~~Chapter 20~~
The elevator opened onto the
reception area for the executive floor of Wolfram & Hart. Several employees were waiting to get on as
Angel stepped out. He didn't pay any attention
to them until he noticed they were staring at him. Turning, he waited for them to say something,
but they didn't open their mouths until the doors were closing. It was too late for him to catch everything
they said, but he did hear the Immortal's name and the word virus.
"Great," he
muttered, shaking his head. It was then
he noticed that movement had stopped in the lobby. Every employee was trying to look busy while
they stood in place. Angel wasn't sure
what they were expecting. Maybe to see
him be struck by lightening for letting down the
Senior Partners? He tried to ignore them
as he hurried toward his office and hopefully some peace.
"Angel," Harmony
called, as she slipped from behind her desk.
She handed him a mug of warm blood.
"You have a full office.
They all want to know what happened last night," she paused looking
hopeful he would give her some information, but sighed after a second of
silence. "Don't forget that the
Alonsmi demons are going to be here in an hour.
Eve said to tell you that if you need assistance getting the contract
signed, let her know and she'll bring back up."
"Thank you," Angel
replied, lifting the mug a fraction.
"I haven't forgotten about the meeting and if Eve inquires again,
I'll have the contract signed before the lunch hour. Anything else or do you wish to continue to
discuss my duties in front of half the company?"
That sent a few of the
eavesdropping employees scurrying. A few
remained though and Angel made a mental note to find out their names
later. He didn't need anyone working for
him that wanted to see him taken down a peg or two. A thought came to him then.
"Harmony, make me a
list of the employees who are lingering in the lobby as of this moment,"
Angel ordered. Hopefully he was loud
enough for everyone to hear him. "And
bring me the list after I finish this meeting." Feeling cheered up, he continued to his
office. By the time he crossed the
threshold, there wasn't anyone left in the lobby except Harmony who was behind
her desk and writing away. He smiled; maybe
the day wasn't going to be a total loss.
His top three, well only,
friends, and managers were waiting for him inside his office. Fred appeared worried while Gunn and Wesley
looked more angry than anything. Angel
didn't say anything until he was behind his desk and sitting in his chair. "What's on your mind?"
"What's on our
mind?" Wesley snapped. "What do you think is on our mind?"
"Wesley," Fred
said. "Give Angel a chance to
explain." She turned her gaze to the subject in question. "You are going to explain, right?"
Angel pinched the top of his
nose. He didn't want to explain. It was only going to cause more arguments and
probably suspicion on the part of his comrades.
Another reason was that it was too early for them to know anything about
his plan. He needed their reactions over
him turning evil to be honest in order for them to be believed. There was no turning back at this point. He had already started down the road of his
ill conceived plan with nothing to do but follow it through.
"The Immortal is in
town," Angel said, folding his hands on top of his desk. "He breached our doors last night to
keep a virus from taking over the computer system of Wolfram & Hart."
"Which by the way would
be impossible to do," Gunn spoke up.
"Not the entire system anyway.
It would also depend on which level and from which department it was launched. Also,
all systems are backed up daily and transferred to another branch."
"So, if it could only
do minor damage, why is everyone so upset?" Fred asked.
"Because it was the
Immortal who kept it from spreading," Wesley answered, crossing his arms
in front of his chest. "Because
Angel wasn't here but rather at the Hyperion with Buffy."
"What I would like to
know," Angel began. "Is why my
management is listening and contributing to gossip? Where I am and who I am with is no one's
business but my own."
Angel watched as the three
tried to communicate with glances. It
was comical. He would have laughed
except he didn't want to piss them off too much. In the end he would still need them to help
carry out the final plan to get rid of the Black Thorn. Plus, and most importantly, he didn't want to
lose them in his fight. Good friends
weren't easy to find in the cutthroat world of evil fighting. And these three were some of the best.
"Not just your
business," Wesley finally said.
"It's our business as well.
We are the ones who are here everyday working among the other employees
and we're the ones who hear this gossip,
as you put it, and are affected by it.
So, it is our business what you do."
"Angel, don't you think
after all we've been through," Gunn continued. "That we deserve to know which side of
the fence you're sitting on?"
"Nothing has
changed," Angel lied. "I'm
still the same old Angel."
"Not exactly,"
Fred countered, folding her hands in her lap.
"Buffy is here and she left the Immortal to be with you and
Spike. Then the Immortal shows up to
save the day. Or at least the computer system,
which from what I hear, was a virus that Andrew planted. Don't you think we have the right to be
nervous?"
"The Immortal is going
to try to cause us problems," Angel replied. "He isn't happy about Buffy, but I don't
think he is enough of a threat to worry about.
As for Andrew, he's nothing more than a pest and he's been dealt
with."
At least Angel hoped that
Andrew had been leashed. Buffy promised
she would take care of it. He was trying
to trust her, but it was hard. Despite
all the evidence telling him she was on his side and the love he was struggling
with for her, something inside of him was still suspicious that she would turn
on him.
