Part 5
After a day of brainstorming what to do about getting Fred back safely, the gang, plus their two counterparts from Sunnydale, had come up with little in the way of a plan. It was this fact that had prompted Angel, Spike and Buffy to visit Carita's in the desperate hope that the Host might be able to give them some pointers.
Once the three of them had walked inside, Buffy turned to Angel and said. "So this guy reads people when they're singing and he tells them their future and stuff like that?"
"Basically." Angel replied.
"Dear God! We don't have to hear YOU sing do we?" Spike whined.
"Oh and I suppose you're a regular Pavarotti?" Angel quipped.
"Actually, he's quite-" Buffy started.
"Oh no, I don't sing! No singing for me thanks!" Spike cut her off hurriedly.
Before anyone could say anything else, Lorne, the Host, walked up to the unlikely trio.
"Angel, now what brings you here?" Lorne asked jovially. "Is the world in peril again? Please tell me if it is, cause then I won't bother re-modelling the stage."
"Fred's been kidnapped." Angel said, straight to the point.
"Well yeah, I'm sensing that. By some watcher, right?" Lorne responded seriously.
"The Council of Watchers, to be exact." Buffy piped up. "Hi I'm Buffy-"
"Summers, the Chosen one." Lorne finished, leaving Buffy flabbergasted. He stood directly in front of her and took a good look at her. "So you're the little slayer who been stealing the hearts of all the vamps! Welcome to Carita's!" He said warmly.
Buffy blushed. "Thanks." She said, smiling.
"Look at you. Lethal with the fighting, and with the looks – I like you already sweetie." Lorne remarked, flirtatiously.
Buffy giggled at Lorne's swooning, causing Spike to clear his throat loudly. At the deliberate sound, Lorne turned to Spike and said. "Stop being such a baby."
Spike raised an eyebrow at the green, talkative demon. After holding that face for a moment, Spike broke into a grin and held his hand out to Lorne. Lorne grabbed his hand and pulled him into a brief, one-armed, hug.
"I never thought I'd be saying this to someone from LA, but it's really good to see you again." Spike said, genuinely.
"You too, hon!" Lorne replied happily. "Did everything work out like I said?"
Spike shifted uncomfortably, looking in Buffy's direction for a split second. "Yeah, yeah." He mumbled "Just like you said."
"See! I told you!" Lorne exclaimed.
"Wait, wait, wait." Angel cut in. "You two know each other?!"
"Why are you so surprised?" Lorne responded. "He came into the bar a few times. Carita's is a sanctuary for EVERYONE, not just the people you like."
"But you never told me that you knew Spike." Angel said.
"You never asked." Lorne replied, grinning cheekily.
Angel opened his mouth, as if to respond, but then closed it again, sighing. "Ok, whatever." He said, desperate to get back to the point. "Is there anything you can tell us that would be useful in getting Fred back?"
"Well, you know how it goes, you get up on stage and sing, then I tell you what you want to know." Lorne answered.
Angel looked at the stage thoughtfully. Lorne, having seen the ponderous look on Angel's face, continued quickly. "But, I know how you hate singing, Angel, so how about one of you out-of-towners? What about you sweetie, do you want to sing?" He asked, speaking to Buffy.
"Ahhh… no. No, no, no, no, no. I don't do the singing… really… no way!" Buffy answered nervously.
"Oh come on, I'm sure you'd be great." Lorne insisted.
"No, really. I'm REALLY not great with the singing. Really." Buffy rushed.
"Ok then, have it your way gorgeous. What about you Spike? I know you want to sing." Lorne said to him, giving him a knowing look.
"So that you can poke about in my brain? No thank you." Spike grumbled.
"Sweetie, I can already read you so well that you may as well have a neon light flashing over your head, so just get up there and sing." Lorne commanded jovially.
Spike looked at Buffy with more than a little unease. However she urged, "Come on Spike, take one for the team."
"What team Slayer? The team of you and me?" Spike asked, raising his eyebrow suggestively.
