Several hours later Xander opened his eyes. He felt strange, full of energy yet empty at the same time. His mouth felt dry and gummy. Xander moaned softly, alerting the blur at the edges of his vision that he was coming around. Xander shifted his eyes to the right, squinting against the brightness of the light and focused on Spike's worried face.

"Spike, what-" Xander rasped. He tried to sit up and look around. Spike was balanced on the edge of the couch with a damp cloth in his hand.

Spike's voice was colored with his relief when Xander came around. "No, hush pet," he said softy while reaching for a nearby cup. "Here, sip this slowly." The vampire slid his arm under Xander's shoulders and helped him into a sitting position. He held the cup to Xander's dry lips and let him sip the cool water. Spike nodded in satisfaction when Xander braced himself against the couch-back and took hold of the cup.

"Th-thanks," Xander murmured before bringing the cup to his lips and draining it, his eyes never leaving the vampire's face. Lowering the cup, Xander dragged his hand across his wet lips. He blinked at the smooth unblemished skin covering the back of his hand. Tentatively, as if afraid of what he'd find Xander brought his hand to his forehead and let his sensitive fingertips trace along his brow in search of the gash that should still be there. His fingers encountered smooth skin; slightly warm and damp from his feverish state.

"Wot, what's wrong?"

"Um n-nothing besides the little man doing pogo-stick on a jackhammer inside my head," Xander said weakly.

"Wot appen'd in there?"

*****

*****

Spike recalled the scene he'd found in the room; Xander, curled up on the floor still naked and unconscious. Glass shattered all across the room, a gaping hole in the wall facing the street letting in the night. There was no longer any sign of the window that used to be there and Spike let his thoughts track the dry trail of glittery dust leading away from a dark stain with vomit beside it.

Spike hadn't had any second thoughts about killing what he barely recognized as Xander's parents. It hadn't been easy; they had been incredibly strong for mere minions, if that's what they were.

After seeing the apartment door shatter inward.

~With a key in the bloody lock~

Spike hadn't wanted to try and tangle with more than one at a time so he'd thrown the first stake like a dagger and there went Mr. Harris in a strange cloud of fiery ash - there hadn't been any dust left behind.

Mrs. Harris had been more of a handful.

~Down right vicious ol' bat, that~

Her crazed hunger made Mrs. Harris-reaper clumsy and allowed Spike to outmaneuver her brute strength and eventually ash her as well.

*****

*****

"More than I want to think about without serious wiggins. One second there's screaming and yelling and the next; the door slamming me into the window. I dropped my knife when the door hit me," Xander stopped.

His heart hammering as he relived the terrifying experience; Xander was flooded with adrenaline and couldn't be still. His fingers tightened and loosened around the cup and his legs twitched sporadically.

Spike placed a calming hand on Xander's shoulder. His blue eyes snapped to the younger man's face at the fiery jolts racing along his nerves. Spike's hand flashed to Xander's jaw, gripping and tilting his head back to expose the unblemished column of his neck.

"Quit, didn't get bit, managed to get dagger," Xander struggled to get out and the grip relaxed. "I stabbed him in the gut, then... then I'm not sure but I'm not complaining. Whatever happened drove split-mouth off," Xander finished nervously.

"Good get dressed we're leaving."

"Huh?"

Xander was having trouble focusing on Spike's words as he stared at the hand resting on his bare chest. He inhaled, filling his lungs with the smell surrounding the vampire - cigarette smoke burned his nose along with the smell of chemicals; then he was soothed by the comforting scent of dusty spice, earth and blood. Xander's chest rose under the cool palm, he made a soft noise at the tickling sensation against the few strands of dark hair dusting the space between his pectorals.

"Need to get the hell out of here now. Whatever that thing was seemed to be after you. I don't know about you but I don't plan on being here when it comes back. Now get up and get dressed. Oi! Move Xander." Spike looked into Xander's eyes; they were dilated with pleasure from the sensuous stroking of his cool fingers against the heated flesh. He quickly removed his hand and moved to pace the small kitchen area while Xander made his way down the hall toward the bedroom to get dressed. The minute Xander was out of ear-shot Spike was on his cell-phone to Giles.

