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Chapter 44
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"All right, I can play that. I helped Cordy practice for auditions often enough to know how to act." Angel digested Spike’s plan and hadn’t found any obvious flaws. "Now, where do we play this out for the enjoyment of Wolf’s spy network and not get captured?"

"Our boy Dilby here’s earned himself a pass with all the help he’s given. Hope for you yet, lawyer." Spike cuffed the still bound desk clerk lightly on the back of the head. "Ilona will have a spot for you in the Italian branch that you just might live to take if you keep playin’ for the good guys."

"But he said the surveillance cameras weren’t operational, except for that one area around Wolf’s private quarters. I may have dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood for my last Halloween party, but that doesn’t mean I want to just jump into Grandma’s bed and make it easy for the Big Bad." Buffy’s brow furrowed as she tried to picture how they could stage their little bit of vamp theater and still get away in one piece.

Angel bit his lip as he thought for a moment before answering. "Well, I’m supposed to change sides, right?" His fellow conspirators nodded. "So, I don’t have to get away. We just have to make sure Spikey makes it out of the room before Wolf’s goons try to re-enact the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Saw that one first hand and don’t exactly want a replay."

"Yeah, neither of you guys would look great in dresses either." Buffy chuckled, stopping only when she noticed the complete confusion of the two vampires "’Some Like It Hot’? Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon in dresses…joining an all girl band to hide from the mob …Marilyn Monroe? Bet you thought I wouldn’t know what you meant, Angel?"

Angel was still mystified by her reference but merely shook his head slightly. "Um…Buffy, Marilyn wasn’t there. I did meet her with Frank and the guys once, but that was years later, in Vegas. I don’t think she was in Chicago then and if she was, she would have been a child."

"She means the movie, Peaches. Gonna need to have Xander be your interpreter too when we get back?" Spike smiled at Buffy and teased, "Good thing you finally decided on the hipper vamp instead of Ole Stuffy here."

"I’m not stuffy, Spike, just cultured," Angel grumbled.

"Yeah, like yogurt," Spike jibed back. "All that culture’d explain what you were doin’ hangin’ with the Rat Pack in Vegas. Come to think of it, you were supposed to be eatin’ rats about then…somethin’ you wanna fess up to? Always wanted to know what happened to that Joey Bishop bloke."

Instead of getting irritated, as Spike had expected, Angel grinned. "No. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Thought even you knew that!"

The lighthearted moment ended with a clearing of Dilby’s throat. "Gentlemen, perhaps a look at the blueprints for this fine hotel might be of some help? A way for Mr. Spike to safely exit the area and allow the…ahem…capture of Mr. Angel?"

"Dilby, you clever sod, you! Holdin’ out on the team, were you? Good on you! Haven’t lost that edge you’ll need to practice law again." Spike smiled at the befuddled clerk. "Well, let’s see ‘em!"

~~~

The summit meeting was still in high gear and no one was lying in a pool of his or her own blood yet. The reports regarding the African continent had been stellar with warfare dividing the peoples and keeping them from joining together to fight the real enemies of famine and plague. The release of AIDS-infected lab monkeys housed in the pharmaceutical complex in Angola had been a master stroke. True, the virus had begun to spread beyond the targeted groups, but now it was doing its major damage in Africa as had been the original plan. In time, the decimated continent would be ripe for the plunder once again. The country’s natural resources would soon be in the hands of new colonial masters, making it much easier for control of the remaining population.

Aeneas crept up behind the grinning Wolf and passed him a note as Wolf was congratulating the researchers who had further developed and released the Ebola virus in the same basic area with no one the wiser.

Wolf read the note and ordered a five-minute break in the summit. "Fridrjof! See that our honored guests have some refreshments. I’ll be in the antechamber doin’ some quick business." With that, the fearsome demon left the large white room, seeming to disappear completely as he passed a magic barrier.

"Okay, tell me what you’ve got, Sven." The minion that Wolf had dispatched to the outer dimension had returned with the enemy head count as ordered.

"Your greatness, it appears your assumptions were correct that the vampire has back-up of sorts. There are a dozen in a rented shop near the hotel. A mix of slayers and civilians of unknown abilities. There is one that appears human until you look closely. She has blue hair and skin and, from what I was able to overhear, goes by the name of Illyria. I think it may be the Old One you had imprisoned with Angelus. There is a watcher, too. He’s in one of the hotel rooms on their side of the dimensional wall. I saw no signs of the other souled vampire. They are well-armed but don’t appear to be planning an assault."

"Good, good. See any of Ram’s red robed rabble while you were out there?" Wolf asked. He was pretty sure his partner’s monks had met their end at the hands of the small but potentially lethal back-up party.

"All dead from what I could see. I think they managed to capture Grigork, but squirrelly as he was about adoring Ram, I don’t think he’d tell them anything useful." Sven looked his master in the eye, confident he had relayed important good news. "I really don’t think they’re a threat unless they come into our dimension and I don’t see them doing that. Looks like it’s just the vampire and his Slayer girlfriend."

"I agree. But, pal, that attitude about Grigork being squirrelly because he knew to keep his lip zipped…you might want to think about imitatin’ that." Wolf wondered if Ram might have had a point after all about keeping one’s minions in a state of reverence and awe. "Just ‘cause I’ve been a fair boss don’t mean I’m not worthy of adoration from the likes of you. You’d best remember what I did to Tyr when he drew the short straw back in Valhalla. Tyr was a god, and I devoured his hand. Think what I can do to you, Sven."

"Yes, oh, yes, most powerful Fenris! I live to serve." Sven backed out the door bent at the waist. It never paid to forget the origins of these Partners, in spite of their everyday mild appearance. Fenris was the son of Loki. Sven remembered well the tales told by his mother over the hearth fires of home. The tame stories put about for his other identity as Apollo paled beside those of the great Wolf of Valhalla! Whatever the truth of his origins, he was yet a god of great power and little mercy; Sven knew that from personal experience.

