Rating: PG-13

Email: cyndyr298@yahoo.com or snow_whte@hotmail.com

Authors: Cyndy and Sara

Pairing: S/D, A/F

Spoilers: Season Five through "Tough Love." A.U.

Summary: Set in 2004. Dawn sets out to trap for our favorite blonde vampire.

Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. No profit was received from this story.

Note: All of our fanfiction is available at www.fanfiction.net

Another Note: There is going to be one more part apparently. :)

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Angel's eyes opened and he was instantly alert. It was something that a vampire naturally did, a survival instinct that remained intact even after his ensouling. There was a curious sensation against his back. The feel of another person's skin pressed intimately against his own. It had been too long time since he'd felt anything like it. Then, Angel froze. He quickly replayed last night's activities in his brain. Spike had come into his room and he was acting strangely. They were talking about his sexuality for some reason and then everything went blank... completely blank in fact. He had no memory of falling asleep. Spike wouldn't have..., no, he must have drugged him so that he could...

Angel growled, his game face coming to the fore as he sprung from the bed and faced the sleeping form. "Spike, you rotten son of a-" But it wasn't his blonde childe that had been lying curled up next to him. It was Faith. Every silky, sexy unclothed inch of her. The vampire fell on the hard floor with a thunk and howled in pain as a stray shaft of sunlight dodged the blinds to burn a portion of his anatomy. "Son of a bi--"

"I bet they're waking up right now." Dawn said proudly as she bit into her croissant. Before her a silver tray was laden with the hot buttery bread as well as an urn of steaming coffee. She took a sip. "They're going to be so happy. They'll probably thank me. And then admit that I was right."

"Or hunt you down and beat on you." Buffy predicted as she too bit into a croissant. The Scoobies and the Fang Gang were sitting around a large table in the hotel's eaterie.

"Then, they'll name me godmother of one of their children."

"You should have checked with me on this." Giles harrumphed.

"But you would have said no." Dawn replied.

"Exactly." The Watcher said grumpily as he scowled at her. "And vampires can't have children."

"They could adopt."

"Leave my sweet bit alone. She was doing what she thought was right." Spike spoke up for her.

Giles looked at Buffy. "And you know better. Why did you let her do this?" His Slayer merely shrugged.

"Nodded like a true partner in crime." Xander put his two cents in. "A little less from the accomplices, please."

"Stifle it, Harris. It's done. Deal with it." Spike put in.

"I hope we don't have to." He said morosely. "I so don't want to be chased around by Mr. Leather Fetish."

"It was me he was after. Not you." Buffy reminded them.

"Yes, he wanted to get at you by KILLING YOUR FRIENDS."

Anya was alarmed. "No one told me that being Buffy's friend was potentially lethal. I mean, sure, being caught in the demon crossfire, but not just because you happen to be associated with someone who associates with Buffy."

"Calm down, Ahn. It's just Angelus that wanted to kill Buffy's pals."

"Spike too." Cordy added to the list. "I seem to remember sharing a closet with Willow while we hid from him. He said something about bashing her head in with our bones." She took a sip of coffee.

"That's who was in the bloody closet." Spike reflected. "Knew I smelled somethin' familiar."

"Don't forget about Glory." Tara said.

"One or two is a coincidence, Xander." Anya was visibly agitated. "This is a pattern."

"We're fine, Anya." Xander took her hand in his own. "We survived all of it, right?"

"I don't know. I'm seeing a high casualty rate on those not in the Slayer's circle." Anya said wisely. "Angel was sent to Hell and back. Tara was brain sucked. Riley and Oz were banished from town. Then, there was-"

"But I came back." Riley asserted.

"Thanks for pointing that out, Soldier Boy. Because I didn't bloody well see you there." Spike snapped. He narrowed his eyes. "Don't you have a puppy to seduce or something?"

"I'm not an animal molester!"

Cordelia turned her nose up. "See! That's what happens when you live in the country."

"Let's stop talking about this." Dawn declared. "All of it. Death, destruction, and pet abuse. This is my wedding day." She turned to Anya. "All things being equal, it is safer to know a Slayer. I mean, would you want to live on the Hellmouth and be clueless about the supernatural baddies? At least you get to help fight."

"Point taken." Anya agreed. She glared at Buffy. "But nothing better happen to Xander. I still have vengeance demon friends."

"Nothing will happen to Xander. I promise." Buffy stated then did a little shiver.

Dawn spoke to the two witches. "Angel's soul is safe as houses, right?"

