Part 4: Lucky Ones
Bang!
"OWW!!"
She loved that. That perfect popping sound as her fist slammed into the man's face and broke his nose. It was music to her ears. How sick is that?
Willy drew his hands up over his now bleeding nose, his eyes almost completely squeezed shut as he tried to stop the blood flow. Buffy drew back her fist beside her head, keeping it raised up enough to strike at her given will. Spike smiled his approval of her methods, before she proceeded on.
"What's going on, Willy?" she said coolly.
"I swear on my mother's grave I don't know, Slayer," the bartender whined through his hands. "Well, I would swear on her grave if she were dead."
"Wrong answer, mate," Spike told him as Buffy drew back her fist to hit him again.
"Okay! Okay!" the rat like man said, waving his arms in front of her to stop the punch before she could throw it. His whole face was now covered in blood. She didn't realize she had hit him that hard. "Some guy's been goin' around askin' a lot of questions about you guys and the other white hats."
"Who?" Buffy demanded.
Willy took a step back, thinking that perhaps she wouldn't be able to reach him. "I haven't a clue."
Spike's hand shot out, wrapped around the man's collar, and jerked him back hard into the counter with a satisfying thud. The vampire was in full game face now as he held the seedy barkeep that looked as if he might wet himself close and growled, "Who, Willy?"
"Alright! Some blond guy!" Willy screamed in fear, knowing that Buffy would probably never kill him intentionally, but Spike would have no problem with it.
Spike slightly relaxed his grip on Willy's collar as he slipped back into his human form. He really was too easy to get information out of sometimes.
"Did you get a name?" Buffy bit at the bartender.
"Um…Eric, I think. But that's all I know, I swear."
The bleach blond studied the man in his grip for a long time before letting him go. Willy stumbled away from the side of the bar Spike stood on, inadvertently taking him closer to Buffy again. He glanced over at the smaller blond, only to find her fist slamming into his face one last time for good measure.
"Oww!" he screamed again, covering his already bloody nose once more.
"Thanks, Willy," she smirked before the two headed back into the thundering night.
**********
Willow gave a deep sigh as she placed the book back on the shelf and rejoined the fellow Wicca at the pizza box covered table. Dawn couldn't help but smile when the red head curled up next to Tara, smiled, and began to read her book with her. It was good to see Willow smile; she so rarely did it anymore.
The teen glanced around the room, surveying what the other adults were doing. Giles, of course, was slumped over his book, deep in research mode for any clues he thought might prove useful later on. Apparently not knowing what they were looking for wouldn't stop the Watcher.
Xander was leaning back in one of the table's chairs, looking full and content with his own book opened in his lap. To be truthful, he had that glazed look in his eyes, like he wasn't really reading what was in front of him, but wanted to look like he was. Dawn actually half expected to hear a faint snore from the carpenter, even if his eyes weren't open at the time.
Anya was fluttering around the shop, getting ready for closing time, which was fast approaching. The ex-demon had made a rather large sale earlier that day and had been content for the rest of the afternoon, which the rest of the group was thankful for because at least then they wouldn't have to listen to her complain.
Connor and Angel had disappeared soon after sunset to do a quick patrol. The girl understood the vampire probably needed to beat something up as bad as her sister did. Dawn could honestly say she felt sorry for any baddies that ran across those two tonight.
At the moment, Cordelia was playing with the two baby girls who had both started to get fussy when the storm that was threatening to pound on them blew in off the coast. Jessie was sitting quietly, still clutching her demon doll, and watching Dylan bounce around in front of Cordy, giggling wildly as the seer would tickle her whenever she caught her. It was distracting, yes, but at least the toddler wasn't running around the store anymore.
The rain finally started to beat down heavily on the roof, causing everyone in the shop to look up towards the ceiling. Even the groggy Xander said, "Here comes the rain."
"I hope Buffy and Spike get back okay," Tara thought aloud before turning back to the book before her.
