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Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe of the rights of Joss Whedon, the WB, Mutant Enemy or any other copyright holders of Angel.

Changes
by The Brat Queen and Keren

Spoilers: Up to Epiphany, after which Joss and I go separate ways.

Rated: PG

Summary: Wesley moves into the hotel while Angel is forced to relive his last Sunnydale reunion. (comes after "Overlooked", Xover with "Sight Seeing")

There was the hiss of cardboard against drywall, then a loud thump.

"Do be careful!" Wes said, trying his best to get the mover's attention as he picked up a fallen box. Wes's body was tense, and Angel knew his lover was debating doing some of the work himself. "Some of those items are very old and incredibly valuable."

Angel put a discreet hand on Wes's back. "It's okay," he told him softly.

"No, it bloody well isn't," Wes muttered. He leaned against the front desk, watching two of the other men they'd hired attempt to wrestle Wes's sofa into the elevator. "Jaterian oils are highly volatile. And I don't even want to think about the chaos that would ensue if one of them broke the Dylandrye crystals."

"Then I'll do it," Angel said. "Which boxes are they?"

Wes started to point, then stopped. "Er - damn. I'm not sure. You know labeling them on top seemed like such a good idea until -"

"They stacked them," Angel finished, looking at the piles of boxes with the not-really-helpful title of "U-Haul" on the side. "Okay, let's narrow this down. Did you mark them as fragile?"

"Yes," Wesley said, "but my dishes, lamps and glassware are also marked that as well."

Angel shrugged. "So? Stuff from your kitchen isn't gonna smell like Jaterian oil. And not like it's that big a deal if I move your dishes anyway."

"Well actually -"

"Wes, for the last fucking time I want you here and occasionally I'm just gonna do nice things for you. Deal with it."

"I was going to say I thought we agreed to leave my dishes in the kitchen downstairs," Wesley replied.

Angel blinked. "Oh."

"But if you don't mind moving them back and forth then I shan't argue with you," Wes continued. He stopped to direct a mover. "Those go into my office. And that's for upstairs, second door on the right. Are you sure you don't mind?"

Angel took a second to realize the last comment was aimed at him, then nodded. "Sure. You're all stressed. I don't like you stressed."

"I sent Gunn and Cordelia out to get food and beer," Wesley said.

"Good idea," Angel started sorting through the nearby boxes. The move itself had filled the lobby with a near riot of sound, sight and smell, but if he concentrated he could pick up on the faint traces of scent that escaped the taped up cardboard. "I don't think any of your magic stuff's in here."

"Out in the truck, then?" Wesley guessed.

"Probably," Angel agreed. So far the movers had concentrated on moving the bulk of Wes's furniture. "I'll go look."

Wes smiled in gratitude. "Call if you need me."

"You got it," Angel said. He strode through the lobby towards the entrance to the garage. The moving van had been parked in the back alley, right by the garage door. There was no one inside of it right now, but the alley was private enough that Angel wasn't worried about it. For some reason casual thieves stayed far away from the hotel.

A quick and easy leap carried him over the tiny threshold of sunlight just past the door and into the dark interior of the truck. It was mostly full, but with the furniture out of the way he was able to shove boxes around to find what he wanted. He began to sort Wes's stuff into sections for magic supplies, books, and everything else. He'd take the magic things in first.

"You are just full of surprises, you know that?"

Angel turned around at the familiar voice. "Lindsey. Working as a teamster now?"

"I could ask you the same question," Lindsey replied. He leaned against the ramp to the truck. Sunlight glinted off of his plastic hand. "You know I'd offer to lend a hand but - guess you beat me to it, huh?"

Angel just stared at him. "Is there a point to this, Linds? 'cause I'm busy."

"What? You're the only guy who can make lame jokes?" Lindsey asked.

"Of the two of us? No." Angel stepped aside as one of the movers came through. "Leave those there. I'm bringing them in."

The mover obeyed, piling boxes of Wes's clothes onto a dolly and then wheeling it down the ramp. Lindsey raised an eyebrow as they passed. "So Wesley's moving in? Good for you."

Angel eyed him suspiciously.

Lindsey held up his hands, the picture of innocence. "What? I think it's great you have a girlfriend. Keeps you mellow."

Angel grabbed Lindsey by the throat and hauled him into the truck. He ignored the wisps of smoke that came off of his skin. "I think you've got a real nasty habit of breathing, Linds. You've got two seconds to convince me to let you keep it."

Lindsey choked, trying to remove Angel's hand. He managed to get out something that sounded like "-ike."

Angel threw him onto the floor. "What?"

"Spike, you Neanderthal," Lindsey gasped. He yanked at his tie to loosen it. "You know? Your grandson?"

Angel folded his arms, his eyes narrowing. "What about him?"

