How to Treat Your Lover

Cordelia pulled up to the hotel with Angel beside her and Spike in the back seat with the top down. Before she had come to a full stop, Spike jumped out of the back, waiting for Angel.

“Home sweet hotel,” Cordelia commented.

Fatigue looked like it had become a permanent resident, draped heavily over Angel. “Just bring the car back tomorrow.”

Spike’s brows shot up at that. Angel must be really worn out to have just given his baby over to the cheerleader’s care.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Cordelia asked, concerned.

“Yeah,” Angel replied, tired. “I’ll be fine. I just need to get some sleep.”

Spike’s brows furrowed at that. That had better be a line he just used as an excuse to get Cordy out of here because he had other plans. As Angel got out of the car, Cordelia said, “That seems to be all you’ve been doing lately, among other things.” When both vampires glared at her, she held up her hand. “Not that I’m judging.”

“Good night, Cordy,” they chorused and walked to the hotel entrance.

“Sleep tight! Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” she called out.

“The only one who will be biting will be me, princess,” Spike answered and then disappeared in Angel’s wake as Cordelia drove away.

Inside the hotel, Angel waited until he heard the doors close behind Spike and turned on him with predatory eyes. “You have thirty seconds to get up to the room and strip.”

Spike’s eyes widened at the tone of Angel’s voice. It was so much like the old Angelus that his dick was immediately hard. He headed for the stairs and started to undress, dropping his duster on the first landing, his shoes were kicked off going up the stairs and he nearly tripped in his haste. The shirts came off on the first level of rooms. The belt on his jeans came off on the stairs to the second level, and his jeans were off in the hallway leading to room 217.

Angel shook his head and tried to keep his expression straight when he saw Spike’s trying to undress as he ran up the stairs. He walked at an even pace to the stairs and picked up Spike’s jacket, the shoes, the shirts, and the belt – which gave him ideas of using it to punish Spike for teasing Cordelia. He snatched up the jeans and went to the half-open door to his room.

Dropping the items on the sitting room floor with a loud clatter, Angel unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off as he all but prowled to the bedroom. Just inside the doorway separating the rooms, he threw his shirt on a chair, kicked off his shoes and removed the rest of his clothing. All the while, his eyes were on the bed and the peroxide blonde who was propped up in the center of the bed, naked and stroking his cock with a smirk as he watched Angel.

“Took you longer than thirty seconds to get here,” Spike commented.

“I’m sorry you had to wait, but I had to clean up the wardrobe tornado that struck in the hallway,” Angel answered in a low voice.

“What’s a vamp to do when given so little time,” Spike mused.

“Just means that I have more time to punish you for teasing Cordelia earlier,” Angel said as he put a knee on the foot of the bed and crawled up the mattress slowly as he went on, “What were you doing when I was talking to David Nabbitt hmm? Trying to get her in a position to look down her shirt maybe? You are always so predictable.”

Spike watched his Sire panther-crawl up the bed. It was one of those things he had picked up from Angelus and the saying ‘like father like son’ came to mind or more appropriate ‘like Sire like childe’.

When Angel reached the space between Spike’s legs, he leaned down and scented along the muscled stomach, breathing in his childe’s scent: cigarettes, leather, the borrowed blood that raced through his veins, and the overpowering aroma of Spike’s arousal. He shouldn’t have been surprised considering the younger vampire dripped sex with every fiber of his being. It made him irresistible to his prey. Angel moved up along Spike’s chest to his neck and nibbled at the hours-old bite mark he had put there earlier.

“I have this tempting urge to install shackles on the frame of this bed and leave you here.” Angel’s soft voice and words sent a thrill down Spike’s spine. “That way I won’t have any problems with you trying to literally make my secretary cum by persuasion.”

“Seem to have a recollection of being restrained to a bed as punishment before,” Spike responded, his voice thick with arousal.

Angel reached down and pried Spike’s fingers from around his cock and replaced them with his own. His grip was tighter than what the younger vampire had used and Spike whimpered softly as his Sire tugged and stroked the length.

Spike strained to reach the bottle of hand cleanser. Swiping it off the table, he popped the lid open to drizzle it on the head of his cock and Angel’s fingers. The cool liquid seeped along his skin and the fingers stroking him, sliding down over his sacs and onto the sheets.

Never removing his hand, Angel clutched at Spike’s hip with his free hand and dragged his body down under him, until his lover’s ass met his thighs. The dark vampire towered over his childe and rocked his hips against the body under him, covering his cock in the excess of makeshift lubricant.

