TITLE: Plus One
AUTHOR: vic_amy_z
EMAIL: [email protected]
LIVEJOURNAL: www.livejournal.com/users/vic_amy_z
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere
I post. Anywhere I already said 'yes' to.
Anyone else just
let me know and I'll gladly let you have it... I
even gift wrap at
no extra charge!
PAIRING: Angel /
Spike.
RATING: NC-17 for
sexual content and language.
POV: Switches
between Angel and Spike.
SUMMARY:
There's an important Wolfram & Hart function. Angel
needs a date and
Spike isn't making it easy for him. Will Angel make
it to the ball…?
NOTES: For the
'Forging Ghost' List - Challenge #26. It's
silly and it's
fluffy and I'm making no apologies for it, 'cause it
was a helluva lot
of fun to write!
SPOILERS:
Nothing specific, set early AtS season 5.
DISCLAIMER: My
story but no, I don't own them. If I did, they'd
spend more time
naked! All owned by a wonderful genius named Joss who
should be
encouraged to rethink their clothing situation. I get
nothing from
writing this, apart from a warm fluffy feeling…
FEEDBACK:
Yes, please! Needed like a needy thing with needy
wheels on!
DEDICATION:
To Ghosts Forge, for setting us some brilliant
challenges, and
for being a generally marvellous list-dad - *Very*
belated
Anniversary and Birthday wishes! Thanks also to Michelle, for
the rapid beta.
~~~~~~~~
'You are
cordially invited to… blah, blah, blah…' Angel barely
registered the rest
of the words written on the stiff vellum. His
head hit his
inordinately large desk with a strangle cry of 'Crap!
Crap! Crap!' As
if he wasn't already in a bad mood.
'Whatcha doin''
Oh no, not now.
Anything but…
'Spike. Not now,
I'm busy.'
'Doin' what?' The
bleached vampire took a seat on Angel's desk.
'Things…' replied
Angel, tersely.
'What kinda
things…?' Spike picked up a paperweight and began to toss
it idly from hand
to hand.
'Oh, you *are*
kidding me, right?' Angel glared at Spike in
disbelief. 'I
mean the 'terminal ADHD' *is* an act, isn't it? Or am I
going to have to
have you put on Ritalin?'
'Aww… Bad news,
Angel? Has your subscription to 'Brooding Monthly'
been cancelled?'
The paperweight slipped from Spike's hand and went
crashing to the
floor. 'Oops, butterfingers…' He made as if to pick
up the pieces.
'Don't bother,
I'll get it.' Angel walked around to the front of his
desk and began to
pick up the remains of another priceless artefact,
lost forever.
'So, you've been
invited to Wolfram & Hart's annual CEO weekend then,
eh?' Spike asked
rhetorically, waving the invitation slowly back and
forth in one
hand.
Angel realised
he'd been played. He sprung up from his position on
the floor and
made a grab for the offending piece of card, but Spike
was irritatingly
faster. It always amazed Angel how Spike could
manage to outrun,
outsmart - out-anything him, so long as the result
would be sure to
piss him off. Angel launched himself at Spike once
again, but his
childe leapt up onto the desk and out of his way again.
'Hey! It says
here 'plus one'. Does that mean that you get to bring a
date then?' Spike
leapt off the desk again and landed on the other
side, closely
pursued by Angel.
They played a
ridiculous game of 'chasing-round-the-desk', until
Angel roared,
'Give me that… NOW!' barely suppressing his game face.
Seemingly
satisfied that he'd successfully got on Angel's one
remaining nerve,
Spike tossed the invitation casually onto the desk
with, 'You only
had to ask…'
Angel calmly
repeated his mantra of 'I will not stake my childe, I
will not stake my
childe' to himself and sat down again.
'So, who's your
date then, Angel?'
'Spike. I am
*not* taking a date. We are *not* having this
conversation. In
fact, you are *not* in this office.' Calm. Breathe.
'But I *am* in
this…'
'Sense the tone,
Spike…'
'So, these
Wolfram & Hart thingies…'
'GET OUT!'
