CHANGE OF SPACE
3
By Annie
Rated: R Summary: Lex goes to the Bronze Disclaimer: Never owned 'em and never will. Feedback: crehnert@ptd.net
The Bronze was exactly what I expected, no more and no less. A wanna- be nightclub, packed with the young and the restless of Sunnydale. There were people pawing at each other on the catwalk above me, and beneath the metal staircase, where it was a bit darker. I took up a position at the end of the bar, trying to be unobtrusive. I wondered mildly if there were any demons about tonight on the Hellmouth, and if I would actually get to see one.
I ordered the best Scotch they had, which turned out to be incredibly cheap and bad, and sipped it as I scanned the room.
Ms. Magic Box was sitting at a table across the room, talking animatedly and moving her foot to the too-loud music. She was plastered to the side of a young, dark-haired guy, obviously the Xander she had spoken of in the store today. She had his undivided attention, and I could see the glaze in his eyes as he listened to her. I could imagine he was thinking of things to shove into her pretty mouth to shut her up. Directly across from Anya was a redhead, nicely enough shaped and listening politely to whatever Anya was going on about. Plastered to the side of the redhead was a blonde with longish hair, bustier than Red, softer looking. I raised an eyebrow at the incredible depth of immorality in Sunnydale. The final person seated at the table, not even maintaining a pretense of paying attention, was The Slayer.
Buffy Summers. I recognized her immediately from a picture I had seen in one of the purloined Initiative reports. Anya was obviously an integral part of this group, and that explained the aborted reference to research when I had asked about the books at the Magic Box. I watched The Slayer for a few minutes, taking in the overall deceptive fragility of her. She was deep in thought, the slightest worry wrinkle creasing her smooth forehead. Her hair was past her shoulders, honey colored and soft-looking. She had a pretty face, hardened by the serious thoughts that were obviously distracting her. She was very slim, tiny in fact, and if I hadn't known anything about the Slayer, it would never have occurred to me that she was anything but a run-of-the-mill college student. She finally felt my gaze on her and looked up, meeting my eyes. I raised my glass to her just the tiniest bit, and she looked away coldly. Heat had flashed briefly to my cock when she looked at me, and I found myself wondering if she ever used Slayer strength in bed. Wondering, too, why my Initiative reports mentioned that Hostile 17 had spoken continuously of killing her, and if murdering her was the particular reason he was so desperate to get that chip out of his head.
I motioned the bartender over and ordered a round of whatever they were drinking at that table. It took a few minutes, but someone finally took a tray of drinks over, pointing in my direction. They looked over to the bar as one, Anya brightening even more when she saw me, waving frantically for me to come over and join them.
I had my Scotch refilled and then made my way through the pressing crowd of flesh, irritated by all the times I had to brush up against them. I have never liked to be touched unless it's a product of my own invitation, and my entire body was tense until I finally made it to their table. There were no empty seats, so I had to stand while Anya, overly excited, introduced me all around. They seemed friendly enough, but I was obviously intruding. Anya was pointing. "Xander, Willow, Tara and Buffy, this is Lex Luthor! You know, Lex Luthor, the multi-billionaire!"
"Not quite," I corrected her with a smile.
Xander reached out to shake my hand, which I did reluctantly. "Mr. Luthor. Anya hasn't been able to talk about anything except you since she got home from work today. Nice to meet you."
"And you," I said, as the redhead, Willow, smiled at me. "Hi. Welcome to Sunnydale! If you need to know anything, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you, Willow," I replied.
Tara, sitting so close to Willow, was blushing. "Ni-Nice to meet you, Mr. Luthor," she stammered quietly. I felt compelled to reach out to shake her hand and put her at ease.
"Lex will do quite nicely, Tara. You say Mr. Luthor and I think my father is standing behind me," I smiled.
I turned to the blonde across the table from me then. "Buffy," I said shortly in welcome.
She nodded her head in greeting. "Mr. Luthor," she said deliberately. I was not welcome here. "What brings you to our fair little town?" She asked politely, obviously feigning interest for the sake of propriety.
I smiled back as genuinely as I could manage. "Acquisitions," I replied, marveling at how easily lies flowed from my lips these days. Even easier as the years went by. A Luthor, borne and bred, that's me. "I took some time out of my business meetings today to take a walk through town. That's when I ran into Anya," I said, favoring the perky blonde with a much more sincere smile.
"Thank you so much for the round of drinks," Buffy said, "But if you'll excuse us, we're in the middle of something. I'm sure we can all get together another time." She smiled then, but it didn't reach her serious eyes, and peripherally I caught sight of Anya kicking her under the table.
"Buffy," she protested, chagrined.