"It'll be fine." Willow said, calming her fears. "No happies, I promise."

"Was EVERYONE in on this plan?" Giles asked, annoyed. "Everyone who is not me?"

Wesley couldn't resist. "Tiresome when others don't include you, isn't it?"

Giles glowered at him.

Angel's howl had woken up Faith. She reached for the stake she usually kept under her pillow but it was gone. As a matter of fact, so was the pillow. And her sheets. And... everything else. What the hell...?

"Uh, good morning. And don't look down." Angel ordered as he crouched on the floor, shielding his more private parts, especially the injured portion.

She swept her arm over her chest and shrank back from the edge of the bed to shield her lower half. "I'm so gonna kill you." Faith snarled as she looked around. "As soon as I get a weapon."

"I didn't do this!" Angel hissed. "Trust me, I'd never plan to be found without MY clothing!" He thought a moment. "Not to say that I was planning to get you naked... dammit!" He needed to stop talking.

"Well, then who... errr! I know who... Dawn!" Faith grimaced. "She's been wanting to get us together so she LITERALLY put us together. "

"Without clothes!" Angel cried.

"You're really hung up on this clothes thing, aren't you?"

"I like my clothes." Angel said defensively. "They're stylish and give me a sophisticated air."

"Whatever." Faith rolled her eyes and got a whiff of something that was burnt. Like burned hair or... "Do you smell something scorch-ey ?"

"Uh, that's me. Stray bit of sunlight burnt my--" He cast his eyes downward. "Private parts."

"Oh." Faith said knowingly, unable to help her lips from twitching. "You know, normally, I would offer to kiss it and make it better but-"

"OWWWWW!" Angel howled.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Faith started to get up to help him.

"No, stay there!" The vampire ordered. "Far away from the edge. Where I can't see anything."

"What the heck... ohhhhhh." She couldn't help the decidedly impish turn of her lips. "I see. Hurts when you're a bit... happy."

"Yes." He snapped. "Topic change. Now."

"Alright, Grouchy. What are we going to do ?"

"I think I'll start off by beating Spike to a pulp. Then, I'm going to get Dawn and-"

"About our nakedness, Angel." Faith focused him.

"Oh. Well, that would make more sense. No beatings if we're stuck in here."

"Okay. Then, let's put our HEADS together and COME up with a solution." Faith said as she pasted a mock-leer on her face.

"Stop that!" Angel screeched. "Ow!"

She chuckled. "Sorry. Couldn't be helped."

"You're evil."

"Right back at ya."

"I'm gonna kill you! You hear me?! Huh, chippy? Did you?!?" Buffy threatened.

They were all the local demon beauty shop. Normally demons and beauty did not go together but more and more of them were looking to blend in with the human population. Hence, the beautifying. The couldn't go to a 'normal' beauty shop because Spike had put up quite a fuss about the mirror while talking about some tuxedo incident. Dawn hadn't understood it but had played along.

Spike looked up from his magazine with alarm. "You sure big sis is alright?" She smiled. Dawn's heart gave a little lurch. He was starting to care about Buffy and not in a sexy way. How sweet. "Not that I give a bloody damn but she's making it hard to read my article."

Her face fell. "Bikini wax." Dawn said sagely. "She insisted on having a full-day's beauty."

"Uh, aren't you Slayers supposed to be super strong, bit?"

"She's always been a baby about small time pain. We won't even go into the dry-air Winter of 1999 when she had all the paper cuts." The vampire beautician piled Dawn's hair on her head. She was busy affixing her veil and had been oddly quiet throughout their session. But, she found that relaxing. She disliked having to converse with someone she didn't know. She'd rather just enjoy the beautifying process. "I used to pull her hair all the time." She thought a moment. "You know, instead of kicking and punching her, you could've beat her by yanking her pony tail."

"I'll keep that in mind, bit." Spike buried his nose back in the magazine. Tales of the Fabulous Miss Buffy bored him silly.

"No, you won't because there will be no beatings of my sister."

"Even if she really deserves it?" Spike looked put out.

Dawn giggled at his expression. "Even if she really deserves it."

"Even if she insults my hair?"

"I'll beat her up then. Deal?"

"Fine. It's a deal even though you're taking away my fun." He stuck out his lower lip. "Next thing you know, you'll yell at me for picking on dear ol' Peaches."

Cordelia sat next to Dawn. "Feel free to stop the cuteness. I might lose my breakfast." Spike looked up, about to say something when Cordy shushed him. She spoke to Dawn instead. "You know, he shouldn't be seeing you before the wedding."