Angel moved his hips back. Removing his hand from the blonde’s hip, he used it to guide his dick down to the anal opening and pushed in. Then, his ears filled with a rushing sound and he barely heard Spike’s groans. All he felt was the tight ring slowly opening around the head of his dick and the internal muscles rippling around him as his shaft slid in. God, he forgot what it was like to feel the slow slide of flesh.

“Angel, fuck . . .” Spike groaned as his Sire’s monolith nearly split him in two. He didn’t know if this was better or he preferred to have Angel thrust hard and fast into him.

Angel leaned over him again and seized Spike’s wrists in a tight grip against the mattress. He pulled back and, as he licked over his childe’s collarbone and neck, Angel slammed back into him, causing Spike to grunt as his body lurched against the mattress. He nibbled on the underside of the blonde’s chin and jaw line as he continued to thrust hard and deep.

When Angel shifted his hips and thrust in, Spike cried out and would have come off the bed had the bigger vampire not have been holding him down. Angel grinned against Spike’s skin at the sound and hit the bundle of nerves again unerringly, hearing his boy yelp and felt him squirm under him.

When Angel hit it again, Spike arced off the bed as much as he was able. For all he knew, his Sire was trying to stroke his cock from the inside by hitting his prostate that way. The pleasure-pain of it had him writhing against the assault. He didn’t know if he wanted the sensation to continue or he was trying to get away from it.

When it seemed like Spike was trying to get away, Angel’s eyes turned to the color of his demon without his face shifting and growled a command that could have meant that his childe was to stay put. Spike settled down only to be jolted again by one of Angel’s accurate thrusts.

“Bloody hell, Angel! What are you doing?” Spike choked the question out right before Angel slammed into him again. “Christ!”

“He has nothing to do with this,” Angel growled just before he moved in for a biting kiss.

Spike moaned into the kiss and then grunted when the pounding thrusts hit his prostate again. His tongue darted out and tasted his own blood. Licking that up, he delved into his Sire’s mouth and explored the recesses. Angel growled and released Spike’s wrist to hold his bucking hips down to the bed with one hand and reach under the pillows to grip the edge of the mattress for stability.

Angel broke the kiss and started biting Spike’s skin until little red grooves appeared on the white skin. “Brazen childe, you think I don’t know what you do. I molded you into a fearless vampire and you end up as a promiscuous, little slut. Teasing Cordelia like that. How many others have you tried that with, hmm? Buffy, perhaps? Have you tried to get under her skirts while you’re up there in Sunnydale alone?”

Spike was still trying to wriggle against Angel in attempt to achieve orgasm when he vaguely heard his Sire’s words. He didn’t sound too upset about Spike teasing Cordelia, but the blonde shivered when the possessive tone hit his ears at the mention of Buffy.

“Afraid I might score with your ex-honey eh?” Spike tried to joke.

Angel curled his fingers around his throat with a warning pressure and still managed to caress the skin there, causing Spike to respond. “You are mine. You don’t belong to her. You’re only there to make sure she survives on the Hellmouth.” Angel’s voice was deadly and his pounding thrusts were harder, punishing; jabbing into Spike’s prostate punctuating his words.

“Angel,” Spike groaned in pleasure-pain.

Spike looked up into the yellow eyes of his Sire and felt the demon rippling underneath the surface of the body above him. Each thrust into his body brought Angel’s belly in contact with his cock and rubbed against the length creating a teasing friction. Spike didn’t mind that, what he had a niggling worry about was Angel’s hand around his neck and the dangerous glint in the demon eyes that he hadn’t seen for a century.

Angel watched Spike as he pumped his hips against him, the smaller body accepting the brutal treatment. He watched Spike’s face as his childe swallowed saliva and felt the erotic movement against his palm. He took in the sight as the younger vampire bowed and gyrated under him trying to achieve the orgasm that Angel kept just out of his reach.

Los Angeles, Cordelia’s Apartment

Cordelia walked into her living room carrying a book and a cup of hot tea. It was good to finally have the apartment to herself. Well, aside from sharing it with a ghost. There were no vampires cluttering her living room. Spike wasn’t there to go through her drawers and force everyone to watch Passions. Angel wasn’t there lecturing her on how to use anything as a weapon in case of a break in. And, the best part, there were no vampires trying to copulate on her furniture. Life was starting to look up.

“Jeez, Denis, it’s like a meat locker in here. Don’t tell me you turned down the thermostat again,” Cordelia said pointedly.

The thermostat moved from 50 to 75 seemingly on its own in response.

Cordelia curled up in the chair, setting her cup on the table and opened the book. “Thank you. What is it with ghosts and cold rooms?”