"Spike, what is it, is something wrong has something happened..." Giles questioned checking the time. It was a little after 9 p.m. and less than three hours had passed since he'd dropped Spike off at Xander's apartment.

Giles had pointed out that leaving the spare key under the Welcome mat wasn't a good idea and had convinced Buffy, Xander, and Willow to each leave an emergency door-key at the shop. After locating the key to Xander's apartment Giles had driven over to Xander's apartment where he let himself in and then invited Spike inside so he could protect Xander. It went against his principles but the Watcher agreed with the safety measures their shopping-mall bound vision sender stressed, they should all stay together. Since Xander seemed to be acting very out of character at the moment Giles did what he thought best under the circumstances. There had always been tension between the two young men, Xander and Spike, but the Watcher felt that at a time like this, petty differences took a backseat to the possible dangers at hand.

No matter what else he may have thought about Spike, Giles was fairly certain that in this he could trust the vampire to protect Xander; at least better than Xander was able to protect himself. Somehow, for whatever reason it looked as if Xander may be the indirect focus of the strange forces moving through Sunnydale.

"Oi! Listen, mate," Spike snapped then quickly lowered his voice after a quick glance at the short hallway.

"Some kinda freaky-vamp-nasty just trashed the whelp's place." Spike moved so he could see down the hallway and into the bedroom, he dropped his voice a bit and continued speaking, "I never saw anything like this, it wasn't any kind of demon I know about and the bugger was incredibly strong; maybe something those Initiative wanker's had a hand in, all's I know is that I've never encountered anything like it. It wasn't alone, already started making minions, turned the kid's parents - they're dead. That's another thing, when I staked 'em they didn't turn to dust but burning ash that left nothing behind. Somehow they were able to get this other thing past the invitation barrier too and he went after Xander."

"Were either of you hurt?" Giles was pacing in his small living-room. Wesley looked up from the book he was reading; it was a traveler's guide to the area around the mall in San Francisco. Gunn was in the bathroom taking a shower.

"No, I don't think so. Xander's pretty shaken up but he's all in one piece. I'm fine, thanks for asking." Spike was genuinely surprised by the concern he heard in the other man's tone. "It ain't safe here. I'm taking the Xander with me; this thing seemed to be after him."

The vampire's words disturbed Giles, he'd just been thinking along the same lines, first Angel, now Xander. Something was going on and the two dark-haired young men seemed to be the unwitting focal points.

~Don't forget about our visionary vampire~

Spike considered his options of hiding places, they weren't very good. "We're leaving for Frisco tonite. Once Wes stirs up the hornet's nest I figure that lawyer-bint will be on the move. I want to be in that city when she gets there. Once we get my Sire back we'll figure this out."

"Yes, right of course." Giles cast a look over at Wesley who was still watching him.

"Tell him not to move until after sunset tomorrow."

Xander was coming back down the hall and Spike moved further into the kitchen space. Spike hadn't seen what had happened in the room but the damage told him all he needed to know at the moment. He let his voice drop into a whisper and gave the older man a quick description of what the creature and Xander's parents had looked like.

"I'll let Buffy know about this, I'm not clear on why it would be after Xander but I agree, getting him out of Sunnydale may be the best thing," Giles was saying.

"Gotta go, Xander's headin' me way, oh yeah, keep an eye on Willow."

"Willow? What for," Giles asked.

"Tell him to check the binding spells they put on her that one time, she's been tapping into the magic way to easily and too often," Xander said from where he was leaning against the hallway wall. Spike narrowed his gaze in Xander's direction, Xander shouldn't have been able to hear him whispering that last bit into phone but he had. Another thing for Spike to contemplate as he passed the message along and then cut the call.

*****

*****

Spike hustled Xander and himself to the airport to hop a commuter flight into SFO. While the two of them were checking into their hotel, which happened to be the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero - and boy was Wesley gonna be pissed when he got his credit card bill - the man in question was on his way back to L.A. with Gunn where he would pay a quick but motivating visit to Ms. Morgan.

After making up for lost sleep the L.A. team went hunting - for a human this time, a specific human in the form of one Ms. Lilah Morgan.