"It's all right, Anya. I have things to do tonight anyway." (Like finding Spike) An uncomfortable silence descended, and I felt distinctly unwanted. Retreat with grace, my father's voice mumbled in my head. "Maybe we'll run into each other again. I don't want to interrupt."
"Bye then," Anya was saying, as I started to turn away. "If you feel the need to discuss money-making while you're in town, stop by the shop! I'm there all day, every day. I take care of the money."
"I'll keep that in mind," I promised her. Just then, as I was walking away, waiting for a second for a group of dancers to get out of my way, the music stopped, and I could have sworn I heard Xander say quietly, to Buffy. "I'm going to run and check on Spike. Make sure he's still too beat up to go running back to Glory."
My heart thumped in my chest at the mere mention of his name, at the realization that he was really there. I walked back to the bar, trying not to hurry, wondering who the hell Glory was, paying my bill and getting out the door as inconspicuously as possible. I needed to follow Xander. Of course, they would know about Spike if he were there. I just couldn't understand why he was still alive, or existing or whatever you wanted to call it. Wasn't it the Slayer's job to stake all the vampires she could find? As I understood it, Spike had been in residence in Sunnydale for quite some time, and apparently he had returned here when he left Smallville that night. The thought of that night invaded me totally once again, and I could feel my blood quickening, wanting to be used, drained. I shook my head to clear it. Not drained. Just tasted. I felt that pull on my psyche again, and somehow knew exactly in which direction Xander had gone. I saw him up ahead then, walking the darkened streets quickly, glancing around every once in a while nervously. I guess there really were things to be afraid of here. I saw very few people on the streets as I followed the Slayer's friend. We soon ended up at the entrance to a large cemetery, and I waited outside the gates until Xander had come back out, even though I felt the strongest urge to enter, to keep going. I didn't need to know where he had gone. The feeling of Spike was so strong I practically ran through the maze of tombstones to the big crypt.
Here. He was here. This was the stuff of bad fiction and worse movies. I was overwhelmed and no longer in control. This was nothing like it had been in my office that night, before I had let him feed from me. The desire that swept over me pushed me to my knees, and it took a great effort to quell the twisting feelings inside, so I could stand up and try to regain some semblance of calmness. I was a Luthor, dammit, and this vampire would not have this power over me, couldn't be making my insides feel like this, couldn't be making my cock this hard. He needed what I could give him. I had the upper hand here.
Forcing myself to believe that, I reached to open the door.
By Annie
Rated: R Summary: Lex goes to the Bronze Disclaimer: Never owned 'em and never will. Feedback: crehnert@ptd.net
The Bronze was exactly what I expected, no more and no less. A wanna- be nightclub, packed with the young and the restless of Sunnydale. There were people pawing at each other on the catwalk above me, and beneath the metal staircase, where it was a bit darker. I took up a position at the end of the bar, trying to be unobtrusive. I wondered mildly if there were any demons about tonight on the Hellmouth, and if I would actually get to see one.
I ordered the best Scotch they had, which turned out to be incredibly cheap and bad, and sipped it as I scanned the room.
Ms. Magic Box was sitting at a table across the room, talking animatedly and moving her foot to the too-loud music. She was plastered to the side of a young, dark-haired guy, obviously the Xander she had spoken of in the store today. She had his undivided attention, and I could see the glaze in his eyes as he listened to her. I could imagine he was thinking of things to shove into her pretty mouth to shut her up. Directly across from Anya was a redhead, nicely enough shaped and listening politely to whatever Anya was going on about. Plastered to the side of the redhead was a blonde with longish hair, bustier than Red, softer looking. I raised an eyebrow at the incredible depth of immorality in Sunnydale. The final person seated at the table, not even maintaining a pretense of paying attention, was The Slayer.
Buffy Summers. I recognized her immediately from a picture I had seen in one of the purloined Initiative reports. Anya was obviously an integral part of this group, and that explained the aborted reference to research when I had asked about the books at the Magic Box. I watched The Slayer for a few minutes, taking in the overall deceptive fragility of her. She was deep in thought, the slightest worry wrinkle creasing her smooth forehead. Her hair was past her shoulders, honey colored and soft-looking. She had a pretty face, hardened by the serious thoughts that were obviously distracting her. She was very slim, tiny in fact, and if I hadn't known anything about the Slayer, it would never have occurred to me that she was anything but a run-of-the-mill college student. She finally felt my gaze on her and looked up, meeting my eyes. I raised my glass to her just the tiniest bit, and she looked away coldly. Heat had flashed briefly to my cock when she looked at me, and I found myself wondering if she ever used Slayer strength in bed. Wondering, too, why my Initiative reports mentioned that Hostile 17 had spoken continuously of killing her, and if murdering her was the particular reason he was so desperate to get that chip out of his head.