Just then, a vision hit her and nearly knocked her out of the chair. “Oh, what . . .? Oh, no!” Just as she recovered from the first jolt, another part of the vision hit her knocking her to the floor. She saw a blurry image of Gunn fighting something unknown. The pain from the vision had her writhing on the floor and she held out her hand. “Denis, phone!” At the command, the cordless phone flew into her hand.

Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel, Angel’s Suite

In the course of sex, Angel had maneuvered Spike onto his hands and knees. He was thrusting into the blonde vampire hard and deep with enough force to rock both of their bodies back and forth on the mattress. Angel was laid over Spike’s back with his arm around his childe’s waist and a nail-biting grip on the hip to hold the younger vampire in place. His face was buried in the crook of Spike’s neck, growling with each plunge inside the other vampire. Spike was gyrating and straining under him when Angel’s cell phone started ringing.

“Angel,” Spike grunted, “your phone is ringing.”

“Ignore it,” was the muffled reply.

It continuously rang until it got on Spike’s nerves and he reached his hand out for it only to have his wrist gripped by Angel.

“I said ignore it,” the dark vampire growled as he drew Spike’s hand back.

“It could be Cordelia with a vision,” Spike said, voice straining to speak coherently.

“Yeah, and it could be Lassie calling home,” Angel replied sarcastically.

Spike chuckled. “That’s not funny!”

“Who said I was being funny?” Angel asked. He let go of Spike’s wrist, reached down to encircle his boy’s cock and started to jerk on the shaft as he whispered, “Now . . . do you really want to answer that phone and put an end to what could be a mind blowing orgasm?”

Just then, Angel shifted his position and slammed into Spike’s prostate causing the blonde to yell, “Fuck, Angel!”

“Didn’t think you would,” Angel’s grin was feral as he felt the way Spike responded to him.

“Fuck me, Angel!” Spike growled as he pushed back onto his Sire’s cock.

Angel chuckled as he straightened up, grabbed Spike’s hips and started thrusting faster.

Los Angeles, Cordelia’s Apartment

When she didn’t get an answer from Angel, Cordelia hung up and called Wesley. She paced the floor as his voicemail picked up. “Wesley? Where are you? Are you there? Wesley? Ugh! Where are you guys? God, I don’t know what I should do. I had a vision. It’s Gunn. He’s in trouble. I-I think it’s bad. Oh, God, where are you guys? I don’t know what to . . . okay, I’m going over there. When you get this message, get Angel and Spike and meet me at Gunn’s okay?”

She hung up the phone and grabbed her purse. She was just about to reach for the door knob when she stopped and headed for the coat closet. “I need a weapon,” she commented as she pulled out a small ax and shoved it in her purse. “Okay. I’m going to die.” With that she went to the door and walked out of the apartment.

A while later, Angel’s convertible pulled up in front of Gunn’s place. Cordelia jumped out and ran in, ax in hand and headed down a dimly lit corridor.

“Gunn?” she called out. She heard the sound of weapons clashing coming from a laundry room. She got to the door and peeked in the window to see Gunn fighting someone with quarterstaffs. She ran in and immediately hit the person over the head from behind with her ax.

For a moment, everything went still. Everyone in the room stared at Cordelia in shock. The guy reached up and cradled his pounding head. “Ow.”

Gunn’s brows drew together irritably and he stepped up and yanked the ax out of Cordelia’s hand, asking “Are you crazy? What the hell are you doing?”

“Saving you from a killer demon!” Cordelia blurted out.

At that, the entire room broke out in laughter. Cordelia, still on the adrenalin rush, looked around, just now noticing Gunn’s gang sitting there watching the whole thing. She turned and asked sheepishly, “Not a demon?”

Gunn’s lips hardened into a thin line as he shook his head negatively.

“Then, I didn’t just save your life?” Cordelia sighed.

Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel, Angel’s Suite

Spike was laying on his back with Angel over him, sucking slowly at an open wound on the shoulder as the larger vampire thrust into him in long, agonizingly slow strokes. Spike didn’t know if he would come from this or turn to dust from the heat of friction. There was sheen of perspiration glistening on his skin. Did vampire actually sweat? The very idea was lost on him the moment he embraced the meaning of being a vampire. He dug his nails into Angel’s back whenever a stroke caused his Sire’s cock to brush against his prostate. From Spike’s vantage point, Angel was trying to burrow inside him.

“Angel!” Spike hissed through clenched teeth as bones ground against each other. Apparently, there is no such thing as ‘deep enough’, because as his Sire was redefining it: if you think you’ve gone as far as you can go, just push harder until the pelvic bones grind against each other harshly. “Angel, fuck! I don’t think you can get any deeper without rearranging my colon!”

