Rating: R

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

Authors: Cyndy and Sara

Pairing: S/C, A/C (eventually)

Spoilers: Season Five through "Crush" for Buffy. Season 2 through "Disharmony". A.U.

Summary: What if Spike had decided to go to L.A. instead of Harmony? What if the Fang Gang decided it might be nice to have a new champion fighting to help the helpless. What if this just made Angel as green as Lorne with envy?

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

****************************************************************************************************

Angel didn't know what he was doing. Hadn't known for a little over a month. But he couldn't seem to stop himself. He was sick of being of kicked around by The Powers That Screw You. Tired of dealing with Wolfram and Hart's little plots. Weary of battling Evil one demon at a time. In the course of his little crusade against The Powers, he had alienated his friends and destroyed his business.

He found himself at Cordelia's desk. He opened the right hand drawer and smiled at what he found inside. There were two shades of lipstick. Trollop and Sweetiepie. A couple of nail files. A tin of cinnamon breath mints. A discarded phone message. A Cosmo magazine folded to one of those pop psych quizzes. This one was entitled 'How do you know when you need a new job?' She'd scored a 17 which indicated that she needed to 'Work on that resume and start hitting the pavement, girlfriend.'

Angel's smile was bittersweet and he felt a sharp pain somewhere in the vicinity of his heart. "I'll be damned. It was right." He shoved it back in the drawer and stood up. He withdrew a cold jar of blood from the fridge and propped himself against the doorjamb as he gazed out into the courtyard. Sometimes, he wondered what became of his friends. Were they still angry with him? Did they miss him? Angel tossed back the rest of his supper and told himself that he didn't care.

Spike squared his shoulders and stubbed his cigarette out on the heel of one of his black boots. "Just remember, you're here to offer them something, right? Something useful."

He'd been driven out of Sunnydale by the Slayer and her pals. They'd even managed to turn sweet little nibblet against him. Who knew they would get so touchy over a little death threat? By the way they were acting, you'd think he'd actually gone through with it and offed the Slayer. Humans could be so damn temperamental. With that, he swung open the door to the dingy offices of the new Angel Investigations and swaggered over to the counter.

"Cordelia." Spike said, by way of greeting.

She looked up from the file she'd been reading and her eyes rounded."Spike!" Cordy shot up from her desk and backed away until her back touched the wall behind her. Figures a vamp-o-gram and Gunn and Wesley were out investigating a Howler demon nest on Briden St. "Perfect!" She yelled at the unseen Forces of Fate. "I have Pain-O-Vision, that You Guys use whenever You want but when I'm attacked I get the silent treatment?! How is that fair?"

"Uh, ducks? Who are you talking to?" Spike whirled around. "Who's being attacked?" Had the chit gone around the bend since he'd last seen her? Not that he knew her that well. Maybe she'd always been a few pints short. Of course, he'd made it his business to get familiar with the Slayer's friends and their routines in case he decided to snatch one but he'd never talked to her at length. He just knew that she worked with Angel and spent a lot of time shoe shopping.

"The Powers." She snapped. "So what are you here for, huh?" She grabbed up her stapler, silently cursing herself for not putting her usual vampire supplies in her new desk. "Because, whatever it is, you're not getting it without a fight!"

"Calm down. I'm here on business, I wanted to-"

"Torture Angel some more? Too bad, we don't run in the same circles anymore." She gestured angrily towards the door. "Buh-bye!"

"You can put down the office supplies, luv. Vampire here, a staple to the chest would just piss me off, not dust me."

"Bet it would hurt though."

He decided not to pursue the staple torture line of questioning. "Angel's name is on the door, luv. He must be here somewhere." Spike reminded her.

"No, Angel Investigations is. He fired us. We no longer work for him. End of story."

"The great poof fired you all?" He was disturbed by that. He was hoping to gain some employment while he was on the lam. Killing demons payed pretty well. Kept nancy boy in all the gel he could use. It'd surely supply Spike with smokes and blood.

"Yep, he did." Cordelia stared at him, letting down her guard the tiniest bit. "What's the what here? Why aren't you trying to kill me? Or take me hostage?"

"What makes you so sure I'm not about to?" Spike smiled evily. It felt good to threaten someone again. He'd inhaled, sighing softly. He'd missed the scent of fear.

