All characters belong to Joss Whedon, The WB Network, and 20th Century Fox. I am just a fan.

"FUCK, Slayer. My FUCKIN' car!" he growled as he kicked open the door to go inspect the damage.

Buffy was beyond embarrassed. She was beyond humiliated. This was like the ultimate humiliation. She took a deep breath and followed Spike to the front of the car.

"Sorry?" she offered, sheepishly.

He yelled out loud to no one impaticular. He then turned his focus to Buffy with nothing but fury in his eyes. Buffy took a step back.

"And look! You cut open your damn head!"

She hadn't even realized she hit her head, but was now aware of the trickle of blood running down her eyebrow.

He cursed under his breath as he approached the Slayer.

"Bloody bitch. Fucks up my car, bangs up her sodding head..."

He reached out her grabbed her head roughly in his hands to analyze her wound. Fighting the urge not to lick the warm blood from off her face, he looked her in the eyes instead. She looked pretty shaken up. Still holding her face in his hands, he lightly rubbed his thumbs against her temples.

"You alright?" he asked, all rage now dissapated.

Buffy was taken aback by his words and gentle touch. She looked him in the eye and finally saw something. It wasn't what she used to see, but it was something. It was compassion.

"I'm fine," she said softly, surprisingly comforted by the feel of his soothing hands.

Spike was suddenly aware of how close they were and stepped back quickly as if she had scalded him. Speaking of scalded...

"My bloody pants! It looks like I pissed myself thanks you to. And if you ruined my manhood, I swear to Satan, I'll..."

Buffy ignored his rambling and strolled back to the passenger's side of the car. There he goes, ruining the moment like he always does. Wait, they were having a moment? She shook her head in disgust and watched as Spike wiped at his pants with his hands. There was a large wet stain from where the coffee had spilled and Buffy instantly felt bad. That had to hurt.

"You know, Slayer. You're owe me."

Buffy looked down at where the stain was on his pants. He better not be implying, what she thought he was implying...

"Er, uh, what... what do you mean?"

"Well, it definitely needs a good job," he told her.

Buffy turned beet red.

"What?! There's no way I'm touching anything on you! How can you even suggest that to me?!"

He looked at her confused.

"The car," he stated.

Oh.

"Uh, right. The car. Stupid Buffy..."

If it was possible to turn anymore shades of red, she did. And if it was possible to be anymore humiliated, she was. How could she even think that's what he meant? Of course, he was talking about the car! Not even able to look at him, she whipped open the car door slunk into the seat.

Spike watched the flustered Slayer enter the car and slammed the door. He couldn't help but laugh. Poor girl thought he wanted her to go down on him. Well, that wasn't that bad of an idea, but definitely not what he was implying. He entered the car as well and looked over at Buffy. She was staring out the window.

"One track mind, love?" he asked, unable to stop the grin that crept up his face.

"Shut up and drive," she said, still incapable of looking at him.

He shrugged, still smiing, and revelled in the sound of the engine starting up.

"That's a girl," he told his car while he listened to it purr.

Buffy rolled her eyes and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Can we just go, so I don't have to listen to you pillow talk with you car?"

"Well, pet, I would go, if we weren't plastered against a tree, thanks to your handiwork."

"Oh yeah? Maybe if you had told me you had a built-in coffee machine in your car, we wouldn't be plastered to this tree!"

"Bullocks! Can't you just admit when you do something wrong? Are you that daft?"

Unable come up with a clever retort, she nailed him in the jaw. Spike grabbed his face in pain.

"Now drive."

* * * * *

They drove in silence the rest of the way to the hotel. Buffy stared up at the stars as they rode, wondering if a higher power could see how miserable she was down here on Earth. Maybe they would feel sorry for her and take her back.

Spike glanced over at the silent Slayer from time to time, wondering what she was thinking. She had a far-off look on her face. He noticed her cut had already healed, unlike his jaw, which was still throbbing. He decided he deserved it for taunting her like that, but the bloody thing hurt like a mother.

"We're 'ere," he said, as he pulled into the parking lot of the extravegant hotel.

Buffy finally looked straight ahead and marvelled at the sight. The building was huge. It had at least ten stories and almost had a victorian style to it. Fancy statues were strategically placed throughout the front and the landscaping was breath taking. Colorful flowers and rare trees grew from the freshly mowed grass.

"Guess these demons have a knack for decorating. Can't wait to see the interior design," Buffy stated, as she got out of the car.

Spike followed her to the front entrance and entered the snazzy hotel. She was right. The inside was just as remarkable. With high ceilings and original paintings, the place could almost pass for a museum.

"Can I help you?" a woman asked, breaking into their thoughts.

Buffy glanced up at Spike as they approached the front desk.

"We're, um, just looking," she replied.

"Well, would you like a tour?" The woman smiled brightly and her eyes twinkled with delight.

"I don't think --" Buffy began.

"Rot," Spike interruped. He threw his arm around Buffy's shoulders and returned his attention to the anxious girl. "We'd love a tour. S'are honeymoon, afterall."

He gave Buffy a mischevious grin, as her eyes grew wide with shock.

"Fantastic! I'll be one minute," the woman beamed. She then disappeared down a long, winding corridor.

Buffy immediately twisted Spike's arms and pushed him off of her.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded.

"What's it look like? You wanna find out what these nasties are up to?"

"No way," she said and began to leave.

