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Ghostly Inhibitions by Ariel Dawn
 
Dangerous Mail
 
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Disclaimer: Joss owns them all, I’m only having fun.

Thanks to Copy for the fab challenge requirements (which will be published at the end of the fic when it‘s done). To Stephanie, who is also doing this challenge for being supportive and promising not to read this until it’s done. Over all rating of NC-17 (cause I have a smut filled ending planned), but the first couple of chapters are pretty tame.
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Chapter 1: Dangerous Mail

Angel took a look at his mail and in particular, the large manila envelope. Like a little kid on Christmas day, Angel, Scourge of Europe shook the envelope to discover its contents. Revealing nothing of significance in the shaking, Angel finally succumbed to the urge to open the envelope and peered into the dark recesses.

From across the room, Fred stopped dead in front of the doorway and braced herself against the frame. The room shook and in Angel’s direction she could see nothing but an intense light.

“Angel!” she screamed. She shielded her eyes from the intensity of the light.

The rumbling and the light was finished in a second, throwing Angel’s body back into the wall. Fred steadied herself against the door frame before running to her friend.

“Angel? Are you ok?” she asked with concern, helping him up off the floor.

Angel nodded cautiously and took her offered hand. Glancing about the room, he looked slightly disorientated from his shock.

“There doesn’t seem to be much damage,” offered Fred helpfully, thinking she was anticipating his question. “You don’t look well. Do you want me to get you some blood?”

Again Angel nodded.

He watched her leave the room before seating himself down in his chair. He shook his head to clear it of the discombobulated thoughts that were flitting through his brain. Angel looked up once more to survey the room. There in the corner was a figure he thought he’d never get to see again. After all vampire’s didn’t have reflections.

The tall dark and broody vampire stood up and took a few steps towards the figure in the corner. The figure in the corner looked as confused as he was.

“Bloody hell,” said Angel.

He looked the figure up and down, from his bleach blond hair, eyebrow scar, to the all black ensemble and leather duster, down to the scuffed Doc Martens.

“If that’s my body, where the hell am I?” asked Angel’s body.

“You are in my body,” said the Spike figure angrily.

“Peaches?” asked the being inhabiting Angel’s body.

“No, Pavarotti.”

“And how the hell did I end up in your poncy duds?” asked Spike, bringing Angel’s arms up to inspect what he could of Angel’s body.

“I don’t know, but do you feel I don’t know...weird?”

“Might have something to do with fact that I’m in your broody body.”

“That’s not what I mean. I don’t feel, whole.”

“First things first, gotta suss out what you were doing when this happened.”

“What do you mean what I was doing? Why couldn’t it be you?”

Spike gave Angel a look. “Last thing I remember mate,” said Spike spitefully, “Was burning to a crisp in good old Sunnyhell.”

“It’s a crater now,” said Angel.

“Oh, right, makes sense,” said Spike suddenly choked up. “Did...did they all make it out ok?”

“Everyone being Buffy?” said Angel harshly.

“And the bit.”

“The bit?”

“Dawn, you poncy bugger! Not that you cared whether she was alive or not. Self righteous git.”

“Oh.”

“Ya, ‘Oh.’”

“So you came out of the amulet then? That seems the most likely explanation,” said Angel, walking towards the desk in Spike’s clunky Docs.

Spike sat down in Angel’s chair, in Angel’s body and put his feet up on the desk. “Let me know when you figure the bloody mess out, mate.” Spike put his hands behind his head and leaned back.

“You aren’t going to help?” asked Angel annoyed.

“Figure you got us into this little problem, you’d best get us out.”

“Well that’s just great Spike. Thanks so much.”

Angel reached forward to pick up the envelope and the amulet, only to have the items and the desk pass through him.

“This is not good,” muttered Angel.

Spike snickered. “Looks like you’re stuck in my ghostly body there Peaches.”

Angel glared at the vampire in his body, in his chair. It was at that moment that the girl, who had been with him when all this happened reappeared at the doorway, holding a glass of blood.

“Angel? Are ya feelin’ better?” she asked sweetly, looking directly at Spike.

“Fred? That’s not me, I’m stuck in his body, and he’s a ghost or something,” said a frantic Angel.

“That was a weird light and the shaking? I bet you want to get on the research for that right away huh?” asked Fred completely ignoring Angel.

“Fred?” said Angel, walking closer to the girl and waving a hand in front of her face. “Fred?”

Spike stifled a snicker.

“Oh,” said Fred startling herself for a moment. “Here’s your blood,” she said pleasantly.

Spike reached forward and took the glass from her, passing his hand directly through the form Angel was inhabiting.

“Thank you pet,” said Spike with a smile on his face. “I’ll let you know about that research business.”

