CHAPTER 12 - MAGIC GATES IN THE NIGHT
"It got cold," Buffy said, shivering, as they walked to the car.
"Yeah, usually does up here, this time of year," Spike said, holding the door for her.
Buffy settled grabbed the warm jacket she brought from home and put it on, before buckling herself into the car.
"I should check with home," Buffy said, starting to call.
"Why don't you just plug into the computer?" Spike asked.
"Good idea," she agreed, not really wanting to talk to whomever might answer, especially if that whomever, might just happen to be Giles.
Buffy hooked up the computer to the phone and dialed her home.
"Wow, it works," she exclaimed.
Spike took a look over at the screen, where the main camera just happened to be pointed to the living room.
"Looks pretty normal," he said, seeing all the potentials, Giles, Xander, and Willow.
"Hey, Wil's on the computer. She just showed me this Instant Message thing, I should...oh, there she is," Buffy said, hearing the chime of the AIM.
Wicca1: Buffy, you there?
Slay1: Yeah, here.
Wicca1: where are you?
Slay1: car, how's everyone? Problems?
Wicca1: fine, no problems, no FE
Slay1: good
Wicca: tried to IM you before, where were you?
Slay1: eating, restaurant
Wicca1: two in a row
Slay1: what? two in a row?
Wicca: restaurants
Slay1: yeah
Wicca1: nice?
Slay1: very
Wicca1: which one?
Slay1: huh?
Wicca1: nicer?
Slay1: this one
Wicca1: company too?
Slay1: uh-huh
Slay1: nosey!
Wicca: "Oh, Spike, she gasped, I just love your 'evil energy', "
Wicca: :)
Slay1: and say, how's Kennedy???
Spike looked over at the screen, "Wicca1? Slay1? Sheesh, that's original! Better hope The First isn't getting help from the former geeks," he said, shaking his head.
Slay1: Spike says hello.
Wicca1: back at him, tell him I still think...
Slay1: I will not. ;)
Wicca: Giles wants to talk to you. Uh-oh,
"Giles, I think I've lost the connection,"
Wicca1: bye ;)
Slay1: bye, talk to you tomorrow.
Slay1: tell the girls, "I'll be watching!"
Wicca1: k
Slay1: bye
Wicca1: bye
"Hey, I'm a geek, now, too!" Buffy said, disconnecting the phone/modem and laptop from each other.
"Yeah," Spike said, laughing.
He drove along, following the road back out of town and veering off the main road about 2 miles out.
"Gonna get sort of bumpy, Slayer," he told her.
"Buffy, I want to be Buffy this weekend," she corrected.
"Going to get sort of bumpy, Buffy," he said again.
"Bumpy-Buffy. Okay, Spike, if you have to say words like that together, you can use 'Slayer,' but only under those conditions," she said laughing.
Spike was now driving on a dirt road, heading up to a higher elevation. About 2 miles later, he stopped the car.
"What is it? Did you take a wrong turn?" Buffy asked, seeing that the road abruptly ended in forest as dense as those to either side of her.
"Wait here, you'll see," Spike said, getting out of the car.
She watched in the headlights as Spike climbed up a nearby tree and seemingly jumped down on the other side of trees that were in front of the car.
"What the...?" she had just started to wonder, when all of a sudden the trees in front of her, in front of the car, started moving off to one side. The 'trees,' about 12 feet of them were moving. Some to the left, some to the right. Buffy just stared as they separated until there was an opening, in the middle of which, stood Spike, grinning.
He walked back to the car and got in, "What do you think?" he asked her.
"How? What? How?" Buffy stammered.
"Gate, secret, magic gate - pretty convincing, huh?" Spike said, still grinning.
"I'll say!" she answered.
"Couldn't take the chance on someone ever finding this, could I?"
"Guess not. No."
They drove in silence for another 3/4 of a mile. All of a sudden the Buffy could lights through the trees.
"Spike! Look!" she said, pointing.
"It's the house, you'll see in a minute," Spike said, then added, "no worries, Slayer, I mean, Buffy. It's not what you think; I had Clem come up and set everything up for me, earlier," Spike said.
"Clem?"
"Yeah, I'll explain all more about that later. He came up to start the generator, no real electricity here. Had him bring some food, along with some clean bedding and towels, too. Good to change those every 50 years or so," Spike joked, then added, "he probably got a fire started, in the fireplace, too, if I know him."
They soon pulled up in front of a log house.
The front door opened and Clem came outside, waving at them, as he came up to the car.
"Howdy guys! I was wondering if you were going to be coming at all, I've been here for about 6 hours already," Clem said.
"Well, had to wait until later in the day to get out of Sunnydale, then stopped by The Rittenhouse and got a bite to eat," Spike said, as he walked over to help Buffy out.