Spike caught her around the waist and pulled her to him.

"Listen to me Slayer. There's no other way. You wanna sneak 'round in 'ere everyday hopin' to catch a peek at somethin' outta the ord'nary? We can do this my way or not at all. Got it?"

Buffy pulled free from his grasp.

"Not like this," she replied.

Spike sighed.

"We'll just go undercover for a bit. See what we can find out. If nothin' surfaces, we'll go."

"Look, Spike. Pretending to be on a honeymoon with you means sharing a bed with you, and honestly? That idea disgusts me."

"I'll sleep on the floor."

"Okay, let me refrain my statement. Being within 100 feet of you disgusts me, let alone sharing the same room with you."

Spike growled and took a step closer to her until he was right in her face.

"I don't fancy bein' near you either, but this is your job. Bein' a Slayer means doin' things you don't want to do. And, well, this is the best plan and not even you can deny that. Jus' think of all the info we could dig up by staying 'ere a few days."

Buffy's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"You know I'm right," he told her.

She rolled her eyes and looked up at him.

"Fine," she gave in. "But I swear, Spike. Try anything stupid and your dust, clear?"

"Crystal," he said grinning.

The animated woman appeared just as Buffy and Spike finished their conversation.

"Now how about that tour?" she asked, smiling excitedly.

Spike glanced over at Buffy.

"Uh, yeah. Whaddya say... Summer?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Buffy immediatly tensed.

"Sure... Willie," she replied, patting him awkwardly on the back.

Off Spike's livid look, Buffy just smiled and shrugged. This should be interesting.

* * * * *

The vampire and the Slayer followed the brown-haired woman down hallways, up winding staircases, and through many doors.

"And these are the penthouse suites."

Spike waggled his eyebrows at Buffy. She glared daggers at him. How on Earth could this be a good idea?

This was insane! If they couldn't survive a ten minute car ride without a wreck, humiliation, and torment, how could they possibly get through a whole day living in close proximity with one another?

"This is such a bad idea," Buffy whispered to Spike, shaking her head.

"Nah, it'll be great. If we manage not killing each other then that'll be a bonus," he replied, sarcastically.

Buffy took a deep breath and surveyed every room carefully, checking to see if anything was off. So far, so good.

"You know, maybe this place has nothing to do with my prophecy. Wouldn't it be silly to go through this whole undercover plan and we find out it was pointless?"

"Never know until we try."

Buffy just rolled her eyes and kept on walking. There was no getting through to him.

"You're really looking forward to this, aren't you?"

Was he? Why was he so anxious to spend alone time with the Slayer? What happened to his big ignore and hate her plan? Well, he didn't hate her, that was for sure. He couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. Was he attracted to her? Yes. Did he love her? No. Getting over her took too much time and too much work and all those years weren't going down the drain. If he did ever end up loving her again, it would take time.

"No, actually. I just wanna get this over with. Help ya fight this big ol' evil and..."

And what? Leave town? Get the hell away from her?

Before he could finish his statement, the enthusiastic woman turned around and smiled warmly.

"That's the end of our tour. Can I register a room for you two love birds?"

Buffy practically choked on nothing.

"Um, give us a day or two to think this over. But, we'll definitely be back," she replied, trying desperately to contain her laughter.

"Wonderful!" the woman exclaimed. "Let me lead you back down to the lobby."

They turned around and followed her back down the stairs. On the way down, Buffy's shoe got caught on something.

"Crap!" she shouted.

Spike immediately turned around to see what was the matter.

"What is it, Sla - Summer?"

"My shoe... it - it's caught."

He looked down to see the heel of her shoe caught in a hole on one of the steps. The tour guide quickly ran to get help.

"Bloody hell," Spike mumbled under his breath, as he bent down to release her foot.

Oh, god, Buffy thought. Why did I have to wear a skirt?

It took all of Spike's willpower not to take a glance upwards at the view. Instead, he focused on the problem at hand... er, foot rather.

"Sure got it caught good," he replied, struggling to release the fake leather boot.

After much deliberation, Spike snatched the pocked knife out of the back of his jeans and began to saw off the heel.

"What the hell are you doing?! These are brand new!"

"Slayer, it's the only way. Unless of course you rather like 'avin me down 'ere right between your legs and all."

She made a face of pure disgust.

"Well, when you put it like that, saw away."

He grinned and continued the shoe slicing.

"Nice knickers by the way."

Buffy ignored the statement and instinctively tried to close her legs.

"Stop your squirmin', I'm almost done."

As soon as he said that, the heel finally fell off. He stood up and was about to walk away, when Buffy stopped him.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?"

"The heel of my shoe."

"What about it?"

Buffy sighed in frustration and got down on her hands and knees on the staircase. She peered through the small hole that her shoe had gotten caught in. She couldn't see anything, but she had heard the heel hit bottom after a few seconds of falling.

"What are you bloody doin'?"

"I heard the heel of my shoe. It fell and hit bottom. There's another room down there or something."

"It's prob'ly just the basement."

"I see you've been rescued?" The woman suddenly appeard at the bottom of the staircase.

Buffy stood up quickly and straightened out her skirt.

"Yep, it's all good."

"Great, follow me then."

"Um, do you have a basement?" Buffy asked out of nowhere.

After a few moments of hesitation the woman shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry. This is our ground floor. There are no rooms beneath us."

Beyond Surrender: Part V
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