They snuck in the building from the basement, took the elevator up to the main floor and found their way to an old secretary at the front desk. She kept typing who knows what on the computer in front of her and never even glanced at them. Darla cleared her throat politely but no response came from the secretary. Spike slammed his hand on the computer screen and said, "Hey, Lady!" She turned to them with pursed lips and spoke delicately, "Can I help you?"

"Hope so, we're here for the auditions." She handed them each a clipboard and pen and sighed, "Go in the next room and fill those out. They'll call you in the screening room one at a time."

Spike nodded, "Right." and they went through the doors in the next room. "Nasty old bat, ain't she." he muttered.

They discovered a large room with couches and refreshments in the corner. It was filled with people having nervous chats with each other and others kept to themselves rehearsing their lines. Darla and Spike took a seat and started filling out the necessary information on the clipboard. "Name...Spike. Age...er...what'd you put?"

"23."

"Me too!"

"Spike, if you can't even come up with your own lies..." Spike became threatened and pointed his pen at her. "Oi! I resent that. I can too make up my own lies."

"Fine, no need to get offended. You're a bad ass, and you don't need to prove it to anyone but yourself." Spike lowered his pen slowly and settled back, "Thank you." He continued to fill out his information sheet outloud. "Occupation; bad ass." Darla dropped her pen, "Spike!"

"I'm kidding!"

"Would you please be quiet." Spike sighed and adjusted his belt, "Alright, alright." Darla went back to her own sheet and finished quickly. Spike finished soon after her and handed in both their papers. 20 minutes later a fashionably dressed woman in her early 40s came into the room and everyone became silent.

"Hello and welcome everyone," she smiled cheerfully, "I'm Vicki Lawson and I'm sure most of you recognize me as Divinity Lore from A Word of Our Own. Everyone who works in A World of Our Own is ecstatic with the show's ratings and I can tell most of you are very excited to go on with the auditions. The well-known entertainment channel DTV sponsors the show and we believe that the characters that we are adding to the show will attract a younger audience group. Of course we dismissed some older characters, fortunately I'm still here," there was a brief chuckle around the room, "and I'm very excited to be working with the next big stars to be. I'd like to wish you all the best of luck. Just relax and do your best. Hopefully we can all work together to make this run as smoothly as possible and not let anyone have to wait too long. The auditions will go in the order of first come first serve, so I believe...Arthur Plaque, you're first. Follow me to the screening room please."

Spike and Darla sighed, knowing they had a long time to wait before they could have their turn.


~~~~~~~~~~~~


Finally at 6pm there were three people left; Spike, Darla, and a very young, nervous looking teenager. Spike sat across from him on a mini couch in a comfortable position with his hands on the arm rests. "So who are you trying out for, boy?" The boy stuttered and his voice cracked, "The-the rogue, Damien." Spike smiled, "Should have guessed. Me too. Good luck in there by the way." The boy played with his hands between his knees sheepishly, "Th-thanks."

Vicki Lawson came back and called, "Spike...no last name." Spike got up and attempted to walk into the next room but Mrs. Lawson stopped him. "I'm sorry sir, but you need to fill in all the information completely. You didn't put in your last name. And what kind of a name is Spike?"

"It's...a stage name." Darla gave him a look and he mouthed, "What?" He took the sheet back with a pen and sat back down to think of a last name. "Then I suppose...Darla Sharp, you're next." Spike gave Darla a look this time and stopped himself from laughing. Darla confidently went into the next room and the door shut behind her.

Spike tapped his pen on his knee and started to sing under his breath, "Forget your troubles, go ahead and give up, I can't find someone who cares, who really gives a-" He decided to use his real first name, William. "William..." He muttered, "William the Bloody...Blood...Bud...Bold. Hmm, sounds alright, or maybe Spike Bold. No, that's pathetic."

"What's wrong?" Spike looked up; it was the boy who asked. "Nothing. Hey, what's your name?"

"Chad."

"Do you have a bird, Chad?"

"Excuse m-me?"

"A girlfriend." Chad shook his head, "Oh. No."

"What's your mum's name?"

"G-Gale." Spike went back to his paper and muttered some more. "Gale...Galer...Gellar?" He scratched out William and wrote Spike instead. He used Gellar for his last name.

A little while later Darla came rushing back in. Carter was called in next and Spike gave Mrs. Lawson his paper. When they were all alone Spike asked Darla nonchalantly, "How'd it go?"

"Couldn't have gone any better. They were like putty in my hand. I was the last woman to audition and they muttered a lot and told me before I left that I got the part."

"That's great!" Spike exclaimed. Darla suddenly started unbuttoning Spike's shirt and he started to laugh but didn't stop her, "I don't think this is the perfect place, love."

"Get over yourself, I don't want to sleep with you. I need to give you some very important tips before you go in there."

"Why? You don't think I have a shot?"

"No, this will just guarantee the deal if you do what I say." She stopped unbuttoning just above his heart and looked into his eyes intently, placing her hands on his shoulders. "In that room is an old man and a 20 something year old girl. She's an easy target. Just work on her and you'll get it without even speaking a word."

Spike smiled, "Nice. But what makes you think that the other boys didn't think of the same thing?"

"I'm sure they did, but they're all terrible actors, just ruggedly handsome." Spike slapped his hands together greedily, "Right, just work up a load of sexual tension and I'm home free. Seduction is my specialty." Darla nodded, "Yes, and we all know how your last relationship ended up."

"She may not have loved me, but she got in bed with me, didn't she?"

"And what spell did you use again?"

"Oi, a little harsh," he pouted. Carter ran out red in the face and Mrs. Lawson invited Spike to enter. Spike gave Darla a kiss on the cheek and left her. Darla touched her cheek extremely surprised at Spike's gesture. What is he up to?

