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

"Dropped this," the kid said, and high-tailed it down the hall once more.

Spike caught the stake that the boy threw at him. He studied it for a moment and frowned. It was the Slayer's. He could tell by the "B.S." marking, for Buffy Summers. Besides, who else would own a stake?

"So," Spike said, turning his attention back to the Slayer. "I was right."

Buffy, who had taken the moment to gain control of herself again, looked up at Spike.

"What?" she asked.

He tossed her the stake.

"Don't trust me."

She glanced down at the stake in her hands. Her stake. She didn't remember dropping it.

"What... what do you mean?" she questioned, although she had a pretty good clue as to what he was implying.

"As I recall, we're not 'ere to take out vampires. Why would you need a stake?"

"Just in case," she told him.

"Uh-huh."

"If you didn't know, we have no clue as to what kind of demon we're dealing with. How do you know their not vampires? Giles' description sounded pretty vampirey to me."

"Yeah, but that's not why you brought it, is it." It was more a statement, than a question.

She lifted her chin, defiantly. Why lie?

"Fine. I brought in case --"

"-- I did somethin' like this?"

With blinding speed, he grabbed her by the shoulders. He could feel her heart pounding beneath her flesh.

"Or maybe somethin' like this?"

He then took a step foward and pushed her up against the wall. Her toes were barely touching the ground. He could feel the heat of her body radiating into his, and all he wanted to do was crush his mouth to hers. And he was about to... that is, until he felt the pointy piece of wood threatening to pierce through his skin. He looked down and saw the stake pressed up against his bare chest. He let a grin spread across his face.

"You're not gonna use that," he said matter-o-factly.

She tilted her head to one side.

"Try me."

He didn't dare. He slowly removed his hands from her arms and brought her back down to the ground, but didn't back away. He knew he hadn't hurt her because the chip in his head - yes, he still had the chip - didn't even buzz. He was still unsure as to why the bloody thing was still in his brain after all these years. He had plenty of chances to get it removed and had nothing to lose in the process... but, no. There it was, still working its magic.

Buffy ignored her body's reaction to Spike's sudden invasion of her personal space, and kept the stake firmly in place.

"You gonna put that thing down?" he asked.

"You tell me."

Spike sighed and finally backed away from her. He hated it when she got the upper hand.

When the vampire was effectively out of her reach, she lowered the stake.

"Now," she began. "Let's get a few things straight here. You stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours. Pull another stunt like the one you just pulled and my stake will be happy to get reaquainted with your heart. The only time I want to see you is when we're on the job. The only time I want to see you within arms reach of me, is when we're in public. Decide you want to bend the rules, go for it. I'll get the vacuum ready."

She paused for a moment for effect.

"Are we clear?"

Spike studied the woman before him. Her voice was surprisingly calm, though her flushed skin and heavy breathing told him she was far from it.

"Understood," he replied, and then started walking towards her. He watched as she gripped her stake.

"I'm serious. If you --"

"You're in my bed," he simply said.

She followed his gaze and looked down at the wooden floor beneath her feet.

"Well, it will be once you stop steppin' on it."

Buffy rolled her eyes and stepped aside. Spike then promptly got down on the floor and laid down. He was just going to sleep like that? How could anybody sleep like that? With a sigh, she snatched a gold pillow from off her bed and tossed it at his face. She then stepped over him and climbed into bed.

"Thanks," he told her and placed it underneath his head.

Why did she feel guilty that she was in a gigantic bed with warm silky covers and soft pillows and he was lying on the floor with practically nothing? Buffy shook the unnecessary thoughts from her mind and reached over to turn off the light. As she did so, she accidentally knocked over the bucket with the bottle of wine and winced as it hit the floor with a loud crash. Spike was immediately on his feet.

"Shit!" she cried, as the expensive wine seeped into the hard wood floor.

"What the bloody hell was that?" he asked.

"Our wine," she told him. She then got out of bed and began soaking up the liquid with a nearby towel. Only then did she realize the wine had already made it's way over to one of her suitcases that lay opened on the floor. The bottom was soaked, which meant so were her clothes.

"Perfect. Fucking perfect."

"Now what?" Spike questioned, who had gone back to laying down in his "bed".

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Someone's in a temper."

Buffy stood up and threw the wine-soaked towel at him.

"Hey!" he yelled, as it caught him smack dab in the middle of his face.

"Just shut up and go to sleep."

He groaned and turned over, pushing the wet towel under the bed. Buffy finished cleaning up the floor and then proceeded to dry out her wet clothes. She hung them on the coat rack and silently prayed they'd be dry by morning. When she was finally through, she hopped back into bed. She reached over and carefully turned off the light. When everything was dark, she closed her eyes.

" 'Night, slayer."

"Goodnight, Spike."

And with that, she cozied up into her blankets and tried not to think about the half-naked vampire sleeping beside her bed.

