|
|
On the Other Side
of Fate
Chapter
10
by Tami
Los Angeles, Wolfram & Hart, Angel’s Suite
Seeley Booth blinked his eyes open and looked at the ceiling. Unlike his bedroom in another suite, where his bed was under the window, Angel’s bed was adjacent to a wall of windows. As he slowly woke up, he became aware of the sound of the shower running. He raised his head and looked around the bed, glimpsing Drusilla beside him.
If he just looked at her as she was now, peaceful and asleep, Seeley could never tell that she was anything more than a beautiful woman with a mischievous demeanor. Seeing her with Spike this past week, Booth could tell Angel had raised them together. It was like watching age-old choreographed moves when Spike and Drusilla in the same room. Even that belied the deadly killer she was.
Based on the past week, he would have never thought she was so deadly – outside of Angel and Spike’s warnings to the contrary – if he hadn’t seen the evidence yesterday. But, could he really fault her for killing the bastard who kidnapped her? Hell, even he wanted to kill the guy. He’d have to think of another way to write that up in the report other than: My Aunt took a chunk out of his neck. Somehow, that wouldn’t go over well with Deputy Director Cullen.
Seeley slowly got out of bed and replaced the covers gently as not to disturb her. Then he pulled on his pants, forgoing the shirt for now and searched for his cell phone. Once he located it and clipped it on his waistband, he quietly left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Seeley went to the kitchen and started looking for the coffee. He refused to believe that, although they were vampires, Angel and Spike didn’t have coffee around. He scanned the countertop and saw the state-of-the-art coffeemaker, so there had to be coffee grounds somewhere. Finding the Folgers Coffee tub, he set about making a pot off coffee and pouring a mug for himself before heading to the living room.
Seeley sipped at the hot liquid as he sat down. He put the mug down on the end table, got his cell phone out and hit the speed dial for FBI headquarters. As he listened to the ring, Seeley glanced at his watch and added four hours. It would be noon in D.C. Just then, the operator picked up.
“Federal Bureau of Investigations, how may I direct your call?”
“This is Special Agent Seeley Booth. I would like to talk to Deputy Director Sam Cullen,” he said as drank his coffee.
“One moment please.”
Seeley propped his bare feet up on the coffee table while he waited. He didn’t think Angel would mind. But, then again . . . maybe Spike was starting to rub off on him. With the thought that, if Angel was anything like him and how he’d be pissed, Seeley immediately put his feet on the floor and stretched out his legs.
“Cullen here,” said a gruff voice on the other end.
“Afternoon, sir. This is Seeley Booth.”
“I expected you to call yesterday, Agent Booth. Do you want to tell me why I wasn’t contacted?” Cullen asked brusquely.
“I’m sorry about that, sir. A family matter came up that needed to be handled immediately,” Seeley said.
It wasn’t a total lie. After Angel had called his team in to take care of the body, all four of them came back here to take care of Drusilla’s post-killing sexual needs. Seeley made a note to leave that part out of the final report. Somehow, it wouldn’t look good when the Deputy Director read: After the team was called in, we went back to the law firm, whereupon I had hot 4-way sex with my demonic family.
“I see. So what happened, Agent Booth?” Cullen asked.
“He’s dead, Sir,” Seeley replied.
“Dead?” Cullen asked surprised. “What do you mean dead?”
“As in no longer alive,” Seeley commented and then as an afterthought, added, “Sir.”
“I got that, Booth. Why is he dead?” Cullen asked impatiently.
“Drastic measures, Sir. Force had to be used,” Seeley explained. Again, it wasn’t a total lie. “He kidnapped my aunt and was going to use her as a bargaining chip to skip the country. It was necessary.”
Seeley heard a tired sigh on the other end before Cullen said, “I’d hoped it wouldn’t have come to this. But, I supposed he’s better off dead than spending the next fifteen to twenty years using tax payer’s money on appeals.”
“Uh, yes, Sir,” Seeley agreed.
“Good work, Agent Booth,” Cullen commended. “Now, if you’re done visiting with that family of yours, I have a new assignment for you closer to home. Someone tried to use the old Civil War cannon display in Williamsburg as a real weapon. I don’t know why or how. That’s for you to figure out.”
“Yes, Sir. I’d like to stay the rest of the day and I’ll be on tomorrow afternoon’s flight,” Seeley said.
“Okay, Booth. I’ll see you when you get back,” Cullen said.
Seeley said his goodbyes and ended the call. He took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee as he clipped his cell phone onto his waistband again. When he heard the padding of bare feet on the Berber carpet, he looked up to see Spike standing across the room wearing a pair of open jeans.