She gave him a look as she pulled herself together. "Please! Like you're Mr. Waits a Lot. Hello? I was there for the parent teacher/slaughter night, kay? I mean, Willow and I were trapped in this hideous broom closet while you and your buds killed the faculty." Cordy brandished the stapler. "You said you were going to eat us and then bash Buffy's head in with our bones!" She owed him a few ouchies for that torment.

"But I didn't." She rolled her eyes. "Let's not dwell in the past, alright? You got me on the no patience point, luv." He straightened himself up. " I'm here to offer my services to your company."

Cordelia just stared at him.

"Did you hear me? You're short one champion and I fit the bill."

"But you're evil."

"Yeah, so? Tall, Dark, and Poofy occasionally goes evil and that's not a problem for you."

"You do get that you'll be helping the helpless, right?" Cordy reminded the vampire.

"Yeah, well, do a lot of that now. Might as well get paid for it, right?"

"Guess so." She peered at him, trying to figure him out. " Still not getting it. Did you get a soul or something?"

"Don't even joke about that. " He looked disgusted by the very idea. "I got a chip, that's all."

"A chip?" Cordy said slowly. "A chip that makes you do good things?" Maybe he was as nutty as his ex-girlfriend. Or maybe he bought some 'magic chips' from a drug dealer. "Barbecue or cool ranch?"

"No, not a bleeding Dorito! A chip that makes me stop doing bad things." Spike explained, sitting down on a chair. He gestured for Cordy to do the same and she did so, warily. She still kept the stapler in easy reach. "Government wired me up good. I can't harm any living thing. Can't even hit people now."

"I didn't know they could do that." She shrugged. "Though, its not like I read any of those scientific journals or anything. Nothing in there but ads for zit creams and one nine-hundred numbers. In between the boring science stuff, of course."

"That's those top secret types for you."

"Why are you doing good though? Couldn't you just hang out, take a break from the whole evil thing while you searched for a cure?" She wondered aloud.

"Well, I-" Spike broke off and he actually turned red.

"What?" She asked, curious despite herself.

"Needed to be able to hurt something." He tried desperately to sound casual. "Turns out I can hurt other demons."

She gave him the Queen-C-knows-when-you're-lying-about-designer-imposter perfume look. "You wouldn't blush about needing to commit random acts of violence."

"I WASN'T blushing!!"

"Yeah, and Angel doesn't brood. Puhlease... you turned brighter than Willow's hair."

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Maybe I'll change my mind about that whole kidnaping and killing you thing." He growled at her.

"Too late. You already told me about the Dorito in your brain." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Did you just stick your tongue out at me, pet?" He wasn't used to being mocked by a little slip of a girl.

"Yes." Cordy couldn't believe he had the nerve to look indignant. "You growled at me! So are you going to tell me why you blushed already?"

"No."

"Ha! So you did blush!" She smiled in satisfaction. "You might as well tell me. I won't give up and trust me I can be more annoying than you can."

"Not possible." He said mulishly, reaching for another smoke in his pocket. Before he could dig one out, she reached across the table and snatched the pack from him. "Hey!"

"Tell me." She threatened, removing a box of matches from her desk. She used them to light an array of scented candles on her desk. It covered up the mildewy odor of the place.

"No." He eyed her warily.

She pulled out a cigarette and lit it, smiling something wicked.

"What'cha gonna do? Smoke them all?" He put as much sarcasm into the comments as he could. There was no way she could smoke an almost full pack without getting sick.

"Nope." Cory held the lit smoke and watched it burn. "I'm going to sit here and light them one by one. And I'm going to watch them burn to ash, completely wasted."

He gasped. "You wouldn't!"

She winked at him. "Aren't these like five bucks a pack now?" He glared at her. She lit another one. "Seems a shame. All that nice expensive tobacco going to waste."

"IFellinlovewiththeSlayer." He mumbled, praying she wouldn't hear it.

"Buffy!" Cordelia crowed. "You have a thing for her? You? Aren't you some big Slayer killer?"

"Yeah. Can we not talk about this?" Spike growled. Of course she heard him. She was all-state in spreading gossip her senior year at Sunnydale.