~~~

Spike patted Dilby on the top of the head as if he were a pleasing pup, causing the lawyer cum desk clerk to nearly bite his tongue. "Good job, Dilby. Looks like there’s a couple of good places for a vamp to just disappear. Wolf must like a bit of flash and dazzle in front of the minions. Looks like we’re on. Think you can manage more than one facial expression, Peaches? A good actor needs to look like he means his lines."

"You worry about your lines and I’ll worry about mine, Willie. I ate my first actor before you were even born," Angel said indignantly. "It won’t be too hard convincing them I like you better as dust."

"So I’m supposed to…what?" Buffy was not happy being left out of the little drama, but getting Spike out of the area would be challenge enough without trying to get herself to safety as well.

"Just sit here and look pretty, kitten. Takes no effort at all! Keep our helpful friend occupied and I’ll be back before you know it," Spike smirked.

"We might need a little time to convince the Wolf I’ve changed sides. After the curtain comes down on our little matinee and Spike gets back here, you two should hang around here or the basement while I get them all nice and convinced. I can bring Wolf to the courtyard when I’m sure he’s bought the act. Lots of elbow room for a good fight there and it worked great with Ram. Only two entrances, so Buffy
and I can hold off any minions that come along while you take him out. Better give me a day or two at least to be sure. I don’t think he’s as stupid as he looks." Angel knew his on again/off again flirtation with evil made it likely Wolf would buy into the idea that the vampire who had the soul forced on him might turn. Even his own people had believed him when he started this war; why not an egocentric uberdemon?

"Yeah, that courtyard should work fine. Had plenty of good luck there already, what with finding Buffy and offin’ the flying sheep. I think the basement’s the best place to hole up if we’re gonna wait a couple of days for the grand finale. I was noticin’ on that blueprint there’s a small room behind those old boilers that don’t look like they’re used for much of anything now. Might be a good spot to lay low and fairly easy to defend if we have to. Probably need to take Dilby here along just in case," Spike agreed.

"The blood, too! We wouldn’t want to lose what you’ve already collected," Buffy reminded her love.

"Good thinking, but I think we’d be better off keepin’ the blood somewhere else and I think I know just where. Dilby, my man, isn’t there an employee break room round here? Angel, mind getting that jug we’ve been using?" Spike wasted no time in putting his idea into motion.

The break room was next to the closet they had been hiding in. It was the standard set-up with a table with two folding chairs, sink, coffeepot, microwave and small fridge, along with some lockers for personal items. In the refrigerator, Spike found what he was looking for: a small thermos container with someone’s leftover stew. "This yours, Dilby?" Spike guessed.

"Yes. You can eat it if you want though. Anything you want…well …I’d rather you didn’t bite me again." Dilby wasn’t relaxing in spite of his seemingly changed status from captive to co-conspirator.