"You tell me," Lindsey said. He got up, leaning his weight against his good hand in order to do so. "You tried talking to him lately? Or your ex? Or has playing Batman and Robin kept you too busy?"

"You've really gotta stop thinking about my sex life," Angel said. "'cause if you're jealous - too bad. And if it's just for kicks - try jerking off. Assuming you still can."

"Funny," Lindsey said. "Of course - that's a funny thing about obstacles. You can always overcome them."

"You wanna dispense with the riddles and just say it?" Angel asked. "Or are you getting paid by the hour?"

"You got it," Lindsey said. "Your ex-girlfriend is fucking a pure vampire."

Everything fell away as Angel took those words in. "You mean -"

Lindsey grinned. "We took that nasty little problem out of your grandson's head. He can hunt and kill - well Hell, probably better than you can. Now doesn't that just make you feel all warm inside?"

"Get out."

"What? And miss out on my chance to see Wes's secret stash of porn videos? Not on your - "

Angel lashed out, first punching Lindsey then spinning and following it up with a kick to the solar plexus. He then grabbed the unconscious lawyer before he could fall and threw him out of the truck, smiling in satisfaction when he heard flesh connect to concrete.

"Fuck, man," Gunn came running down the alley, dropping his filled grocery bags and looking around for a fight. In the distance, Angel could see Cordy hovering by the alleyway. "I heard a big ass crash. What's up?"

"Take care of that," Angel said, gesturing to Lindsey as he jumped through the light and ran back into the house. "I've got to make a phone call."

"Angel - " Wes was by the door as he came in, but Angel gestured for patience and grabbed the nearest phone, punching in a number he had memorized.

There was a ring, then someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Buffy?"

There was a slight pause before she answered. "Angel? What's up?"

Angel moved into a doorway to get out of the movers' path. "Spike's chip is out."

He could hear the catch of her breath. "What?"

"The Wolfram and Hart thing," he explained. He caught Wesley's eye so he wouldn't have to repeat himself. "Lindsey showed up just now. He said they turned the chip off."

Wesley's expression grew sober.

"And you believed the man that kidnapped you and stuck you in a cage?" Buffy scoffed.

"Okay," Cordy said, coming in with the groceries. "One lawyer taken care of. Or he will be when Gunn's finished with him. What's up?"

"We'll tell you in a moment," Wesley said. He motioned for Angel to go into one of the lesser used side rooms, then gestured in the direction of the movers. "Can you and Gunn…?"

"Yeah, sure," she said. She put the groceries down and ran off to supervise.

Angel watched all of this out of the corner of his eye as he replied to Buffy. "You wanna take the chance that he's lying?"

"Well, it's been over a month and he hasn't tried to kill me," she said.

Secretly, Angel wondered if Spike - even an unchipped one - could kill Buffy. "He could have been killing other people."

"Angel," Buffy said, her voice soft, "why are you doing this to me?"

The accusation felt like a stab in the gut. "Buffy, I'm not doing anything to you. I'm warning you."

"Oh yeah," she said. "I can so see some group of lawyers gettin' together to help Spike."

Suddenly something clicked. "Makes perfect sense to me."

"Ok, explain, brain boy."

He looked at Wes again, wondering if they were both seeing the same pattern. "You don't know these guys, Buffy. They brought back Darla, they brought back Dru, and now they're bringin' back Spike."

"How would they even know he was gonna be there?" she asked. "This kind of thing takes planning."

"Wouldn't take planning if he was helping," Angel said. Wes nodded in agreement.

"Oh yeah," Buffy said, "so Spike conveniently waited until I decided to go see Faith, offered to carpool and then planned to have himself kidnapped, with you, so he could get his chip removed while I was in the area."

"I'm not sayin' I know what he planned," Angel replied. "I'm just sayin' it looks awfully suspicious. I mean, if you're gonna do it, why not make it look like one big coincidence?"

"Spike doesn't have plans," Buffy said. "He has 'rush in and bop things over the head and hope it works'. And if all else fails, bop more things over the head."

"Fine, so this time it was rush in and kidnap two vampires - " Angel caught himself, realizing that they were getting off-track. "Look - that's not the point. The point is he's dangerous. You don't know what he could do."

"Gee Angel, I didn't know your new motto was 'help the helpless and stake the innocent'," Buffy said, her voice tinged with sarcasm. "It is innocent until proven guilty in this country, isn't it?"

Angel couldn't believe they were even having this argument. "He's not innocent!"

"I just wanna be sure," Buffy said. It took Angel a moment to realize that there was the sound of tears in her voice. Something inside of him melted, and he felt his anger starting to drain away.

"Buffy," he said, trying to sound supportive, "You know I want you to be happy, but I - I also want you to be safe."

"Oh god," she said, her breath sounding wet from crying, "what am I supposed to do?"