In response, Angel growled and fused his mouth to Spike’s in an attempt to shut him up. He gripped the blonde’s hip and held them down and let his hips fall into every thrust, making Spike grunt when they struck the back wall of the anal canal. For his part, Spike felt like he was getting beat up from the inside and the pain put him on the brink when the movement hit his prostrate dead on.

Without realizing it, Angel let go of Spike’s hip, inadvertently scratching him. Spike bowed under him and yelled more from the pain than the blissful release that shot out of his convulsing dick.

“Okay,” Spike panted. “When you decide to pull out of me, do it very slowly.”

Angel grinned mischievously, jerked his hips back and disengaged from Spike to the sound of a hoarse scream.

“Bleedin’ bastard!” Spike hissed in pain as he rolled onto his side and curled into himself instinctively.

Angel curled around his back and sucked gently on the healing wound in his childe’s neck as he reached down and caressed Spike’s perineum as if that would soothe the pain, but he gave no apology.

Just then, Angel caught a movement in his peripheral vision. He jerked to an upright position and leapt at the thing with his hands around its neck. When Angel went over the side of the bed with the intruder, Spike sat up and looked over the side of the mattress to see that his Sire had flattened Wesley on the ground.

“Gonna fuck him into next week too?” Spike asked wryly.

Angel growled in response but didn’t look at the blonde.

“Angel, it’s me!” Wesley choked out as he clutched Angel’s wrist.

The dark vampire refocused on the thing under him and noticed it was the former Watcher. “What are you doing here?”

“Gunn’s in trouble. Can’t breathe,” Wesley was still trying to talk past Angel’s grip.

“Gunn can’t breathe?” Angel asked confused.

Spike climbed off the bed and tugged back on Angel’s shoulder, trying to get him to release Wesley before the human turned blue. “No, ponce. He can’t breathe! Let him go.”

Angel released the former Watcher and jumped up. “Oh, sorry.”

Wesley relaxed on his back as he inhaled gulps of much needed oxygen. “It’s quite all right,” he panted and then looked up at the two nude vampires. “Now about the naked thing . . .”

Angel looked down at his flaccid cock and then smirked. “I’ll get dressed.”

“Much appreciated,” Wesley replied.

Spike grabbed Wesley’s wrist and helped him up, ignoring the man’s protests. “We’re all males here, mate.”

“Thank you for pointing that out, Spike. Now, if you’d kindly get your clothes on, I’d feel much more comfortable,” Wesley said trying not to look down.

Los Angeles, Gunn’s Place

Cordelia was bandaging her ‘killer demon’ victim’s head while Gunn watched her with an annoyed expression. He couldn’t believe she had the gall to show up, attack one of his crew and then offer to patch him up.

She stepped back and admired her handiwork at first aid. “Okay. There you go. Good as new.”

“I think you cracked my skull,” the guy said sardonically.

“Well, that’s new, right?” Cordelia smiled nervously.

Gunn sighed in irritation and headed towards the door. She turned to follow him. “Hey, wait a minute. Where are you going?”

“Walking you to your car; you’re going home,” Gunn stated flatly.

Cordelia picked up her ax and purse and hurried after him. “You know you can’t dismiss me like that. I know what I’m talking about.”

“Oh, you mean like you knew Joey was a demon?” Gunn sneered.

Cordelia pointed back the way they came and said, “That was an honest mistake. I was just trying to help you.”

“Thanks for the help. Always enhances a guy’s rep when some skinny white beauty queen comes to his rescue – in front of his crew!” Gunn pointed out.

“Whether you want to believe it or not, you are in big time danger. I’m vision-girl. I saw you. You were at the end of your world fighting for your life. You were so scared!” Cordelia said adamantly.

“See, now I know you’re tripping, ’cause I don’t get scared,” Gunn scoffed.

“Well, I do! The thinks I’ve seen, sometimes they get downright terrifying, and right now, I am scared for you!” Cordelia stressed.

“Be scared for me all you want, just do it back at your place.”

“I’m not leaving your side until I know you’re safe,” Cordelia declared as she followed Gunn out of the building to the parking lot.

“I’m not in the market for a sidekick, so hightail it back on home,” Gunn waved her off.

“No.”

“Thanks for coming. Buckle up. Drive safe,” Gunn was saying when they stopped and looked around. “So, where’s your car?”

Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel

Wesley, Angel and Spike stood outside the hotel.

“So, where’s your car?” Wesley asked.

“Cordelia took it earlier,” Spike replied.

Angel scratched his head. “I let her have my baby?”

