~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ooo baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooo, Hea-ven is a place on Earth.
They say in Heaven, love comes first!
We’ll make Hea-ven a place on Earth! – Belinda Carlisle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part Two
"People don’t know what it’s like. They really and simply can’t imagine. That’s how I figure. That’s why when you try to explain to them, they just don’t seem to get it. It’s inconceivable for them. Too alien. They’ve been a part of the in-crowd their whole lives. "
Buffy nodded as the British accent rolled on.
"We, on the other hand, have been outsiders most of our lives. Separated. True, not entirely. But there are things that are different, things that no matter what, you just can’t compensate for. That line can’t be crossed, see? No matter how hard one tries, you still gonna be the one that doesn’t be-long. "
"And you’d think…you’d think it wouldn’t matter at first. That it’s too small of a difference, that nobody would notice, or care. Everyone created equals and … all that garbage. But that’s just not how the real world works. I don’t think they had the demon world in mind when they penned that one up, anyhow, " he said, smirking.
"But it eats away at you, sort of like the rift is growing wider each day. Until it’s obvious beyond a doubt. That you don’t really belong anywhere on this world, not were you’re currently at, anyway-you start to realize the truth, that you’re just a ghost drifting about in their world. "
"Exactly. That’s how it feels like. You know exactly what it’s like, " she said driftingly, amazed at his accuracy. She blinked lazily at the TV light, the sound a mere background noise to Spike’s talking.
"And you know, you’ll get told there’s no rift, that it doesn’t matter, that there is no tear separating you. And you’ll believe it, for a while. But then you’ll start to feel more and more empty about things until it seems like they’ve lost all meaning. And you can’t let them lie to you anymore-or lie to yourself. To deny what you truly are; well. Truth hurts, luv, but lies hurt deeper. "
Spike sipped the beer thoughtfully, before continuing.
"So you got to be strong, Slayer. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t think anyone’s fully accepted and been able to live with the rift. It’s not something to survive. It’s more of a thing…to endure. "
As he stopped talking, he noticed her breathing had slowed a great deal. Looking over to the Slayer who was laid out on the couch, he realized she had fallen asleep.
For a moment he just sat there, watching, amazed that she was comfortable enough around him to just fall asleep. He slowly rose from his seat and looked down on her fondly.
She looked so peaceful at rest. The hard, dangerous Slayer exterior she always had, softened and melted, to a more young, child-like expression…the hunter transformed into just a girl. A lonely, beautiful girl…
Spike caught himself reaching out to trace her sleeping features. No, he couldn’t risk waking her. Quietly he took off his duster and slowly, oh so carefully, covered her with it. She sighed softly.
Watching her, he allowed himself to carefully tuck a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
"Goodnight, Buffy, " he whispered softly, before quietly retreating.
Yes, he had his own bed-he often slept on the couch instead, but he did have one. Tonight he used it, laying awake on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep while the Slayer was here, only a short distance away, tranquilly asleep. Here, in his crypt. Who would of imagined? So no, he laid awake all night, of course. He would have to stay awake in the off-chance of some demon dropping by. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
And besides. He wouldn’t of been able to rest if his unlife depended on it.
So instead, he just lied there, completely focused on the sounds of her steady breathing, and the rhythmic beating of her heart.
~
Buffy Summers sighed contentedly. A lazy feeling of warm fuzziness was all over her, like a heavy blanket, keeping her in the world of sleep even as she started to wake. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so at ease, so peaceful. She could of stayed like that forever, perhaps.
Distractedly, she mused at the fact that her bed felt so much nicer this morning. It was glowing with warmth and melded around her body in a perfect impression, keeping her from being able to move much-if she wanted to.
Burying her face under the blanket, she inhaled deeply, humming happily. It smelled so nice. Her mostly unconscious mind tried to place exactly what it was. It was a very comfortable smell, all around her. She smiled, nuzzling the blanket.
And then her eyes snapped open.
Spike.
It…smelled like Spike.
Oh, shit.
She just kept very, very still a moment. All she could see was blackness as the blanket still covered her head. Shit, she cursed again mentally. She didn’t remember anything about last night. What…. happened?
