she replied simply. The Summers women were saved looks of confusion when Alec and Andrew suddenly appeared behind Faith. Alec was carrying two suitcases in each hand while Andrew held two stacked in his arms and was nearly toppling over from the weight of them. "They're Max's. The two that Andrew is carrying are mine. Along with one of the four in Alec's hands."

"Little help here..." Andrew managed to squeak before falling backwards. Alec rolled his eyes but held out his arm, catching him before he crashed. "Thank you, kind sir." Andrew smiled sheepishly as he righted himself, letting Dawn take one of the suitcases.

"Let me guess, those other three are Alec's?" Dawn asked, not bothering to her hide her surprise. Alec smirked.

"Why yes, little girl. I find it hard to travel without my favorite party dresses," he answered sarcastically. Dawn gave him a look of annoyance.

"I am not little." Buffy snorted.

"Got that right," she muttered. Faith smirked.

"Wow, that was very...unladylike, B," she teased. Buffy rolled her eyes and gestured towards her mess-of-a-room.

"Look around me. My big concern is what's ladylike?" she retorted. Faith shrugged.

"Everyone's got their values."

"Yeah. When are we leaving?" Alec asked bluntly. Faith's grin widened.

"Soon as Buffy here figures out what she wants to wear to make her ex drool," she replied. Buffy gave her a look. "I mean...once Buffy figures out what will make Angel think she doesn't need him?" Buffy nodded her approval and turned back to one of her suitcases. Faith leaned over and whispered to the others, "But she actually does."

"Since I just realized I need some help if we're ever going to leave here...I'll let that slide," Buffy said. Faith exchanged looks with Alec and Andrew.

"Well you know...me and my big mouth...I'd probably stall you even longer..." Faith replied as they slowly tried reaching the doorway before Buffy turned around.

"There's a suitcase over there," Buffy said simply, tossing some random clothes to Faith and the others, grinning. "Start cracking."

"I'm already half way there..." Alec muttered as he helped Faith fold some clothes.


Spike and Max walked down a hall in Wolfram & Hart in silence. Both kept sneaking glances at the other, trying to figure out what they were thinking. Neither succeeded fully. Max opened her mouth to say something but closed it when she saw Cordelia coming towards them.

"Spike," she greeted. Spike simply nodded in acknowledgment. Cordelia smiled. "Well, well. I heard you weren't evil anymore, which kind of makes the hair silly." Spike smirked.

"I heard the same about you, which makes me wonder who styled that poodle look you've got going," he retorted. Cordelia glared at him but still self-consciously touched her hair. Spike's grin widened. Max rolled her eyes and poked his arm. He winced and gave her a questioning look.

"Just a little payback," she said simply before turning to Cordelia. "Is Angel around? We need to talk to him." Cordelia shrugged.

"I don't know my way around this place. It's like a rat maze," she glanced over at a passing lawyer. "Complete with rats."

"We can forego the search, luv," Spike said to Max as he pointed out Angel. "The big poofter's coming our way."

"Spike, what are you doing here?" Angel asked as soon as he reached them. Spike looked at him defiantly and crossed his arms. Angel rolled his eyes and suddenly realized Max was there, along with Cordelia. "Um, hi." Max's brow furrowed as she wondered why he always seemed uncomfortable around her. It probably had nothing to do with her throwing him across the room when they first met...maybe he knew that she had found a few of the guys that he had sent over to Italy to 'watch over' Buffy. Did he think she told Buffy? She didn't, of course. She'd dealt with them in her own way. Her most reasonable guess involved this Cordelia woman, who obviously had a history with him. Whether or not it was the same as his history with Buffy had yet to be revealed to her.

"I have a question for you," Max said, wanting to tell him straight away why she was there. Angel nodded for her to continue. "Do you know anyone named Doyle?" If his face could pale anymore, Max was certain it would have turned pure white, since that was the shade Cordelia's face seemed to accommodate.

"Is that a yes?" Spike asked. Angel exchanged a look with Cordelia before turning back to Max.

"What do you know about Doyle?" he asked softly. Max looked up at the ceiling, tongue in cheek.

"Well, I only saw him for about 10 minutes, which involved some threatening on my part since he was being an ass..." she trailed off when she noticed the looks of shock on Angel and Cordelia's faces. "What?"

"That's impossible," Cordelia replied, voice shaking slightly. "Doyle...he died..."

"Four years ago," Angel added, almost angrily. Spike stepped between him and Max protectively.

"Hey, don't get all Angelus-like on her. It's just a different Doyle then," he said.

"Of course it's a different Doyle," Angel snapped. "There's no way it could be him."

"Right. It's not like this other Doyle got visions from the Powers That Be..." Spike began.

"What?" Cordelia asked, the shock on her face somehow increasing.