“From the sound of it, this is your last night here?” Spike asked.
When Seeley had looked in Spike’s direction, he was face to crotch with the vampire. Seeley swallowed the lump in his throat and drank his coffee as a distraction. He got to his feet and went to the kitchenette to rinse out his mug. Setting it on the counter, he walked up to Spike.
“Yeah, I have another assignment when I finish writing up the Goldsmith case,” Seeley said.
“Gonna go off and forget us then?” Spike asked with a small smirk. “’Tis a shame, you’re going to miss out on all the fun.”
Seeley’s lips quirked up at that, reminiscent of Angelus’ smirk. “I’m sure you’ll keep me posted.”
“Yeah, right, mate,” Spike replied.
Just then, the bedroom door opened and Angel walked into the room followed by a sleepy Drusilla. Both human and vampire turned at the sound of the doorknob and Seeley’s heart skipped a beat when he took in Drusilla’s tousled appearance. Angel, on the other hand, was not impressed when he saw Spike standing inches away from the agent with his fly open.
“Did you forget how to button your pants, boy?” Angel asked with a raised brow.
“Not likely,” Spike said sardonically as he made a show of fastening his jeans.
“Excuse me,” Seeley said quietly and went to the bedroom to a grab a shirt and threw another out to Spike.
Booth came out of the bedroom wearing a white wifebeater and a long sleeve button down shirt over it that billowed around him, but left the shirt open. The four of them spent the rest of the day writing the resolution to the Goldsmith case. With the aid of Wolfram & Hart’s fabricated coroner’s report, Seeley and Angel decided on the cause of death being that Goldsmith had to be shot with a tazer several times before they incapacitated him, and as a result, had a heart attack due to the electrical current.
Angel got a call from Gunn announcing the arrival of a client and the dark vampire left, dragging Spike behind him. Drusilla had disappeared . . . somewhere, which left Seeley to himself again. He used the time to start packing for the trip back to D.C.
Drusilla glided into Seeley’s suite and into the bedroom silently. But, when she got to the doorway, she was surprised when Seeley was waiting expectantly to see who his visitor was.
“Hello, Drusilla,” he said softly.
“You have my Angel’s instincts,” Drusilla observed.
“I’m just trained very well to know my surroundings, honey. Besides, your jasmine scent preceded you,” Seeley commented.
Drusilla stepped closer to him. “Daddy and Spike say you’re leaving us,” she pouted.
“Yes, I have to go back to my job now that this one is finished,” he said as he continued to pack.
He was busy stashing clothes into his bag and wasn’t watching when Drusilla moved closer to the bed to stand beside him.
“Will you miss us?” she whispered near his ear.
Seeley turned his head to look into her dark blue eyes. “Very much.”
Drusilla glided her manicured nail down his cheek. “If only they’d let me turn you, then you wouldn’t have to leave.”
Booth smiled, took her hand in his and kissed the palm. “I’m sure your boys would have something to say against that, sweetheart.”
Drusilla smiled and trailed her fingertips over his lips as she dropped her hand. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as she walked away. Seeley let his head fall back and groaned. He willed his body to cool down.
That girl was driving him insane.
After Drusilla left, Seeley resumed his task of packing. Fifteen minutes later, Spike came strutting in the room. Seeley looked up when Spike stalked through the bedroom door.
“Spike?”
“Angel’s going to send us all to hell again in a hand basket. Only he’s forgetting the hand basket part. He’s down there talking to some demonic Senator bitch and acting like ’m invisible! From what Charlie tells me, he’s cutting away from his own crew. I’ve known Angelus for one hundred and thirty-one years, mate, and he may not be insane as Angelus was back in Sunnydale, but he’s completely off his bird!”
Seeley was watching Spike rant with a strange look on his face. He was trying to make sense of it. All he got was “Angel’s sending us to hell” and “Demonic Senator”.
“Demonic senator?” Seeley asked.
“Yeah, she’s a demon in a human’s body. A real bitch, too. Kinda like my grandsire,” Spike sneered.
“Uh, huh,” Seeley nodded and then shook his head. “Spike, I don’t want to know that my government is being run by demons!”
“Why not?” Spike asked innocently. “’S true.”
“There are just some things that I would like to be ignorant of!” Seeley said adamantly.
“You’re just like Angel, you know that? You both want to have normal, mundane lives with no fun,” Spike accused.
“I’m an FBI agent. How is that mundane? And I spent the week with vampires. How is that normal?” Seeley asked.
