As for who the CEO is, I won't reveal just yet, but I can tell you it's not Lindsey. Hope that helps for now

3. Assassins of Wolfram & Hart

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Spike sat on the roof of the Hyperion, smoking a cigarette as he thought through the last few days. They had won the battle against the armies of the Senior Partners, despite losing Wes and Gunn. Actually, Gunn’s body had never been recovered and Lorne had disappeared into the night, never to be seen again. Angel had Shanshued, heading off with a resurrected Cordelia to find Connor and live a normal life, while Spike himself was to remain in Los Angeles to act as a champion with Illyria to help the helpless and clean the city up following the Senior Partners’ assault. Not that he minded at all, actually. He quite liked the idea of being a champion, facing down the lackeys of the Partners. After all, he has Illyria by his side

“Is there a point in sitting there every night?”

“Nope, none at all. There has to be some relaxation in our lives, you know Blue”

“I wish to cause some violence”

“Well aren’t you just a violent little jitterbug”

“Jitterbug?”

“Never mind. Yeah, okay, let’s go. I was thinking of heading out soon. Come on”

Spike got up and headed inside, as Illyria followed after him

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Spike and Illyria patrolled through the streets of L.A. Spike was absentmindedly flicking his sword around, while Illyria was focused on finding something to destroy

“Help me! Please, someone help me”

“About bloody time,” Spike grinned

He ran towards the voice and found a woman surrounded by three vampires. Spike raced over and decapitated one vampire, as the other two whirled around. Illyria stood back and watched as Spike fought against the vampires, dusting them both, before turning to face her and grin

“That wasn’t too bad. Next lot, I’ll leave to you”

Suddenly, Spike went flying, as a large demon stepped out of the darkness. It was over seven feet tall, muscularly built, with thick arms and legs. Its fingers ended in long, sharp claws, while its tail was long and thick, ending in two rows of spikes. Its head was short and stubby, with yellow eyes and needle-thin teeth. Spike got to his feet, grabbing his sword as Illyria joined his side

“This beast looks like a worthy foe”

“That he does, pet”

The demon roared and lashed out at Spike. He ducked out of the way, as Illyria moved in the opposite direction, landing a punch on the demon’s snout. It growled, as Spike slashed with his sword, but the blade bounced off the demon’s tough skin

“Oh damn”

As the demon smacked Illyria aside, its tail whipped around and struck Spike in the chest, sending him flying and ripping two deep cuts in his chest. He lay on the ground for about a minute, as the demon tussled with Illyria. She was thrown through the air, as Spike got to his feet, vamping out and charging at the demon, beating at it with his fists. The demon grabbed him by the throat and punched him along the ground. Illyria kicked the demon in the face, before jumping over its sweeping tail and landing an uppercut. The demon roared and slashed several times, as Illyria dodged its claws

Spike drove his boot into the demon’s ribs, before dodging its claws and swinging his fist. The demon blocked him and shoved him aside, as it dodged Illyria’s punch and slashed her across the stomach. She refused to cry out and instead, kicked the demon in the jaw, as Spike grabbed his sword and stabbed. The demon caught the blade and ripped it from his hands, before swinging its tail at his head. Spike ducked, as Illyria grabbed the sword and rammed it through the demon’s chest, using all her strength to break through the tough skin. It roared and struck her with its tail, before slashing Spike across the chest and bringing him down

“Partners say you must die,” the demon growled

“Yeah, whatever,” Spike said

He kicked the demon in the leg, as Illyria removed the sword and drove it upwards through the bottom of the demon’s mouth and out through its skull. The demon froze and keeled over, yellow blood pouring from its wound, as Spike resumed his human face and grabbed the sword. With one hard yank, he pulled it out of the skull

“What did the demon say about the Partners?” Illyria asked

“You must die,” Spike replied, “Which means the Partners sent him to kill us”

“They sent along a pathetic creature to do its bidding. The Partners do not have the power anymore”

“Not now, but they will, pet”

“Stop calling me pet when it is you who is the pet”

“Yeah, whatever, Blue. Don’t care”

The body melted away into nothing, as Spike lifted the sword onto his shoulder

“Shall we get going now?”

