•••

Cordelia stumbled out of her and Gunn's bedroom, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Jet lag, hell. The clock by the bed had said it was about nine in the evening, which meant that she'd been asleep long enough. Her stomach confirmed that belief, so the seer followed her nose to the kitchen. It wasn't difficult, since Oz and Xander were cooking.

"Food," Cordelia growled as she slumped down at the bar.

"Hamburgers, hot dogs, or…what is this, Oz?" Xander asked, holding up a piece of raw meat.

"Came from a sheep," Oz replied.

"Sheep meat," Cordelia replied, waving her hand. "Eggs if you've got them."

"Mutton for the lady," Xander said, pitching the food at Oz, who slapped it in the pan. "Want something to drink?"

"Water, lots of it, now." Cordelia accepted a large bottle of water from Xander and gulped down half of it. "So," She began, somewhat more awake. "How are the visions going?"

"Not many, all in London," Xander said. "Mostly we've been chasing our tails with this Easton, Ginnis & Ralls-Watchers' Council thingy."

"Anything of interest there?" Cordelia inquired.

"Big pack here," Oz murmured.

"Werewolves in London," Xander quipped. "They don't like us much."

Cordelia's eyes snapped open. "Ah, 'don't like?'"

Oz covered the pan and lowered the heat so their meal could simmer. "Lager louts. Don't like American alphas or Raphe."

Xander shuddered. "Yeah, they tried to hunt me."

"What happened?" Cordelia asked, worried.

"Not much. It's hard for a bunch of drunken werewolves to catch a sober Raphe," Xander explained. "Suffice it to say, though, that there are parts of London that I avoid some of the time."

Oz checked on the food and frowned. "Wesley and I can't go there either. Something there."

"Huh?" Cordelia grunted, fishing through a cabinet for something to snack on. She found Xander's soy nuts and shuddered.

"What Mr. Taciturn is trying to say," Xander added, "Is that we think that Easton, Ginnis & Ralls have something there—it's just too convenient. Wil's good there at night, but only because the wolves don't want to mess with a vampire. Angel and maybe some others might be able to help, though. We've got some plans."

"Point," Cordelia said around a mouthful of crackers. "So, what's the plan?"

Xander slid onto a barstool next to Cordelia, snagging a cracker from the mound she'd piled onto the countertop. "The short, short version is this: we sow the seeds of discord among the younger ranks of Watchers—not the ambitious up-and-comers, but the librarians, researchers and other dead-end lackeys. Then, we sit back and watch the entire empire fall."

Cordelia frowned. "Um…maybe you should give me the short version, because I'm not seeing how getting cozy with the nobodies is going to help us."

"Tell me something," Xander began. "What happens to Mr. Bigwig Businessman when all of his secretaries disappear?"

"The same thing that happens to Angel when he pisses me off," Cordelia replied, smirking. "He can't find his appointment book, his computer, or his shoes."

Xander grinned. "What we're going for is the same thing, in essence. Those 'nobodies' are the lifeblood of the Watchers. If we can get many of them to start doubting the integrity of their organization, we'll get what we want—an upheaval." The Raphe accepted a laden plate from Oz. "It's unlikely that everyone in the Council is completely tied to Wolfram & Hart and their London buddies."

"Sounds risky," Cordelia commented as she lit into her dinner. "Good stuff, Oz," She praised. "I thought mutton was nasty."

"Marinade," The alpha wolf replied. "It is risky."

"But it's probably our best bet," Xander defended. "Even though Easton, Ginnis & Ralls isn't as big as Wolfram & Hart, they're still bigger than anything we'd want to just attack. The Watchers' Council is something we'd do well to simply avoid. And, if I'm not mistaken, no one here wants to just stay in London forever."

"I wouldn't go that far," Cordelia murmured. "As long as the Slayer's in L.A., Angel and Wil aren't going to be in any hurry to return."

"That goes for most of us," Xander said. "But no time soon isn't the same as staying for a century or so. And there's the fact that The Powers have got to have something planned. I mean, why else have a vision set in London?"

"Wolfram & Hart can hack into the visions, you know," Cordelia reminded the Raphe.