“Yeah, and now you’re leavin’ us. Gonna go off ’n forget us,” Spike pouted.
Seeley stepped closer to Spike. “I don’t see how it’s possible for me to forget you and Drusilla. You two made it pretty hard for me to do that.”
Spike smirked. “What can I say? I’m irresistible.”
Seeley chuckled. “Angel taught you and Drusilla well. He should be proud of how you turned out.”
“Angel’s not proud of anything, mate. He may have an ego the size of Texas, but we’re a reminder of what he is and what he’s trying to get away from,” Spike said.
“You’d be surprised, Spike,” Seeley said softly.
Spike’s mouth was suddenly dry. The agent looked like his Sire and sounded like Angelus, the way he was before the soul. If Spike didn’t watch himself, he’d be in trouble. It was so easy to fall back into old patterns. He cleared his throat and said, “You won’t be a stranger now that you have family here.”
“I made a promise to have my way with you. So we’ll definitely see each other again,” Seeley replied.
He combed his fingers through the back of Spike’s hair and kissed him, slow and sensually, licking the vampire’s full lips. When he pulled back, Spike’s eyes were closed and it took him a moment or two to open them again.
Spike stepped away from Seeley. “Yeah, so, I’ll let you get back to packing.”
When Spike left, Seeley checked the rooms for anything he may have forgotten and was packing away his hygiene accessories when Angel came storming into the room and started to pace the floor.
“I can’t believe Spike – no, I can believe he would do that! He thinks that I gave up the champion angle to become Angelus. He just waltzed into my office during my meeting with Senator Brucker --”
“I assume that’s the demonic Senator?” Seeley cut in.
“—and told me that he just got back from doing my job since I was too busy befriending evil clients to do it. I’ll have you know that I was doing the champion thing for a hell of a lot longer than he has. He had the gall to walk into that meeting and tell me that in front of a client? He has no clue what the hell is going on between me and this law firm!” Angel ranted.
“So, you’re upset because . . . he came in and told you he was doing a better job than you or because he was crowing to get your approval?” Seeley asked.
Angel glared at the agent. “He doesn’t want my approval. The whole purpose of his existence is to annoy me. Angelus should have spent more time trying to discipline him as a fledgling.”
Seeley chuckled. “Angel, I have a child of my own. I know what Spike’s up to. You sired him, raised him, and no matter how old he is, he still seeks the approval of his father.”
“What do you know about my relationship with my childer?” Angel growled.
Seeley just stared him straight in the eyes, not flinching at the growl. “I can read people pretty well. It’s part of what makes me a good agent. It’s probably hereditary,” he said pointedly. “I’ve watched the three of you for the last week. I’ve seen how you are with them. They are everything you ever wanted them to be. They are both seductive and deadly killers, and yet they are loyal to you and those you care about. Drusilla adores you, even if you aren’t her real Daddy. And, Spike still idolizes you, but he also has a personality of his own and wants to do it his way.”
Angel sighed as he sunk down in a chair. “My greatest achievement and my worst sin all wrapped up in two people.”
“Do you wish you’d never turned them?” Seeley asked as he watched Angel.
Angel had a faraway look in his eyes. “They were my obsession. They still are, I suppose. I wish I’d left Drusilla with a bit more sanity, but Spike was always evolving. He’s become my equal. So, no, I don’t wish that it was different.”
“Then, I’d say you have your answer,” Seeley said.
Angel looked up and saw the bags on the bed and got to his feet. “I’ll let you finish packing. I’d like to keep in touch when you get back to D.C.”
Seeley nodded. “Me too.”
Angel gave the barest nod and left the suite. Seeley packed the last of his things and was about to close the duffle bag when he saw the pictures on the bed. He picked them up and skimmed through them. They were pictures of the three vampires together in various poses against a chain link fence. He smiled and stuffed them in a side pocket.
The next afternoon he was on a plane back to Washington D.C. After finishing the novel about the vampire detective (he never got to read in L.A. due to . . . other matters), Seeley pulled out the photos and glanced through them. That was when he caught a few pictures that he missed earlier. They were of the three vampires in a dark bedroom. Drusilla was on the bed and Angel and Spike were standing in front of her with Angel bound and gagged.
Seeley shifted uncomfortably in his chair to relieve the pressure on his groin as the image brought to mind what he’d done with the three of them. He put the pictures back and tried to sleep during the remainder of the flight.
Being in L.A. for the last week was an experience he wouldn’t likely forget. The smile on his sleeping face was a testament to that. |