"Ah, the Buffster will be fine," Xander reassured her, getting up from the chair for a good stretch. "As for Spike…let the vamp drown for all I care."
"Xander!" Tara and Dawn snapped in unison.
"What? I'm just saying…"
"I'm sure they're both fine," Giles put in, trying to stop the fight before it started. "All though, it will probably be awhile before either they or Angel and Connor will be able to return."
"Oh, drat, we have to put a hold on the awkward, uncomfortable silence? I just don't know how I will ever go on," Xander said sarcastically as he walked over and scooped Jessie up in his arms.
Cordelia rolled her eyes before picking Dylan up to face her old boyfriend. "Gee, aren't we Mr. Sarcastic tonight?"
"Xaner sartatick," Dylan agreed with a grin.
"Great, now not only do I get to be 'Whelp' but I'm 'sartatick' too," he said giving Cordy a pointed look.
"Not my fault the kid learns quickly," the seer answered, with a sarcastic grin like she had in high school.
Great, the two hadn't even said two words to each other all day, and, now that they do, their fighting worse the Buffy and Spike, Dawn thought with a sigh. At least they were both holding children so they wouldn't hurt each other.
The rest of the group groaned as Xander continued, "Is that the great Queen C I see coming out of you, Cordy? I thought you finally outgrew that."
"Guys!" Dawn pleaded, hoping that would make them stop. It didn't.
"I did. But apparently you didn't outgrow being a complete as-"
A loud clap of thunder cut her off before sending the whole shop into darkness, except for the small flashes of light from the window. Jessie began to cry from being scared by the nose and clung onto her father for safety. Xander began to sway with the child, trying his best to calm her down, as the other Scoobies sprang into action.
"Alright, everyone," Giles said in his take charge tone like he was talking to a bunch of kids again. "Just stay calm and look for some candles."
"In-cendo!" Willow said, forming a little ball of white light in her cupped palm.
"Or we could do that," the Watcher said dryly as all eyes turned to the red head.
"You finally figured out that sunshine trick?" Xander asked hopefully when Jessie's cries lessened.
Willow shrugged. "Na, think of this as more of a magical flashlight trick."
"Hey, either works for me," he said as those with free hands began to gather up the candles from around the shop and set them on the table.
Dawn headed back for the storage room where she knew Giles kept a lot more of the candles, when a cool wind blew in from the back training room. She glanced inside the large dark room, when another flash of lighting struck outside, showing her that the alley door was opened. That was odd. She could have sworn Spike had shut it when they left.
"Hey, guys," the teen called, turning back to the adults. "Who left the back door-oomph?!"
Someone pushed Dawn hard from behind, knocking the teenager to the ground. As she pushed herself up on her elbows, a woman's voice from behind her exclaimed, "Exstinguo!"
Willow's ball of light went out with the word, along with the few candles that they had already lit. Dawn felt someone carefully step over her, then heard their footsteps as they ran across the room towards the group. She could barely make out the form that moved so gracefully through the darkness that was heading straight for a confused Giles.
"Look out!" she screamed, causing Giles to turn just as the person knocked him to the ground forcefully, before the mystery person disappeared into the shadows again.
The teen's eyes darted around the room, looking desperately for a moving shadow. But the whole room was eerily still, except for Anya trying to help Giles get to his feet again. Jessie was crying yet again, allowing Dawn to know where she and Xander were, even if she couldn't see them, and the teen could hear both Tara and Willow murmuring.
"Silentium!" the woman voice said again, causing all noise in the room to stop.
Dawn watched as Tara and Willow's shadows started to interact with one another, trying to figure out what had happened to their voices. Even Jessie's cries had stopped, and Dawn couldn't force her own voice to come out. It was like someone had hit a mute button for the world.
Something crashed into Willow, knocking the girl forcefully into the table that she had been standing by. There was a loud crash as the books they had been researching fell to the ground, and several of the chairs around the table were knocked over.
'Willow!' Dawn mouthed, but couldn't say.