Xander shook his head. "I know, but I think this is a genuine thing. From what I've heard, Buffy won't have too much trouble setting up shop in L.A., especially with Lorne to help her. You guys assured us that Riley's little buddies were doing ok on the Hellmouth, so we'll be fine here for the time being."

"Fine, fine, fine," Cordelia muttered, reaching for her water. "So, have you seen the vamps?"

Oz grinned and shook his head. "I doubt we will," Xander replied for the both of them. "Same goes for Wesley and Fred."

"Gunn should be up soon. We won't be actually doing all this 'sowing' tonight, so maybe we can spend some quality time scheming," Cordelia decided for them.

"Say what?"

The three investigators turned to see a muzzy Gunn peering back at them. "There is more of that, right?" He asked, gesturing toward the food. Oz served up a plate and the threesome scooted around to make room next to Cordelia for him. He sat down and dug in, not even questioning the contents of the plate.

"Did we wake you?" Cordelia inquired.

"Nah," Gunn mumbled. "Whatcha talking about?"

"What we're doing here," Xander replied. "Business stuff."

"Catch me up?" The vampire hunter asked as he reached for seconds.

•••

"I know you're awake."

Angel grinned against Wil's shoulder. "So?" He'd been awake for a long time—far longer than Wil had. And no, he hadn't woken up the blonde—it was nice to just lay there.

"So you want to lay in bed, doing absolutely nothing, until one of them gets impatient and comes in here to wake us up?" Wil inquired shortly.

"Maybe," Angel replied. "Does that bother you?"

"Maybe," Wil parroted. "Should it bother me?"

"When did you become such a smart ass?" Angel asked. "I don't recall you talking back this much."

"You're losing your bloody mind," Wil retorted. "I talk back all the time."

"Ah, I'd forgotten that little bit of disobedience. Distance and all that," Angel murmured. "Tell me again why I came here?"

"Abstinence doesn't compliment your complexion?" For that Wil got a sharp smack on his ass. "Buffy was getting on your nerves?" He tried.

"Better," Angel stated. "It's raining."

"It's London," Wil said. "It's usually raining. Or has just finished raining. Or will be raining in a bit. Haven't you watched any movies lately? London—the town of too much rain, bad food and people who don't go to the dentist often enough."

"Ah. Forgive me," Angel whispered. "I completely overlooked such charming details."

"This is absurd," Wil grumbled.

"What's absurd?" Angel asked.

"We've not seen each other in months, we're both randier than a schoolboy sneaking into the girls' locker room, but we're discussing the weather," Wil explained.

"I feel that you're discontented," Angel commented.

"I'm going to hurt you," Wil snapped. Angel grinned again. "Really hurt you."

"I thought you liked to talk," The dark vampire said innocently.

"That's it," Wil nearly shouted, climbing out of the bed. He grabbed his clothes and threw them on. Angel wasn't even out of the bed before Wil had made it out the door. Angel could hear exclamations of surprise coming from their coworkers, who weren't expecting the blonde to be joining them so quickly. Cordelia was going to kill him, slowly and painfully, for pissing off Wil.

•••

Cordelia and the others watched silently as Wil heated and consumed whatever kind of blood he'd chosen that evening. Oz's nose told him it was mostly goat—not a common choice for the blonde. No one said a word—after their initial attempts to converse with the vampire, it was safer not to speak. He'd growled and snarled and looked as menacing as his unsouled reflection. Cordelia knew, though, that Angel was at the root of Wil's foul mood.

"Better?" The seer whispered as Wil washed out his mug. The blonde growled at her, but nodded. "So, how 'bout them Yankees?"

Wil snorted. "We need to start planning." There was no way he was going to discuss Angel with them right now. He'd end up trying to drain one of them.

"What about An—the others?" Xander asked, remembering that mentioning Broodboy would be a very bad thing at the moment.

"Fred and Wesley should be up soon, and I'm sure Wes spent the day telling Fred what was going on," Wil replied. It was the truth; he'd heard bits and pieces of conversation all through the day. Interspersed with the usual sappiness were mentions of the goings-on in London. There were some things that just couldn't be transmitted over telephone or e-mail.

The quintet adjourned to the flat's improvised war room, which was a spare room in the back. It had been chosen primarily for it's lack of large windows and abundance of electrical sockets. In deference to their communal coffee addiction, there was a large urn already heating in one corner. "Um…so I take it you guys have some plans already?" Gunn asked as they took seats in front of the computer monitors.