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“Damn, the assassin failed,” the CEO said

“Well, it wasn’t a very bright demon. You should have know that,” said another, deeper voice

“Shut up. I wanted to know what Spike and Illyria are capable of together. Turns out, they are dangerous in a team. What news is there of Angel?”

“None at all. He hasn’t been seen since the night of the grand battle”

“Which means he’s either dead or he’s left the city. And since I know for a fact he’s not dead, well deader than undead, that means he’s left the city”

“Makes you wonder why he left? The guy acted like a champion. City is full of demons and he bails out. Doesn’t sound like him. Maybe he’s in hiding”

“And maybe, there are too many maybes happening”

“Sorry”

“Do we at least know where Spike and Illyria are living?”

“Yeah, some spies have told me that they’re staying at the good old Hyperion”

“The Hyperion? Of course, it would make sense. It was a home to Angel and his crew, so it’s only right that his grandchilde lives there. Send a team over”

“You got it”

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Spike and Illyria arrived back at the hotel. The blond vampire put his sword away, before heading over to the fridge and taking out a small pack of blood. He emptied it into a mug and heated it up, before taking a deep drink of the liquid and sighing

“What of your wounds?” Illyria asked from the couch

“They’ll be fine, I’ll heal. A mug of this and I’ll be right as rain,” Spike said, “What about your injury?” he indicated with his mug

Illyria looked down at her torn armour and slashes in her stomach. The gashes in the armour melded together until it looked brand new, causing Spike’s eyebrows to raise in surprise

“Well, uh, that’s handy”

“My injuries will heal, like you vampire”

“Thought I told you to call me by my name”

“I require some time to rest”

“Suit yourself”

Illyria began heading upstairs, as Spike finished his drink. Just as he set the mug on the bench, the front door burst open, as a group of black-clothed men came into the hotel, each of them carrying stun batons. Spike raised an eyebrow, as the men ran towards him. He dived for the cabinet, taking a sword out and whirling around, decapitating a soldier, as the body and head turned to dust. Swinging his sword again, Spike beheaded another vampire, just as a stun baton was jammed into his ribs. Gritting his teeth, Spike swung his sword, but was blocked, as three stun batons struck him in the chest. Spike roared as he was brought to his knees, stun batons striking him again and again, slowing him down. His body felt heavy as he was lifted onto his knees and a vampire strode forth, carrying a stake

“You have cause quite a problem with the Partners,” the vampire said, “And they felt obliged to take you out. Any last words?”

“Yeah…duck”

The vampire turned to dust when the sword sliced through his neck. Illyria kicked another vampire aside, before beheading another, as a vampire lashed out with his baton. Illyria blocked with the sword, before taking the baton and using it on the vampire. He snarled when the shock knocked him down, as Illyria threw the baton into the face of another vampire, as a vampire struck her in the face. Illyria swung her sword, but the vampire ducked and delivered a kick to her face. Her blue eyes flashed, as she kicked the vampire through the air

Another vampire picked up the stake and aimed for Spike, but he caught the vampire by his arm and drove the stake into his heart. Getting up in his game face, Spike staked another vampire, while Illyria took out a couple more vampires. Blocking a high kick, Spike punched the vampire and staked him, before looking around and seeing the piles of dust surrounding the pair

“We should get out of here,” he said, tossing the stake down

“Why?”

“Because the Partners know where we are”

“So you run like a coward instead of fighting like a champion”

“You can stay if you like. The Senior Partners know where we are. I didn’t expect them to be operational so soon, but they are. They will hunt us down if we stay here. So our best bet is to get on the road and get out of here. That’ll take their focus away from Hell A and meanwhile, we’ll fight them from a different turf”

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