Lilah was sitting in a secluded corner booth of The Firm's Bar & Grille wondering when she would get the go ahead on the next part of the operation when Wesley strolled in and swept the room with a bored look. He spotted the surprised Lilah and strolled over to her table. His appearance made Lilah happy and horny at once. She could clearly see the strain underneath the man's exterior of false calm.

Wesley looked tired, like he'd been up for days, he looked hot too. Hair mussed and stubble on his jaw, chin, and upper lip. His jeans were rumpled and his rugby-shirt was open at the neck so she could see the top edge of the white t-shirt underneath.

~Calm down girl, never let'em see you lust~

She gave Wesley a bored but amused smile as he slid into the seat across from her. This was a definite treat for her, having one of Angel's little lap-dogs seeking her out for a change. There was no doubt about what Wesley was doing there; they must have finally figured out that Angel's absence was connected to W&F. Here was an opportunity to do something she thrived on; Lilah loved rubbing their noses in the *messy* situations they found themselves in because of her machinations.

She was enjoying the fringe benefit as well; having Wesley as her own personal male-whore. At the moment she was thinking that a nice tumble with Wes would give her scheming mind a break from the details and put him in the right state of mind to find out what he thought he knew. She could then smash his little bubble and she'd feel a bit better.

"A little out of your natural habitat, what brings you out of the alley's Wesley?" She flashed her white teeth while raising her cocktail glass to her painted lips. She wanted to just drag Wes out to the parking lot and ride him right then and there but she had a tried and true formula for doing this and formulas that worked should always be followed.

*****
POV: Gunn
*****

Gunn sat waiting outside the trendy hotspot frequented by the middle-management of Wolfram & Hart, Attorney's at Law.

~What a joke. More like Defender's of the Damned and Demonic or some other lame-assed bullshit~

He keyed the ignition when he saw the couple leave the swank bar & grille. Gunn rolled his eyes and snorted when Wesley's English manners had him opening the passenger side door and ushering Lilah into her own vehicle as he took the keys and got behind the wheel. Gunn pulled away from the curb and quickly drove to Wesley's condo complex. While Wesley and Lilah were inside sweating up a small storm of lust and dominance Gunn planted a few high-tech microchip surveillance devices inside of the brunette's car - Wes would plant a few on her person at some point during the next hour or two.

*****
POV: Wesley
*****

"Hmm, wonder how Angel's going to take this little tidbit," Lilah wondered out loud as she sat on the edge of the bed and ran her fingers through the mass of dark hair. She smiled pleasantly at the answering silence as she reached for her black pumps and slipped them on her feet. Wesley still hadn't responded when she'd returned from the bathroom and reached for her panties. It was too priceless, the stunned look on his face and she couldn't pass up the opportunity to gloat a bit as she slipped into her skirt.

"Oh come on Wesley, you don't really expect me to believe you didn't know we'd finally managed to *contain* Angel?" she mocked. "You know," she continued conversationally as she buttoned up her blouse and turned to study the naked man leaning against the headboard with the sheets pooled in his lap. "That's a really neat word *contain* I love the way it sounds... don't you?"

Wesley seemed to snap out of his daze then, his gray eyes going from surprised to calculated contemplation. Lilah's smug smile faltered a bit under his scrutiny.

Wesley watched as she put her watch back on, he'd pressed a microchip wafer to the back of it while she'd been in the bathroom.

"So, I was right after all, it was you. Too bad Wolfram & Hart doesn't truly appreciate your devious, cutthroat dedication or they wouldn't continue to keep things from you. Poor little Lilah, left out of the loop... again," he stuck her with one of her past barbs.

Lilah ignored the insult, "You haven't said anything important, Wes, and you have no idea how devious and cutthroat my dedication can be, neither do the senior partners. Nobody keeps things from me; you don't know what you're talking about little man," she finished with a pointed look at his crotch where his quiescent member was outlined under the sheet.

"I have one word for you... San Francisco. Oh sorry, that was two, and here are three more - now, get out." Wesley's tone was bored and dismissive. He leaned his head back against the wall and swept Lilah from head to toe then shook his head in disgust.