“No, you let her have your car,” Spike smirked.

“Wait here,” Wesley said and walked away.

“Why would I do that?” Angel asked, still confused as to why he would let Cordelia have the convertible.

“Because you were so hard up to fuck my ass that you let her take it,” Spike replied as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

“You’re crude, you know that?” Angel retorted.

Spike glanced up at Angel through thick, dark lashes. “Uh huh, no more crude than what was coming out of your mouth for the last three hours. I never knew you were so jealous of anyone who had it bad for your little slayer.”

“I’m not jealous. I don’t care who she dates,” Angel growled.

“As long as it’s not me, right? Just can’t stomach the thought of me touching her,” Spike said softly.

Angel saw the small glimmer of hurt in Spike’s eyes. He moved closer as Spike finished a drag on his cigarette. “It’s not about her. I can’t stomach the thought of her touching you. You teasing Cordy . . . is different for some reason. You’re a natural flirt. But, Buffy is Buffy. She’s a Slayer and irresistible to someone like you. Angelus – I’m jealous and possessive over what’s mine.”

A Highway in Los Angeles

Cordelia and Gunn were in his truck arguing as he drove.

“Angel is not going to be happy. Do you know what he’s going to do to me when he finds out I let his car get stolen? What are the chances that a vampire has full insurance with a low deductible?” she asked, worried over Angel’s reaction. He’d probably never let her drive his car again.

“I’ll find the car,” Gunn promised.

“How exactly are going to do that?” Cordelia asked skeptically.

“I know a couple of guys in this part of town that jack vintage cars. We’ll run down the list until we find Angel’s ride,” Gunn shrugged.

“And then what? You’re just going to ask them to give it back?” Cordelia asked pointedly.

Gunn glanced over at her. “I’ll say please.”

“Ooh! I forgot. You’ll use your famous charm. Like you did this afternoon with that pigeon stool,” Cordelia said sarcastically.

“It’s stool pigeon,” he corrected, “and you don’t have a clue why I do the things I do!”

“Paging Mr. Rationalization!” Cordelia said angrily.

“Paging Ms. About-to-be-thrown-out-of-a-moving-vehicle,” Gunn shot back.

“Be as rude as you want. I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re safe!” Cordelia declared.

“I’m rude? You’re the one that showed up at my place, attacked my boy, and then decided to hijack my life. The way I figure it, I find your car for you, you give me my freedom back,” Gunn concluded.

“That’s not the way it works! You need protection!” Cordelia said.

“How exactly do you plan on protecting me? With some weak-ass Ladysmith battle ax?” Gunn sneered.

“Ask Joey and his cracked skull just how weak-ass it is,” Cordelia replied. Gunn silently prayed for the strength not to reach over and strangle the seer. She rummaged around in her purse and came up with a red bottle. “Besides, I’ve also got this! Mace!”

“Mace?” Gunn asked incredulously.

“Little squirt, squirt, right in the eye?” Cordelia explained.

“You’re expecting me to be jumped by a couple of purse-snatching demons?” Gunn chuckled at the absurdity of the way tonight was going.

Cordelia shrugged and sat back. “Well, it’ll just have to do because I’m your protector whether you like it or not.”

Gunn sighed and watched the road. “Something better attack me soon ’cause I know I can’t take much more of this.”

Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel

Spike and Angel were still communicating, for the most part. Angel had the blonde vampire backed up against the end of a hedgerow, trying to bury his tongue down Spike’s throat. The younger vampire was cursing the clothing situation as he rubbed against his Sire’s crotch and the friction didn’t help ease a damn thing.

Wesley pulled up and put his feet on the ground to level the motorcycle. He rolled his eyes at the sight that greeted him. When the two vampires didn’t acknowledge that they heard him, he cleared his throat. “Come on. What are you waiting for?”

Spike pried himself away from Angel and looked at Wesley. Angel followed his direction and slowly pulled away from his childe.

“Well, well, Wes, what kind of severance package did you get when the Watcher’s Council fired you?” Spike asked as he looked at the sleek machine.

Angel picked up the item behind Wesley and held up a hot pink helmet. “Uh . . . I-I-I really don’t think it’s going to fit.”

Spike glanced over to see what his Sire was talking about and literally turned gray. Inching away from his companions, he backed down toward the alley. “Wait here,” he said before he turned around and walked straight, cackling to himself.

Angel looked up to see Spike’s retreating form and went to follow him. “I, uh, better go see if he needs any help with that.”

He didn’t get five paces before Wesley stopped him. “Spike’s capable of doing whatever it is he’s doing.”