Calm down, Buffy, she told herself. Let’s not jump to any conclusions. Just piece the puzzle together. I’m in bed; and-
Suddenly it dawned on her that she wasn’t in bed. Well, to be more exact-she wasn’t in her bed.
Oh. Ok. Well…. crap. That’s not good. I’m not in my bed and everything smells like Spike.
Her heart leaped as she feared for the worst.
Slowly-very slowly-she peeked out from under her blanket. She was staring up at a concrete ceiling. Concrete ceiling, her mind repeated, still a little slow…
The ceiling to Spike’s crypt, that was it. But-
Cautiously leaning up, she finally discovered she was on his couch, alone. Buffy let out a sigh of relief.
Ok, huh, heh, just on his couch, her mind laughed nervously.
She slowly moved to a sitting position, and found that the blanket draped over her actually was Spike’s duster.
Oh. He must of put it over her when she fell asleep. That’s so…sweet.
Wake up, girl, her mind ordered. C’mon, Buffy, get with the program here. What day is it today? What time is it? Is it too late to sneak back home or is it morning? Will mom be worrying?
Oh, and were’s Spike?
"’Mornin’, sunshine, " a voice called perkily. Well, that answered her last question.
"Humph, " she answered, trying to rub sleep out of her eyes. The vampire materialized, looking quite animated as he brushed past her.
"I fell asleep? " she asked, still not quite able to recall the events of last night.
"You fell asleep, " he confirmed. "The only thing I could think…was that I was damn well boring you with all that talking, " he said, grinning, as he shambled over to what he called the ‘kitchen’.
"Oh…" she said, rolling her neck, accompanied by several pops.
"Just for the record, I’d be making scrambled eggs right about now and, you know, offering for you to join me for breakfast, but that’s not easy to do when one doesn’t have eggs nor a stove, so…" he chattered, smiling pertly at her.
She nodded, smiling. "Thanks for the thought. "
"I guess…it’s morning. Huh. Ok, well, Jeez, it’s…what day is it again? "
"Saturday, " he supplied, amused at her disorientation.
She started to talk to herself.
"Right! Saturday. I knew that. Ok. Then…good. I could just tell mom I stayed over at Willows’. Unless, that is…she already went over to my house looking for me…"
She scrunched her brow. "Hmm. That wouldn’t be good. "
"Better catch em’ now then, right? " Spike said, keeping perfect track of what she had been saying. Oh yeah, heightened hearing, Buffy forgot about that…
"Um, yeah. Right. "
He smiled again, jesting,
"I’d walk you to the door, but-poof! "
He gestured himself going up in smoke.
"Yeah, better not, " she said, getting up and unwrinkling his coat.
Walking over to him, she handed him back the coat.
"Thanks, " she said, and he just smiled back lightly.
"No problem, luv. "
Once she left, the vampire sat there, perched on the stool, looking thoughtful. He waited a few minutes to be sure she wasn’t coming back.
Then he brought the duster to his face and breathed deeply, eyes rolling shut as he let out a soft moan.
"Nice, nice. Slayer all over my jacket, " he growled greedily.
~
Buffy was walking quickly through the cool of the morning, hoping to get back home a. s. a. p. , because the quicker she did that, the more time she had to come up with a good excuse for her disappearance.
Soon she was on her neighborhood sidewalk, the court with her house in her sights, and she sighed, visibly relieved. Almost home free.
"Hey, Buffy! Wow, you’re up early this morning! "
She turned to see Willow’s eager face, catching up to her.
"Oh, hey! "
"Isn’t it a nice day? This is why I get up on Saturday mornings instead of just sleeping through them like the rest of the world. So much worth it, huh? " she said, breathing deep.
"Aah! So peaceful and quiet. You’re up for a hike too, aren’t you? C’mon, we can both hike down to the park. I hear they’re building a-a, skating ramp thingy or something there. "
Buffy was giving a sort of overly-cheery smile, trying to excuse her way out of it.
"That sounds great, Will. I just gotta check back home first-I uh, um, forgot something. "
"All right, you want me to come along? I haven’t said hi to Dawn a while-"
"No, that’s ok, " Buffy said, smiling, as she started backing towards her house.
"I just got to pick up something real quick-it’ll only take a minute. I just need to get, um…. "
"Hey. Aren’t those the same clothes you had on yesterday? " Willow wondered out loud. Buffy stuttered.
