Startled, Buffy sat up, unsure for a second of why she was awake. There had been a noise, but now she wasn't sure if it had been in her dream, or in the hall, or…
There it was again, no mistaking it. Someone screaming.
Swearing as she got tangled in the covers, Buffy jumped out of bed, feeling the wall beside her for the light switch. The little nub was avoiding her, and she could hear Tara's harsh breaths across the room as she too looked for a lamp.
"Got it," Tara breathed, and the room was suddenly bathed in light. "What was that?"
Shaking her head, Buffy wrenched the door open, hoping for some clue. All down the hallway, heads were poking out of doors, looking around curiously.
"Where'd it come from?"
"Oh my god, like that was totally scary!"
"What's going on?"
Wesley came rushing past them, bathrobe swirling and hair sticking out in all directions. Spike and Xander came after, both shirtless, and a guy Buffy vaguely recognized as the janitor followed.
"Which one of you made that noise?" Wesley asked furiously. "Really, I understand that you're excited, but pulling pranks like that is completely unacceptable, and I want the person responsible to stand up now and take charge for their actions."
"Mr. Wesley, none of us did it," Willow said earnestly, earning nods from the others.
Frowning, Buffy looked around. There was someone outside every door except…
"It's Lilah's room," she said, and cleared her throat when nobody paid any attention. "I think it's coming from Lilah's room," she repeated, gesturing at the door.
For a second no one moved, then Spike swore and walked quickly over to the door. At a gesture from Wesley he kicked it open, and the whole corridor poured inside.
Harmony screamed and her hand flew to cover her mouth.
"Nobody move," the janitor said sharply, slowly moving towards the bed where the large snake was coiled.
"Jake, mate, you sure you –"
"Was a park ranger a few years before, leave it to me."
Slowly, carefully, he made eye contact with the snake before grabbing it under the head in one swift motion. It hissed and the jaws opened wide, causing Lilah to gasp as it turned it's head towards her.
"Go now," Jake said, and she pushed off the bed with a whimper, sinking down onto the floor at Tara's feet.
Buffy pulled her hand, attempting to get her to move back, but Tara refused to move, body frozen as she stared at the snake.
"Tara? What's wrong?"
"I-I don't like snakes very much," she said, voice cracking.
"Oh…well, it seems that Jake knows what he's doing, right? It might not even be a dangerous snake. Just a really, really big garden one."
"It's a poisonous viper," Tara said flatly.
She looked ready to collapse and Buffy felt the first twinges of panic as well. What was a snake doing in one of the rooms? She'd heard of trick mirrors and hidden cameras added for theatrical value, but a poisonous snake was a little extreme. And plus, Wesley had seemed as surprised as any of them, and so had Spike and Xander, and what were they doing here in the middle of the night anyway? She knew they didn't live in the mansion, Wesley had mentioned that they'd rented an apartment.
"Let's get you some air," she muttered, leading Tara out the nearest door and helping her lean against a tree.
She watched as Tara took several sharp breathes before calming down enough to slide down and sit against the trunk.
"S-Sorry about-t that," she said softly. "I don't like snakes very much."
"But you grew up in Louisiana," Buffy said, confused. "Isn't that like, hometown of the creepy crawlies?"
Not answering, Tara devoted her attention to the bits of grass she was swirling around her fingers. Deciding not to prompt, Buffy relaxed against the tree as well, listening to the sounds all around them.
"It's really dark," Tara commented a few minutes later. "We better get inside."
Restlessly, Buffy jumped to her feet.
"You go ahead. I'm too awake for some reason, gonna go take a walk."
"Are you sure? It's the middle of the night, too creepy to be out."
"I love being outside at night," Buffy called as she steadily jogged away. "Don't worry, I usually run before sleeping, and I've got good night vision."
Shrugging, Tara clumsily made her way back to the door, only to run into Spike and Jake.
"You all right?" Jake asked, seeing the trails down her cheeks.
"No. I m-mean, yes, I'm fine, thank you. Is the snake gone?"
