Encounters of the Odd Kind
By Danii
Spike was getting restless. It was around two o'clock
in the morning, he'd been waiting since at least 1:30,
and still no one had come by. No one. Not a demon he
could trounce, not a human he could scare senseless
and then rob. Nothing. He was quite ready to give
up, even though he really need the money at the
moment, but then he saw someone.
He was rather normal. About Spike's height, with dark
hair that could have been black or just a very dark
brown. His face, while handsome, sort of reminded him
of Giles and some musician that he couldn't remember,
but not really. The eyes were different. They were
an interesting blue-green and while the Watcher most
times looked very tired, this man seemed full of
energy and joy as he briskly walked down the dark
street. Spike had never seen him before, and that
made him curious. He thought he'd at least gotten a
glance at everyone in the little town of Sunnyhell.
But what really confused Spike was the man's confident
stride as he walked down the lonely street at 2 AM.
Who did that? Even in a supposedly safe and quiet
town, only a madman went out at night like that.
Alone. With a suitcase. Which, Spike reasoned, could
be filled with all sorts of expensive, interesting
things.
Carefully, so as not to startle the man out of his
secure little state-of-mind, the blonde vampire made
his way to the dumpster, his traditional spot for
jumping the helpless people of Sunnydale. Then he
waited.
Sure enough, the man came right there in a minute, at
which time Spike, in full game face, jumped out at
him. And got completely confused as the man broke out
in a giggle.
"Oh dear me, man..." the stranger said in a pleasant
English accent as he tried to breath through his
laughing, "What on Earth are you doing, sir? And what
has happened to your face, my good chap?"
"Whu?" Spike asked, completely nonplussed. This
wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to
freak, run and scream, conveniently leaving the
chipped vampire a nice, full suitcase. Spike tried
growling, but that only set the stranger into another
set of giggles.
"Oh my dear man..."the man said, calming himself with a
shake of the head, "I asked what had happened to your
face? And, if I may continue to question, why are you
jumping out and trying to scare people?"
"I did scare you!"
"No, you startled me..." the man countered, "Now, what
exactly is going on?"
The kindly asked question just got him even more angry
and confused, so Spike growled at the man again.
Well, if the bloody moron can't figure it out, I'd
better tell him...
"I'm a vampire, you ponce!" Spike cried, putting on
his scariest face. Now, the idiot would be
frightened. At least, he should have been. Instead,
he just stood there waiting.
"Yeah, I know..." the stranger said, "And?"
"An'?!"
"What seems to be your problem, my good man?" the
dark-haired man asked, "A vampire. Fine. Good. I
can see the fangs, which are looking rather well. You
take good care of them I can see. But what on Earth
has happened to your face, man?"
"My face?" the blonde vampire asked, completely lost,
"I told you, I'm a vampire. That's my vampy face, you
bloody dope!"
"Now, no need to be rude, young man!"
"I am not a young man!" Spike countered with a growl,
"I'm 200 years old!"
"As I said..." the other man continued with a calm sigh,
"young man..."
At this, Spike just sort of gave up. He switched back
to his normal face, which seemed to relieve the
stranger.
"Oh, good...it's not permanent..." he heard the odd man
say, "Now, what were you trying to do before?"
"Scare you..." Spike admitted, "So that I could steal
that suitcase you've got an' get some money for a
little blood..."
The stranger's eyes immediately went from curious and
amused to full of compassion. "Oh, you poor young
man...can't find dinner for yourself...that's just too
sad. Probably not even in your own crypt, are you?
Kind of a drifter?"
"Hey! I-"
"No, this cannot be!" the stranger cried with
righteous anger, "I will not let a brother walk the
streets, hoping for food! It wouldn't be right,
especially with the bounty I have right here..."
"Huh?"
Then the man opened the suitcase on the ground, which
to Spike's complete surprise was filled with packets
of blood and a cooling system. The stranger pulled
out three packs.
"Here, take these..." the stranger told him, holding out
the blood packs for Spike to take, "It's the least I
can do for you, young man. Take them as a gift. And
this..."
The odd, dark-haired man pulled out a business card
and handed it to the chipped vampire along with the
blood.
"My business number is on there, as well as my new
home phone number. Call if you need anything, and
since my new address in town is on there as well, feel
free to come by as well. If I'm not home, Kendell,
Jeremy, or Nerissa will be pleased to let you in if
you explain. And I'll tell them about you, and your
terribly dreadful situation..."
"Thanks..." answered Spike, lost in a cloud of surprise,
joy, and confusion.
"But I must be going home now..." the stranger said with
a brisk rise to his feet, "I have dinner here, and the
house-warming party can't begin without me! Besides,
Jeremy's been waiting to try Michael Jordan for three
weeks now!"
"Michael Jordan?" the blonde asked dazedly.
"Oh, it's Nerissa's treat for my boy..." the
dark-haired
man said quickly, "She has connections all over, and
it's a special present for him. I didn't give you one
of those packets, did I?"
Spike looked down. All normal, everyday names on the
blood packets. No celebrities.
"No."
"Then I will be going..." the man said again, starting
to walk away with a smile, "See you soon. And I wish
you the best of luck with your troubles! As I said,
come over if you need any help. My family will be
happy to help a starving, homeless one of our kind in need..."
"Okay!" Spike cried at the quickly disappearing figure
down the street, then stood still for a moment or two
of confusion. Then, faster than anything, he looked
at the card. He now knew the name of the man(?) who'd
helped him, and where the man worked.
"'Sunset Consultants...'" Spike said out loud as he
began the walk to his dusty old crypt. He'd have to
check that out some night.
********
The End