"Was Edna there? Did you see her?" Clem asked, starting to grab their overnight bags.
"Of course," Spike answered.
"Hey, Girl! How are you? Did you enjoy the ride up? Isn't that Edna something else?" Clem asked Buffy all at once.
"Hi, Clem, good to see you, too. Everything is so...fine, it's all fine," Buffy said, trying to absorb each new situation that she'd been faced with all night long.
Spike took some stuff into the house as Clem and Buffy spoke about the area, the restaurant, Edna, etc. He now came back outside, and down to the car, where he gently, took Buffy's arm, in order to disengage her from any further conversation with Clem.
"Think the lady's tired from the trip," Spike said to Clem.
"Of course she is," Clem cheerfully agreed.
"Just let me get these bags into the house," Clem said.
Buffy stood there with Spike holding onto her arm, looking at the front of the house. On the wrap-around porch, there were some old-fashioned looking swings and chairs, which suddenly looked awfully inviting.
Clem came back outside and down the steps," Well, I'll be going now, Boss. I'll see you guys tomorrow?" he asked.
"Yeah, you'll see us tomorrow, maybe afternoon. Got your phone? Good, you know the drill" Spike said.
"That I do, Boss, that I do!" Clem said, walking off.
"Night, Buffy," he called back over his shoulder.
"Night Clem," she said, then turned to Spike, "where is he going? Isn't he staying here?"
"He's got his own guest house about 1/4 of a mile away," Spike said, motioning through the woods.
"Why'd he call you Boss?" Buffy asked.
"He sort of works for me, when I need him to,"
"How long has this been going on?"
"Years; decades. Long story made short? Saved him once, a long time ago. He's grateful, ergo, he works for me when I need him to, I keep him in poker kittens and whatever else he needs and he watches my back," Spike said. "Look, can we...talk about all that another time?"
Buffy nodded, not sure she could take anymore surprises about William tonight, as it was.
They stood silent for a couple of minutes, looking at the stars in the cloudless sky. Silent, close, side-by-side.
"Would you like to come in?" Spike said, smiling shyly at her, a look of hopefulness in his eyes.
Her eyes smiled back at his in wonder. Putting her arm through his, she said, "Yes I would Spike, very much."
Then arm in arm, they walked up the steps to the porch and into the house.
END OF CHAPTER 12
"It got cold," Buffy said, shivering, as they walked to the car.
"Yeah, usually does up here, this time of year," Spike said, holding the door for her.
Buffy settled grabbed the warm jacket she brought from home and put it on, before buckling herself into the car.
"I should check with home," Buffy said, starting to call.
"Why don't you just plug into the computer?" Spike asked.
"Good idea," she agreed, not really wanting to talk to whomever might answer, especially if that whomever, might just happen to be Giles.
Buffy hooked up the computer to the phone and dialed her home.
"Wow, it works," she exclaimed.
Spike took a look over at the screen, where the main camera just happened to be pointed to the living room.
"Looks pretty normal," he said, seeing all the potentials, Giles, Xander, and Willow.
"Hey, Wil's on the computer. She just showed me this Instant Message thing, I should...oh, there she is," Buffy said, hearing the chime of the AIM.
Wicca1: Buffy, you there?
Slay1: Yeah, here.
Wicca1: where are you?
Slay1: car, how's everyone? Problems?
Wicca1: fine, no problems, no FE
Slay1: good
Wicca: tried to IM you before, where were you?
Slay1: eating, restaurant
Wicca1: two in a row
Slay1: what? two in a row?
Wicca: restaurants
Slay1: yeah
Wicca1: nice?
Slay1: very
Wicca1: which one?
Slay1: huh?
Wicca1: nicer?
Slay1: this one
Wicca1: company too?
Slay1: uh-huh
Slay1: nosey!
Wicca: "Oh, Spike, she gasped, I just love your 'evil energy', "
Wicca: :)
Slay1: and say, how's Kennedy???
Spike looked over at the screen, "Wicca1? Slay1? Sheesh, that's original! Better hope The First isn't getting help from the former geeks," he said, shaking his head.
Slay1: Spike says hello.
Wicca1: back at him, tell him I still think...
Slay1: I will not. ;)
Wicca: Giles wants to talk to you. Uh-oh,
"Giles, I think I've lost the connection,"
Wicca1: bye ;)
Slay1: bye, talk to you tomorrow.
Slay1: tell the girls, "I'll be watching!"
Wicca1: k
Slay1: bye
Wicca1: bye
"Hey, I'm a geek, now, too!" Buffy said, disconnecting the phone/modem and laptop from each other.
"Yeah," Spike said, laughing.