"No! I mean, er, yes. I’m…really lazy when it comes to laundry lately, " she said, laughing.
Willow smiled. "Yeah, I know what that’s like. "
"I’ll be right back then, " Buffy said, turning to take off towards her house. Whew, that was a close-
"Dawn! What’re you doing here? " she demanded, as her little sister rode up on her bicycle. Dawn scoffed.
"It’s a free country, Buffy, " she said.
"Hey Dawn! Long time no see, " Willow greeted happily behind Buffy.
"Hey Will. We were trying to reach you, you know. To ask were Buffy’s been. You’re gonna be in deep trouble, you know that, right? " she said, directing her last comment to Buffy. The Slayer glared back at her.
"Oh! I didn’t realize you were, um, looking for her. "
"I stayed over at Willow’s house, " Buffy said automatically. Her friend gave her an odd look.
"But-"
"Isn’t that right, Willow? " she grated, giving her a meaningful look.
Willow bobbed her head. "Right. She was-at my house. "
Dawn made a face. "Whatever. Mom’s still gonna be ticked. Not that I care. See ya, " she said, taking off on her bike again. Buffy sighed.
"Ugh. Close one, " she muttered.
"Buf, what was that all about? "
Buffy turned on her much-too-sweet smile again.
"Uh, thanks for covering for me, Will! You’re a real pal. "
Buffy could see the little gears working behind her friend’s eyes.
"So you didn’t come home last night…which means…"
"Which means…" her eyes lit up.
"You spent it somewhere else. And I think I know were that is-"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Not this again. Willow, enough with that theory of yours! "
Willow was smiling, looking quite pleased with herself.
"Sounds like you and your friend are more than just friends now, " she said a matter-of-factly.
"No way! " Buffy protested quickly,
"So very, very wrong. Very. "
"Oh? "
"Yes. I fell asleep, nothing happen-"
"Hah! "
Buffy’s eyes widened. "Aarrgh! How do you keep doing that? "
"It’s a talent, " she said, still thrilled over her victory.
"Well you can just drop it right here and now. OK? "
"But why? "
"Because. It’s…nothing. That’s all. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nothing. Natta. Comprender? "
"You forgot ‘The Big O’. "
"Whatever. I got to check in with mom. I’ll be right back. "
"All right, " Willow said, deciding to drop the issue for the time being.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
*Be-leep-be-leep-be-leep-be-leep! *
The slick new cellular phone sprang to life. Buffy moaned, wishing her mom hadn’t gotten her that thing after all. "Now you can be reached in case of an emergency no matter were you are, "she had said, and it sounded like a very wise investment, indeed. But Jeez, sometimes it’s just bad timing. The Slayer had spent the weekend doing something she very much needed; relaxing. She had just finished with a light little dinner at the new Italian-wanna-be restaurant, enjoying the time to be alone with her thoughts. Poking at the cheesecake she had treated herself to, she grudgingly dug out her cell phone, which was still rudely yelling at her, and answered it.
"Yeah? "
"Buffy, I’m sorry to bother you, but I have a bit of distressing news. "
It was Mr. Giles on the other line.
"What happened? "
"Well, it’s Xander and Willow. They were attacked by something, some type of large insect, apparently. "
"Well is everyone ok? " she asked, quickly forgetting about the cheesecake.
"Oh, yes, no harm was done. Willow managed to ward them off with some holy water, lucky to of had some. "
"Holy water? " Buffy repeated, raising a brow.
"Yes, very strange, I know. I’ve been able to look them up but there’s very little information to be found on them. I’m calling a meeting, I think you should get down here. "
"Right, I’m on it. " She said, weeding through her wallet to quickly drop a tip on the table.
"Oh, and Buffy? "
"What? "
"I think you should contact Spike about this. I have reason to believe he’d be useful in this matter. "
She paused. "Er…why’s that? "
"Something I’ve read-it would be very helpful to get as much information as we can on these demons. I can explain it all when you get down here, Buffy. You think you’ll have trouble getting him to come down? "
"No, no, it’s no problem. I can swing by his place on the way over. I’ll be there as soon as I can. "
"Good. See you soon. "
~
"You’ll never guess what I just found out. Apparently, there’s supposed to be this whole shooting-star thing going on tonight. "
Spike pulled a face of disgust. He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and tried looking nonchalant.