I motioned the bartender over and ordered a round of whatever they were drinking at that table. It took a few minutes, but someone finally took a tray of drinks over, pointing in my direction. They looked over to the bar as one, Anya brightening even more when she saw me, waving frantically for me to come over and join them.
I had my Scotch refilled and then made my way through the pressing crowd of flesh, irritated by all the times I had to brush up against them. I have never liked to be touched unless it's a product of my own invitation, and my entire body was tense until I finally made it to their table. There were no empty seats, so I had to stand while Anya, overly excited, introduced me all around. They seemed friendly enough, but I was obviously intruding. Anya was pointing. "Xander, Willow, Tara and Buffy, this is Lex Luthor! You know, Lex Luthor, the multi-billionaire!"
"Not quite," I corrected her with a smile.
Xander reached out to shake my hand, which I did reluctantly. "Mr. Luthor. Anya hasn't been able to talk about anything except you since she got home from work today. Nice to meet you."
"And you," I said, as the redhead, Willow, smiled at me. "Hi. Welcome to Sunnydale! If you need to know anything, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you, Willow," I replied.
Tara, sitting so close to Willow, was blushing. "Ni-Nice to meet you, Mr. Luthor," she stammered quietly. I felt compelled to reach out to shake her hand and put her at ease.
"Lex will do quite nicely, Tara. You say Mr. Luthor and I think my father is standing behind me," I smiled.
I turned to the blonde across the table from me then. "Buffy," I said shortly in welcome.
She nodded her head in greeting. "Mr. Luthor," she said deliberately. I was not welcome here. "What brings you to our fair little town?" She asked politely, obviously feigning interest for the sake of propriety.
I smiled back as genuinely as I could manage. "Acquisitions," I replied, marveling at how easily lies flowed from my lips these days. Even easier as the years went by. A Luthor, borne and bred, that's me. "I took some time out of my business meetings today to take a walk through town. That's when I ran into Anya," I said, favoring the perky blonde with a much more sincere smile.
"Thank you so much for the round of drinks," Buffy said, "But if you'll excuse us, we're in the middle of something. I'm sure we can all get together another time." She smiled then, but it didn't reach her serious eyes, and peripherally I caught sight of Anya kicking her under the table.
"Buffy," she protested, chagrined.
"It's all right, Anya. I have things to do tonight anyway." (Like finding Spike) An uncomfortable silence descended, and I felt distinctly unwanted. Retreat with grace, my father's voice mumbled in my head. "Maybe we'll run into each other again. I don't want to interrupt."
"Bye then," Anya was saying, as I started to turn away. "If you feel the need to discuss money-making while you're in town, stop by the shop! I'm there all day, every day. I take care of the money."
"I'll keep that in mind," I promised her. Just then, as I was walking away, waiting for a second for a group of dancers to get out of my way, the music stopped, and I could have sworn I heard Xander say quietly, to Buffy. "I'm going to run and check on Spike. Make sure he's still too beat up to go running back to Glory."
My heart thumped in my chest at the mere mention of his name, at the realization that he was really there. I walked back to the bar, trying not to hurry, wondering who the hell Glory was, paying my bill and getting out the door as inconspicuously as possible. I needed to follow Xander. Of course, they would know about Spike if he were there. I just couldn't understand why he was still alive, or existing or whatever you wanted to call it. Wasn't it the Slayer's job to stake all the vampires she could find? As I understood it, Spike had been in residence in Sunnydale for quite some time, and apparently he had returned here when he left Smallville that night. The thought of that night invaded me totally once again, and I could feel my blood quickening, wanting to be used, drained. I shook my head to clear it. Not drained. Just tasted. I felt that pull on my psyche again, and somehow knew exactly in which direction Xander had gone. I saw him up ahead then, walking the darkened streets quickly, glancing around every once in a while nervously. I guess there really were things to be afraid of here. I saw very few people on the streets as I followed the Slayer's friend. We soon ended up at the entrance to a large cemetery, and I waited outside the gates until Xander had come back out, even though I felt the strongest urge to enter, to keep going. I didn't need to know where he had gone. The feeling of Spike was so strong I practically ran through the maze of tombstones to the big crypt.
Here. He was here. This was the stuff of bad fiction and worse movies. I was overwhelmed and no longer in control. This was nothing like it had been in my office that night, before I had let him feed from me. The desire that swept over me pushed me to my knees, and it took a great effort to quell the twisting feelings inside, so I could stand up and try to regain some semblance of calmness. I was a Luthor, dammit, and this vampire would not have this power over me, couldn't be making my insides feel like this, couldn't be making my cock this hard. He needed what I could give him. I had the upper hand here.
Forcing myself to believe that, I reached to open the door.