Several minutes later, Wesley was trying to get Angel to put the helmet on when there was a sound of an engine and then Spike’s black Desoto pulled up beside them in the alley. The blonde put an arm on the back of the front seat and called out the window. “Mine’s bigger!”

Angel’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head at the double entendre. He made a move to put the helmet back and catch a ride with Spike when Wesley stopped him again. “Put it on.”

“You know, I-I don’t need a helmet for protection,” Angel declared.

“Angel, it’s the law in California. You want us to get pulled over?” Wesley asked.

“No,” Angel said petulantly as he looked at his feet like a reprimanded child. It was hell making up for almost choking the former Watcher earlier.

“Then, what’s the problem?” Wesley inquired.

“Well, it-it’s just, you know – the whole – visibility issue, not to the mention the whole hat-head thing, how come I have to wear the ladies helmet? Why can’t I just catch a ride with Spike?” Angel asked with a wave in Spike’s direction.

“Stop being a wanker and put it on!” Wesley retorted. “The bike will get us there faster than Spike’s Desoto. He can bring it in case of injuries.”

“Hey!” Spike groused. “What do I look like, the Red Cross?”

Angel looked like he wanted to protest further but Wesley just looked at him. Angel sighed, put the helmet on and looked at Wesley. Spike snickered and Wesley suppressed a smile while he put his black helmet on. “Looks good. Hop on gorgeous.”

“You’ll pay for this,” Angel threatened through the helmet as he climbed on behind Wesley.

A House in Los Angeles

Cordelia and Gunn ran around the city trying to find Angel’s car, hitting a few places that Gunn knew about. They ended up in a house party where they found another contact of Gunn’s, and were promptly attacked by vampires due to the ‘open door’ invitation to the party. An acquaintance of Gunn’s was injured and Gunn and Cordelia rushed her to the hospital.

While they were waiting for a prognosis, Wesley and Angel showed up at the house where ambulances and police cruisers were still parked. Angel got off the bike, put the helmet on the seat and ran his fingers through his hair to get it to stand up again. Damn hat-head, he told Wesley that would happen. Styling gel can only help so much.

Wesley walked up the sidewalk and stopped a girl who was coming down the porch steps. “Excuse me, Miss? Do you by any chance know a Charles Gunn? One of his associates suggested that we might be able to find him here.”

The girl was still walking toward the ambulance as she replied, “Huh? No. I don’t know. Maybe he was one of the ones that got hurt.”

Wesley turned around to look for someone else who would know Gunn, but Angel stayed with the girl, putting a comforting hand on her back. “Looks like you’re hurt,” he commented.

“No. I-I’m fine,” the girl assured him.

“What happened here?” Angel inquired.

The girl shook her head as if to clear it. “I’m not sure. It just all happened so fast. We were partying. I don’t know who they were looking for, but they were strong. It was like they were on something.”

All three walked behind an ambulance. The girl made to leave the two guys saying, “I just – I need to lie down.”

“Ah, if you’ve suffered some sort of head injury . . .” Wesley started to say.

“No,” the girl cut in. “I’m okay. Really. I was lucky compared to some of the others.”

She turned to go, but Angel grabbed her shoulders. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

The girl smiled sweetly. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Good,” Angel said soothingly before he hit her in the face, causing her human disguise to shift to her demon. “Now, start talking.”

Los Angeles, Auto Shop

Cordelia and Gunn walked into the garage and Cordelia immediately spotted Angel’s car. That meant that she could get it back and Angel would never know that it was stolen. Yes, and tomorrow she’ll win the lottery, have the visions surgically removed from her brain and be a huge star! It could happen.

“Great. You drive it out of here and I’ll follow you home,” Gunn said as he turned to leave.

Cordelia got into the driver’s seat and started to search the car. “Just as soon as I find the keys.”

That stopped Gunn. He turned around and asked, “You don’t have the keys?”

“Well, I-I kind of left them in the car when I went in to save you. I thought you were in danger. Every second counted,” she said defensively.

Gunn was fed up. This girl showed up earlier and proceeded to humiliate him in front of his crew, and generally make his night hell and she left the keys in the car! “You know, I got to tell you, you are one high-maintenance chick.”

“The keys are here,” she declared as she searched through the car. “Somewhere.”

Gunn walked around to the passenger side to look. “You are killing me!”

Cordelia glanced over at him. “Can’t you – you know – hot wire it?”

Gunn scoffed at that. “Just because I know some car thieves don’t mean I am one.”

Her brows furrowed in irritation. “Hey instead of being high-moral-ground boy, why don’t you help me find them?”