Lilah prided herself on always presenting a strongly confident attitude but inside she was getting edgy. She wanted to find out what Angel's little lapdog thought he knew and then get the hell on her way. She suddenly had the strong urge to check up on her investment personally.

"Oh Wes, don't be such a bad loser..."

"You don't want me to get up bitch. Leave. Now." The look on his face was enough to convince her he wasn't joking.

Lilah gave Wes a look of disdain and laughed. She picked up her bugged coat and purse left. She was so shaken that she didn't even bother with her usual insult of leaving a few folded hundred dollar bills on the nightstand.

*****
POV: Lilah
*****

Lilah's heart raced and her trepidation increased. They knew more than she'd thought. Lilah had known they would guess she was directly behind the kidnapping but this news of her secret headquarters had her shaken and unsure now. Not even the senior partners knew she was progressing in her own bid for power and had set up a base of operations in their sister-city.

In a growing state of agitation Lilah drove to her apartment. As much as she wanted to speed through the streets of L.A. and get home the young lawyer maintained the speed limit, using the time it took to traverse the distance to reflect on what she knew. She didn't trust Wesley as far as she could throw him and that wasn't any distance to measure at all. Lilah didn't trust her superiors either. She thought back to what she had done in order to get where she was; were they going to let her keep what she'd taken? Lilah Morgan was in the spotlight now after her cold and calculated coup in the boardroom.

~There's definitely something to be said for the twisted minds over in R&D. I simply *love* that chair~

Lilah had finally gotten rid of the man sitting in the chair she wanted at the head of the boardroom table. She had her peers running scared after the beheading incident. A shiver ran through her at the remembrance of the man being held to the chair while the headrest opened along the bottom to allow the two sharp blades to do their work. There had been blood every place and she had calmly picked up the conference phone and called housecleaning as if it were only a spilled cup of coffee.

There was no way she would tip her hand now and loose whatever advantage she may have; there would be no innocent calls of inquiry to mentors, senior partners or peers, and nothing to make anyone start sniffing in her direction. She would go to San Francisco and make sure that Angel was still there with her own eyes. There was no-one Lilah could trust more than herself at the moment.

She was walking a hair-fine tightrope and one wrong step would send her plummeting to her death, literally and figuratively. This Nomac character gave her the creeps, the kind that reached for her already dark soul; made her cringe in a way that couldn't be explained. But Lilah had ambition and a hunger for power that had driven her into an alliance with the strange being.

Lilah had used Wesley to get the drop on Angel and discover his more private habits. She authorized the purchase of the blood-bank and focused solely on Angel. Once she had him drugged and on the way to San Francisco, the blood-bank had been sterilized and returned to normal operations with none the wiser, or so she'd thought.

~Focus here~

Nomac wanted Angel's life essence, his very DNA in an endless supply. A cold fear snaked through Lilah at the thought of the twin tank beside the one that held Angel, just waiting to be filled.

She didn't know where this creep had come from or why he'd chosen her but in return for her help Lilah had been promised power beyond her wildest dreams. Power and a prominent place in the new world order being created. Right now her secret ally was in Sunnydale executing the first steps of his plan. There was another *element* in Sunnydale that stood in the way of their gaining control of the Hell-gate.

Lilah had provided the hideous man with the files she had on the Sunnydale crew: Elisabeth Anne Summers - Buffy, the slayer, and her Watcher Rupert Giles; and the bumbling slayerettes - Willow Danielle Rosenberg and her girlfriend Tara, minor witches - Alexander LaVelle Harris, the groups weak link and super-moron, and his ex-girlfriend Anyanka, the ex-vengeance demon who was no longer in the picture.

~Oh and that kid with the bad bleach job~

She wondered what it was about Angel that kept him surrounded with guys like Wesley and the bleached kid. Lilah had very limited information on this *Spike* character but from what she'd been able to gather he was nothing to be seriously worried about, just another English renegade licking at the souled vampire's boots.

Pulling up in front of her complex, Lilah calmly walked up to her apartment and let herself in. She showered quickly and dressed in black jeans and t-shirt, white socks and low-heeled black boots before throwing some necessary items into a black carry-all. She grabbed a black leather jacket from the wardrobe and her bag and headed for the door, stopping to make sure she had her special cell-phone before walking out.

