Tribulations (S/Wes, S/A - NC17) Chapter 24
I've decided to go on and post the chapters that claudia6913 and I had already written and then I will finish the stories myself keeping as close to what we had intended as possible.
I hope you enjoy.
Title: Tribulations
Authors: writtenbyfates (femailofthespecies and claudia6913)
Pairing: Spike/Wesley
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Sequel to Trials. Sent Season 5 AtS. How will Wesley react to Spike when he sees him for the first time in over ten years? What does Spike have to say about the way he treated Wesley? And will the memory of Jason come between them?
Disclaimer: Joss owns all ... we but play in the fields of his imagination.
Feedback: Love it to pieces!
A/N: Thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback on Trials! We couldn't have done it without you. Also, thanks for the encouragement to write a sequel.
Previous Parts
-----------------------------------------
Chapter 24
Wesley swam back to consciousness, his journey slow and weighted as if something tugged at him from the deep recesses of his mind, keeping him groggy. He shifted, trying to be free of it and finally felt an arm, large and encumbering, wrapped around him loosely. As he relaxed, ready to settle into the familiarity, he stilled. This arm was a little too large, the fine hair on it darker than what he expected to see.
Carefully, he pried one eye open, and then the other, focusing as he blinked. A shock of platinum hair was smashed into the pillow next to him, the face it belonged to buried into Wesley’s neck.
But, if this was Spike in front of him, he mused, then the owner of the arm belonged to ...
Wesley leapt from the bed, shockingly quick, wide awake, and completely naked.
Angel sat up, the sudden motion waking him. The dark sheets fell from his nude form, pooling around his waist, and he watched as Wesley’s eyes widened comically. Slower to react, or just lazier, Spike stretched, enjoying how parts of him hurt just right.
“Seems your Watcher is a bit shy in the morning, Peaches,” the blond drawled, somehow keeping the smirk from his lips.
Wesley took a deep breath, chin jutted, and reached for his pants. “I’ve not actually been shy since I met you Spike. This is more like being tossed in a pool of ice water.”
“So shocked, then?” Spike clarified.
“Very.”
Tired of being somewhat ignored, Angel slipped out from between the covers and padded to Wesley. “This is what I am, Wes. What Spike is. What you wanted.”
“I know,” the human whispered and swallowed thickly.
"I know it’s a bit much to take in and it doesn't bloody help that Peaches here steals the covers during the night," Spike joked, hoping to make the human less skittish. He heard Wesley's heartbeat as it picked up and his breathing became shallow. The last thing he wanted was for Wesley to run out of there filled with regret.
Ignoring Spike, Angel placed his hands on Wesley’s shoulders. "This is what you want, isn't it?"
Twelve hours ago, Wesley had been sure that he had wanted Spike and Spike alone - six hours ago, he had been amazingly content in the knowledge that he desired them both, not equally, but his need for both vampires was intense, each in its own way. Now, looking them over, he hoped to find a way to make things work between the three of them.
It did not promise to be easy. Many factors presented themselves now that Wesley had not thought of in the heat of the moment.
He buttoned his pants, feeling a little more in control now that he was only partially naked. Realizing that 1) Angel was waiting for an answer and 2) Spike had no intention of helping him flub his way through this, Wesley sighed and sat on the chair next to the bed. He was afraid to be too close to either of them; he still felt the burning traces of passion that Angel and Spike left inside him and ached to feel it again.
“For more than ten years, I saw you in my dreams. Every night at first and I’d think of Jason at times … what he did for me…” Blue eyes drifted over to Spike before closing them and inviting the memories, both treasured and tragic to wash over him.
“If I called them nightmares, I’d be lying. I wanted you, the monster inside as well, more than was healthy…” He laughed and met Angel’s gaze. “Is there any healthy way to want a vampire?”
The two demons shifted uneasily, pretty certain of the answer to that.
“I buried my unearthly desires, shoved them under tons work, tried to show my father that I’m worthy of his love…”
“Wes…” Spike interrupted. He knew something of the man’s relationship with his father. Jason had been very big with the pillow talk. “There’s nothing wrong with you for wanting this. I can be a very charming bloke, when I need to. To get what I want as well.”
"Don't," Wesley said, closing his eyes again, rubbing a hand over his face. He felt the stubble prickling on his chin. "You make it sound as if I was manipulated into this position, and as much as I know it would do your ego good to hear that, it is not the case. I -- I wanted it -- still do."