“Looking for these?” a demonic voice asked.

Cordelia and Gunn both turned to see Deevak holding a set of keys.

“Go,” Gunn ordered.

“Not a chance,” Cordelia said incredulously as she got out of the car.

“Go!” Gunn yelled at her.

“I’m not leaving you!” Cordelia shouted back.

“How touching: a woman willing to die for her man,” Deevak observed.

Cordelia took a step back from Gunn. “Oh, no, he’s not my man. He-he’s just a friend. And . . . about the ‘willing to die’ part . . .”

Gunn sneered as he sized up the demon. “You must be Deevak. They told me you were ugly, but . . . damn.”

“And, you’re the big bad Gunn,” Deevak said disinterestedly as he took a particular liking to Cordelia. Gunn put his hand back toward her protectively, but she only batted it away. Deevak stepped closer and looked down at the vampire hunter. “I heard you were looking for me.” He grabbed Gunn by the throat and lifted him up, ignoring Cordelia’s protests. “You found me.”

Cordelia pulled out her ax and hit Deevak with it, trying to get him to release Gunn. But the demon caught her wrist in his other hand. He spoke to Gunn when he menacingly said, “How does it feel to finally meet up with someone even nastier than you?” Gunn made a few choked noises. “Not too good by the sound of it.”

Cordelia tried to wrench her arm free, crying out, “You’re killing him!”

Deevak chose that moment to morph into Jameel. He still held Gunn and Cordelia in a strong grip though. He glared up at his captive, repeating Gunn’s words, “Survival of the fittest, bro, and right now you’re not looking too fit.”

Cordelia reached into her purse with her free hand, dug out the bottle of mace and sprayed it in Jameel’s eyes causing him to let go of her and Gunn. She immediately rushed to Gunn’s side and checked him over. While they were preoccupied, Jameel morphed back into Deevak. Cordelia looked up when she saw movement in her peripheral vision. “Oh my God.”

Cordelia helped Gunn up and they backed away from the demon just as Angel and Wesley, on the motorcycle, came sliding sideways under the garage door, knocking down one of the vampires Deevak had as sidekicks. The vampire picked himself up and grinned when he saw Angel take off the pink helmet. The dark vampire looked at the helmet in his hands and then back at the vampire before grinning and smashing the helmet in its face.

Angel and Wesley were fighting vampires, Gunn was trying to fight Deevak, but the demon blocked every punch he threw and Cordelia went to hit one of the other vampires, but he pinned her against the side of the car.

It was a scene that Spike came upon when he finally rolled underneath the garage door.

Wesley staked the vampire that held Cordelia down, and then pulled her out of the way of another vampire who moved to bash her head in with a crowbar. Spike saw it, immediately shifted into his demon and growled before attacking the vampire. He leapt on the vampire knocking it to the ground, straddled its body and started pounding on its face.

Angel looked over to see Spike using the vampires head as a boxer’s speed bag and called out, “About time you joined us!”

“Yeah, well, I would have been here sooner, but there was a 45 mile-an-hour car chase on the 405! Bloody road blocks!” Spike explained as he continued to pound on his opponent.

“Who, in their right mind, drives on the 405? Thank God none of us are near death or you’d be no help at all,” Angel growled as he knocked his opponent down with a well-aimed punch.

“Angel, you can suck my dick,” Spike said irritably as he wrestled the crowbar out of the vampire’s hands.

“Not now, Spike. Kind of busy at the moment,” Angel replied just as he dusted his opponent.

He looked in Gunn and Cordelia’s direction to see Deevak attacking Gunn and the hunter barely managing to avoid the demon’s wild swings. One of Deevak’s hands connected and knocked Gunn down. Seeing that, Angel yelled, “Cordy, ax!”

She threw him the ax and he caught it in mid air as he jumped off a car’s hood and buried the ax in Deevak’s forehead on the way down. The demon dropped like a fallen tree next to Gunn. Angel reached out a hand and pulled Gunn to his feet.

Then, the dark vampire went over to his car and inspected it as he cooed over the metal body. Just then, Spike dusted his opponent after he took his anger and frustration out on it. He got to his feet and stood beside the car as Angel walked around it, looking for any imperfections that weren’t there before.

“Help me get her outside Spike,” Angel said evenly.

They pushed the car out of the garage. Then, Angel jumped into the driver’s seat and tried to start it by popping the clutch when Wesley ran out after him.

“Angel! Angel look, I found your keys,” Wesley said proudly as he held up the encrusted keys. “Unfortunately, this substance doesn’t appear to be coming off.”

Angel cringed at the dripping ooze. “What’s that?”

