Collaboration

The Torchwood team sat on an aeroplane on their way to Los Angeles. They had been invited there by an ex-Watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, to help with a case.

Jack, Ianto and Gwen were all worried about what they were getting themselves into. Wesley worked for a company called Wolfram & Hart, who were known to associate with the greatest evil in the universe.

”Jack? Remind me again, why are we helping them?” Ianto asked.

”Honestly? I have no idea”, Jack sighed. ”But they're dealing with stuff that affect the entire human kind and they really seemed to need our help so...”

”Affect the entire human kind, yeah”, Ianto huffed. ”But in what way?”

Jack didn't answer. He had no idea.

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Angel sat behind his desk at Wolfram & Hart. Wesley and Gunn were talking to him but he was so deep in his thoughts he couldn't hear them.

”Angel? Are you listening at all?” Wesley asked waving a hand to get Angel's attention.

”Huh?” Angel awoke from his trance. ”Oh, right. You were saying...?”

”Torchwood. Coming today. You know, to assist us with Mr. Shay's case. Ring any bells?” Gunn asked.

Angel's expression was plank.

”Let's pretend I've never heard of Torchwood,” he said. ”So, brief me.”

”Torchwood is a British organisation specialised in protecting the world from extra-terrestrial activity”, Wesley explained. ”And since they're the experts, I thought it would be wise to have them involved in this case.”

”So they're definately good guys?” Angel asked.

”Most certainly”, Wesley comfirmed.

"Good because the last thing I need right know is one one enemy to worry about."

Gunn, who had been doing some research on Torchwood, wasn't so sure about them and just about to state his opinion when the twin doors opened and Spike marched in.

”Hello, pansy,” he greeted Angel. ”And little humans.”

”Spike”, Angel spat. ”What do you want?”

”Oh nothing much”, Spike said smiling mischieviously. ”Just thought I'd come to annoy the hell out of you.”

Angel glared at Spike like he was just about ready to rip his head off. Wesley noted this and decided it was a good time to leave.

”Well, we've still got some work to do. Don't forget, Torchwood will be here at four”, he reminded.

Spike wide smile faded into a look of terror.

”Torchwood?! Why the bloody hell are they coming here?!”

This exclaim earned him the undivided attention of the other three men.

”How do you know about Torchwood?” Wesley inquired.

”I... We...” Spike muttered. ”Well, let's just say our paths have crossed a couple of times in the past.”

The others raised their eyebrows.

”Oh really? Who'd you kill to get their attention?” Angel asked with his voice dripping with glee.

”It wasn't like that. It was before I was sired”, Spike said.

”Before you were sired? What could they possibly have wanted with you before you were sired? Where your poems so bad they were a threat to humanity?” Angel joked.

”Hey! There's nothing wrong with my bloody poems! Besides, I happen to know you liked them so don't get  smart with me, you poof.”

Gunn and Wesley supressed their laughs. Laughing at Angel was never a smart move. Angel assumed his usual gloomy expression.

”Spike, get out!” he commanded.

”Yes, sir”, Spike saluted. ”This time, you don't have to tell me twice.”

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Jack, Ianto and Gwen stood in the Wolfram & Hart lobby admiring the size and style of it.

”Wow, this place is amazing!” Gwen whispered. ”How do you get an office like this.”

”By making a deal with the devil”, Ianto answered.

Gwen thought it was a joke, until he saw Jack's serious expression.

"He is kidding, right?" she whispered.

”I'm afraid not. Wolfram & Hart have several connection to the underworld. And I mean that quite literally.”

Gwen's eyes widened in fright and she looked at the people around her. She saw all sorts of strange creatures and they were all wearing suits.

”Do they all work here?” she gasped.

”I'd say that most do,” Jack said. ”But some are propably clients.”

Gwen twirled around slowly to get a better look at everything when someone rushed into her.

”Oh, I'm sor...” she started but froze when she saw who ran into her. ”Vera”, she spat.

The blond man looked at her and then moved his eyes to Jack and Ianto.

”Oh bugger”, he cursed.

”What are you doing here?” Ianto asked grinding his teeth.

The man raised his hands protectively.

”Hey hey hey! Calm down , eye candy.”

The nickname really pissed Ianto off and tried to take a swing at the blond. But the blond blocked his punch easily.

”I wouldn't do that if were you”, he said. ”You'll hurt yourself, and we wouldn't want that now would we?”

”You didn't answer his question”, Jack noted.

The blond turned to him.

”Nothing. In fact, I was just leaving when I ran into you guys.”