Angel was divided. The darkness he had to keep somewhat repressed since bringing Spike back into his life, and into his bed, rejoiced hearing Wesley's words, pride in Drusilla’s get conquering this very complex human spreading through his demonically fused cells. Yet the man he had become felt like they were taking something precious from Wesley by involving him in the complication that was their eternity. He also wondered if he, not Spike, was the cause of his friend’s confusion now.
"Wesley." Angel began taking a step forward, unmindful of his nudity. "I don't expect -- actually, I'm not sure what I expect. I only know that I don't want to upset you or hurt you. You’ve been more than a good friend to me. And if all this amounts to is one night. I -- I think I can live with that."
Glancing up, he smiled. “Angel, I find it hard, er, difficult to take you seriously in this state.
Angel looked down. He was still naked and sporting morning wood. “Sorry. That’s what childer are for,” he replied flatly, although the other two saw the humor in his eyes. Things were getting too heavy and the lightening of the mood was appreciated.
“So, maybe Wes can got make some breakfast while I play at being the dutiful grandchilde,” Spike suggested, raising an eyebrow. “Unless, you wanted to bloody well help me. The big lout can be quite a mouthful.”
Wesley chuckled at that and shook his head.
"I think, my friend, that I shall leave you to it.” Standing, he saw something like disappointment flutter across Angel's face before it was swiftly masked. "Though perhaps maybe later?" he added slyly.
Not waiting for an answer, Wesley turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. While the night and day had not turned out exactly as he had planned, because sleeping with two vampires had not been anywhere on the menu, he felt okay. Spike was still his possessive, deadly lover, and Angel... well he would have to think a while longer on Angel.
***********
A pan full of scrambled eggs was just coming off the stove when Spike came into the kitchen, toweling his hair dry, his chest bare. Wesley averted his eyes, behaving something like the shy consort he claimed not to be.
“That was rather speedy,” he stated, not committing to whether he meant Spike gave a hell of a blowjob or if Angel was quick with his trigger.
Spike tossed his towel on the counter took a plate from a cabinet above the sink. “Years of practice,” he replied while spooning some of the steaming eggs onto his plate. He knew exactly which buttons to push, when, and for how long. It was an acquired skill.
Ignoring the heat creeping over him and down into his groin, Wesley buttered his toast. “Everyone will think I’m crazy, or that you’ve done something to me.”
"Last I checked, luv, I had done something to you," Spike said, leaning against Wesley, pushing him into the countertop. His lips found that spot just behind Wesley's ear that made his breath hitch and his legs tremble. "And who bloody well cares if they think you're crazy?" he asked while mouthing the skin, leaving wet kisses that had Wesley’s fingers gripping the granite counter for purchase.
Angel stood in the doorway of the little kitchenette, watching the scene. Spike knew he was there and Angel was aware that he knew. Just a new twist on an old game, Angel thought as he stroked the erection blossoming in his trousers - despite Spike's earlier ministrations he was up for more.
Turning from the bread he had been attending to, Wesley glanced over at Angel, his eyes dropping to where the larger man's hand was working before looking up into Spike's blue eyes. "Am I to take this to mean that I'm now allowed to attend your special meetings?"
Spike laughed. “Don’t know of any special meetings.” He stepped away from Wesley, waiting to see what Angel would do.
“Oh, Harmony informs me that when you and Angel are in conference you’re actually having sex. Which she says you, Spike, are very good at and that you, Angel, need lots of.”
Rolling his eyes, Angel forgot his erection, it was fading anyway … hearing Harmony’s name tended to do that … and moved toward the refrigerator. Eggs were fine for humans, and apparently Spike, but he enjoyed blood more than he would ever admit to his friends.
“She said I was good, did she?” the younger vampire asked, always willing to hear of his prowess.
Closing the refrigerator, Angel turned, reaching over Spike's head to grab a glass. He rolled his eyes at Spike's question. "This is Harmony we’re talking about."
"And what? You going to deny that? I'm a bloody good shag and you know it."
“Because I taught you everything you know.”
Smiling, Wesley grabbed a glass as well and went into the refrigerator for some orange juice. He smiled around his glass as he took a sip. He had his own thoughts on Spike's sexual prowess and could find no fault with them ... nor Angel's for that matter. Both vampires were passionate in their own way, sparking things inside Wesley that he never thought he'd feel -- or in Spike's case, feel again. He knew that once he was away from the pair he would shake his head and wonder what sort of magic had been done to be caught up in this tryst.