Angel's rage took him clean over the desk and barrelling
straight into
Spike. He picked the blonde up by his duster, opened
the office door
and hurled him bodily into the corridor before calmly
shutting the door
again.
~~~~~~~~
'Hey! Watch the
leather!' Spike yelled indignantly at the closed
door. He made a
huge show of getting up off the floor and dusting
himself down.
Not a single one
of the Wolfram & Hart employees batted an eyelid.
Even Harmony.
Spike guessed that they were probably getting used to
his and Angel's
arguments by now, which frequently ended up with
Spike being
tossed on his arse into a corridor.
He tried the door
again. It was locked.
'Angel…'
'Go away, Spike.'
'Can't I just…'
'NO!'
'Poof,' he
muttered, stalking away while he still had *some* pride
intact.
Still, the day
had not been wasted. 'So,' Spike mused aloud to
himself, 'Angel's
been called on by the Senior Partners, and he needs
a date if he's
going to show good form. I wonder who he'll ask
first…?'
Spike let out a
decidedly demonic chuckle, as he wandered off down
the corridor…
~~~~~~~~
Angel thought
about the invitation all afternoon.
Angel was *still*
thinking about the invitation when he wearily
trudged up to his
penthouse apartment at around three in the morning.
He knew from
files he'd read on the company, that they threw one of
these bashes
every year for all the CEOs and senior staff of Wolfram
& Hart's
branch offices. But Angel certainly hadn't expected to get
an invite
himself, the LA branch being something of a wildcard these
days -
annihilated by a demon and rising from its ashes to be taken
over by the very
people who were only too glad to see it defeated in
the first place.
Strange times…
When Angel
stepped out of the shower and climbed gratefully between
the sheets of his
large bed, he was *still* thinking about it. He
clicked off the
bedside light and closed his eyes. For almost half an
hour, he tried to
put the implications of his situation out of his
mind, but it
wouldn't rest.
Resignedly, he
clicked the light back on, picked up one of the files
he'd brought
upstairs and began to read about the Wolfram & Hart
staff
get-togethers of the past…
They were held
pretty much every year - apocalypses permitting - and
essentially, they
weren't much different from any other large-scale
corporate
function; huge hotel, networking over cocktails, evening
meal, social
gathering, an overnight stay and an enormous expense
claim. Oh, except
these were held in another dimension.
Over the years,
Angel read, the travelling arrangements and special
requirements of a
number of the attendees had proved too complex to
continue holding
it in the cities of its offices. And since Wolfram &
Hart was a
multi-dimensional law firm, it made sense to pick
somewhere where
everyone could be accommodated. So, attendees were
simply provided
with a portal to the chosen dimension - no more
problems.
Then there was
the 'date' part… He was pretty sure that it was
nothing more than
a power thing, but nonetheless, the records were
very clear on the
importance of that 'plus one partner, mate or
concubine'. In
fact, there was no mention anywhere of any CEO who had
*not* brought
someone, which Angel thought was very telling in itself.
'Damn it!' he
cursed to himself. The fact of the matter was - he
didn't have a
date. Neither did he have a partner, or a mate, and he
certainly didn't
have a concubine…!
Of course,
Cordelia would have made the perfect date for an occasion
like this;
immaculately dressed, absolutely stunning, and impeccably
polite to all the
right people. But sadly, that wasn't to be.
He briefly
considered trying to track down Buffy, before deciding
that bringing a
Slayer to a demonic law firm's corporate event would
probably be the
fastest way to end his already less-than-illustrious
career with said
law firm.
Eventually, Angel
decided that the best thing would be to ask a
female friend and
colleague to accompany him on a purely platonic
basis.
Unfortunately, these criteria left him with a list of just
one… Fred.
Angel sighed and
turned off the lamp once more. It was just something
he'd have to deal
with… in the morning.
~~~~~~~~
'I just don't
understand it. It was all going so well yesterday,'
Fred moaned for
the fourth time that morning.
''S okay, Pet.
I'll help you sort it out.'
'Thanks, Spike,
but I'm not sure there's anything you can do. I guess
I'll just have to
go back over my calculations and start again. I
just don't
understand it…'
Spike smiled in
what he hoped was a sympathetic fashion at the
harassed
scientist, and headed for the door… just in time to see
Angel coming
through it. Spike decided to stay, after all.
