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Chapter 3


Gunn joined Wesley at the drinks cabinet and whispered,

“Is that guy okay – I mean, have you SEEN what he’s wearing?!!”

Wesley gave a little shrug and poured drinks.

“I’ll get to the point, we have a demon moved in around here, it’s um, well, it’s a little unusual” Angel said

“In what way?” Buffy asked

“Well, it’s – oh – um this must be Cordelia now, lets see what she’s found out”

The lift opened and Cordelia came straight into the office, she was dressed like a whore! She was wearing a sequin covered boob tube, a VERY short skirt, and thigh high leather boots.

Xander’s eyes nearly popped. Spike grinned until Buffy elbowed him in the ribs, and Willow was open mouthed with shock.

“Wow, Cordy – what happened to you – you never looked like that when we were dating!” Xander said, Cordelia twirled round mortified that not only Buffy and Spike were there, but Willow and Xander too!

“Oh my god - ANGEL! – And for the record, we never DATED Xander! We, we were just at the same place sometimes at the same time! Oh gods”

Xander looked hurt, Willow scowled and mentally renewed her vice presidency membership of the ‘We Hate Cordelia Club’, Buffy sat there bemused, and Spike made some quip about her having to go out moonlighting as Angel obviously wasn’t paying her enough. Gunn was surprised that Cordelia would even look twice at somebody like the prat in the Hawaiian shirt sitting opposite him………


“I’ve been out, on a job!” Cordelia said

“You don’t say!” Spike said dryly, arching a brow.

“No, a special undercover job!”

“What, looking like that? – Yeah, right, sure you’d blend right in, pet!” Buffy and Willow smiled at Spike’s comments, and horrified beyond belief, Cordy grabbed Angel by the elbow and hissed,

“Why didn’t you TELL me they were coming!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know myself – look what did you find out?”

“They’re recruiting alright. Hundreds, dancers, strippers, busboys, bar staff, croupiers, every sort of person needed to run a club”

“I see. But you didn’t get to see the boss himself?”

Cordy shook her head and said,

“Nuh uh, just some guys that look like they’ve stepped out of a Capone movie, striped dark suits, hats with white bands pulled down over their eyes were doing the hiring, but we’ll see the boss on Friday”

Angel’s brows rose and he said,

“Yeah?”

“Uh huh, all staff hired will meet ‘The Boss’ on Friday, we’ve been briefed only to speak when spoken to, never answer him back, and to be respectful at all times”

“Okay, you go get changed, I’ll go tell the others” Angel went back over to sit behind his desk.

Buffy and Willow were talking very quietly.

“………Well I’ve just renewed my vice-presidency of the ‘We Hate Cordelia’ club!” Willow said, and Buffy smiled, remembering their High School days.

Yawning, Buffy said to Angel, who’d just sat down

“Well, are you going to tell us SOMETIME today what’s happening?”

“Well, there’s a guy, a demon moved in, taken over all the clubs in the city. Now he’s recruiting for staff, its all a front for human trafficking to the demon world. Apparently he intends to get them under his influence somehow, then ship them to various dimensions as slaves and a food source”

“Clubs – what sort of clubs?” Willow asked

“Night clubs, lap-dancing clubs, casino’s, strip joints, even ordinary bars”

“So, this demon guy got a name?” Buffy asked

“That’s the thing, we don’t know yet, he doesn’t do his own hiring and firing, he has his boys to do it for him, Cordy just went to try for one of the dancing jobs, he’ll be here on Friday” Angel explained

Buffy and Spike exchanged looks, and Spike piped up, just as Cordelia re-entered the office dressed in black pants and a soft red roll-neck sweater.

“You mean to tell me, you let your woman out to do a reccie on her OWN – without back-up? Bloody hell, Angel you’re ALL heart!”

“I can look after myself!” Cordelia said, but she looked from Spike to her co-workers with uncertainty, could she have been in any danger was her first thought.

“We don’t know who we’re dealing with!” Angel said, but realised that was a very lame excuse, and Spike stood and went over to the drinks cabinet.

“All the more bloody reason TO have sent somebody with her then! And when are you going to get some decent Scotch – it might be forty year old, but the Glenlivet is a far smoother drop than this gargle”

Despite what he said about it, Spike practically filled his tumbler to the top.

“They’re only recruiting for now, the trafficking hasn’t started yet”

“Spike…do you think it could possibly be ‘you know who?’” Buffy said

“Yeah, you mean the guy with the rough skin, sharp teeth and a decidedly fishy line in halitosis? Yup, we know who it is, it’s his MO all right – plus Clem said something to me last week”

“What, who, tell us!” Wesley said, and Angel leant forward across his desk

“If you know, then tell us”

“Tell him babe” Spike said, still leaning on the cocktail bar sipping his drink

“It’s a guy called Sharkman…used to be a small time gangster, his ‘boys’ run round in Zoot-suits looking like Al Capone’s henchmen – he seems to have taken a step up from kitten poker”

As one, Wesley, Gunn and Angel all repeated,

“Kitten poker?” Spike swallowed the last of the Scotch with a wince and said,

“Long story, now what do you want, him dead or run out of town?”

All eyes left Buffy and settled on Spike.

“What do you mean? – We don’t have the resources to –“

“Look, it’s a simple question, do you want Sharkman dead, or just off your pretty little patch here?”

“Don’t think you can swan in here, and take over our investigations like you know everything!” Angel spluttered

“Look, Angel, either you do or you don’t need our help, Spike and I have dealt with him before, make your mind up! Now, it’s very late, and I’m tired, so would you be so kind as to show us to our rooms, we can reconvene in the morning, say 11.30?” Buffy stood

“Rooms – I um, well, I just thought the sofa in the lounge in my apartment upstairs, I didn’t know you were bringing HIM, but-“

“That’ll do, won’t be the first time we’ve fallen asleep on a couch, will it pet?”

“What about us?” Willow asked

A smile came to Angel’s face, he knew how to curtail any ideas Spike had to keep himself and Cordelia awake with his and Buffy’s ‘sexploits’, and he said,

“Don’t worry, I have two reclining chairs in the lounge too, they’re very comfy, you can have those”

Spike scowled and he whispered to Buffy,

“We’ll see about that!”

*****************

As Angel lead the way down a hallway one floor up from where they had been, Spike soon found the door that lead to Angel’s bedroom, and grabbing Buffy by the elbow, Spike opened the door and said,

“Well, night all, see you later!” He pulled Buffy in and slammed the door shut and locked it.

Incensed, Angel stalked back down the hallway and hammered on the door with his fist

“Oi, come out of there, that’s MY bedroom! Spike, open the bloody – I’ll kick it in!”

Buffy grinned, and from the other side of the locked door, Spike said laughingly,


“Look, Peaches, Buffy’s come all the way here to help you, and you offer her a couch? – Besides which, we want to discuss tactics, and we don’t want to keep poor Xander and Willow awake, now do we, hmm – I mean, they might be very useful too!”

Cordelia joined Angel and rolled her eyes.

“Let them have the room, besides which, I want to talk to YOU” She poked him in the shoulder, and Angel mashed his lips together and stomped down to the lounge.

Xander was already laid back on one of the recliners, and Willow was taking her shoes off.

“We’ll have to go back down to the office if you want to talk” Angel said to Cordelia.

“I’ll leave you to give them blankets and I’ll see you down there then!”

Angel was annoyed. Very annoyed at Spike having got the better of him AGAIN, and now it looked like Cordelia was going to give him what for, for sending her on a what might have been dangerous job alone…





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