"You're not going to
tell us anything substantial, are you?" Wesley asked. "We're just supposed to trust you?"
"Why wouldn't
you?" Angel asked. He pulled the file on Alonsmi demons toward him. "Shouldn't we be going over the details
of the contracts before our clients get here?" He tapped his fingers on top of the manila
folder to give an air of impatience.
Anything to get this uncomfortable conversation over with so he wouldn't
have to offer up more lies to pacify his crew.
"Yes. Of course,"
Gunn answered, with a nod. "We
should."
"I guess that's my cue
to leave," Fred said, standing up.
"If you need me for anything I'll be in the lab."
"Thank you, Fred,"
Angel said. "Let's move to the
conference room." He stood up with the file in hand. Everyone paused for a second before heading
back into action. Fred closed the door
behind her as Angel, Wesley and Gunn moved to the adjacent room. Angel knew the others would meet later to discuss
his behavior. He could only hope that
they would decide to trust him, but he figured that wouldn't happen. Especially not when he announced that he
planned on giving the Alonsmi demons the human hearts they were demanding so
they would sign on the dotted line.
~~~
"You may as well get it
over with," Buffy told her reflection.
She finished twisting her hair into a ponytail. It was easier that way, and she didn't think
she would be leaving the penthouse. At
least not when Angel was in such an uproar over Andrew's antics. She assumed Spike was hanging around to keep
an eye on them. "What have you
done?" she asked herself for the thousandth time since moving in with the
vampires. It still didn't seem real, and
she was afraid that when it did, she would realize it was one of the biggest
mistakes of her life. Except there
wasn't any going back.
After taking one last glance
in the mirror to make sure she was presentable, she left the bathroom to head
to Andrew's room. There was no more
delaying once she rapped on the door.
There was a flurry of whispers between Andrew and Dawn before her sister
called out.
"Yeah?"
"It's Buffy. What are you doing in there?"
"Nothing," Dawn
said, yanking open the door. "We're
just hanging out."
"Hmm, this is a huge penthouse,"
Buffy commented as she stepped into the room.
She peered around to see if she could get a clue as what they had been
really doing. Nothing, unfortunately. "I mean you could hang out in a lot of
places besides Andrew's bedroom."
"What do you think
we're doing?" Andrew asked, looking
up from an upside down comic book.
Buffy smiled. "I don't know." She crossed her
arms. "Maybe I need to have a birds
and bees talk with my little sister."
"Oh god, Buffy, that
is…yuck!" Dawn exclaimed. "You know we're just friends."
Andrew blushed and looked
back down at his book. He realized it
was upside down and tossed in on the side table. "We were just talking."
"I know, Buffy said,
taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
Never in their relationship had Dawn or Andrew given any hint of a
romantic link between them. It was one
of the reason Buffy let Andrew stay with them.
She smiled again. "I was
just kidding," Buffy patted the space next to her. "Sit Dawn."
"So, what's
up?" Dawn asked, plopping onto the
bed. "You look serious."
"It is serious,"
Buffy replied. "We know about the
virus."
"What virus?"
"We…we don’t know
anything about a virus," Andrew echoed Dawn. "I mean we know about viruses, but
nothing of the virus you're talking about.
Which virus exactly are you talking about?"
"Forget it," Buffy
said, in a no-nonsense tone. "You
may be good, but not good enough. A tech
at Wolfram & Hart managed to trace it back to you, and the Immortal was
there to save the day."
They were both silent as
they both gave her blank looks. Buffy
stood. She couldn't be authoritative if
she was sitting. "You were told to
stay put and out of trouble. Angel is
pissed about this whole thing, and frankly so am I. Right now we don't have a plan or even
figured everything out yet and you two are already causing problems. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put
you on a plane back to
"Because you're not
comfortable being alone with Angel and Spike," Dawn said. "You would miss us and you need
us."
"Exactly," Andrew agreed,
with a nod. "You need us and that
virus would have put a stop to Wolfram & Hart if Reggie hadn't intercepted
it."
"We don't need you to
do that," Buffy said, rolling her eyes.
"Can you at least wait until we make a plan before you decide to
help?"
The look exchanged by the
two on the bed told Buffy everything she needed to know. There was something to be suspicious
about. It took everything she had to
hold onto her temper. If they had messed
with Angel's business again it would mean nothing but trouble for her and for
them. It might even mean the end to the
relationship she was trying to build with the vampires.
"What have you done
now?" Buffy inquired. "And how do we stop it?"
"We haven't done anything!" Andrew protested, squirming a bit. He slid a hand to his side by his pillow
where a wire was hanging out.
Without waiting, Buffy
tossed the pillow to the side exposing the laptop Andrew had been hiding.
"Don't touch
anything," Dawn screeched when Buffy picked up the laptop from the bed. "You'll mess everything up."