"Well, if you’re really that bored, Slayer, there might be something worth checking out…"
Shaking his head, he thought a moment, and switched postures, to a more self-assured one, giving a tiny smile.
"You know what I think? I think some fresh air would do us some good. Or at least you, anyway, seeing as I don’t really need any…"
He tilted his head at the mannequin he was addressing, as if trying to read it’s response.
Then he brought his hand to his chin, in a very thoughtful posture.
"Have you ever seen a meteor shower before, Slayer? "
The creak of his crypt door upstairs jerked Spike out of his practice session.
"All ready? It’s only 6:30 or something. Aren’t we getting inpatient, " he said, giving an alluring smile to his Buffy-mannequin, before pulling a cigarette out of his pack to light.
Opening the hatch, he climbed out of the basement, the cindering tube between his teeth.
"’Evenin’, " he called as she shut the hatch.
"Aaaaand if you’re a good girl tonight, I ‘spose I could show you were I keep the good stuff, not that cheap light crap…nuh-uh, this stuff’s imported, " he said, grinning, referring to his alcohol selection.
Buffy smiled, still at the threshold of the door.
"Um…actually, Spike, I’m sort of here on business right now. "
"Oh. " He said, straightening up, quickly turning serious.
"’Course, of course. What’s up? "
~
"Ok, I’m back. Hey, shouldn’t Buffy be here by now? "
Giles answered Willow’s question behind a pile of books he was searching through.
"Oh-well, yes, soon, I would think. I told her to contact Spike for us. "
"Great. Just what we need to make our happy little party complete, " Xander muttered.
"Oh, are we having a party? How come nobody told me about this? " Anya protested. Xander handed her a book. "Just keep looking for the psycho bugs, ok? "
"All right, folks, the show can start, " Buffy announced as she entered the shop, Spike’s lanky forum sauntering behind her.
"Hey Buf. Nice way to spend a Sunday night, huh? "
The Slayer smirked as she took a seat by a table. Spike leaned against a bookshelf, a little distanced from the group.
"Sure, why not. You ok, Willow? "
The redhead nodded. "Not a scratch on me, but it sure looked like it was capable of some major damage, " she said, as if fascinated.
"Yeah, if you consider getting your head bit off as major damage, I’d say so, " Xander added, leaning back on his chair at a dangerous angle.
"Aheam. If you’ll allow me to interrupt, I can share what it is we know so far about these things, " Giles said, an ancient looking book in hand.
"Of course, Giles, go ahead. " Buffy prompted.
He shoved his glassed up to read the scripture in front of him.
"From what I can tell of the descriptions they have, I’ve located the right ones. They’re called Vatra Insekats-translating, literally, into Fire Bugs. Not very well-known, considering the complete lack of their mention in most volumes. "
"Wait, Giles. What kind of demons are we dealing with here? I need size, number of heads, that sort of thing…"
He looked to her. "They’re much like giant wasps, to use crude terms. They have six legs and four wings like normal insects do, but that’s pretty much were the similarities end. They have feet and toes that have a sort of suction to them; like a geko’s. Long, furry antennae, several strong, horizontal-working jaws, you know, that sort of thing…"
"No compound eyes, though. They were huge, looked like a snake’s, " Willow added.
"So it’s safe to say it has some pretty keen vision, " Buffy assessed.
"It moves really well, too. It was hopping around on the ground like a frog, vooom, right over our heads, " Xander said, gesturing with his hands.
"Y-yes. Well, it’s fairly large, around the range of a large dog. And, besides that, " Giles said, letting the book thunk to the table,
"There’s very little else we know. "
"Wait. That’s it? "
Giles nodded. "Yes. That and the fact that at least two of them are on the loose in Sunnydale. And they don’t seem fond of holy water. "
"There’s gotta be more. Out of all of those books? " Buffy asked with disbelief.
Giles looked apologetically to her. "Some demons are just more secretive than others. We were hoping that perhaps Spike recognized them. For some reason they seem heavily linked with vampires were ever they’re mentioned, but everything I’ve read is too cryptic to make sense of. "
All eyes turned to the bleach-blonde who had been quietly listening throughout the entire conversation.