Buffy began sputtering, "What?!... no… I don't mean… I just… oh come on, you know what I mean!"
Spike smiled at her discomfort, but when he looked at the stage the smile quickly left his face. Slowly he closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Alright." He said dramatically. "I'll sing. But someone better hand me a drink because there is no way I'm doing this fully sober!"
"Great! Anything you want!" The Host replied, gesturing to the bartender.
Soon, Buffy, Angel and Lorne were at a table looking at Spike who was near the stage awaiting his turn to sing. "Angel." Lorne said. "Maybe you should go ring Wesley and make sure everything's ok at the hotel."
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Angel agreed. "I'll be back in a minute."
When Angel left the table, Lorne turned to Buffy and said. "Now, who I really want to find out about is you, because I'm sensing a very interesting aura from you."
"M-me?" Buffy stammered in reply. "If it's me you want to know about, then why are you getting Spike to sing?"
"Oh, I already know his deal, but I just LOVE hearing him sing!" Lorne replied smiling. "But seriously now, just sing a few bars of something, anything you want."
"Ummmm… ok." Buffy thought for a minute and then said, "Ok. I'm just going to start. Life is overwhelming, heavy is the head that wears the crown. I'd love to be the one to disappoint you but I don't fall down. Was that ok?" Buffy asked nervously to The Host's grim face.
"That was very nice singing sweetie." He responded. "Ok." He said and paused for a moment before continuing. "At some point in the relatively near future, I'm sensing you're going to go through great loss and pain. But it's best not to dwell on that because it's one of those things that can't be changed, no matter who you are." He said the last bit pointedly as Buffy opened her mouth to protest.
He then continued. "I'm also sensing that after your friends brought you back from the dead, the only person you've been REALLY talking to is Spike."
"Well yeah. I couldn't talk to my friends, they were the ones who brought me back." She whispered.
"I understand that." Lorne said soothingly. "But you haven't really let Spike in either."
Buffy blushed. "Well I sort of have."
"I meant emotionally." Lorne smiled knowingly.
"Oh." Buffy replied in a small voice.
"Buffy, the fact of the matter is that you have a lot of people who love you and want to help you, especially him." He said gesturing to Spike. "And with the hard times you will undoubtedly go through, well lets just say it will be easier if you accept the help and love of those around you."
Buffy's eyes teared up slightly. "But how can the powers, or whoever, put me through more pain and loss? I've already lost Mom, Giles and even Heaven… isn't that enough?"
Lorne grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes sadly. "I'm sorry, but I don't know how to answer that. Sometimes the worst things happen to the greatest of people, but it's how you deal with those things that counts."
"That really sucks." Buffy pointed out miserably.
"Yeah I know, but it's just the way the world works. Many who die deserve life, some who live deserve death."
"Wow." Buffy said surprised. "That's an interesting way of looking at it."
"Well, that's actually a quote from 'Lord of the Rings'. I love Tolkien." Lorne replied animatedly.
"I never read it, but I saw the movie. I TOTALLY loved Legolas! I was getting into the whole blue eyes, insanely blonde hair, bad-ass fighter thing…" Buffy trailed off, unconsciously looking at Spike.
Lorne grinned at the now unaware Buffy but before he could say anything, Angel came back.
"Nothing's happened at the hotel, no visions, no vandalising." Angel said relieved.
Buffy snapped back to reality at this. "Huh?... What? – Oh! Nothing's happened, good… that's good." She trailed off a little sheepishly.
Angel looked at her strangely but said. "Is Spike going to be up soon or what?"
"I believe he's on now." Lorne answered looking to the stage.
At that point, a slightly drunk Spike walked onto the stage. "Hello all." Spike greeted the audience with the slightest slurring in his voice. "This song is for the gorgeous blonde up the back. Go team!" He said pointing to Buffy who, when everyone turned to look at her, was blushing furiously but smiling in spite of herself.
However, when Spike began singing, all the attention was immediately turned back onto him.