Cordy was clutching Dylan to her as she backed into the middle of the room shop, trying to find a safe place from the invisible attacker. The shadow moved at her, and the seer looked as if she were trying to scream, when the bell over the front door rang out and a soaked vampire and his son came inside. Angel was in full game face, knowing something had been wrong outside, as he charged in and tackled the shadow to the ground.
The vampire growled loudly over him when the woman yelled, "Separate!"
The two went flying in opposite directions, Angel back into Connor, and the shadow man crashing into the play area under the loft. As father and son got back to their feet with the others, the shadow disappeared back into the training room, and out the alleyway door.
"Is everyone okay?" Angel asked, looking around for anyone to give him an answer, but only silence greeted him. "Well?"
**********
Buffy cursed to herself as she ducked into the crypt, soon followed by the pervious owner. That storm had caught them off guard, and now they were still half way across town from the Magic Box and didn't look as if they would make it there anytime soon. At least they were near Spike's old crypt, and Clem was always bugging them to drop by anytime they wanted. Looks like he was going to get that visit tonight.
"Clem!" she called into the dark crypt as Spike went to lighting the candles. "Clem, you home?!"
"I think he's in San Francisco this week, love," the vampire informed her once he was satisfied with the amount of light. At her confusion, he explained, "Went to some sci-fi/horror convention. Says it's the only time he can go out and meet regular people without them freakin' out because he looks different."
"I get it, blend in with the guys who wear those freaky masks and all that special effect makeup," she said, nodding her head to show she understood. "Kind of smart."
"Yeah," Spike grinned. "He wins their best amateur makeup effect every year."
"I bet he does," she said flopping down on the couch that the demon had drug up into the crypt.
The slayer began to mentally scold herself for not getting that cell phone like Dawn had suggested a few weeks ago. She so wanted to call and make sure that Dylan was alright, but instead she would have to wait until the storm died down so they could leave. Judging by the amount of nervous energy that Spike was displaying, he felt pretty much the same way she did about being stuck there.
"Might as well sit down," she said after getting slightly dizzy from watching him. "I don't think we'll be going anywhere for awhile."
"I just hate bein' stuck in this bloody place," he growled, sitting next to her.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Buffy agreed, leaning back a little further on the couch. "But unless you have an ark handy, we're pretty much stuck here."
A loud blast of thunder rang through the air, causing the slayer to jump from surprise. Her nerves had already been shot to hell from the day she had had, and now she was jumping at thunder like some scared little kid? Could things get any better?
"Ah-choo!" she sneezed. Well, she was the one that asked.
Her small body trembled as the cold winter air seeped in from outside. Spike raised an eyebrow when he noticed her movements.
"Cold, love?"
"Just a bit," she answered, rubbing her still wet arms. Even with the jacket on, she had gotten soaked, and he didn't look much better. With a sigh, the bleach blond stood up and held out his hand for her.
"Come on, then. I think I left some clothes downstairs. Might not fit right, but at least they're dry."
Buffy couldn't help but sneer a little at the thought at wearing his clothes, but he was right. Dry Buffy in Spike's clothes was a lot better then sick Buffy in her own outfit. Reluctantly, she took his hand and followed him down to the lower level.
The slayer never remembered coming down here before and was actually kind of amazed at how much room was there. She couldn't help but wonder exactly how Spike was able to dig a lot of this out. No, wait. On second thought, she didn't want to know because it probably involved calling in favors that were better left under the table.
As he went off in search of the left over clothes, she walked over to the large, four posts bed and looked at it. The white sheets were nicely cleaned and made up, and looked rather inviting. Yeah, that would be nice, to curl up into the bed and take a long nap, maybe with a certain someone's arms around her, after having worn her out from-
Whoa! Wait a minute! Where'd that come from? Well, she knew where that had come from, but she was so not going to deal with that right at that moment. They had more important things to worry about then her sex life, or the lack thereof.
"There you go, pet," Spike said, handing her a royal blue, button up shirt. "Gonna be big, but at least it's not wet."