Gasping suddenly, he remembered the reason why he came up to angel's apartment in the first place.
"Goodness. I almost forgot." He turned to Angel and continued speaking. "The result from the reading yesterday was an utter failure. Something was blocking his aura I couldn't gain anything useful from the stone. Fred had similar results, although she was running a few more extensive tests.” He looked away, determined not to blush. “I don't have any news about that obviously."
He felt his pants and his pager was missing from the belt loop. He thought it must've fallen off when Angel got a little more passionate than required. Setting the glass on the counter, he left the kitchen and strolled into the bedroom, keeping his eyes averted from the mess of tangled sheets and body fluids. Over in a corner was where he found it and upon opening it he discovered that he had three new pages.
Turning on his heels, he ran into Spike. "Something wrong?"
"Nothing a good coronary won't fix. Do you mind not scaring me like that?"
"How would you like me to scare you then?"
Wesley turned serious eyes to Spike and said, "Fred has been trying to contact me. The last one was marked an emergency." He showed him the page.
Giving a short nod Spike brushed past Wesley and started shuffling through the drawers of Angel's dresser, pulling out random bits of clothing and tossing them on the bed. It was a rare occasion that Wesley was able to watch Spike intensely focused on something other than him. Just as Wesley was about turn and leave, cloth fell around his shoulders.
"What's this then?" Wesley asked, pulling the clothing from off, but Spike was already out the door and headed towards the kitchenette looking for Angel. Following the blond, Wesley saw the confused look on Angel's face.
"What's going on?" Angel took a sip of blood while waiting for an answer.
"Seems our resident brainiac has been trying to get hold Wes here."
“I'm sure it's related to this Knox problem, Angel.”
Angel down the rest of this blood and left to find his shoes, while Wesley donned the shirt Spike had given him. It was Angel’s and a bit too large, but better this than the torn remnants of his own clothing.
Spike emerged fully- clothed, his boot laces slapping the ground as he stomped toward the elevator. “Come on, hurry. We don't want the bugger to get away from us.” Hopefully, today was the day that he could kill the man.
The other two followed him into the elevator in silence.
The lift was moving far too slowly and the three of them got that look that all people get when trapped in a confined space, spouting bad Musak, like they had many witty things to say, but were too uncertain to actually do it. And like most people they got to thinking and it was during this moment that Spike immediately pressed another button, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"What are you doing, Spike?" Angel asked, sparing a glance for Wesley hoping that the human would have more of an idea than he did at that moment. However, the watcher simply shrugged, showing his ignorance as well.
"Got a bit of an idea," Spike said, rocking forward on the balls of his feet.
"Would you mind sharing with the rest the class?" Wesley asked. However, before Spike answers question. The doors to the elevator open revealing that they were not on the floor of the science lab, but on the floor above.
“Why’d you stop here?” Angel asked.
“It’s ten in the morning and Charlie boy’s in the gym.”
They looked at each other and back at Spike while following him down the hall.
“And?” Angel was impatient.
“And we need to find a legal way to keep knox here, against his will, while we figure out his angle…”
“And how he beat the test,” Wesley finished. It wasn’t what Spike had in mind, but he kept silent.
Together the three of them walked down the hall towards the gym and through the doors where they saw Gunn shooting hoops solo. Not hesitating, the trio walked up to him and Spike reached out, grasping the bouncing ball midair.
"Hey!" Gunn yelled, spinning to see who it take in his ball. "Well, well, what has you guys in here, interrupting a brother and his game?"
"Knox," Spike said.
"Yeah," Gunn said, with a quick shrug of his shoulder, "what about him?" Did y'all ever find out what he was up to?"
"Actually," Wesley said, speaking up, "we were just on the way to see Fred. It seems she still needed more time to run her tests we were hoping that you would have a way he to keep him here. Possibly some legal red tape, you could wrap and up in?"
He thought for a second, then nodded. “Yeah, lemme see what I can do.” Hands extended, he waited for Spike to hand over the ball, which did not happen. “Now, right,” he grumbled, resigned to getting a little less exercise than he had wanted today.
“Meanwhile,” Wesley started, “let’s keep the man busy in the lab. Perhaps have someone tail him.”
“Nah, no need for following him around,” Spike replied. “His key card is equipped with a GPS tracker, just like your precious fleet,” he told Angel
The older vampire frowned. “How come I don’t know these things?”