"That borders on poetic justice, I think." The vampire tossed her an irritated sigh and slapped at a fly that dared to light on his arm. He howled in pain. "Oh my God, you really are chipped aren't you?" She couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled up. "You can't even hurt a fly!"

"Yes, now you know all my dirty little secrets. Now, do you lot need a champion or no?"

"Big yes to that." She said, brightening. Maybe they didn't need Angel back after all. It would serve him right for treating them like they were expendable. Maybe he would find out he wasn't so special to her... er, them either. "How do you feel on the charging money for good deeds side of things?"

He shot her a look that suggested she may have been ingesting illegal substances. "I'm evil."

"Good!" She smiled brightly. "A check in the yes to monetary compensation chart." She looked him over. "Oh, and that Buffy thing...? I won't mention it."

He gave her his sexiest grin. "You as sick of hearing her name as I am?"

"Oh, trust me. Living with Broody all this time?" She shuddered.

Spike thought about how cunning she was in getting him to talk to her. "I like the way you think, pet. This could be the start of a really..." He searched his mind for a word that wouldn't sound evil, dirty or just plain cheesey.

"Hellmouthy sort of friendship?" She offered.

"That'll work." He stood up. "If you're about done for the day, I could walk you home."

Cordy frowned. "We have established that you're evil and I'm not stupid, correct?"

Spike heaved a sigh. "Truth is, I need a place to stay, and I was hoping you'd put me up for the night." She was chewing her lip in indecision. "I don't bite, I'm potty-trained, and I won't borrow your hair gel in the morning."

She capitulated. It might be nice to have someone around to talk to tonight, even if it was Spike. "Oh, alright. But you have to make me a promise."

"What's that, luv?" He grinned.

"Don't get peanut butter on the sheets." She shook her finger at him as she came around the corner of the desk. "And, of course, no killing."

"And whose sheets will I be sleeping between?" He stepped closer to her. Spike wouldn't might a bit of comfort if she was willing. Maybe that's what he needed to snap out of this Slayer thing. A no-nonsense shag would do him a world of good.

Cordy rolled her eyes. "The spare ones I'll give you for the fold-out couch." She picked up her purse. "Dennis isn't going to like you staying at all. And being near my bed is out of the question."

Spike tried to hide his disappointment. "That your boyfriend, luv?"

"Yeah right. Last time I had a date, a vampire attacked me and I had to save myself with my shoe." She glared at the memory. "I tapped dust out of it weeks later."

Not wanting to touch the dust line of conversation, Spike decided to find out who exactly this Dennis was, and if he could arrange for him to disappear. "So, Dennis is... " Spike held the door for her as she walked out.

"My ghost." She smiled.

Spike let go of the door in shock and it smacked him in the face.

Wesley and Gunn came in from their demon slice and dice covered in entrails and starving. Demon hunting was a messy business. "Aww, man. Where's Cordy?" Gunn said as he tossed his blade in the sink. "She knows we were going to go for pizza, right?"

"As appealing as that sounds, she may have had other plans." Wesley said as he rolled his wheelchair to their weapons hutch. He'd been in the chair since he'd been wounded by the zombie police officers. Luckily, he would be out of the chair in a few days when his wound was fully healed.

Gunn walked over to Cordelia's desk and searched for his neat stack of messages she usually kept for him. "Hey, since when did Cordy start smoking?"

"Cordelia doesn't smoke." Wes said firmly as he placed his blade in the case.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either. But there's like two cigarettes burned out. Looks like they weren't even smoked, just burned. Oh, and there's a cool lighter here too." He picked it off the floor, it was a Zippo. "What a weird inscription though. Effulgent. Love, Dru." Gunn stared at Wes, with 'ook' face, almost dropping the lighter. "Effulgent? What kind of English fancy pants word is that?"

Wesley was much more interested in what he'd said earlier. "Dru? As in Drusilla?"

"Oh, shit."

"Why are you being such a baby about this?" Cordelia glared at the vampire.

"I made you a promise!" Spike whined.

"Right. And vampires never lie."

"But I'm not lying." She glared at him. "This time."

"All you have to do is stand there until Willow gives me the all clear and then you're invited. What's the problem?" The vampire waited with arms crossed in the hallway.

"I'm tired." Spike griped. The door slammed in his face.