"Yeah pet, 's been taken care of. Now I may be wrong, but didn' I see you come out here with someone else?"
"Yeah, Buffy. She went for a walk though."
"A walk? It's the bloody middle of the night, what's she goin' for a walk for? 'Specially after the biter, there might be more of them out here."
The girl let out a gasp and Spike cursed himself for scaring her more.
"Sorry pet, didn't mean that. She shouldn't be out here by herself, is all, gonna go look for her. Could you go with Jake? He can get you hot chocolate, works wonders, it does."
"That's who all the cocoa belonged to!" Jake exclaimed, slapping his stomach. "The kitchen smelled like a chocolate factory this morning, and you're only staying a few days. I'm worried for you man, someday you'll stock up on too much and your teeth will rot from the smell."
"Dunno what you're talkin' about," Spike grumbled as he made his way up the path to look for the missing girl.
"Sure you don't," Jake stated with satisfaction, before holding his hand out to Tara. "Wanna go see if he's right? Maybe hot chocolate really is the cure to all evils. There's this neat little hallway I discovered yesterday, we could make some and drink it there.
"That would be great," she said, shyly placing her hand in his.
*/*/*/*/*/*/*
"Buffy? Here Puffy puffy puffy…here worst name in the world girl…"
He stopped, listening for sound, before sighing in frustration.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Buffy's a bloody brilliant name, now would you just come out?"
Getting no answer, he cursed, kicking the nearest tree. The girl either swung on branches or ran in the Olympics, because she sure as hell wasn't here.
"Now if I were a stupid, spoiled brat looking to bag a rich husband, where would I be…"
A branch cracked somewhere to his left.
"Buffy?"
There was no answer, only strange shuffling in the dry leaves behind some bushes. Spike was really starting to wish he had thought to bring a flashlight.
"Summers?" he said, quieter this time, looking in all directions for her.
Something was in the clearing with him, that he was positive of. Taking a deep breath, he slowly turned, then quickly jumped through the shrubbery, fully prepared to attack. He collided with something soft, and they both tumbled, screaming to the ground. His attacker forced him down with his face pressed against the dirt surprisingly fast, and he gasped in pain as a knee descended sharply onto a sensitive pressure point. A bare knee, attached to an equally bare thigh, which was covered by thin pajamas.
"Bloody hell! Buffy, is that you?"
The attacker lessened the pressure of the knee, and Spike saw blond hair swimming above his hair.
"Spike?"
"Yeah pet, it's me."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh. That was some impressive moves," he commented, squirming around until he was on his back, looking up at her.
"I teach aikido and martial arts," she replied.
"The girl has layers!" he announced, grining up at her.
"And the stubborn bleached idiot is still an asshole," she shot right back.
"I'm wounded pet, really," he assured. "Aikido huh? Used to do that when I was a kid, but switched to karate. More effective."
"More effective!" she screeched, glaring at him. "Aikido is one of the most approved systems of martial arts. It's a brilliant method, lets you use the attackers energy against them."
"Oh please," he scoffed. "Like you really believe that nonsense?"
"It's proved to me daily!" she exclaimed, leaning down to stare him in the eye.
"Give me one good example," he challenged, rising up as well.
"Look at who's got who on the ground," she said sweetly.
He stared at their current position for a moment, mouth wide, before sweeping his legs under her and pressing her onto the grass.
"Look at who's on the ground now," he countered.
"I could get you off in a second."
"That remains to be seen, darlin', but the point remains that you're still under me."
Spike watched as her pretty face flushed bright red, and smiled in satisfaction.
"You…pervert! I could jerk you off easily! I m-mean, I could make you get up easily!"
"Couldn't."
"Could."
"Couldn't."
"Could." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Could could could."
"Bloody hell, I need a smoke."
"What?"
He shifted on top of her, hand delving into his pocket, and wedging his thigh in between hers. Buffy's eyes widened and she started to squirm, only increasing the pressure.
"Lost my bloody cigs," he lamented, turning the pocket inside out.