"Shut up," Andrew
whined. "Buffy, I was in the middle
of a game when you came in…"
"Yeah, a game that
could ruin my life." Buffy stepped
back to keep the computer out of reach from them. "Tell me what you've done. Now."
"We're just trying to
help." Andrew said, standing.
He wiped his hands on his
jeans as he took a step closer to Buffy, which only made her retreat
further. Dawn wasn't even trying to
move. It was probably the guilt, Buffy
decided.
"I know you think
you're helping," Buffy said.
"I doubt that you really are though. Not this time. Tell me or I am going to break this computer
in half."
"All right,"
Andrew said defeated, reaching for his laptop.
"Just don't break it even if I do need a new one."
"What? Huh?"
Buffy asked, letting him take the computer. She pushed back the lock of hair hanging
across her cheek. A headache was forming
at the back of her head. She wondered if
Spike would put ice on her neck later.
She crossed her arms, forcing herself to pay attention to the current
problem. "Andrew, please just
explain. I don't have the patience to
play games with you two."
"Okay." Andrew took the laptop and put it on the
dresser on the other side of his room.
Once satisfied it was safe, he stood in front of it so he could face
Buffy with the bed between them.
"Yes, we released the virus, but as soon as we did Reggie sent us a
message that he knew about it."
"Which means he…?"
"Knows everything
Andrew has on that laptop," Dawn interrupted. "That's how he's been keeping up with
us. Where we were staying, what's going
on between you and Angel and Spike."
"Great, just
great," Buffy muttered. The
headache was becoming a migraine. All
she wanted was darkness, silence and nothing to think about. Neither of those was coming anytime
soon. "So we have absolutely no way
of surprising Reggie because he already knows what we're up to. I really hope you haven't put anything in
your Watcher's Diary about Angel's plans?"
"No," Andrew said,
with a shake of his head. "Well,
just that…"
"Just what?"
"Nothing," Andrew
said. "Oh okay, I just was
chronicling your relationship with the Master Vampires and the way the three of
you were going to change the world."
Buffy sighed in relief. It was another of Andrew's fairy tales that
couldn't be taken seriously. The entry
probably was full of more prose than any bodice ripper ever published. Reggie wouldn't read it because it would
reaffirm his failure at keeping Buffy under this thumb. He never could stand not to be the one in
control or the best at anything.
"Anything else? Like what we are plotting now?"
"Nothing," Dawn
said. "We were just deleting stuff
from the computer. You know to keep
Reggie from finding out anything else.
Right Andrew?"
"Yes," Andrew
agreed. "I’m deleting
everything."
"Um, isn't that a bit
backward," Buffy said. "He's
already had access to everything he wanted.
Why don't you just shut the computer down?"
Another guilty look passed
between the two on the bed. Something else
was up. It was time to push them to
confess.
"Look," Buffy
said. "Either tell me what you're
plotting now or I'll tell Angel that you're helping his enemy gather
information on him and after he's done with you, if there's anything left, I'm
sending you both to
"Don't you trust
us?" Dawn asked, putting on her
most innocent expression. "You
asked us to stay, remember?"
"Yes, I remember, but I
can also tell you to leave," Buffy responded, striding over to
Andrew. He didn't dare try to stop her
as she grabbed the laptop again.
"I'll just turn this over to Fred and see what she can find."
"No, no, no,"
Andrew cried. "I'll confess, just
give me back the computer and not tell the great souled one what we've been
doing. We were only trying to
help."
"You are so easy to
break," Dawn said derisively, jumping to her feet. "You should never be told anything
because you would just spill everything to the enemy."
"Oh, like you would like
it if Buffy sent you to
"Shut up," Dawn
screeched. "At least I don't spend
all day in front of the mirror trying to imitate Spike."
"Worthless vapid
airhead."
"That's redundant,
poser."
The bedroom door slammed
open to show Spike standing there. He
didn't look happy. "What the bloody
hell is going on in here?" Spike
yelled. "I can hear you on the other side of the fucking hotel."
"Oh my god," Buffy
moaned pitifully. Their voices had
escalated to sharp knives piercing through her skull. Buffy grabbed her head with one hand as the
other clutched the laptop to her chest.
It was horrible. "Everyone
shut up before my head explodes. Please."
Mercifully, quiet followed
her request. They were all looking at
her now.
"Are you all right,
pet?" Spike asked, putting his arms
around her shoulder.
"No, I have a
headache," Buffy said, gratefully leaning into the body next to hers. "And these two have something they're
not telling me."
"Don't worry,"
Spike replied, dropping a kiss on her forehead.
"Let's get you into bed and I'll get you something for the pain." He started to lead her out of the bedroom. "Then I'm coming back to talk to the two
of you. So be ready."
It was nice to let go. Plus the look of doom on Andrew and Dawn's
faces was worth turning the problem over to Spike. She just hoped he could handle the duo. It would be interesting to find out if he
could or not.
to be continued…