'Hi, Fred. How's
it going?' Angel asked, with false cheer.
'Oh. Well, it's
not so…'
'Good, good. Can
I talk to you for a minute?'
'Yeah, I guess.'
Fred put down her sheaf of scribbled notes and
perched on a
stool, expectantly.
I've, er… Well,
the thing is… I mean… Would you, er…'
Spike had to
clamp his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out
loud. He
certainly didn't want to draw Angel's attention to the fact
that he was still
there. But this? This was priceless! He found
himself wishing
he'd had the sense to bring popcorn…
'Did you… want
something, Angel? Only…' Fred made a vague gesture to
indicate that
she, at least, wasn't getting any younger, and would he
care to get his
bloody great size tens out of his gob and get to the
flaming point.
At least, that
was how Spike interpreted it.
'Yeah, um… You
see, I have to do this thing… for the company… and I
need someone to,
er... be with me… at this thing…I guess what I'm
trying to say is,
er… would you consider being that someone… who, er…
comes with me… to
the thing…?'
Spike was running
out of things to cram into his mouth. This was the
great Angelus,
seducer of all creatures? Spike thought it was a
bloody miracle
that he'd got laid at all, if this was his usual come-
on routine.
Finally, the
penny dropped for Fred.
'Oh! You want me
to… with you? On a company… thing? Together… sort
of…'
On second
thoughts, maybe they were perfectly suited…
'Yes.' Angel
breathed an audible sigh of relief.
'Oh, I'd love to,
but… Well, I'm working on this new trans-
dimensional
portal scanner for some really important clients, and it
was all going to
plan yesterday, but now… well, it couldn't scan its
way out of a wet
paper bag today. I'm sorry, Angel, but I won't have
time to leave the
lab for the rest of the week, and that's if I'm
lucky.'
'Oh…'
'It was lucky
that Spike was here this morning and spotted the loose
wires. Otherwise,
the beam could have gotten reversed and I might
have transported
the whole of the west coast into another dimension.
Me and portals,
huh…?' She smiled, weakly.
'So, *Spike* was
looking at it this morning?'
'Yeah. He's been
really helpful, too. Assisting me with the repairs
and all.'
'Has he now…'
Spike felt the
weight of his sire's stare fall upon him, and
immediately
assumed his most innocent-looking pose.
'Just, making
myself useful, y'know…?'
'Oh, I know,
Spike. *Believe* me, I know…' and with a glare that
could've melted
steel, Angel turned and stalked out of the lab.
Spike laughed
gleefully to himself. One down…
~~~~~~~~
It was the same
story across the whole of the company; sudden
deadlines,
increased workloads, colleague absences, and a whole load
of projects that
seemed to have taken one step forward and two steps
back overnight.
Not a single
female member of staff that he'd asked had been able to
accompany him. Of
course, as CEO he could have insisted that they
made time in
their schedules, but that just seemed so… well…
desperate!
And to top it
all, Angel just *knew* that Spike was responsible - he
just couldn't
prove it. Although, why Spike would want to stop him
from going to
this event was what was really puzzling.
He called a
meeting of the Angel Investigations team, minus Fred who
was still working
in the lab, to explain the problem.
'So that's it?
Not one female is available in the whole company?'
Gunn asked,
incredulously.
'That's it,'
Angel confirmed.
'You've asked
*everyone*?' said Lorne.
'Well, pretty much…'
He hesitated…
'You *do know*
what you gotta do, don't you…?' said Gunn.
'Okay, okay, I'll
ask her…' Angel sighed, pressed the button on the
intercom and
said, 'Harmony, could you come in here for a moment,
please.'
Immediately, it
buzzed back with, 'If this is about that date thing,
boss, I'm not
available either. Seems there's been some kinda mix up
in Demon
Resources and now, like, half the typing pool are on
vacation for the
next week, so I have to fill in. Thanks for asking
me though…
eventually!' and it clicked off again in a decidedly terse
fashion.