Angel sat down in a chair feeling the few defenses he had against Buffy and all things Sunnydale drain away. He shot a helpless look at Wesley. "Look, I dunno, maybe there's something we could figure out?"

"Is there any way to find out if this Lindsey guy was lying?" she asked.

Angel thought about it. "I can break into their offices, see what I can find out."

Wesley shook his head. "Angel, that's too dangerous."

Hoping Buffy hadn't heard, Angel covered the phone with his hand as he asked Wes "What else do you want me to do?"

Wesley sighed, shrugging. He didn't have any other ideas.

"No, it's ok," Buffy said and Angel turned his attention back to the phone. "I can do this. I'll handle it. Um...thanks?"

Angel wished he had something better to offer. "If you need me to help..."

"No," Buffy said softly, "I think it's best if I do this alone."

Looking over at Wes, Angel realized she was probably right, even if he didn't like it. He just wondered if Buffy realized how alone this would make her. "You can't trust him."

He heard her start to cry again. "I know."

The phone went dead as she hung up.

"I think you're right," Wesley said. He was leaning against the wall, his arms folded in front of him.

"About what?" Angel asked.

"The chip," Wes replied. He then held up a hand to ward off interruptions as he explained himself. "That is to say, about why they removed it. I make no claims as to Spike's motives or methods, but if Wolfram & Hart wanted to hurt you, taking out Spike's chip would be a way."

Angel stared at the phone in his hands. "First Darla, then Dru, now Spike," he repeated.

"I suppose we should be grateful that Kate killed Penn," Wes said mildly. He came over to sit beside him. "Have you any other children out there that we need to be concerned about?"

"Not like Spike," Angel said.

Wesley nodded, taking that in. "What did Buffy say?"

"She's gonna take care of it."

"I assume by your tone that you do not mean in a permanent fashion?" Wes asked.

Angel shook his head. "She doesn't know."

They were silent for a few moments. Finally Wes spoke. "I know this is difficult for you."

"Two hours," Angel said. "I could be there in two hours."

"Actually five," Wesley said, pointing to the clock as a reminder that it was still afternoon. "Unless you're assuming that Gunn or I will drive you."

"I could kill him," Angel said. He looked Wes in the eye. "Ram a stake right through his fucking heart. Kill him before he even thinks of hurting her."

"Yes," Wesley agreed. "You could."

Angel stood up, feeling a need to pace in his frustration. "So why don't I? It's not like he's stronger than me. Last time he was here he needed to hire a whole group of minions to take me down. I can handle him."

"Because you don't know if he has minions now?" Wesley pointed out. He counted off the other options on his fingers. "Because it would most likely bring Darla and Dru back into our lives. Because leaving Los Angeles and going to Sunnydale is undoubtedly what Wolfram & Hart wants of you. Because Buffy is a Slayer and would hardly need the help in handling a vampire. Because even if she did require assistance it isn't as though she doesn't have all of her friends and the backing of the Council to support her - "

Angel noticed the hint of bitterness in that last comment and filed it away as something for him and Wes to talk about later.

"- Because the Powers haven't given Cordelia a vision about this which suggests that it isn't an urgent matter or one needing your attention. Because -"

"Okay, Wes, I get it," Angel said. "There's lots of reasons not to."

"And because you are stronger now," Wesley finished, looking up at him. "Stronger than you were a year ago, when anything could distract you from the cause. You aren't some lawyer's toy, Angel, to be made to run here and there by someone else's whim like a puppy with a rubber ball - "

"Nice mental image."

Wes gave him a look. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," Angel said. "I do. I just - fuck. I hate being mature."

Wesley laughed, coming to stand beside him. "I know it's not your usual habit."

"Hell no," Angel said. He noticed that they were out of sight from everyone else, and squeezed Wes's hand with his own. "I mean it's enough that I'm doing all this today. I'm being adult. I'm making a commitment. I'm in a relationship. I'm kinda maxed out here."

"If it helps I'll let you make spitballs with Gunn later," Wesley said, holding his hand back and then stepping away.

Angel let him go, following him back into the main lobby. "You're not just saying that?"

"Better spitballs than whatever chaos might ensue if you started some sort of war with your family," Wesley said. He gave Angel a reassuring look. "It will be all right. Everyone in Sunnydale can handle themselves. Let them deal with this. Besides, it isn't as though we lack for problems over here."

"Speaking of which, lemme get your stuff," Angel said. "Lindsey kinda distracted me."

Wes smirked. "I'll try not to be jealous."

"Oh shut the fuck up," Angel said as he started back towards the garage. "Can you take care of updating Cordy and Gunn?"

"Of course," Wes replied. He paused, then called out to him. "Angel?"

Angel looked back. "Yeah?"

Wes ducked his head, then gestured to the confusion of furniture and boxes around him. "Thank you. For your maturity."

Angel smiled. "Anytime."

Fin.