"A couple nearly ready to go, a few more cooking," Xander replied. "We need some fine tuning on one, and if it works, we'll know where to go with the rest."

"And if it doesn't, we'll know where to go with the others as well," Will inserted.

"Right," Gunn murmured. "So, what is this plan?"

Wil began typing on one computer while Xander started to explain. "What we want to do to start the ball rolling is to position a couple of high-probability Watcher contacts so that they can see the Easton, Ginnis & Ralls-Council connection."

"And you're going to do this how?" Cordelia asked.

"Nothing obvious," Xander replied. "Since if it was, they'd suspect something. These guys aren't stupid, just a bit too loyal. What we've got in mind is fabricating a 'situation' within a small clan of Dhois demons across town."

"I take it they're connected to the law firm?" Gunn inquired.

Xander nodded. "Of course. See, according to Wes, there's no way the Watchers' Council should be letting Dhois demons stay in London—hells, in England. They're troublemakers, always fostering violence, unrest and whatnot. Some of the scuttlebutt we've heard says that the law firm is responsible for keeping the Dhois and our targeted werewolf clan from killing each other."

"And why would they not like each other?" Cordelia asked.

"Normally, werewolves and Dhois would simply avoid each other's territories. The werewolf pack we're talking about, though, isn't so tolerant. The Dhois, too, are a bit more…aggressive than usual," Xander said. "What we're thinking about is putting the Dhois in the way of the werewolves. What will that accomplish?" Xander asked, predicting Cordelia's next question. "Well, for one, it will significantly weaken both the Dhois and the werewolves. Dhois aren't the most public demons out there, so being exposed will do several things: they'll lose clientele, lose numbers of their own, and drawing the attention of the Watchers' Council."

"But I thought that the Council was aiding the Dhois?" Gunn asked, frowning.

"Only passively," Xander replied. "See, most of what the Council was doing was turning a blind eye. But just like politicians that do the same thing, if the Dhois are brought to 'public' attention, the Council will have no choice but to pursue the issue. What we're hoping is that the corrupted element in the Council will try, in some way, to downplay the Dhois situation. That would draw the attention of the people we're targeting. Of course, the fact that the Dhois are in London at all will do the same thing. Once they're out in the open, those 'dead-enders' are going to start to wonder how they escaped the Council's attention. After all, they're low-profile, not invisible. And all of this doesn't even take into account the werewolf pack."

"What's their role?" Gunn asked, playing along.

"They shouldn't be so strong," Oz said from the computer he was messing with. "And they're not popular among the demon community. If they're weakened, others are going to move in, for revenge. If they can't strike back, someone will start talking to the Council about the law firm's role in the pack."

"Ah," Cordelia murmured. "And how are we going to fabricate this situation?"

"Actually, it will be a real confrontation. It's just the reason that's going to be fabricated. We're going to make it look like the Dhis are moving in on the werewolves' territory," Xander said. "Then we sit back and watch the carnage."

"Where is this going to be?" Cordelia wanted to know, envisioning streets full of dead and injured innocents.

"Aboveground," Wil murmured. "For maximum obviousness. We've picked a particularly seedy part of the city, but don't worry—there aren't many humans there."

"Who lives there, then?" Gunn asked.

"Demons, and not the warm fuzzy kind," Xander replied. "It's going to be at the edge of the neighborhood, close enough to a human population to really matter to the Council. They know about the demons, but since they're 'contained' in their own community, they don't bother getting rid of them because they think they're harmless. However, once the werewolves and Dhois expose themselves to the Council's watchful eye, not only will they be under fire, but the entire community as well. We hope that that part works—it'll make the other plans we're developing more effective."

"Ah, so that's why most of your plans are still under construction—if you don't get the Watchers involved in this little demon community, you're going to have to rethink your entire strategy," Cordelia summarized. "It's risky, like Oz said earlier."

"But if it works, it works well," Gunn said. He liked the idea, now that he thought about it. It minimized the risk to innocents, both human and demon, while having a high probability of getting rid of several really bad elements in the city. The useful side effect of the plan would be to clean up a place that needed it desperately. "So what are the particulars of this plan, the ones that require us?"