"What do you think? " Buffy asked. The vampire paused, still in his nonchalant position, then asked,
"Lemme see that book, Slayer. "
She handed it over to him. After studying it for a few moments, he put it down, nodding to himself.
"Right, I know these guys. "
"You do? "
"Yeah. Didn’t recognize that funky name. We just knew em’ as Blood Vultures, " he said, seeming to enjoy the attention everyone was giving him, so feeding them the information nice and slow.
"We meaning vampires, right? "
He gave Willow a sideways glance.
"No, we meaning you and I. A’course I mean vampires. "
"Ok, aheam. We clarified that part. Moving along-" Buffy said, giving him a stern look. He carried on as if never interrupted.
"So the reason we called em’ that, is because of their feeding habits. They would follow us around and wait ‘till a kill’s been made, then feed on the leftovers. They used to be everywhere, really, like the vermin of the underworld, but that was a lot longer ago than any of you could remember. "
"So what happened to them? If they were so numerous, I mean. " Giles asked.
Spike shrugged. "Plague of some sort wiped em’ all out. Or so I thought. Didn’t think there were any survivors. "
"Ok, great. So they’re just a few lone surviving ones. That shouldn’t be too hard to take care of, " Buffy said optimistically.
Spike shook his head. "Slayer, weren’t you listening to the story? These obviously aren’t normal ones. "
She frowned at him, not understanding.
"Normally they are tranquil, peaceful demons, " he explained.
"They don’t go around killing stuff themselves. Their job is just to home in on and track hunting vampires and then get the leftover blood. Were these guys-"
"Went out of their way to attack me and Xander, " Willow finished.
Buffy nodded. "Ok. Fine. So they’re pissed off ones? "
"Perhaps there’s a reason they went after you two in particular, " Giles wondered.
"Maybe for some reason they don’t like witches? " Xander suggested.
"You’re not a witch. At least that I know of, " Buffy pointed out. He made a face.
"I know that. But they seemed mostly interested in Willow. I was just sort of caught in the cross-fire, I think. Got a much better look at them then she did, " he explained.
"All right, so they’re not acting like normal ones. But they’ll still die the same way, right? How do you kill them? " Buffy said, eager to get out on the field were her skills belonged, not among the dusty books.
"Well, never felt the need to kill one before, but I know they can carry on just fine without their heads. Loosin’ a few hearts doesn’t seem to bother them much either, " Spike said.
"Huh. Sounds fun, " Buffy said sarcastically,
"But what’s it take to kill them? "
"Well, my vote’s you get a really, really big can of Bug-Off and one of those jumbo squirt guns…. "
"Very funny. "
The vamp smirked. "I do my best. "
"Uh-huh. Getting back to the killing thing…"
He sighed, as if annoyed.
"There’s only two things I can think of that’ll really do it. "
Xander started to amuse himself by tossing a pencil in the air and catching it with one hand, obviously growing bored.
"Aaaaaand? " Buffy asked when the vampire stayed quiet.
"Aaaaand what’s it worth to you? " he asked, giving a smug smile.
"Spike! "
"What? "
"What do you mean, ‘Wot? ’ Stop playing dumb with me! "
"What makes you say I’m playing dumb? "
*dink*, went Xander’s pencil as he dropped it on the floor.
"You’re right, you probably don’t have to act it, must come as second nature to you. "
"Oh! God smite me were I stand, I don’t think I can take the cruelty. " He said, voice laden with sarcasm. Giles spoke up.
"Aheam, perhaps we should get on with this soon, before the Insekats leave the general area they were spotted in-"
"Hey! Are you interrupting us here? " Buffy asked, annoyed.
"Because if you want to do that, you’re going to have to yell over the top of her, " Spike added.
"Now how ‘bout answering my question. How do you kill them? "
How ‘bout answering mine? What’s it worth to you? "
"Spike! "
Looking quite entertained, Spike answered,
"All right, sorry, sorry. But you’re gonna owe me, " he sang.
*dink*, Xander dropped his pencil again.
"That’s nice, " she said back, imitating his sing-song voice.
"Number one. WHAP! " he said, slapping his hands together, causing everyone in the room to jump,
"Smash em’ like a bug. Obviously. You bash em’ up enough and they’ll finally get the idea through to them and die. "
"Nice n’ gory. I’m sure you’d love it. Next option, " Buffy said shortly. He rolled his eyes.