Jumping, Wesley reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. The caller id revealed it was Fred. “Hello Fred, is everything all right?”
"Yes," Fred said quickly. "I need you guys to come down to the lab. Knox just left, but I'm not sure how long he will be. I have something you should see."
"We'll be right there," Wesley said, flipping the phone closed before turning to the others in the room. The vampire's were already on their way out of the room having overheard the conversation. He turned to Gunn. "Anything, Charles, that will keep this man tied in knots for as long as possible."
**********
"What do you have?" Angel asked, walking through the doors to the lab, Spike on his tail and Wesley not far behind that.
They both stared at it for a handful of seconds before Spike snatched Angel’s sheet.
Sighing, he ignored Spike in favor of staying focused. “What’s this supposed to mean, Fred?”
In her opinion, sometimes Angel just didn’t seem to be capable of running a multi-dimensional evil lawfirm. She took Wesley’s paper. “This is a visual of Knox’s brainwave activity. I took a reading while he was on the phone when I noticed this.”
On her laptop screen was a picture of a brain. “Here, where the memories are stored, is a significant decrease in capacity from what I saw in the MRI taken of him back when that demon knocked him in the head.”
Wesley was warming to her train of thought. “So you believe he’s had some alteration to his memories?”
"Would explain why Fancy Pants couldn't see anythin'," Spike mused, looking at the intricate spikes and dips of the lines. It was all gibberish to him, but if the bird said that's what it meant, then he'd go with it.
"So, he doesn't remember doing it?" Angel asked.
"No," Fred said, not quite as happy about it as she would have liked to have been. The fact that Knox had needed to alter his memory just proved to her that she did not know the man that had been working beside her months.
"How do we remind him?" Spike asked, thinking of a few ways he wanted to remind the prick.
"I don't think we can," Fred said, turning back to her computer. "Maybe there might be a key word or phrase, like in hypnotism, but that's not guaranteed."
Angel reached for the doorknob. “We don’t need to remind him. That he did it confirms he’s up to something and can’t be trusted.” He looked at Spike. “I want everything about him bugged.”
The blond nodded, understanding that Angel was trusting him with Fred’s safety, all of them really, but it was nice to be included in that circle.
“I’m going to see Gunn.” Angel stormed out.
I hope you enjoy.
Title: Tribulations
Authors: writtenbyfates (femailofthespecies and claudia6913)
Pairing: Spike/Wesley
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Sequel to Trials. Sent Season 5 AtS. How will Wesley react to Spike when he sees him for the first time in over ten years? What does Spike have to say about the way he treated Wesley? And will the memory of Jason come between them?
Disclaimer: Joss owns all ... we but play in the fields of his imagination.
Feedback: Love it to pieces!
A/N: Thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback on Trials! We couldn't have done it without you. Also, thanks for the encouragement to write a sequel.
Previous Parts
-----------------------------------------
Chapter 24
Wesley swam back to consciousness, his journey slow and weighted as if something tugged at him from the deep recesses of his mind, keeping him groggy. He shifted, trying to be free of it and finally felt an arm, large and encumbering, wrapped around him loosely. As he relaxed, ready to settle into the familiarity, he stilled. This arm was a little too large, the fine hair on it darker than what he expected to see.
Carefully, he pried one eye open, and then the other, focusing as he blinked. A shock of platinum hair was smashed into the pillow next to him, the face it belonged to buried into Wesley’s neck.
But, if this was Spike in front of him, he mused, then the owner of the arm belonged to ...
Wesley leapt from the bed, shockingly quick, wide awake, and completely naked.
Angel sat up, the sudden motion waking him. The dark sheets fell from his nude form, pooling around his waist, and he watched as Wesley’s eyes widened comically. Slower to react, or just lazier, Spike stretched, enjoying how parts of him hurt just right.
“Seems your Watcher is a bit shy in the morning, Peaches,” the blond drawled, somehow keeping the smirk from his lips.
Wesley took a deep breath, chin jutted, and reached for his pants. “I’ve not actually been shy since I met you Spike. This is more like being tossed in a pool of ice water.”
“So shocked, then?” Spike clarified.
“Very.”
Tired of being somewhat ignored, Angel slipped out from between the covers and padded to Wesley. “This is what I am, Wes. What Spike is. What you wanted.”
“I know,” the human whispered and swallowed thickly.