"Tradition. Schmadition." The young Slayer beamed.

"Fine, but don't blame me when you get a divorce." Cordelia said, oblivious to the dirty glances that Dawn and Spike shot her way. "I mean not that this Slayer/vampire thing has much of a chance anyway."

"Cordy, why don't you-"

But she ignored Dawn. The aptly named Queen C then deigned to speak with the hairdresser. "No, no, you're doing it all wrong. HELLO? Is this a boutique or Best Cuts? You're wrapping the hair too tightly around the curlers. You need to give them more room for a more perfect shape."

The overly made up vampire growled and tossed her inky black, dyed hair over her shoulder. "Shut up, Cordelia. Like you ever went to beauty school."

"Harmony?" Her jaw dropped.

"Duh. Who else?" The vampire morphed, showing her fangs. She shoved Dawn's head to the side and bent her mouth to her throat.

The young Slayer's eyes flew open in alarm but the vampire set both hands on the iron and pressed it against the Slayer's skull scorching her. "Gyah!" She roared, distracted by the pain.

Spike was on his feet in an instant. He tugged her off of Dawn. "I should have dusted you long ago!" He snapped as he launched himself at her. Dawn struggled to her feet but was held by the curling iron that was stuck to her hair. Harmony had used too much hair spray and had literally glued her hair to the iron.

"Let her go, you undead loser girl!" Cordelia grabbed Spike's forgotten magazine and proceeded to wallop Harmony with it as she and Spike traded blows. "Stop. That. This. Instant." She punctuated each word with a hit.

"Bloody hell, woman!" Spike bellowed at Cordelia. "You're getting in the way."

"Hands off, Blood Boy. She's my problem not yours."

"She's my ex-girlfriend so take a hike."

"Well, she's my ex-best friend. And she tried to turn me over to a cult. SO BACK OFF!" She tugged Harmony away from him and shoved him on the chest. Spike backed off simply because he'd never seen a woman who wasn't a Slayer this angry. Cordy proceeded to back the vampire into a corner with the force of her stare alone. "You really shouldn't have come here, Harmony."

"But Spike is mine!" She whined. "I couldn't' let him marry that trampy little Slayer girl."

"Shut up, you stupid bint." Spike growled.

"Oh yes, you can. And you will." Cordelia said with an eerie sort of calm.

"A-are you gonna kill me?" Harmony gave her a watery smile. "I'm your friend, remember?"

"No, not really. I seem to remember you getting ready to bite me though." Cordy crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ohh, that..." Harmony trailed off. "You can't hold me to that! I was under the influence of that cult!"

"That you tried to sacrifice me to!" Cordy's glare deepened. "Should've staked you when I had the chance."

"I'll second that." Spike muttered.

"You did stake me, you great big jerk!" Harmony sniffed. "I just happened to be wearing the Ring of Armani at the time."

"That's the Ring of Amara, dimwit." Cordy said.

"Whatever." Harmony flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"And that's another thing. What's with the Lydia Dietz make-over?" Cordy sneered. "The Goth thing is SO beyond over."

"Oh, and your look is so cool? Please! I don't even see dead guys trying to date you anymore." Harmony shot back.

"For Christ's sake, cheerleader, would you stake her already? I plan on getting married at some point today." Spike grumbled.

Dawn began looking around her. "There must be something pointy and wooden around here."

Buffy wobbled in from the waxing room. "What the hell is going on out here?"

Then, she spotted Harmony's new look. "Well, if it isn't Goth Barbie." The Slayer pulled a stake from her pocket. Three of the gold lame clad vamp beauticians shrieked and ran the other way.

"You came to the beauty parlor armed?!" Dawn shouted.

"A Slayer must always be prepared." Buffy said solemnly.

"Isn't that the Boy Scout motto?" Spike asked aloud. "At least, that's what ADAM told me."

"That cyborg demon freak was a boy scout?" Cordy asked, astounded. She hadn't actually been there for it but she'd heard about it.

"Parts of him." Dawn, Spike, and Buffy answered.

Harmony sidestepped Cordelia. "If you don't need me, I'll be goi-"

"I don't think so. As a matter of fact, I think you've worn out your welcome."

"Here, catch!" Buffy tossed the stake to Cordelia but it whizzed past her ear and hit the wall behind Harmony.

"Oh, sh-" But the vampire slammed her fist into Cordy's jaw. She grabbed her former friend by the hair and smacked her face against a nearby table and then tossed her on the ground.