He stared down at her red face, and the closeness of their position finally registered. She was wiggling under him, rubbing up against a place she really shouldn't have been rubbing up against. And it felt good.
Buffy started when he jumped away from her as if burned. She took the hand he offered, blushing, and stood up as well. He uncomfortably shifted his weight, and she caught his eye for the first time. Spike was embarrassed.
The mere thought sent her into giggling, and she clutched her sides as he glared at her, before the corners of his mouth lifted as well and he grabbed her arm, leading her back up the path.
"Where are
we going?"
"The way I see it, pet, 's all your fault that I'm out here in the first place, which means it's your fault that I lost 'm ciggs. So you're coming with me to get them."
"And where are we going to get them?" she huffed, trying to keep up. "And what are you doing here anyway? Don't you and Xander have an apartment?"
He nodded, grinning when he located the car keys in his jacket.
"Yeah, we do. Worked late tonight though, and Wes asked us to stay so we'd be ready bright and early tomorrow. And that's where we're going, by the way, the apartment. Stashed some there in my suitcase."
"Oooh…contraband," she said gleefully.
"Yep. And here's the car."
Buffy watched, bemused, as he unthinkingly opened the door for her before hopping in himself.
"You know, Spike?" she said, climbing in. "You can really be a gentleman sometimes."
The corner of his mouth twitched again.
"Yeah? Well, don't tell anyone."
"Your secret is safe with me."
"Better be," he smirked as he started the car. "Or else there will be…consequences."
"For you, maybe. You'd hate for the news to get around that Spike's nothing more than a teddy bear."
"'m the big bad, baby," he assured her.
They shared a smile and she relaxed in the soft seat, sighing as it molded to her body. Spike laughed as she let out a lion sized yawn, and playfully punched her shoulder.
"Go to sleep, puffy. I'll wake you when we get there."
"Shut up Spike," she murmured, closing her eyes.
Shaking his head, he gave her a fond smile before turning his attention to the road. Then turning most of it back to her. Somehow the girl that had not that long ago been fully alert and awake was now snuggled up in the seat and fast asleep. He couldn't help but chuckle. She was mumbling softly, biting her bottom lip with white teeth. Hair fell all over her face, and before he realized what he was doing, he'd gently brushed one gold strand away. She nuzzled into his fingers and he jerked away, breathing heavily.
Time for using the brain, Spike. Not gonna take advantage of a sleepin' girl. And since when are we interested in taking advantage of this girl? Brainless airhead, remember? Here only hoping to bag the millionaire.
Just as Spike's eyes were fixed back on the road, refusing his wandering eyes to travel over the girl in the passenger seat, Buffy's eyes blinked open.
"Spike? Are we there yet?"
He clenched his hands on the wheel, and counted slowly to ten.
"This is it," he replied, pulling into the driveway and braking.
He wrenched the door open and slammed it shut behind him, marching up to the door. Buffy followed, her little fingers grasping his forearm.
"Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
She seemed to shrink a little at his harsh tone before straightening her posture and glaring.
"If you wanna be a bastard, be my guest," she retorted, turning her back as he fumbled for the key.
Shit.
"Buffy?" He touched her shoulder but she resolutely stayed turned in the other direction. "Look, I'm sorry pet. My bad."
"Yes, it is," she agreed, but she turned around.
Smiling, he led her up to their door, and stuck the key into the lock.
"Idiots américains! Partir tout de suite!"
Spike winced, hand dropping away from the key.
"What was that?" Buffy asked, puzzled.
"Our resident French lady. Hates Americans."
"Oh, il a une amie maintenant. Bientôt ils seront épousés et font marmots plus des américains"
The old woman marched up to them in her pink sundress, shaking a walking cane menacingly. Buffy giggled, swiftly slapping her hand over her mouth to hide the sound, but the lady heard.
"Loin! Loin!"
"What's she saying?" Buffy asked. "I only took French in high school."
"Only know the swears pet," he replied apologetically.
The lady was approaching, cane waving. He grabbed Buffy's arm, pulling the door open at the same time, and shoved them both, laughing hysterically, inside.