"I know it’s a bit much to take in and it doesn't bloody help that Peaches here steals the covers during the night," Spike joked, hoping to make the human less skittish. He heard Wesley's heartbeat as it picked up and his breathing became shallow. The last thing he wanted was for Wesley to run out of there filled with regret.
Ignoring Spike, Angel placed his hands on Wesley’s shoulders. "This is what you want, isn't it?"
Twelve hours ago, Wesley had been sure that he had wanted Spike and Spike alone - six hours ago, he had been amazingly content in the knowledge that he desired them both, not equally, but his need for both vampires was intense, each in its own way. Now, looking them over, he hoped to find a way to make things work between the three of them.
It did not promise to be easy. Many factors presented themselves now that Wesley had not thought of in the heat of the moment.
He buttoned his pants, feeling a little more in control now that he was only partially naked. Realizing that 1) Angel was waiting for an answer and 2) Spike had no intention of helping him flub his way through this, Wesley sighed and sat on the chair next to the bed. He was afraid to be too close to either of them; he still felt the burning traces of passion that Angel and Spike left inside him and ached to feel it again.
“For more than ten years, I saw you in my dreams. Every night at first and I’d think of Jason at times … what he did for me…” Blue eyes drifted over to Spike before closing them and inviting the memories, both treasured and tragic to wash over him.
“If I called them nightmares, I’d be lying. I wanted you, the monster inside as well, more than was healthy…” He laughed and met Angel’s gaze. “Is there any healthy way to want a vampire?”
The two demons shifted uneasily, pretty certain of the answer to that.
“I buried my unearthly desires, shoved them under tons work, tried to show my father that I’m worthy of his love…”
“Wes…” Spike interrupted. He knew something of the man’s relationship with his father. Jason had been very big with the pillow talk. “There’s nothing wrong with you for wanting this. I can be a very charming bloke, when I need to. To get what I want as well.”
"Don't," Wesley said, closing his eyes again, rubbing a hand over his face. He felt the stubble prickling on his chin. "You make it sound as if I was manipulated into this position, and as much as I know it would do your ego good to hear that, it is not the case. I -- I wanted it -- still do."
Angel was divided. The darkness he had to keep somewhat repressed since bringing Spike back into his life, and into his bed, rejoiced hearing Wesley's words, pride in Drusilla’s get conquering this very complex human spreading through his demonically fused cells. Yet the man he had become felt like they were taking something precious from Wesley by involving him in the complication that was their eternity. He also wondered if he, not Spike, was the cause of his friend’s confusion now.
"Wesley." Angel began taking a step forward, unmindful of his nudity. "I don't expect -- actually, I'm not sure what I expect. I only know that I don't want to upset you or hurt you. You’ve been more than a good friend to me. And if all this amounts to is one night. I -- I think I can live with that."
Glancing up, he smiled. “Angel, I find it hard, er, difficult to take you seriously in this state.
Angel looked down. He was still naked and sporting morning wood. “Sorry. That’s what childer are for,” he replied flatly, although the other two saw the humor in his eyes. Things were getting too heavy and the lightening of the mood was appreciated.
“So, maybe Wes can got make some breakfast while I play at being the dutiful grandchilde,” Spike suggested, raising an eyebrow. “Unless, you wanted to bloody well help me. The big lout can be quite a mouthful.”
Wesley chuckled at that and shook his head.
"I think, my friend, that I shall leave you to it.” Standing, he saw something like disappointment flutter across Angel's face before it was swiftly masked. "Though perhaps maybe later?" he added slyly.
Not waiting for an answer, Wesley turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. While the night and day had not turned out exactly as he had planned, because sleeping with two vampires had not been anywhere on the menu, he felt okay. Spike was still his possessive, deadly lover, and Angel... well he would have to think a while longer on Angel.
***********
A pan full of scrambled eggs was just coming off the stove when Spike came into the kitchen, toweling his hair dry, his chest bare. Wesley averted his eyes, behaving something like the shy consort he claimed not to be.
“That was rather speedy,” he stated, not committing to whether he meant Spike gave a hell of a blowjob or if Angel was quick with his trigger.
Spike tossed his towel on the counter took a plate from a cabinet above the sink. “Years of practice,” he replied while spooning some of the steaming eggs onto his plate. He knew exactly which buttons to push, when, and for how long. It was an acquired skill.
Ignoring the heat creeping over him and down into his groin, Wesley buttered his toast. “Everyone will think I’m crazy, or that you’ve done something to me.”