'Whoa! Blown out
by Harm… That's gotta hurt…'
Angel glared
pointedly at Gunn's barely suppressed laughter, and the
lawyer found
something very interesting on the carpet that required
his full
attention.
'So,' Angel
continued, 'I'm thinking that maybe one of you guys could
do the honours…?
In a purely professional capacity, I mean...
obviously.'
Looks of horror
passed from human to demon and back to human again.
'Oh come on, it
won't be that bad. Fancy hotel, executive suite… free
bar?' The last
point was directed at Lorne, who at least looked
tempted.
'Well, I would,
man,' Gunn began, 'but you know I got that big case
starting
Thursday. If I'm not there to defend our client then there's
a very good
chance that he'll eat the judge, and that does *not* look
good in the
company newsletter.'
'Okay,' Angel
sighed. 'Wesley?'
'Likewise, Angel.
I'm afraid I have an enormous amount of research
that has to be
done on a talisman that's been brought to us by a very
high profile
client. Leaving the office now is really out of the
question… Sorry.'
'Lorne?' Angel
said finally, trying to keep the edge of desperation
out of his voice.
'Angelcakes, you
know I'd stow away in your suitcase for the free bar
alone…'
'But…?'
'But… I have the
launch party for Mariah's new album this weekend.'
'Mariah's one of
ours?' Angel asked.
'You have another
explanation for 'Glitter'?'
'Good point.'
Angel leant back in his executive leather chair and
closed his eyes.
'So, that's it. Basically, I'm screwed.'
'Not just yet,'
began Wesley. 'There may be one option that you've
yet to consider.'
'I am *not*
asking Eve. She's not female, and possibly not human
either! And
besides… she'll already be there.'
'I was actually
thinking of Spike.'
Angel froze for a
split second, and then threw his head back and
laughed out loud
until the tears were practically rolling down his
face. He hadn't
laughed like that in years.
'Oh, Wesley,' he chuckled,
wiping his eyes. 'Thank you so much for
that, I really
needed ohdeargodyou'reseriousaren'tyou?'
'Well, it makes
rather good sense when you think about it.'
'I *have* thought
about it! Did you not just see the Spike-induced
hysteria?'
'What I mean is,
he's part of your family line, which shows
longevity. And
same sex couples are more widely accepted within
vampire lore, so
that shouldn't be a problem either.'
As the steam
threatened to come out of Angel's ears, he could've
sworn that the
tiniest of smirks crossed Wesley's lips. Then before
he could reply,
and right on cue, Spike came waltzing in through the
door.
'Ah, Spike,'
Wesley continued. 'Just the person. Do you have any
plans for this
weekend? Only, Angel requires an escort to the Wolfram
& Hart
function, and we were wondering if you'd be able to accompany
him?'
'Oh, your date
thing, right?' Spike asked, innocently.
Angel nodded
almost imperceptibly, which was just about all he
trusted himself
to manage without exploding.
'Yeah, I don't
see why not. Haven't got any plans I couldn't cancel.'
'Marvellous!
That's all settled then.'
Then Angel
understood. The large-scale workload sabotage hadn't been
to stop him from
going - it had been to make sure that he took Spike!
With everyone
else satisfied that the situation had been resolved,
they left the
office. Angel slumped forwards onto his desk for the
second time in as
many days, and quietly wondered how the hell he
managed to get
himself into these situations…
~~~~~~~~
For the next two
days, Angel was unbearable. He yelled at Wesley, he
yelled at Fred,
he yelled at Gunn, he yelled at Spike (who calmly
gave him the
finger) and he yelled at Harmony until she cried so much
that Lorne had to
give her the rest of the day off.
At this point,
Lorne suggested that if he didn't have anything nice
to say, perhaps
he should consider keeping his trap shut and minding
his own sodding
business… or words to that effect.
From then on,
Angel remained in his penthouse. Probably sulking.
On Saturday at
precisely
strongly worded
memo, Spike was waiting in Angel's office. He'd also
been instructed
to fill out a registration form, stating his name,
species and
relationship to Angel. *That'd* been a lot of fun. He'd
managed 'Spike'
and 'Vampire' fairly easily for questions one and
two, but the
possibilities for question three were endless. He'd
briefly toyed
with 'immortal enemy', and 'pain in the arse'. He
almost went with
'master' just to watch Angel explode, before
dutifully
sticking down 'childe' and leaving it at that.