"You’re not gonna like option B, " he warned.
"Oh, and how would you know? "
"Believe me, I know. "
*dink* went the pencil.
"Xander, will you stop that! Can you two please stop chatting and get to the point of things-"
The two answered him at the same time.
"We’re not chatting. "
"You interrupted again. "
Xander just froze, pencil in hand, looking from Giles to Buffy and Spike, who were now conversing about a foot away from each other.
Demon and Slayer carried on.
"Well? "
"You’ve got to drown them. "
"So what’s so awful about that? "
"They don’t react well to being drowned. It really rather irks them, " he said, smiling at the knowledge he was holding back.
"Give it up, Spike. "
"I think it’s too graphic for a young girl. "
"Spike, if you don’t stop with the dumb comments, I’ll give you something graphic-"
"Ooo! I love it when you talk dirty, " he shot back, knowing he’d probably regret it, and not caring.
The Slayer stared back daringly into his eyes for several seconds.
"Got stake. " She said simply.
"Ah, well, in that case. They’re called fire bugs for a reason. Dose em’ with water and they light up like firecrackers. Real fun to watch. From a safe distance, anyway. Seems to set their skin on fire as a defense. Pretty sure they can fry you from the inside out while they’re like that, " he said, suddenly giving all his information out very quickly, his British accent more predominant as he spoke faster.
"Not a fun feeling as you might imagine. So yeah, best to not get on their bad side. Use enough water and you drown them-too little and it’s tea time, if you catch my drift. "
She nodded. "Uh-huh, I getcha. "
"Why didn’t it go all psycho on me when I hit it with the holy water, then? " Willow spoke up, a bit leery of breaking the quick conversation, but the question was killing her.
"Good question. I’d guess for some reason the holy water, bein’ holy an’ all, didn’t trigger it’s usual defense, so instead scared it off. " Spike quickly estimated.
"Yeah! Good thinking, that makes sense. So we can use that, " Buffy said eagerly to him.
"Mark your bloody calendars, I think she just complimented me, " he said in mock awe.
"Stuff it. Giles, we’re gonna need a lota holy water and, um…heck, I have a coupla Super Soakers at home, " she said, thinking quickly.
"Wait, Buffy, you’re planning to hunt them down tonight? " Giles asked, sounding nervous.
"Hey. My bug spray idea, " Spike commented.
"Yes, might as well do this now. Spike, you think that’ll be enough water for us? "
He shrugged. "Probably. What do you mean, us? "
"You’re coming with me, " she said, going over to were the shop kept it’s holy water.
"Now just hang on a soddin’ minute! I don’t recall volunteering for this. " He complained, trailing behind her.
"You have to. Need a vampire, remember? If we want to find these things it’s gotta have something to home in on. " She said reasonably as she unloaded jar after jar of water. Giles started to say something, but stopped, deciding it was most safe to keep quiet when they started arguing again. He looked helplessly at Willow instead, who shrugged. Xander started to chew on the pencil.
"But, Buffy-it needs to think I’m about to make a kill. "
"So? Just get in ‘Grr’ mode, you know. What’s so tough about that? "
Spike licked his lips. "Hey, it’s not like flicking a light switch. It requires the proper motivation. "
"Fine, sounds like a deal to me. You gimmie a Grr face and I’ll provide the motivation, "
she said, painting a very excited expression on the vamp’s face, and turned to rap out orders to the Scoobies.
"Willow, Giles, it would be great if we could find out what these fire bugs have against witches. Maybe they’re susceptible to magicks or something. You should investigate, "
"In the meantime Spike and I are gonna try and track these two down, do something if we can. Xander, you said you got the best look at these guys, so if they’re something visibly different about them or their behavior from the normal bugs, it may give us a clue, so you can help them out. And-and why is everyone just staring at me? Hello? "
The whole group was in fact staring at her, still silent.
"Ok, hi. Am I still here or what? " Buffy asked, growing unnerved. Spike suddenly realized that eyes were flickering from him back to Buffy and back to him again.
"Hey! What’re you all gobbin’ at me for? "
Xander coughed, finally daring to break the group’s silence.
