SquidgeWorld Archive

"Look!"

Spike stuck out his tongue at Buffy.

"What the hell? Is that a piercing?" Willow said, pulling Tara over. "Check it out."

"Cool," Tara said, turning towards Xander. "Now, how far away are we from those offices and your apartment?"

Xander looked up at the street sign. "A few blocks." The night air was cool, and soothing to the group of Scoobies who had been walking around Los Angeles all day, Spike excepted. He'd found a piercing shop that was open 24 hours and had decided to stay there while the others walked around, taking in the pandemonium that was Los Angeles.

The only other people who hadn't spent the entire day outside were Giles and Willow. Giles had already went to the offices of Angel Investigations and Willow...Spike was still trying to get details out of the group, and Xander was more than happy to oblige.

"See, Willow and Tara were holding hands," Xander said, looking over at Tara and Forrest as Willow, Graham and Buffy groaned, "and this jerk came up and started talking to Tara, all nice and normal. And then he called her a dyke. Willow got up in his face."

"You, Red?"

Willow looked at Spike. "You didn't notice the black eye?"

"It's a bit dark out here, love," Spike said, taking a closer look at Willow. "I'll be...that's one hell of a shiner."

Riley smiled. "Well, Xander didn't tell you she hit him first."

"No one insults my friend and gets away with it," Willow said.

Buffy grinned. "I think she's been waiting to do that for a long time. She's been too passive."

"And that was the breaking point," Tara said. "Though I wish you hadn't hit him. He was bigger. And, besides, Forrest was about to knock him out."

"I was not," he said.

"Yes, you were," Oz said. "You looked like a bull who'd seen red."

Willow laughed, then looked up at the night sky. Suddenly she pushed Xander out of the way seconds before a flower pot fell on his head. "Sorry about that," a voice from above said.

"Cordelia?" Buffy asked, and the familiar brunette popped her head out.

"Finally! You guys are late." Cordelia smiled. "Well, nice to see you again, Spike. Where'd you disappear to?"

"I've got a surprise for you," Spike said, a small twinkle in his eye. He started to laugh as Cordelia rolled her eyes and pulled her head back in. Moments later she was with them at the base of the building.

"Nicer than your other offices," Buffy muttered, looking at the buildings.

Cordelia ignored her magnificently and looked at Spike. "What's your surprise?"

Spike stuck his tongue out at her. "Lool ut i ot," he said still sticking his tongue out at her.

"That was five minutes ago." She motioned for everyone to follow her inside.

Spike looked crushed. "But...you..." He went in first. The others followed, surprised at what had happened.

"'Allo," Giles said, his speech slightly slurred. Angel was in the corner, talking with a rather handsome one-handed man while Wesley was listening to Kate and an Asian woman's conversation. Spike was going up to Cordelia, intent on finishing the conversation they'd started downstairs. There were various other people in the room, and Giles pointed out who was who.

"You know Wesley and Angel," he told Willow. "The blonde woman's Detective Kate...something or other, the one handed man's a lawyer, formerly evil, named Linds...Linds..."

"Lindsey," the one handed lawyer told the group. "Lindsey McDonald. Giles...why don't you sit down and talk to...David," he said, pointing to a slightly nerdish man. Lindsey shook his head. "Someone took him to a bar earlier this afternoon. I bet it was Ethan."

Buffy shook her head. "No, Ethan was at the British consulate office. Needed to get something on his visa fixed. Giles is just depressed because his girlfriend went back to England."

"Someone named Olivia?"

Buffy nodded. "That's her." She looked around, seeing her group of friends had dispersed. "This is my boyfriend, Riley Finn," she said, introducing the two men. "Who else is around here?"

Lindsey took them around the room. In a short space of time they met Jheira, David Nabbit and Charles Gunn, who'd gone to the store to pick up some more food and drinks. It was an interesting party, thrown for no other reason than to get everyone together and throw a housewarming party for Xander.

"Hey," Graham said suddenly, "where's Giles?"

***

"He ain't got no distractions can't hear those buzzers and bells, don't see lights a flashin,' plays by sense of smell. Always has a replay, 'n' never tilts at all...that deaf dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pin ball."

Giles stood on the corner, singing The Who's "Pinball Wizard" as loud as he could. Of course, he was drunk, so the words were slightly slurred.

"Ripper. Ripper!" Ethan yelled, trying to catch his attention. "Cripes, haven't heard you sing that in a long time.

"Over...twenty years," Giles said.

"Well, mate, I got a bit of good news. Turns out I've been here long enough to be a US citizen."

"Congratulations. Should we get a pint to celebrate?"

"I'll get a pint. At the apartment. Where *is* it, by the way?"

***

"Okay everyone," Angel said. "Everyone who doesn't know their way around LA, pair up with someone who does."

There was a slight shuffling in the group as people paired off or went into groups of three. Buffy and Riley went with Wesley, Cordelia paired off with Forrest, Spike went with Tara and Oz, Xander and Jheira were already heading out the door with Kate, and Willow and Graham joined David. Gunn was on the phone with some of his fellow hunters, who'd gone out and were looking at the lesser known streets.

"You guys split up. Lindsey and I will stick around here. All of you from LA know the number to the offices or Lindsey's cell phone. Check back every half hour. If you find him, call ahead and then head back here. We'll let everyone else know."

Everyone headed out the door, and Angel looked at Lindsey. "Who got him drunk again?"

"He got himself drunk."

"I think we should kill him when he gets back."

"Thought you were anti-killing."

"I make exceptions."