The Torchwood team glared at him.

”Why does everybody give me that look today? It's bloody irritating!”

”Because it's the only kind of look you deserve,” Gwen answered.

The blond gave her a glare back.

”You've changed your look”, Jack pointed out.

The blond flipped his long leather jacket.

”Yeah. You like it?”

”Not particularly. What on Earth is up with that hair?”

”Hey! There's nothing wrong with my hair! I like it this way.”

”Right.” Jack rolled his yes. ”Anything else different?”

”What do you... Oh, you mean my name! It's Spike these days. Been for over 120 years now, actually.”

Jack, Gwen and Ianto all stared at him in disbelief.

”What do you mean over 120 years?” Jack demanded.

”Oh yeah, didn't I mention? I'm a vampire.” Spike said casually.

”A vampire?” Jack repeated.

”Yeah. You know, a creature that lives in the dark and feeds on blood? That vampire.”

All three looked freaked out and Gwen took a couple of steps back so she was closer to Jack. Spike laughed at their reactions.

”Relax. I don't drink human blood any more. And neither does anyone else in this place. It's against the new company policy set by my old buddy Angel.”

”This Angel..” Gwen started quietly. ”Is he...?”

”A vampire? Yeah. But you have nothing to worry about, he's a 100% good guy”, Spike assured them.

A blond girl wearing high heels and a lot of pink ran to them.

”Are you Torchwood?”

”Yes. I'm Captain Jack Harkness and this is Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones.”

”Pleased to meet you. I'm Harmony, Angel's assistant.” She shook their hands and they noticed that she had an unusually tight grip for a girl her size. ”He's waiting for you.”

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Angel was snoozing on his desk when Harmony burst through the doors with three other people.

”Angel, this is Torchwood. They're here about.. Oh, sorry.  Didn't know you were sleeping.”

Angel slowly sat upright and yawned.

”It's okay. I was resting my eyes for a bit”, he assured. ”So, you're Torchwood. I've heard a lot about you.”

”And we've heard a lot about you, Mr. Angel. I'm Captain Jack Harkness, and this is my team, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones.”

Angel stood up and walked over to shake their hands.

”Glad you could come on such a short notice. And it's just Angel, by the way.”

”Oh, alright. So, this situation we're here about...”

”Ah, yes. Uhm, Harmony, could you go fetch us some coffee, please?”

”Sure thing, boss”, she said and left the room.

”Do sit down”, Angel told his guests and gestured towards the sofas. ”The situation concerns one of our clients, Mr. Shay. He's not from around here, nor does he fall under our area of expertice but I've been told you deal with people like him on a daily basis.”

”You mean aliens.”

Angel nodded in agreement. Wesley finally arrived.

”Sorry I'm late”, he apologised. ”Afternoon. I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. I believe we spoke on the phone”, he added to Jack and shook his hand.

”Yeah, we did. Captain Jack Harkness. And my team, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones.”

”Very pleased to meet you, gentlemen, miss.. Oh sorry, madam”, he corrected seeing Gwen's wedding ring. Gwen smiled and nodded.

”So, Mr. Shay's situation..” Angel restarted the conversation.

”Yeah, I'm sure we can handle it,” Jack assured Angel. ”Like you said, we deal with this kind of people on a daily basis.”

”Great. I knew I could count on you,” said Wesley and handed Jack a file. ”Here's the case file, you should find all the necessary information inside. If not, come to me and I'll see what I can do.”

”You can use my conference room”, Angel told them.

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They said thanked Angel and Wesley before moving into the conference room. There they carefully shuffled through the  papers to find out what exactly they were dealing with.

”Hmm... Appears to be some kind of a shapeshifter”, Jack noted after a while.

”Yes, you're right. A nostrovite, perhaps?” Ianto suggested.

”Well that would certainly explain the eating habits,” Gwen commented and showed them a crime scene photo of a victim.

”Oh yeah, definately a nostrovite”, Jack agreed after seeing the picture. ”So, let's track and take it down.”

Jack knocked on the door between the conference room and Angel's office.

”Come in.”

”We figured out what he is. We dealt with this species before so we know what to do”, Jack explained.

”Thanks gods”, Angel sighed. ”You've made my day.”

Jack flashed him a smile before they left the office. Then they got out their gear and began tracking Mr. Shay.

When they got into the car, Gwen asked the question that had been bothering her all day.

”If he's their client, why do they want him dead?”

”They don't like him killing innocent people”, Ianto answered.”I spoke to that Harmony girl in the coffee room and she said that Angel guy is pretty strict when it comes to things like that.”