"Last I checked, luv, I had done something to you," Spike said, leaning against Wesley, pushing him into the countertop. His lips found that spot just behind Wesley's ear that made his breath hitch and his legs tremble. "And who bloody well cares if they think you're crazy?" he asked while mouthing the skin, leaving wet kisses that had Wesley’s fingers gripping the granite counter for purchase.
Angel stood in the doorway of the little kitchenette, watching the scene. Spike knew he was there and Angel was aware that he knew. Just a new twist on an old game, Angel thought as he stroked the erection blossoming in his trousers - despite Spike's earlier ministrations he was up for more.
Turning from the bread he had been attending to, Wesley glanced over at Angel, his eyes dropping to where the larger man's hand was working before looking up into Spike's blue eyes. "Am I to take this to mean that I'm now allowed to attend your special meetings?"
Spike laughed. “Don’t know of any special meetings.” He stepped away from Wesley, waiting to see what Angel would do.
“Oh, Harmony informs me that when you and Angel are in conference you’re actually having sex. Which she says you, Spike, are very good at and that you, Angel, need lots of.”
Rolling his eyes, Angel forgot his erection, it was fading anyway … hearing Harmony’s name tended to do that … and moved toward the refrigerator. Eggs were fine for humans, and apparently Spike, but he enjoyed blood more than he would ever admit to his friends.
“She said I was good, did she?” the younger vampire asked, always willing to hear of his prowess.
Closing the refrigerator, Angel turned, reaching over Spike's head to grab a glass. He rolled his eyes at Spike's question. "This is Harmony we’re talking about."
"And what? You going to deny that? I'm a bloody good shag and you know it."
“Because I taught you everything you know.”
Smiling, Wesley grabbed a glass as well and went into the refrigerator for some orange juice. He smiled around his glass as he took a sip. He had his own thoughts on Spike's sexual prowess and could find no fault with them ... nor Angel's for that matter. Both vampires were passionate in their own way, sparking things inside Wesley that he never thought he'd feel -- or in Spike's case, feel again. He knew that once he was away from the pair he would shake his head and wonder what sort of magic had been done to be caught up in this tryst.
Gasping suddenly, he remembered the reason why he came up to angel's apartment in the first place.
"Goodness. I almost forgot." He turned to Angel and continued speaking. "The result from the reading yesterday was an utter failure. Something was blocking his aura I couldn't gain anything useful from the stone. Fred had similar results, although she was running a few more extensive tests.” He looked away, determined not to blush. “I don't have any news about that obviously."
He felt his pants and his pager was missing from the belt loop. He thought it must've fallen off when Angel got a little more passionate than required. Setting the glass on the counter, he left the kitchen and strolled into the bedroom, keeping his eyes averted from the mess of tangled sheets and body fluids. Over in a corner was where he found it and upon opening it he discovered that he had three new pages.
Turning on his heels, he ran into Spike. "Something wrong?"
"Nothing a good coronary won't fix. Do you mind not scaring me like that?"
"How would you like me to scare you then?"
Wesley turned serious eyes to Spike and said, "Fred has been trying to contact me. The last one was marked an emergency." He showed him the page.
Giving a short nod Spike brushed past Wesley and started shuffling through the drawers of Angel's dresser, pulling out random bits of clothing and tossing them on the bed. It was a rare occasion that Wesley was able to watch Spike intensely focused on something other than him. Just as Wesley was about turn and leave, cloth fell around his shoulders.
"What's this then?" Wesley asked, pulling the clothing from off, but Spike was already out the door and headed towards the kitchenette looking for Angel. Following the blond, Wesley saw the confused look on Angel's face.
"What's going on?" Angel took a sip of blood while waiting for an answer.
"Seems our resident brainiac has been trying to get hold Wes here."
“I'm sure it's related to this Knox problem, Angel.”
Angel down the rest of this blood and left to find his shoes, while Wesley donned the shirt Spike had given him. It was Angel’s and a bit too large, but better this than the torn remnants of his own clothing.
Spike emerged fully- clothed, his boot laces slapping the ground as he stomped toward the elevator. “Come on, hurry. We don't want the bugger to get away from us.” Hopefully, today was the day that he could kill the man.
The other two followed him into the elevator in silence.
