Part 17

L.A.: May 18th

"What have you found?"

"Trackers on the car have stopped emitting signals. They've either been dislodged or destroyed, sir."

"Is there any way to find out where it was emitting last? Records of its movements perhaps?"

"No sir, Mr. Pryce. The signal's on a constant feedback loop. The information we get is not recorded like telephone calls. Doing that, we'd probably have a log sheet long enough to fill the top three floors of this building, and growing."

"I see. Well, thank you. If you come across any new information, contact me immediately. That is all."

Wesley watched the young man turn and walk out of his office with a curt nod. He didn't know whether to be disappointed or seriously disturbed with the new he'd just heard. The tracer idea was just a whim. He had no idea that some people at Wolfram & Hart intended on keeping tabs on the CEO. Furthermore, he was starting to wonder if they've been watching all of the former Angel's Investigation employees. Private lives weren't so private anymore under the watchful eyes of the lawfirm.

"Any word from Gunn?" He turned to face Fred, who'd been sitting at his desk contacting various people over the phone. "The shamans surely would have found something by now."

"I haven't heard from him. Maybe it takes longer locating the undead variety?" She offered a weak smile. "Wesley?"

"Yes?" He propped himself on his desk facing the windows. The city laid before him, glittering and sparkling like gems from the midday sun. After Giles' urgent call, he and a team of people had set to work trying to reach their two vampire friends, without much luck. He'd been researching, also, for anything that might point him in the direction of the new big bad. Trying to find out why such strong magical energy would be focused here. Although any text he'd needed was readily available by a simple word, and artifacts and scrolls were there at his fingertips, nothing had helped. He hadn't found a single bead of information. On top of everything else, the mysterious dream invading presence that had visit the slayers lead to another dead end. The most he had to go by was a slip of paper nestled between the pages of the strange text. And even then, he found no proof that its contents were authentic. So now, all he could do was wait until Angel was found.

"You don't think they've gotten into a fight again, do you? 'Cause maybe, Angel knew about the tracer and got rid of it so he wouldn't be bothered, ya know? You don't think he'd do that, though... do you?"

He smiled a little at the thought. "I wouldn't place any bets against it."

"So, why exactly do they hate each other again? I mean, all this can't be about, ya know, Buffy? Can it?"

"I hardly think so. Tip of the iceberg I suspect. Angelus and William the Bloody were together for nearly two decades."

"Hold on... 'together'?! As in...?"

"No! Goodness, no!! However, I wouldn't be surprised if... Oh! But anyways. Not what I meant. What I was trying to say before I got a rather disturbing picture in my head," he gave Fred a peculiar look, "was that they lived together. Them, Darla and Drusilla, one of the most notorious vampire packs of all time. There's bound to be a lot of history there, is what I was trying to say. Who knows what Angelus did to Spike in that time."

"Oh. Maybe I'll ask him one day."

"He might not be too keen on sharing Fred. You know how Angel never talks about his past with us."

"Yeah. But that's Angel. All stoic and thoughtful. They're completely different from each other, ya know? I can't explain it. Like light and dark."

"You sure you're just not talking about hair?"

"Wesley!"

"Sorry," he chuckled, playfully dodging her attempts to hit him. "I don't care where they are right now, or what they are doing. I just hope we find them soon." He reached across Fred for the mysterious text, brushing his arm against hers and bringing him face to face with her.

Silence. The energy between them held them in place for a moment, neither knowing what to say or do, just staring. A deep blush crept into Fred's cheeks and Wesley immediately responded by looking away. "We should get back to work," he said, clearing his throat. "Giles seemed particularly worried. And the coven might know more than they're saying." He grabbed the book and quickly moved away to a far away sofa. "See if you can reach Gunn, or somebody."

Fred's look was of pure embarrassment, matching Wesley's perfectly. She fumbled for the phone stuttering a reply, "Ye-yes. I'll see if...if I can find out anymore. Um...yeah." 'Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I wanted to kiss Wesley! No.. stop! Don't think like that Fred. It's Wesley. Yeah,.. Wesley. No! No! I have to calm down. God, he has great eyes.'

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"Did you get rid of the all the shamans?"

"Yeah. No big. Once they told me what I needed to know, I had no problem 'downsizing' our employees."

"Good job, Counselor." Eve leaned in for a kiss. "Did our boy do his job?"

Gunn nuzzled into her neck gently biting and sucking at the soft skin. "Mmmm. You taste good.... Wanna tast something else, if you get my meaning."

She pushed him away enough so she could see his face. "It is Mr. & Mr. Dust, right?"

"Come on baby. Give me some lovin', huh. Go down to my office," he traced his finger down her neck and across her collar bone, slipping down to undo the straining button of her blouse, "bend you over my desk. Mmmm... you always liked that desk. You've. Been. A. Bad. Girl."

"Is there something you're hiding from me? What's the real plan?"

With a frustrated sigh, he shoved away from her, pacing over to the other side of the room. Puddles of blood that littered the floor were carefully dodged. "Angel and Spike weren't killed. That was never the issue. The big cat and the Senior Partners have other more... interesting plans for our two superhereos. Right now, I'd appreciate you not gettin' all up in my face about it. You do what I tell you! Are we clear on that?" She took in a breath, intent on refusing to follow orders but Gunn cut her off. "You screw with around with me Eve, and I promise it won't be pretty. So you damn well do what you're told. Now, get someone up here to clean this crap up." He fished his cell phone from his jacket pocket and began to dial. "Oh, Eve? When I get downstairs, I expect you to be decorating my desk in that Catholic school girl outfit I like."

He watched her leave before connecting his call to the dialed number. While it rang, he checked himself over for any signs of blood or a struggle, smoothing the clothes as he went. "Hello?" came Fred's voice over the phone. It was time for him to get into character.

"Fred? Oh man, Fred! Is Wes there too? I think we have a major problem.... No, I'm okay. Can't say the same for the shamans... Killed? Killed don't even began to describe it. It looks like there were.. man. It's bad... I don't know. I"m looking into who could have done it... No, it's not good.... I don't know, but I have an idea. Put Wes on... Yah, Wes.... They're all gone. The entire shamany area is a mess. And I ain't even tryin' to get it on me... Yah, I do have an idea. You remember that witch friend of yours?.... Yah, Willow. She's just as powerful as any shaman.... Exactly. She could find them.... Come on, Wes. You don't really believe that? Angel's like old, man. He ain't goin' down any time soon.... Right, so just call the witch, see if you can get her on board.... No, something bad isn't coming, man. It's here.... Okay, I'll take care of this and head back down... 'Aight man. Tell Fred not to worry. We'll find 'em."