”That's something we have in common.”, said Jack. ”Let's go catch this bastard.”

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Spike sat on Angel's sofa with his feet on the coffee table. His mere presence annoyed Angel immensively and presence of his feet on his coffee table annoyed him even more.

”Do you have to do that?”

”Do what?” asked Spike, playing innocent.

”You know damn well what!”

”Fine”, Spike huffed and removed his feet from the table. ”Better?”

”Not really. You're still here”, Angel grunted.

”Oh don't be like that, baby”, Spike pouted and let out a laugh.”We used be so close, remember?”

”I try very hard not to.”

”What is with you? You're always so glum these days. I mean, you've got this great office, all those beautiful cars, a lovely apartment, you should be happier.”

Angel ingnored this comment. They were both quiet for a moment.

”So... that Torchwood lot gone then?” Spike broke the silence.

”No, they're out taking care of Mr. Shay”, Angel said. ”By the way, you never really said how know those guys.”

It was Spike's turn to look glum.

”I... Uhm... Me and.. that Jack. We have a history”, he told Angel after a while.

Angel lifted his eyes from his paper work.

”A history? You mean like... a relationship kind of history?”

Spike nodded and sighed.

”It was a such long time ago. Before I died.”

”Before you died?” Angel was confused. ”But that was over 120 years ago and he's not a demon, he's human. How is that possible?”

”We were time travellers. Time agents they called us. He went rogue after the Agency stole some of his memories. Didn't sit well him at all, that.”

”I can imagine”, Angel commented.

”We met again later when he was already in charge of Torchwood. I was after a very precious diamond and I needed their help to find it. So I tricked them by saying there were bombs around the city.”

”That is so you”, Angel rolled his eyes.

”Thanks”, said Spike sarcastically. ”But the second run-in with Torchwood was not my fault. Jack's brother attached a bomb to me and made me do his bidding. He took us back in time and made me bury Jack alive.”

Both Spike and Angel shuddered at the thought. They knew what horrible feeling it was to lie six feet under.

”But since he's here, now, I suppose everything turned out okay, right?” Angel asked.

”Well... Not exactly”, said Spike sadly. ”The events resulted in two members of their team dying. I think they still blame me for it, at least to some extent. Especially eye candy.”

”Eye candy?” Angel frowned.

”Oh, I mean Ianto. I like to call him eye candy, for obvious reasons.”

Angel nodded in agreement. He too thought the Welshman was quite a sight for sore eyes.

Before they could continue the conversation any further, the Torchwood team came into the office. They were all covered in guts.

”It's done”, Jack informed them. ”Now, if you don't mind, we would like to take a shower before heading back to Cardiff.”

”Certainly”, Angel said and pressed a button on his phone. ”Harmony? Would you please show the Torchwood folks to the showers. They need to clean up. Oh, and reserve one of our jets for them so they can get home.”

Jack, Ianto and Gwen glanced at each other. They were sure getting the royal treatment.

”Gentlemen, madam, it's been a pleasure doing business with you”, Angel said, getting out of his chair and walking over to the team. ”I can't thank you enough for your help.”

”No need”, Jack assured him, shaking his hand once more. ”The flight home will be quite enough.”

Jack turned to Spike.

”It was sort of nice to you again, too.”

”Really? Are you sure you're well? The slimes not making you ill or anything?” he asked, pretending to be worried and put his hand on Jack forehead.

Ianto gave Spike a murderous look. Jack just laughed and pushed Spike's hand away.

”I'm fine, thanks for your concern. What about you, this new afterlife suiting you?”

”Me? Come on, look around. How could it get any better than this?”

Jack laughed again.

”I guess not”, he said. ”Well, you take care.”

”You too. All of you”, Spike added to Gwen and Ianto.

Jack and Spike shared a quick hug before Torchwood left Angel's office.

After they were gone, Spike sighed.

”Everytime I see him, I remember how good it felt to be with him.”

He collapsed on Angel's sofa. Angel didn't bother to tell him to get lost. Not now. He too remembered how good it felt to with Buffy, so he could relate to Spike's pain.

Angel walked over to the  sofa and sat down next to him. They just sat there without saying a word for almost an hour.

Then Spike broke the silence.

”Who do you have to kill around here for some warm blood?”

Angel smacked him on the back of his head.

”Don't talk like that around me.”

He walked over to his phone, pressed a button and told Harmony to get him and Spike some blood. She brought it and they drank together. Just like old times.