* * * * *

What was that irritating noise?

Buffy awoke a few hours later to the sound of a steady "drip, drip, drip". It was driving her insane. She tried to ignore it, but failed miserably. It sounded like it was coming from beneath her. Without another thought, she forced her tired legs to move and attemted to get out of bed. Again, she failed miserably. Just as her feet went over the side of the bed, she stood up and stepped on Spike. Oopsy.

"Bloody hell!" he bellowed, awaking with a start.

Slightly disoriented from sleep, he grabbed the ankles of the person that was practically standing on him and pulled their feet out from under them. Buffy landed on him with a sickening thud. Their noses crashed together and they both grabbed their faces in pain.

"Ow! Damn you, Spike!"

It was the Slayer. He sat up and Buffy rolled off of him.

"What the hell are you doin' steppin' all over me at this hour of the night?!" he demanded, still rubbing his nose.

What was she doing up?

Drip, drip, drip.

Oh, right.

"Listen."

They were both silent, as the annoying sound filled the room.

"What do you reckon it is?" he whispered.

"That's what I was trying to find out, until you're damn body got in the way."

Spike rolled his eyes.

"So sorry, love, if my sleeping on the hard floor is a bother to you. I could always take the bed."

Buffy wasn't paying any attention to him, and instead began crawling over him to get underneath the bed.

"Now what are you doin'?" he asked, annoyedly.

As she crawled over him, her knee accidentally found it's way to his groin.

"OW!" he cried out in pain and reflexively threw her off of him. She hit the wall.

"Ouch!" she yelped.

"OW!" he yelled again, as his chip zapped him.

"God damnit, Spike!" Buffy stood up, pushed him out of the way, and slid under the bed.

Not being able to see anything, her hand came in contact with something wet and slimy.

"Um, eww."

She then slid back out, turned on the light, and inspected what was in her hand. It was the towel she had used to clean up the wine.

"Hey, wait a minute... "

Buffy climbed back underneath the bed and was met with a vent-like contraption.

"Think I found something," she said outloud.

Spike slid himself underneath from the opposite side.

"An air-vent. Nice work, Slayer." He started to pull himself back out again.

"No, shut up and listen."

It was the same sound the heel of her shoe made. A long fall, and then bottom.

"We're on the sodding top floor, Summers, of course there'll be somethin' beneath us."

Oh yeah, she forgot about that. Still, her curiosity got the best of her and she began prying off the top of the vent.

"Hand me my flashlight. It's in one of my suitcases."

With a sigh, Spike fetched her flashlight and went back under the bed to hand it to her. Buffy finally ripped off the vent and peered inside with the flashlight.

"You're wastin' your time," Spike told her.

"It's an elevator."

"What?"

Spike moved his head in next to Buffy's and looked through the small space. Buffy, now seemingly aware of how close their faces were, instinctively moved back.

"You're right," he said.

Though it was dim, they could make out the elevator cable and a small trap door on top of it.

"Well, it's nothin' to get suspicious 'bout. All hotels have elevators, am I right?"

"Yeah, but what if this one leads to where the heel of my shoe fell? You know, the room that woman lied about? There is totally a basement or a lower level in this place, and obviously they're trying to cover it up."

"I don't know, Slayer. You're definitely reachin'."

"I should. It's my job. We should check out every single room in this building before we leave. 'Cause something's up and I'm going to get to the bottom of it." She looked down through the vent hole again. "Literally."

Suddenly, they heard a tapping at the door. They tried to quickly stand up and smacked their heads on the bed above them.

"Ow!" they simultaneously yelled.

"Is everything alright in there?"

"Shit," Buffy whispered. "It's that happy woman."

Spike made a face and they both scooted out from underneath the bed. Buffy pulled her hair out from her pony tail and messed it up. She then grabbed the blanket from off her bed and wrapped it around her, as if she was trying to cover herself up. She took Spike's arm and whispered in his ear.

"We were having sex," she told him.

Spike nodded proudly and they opened the door.

"Um, can I help you?" Buffy asked the familiar woman.

She smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, well, I heard yelling. Is everything alright? Have I interrupted something?"

Buffy tried to act annoyed.

"Yeah. We were sort of in the middle of something. You know, consummating our marriage vows and all."

Spike frowned. Why couldn't she just say they were having sex? He wrapped his arm around Buffy's waist and pulled her to him, nodding in agreement.

"Oh, goodness! I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I was just worried that something had happened to you two."

"Don't be. But, uh, should we... be worried?"

"Whatever about?"

Buffy shook her head. They were close to something, she could feel it. She didn't want to give this woman any clues as to what they were really doing here.

"Nothing. Goodnight."

Buffy then slammed the door in her face. And as she did so, she could have sworn she heard the woman say, "Goodnight, Slayer."

Beyond Surrender: Part VII
Back to Main