"You're going to do the inciting," Xander said with a smile. "What you guys are going to do is make contact with the Dhois and draw them out into the werewolves' territories. Cordelia and Angel are going to work the werewolf end."

"But you said that the pack didn't like Americans," She said worriedly.

"You're female, and beta," Oz replied quietly. "They'll let you live. Angel won't have a problem either."

"Uh, just how are they supposed to make contact?" Gunn asked.

"It won't be difficult. She'll just walk into a pub and look lost. She won't have to 'do' much. Angel, well, he just has to stand around and look menacing," Xander said. He wouldn't even think about putting Cordelia in serious danger, even though she could take care of herself. "There's something for all of us to do, even if it's on the support side."

Wil and Oz moved away from the computers and waved the newcomers toward them. "You can review the rest of the info here," Wil said, gesturing toward the monitors. Cordelia went eagerly, wanting to see the whole of their progress and how it related to what she'd gotten in Los Angeles. Soon Xander and Oz were busy showing Gunn and Cordelia what they'd collected. Wil stepped back and slipped out the door.

Much to his surprise, the blonde found Angel slumped on the floor next to the computer room. Any lingering anger Wil felt at Angel's behavior melted when he saw how miserable the dark vampire was. Angel looked despondent. Wil reached down and waited for Angel to take his hand. Angel looked up in surprise but took the proffered assistance and pulled himself up. Wil led him back to their bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

"Wil…" Angel began, trying to think of a way to apologize. Wil stopped him with a smile. The blonde pushed him toward the bed, walking him backward.

"Quiet," Wil warned when Angel tried to speak again. The blonde began to pull at Angel's clothes and after a minute the dark vampire joined in. The first tentative touch of Wil's hands on his body brought tears to Angel's eyes. He'd missed this, the connection and sharing of pleasure. It wasn't everything or even the most important part of their relationship, but sometimes they connected better on a chemical and physical level. It was times like this, when he could taste and smell everything that Wil was feeling, that he wondered how he'd ever enjoyed sex as a human. He couldn't imagine being so engrossed in the act if he didn't have those senses.

When Wil bit into him, drawing of his blood, Angel didn't protest. Nor did he complain when that bite roughened, tearing at his skin. In return Angel scraped his nails hard down Wil's back, drawing blood. The scents of their bodies intensified as the writhed on the bed, blood pooling around them, both from Angel's neck and Wil's back. It slickened them before beginning to dry and making them stick together. Wil withdrew his fangs and laved at the wound he'd created until it was healed. He then cleaned off the blood that had dripped and smeared over Angel's body, even as Angel turned and twisted to return the favor. Soon the only evidence of their blood play was the stained sheets upon which they lay.

Once he was sure no trace of blood was left on Wil's skin, Angel began to move with more purpose. The slightly chemical odor of lubricant added an acrid tang to the heavy sex smell in the room. Once again Angel was entranced, this time by the tug and slide of Wil's body as he writhed underneath him. The cries, the moans, they all drove Angel on.

Wil watched as Angel lost himself once again. He felt the draw and knew he too would fall into the exquisite trance, lured there by Angel's body. He could sense the emotions Angel felt, could smell the lust and the love and the fear all intertwined. The lust drove Wil higher, the love made him cry and the fear added a hint of aggression, appealing to his demon. Wil's world shrank to the thrust and glide of their coupling. He knew that all too soon they'd have to return to the front and to the harsher realities of their destinies. The uncertainty of the future made them desperate and blood flowed once again.

•••

Oz's nose twitched. /Blood./ Whatever had driven Wil away from Angel had been resolved. That pleased the werewolf. In his experience, people tended to function better on the job when their personal lives weren't fucked up. He knew it was true for him, Xander, Angel and Wil…and Cordelia and Gunn and Wes and Fred…in fact, Oz was sure there was a pattern there. The others had figured it out and as a result they worked out their little tiffs and arguments quickly.

He knew that it was a bit more difficult for Angel and Wil. They had a lot more history, much of it very painful, to deal with. Maybe, though, they were getting closer. At least this incident had lasted only a little while. That was a good sign. Perhaps what they had planned in London would work without causing injury to any of them. It was a lot to ask for, but he didn't think it was too much. History had proven that they didn't function very well with even one person down.