~~~~~~~

When Spike shut the door behind him, he saw the old man and young girl sitting together behind a desk. The old man was what Darla had said...old. He was a bit on the pudgy side and balding. He seemed to be extremely friendly with his smile. Spike decided to nick name him baldy.

On his right sat the girl. She was a pretty little thing hidden behind her thick pointy glasses and reserved look. Her hair was tied neatly into a strict bun and she kept a straight face. Spike decided to name her Miss Priss. He winked at her and she didn't do more than blink.

"Please state your name, where you're from, the role you're auditioning for, and recite your lines." Baldy instructed.

He nodded and cleared his throat, "My name's Spike, I'm from London, England, and I'm trying out for Damien." Spike took his position and started the lines he memorized, "Aiva, don't get mixed up with a guy like me. You don't know about me and my past." Miss Priss read for the part of Aiva in a monotone voice. "But Damien, I'm in love with you."

"Damn it Aiva, no you don't! You can't. You don't know what's good for you." Spike looked at Miss Priss this time, and chose to speak to her, as if he really was Damien and she really were Aiva. He even took her hand and spoke to her softly, "Aiva, I know the words you want to hear, but I can't say them." He paused dramatically for effect and he could tell Miss Priss's heart skipped a beat. "I'm no good for you." He smiled and Baldy chuckled, "Thank you sir. That was brilliant." He turned to Miss Priss and whispered to her, "But I'm afraid Damien doesn't have an English accent in the script." She was still breathless from his performance. Spike could hear it all easily and he quickly unbuttoned a few more buttons for Miss Priss to see. She glanced at him and noticed. He hid his hands behind his back and looked at her innocently. She whispered back, "I'm sure the network won't have a problem with that. And besides, most women find English accents very sexy." Miss Priss removed her glasses and her lips curved into a shy smile.


~~~~~~~~~~

Darla sat nervously on the couch, alone in the room. She didn't know what she would do if Spike didn't get the part. She wouldn't accept the part if he wasn't on the show. The old secretary from the lobby came in, surprised to see her. "Excuse me miss, but the auditions are over. Everything's been decided."

"They have?" she gulped, "Well, I'm just waiting for my..." She didn't want to say friend, he wasn't her friend, it was just Spike. Spike burst into the room with his arms spread out, "Behold me in all my magnificent glory!" The old secretary saw him and left the room quietly.

"Spike!" Darla rushed over to him, "Did you get the part? Did the young one swoon?"

He grinned proudly, "Like a school girl." Darla sighed with relief, "Thank God!" and hugged him. Spike was taken aback and hugged her too. "What? You weren't confidant William the Bloody would pull through?" Darla let him go. "Not at all. You could have just recited the alphabet and I would have been nervous." He smiled at her comfortingly and said, "Well sweets, we both made it and we're in for one hell of a ride."