"Your guy got visions, too?" Cordelia and Angel nodded. Spike groaned. "Next you're gonna be telling me he had a bunch of freaky tribal-like tattoos on him." Cordelia's brow furrowed.

"Wait, did you just say tattoos?" she questioned. Spike nodded slowly.

"They're just talking. A lot," Max suddenly picked up a familiar voice. She looked down the hall, noticing a woman with shoulder-length brown hair talking on a cell phone. The woman walked out of view and Max struggled to hear more of her conversation.

"Listen, babe, I'm almost there, all right? So get out of the building. Right now." Max growled as she immediately recognized that voice. She turned back to Angel, Cordelia, and Spike and realized they were watching her. Spike had an annoyed look on his face while Angel and Cordelia seemed to have been trying to get her attention.

"She spaced out like this earlier..." Spike muttered. Max shot him a look. "Don't give me that. If I seem a little testy it's because my girlfriend seems to suddenly..."

"Spike. You're always testy," Angel interrupted.

"So says the git that snaps at anyone who insults his nancy-boy hair gel," Spike retorted. Cordelia groaned.

"Will you both shut up? This Doyle impersonator and whoever is helping him could be fulfilling whatever the hell their plan is as we speak," she said. Angel and Spike exchanged twin glares. Max cautiously waved her hand to get their attention.

"Would this accomplice happen to be a girl, about yay tall," Max held her hand about an inch above her head. "With brown, shoulder-length hair?" The others shrugged. "If so, then she's down the hall. She was yapping on her phone to 'Doyle'. I recognized his voice." Angel and Cordelia exchanged looks before stalking down the hall. They reachedthe womanjust as she was about to exit out a door.

"Can we have a word with you, Eve?" Angel asked, barely containing his anger.

"Now really isn't a good time," Eve answered immediately. Cordelia grabbed her by the ear.

"Let's go, Lilah junior," she growled as she escorted her to Angel's office.


Cordelia threw Eve into a chair once they were inside. Gunn, Lorne, Angel, Fred, Wesley, Spike, and Max surrounded her.

"We've got a problem, Eve," Angel began.

"Damn straight you do," Eve snapped. "Once the partners find out that you've assaulted me..." Angel began to pace in front of her.

"A couple weeks ago, a man approached Spike. Told him that the Powers That Be had some missions for him. Spike, braintrust that he is, went along with it," he interrupted. Spike glared at him from his position by the window.

"Hey," he said, obviously insulted. Angel ignored him and stood in front of Eve.

"He's the one that told Spike to save me from the parasite. The parasite that you put on me in the first place." Max gave Spike a questioning look and he mouthed that he'd fill her in later. Eve rolled her eyes and started to stand up. Cordelia stepped in front of her.

"Get out of that chair and I will feed you those Manolo Blahniks," she said angrily before she glanced down at Eve's shoes. "Which are very nice, by the way." She smirked.

"Seems to me like you and this guy are working together," Angel added. Eve sat back down in the chair.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. But you can't keep me here. I have to leave." Angel continued to ignore her.

"But the thing that really, really pisses me off is that this guy is going by the name of Doyle."

"Doesn't ring a bell." Cordelia walked closer to Eve.

"It does to me," she yelled in her face, pointing accusingly. "It rings a big, fricking gong and I want to know who has the nerve to be using that name."

"I'm gonna give you one chance to tell me where he is." Harmony opened the door and walked in.

"Uh, boss?" she asked hesitantly.

"Not now, Harmony," Angel replied.

"Ok, but do I get the afternoon off, too?" Angel turned to look at her.

"What are you talking about?"

"Everybody's gone. The whole building cleared out a few minutes ago," Harmony explained. Angel scowled and faced Eve again.

"What's going on?"


'Doyle' had entered a futuristic-looking round chamber with blue fluorescent lights and white walls. At the center was a round submerged underground holding tank and attached to it were some computerized and mechanical controls. 'Doyle' triggered the lights to come on and the control panel to light up. A tube had come up out of the panel, and he removed a crystal from his pocket to place it inside the tube, where it was a perfect fit. An iris closed over the crystal, closing it inside the tube. The tube recessed into the panel, and a timer started increasing in seconds. Steam vents from the center of the room, and the bars that held the underground tank retracted.

"Wakey, wakey," 'Doyle' grinned.


Gunn reentered Angel's office.

"I checked the server. A code 7 went out a few minutes ago," he explained.

"What's a code 7, Eve?" Angel asked. Eve shrugged.

"I don't know," she answered. Cordelia glared at her. "Seriously."

"Okay, this is getting us nowhere. Angel, torture her," Cordelia ordered. Angel stared at her, confused.

"What?"

"You heard me. Building clearing out means we don't have a lot of time. Have at it."