“Demon blood, or demon puss, or possibly both,” Wesley surmised.

He tried to get Angel to take the keys off the pen that he was holding them up with, but Angel backed away toward the car. “Easy. Does anyone know how to hot wire a car?”

Gunn walked up past Cordelia as he rubbed his neck. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she greeted.

“Well, you finally saved my life. I guess I should say thanks,” Gunn said.

“Yes, you should, and no, I didn’t,” Cordelia replied.

“What?” Gunn asked, surprised.

“Deevak wasn’t the danger my vision was warning me about,” she explained.

“He wasn’t?”

“No.”

“Then what was?”

“I’m looking at it. It’s you, Charles. You’re the danger,” she replied.

“Excuse me?” he asked resentfully.

“It’s how you live your life. You don’t just face danger, you create it. You’re on a self-destruct mission, unless you get some help,” Cordelia replied.

Gunn laughed derisively. “I ain’t buying none of this Dionne Warwick crap.”

“You know it’s true,” Cordelia stated. “You need some serious saving. Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

“Is that right?” Gunn smirked.

Cordelia smiled back. “Well, yeah. Better just plan on having me in your life for a while, at least until you find some peace.”

“That could be a while.”

“That’s okay. Helping people is what me and my friends do,” she declared.

“Lucky me,” Gunn muttered to himself as he opened the door of his truck.

“Hey,” she called after him, “how about that thank you?”

Gunn look at her and Cordelia raised her eyebrows at him. He gave her a slightly sheepish smile and she smiled back. He got into the truck, closed the door and drove off.

Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel

Spike and Angel had hooked the convertible the back of the Desoto and towed it home. Cordelia promised to call a legitimate auto shop to examine the car and fix any problems. The offer was more to appease any anger Angel may have had over what she allowed to happen to his car.

When they got home – when did one think of a hotel as home? The two vampires trudged up to their room and collapsed in bed. This time there was no sex. Angel started dreaming of Darla again.

Angel walked into the hotel lobby looking tired.

“Honey, you’re home,” Darla called from the doorway of the office.

“Hi,” Angel greeted with a sigh.

Darla walked closer to him. “You look beat. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Angel answred.

She moved in front of him and pressed herself against his body. “Did you save any lives today?”

“A few, yeah,” Angel said as he dropped his coat over the back of the settee.

“And, did Spike look out for you?” Darla asked.

“He has my back when it counts,” Angel said defensively.

“Did any of friends say thank you?” Darla smiled.

“Not exactly,” Angel replied.

“Hmm, typical,” Darla said irritably. “You know, the next time you see them I’m really going to say something to them.”

“It’s okay,” he assured her.

“No it isn’t,” Darla shook her head and put her hands on his arms. “You give and you give and you give.”

“I’m used to it.”

Darla gave him a sad smile. “Always the protector, never the protected.”

“I have so many things to make up for,” Angel lamented.

“And you have,” Darla stressed. “You take care of so many people. But, who takes care of you?”

Angel looked down at her. He was close to telling her that Spike took care of him. Spike had left Sunnydale when he needed him and stayed with him – helping him – all this time. But then, he remembered he was dealing with Darla and knew her jealous streak over his childer. He smiled indulgently and said, “You do.”

Darla smiled, pleased with the answer. “That’s right. I do.” She pulled him towards the couch by the front of his sweater. “Come on.” Then, she pushed him, and he dropped into one corner of the couch. “Lean back,” she smiled as she crawled on top of him. “Now, you just relax and let Darla take care of you,” she said as she kissed him.

Angel lay in bed sleeping with a smile on his face. Spike crawled out of bed. He didn’t know what his Sire was dreaming about, but whatever it was must have been worth the soul-losing, blissful smile on his face. For a second, Spike prayed he wasn’t reliving sex with Buffy in his dreams. The last thing they needed was Angelus on the loose. It was one thing for the bastard to show up in fights and during sex. It was another to send Angel on permanent vacation. Spike shrugged and went into the kitchen to get something to eat.

In Angel’s dream Darla pulled his sweater off.

“How’s that?” she asked coyly.

Angel fell back against the couch. “Good.”

“I’m just getting started, baby,” she teased as she kissed her way down his bare chest. “I know how to please you.”

Angel was lying on his back in bed, fast asleep. A hand crawled up his bare chest, followed by a nude Darla. “All you have to do is let me,” she cooed as she kissed his chest, neck, and mouth, mirroring the dream in real life without Angel showing any sign of waking up.

Darla looked down at his sleeping face. “Mmm, I could just eat you up,” she said seductively. She leaned down and kissed the side of his neck.