Cordelia put a hand to her face. "Oh my God! You could've given me a bruise! We're taking pictures today." She quickly snatched a bottle of aerosol hair spray that had tumbled to the floor and spritzed Harmony in the eyes.

"Owwwww!" Harmony howled as she furiously rubbed at her eyes.

Cordy stomped on her foot with her high heel earning another squeal from Harmony. Then, she picked up a wooden-handled brush from the table and was about to stick it through the vampire's chest when Spike forestalled her. "Hold up a minute, ducks." He pulled a disposable camera from inside his duster. "Say cheese!" He said to Harmony.

"Cheese!" The vampire foolishly pasted on a grin and Cordy staked her with the hair brush.

"What was that about?" Dawn asked Spike.

"For Xander. I know he hated her as much as me." She stared at him. "What? Since I'm now a Scoobie I might as well make peace with the idiot. Male bonding, right?" He stroked the camera fondly. "Plus, it was a real Kodak moment."

"Speaking of." Dawn said, turning to assess the damage to her hair in the mirror. "I can't get married looking like this!" She noticed that the vampire beauticians had beat a hasty retreat and said to Buffy. "See what you did? Violence isn't always the answer."

"Works for me." Buffy said airily. "Guess you can't marry Spike then." She gave an exaggerated sigh. "Darn. I was so looking forward to it."

"We're going getting married!" Spike ground out. "Even if she has to wear a bag over her head!"

Dawn held her hand out to Buffy. "Still got that stake?"

"Sorry, luv. That came out the wrong way."

"I understand what you meant." Dawn said with aplomb. She still seized the stake from Buffy. "No more weapons for you, Rambo."

"More like Bimbo." Spike said snottily.

"I think I can fix your hair." Cordy pushed her way through the small crowd around Dawn. "Because God knows, you can't go anywhere looking like that." She put her in a chair. She ran her hands through Dawn's hair. "Believe it or not, I've seen worse than this." She plucked some hair pins from a drawer and walked towards Dawn with a purposeful air. "Never send a vampire to do a May Queen's job."

"I can't believe this." Angel crumpled up the hastily scrawled note that Spike and Dawn had left for them. Apparently, they'd anchored his soul temporarily with an amulet and they warded the room so they couldn't escape.

"I can." Faith said. "This is just like D. She always has to have her way."

"Sounds like somebody else I know."

"B."

"Actually, I was thinking of you." They smiled at each other.

"But we can't stay here forever. So, lets just be adults and agree to get up and find a way out of here."

"I can. Stay here forever, I mean. Or, indefinitely, at least."

Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "Come on, show me yours and I'll show you mine."

"No." Angel looked away uncomfortably. At least, he was healed now. "Besides the room is warded. You read the letter."

"Big deal. You're a vampire and I'm a Slayer. Surely, we could think of something, right?"

"Wrong. They'll come to get us before the wedding. We'll just wait it out."

"Why are you being such a baby about this?"

"Because I-" He broke off. "Never mind."

"Tell me!"

"No!" Angel yelled.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Tell me or I'll flash you!" Faith threatened.

For a second or two Angel was sorely tempted. He sighed. "Fine. Thiswasn'tthewayIwantedyoutoseemenaked."

"Was that English?"

"No, it was Gaelic. Good luck translating."

"Hold up." Faith replayed his words in her mind. She blushed. "Oh..."

"Yes, oh...."

She gave him a naughty smile. "Picture us naked often, big guy?"

"Of course not." Angel snapped. God, she had him acting like a teenager with his first crush. He never knew where he stood with her though. She shook his confidence like no other woman he met. "And why are you so calm about this?"

"I was in prison, Angel. My modesty left a long time ago." And... well, she'd REALLY wanted to see what was beneath that bathing suit. She shrugged. "I like my body and I've never been afraid to show it off."

Angel thought about the skin tight outfits she was fond of wearing. Leather, lace, and jeans. He made a small noise in the back of his throat and said thickly. "I know."

"What?"

"I know." Angel admitted. Great, an hour alone with her and he was confessing everything. "I notice you. What you wear. What you do. When you smile or laugh. I'm always aware of you."

"I am too." She winced. "Of you, I mean. It's like I can feel you, almost." They locked eyes and Faith's mouth went dry. "Did you mean it?"

"Did I mean it?" Angel repeated dumbly and then he caught her meaning. "Oh, about you and I... when I was pretending to be Angelus."

"Yes, that. I think I deserve an answer, don't you?"

Angel licked his lips and hoped he could find the right words to explain it.