*****
19:34 - Los Angeles International Airport
*****

Gunn and Wesley stood among the crowds of LAX taking care not to be seen by Lilah. The surveillance devices they'd planted allowed them to keep tabs on the hyper-paranoid young woman they had on the run. After watching Lilah board the plane the two men moved swiftly to the large window looking out onto the brightly lit runways. From here they were able to train their binoculars on the ground crew and airplane in an attempt to be certain the target was still on board when the plane left the ground and vanished into the night sky.

"Make the call," Gunn said calmly.

"Right," Wes nodded and reached into his jacket for his cellular. He hit the speed-dial and waited two rings before it was answered.

"Hello?"

"She's on her way. Black jeans, shirt and jacket, bolero cut. Pony-tail, tinted glasses and a black carry-bag; North West flight 1147 to SFO with an E.T.A. of 10:50 p.m. Pass that on, we'll make contact again when we arrive."

Wesley terminated the short call and then nodded to Gunn. The two men went to the ticket counter and purchased their tickets.

*****
San Francisco
*****

"Well?" Xander asked.

"That was Giles," Spike told him.

"Yeah, chatty much? What did he- hey you jerk!" Xander exclaimed when the vampire snagged the beer the waitress sat on the table in front of him. Spike grinned and took a swig as Xander turned to place another order.

"Should'a got two the first time."

"What? You were off doing whatever..." Xander let the thought trail off, not really wanting to think about what the vampire had been off doing. He took in the fresh rosy flush in the normally pale cheeks. It was obvious that Spike had recently fed; his body glowed with stolen blood.

~Why doesn't that bother me anymore~

Xander shook his head. "Listen, William," he stressed the name with surprising snottiness, "I worked hard for that beer money."

"And I didn't?" Spike smirked back with an arched eyebrow, it still sported the scar but the fine hairs were now a soft dark golden-blonde; one of the dominate streaks of color among the vampire's sleek brushed waves.

"No, you stole it."

"Yeah and your going on about it is just making more hard work, innit. Give it a rest pet."

Xander shook his again and drummed his fingers on the table. They were sitting in the hotel's mezzanine bar when the call came. Not many people were in the bar at the moment so they pretty much had the place to themselves. Service was faster than normal and the waitress set the second beer on the table.

"What did Giles say Will," Xander asked in exasperation not noticing the effect his words had on his companion.

Spike experienced another of those tingles when Xander addressed him with the shortened, more intimate version of his name. Quickly regaining his composure behind another swig of imported beer Spike passed along the information.

"So now what, we go hang out at the airport?" Xander wanted to know.

"That's the idea, but not for another hour at least. We only need to be there when the chit's plane lands and you know it won't be on time. Finish your beer and then we should get some food in ya, right. Really shouldn't drink on an empty stomach ya know." Spike told him.

"The last time I checked I was all grown up. That hasn't changed since I got dressed. I'm a big-boy Will; I can take care of myself. Besides, I did eat." Xander told him while raising his own bottle.

"Cor, mate, that was over three hours ago and Doritos's, a coke and Subway's, is not real food Xan-pet."

If he had to be honest and admit it, Spike was enjoying this time with the other young man. He was also getting a kick from his 007 William-Spike personae. Xander really did have a quick and sharp wit and a remarkably dry dark of sense humor when he was being himself.

Spike sat and studied Xander. The mortal was wearing a pair of black Dockers and a black skin-tight, shirt. There was a high-quality black leather driving coat draped over the empty chair next to the dark haired young man, with the same smooth glowing texture as the belt circling his lean waist, and the square-toed black shoes on his feet.

~Damn the whelp looks hot~

There had been an easy and comfortable *rightness* about their time spent earlier that evening while getting the young man a change of clothing. Even the sales-assistant had commented on what a cute couple the two were when Xander had turned to go back to the changing room.

Xander stopped and turned back to give the vampire a quizzical look as if asking "Is that possible?"

Another comment Xander shouldn't have been able to hear over the distance.

Determined to take care of the mortal, Spike ushered Xander out of the bar and out into the night streets in search of food and a Transporter Shuttle to take them back to the airport.

*****