"Aahm. Well, besides the fact that you hardly let any of us get a word in edgewise, which I know I personally found amusing, but can only speak for myself…you two are just acting…well, all buddy-buddy, and personally, it’s starting to scare me. "
Buffy gave a short laugh. "What? "
"Ditto on that what? , "
"Woah. Ok, settle down, " Xander said, holding has hands up in a gesture of defeat,
"Just tellin’ it like it is. "
Buffy looked from Xander to the rest of the Scoobies, who had decided at that point in time that the crack on the far wall or a paragraph on Fletcher demons was much more interesting.
"Look, whatever, Xander. I’ll chew you out later for that, I don’t have time for this right now. C’mon, Spike, " she said, grabbing as many jars of water as she could carry on her way out.
The vampire glanced nervously around at the group, as all eyes were now on him.
"Aheam, ’scuse me, " he said, grinning as he gingerly gathered up the remaining jars.
"Can’t keep the Slayer waiting, " he said, as he backed up out of the shop, unable to suppress a gloating smile. As the bells jangled, Anya, who had been sleeping face-down in a book for quite some time now, jumped.
"Wha? Huh? Welcome to the Magic Shop, " she said automatically, and frowned.
"Hey. Where’d they go? "
Xander just sighed.
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The two traveled in relative silence. They had just loaded up the guns from Buffy’s house and grabbed a few other pieces of weaponry, and were on their way to the spot were Xander and Willow had been attacked. The night was dark and deep, the crickets chirruping as the only constant background sound, the sounds accenting the sparkle of the stars above.
"We’re not acting buddy-buddy, are we? "
She had asked it quite out of the blue, it seemed, but obviously it had been playing on her mind. Spike looked up to meet her hazel eyes, completely unsure of how to reply. He opted to go the safest route and forced a laugh.
"Of course not. "
Buffy laughed nervously. "Yeah, that’s insane. I don’t know what Xander was thinking. "
He nodded. "We were getting’ the bloody job done, that’s all. "
"Yeah, exactly. So-well-we didn’t waste any time, you know, getting pissed at each other. That’s-what they wanted, right? For us to be decent to each other, I guess. For the job’s sake. So they have no reason to complain. " She stated.
"Right. "
"They’re just being exaggerative…"
"Mm-hmm. "
There was a pause, but Buffy wasn’t quite ready to let it go.
"I mean, it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong…"
"Absolutely not. "
"We just…talk sometimes. That doesn’t mean we’re, you know, friends or anything…"
"’Course. "
"I mean, we still hate each other an’ all…"
He stopped walking to look at her.
"If you ever got that chip outta you, you’d kill me the first chance you got. As so would I. "
"Sure. " he answered, feeling his heart crumble.
"We’re just. . . . two people who. . . sometimes have some civil conversations. Because we can. . . understand certain things about…each other that other people can’t. " she said in broken sentences.
"There’s no reason to not do that. All that killing and hating stuff can come later, I mean, sure. But right now, no reason to not talk if we wanna talk. "
He nods. "No reason at all. "
There was a sudden flash in the sky above them.
"Quick, I got one, right here, " he pointed out, reacting fast.
The Slayer quickly moved to see one of these shooting stars he had mentioned earlier.
"Oh wow. " She said, catching sight of the impressive bluish arc dart across the sky before it melted away like a snowflake.
"That was a huge one. "
He smiled as they just stood together, gazing at the sky, the crickets sounding like an ocean around them.
"So you gonna tell your friends? Were you’ve been disappearing to, I mean. "
"Oh, no, " she answered.
"I mean, it’s not like we’re eloping, " she said, laughing lightly at how that sounded.
He smiled again. "Right. Because we still hate each other. "
"Mm-hmm, " she murmured in agreement, their coats brushing as she shifted her stance to a more comfortable one.
They both fell silent, and rather than move, just continued to stand and watch the sky, the moment stretching on into minutes. The demons they were supposed to be hunting seemed so easy to forget.
"Demons probably aren’t gonna get much further in just five more minutes, " she murmured.
"Yeah. Those blood vultures are slow, anyway. "
Truth be known, one of Mr. Giles’ books clearly states that the Vatra Insekat can reach speeds up to 80 miles per hour on the wing. As Spike knew all too well.
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Part 3