A few seconds
later, the elevator 'pinged' to signal His Broodiness'
arrival from
upstairs. He was dressed in a simple black wool sweater
with tailored
black pants and carried an immaculate Louis Vuitton
overnight bag
with a matching suit carrier.
Spike wore his
favourite black jeans, a tight black t-shirt and his
duster, and
carried a small rucksack.
Angel gave him a
withering look and stepped into the centre of the
office. There was
a kind of odd shimmery effect and a whooshing noise
as the portal
appeared, and Angel calmly stepped through it without a
word.
Spike approached
it more cautiously, first sticking his arm through,
which made it
feel all tingly, before finally stepping all the way
through. There
was more tingling and that dropping feeling you get
when you lose
your stomach on a roller coaster… and then it was over.
The portal had
closed behind him, and Spike found himself standing in
the middle of a
hotel lobby.
To say that the
hotel was 'grand', was a bit like saying that the
Empire State
Building was 'fairly tall', or that the Sistine Chapel
was 'quite
pretty'. It oozed luxury from everywhere, from its ornate
glass ceiling
(necro-tempered, judging by the lack of flames) right
down to its
glossy marble floor. The lobby appeared to be a central
atrium, looked
down upon from every floor that circled it.
Eventually, Spike
remembered to stop gawking and hurried over to the
reception desk
where Angel was standing in line.
The receptionist
was a beautiful shade of the palest turquoise, with
dark turquoise
hair that looked as though it was made up of tiny
living strands.
As Spike got closer, he realised that there *were*
tiny living
strands, which identified her as a Ge'hesh demon - a
completely
harmless race and very eager to please others, but rarely
seen outside of
their own dimension. He pulled up to a halt next to
his sire, who was
being greeted.
'Welcome to the
complex, Mr Angel. We've been expecting you.' The
receptionist
smiled and fluttered her deep-blue lashes. 'Here's your
key: suite
four-seven-three on the fifth floor. I hope you enjoy your
stay.'
Angel waited
patiently while she turned back to her computer screen.
After a few
seconds, she looked up at him.
'Was there
something else I can help you with?' she enquired,
politely.
'Yes. The key for
my... my…'
'Date?' Spike
supplied, helpfully.
'Oh…' she gave
them both a look of genuine surprise. 'I was given to
believe that you
and your… your…'
'Date?' Spike
supplied again.
'He's NOT my
date…'
'…that you would
be sharing a suite. What with you both being
vampires…' she
trailed off without elaborating any further on the
last part.
'Well, I'm sorry
but you've been misinformed. Spike will be requiring
his own suite.'
'Hell yeah!'
Spike agreed, enthusiastically. 'A big one, too. With a
bar… and a hot
tub!'
'I'm terribly
sorry, but the entire hotel is booked up for the
Wolfram & Hart
contingent. We have no spare rooms at all for this
weekend.' She
began to look a little flustered.
'Could you at
least check?' asked Angel.
'I have checked,
Mr Angel. We are…'
'Then check
again.' The receptionist and her hair backed away from
him slightly.
'We'll take anything - a spare broom cupboard if you
have one.'
'Hey!'
'I really am
sorry,' her voice shook a little, 'but we have nothing
available at
all.' By now, her hair was beginning to look quite
alarmed, the tiny
strands pulling themselves backwards in a group
attempt to get
away.
'So let me get
this straight. There are *no* available rooms in the
hotel. At all.'
'That's correct.
I really can't apologise enough, Mr Angel, but as
all the other
delegates are sharing a suite with their… their…'
'Yes, yes. All
right. ' Angel interrupted, before Spike could manage
to say 'date'
again. 'Thank you for you help.' He snatched up his
bags and stalked
off, leaving both the receptionist and her hair,
looking very
relieved.
Spike jogged to
catch up with him.
'So…'
'Not a word,
Spike. Not. A. Word…'
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