“Sure thing,” she said before turning and bouncing out of the room. “By the way, love the accent.”

Spike smiled and kicked back in the chair, sipping his blood. Human blood at that. He hadn’t had human blood in a good long time, Buffy wouldn’t have approved, not since he sired all those people when the first had been in control.

“Fred didn’t see me, that’s the only explanation. She wouldn’t ignore me like that,” muttered Angel.

“She didn’t see you, she didn’t hear you. She thinks I’m you. Do you know how much fun I’m going to have?” said Spike between sips.

“Spike...” warned Angel in a deep voice.

Spike smiled delightfully. “The way I see it mate, you can’t do anything. You’re all ghosty,” said Spike with a wave of his hand. “This might be a great opportunity to royally bollocks up your peachy keen unlife.”
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Buffy Summers, Slayer extraordinaire, sat in possibly the most uncomfortable chair she had ever sat in, flipping through her latest edition of Cosmo while waiting for her flight to be called.

Across the aisle sat Xander, playing with his gameboy. She passed a sympathetic look over her friend. They were heading back to LA, so that Xander could get a new eye. Giles had made a deal with the Evil Law Firm: Wolfram and Hart, for this. Giles said that Xander deserved it for all his work for the forces of good. Buffy wasn’t denying that.

She just thought that maybe there were others that deserved things too. Like she deserved to have a normal life, or Spike deserved a life period, or Anya for that matter, or any of the other potentials who died. Giles wasn’t chomping at the bit to make their lives better.

She had been burying people since she became a slayer. Merrick, Jenny Calendar, Tara, Kendra, her mom, the list went on.

Reaching up to wipe an invisible tear from her eye, Buffy tried to get back into the article she had been reading, ‘How to keep your relationship happy.’

If only reading Cosmo would make all relationship problems go away. Where was Cosmo when she was being nasty to the one person she could depend on?

Buffy was roused from her depressing thoughts by the whiny and annoying voice of one Andrew Wells, former guestage and all round pain in her side.

Giles had begged her to take him with her. If only to get him out of the senior watcher’s hair for a few days.

“Ok, I got, three bags of crisps, um, flavours, Cheeseburger, plain, and cheese, three cans of Fanta: 2 orange and an apple, a Caramilk, a Milky way and a Crunchie,” said Andrew handing out snacks. “What do you fancy?”

Xander set down his game boy to grab snacks.

“Andrew, repeat after me,” said Xander, “Chips.” Xander grabbed a bag of chips and held them up for display like Vanna White. “These are called Chips.”

“But...” started Andrew.

Xander took a better look at the flavour of chips he held in his hands. “And who decided that Cheeseburger was a good flavour for chips?” Xander threw the bag back at Andrew, and grabbed the plain flavoured chips instead, along with the Crunchie bar and an orange Fanta.

“Did you get gum?” asked Buffy, quietly.

“You didn’t ask me to get you gum,” said Andrew defiantly, opening up the bag of Cheeseburger chips.

“No, that was the one thing I did ask you to get.” Buffy closed her Cosmo and slammed it down on the seat beside her. “Never mind, I’ll get some.”

Walking away from Andrew was something she was getting very good at. It seemed that the longer she was in his presence the more times she had to leave the room or end up biting her tongue hard enough to draw blood.

Buffy sidled up to the concession stand and waited patiently for her turn. Tapping her nails on the counter she looked back at Xander who was in heated discussion with Andrew, probably on some topic only nerds could understand. Comparing Darth Vader to Darth Maul or some such nonsense. Actually the fact that she knew who Darth Maul was, was grounds for nerd-dom.

She was not looking forward to going to LA, or seeing Angel for that matter. How could she trust him now that he was allied with the Evil Law Firm. Granted the Watcher’s Council had sorta allied them selves with ELF *snicker* too, with Xander’s eye and all.

But why couldn’t the transplant happen anywhere else? There was a W&H office in London...

Buffy paid her 50p for gum and walked back to her seat.

Andrew was acting out a scene from a Star Wars movie and earning a critique from Xander.

This is going to be a l-o-n-g flight
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Spike, in Angel’s body, set about familiarizing himself with the various people who worked on the same floor as Angel’s office.

“Where are you going?” asked Angel trying to keep up with his body, inadvertently passing through people and objects.

Spike was doing a very good job ignoring Angel’s voice or rather his voice, Americanised.

He had to consciously refrain from using this natural way of speaking in front of the other people in the office. Angelus was Irish, and the sound of an English voice coming out of the mick’s mouth was blasphemy according to Spike. Spike knew he wasn’t the most PC of vampires.

Spike smiled. He wanted a drink, and Angel was going to pay for it.

This was going to be fun.
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tbc...
 
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