The lift was moving far too slowly and the three of them got that look that all people get when trapped in a confined space, spouting bad Musak, like they had many witty things to say, but were too uncertain to actually do it. And like most people they got to thinking and it was during this moment that Spike immediately pressed another button, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"What are you doing, Spike?" Angel asked, sparing a glance for Wesley hoping that the human would have more of an idea than he did at that moment. However, the watcher simply shrugged, showing his ignorance as well.
"Got a bit of an idea," Spike said, rocking forward on the balls of his feet.
"Would you mind sharing with the rest the class?" Wesley asked. However, before Spike answers question. The doors to the elevator open revealing that they were not on the floor of the science lab, but on the floor above.
“Why’d you stop here?” Angel asked.
“It’s ten in the morning and Charlie boy’s in the gym.”
They looked at each other and back at Spike while following him down the hall.
“And?” Angel was impatient.
“And we need to find a legal way to keep knox here, against his will, while we figure out his angle…”
“And how he beat the test,” Wesley finished. It wasn’t what Spike had in mind, but he kept silent.
Together the three of them walked down the hall towards the gym and through the doors where they saw Gunn shooting hoops solo. Not hesitating, the trio walked up to him and Spike reached out, grasping the bouncing ball midair.
"Hey!" Gunn yelled, spinning to see who it take in his ball. "Well, well, what has you guys in here, interrupting a brother and his game?"
"Knox," Spike said.
"Yeah," Gunn said, with a quick shrug of his shoulder, "what about him?" Did y'all ever find out what he was up to?"
"Actually," Wesley said, speaking up, "we were just on the way to see Fred. It seems she still needed more time to run her tests we were hoping that you would have a way he to keep him here. Possibly some legal red tape, you could wrap and up in?"
He thought for a second, then nodded. “Yeah, lemme see what I can do.” Hands extended, he waited for Spike to hand over the ball, which did not happen. “Now, right,” he grumbled, resigned to getting a little less exercise than he had wanted today.
“Meanwhile,” Wesley started, “let’s keep the man busy in the lab. Perhaps have someone tail him.”
“Nah, no need for following him around,” Spike replied. “His key card is equipped with a GPS tracker, just like your precious fleet,” he told Angel
The older vampire frowned. “How come I don’t know these things?”
Jumping, Wesley reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. The caller id revealed it was Fred. “Hello Fred, is everything all right?”
"Yes," Fred said quickly. "I need you guys to come down to the lab. Knox just left, but I'm not sure how long he will be. I have something you should see."
"We'll be right there," Wesley said, flipping the phone closed before turning to the others in the room. The vampire's were already on their way out of the room having overheard the conversation. He turned to Gunn. "Anything, Charles, that will keep this man tied in knots for as long as possible."
**********
"What do you have?" Angel asked, walking through the doors to the lab, Spike on his tail and Wesley not far behind that.
They both stared at it for a handful of seconds before Spike snatched Angel’s sheet.
Sighing, he ignored Spike in favor of staying focused. “What’s this supposed to mean, Fred?”
In her opinion, sometimes Angel just didn’t seem to be capable of running a multi-dimensional evil lawfirm. She took Wesley’s paper. “This is a visual of Knox’s brainwave activity. I took a reading while he was on the phone when I noticed this.”
On her laptop screen was a picture of a brain. “Here, where the memories are stored, is a significant decrease in capacity from what I saw in the MRI taken of him back when that demon knocked him in the head.”
Wesley was warming to her train of thought. “So you believe he’s had some alteration to his memories?”
"Would explain why Fancy Pants couldn't see anythin'," Spike mused, looking at the intricate spikes and dips of the lines. It was all gibberish to him, but if the bird said that's what it meant, then he'd go with it.
"So, he doesn't remember doing it?" Angel asked.
"No," Fred said, not quite as happy about it as she would have liked to have been. The fact that Knox had needed to alter his memory just proved to her that she did not know the man that had been working beside her months.
"How do we remind him?" Spike asked, thinking of a few ways he wanted to remind the prick.
"I don't think we can," Fred said, turning back to her computer. "Maybe there might be a key word or phrase, like in hypnotism, but that's not guaranteed."
Angel reached for the doorknob. “We don’t need to remind him. That he did it confirms he’s up to something and can’t be trusted.” He looked at Spike. “I want everything about him bugged.”
The blond nodded, understanding that Angel was trusting him with Fred’s safety, all of them really, but it was nice to be included in that circle.
“I’m going to see Gunn.” Angel stormed out.