"Wow," she said sounding rather impressed as she held out the shirt to inspect it. "I didn't think you owned anything that wasn't red or black."
"Well, you know me, always like to keep you guessin'," he said with a cocky grin, sliding his leather jacket off before pealing off his soaked black t-shirt. Buffy blushed slightly from the sight of him shirtless and what she had just been thinking about, and spun on her heels to face the other direction. She was doing her best to concentrate on the blue shirt in her hands when she heard him laugh. "What's the matter, slayer? S'not like it's anythin' you 'aven't seen before."
"Yeah, well, um," she stuttered, glancing over her shoulder to see him watching her, the red shirt still unbuttoned as he held his arms crossed and waited for her answer. Her face became even and she said with her back to him, "Just turn around so I can change."
Buffy felt him come closer to her as she played with the shirt he had given her.
"You want me to turn around while you change?" he asked lowly when he was standing directly behind her. Spike grabbed her wrist and spun her around to face him again. He stepped forward to where there was barely an inch between the two, and then ducked his face so close to hers so that their lips were nearly touching. "Make me," he purred.
Buffy swallowed hard at the close contact, and fought to stand on her fast weakening knees. She wanted to kiss him so bad; she wanted to throw her arms around his neck and just forget everything that was going on. But she wouldn't. Now was not the time, she told herself.
"I will," the petit blonde told him as coldly as she could, but her voice sounded weak even to her.
When he didn't move, she tried to go around him, but he still held onto her wrist. She had walked just far enough away to where he was going to have to let her go, she heard him mutter, "Oh, bugger it."
He jerked her back to him by the arm, and caused her to crash against him.
"Spi-"
He cut her off by crushing his lips to hers. She held her mouth tight for a moment, surprised by what he had done, but then began to relax it and allowed him to deepen the kiss. Spike let go of her wrist in favor of holding her by the waist, which allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck. Buffy finally broke the kiss when she needed air.
"Buffy-"
"Spike, for once in your life, just shut up," the slayer said before pressing her lips to his again.
**********
The old car pulled into the run down motel, the windshield wipers keeping the steady beat with the song on the radio before Eric killed the engine. The young man looked beaten and worn, as he slumped back in the driver's seat and glanced over at Marie, who was watching the sleeping child in the back.
"Do you think they saw you?" she asked, keeping her voice down not to disturb Van.
"No. They just saw a shadow move," he told her, making himself more comfortable. "I don't even think the vampire knows what I look like. Tore a hole in my shirt, though. It was brand new, too."
"I hope he didn't see you," she sighed. "That could really make things more difficult."
"Don't worry about it so much, we got what we needed."
He reached into his pocket, pulled a clear little baggie filled with the hair that she had requested, and handed it to her. She looked at it for a long moment, then stuffed it into her own pocket.
"I better go call the boss and let him know we're ready to go," she said, popping open the passenger side door and charging for their hotel room.
"Daddy?" the little voice said from the back seat. Eric looked up into the review mirror and watched his son sit up, rub his eyes, and then yawn widely. "We back?"
"Yeah, buddy, we are. You ready for bed?"
"Not sleepy," he said, yawing once more.
Eric couldn't help but smile at the tired little guy. The kid looked like he was about to fall asleep sitting up, yet he was still insisting that he wasn't tired.
"Come on, big guy," his father said getting the umbrella out. "Let's get you to bed.
**********
Buffy was asleep next to him, curled up in his arms with a contented little smile on her face. Cor, she was beautiful, especially now when she had that nice glow to her. He so didn't want to wake her, but the storm was dying down and they really needed to get back soon. He just wished they had a little longer.
But time was something that they never had. There was always something waiting for them to tend to, or someone waiting for them to save. But, it was still raining; he could let her sleep for just a little longer.
Nudging his head into the back of her neck, he whispered to her sleeping form, "I love you."
He never saw her eyes open ever so slightly, nor did he notice that the contented smile widened.
**********
TBC