"Dennis! We talked about how its rude to slam doors in guys' faces, right?" The door obediently creaked open. Slowly.

"Hey, there. Willow? Yeah, it's Cordelia. Who answered the phone? Your roommate?" There was another voice issuing from the earpiece.

"No, that's her little witch." Spike gave a dirty chuckle and she stared at him strangely.

"No, I didn't call you up to play 20 questions. And, hey, maybe you should up the Midol dosage, okay? All I need to know is... can Spike bite people?" She waited a moment, listening. "Great. That's all I needed to know. Well, yeah, he's here. Oh, really? Yeah, I know he loves Buffy." There was laughter. "Yeah, what WAS he thinking?" Spike gave an annoyed grunt. "Well, bye. Thanks for the info."

"What did you mean by that?"

"By what, luv?"

"The Willow comment. Spill it."

"She's gay."

"Gay? You mean, happy? Yeah, that's what you meant. You're old, not up on the new lingo."

"No, luv, she's gay. Likes girls and not in the 'just friends' way."

"But, she dated Oz."

"Yeah, she dated the pup and they broke up. Some other werewolf chick if I understood it right."

"What goes around comes around, I guess." She couldn't help but smile but then frowned as her mind latched onto the previous detail. "But, I mean, she's not gay. She was with Xander too. Took him from me." She mumbled the last part.

"Droopy boy? YOU dated that git?"

"Hey, now! I was in a lot of-"

"And he dumped you!" Spike said incredulously.

"Move on, Hot For Slayer."

"Can I come in?"

"You know, I always wondered about Buffy and Willow. I mean, they're kind of too close. Don't you think?"

"Luv, can I come in?"

"They were always sleeping over at each other's houses."

"Can I c-"

"For God's sake, come in, Spike."

He beamed as the barrier disappeared. Spike strutted around the place, taking it all in. "Nice digs, luv. Very girly." He said as he took in the living room and glanced into the kitchen.

"We might as well give you the full tour." They went from room to room while she pointed out details of the apartment. "Here's where Dennis was walled in by his crazy mom. Here's where Angel spilled blood on the sofa. But he paid for the cleaning bill. Here's where Wesley-"

Spike took it all in, grateful to have someone actually talk to him. She wasn't pumping him for information. She wasn't yelling at him, threatening him. She didn't want anything from him. Cordelia Chase was someone he wanted to know better.

"Tell you what, why don't you get some dinner while I take a bath?" Cordelia said as she removed some frozen blood packets from the freezer. She snipped off the ends with some kitchen shears and shoved them into a microwave safe bowl and clicked the timer for 3 minutes.

"Want some company, luv?"

Cordelia raised an eyebrow at him. "You've tried to kill me on several occasions. I don't even know you that well and, let's face it, the whole demon/human thing doesn't work. What do you think my answer is?"

"Yes?"

"No." She patted his arm sympathetically. "But thanks for the offer." She gave him a rueful smile. "Sorry to say that you've given me the best offer I've had in months." With that, she took herself off to the bathroom.

Spike collected his dinner from the microwave and poured into a travel sized mug to enjoy in front of the television. He sat down on the overstuffed couch and stretched his legs out. "Least it was a nice rejection. Slayer would have beat me bloody."

Cordelia lay in her bathtub which was filled with warm water and jasmine scented bath beads. She had a washcloth over her eyes and her hair was in a loose bun. She'd shampooed it before she got into her bath. A radio on the sink was playing 'Bittersweet Symphony' by the Verve Pipe; it matched her mood at the moment.

Cordelia had taken a couple of pain pills and a muscle relaxer. She hadn't shared this with her friends but the visions were taking a physical toll on her body. She avoided taking the meds when possible because they made her drowsy and kind of out of it but she felt safe, somehow with Spike in the apartment. She knew he could handle anything that came up. It was almost like having Angel back. Almost.

She had to admit that she missed Angel. Somehow, he'd become a huge part of her life. He wasn't merely her employer. Angel had become her best friend, her confidante, and her protector. She felt vulnerable without him. Not that Wesley and Gunn weren't great guys and they were handy with a hurling axe but they weren't Angel. Cordy didn't want to dwell on it but she felt secure having Spike here. Now, that she knew he wasn't able to kill her. It was like having a small part of Angel back.