"I can't just...torture her." Fred nodded her agreement.

"He's right, Cordy. If we sink to their level..." From out of nowhere, Harmony tackled Eve, knocking her into Angel's desk with a primal grunt.

"Harmony!" Angel yelled. Harmony stood up, grabbing Eve by the neck.

"Is this okay?" she asked. "I mean, I am evil, technically. I don't mind torturing her for the team." Angel seemed to consider this.

"Yeah. Ok," he finally agreed. Harmony punched Eve in the face.

"Come on you hussy!" She backhanded her. "Spill it!"

"Ok. Ok. Stop. It's a fail-safe. They built a fail-safe..." Harmony punched her in the face again, harder that time. Angel cocked his head to the side with his hands on his hips.

"Harmony, she's talking," he said calmly.

"She is? Already? Well that sucks," Harmony let go of Eve, disappointed.

"Look, the senior partners were never certain they could keep you under their thumb, so they created a fail-safe. Housed it in the sub-levels of this building," Eve explained.

"What kind of fail-safe?" Fred asked.

"I don't know exactly. But it's huge and alive...and specifically designed to destroy you."

"How can I stop it?" Angel questioned.

"The only way to shut it down is in the chamber itself."

"Well, if that's true, then who activated it in the first place?" Fred asked.

"You were with us when the building cleared out," Gunn reasoned.

"Had to be someone else. Someone with the ability to slip past Wolfram & Hart's security systems," Wesley added.

"Like our magically tattooed faux Doyle," Lorne said.

"Spike, Max, I don't want to go in blind. Anything else you can tell me about this guy?" Angel asked.They exchanged looks.

"Not much..." Max answered. "Average size. Dressed like an urban cowboy..."

"Oh, he told me once that he got his hand chopped off. Got a new one though," Spike added.

"His hand?" Cordelia asked, her voice getting angrier.

"He's back," Wesley stated.

"Lindsey."

"Who?" Fred asked, confused.

"Lock the building down, make sure he can't get out," Angel ordered. "Don't trust security systems. He won't show up because of those tattoos of his."

"There could be a way to fix that," Wesley said. "I'll need some help."

"My dance card's free," Lorne replied. Fred turned to Angel.

"Who's Lindsey?"

"A lawyer," Cordelia answered. "Wolfram & Hart's former golden boy, til he ran off to go find himself."

"Yeah, he should've stayed lost," Angel added. "Harmony, guard Eve. She moves, eat her." Harmony grinned widely.

"Really? Thanks," she stared at Eve as if she were lunch.

"Angel, you're not going down there alone," Fred stated.

"The fail-safe is meant for me. I can't risk anyone I care about," Angel replied.

"I'll go," Spike offered.

"Ok," Angel answered, too quickly. Max stepped forward.

"Count me in, too," she said. Angel hesitated. "Oh please. Don't give me that. I can take care of myself. You should know." Everyone except Spike gave Angel curious looks at that statement.

"Fine, you can go," Angel relented. He turned to Fred and Cordelia. "Be ready to evacuate. If this thing gets past me, get the hell out of the building." He walked to the door with Max and Spike following.

"Past us," Cordelia corrected as she walked towards the wall behind Angel's desk.

"No, no. Cordy..." Angel began. Cordelia picked out a samurai sword.

"Yeah, yeah Angel,"sheinterrupted. "You can order me around all you want. But I know my rights." She unsheathed the sword. "And I wanna see a lawyer."

A/N-Another chapter done...I hope you liked it. Buffy, Faith, Alec, and Dawn will be arriving in LA in the next chapter. Review please!

willow98002-Even though they both refer to each other as boyfriend/girlfriend, there's still a bunch of issues to work through...so Max hasn't 'technically' taken him back.

Angel Of Darkness231-Well that's good ;o) I hate it when grades get mixed up...hehe. I hope you have fun on your out-of-town trip ;o)

Sky Angel-The actual making up will be in either the next chapter or the one after...If I decide to bring Zack in he will be paired off, but I just don't know with who.

Cora-My other story that I'm writing is posted in the Dark Angel category as well. It's called Seattle Ain't What it Used to Be.

Doza-That sounds like a great pairing and I would use it if I didn't already have this story worked out. Zack may come into the story later but Buffy will be paired off with Angel and Cordelia's fate will be the same as in the show...sorry :o( But if I ever write another story including both Zack and Buffy, I'll keep that pairing in mind ;o)

Lozz422-Buffy doesn't know about Cordy and Angel's past relationship drama yet. When she founds out she'll definitely be 'surprised' ;o)

RavynJensen-Even though both those episodes were sad in the end (especially 'A Hole in the World') I liked 'em a lot too ;o) I also liked 'Smile Time' since Angel got turned into a puppet, and I'm getting close to that episode, too...hehe.