I've found a
long way back to sanity again
Though I don't really know what I'm gonna do
When I get there...
Take a breath and hold on tight
And spin around one more time
And gracefully fall back to the arms of grace
'Cause I'm hanging on every word you say
And even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
'Cause I want nothing more
Than to sit outside Heaven's door
And listen to you breathing
It's where I wanna be, yeah
Where I wanna be...
Without even realising it, Buffy's jaw had dropped slightly open as she stared at Spike in lustful wonder. The man could sing, and it was incredibly appealing, she saw no point in denying that.
I'm looking
past the shadows in my mind
Into the truth and I'm
Trying to identify the voices in my head
God, I wish it were you
Let me feel one more time what it
Feels like to feel and
And break these callouses off of me one more time
'Cause I'm hanging on every word you say
And even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
'Cause I want nothing more
Than to sit outside your door
And listen to you breathing
It's where I wanna be, yeah-ah...
I don't want a thing from you
I bet you're tired of me
Waiting for the scratch to fall off
Of your table to the ground...
'Cause I just wanna be here now...
Angel, on the other hand, was not amused. In his opinion, Spike could not have been more desperate or obvious about his intentions towards Buffy and he couldn't believe how Buffy was practically drooling all over the table. 'This song is for the gorgeous blonde up the back' Ugh! Could he be any more obvious?! GET A CLUE SPIKE!
'Cause I'm hanging on every word you say
And even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
'Cause I want nothing more
Than to sit outside Heaven's door
And listen to you breathing
It's where I wanna be, yeah...
'Cause I'm hanging on every word you say
And even if you don't wanna speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
'Cause I want nothing more
Than to sit outside Heaven's door
And listen to you breathing
It's where I wanna be, yeah
Where I wanna be...
here I wanna be...
When he was finished, Spike quietly made his way over to the table. When he looked at Buffy, Angel and Lorne he didn't really know how to act. All three were looking at him; Lorne was clapping his hands and saying "Bravo!!", Buffy had a half smile and slightly glazed look on her face, and Angel was giving him a chillingly dark look.
Spike decided to ignore the latter and sat in-between Buffy and The Host. "You were really great Spike." Buffy said softly to him.
Spike smiled. "Thanks." He replied; suddenly glad that vampires couldn't blush. The two looked at each other for a moment but then their moment was ruined by a rather loud Lorne.
"Oh honey you were wonderful as always! I wish I could hear you sing everyday!" Lorne cried.
"Ummm… thanks mate." Spike laughed. "So, what's my fortune?"
Lorne wrote something down on a napkin and handed it to Spike. "Don't look at this now, wait until you get back to the hotel. When you're there, sit down and do what it says on the napkin."
"Ooook." Spike said hesitantly.
"Just trust me." Lorne said in response to Spike's hesitation. Then he looked over at Angel and spoke again. "Now I think you guys better get out of here because if Angel is going to explode, I'd rather he not do so in my club."
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Buffy, Spike and Angel made it back to the hotel without incident. However, when they entered Angel glared at Buffy and Spike and stalked up to his room.
Buffy and Spike looked at each other and shrugged. As there was nobody else in the lobby, they too went up to their rooms.
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When Angel walked into his room he almost slammed the door, but thought better of it when he saw Cordy hovering over a sleeping Connor. Cordy looked up at him and asked "What's wrong? What did Lorne have to say?"
"What?- Oh, I don't know… not much… do… do you think there's something going on between Buffy and Spike?" He pondered saying the last part in a rush.
Cordelia looked at him strangely but answered none-the-less. "In a word? Yes."
"Really? Do you REALLY think so?" Angel responded abruptly.
"Well, yeah." She answered. "I mean, they've got this whole 'teasing, flirtatious banter' thing going on and the way they look at each other… well… they have something going on, I'm not sure what though. Why? What happened?"
"The Host made Spike sing and he was all 'this song's for Buffy.'" Angel said, doing a bad impersonation of Spike's accent.
"He sang her a song? That's so sweet!" Cordy gushed.