He drove along, following the road back out of town and veering off the main road about 2 miles out.
"Gonna get sort of bumpy, Slayer," he told her.
"Buffy, I want to be Buffy this weekend," she corrected.
"Going to get sort of bumpy, Buffy," he said again.
"Bumpy-Buffy. Okay, Spike, if you have to say words like that together, you can use 'Slayer,' but only under those conditions," she said laughing.
Spike was now driving on a dirt road, heading up to a higher elevation. About 2 miles later, he stopped the car.
"What is it? Did you take a wrong turn?" Buffy asked, seeing that the road abruptly ended in forest as dense as those to either side of her.
"Wait here, you'll see," Spike said, getting out of the car.
She watched in the headlights as Spike climbed up a nearby tree and seemingly jumped down on the other side of trees that were in front of the car.
"What the...?" she had just started to wonder, when all of a sudden the trees in front of her, in front of the car, started moving off to one side. The 'trees,' about 12 feet of them were moving. Some to the left, some to the right. Buffy just stared as they separated until there was an opening, in the middle of which, stood Spike, grinning.
He walked back to the car and got in, "What do you think?" he asked her.
"How? What? How?" Buffy stammered.
"Gate, secret, magic gate - pretty convincing, huh?" Spike said, still grinning.
"I'll say!" she answered.
"Couldn't take the chance on someone ever finding this, could I?"
"Guess not. No."
They drove in silence for another 3/4 of a mile. All of a sudden the Buffy could lights through the trees.
"Spike! Look!" she said, pointing.
"It's the house, you'll see in a minute," Spike said, then added, "no worries, Slayer, I mean, Buffy. It's not what you think; I had Clem come up and set everything up for me, earlier," Spike said.
"Clem?"
"Yeah, I'll explain all more about that later. He came up to start the generator, no real electricity here. Had him bring some food, along with some clean bedding and towels, too. Good to change those every 50 years or so," Spike joked, then added, "he probably got a fire started, in the fireplace, too, if I know him."
They soon pulled up in front of a log house.
The front door opened and Clem came outside, waving at them, as he came up to the car.
"Howdy guys! I was wondering if you were going to be coming at all, I've been here for about 6 hours already," Clem said.
"Well, had to wait until later in the day to get out of Sunnydale, then stopped by The Rittenhouse and got a bite to eat," Spike said, as he walked over to help Buffy out.
"Was Edna there? Did you see her?" Clem asked, starting to grab their overnight bags.
"Of course," Spike answered.
"Hey, Girl! How are you? Did you enjoy the ride up? Isn't that Edna something else?" Clem asked Buffy all at once.
"Hi, Clem, good to see you, too. Everything is so...fine, it's all fine," Buffy said, trying to absorb each new situation that she'd been faced with all night long.
Spike took some stuff into the house as Clem and Buffy spoke about the area, the restaurant, Edna, etc. He now came back outside, and down to the car, where he gently, took Buffy's arm, in order to disengage her from any further conversation with Clem.
"Think the lady's tired from the trip," Spike said to Clem.
"Of course she is," Clem cheerfully agreed.
"Just let me get these bags into the house," Clem said.
Buffy stood there with Spike holding onto her arm, looking at the front of the house. On the wrap-around porch, there were some old-fashioned looking swings and chairs, which suddenly looked awfully inviting.
Clem came back outside and down the steps," Well, I'll be going now, Boss. I'll see you guys tomorrow?" he asked.
"Yeah, you'll see us tomorrow, maybe afternoon. Got your phone? Good, you know the drill" Spike said.
"That I do, Boss, that I do!" Clem said, walking off.
"Night, Buffy," he called back over his shoulder.
"Night Clem," she said, then turned to Spike, "where is he going? Isn't he staying here?"
"He's got his own guest house about 1/4 of a mile away," Spike said, motioning through the woods.
"Why'd he call you Boss?" Buffy asked.
"He sort of works for me, when I need him to,"
"How long has this been going on?"
"Years; decades. Long story made short? Saved him once, a long time ago. He's grateful, ergo, he works for me when I need him to, I keep him in poker kittens and whatever else he needs and he watches my back," Spike said. "Look, can we...talk about all that another time?"
Buffy nodded, not sure she could take anymore surprises about William tonight, as it was.
They stood silent for a couple of minutes, looking at the stars in the cloudless sky. Silent, close, side-by-side.
"Would you like to come in?" Spike said, smiling shyly at her, a look of hopefulness in his eyes.
Her eyes smiled back at his in wonder. Putting her arm through his, she said, "Yes I would Spike, very much."
Then arm in arm, they walked up the steps to the porch and into the house.
END OF CHAPTER 12