"Thanks, but I’ll pass on both." Spike quickly emptied the contents in the trash bin next to the table and rinsed out the opaque container. "Now don’t be forgettin’ we sacrificed your lunch and go tryin’ to eat this," Spike teased the shaky clerk as he poured the mixed blood of the two Partners into the thermos. After making sure the lid was firmly screwed on, he placed the container back in the fridge. "Don’t think anyone’ll think to look in your lunch bucket for this. We can come and
collect it when we’ve got the last bit to add to it.

"Let’s go check out that hidden room before we pull the curtain up for the show." Spike led the way to the back stairs followed by Dilby, then Buffy, with Angel watching their backs from the end.

~~~

Giles returned to the shop for an update from the rescue back-up group only to face a worried Dawn.

"You don’t think Angel’s messed it all up, do you?" Dawn was nervous about having both vampires in the other dimension, especially with the unresolved Buffy issues.

"No, oddly enough, I do not. I believe Angel finally understands the necessity for bowing to the prophecy and letting Spike do the killing. His extra help with
holding off the minions will be useful, however. From the information we received from that robed demon, I daresay Spike can use the help. We can but hope that
Buffy has recognized Spike for who he really is by now. If nothing else, Angel can help convince her."


"It’ll be alright, Dawnie," soothed Willow. "Since that last battle, Angel’s aura is a lot more peaceful when he hears Spike’s name. I think he’s finally letting go of some of his control issues."

"That and I threatened to clock him if he didn’t stop with that alpha male stuff!" Nina grinned. "Hey, I’m a wolf a few nights of the month, I recognize the signs. A couple of hundred years of having to make all the decisions gets to be a habit, I guess. Connor and I will have to work with him on that when all of this is settled. I’m thinking more of a partnership than an old-fashioned caveman family."

"But he’s got the perfect forehead for playing caveman!" Xander observed.

"You speak of those that climbed from the ooze. The female was the dominant in those days, forcing the males to face the dangers of the beasts while they ran the households. I do not see the half-breed allowing that much power to this one," Illyria added. "I do not understand what his forehead has to do with leadership."

"Neither do I," mumbled Andrew. "But I bet Angel would look really, really good in a loincloth! Maybe leopard skin, or tiger even. Just like Tarzan. Nina could be Jane."

"Don’t even think about calling me ‘Boy’," warned Connor.

"That was my line," joked the usually reserved Robin Wood.

"Yes, well, be that as it may, we should have some activity soon, I should think. Angel will be able to help Spike achieve his goal and we can all get back to civilization." Giles had a wistful look as he thought of his cozy home where he could expect a proper cuppa and buttered scones with real clotted cream at tea. He had gotten quite used to his routine before all this globetrotting and dimension shifting had uprooted him again.

Faith whispered in Wood’s ear, "Wanna slip back to our room for a demonstration of what a manly man I’ve got? This cavegirl’s feeling all dominant and I’d hate to have to club that pretty head of yours and drag you to our cave to get some aggression out. I think I can use my muscles in more interesting ways. I’m thinking I might like to tame a dinosaur I know with a long… thick …well, I guess I should say ‘neck’, considering we’re in company."

No one noticed when the couple edged out of the main room and disappeared.

~~~

Wolf ordered Sven to choose the best demons available to continue the search for the troublemakers. If the reports he’d received just before the meeting were correct and both souled vampires were now in the mix, he might not have to do a thing. All those years of playing Angel had proven that not all of Angelus was gone when the soul was in charge.

The months when the two Aurelians were forced into close company at the L.A. branch had been volatile even on the best of days. Many a pleasant evening had been spent watching surveillance tapes of the two vampires coming to blows over one thing or another. Since both vampires were well known to have claimed rights to the fair-haired slayer, it wasn’t likely they would play nicely together at this stage of the game.

"May all be dust by the time this frickin’ meeting’s finished." Wolf smiled and returned to the room full of nervous humans.

All the delegates sat again after Wolf was seated. "What say we work on wrapping this up before the next apocalypse, waddaya say?" "Perhaps selections for the next round of elections might be a good place to restart, your greatness?" offered the head of the Western Political Division. "Whom should the various parties groom for office?"

"Doesn’t matter," Wolf waved him off. "They all belong to us anyway. Who looks best kissin’ babies?"