"Cordy!!" Angel exclaimed in disbelief.
Cordelia seemed to get annoyed with this because she said "Oh, come on! Give the girl a break! She has the most scary life on the planet! She keeps losing boyfriends, putting her life on the line, dying and seeing other people die! If she can find some happiness with someone, even if it's a reformed vamp, then you should just let her be!"
"That's just the thing, Cordy, he's not reformed!" Angel shot back.
Cordy scratched her chin in thought. "Oh, I don't know about that. I think he is reformed. Call it women's intuition."
"Call it whatever you want, I'm going to go talk to Buffy and find out what's going on." He replied.
"I really don't think that's a good idea, Angel. My intuition is telling me that you should just leave it alone for now." Cordy said warningly.
"Well, you're women's intuition is 0 from 2 because I'm going." With that being said, Angel walked out of the room.
"Fine." Cordy mumble to herself. "Make an ass of yourself, see if I care."
+++++++++++++++
Meanwhile Buffy paced about in her room thinking about what The Host had said to her. Loss? What will I lose?… Who will I lose?… I guess it's a who, he said it would be painful after-all… rrrr!! This is ridiculous! I'm the slayer! I can stop it!! What does that stupid green guy know anyway?… ohhhhhh! He's not stupid and you know it, he's very nice… I would have REALLY liked him if it wasn't for the dark predictions…
A knock at her door interrupted Buffy's thoughts. "Come in." She called out.
Spike entered saying "Hey, have you seen my lighter."
"Yeah, it's over there. You must have left it here before we left for Carita's." She mumbled in reply, pointing to the nightstand.
"Thanks." He replied. Once Spike had retrieved his lighter he looked over to Buffy, taking in her melancholy demeanour. "Something wrong, pet?" He asked with concern, slowly walking over to her.
Buffy shrugged. "Kind of." She began. "I talked to The Host while you were waiting to sing and he told me I'd be going through pain and loss sometime in the 'relatively near future.'" She quoted. "So know I'm sort of freaked out. I don't want to lose stuff or people, haven't I lost enough?"
Sensing her pain, Spike gently pulled her into a hug. "Yeah luv, I'd say that you've been through more than your fair share. I wouldn't worry about it too much, The Host is sort of like a guide, he tells us what we need to hear. Maybe it won't be that bad, maybe you just need to be prepared for something. Besides, you're not losing anyone; I'll make sure of that." He finished, smiling down at her.
Buffy returned the smile. "Thanks Spike, for once I feel better after talking to you." She said playfully.
Spike looked amused. "Amazing isn't it?"
Buffy smiled again but then grew serious. "I'm really glad you've got my back." She said, looking straight into his eyes.
"Always will." He whispered, returning her gaze.
For a long drawn out moment the two just stared at each other, still holding onto each other loosely. Is he going to kiss me? Should I kiss him? Buffy thought, unconsciously wetting her lower lip.
God, she's beautiful! That's it, I'm going in… Spike leaned down and closed his eyes just as Buffy tipped her face up. Their lips met in a fiery, passionate and long-awaited kiss. Spike felt like he couldn't get enough of her. He had one hand in her hair and the other was rubbing her lower back in small circles. Just when he thought that he may have been coming on too strongly she moaned into his mouth, encouraging him further.
Spike trailed kisses down her jaw and neck as he slid his hands under her top, playing with the smooth skin on her back. Buffy moaned again and began to tug at his shirt.
+++++++++++++++
Angel walked through the hall towards Buffy's room. Ok big guy, time to find out what's going on… He thought to himself. When he reached her room he noticed that the door was ajar. Hmmm… that's odd…
Angel pushed the door open and was greeted by an unexpected sight. Right there in the room was Buffy, his former love, and Spike, his childe, kissing, no, ravishing each other.
At once, the two noticed someone watching them, so they stopped what they were doing and looked at Angel surprised and shocked.
Angel merely stared back at them with an open mouth. Well… Said a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Cordelia's now you know what's going on…
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TBC…