Spike finished his meal and set the cup on the table. He just knew it was all going to turn out alright. It was better than joining Angel's outfit. He didn't even have to put up with His Poofiness anymore. Cordelia was an unexpected treat. He wasn't sure why but he seemed to deal better with women. Spike never felt better than when he was taking care of a lady. William had been raised to be a gentleman and Spike had adopted those habits. Spike lay back on the couch, his belly full and his mind at ease for the first time in months. He drifted off to sleep.

Dennis smiled. Even though he was disembodied, he could still manipulate the physical world. And he needed to get rid of this vampire. He could sense Wesley and Gunn running up the stairs. Hmm....with any luck they could help him. Cordy's safety was paramount in his mind when he drifted over to the slumbering demon. He managed to make his finger take shape. He dipped it into the cooling red liquid and traced Spike's mouth with it. Perfect.

In the bathroom, Cordelia screamed as she was assaulted by another vision. A demon was carrying a girl off into a back alley where he was going to eat her. She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead, desperately training to manage the pain and think clearly. She shook her head against the force of the images, her hair springing free of its confines.

Spike was in game face on his feet in an instant after he heard her scream. He forced the bathroom door open and fell to his knees beside her. "Cordelia? What is it, luv? What's wrong?"

"Slimy demon. Yuck. Green slime. Hairy too. He's got a girl and he's gonna eat her." She cried out again as a fresh burst of pain occurred. "Stanton St. The alley next to Hanson's Deli."

"What are you talking about, luv? What demon?" Spike asked, confounded by her behavior. "Maybe we need to get you to the hospital."

"No, it's a vision. I have visions. They're sent by The Powers."

"Visions." Spike repeated reverently as he snatched a towel from the nearby rack. "Come on out of there, pet. We need to get you out of there and then you can tell me all about what you saw." He pulled her hot, soapy body from the water and wrapped her in the towel before lifting her to his chest. "It's alright. I'm here for you."

That's when he heard a crash from the other room. Wesley and Gunn suddenly filled the doorway to the bathroom. They took in the sight of Cordy who was apparently weak and dizzy. Her hair had escaped its bun and was flowing about her shoulders, obscuring her neck. Spike had a smear of blood on his mouth and was in full vamp face. "Hold it right there." Wesley ground out, aiming a crossbow at his head.

"No, no!" Cordy wailed, still cradled in his arms. "Spike's a good vampire now. He has a Dorito!"

"Can blood loss make you lose it?" Gunn asked, sotto voice.

"Cordy, just be quiet. We'll get you out of this. Spike is a bad vampire, remember? William the Bloody?" Wesley said.

"No! He loves Buffy. He's going to help the helpless!" Cordy tried to explain.

"Uh, isn't that Angel?" Gunn put in.

"No, he has a chip. He can't hurt a fly now." She said finally.

"You do know this blond dude isn't Angel, right?" Gunn interjected.

"Cordelia, he has blood on his mouth. You're bleeding!" Wesley argued, his weapon still pointed at the vampire.

"I'm not bleeding!" She insisted. She wriggled out of Spike's grip, too pissed off to be mindful of her unclothed state. She pulled her hair back to show her neck and, unfortunately, let her towel to the floor. "Hey, it got cold in here."

"Cordy, y-you're-" Wesley tried to speak.

"Naked, luv. You're given us all a free show." Spike scooped up another towel and draped her with it. He glared at the two visitors. "Wankers. Told you I didn't bite her!"

"Whoops." Cordy giggled. "I'm all nudie."

"Then, how did the blood get on you?" Gunn asked.

Spike licked his lips. "It's cows blood. Cordelia nuked me some in the microwave."

"You're a messy eater." Gunn criticized. He stared at the former cheerleader. "And what's with her?" He glared at the vampire. "Did you slip her a mickey?"

Spike rolled his eyes. "She's been off her bird since she got in the bath. She was mumbling something about visions." He flicked his eyes over the young man. "And I could feed from all your necks and not spill a drop!" He bragged, then remembered the crowd he was addressing. "But I don't do that anymore. And I didn't spill my food on myself, so how did-"

"Dennis! I'm going to kick your disembodied butt! Do you hear me?" Cordy fumed. She traipsed out of the room and fell flat on the carpet.