AN: Do you want to be happy? Do you want to have fun? (If you get it, you'll be smiling by now. If not, you'll be hopelessly confused.) I should really stop listening to this CD. Anyway, after doing a bit of not-so-scientific research, I figured out that spuffy writers that beg their readers for replies generally get more reviews than spuffy writers that don't. So….

            Please review! I'll write you sappy fantasy scenes filled with hugs and cuddles!

            Ok. I might not do that. But I will write a hell of a lot faster. And for those loyal spuffy readers, don't worry; I am planning for certain things to occur eventually. These things take time, you know.  This AN has gone on for far too long-sorry. For being such patient readers, I'll give you what you want….

Disclaimer: All characters (except the ones I make up) belong to UPN, Mutant Enemy, and the all-powerful Joss.

Choo-Choo Train

            Spike lifted his head. He could smell the seawater as if it were blood. He was getting close. What exactly he was going to do once he reached the bay….well, he hadn't quite figured that one out yet.  It wasn't important. It was the principle of the thing, really.

            The trees were thinning. He could taste the salt in the air. Around this boulder, under that tree branch….and suddenly there he stood, on the edge of the forest. The land dropped away abruptly, to expose a pebble beach fifty feet below. He scanned the water. Nothing that he could see. Just miles of calm water. He stepped out onto the cliff, peering down. Hypothetically, if he jumped he wouldn't break anything. Even so, he looked around for a less dramatic way to get down.

            He walked along the lip of the cliff for about a mile, until he found a not-so-steep section of rock bedding. Cautiously, he began edging down it. Ten feet down, he felt himself start to slide. "Bloody…sodding….buggah…." He clawed at the surrounding rocks, trying to stop his plummet downwards. Alas, it was futile. He lost his footing, slamming into the rocks bum first before rolling the rest of the way to the bottom.

            Wearily, he sat up, waiting for the world to stop spinning. That accomplished, he dislodged himself from the sharp rocks he had landed on, rubbing the various sore parts of his body. He gazed up at the path he had created. "Not the most graceful move you've ever made, mate."

            Just then, Spike heard something. He cocked his head, listening. He could barely make it out-meaning it wouldn't be audible to the average human ear, and thus was probably miles away. It sounded suspiciously like a horn of some kind….

            Choooo…..Chooo….

                A train! He looked around wildly. It was approaching fast. Where the hell is it?

            Chooo…..Choooo….

                Near the horizon, Spike saw a very, very small column of smoke. Well, it actually wasn't very, very small. It was just really, really far away.

            Chooooo…..Choooo….

            He caught the sight of the train in his peripheral vision. Maybe eight, nine miles down the bay, it emerged, running along the water for a half of a mile before turning away once more.

            Chooooooooo…….

                It was all he could do to contain his grin. He started running towards the railroad tracks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Buffy! What…How…I mean…." Xander came out into the yard, looking at Buffy quizzically. "When did you start smoking?"

            She looked down at the cigarette in her hand, smiling a little.

            "You know, those things can kill you." He wagged his finger at her, attempting to take it away.

            She dodged him easily. "That would be poetic irony, don't you think?" She looked back out over the yard, taking a slow, long drag. "Fight the Baddies for seven years and end up dying from cigarettes."

            Xander cocked an eyebrow. "Come on, Buffy.  Give me the cancer-stick."

            She glared at him, but let him snuff it out. "That's okay…I only smoke them because I mi-… because I like the smell." She turned her gaze to her feet, shuffling them awkwardly.

            She heard him sigh. "Buffy." He didn't need to say anything else. She knew exactly what he meant. In that single word he had said Buffy why the heck are you so depressed over Spike I mean he was a vampire and he wasn't all that good anyway and…

            She didn't care. She looked back to him. To her surprise, he offered her a little Comfort Smile. "Don't worry, Buff. We all have our flaws." He grinned an 'I'm Kidding I'm Kidding Please Don't Beat Me Up' Grin. Funny how she labeled all of his facial expressions. She'd never even noticed before.

            He watched her suspiciously for a moment, before holding out his hand. "Come on, I know you don't have just that one."

            Guiltily, she pulled a pack from her back pocket. He slid it into his jacket, quite pleased with himself.

            "Xander?" Giles stood in the doorway, holding a broken kitchen tile. Those two manly men were attempting to replace them. Attempting.

            Xander rolled his eyes and went back inside. Once he was gone, Buffy reached up into her ponytail, dislodging the cigarette she kept hidden there. She lit it, watching the flame eat away at the end of the paper. Gently, she pressed the tip against the palm of her hand. She barley felt the pain as it imbedded a nice burn into her skin. She lifted her hand in front of her face, watching it turn red and swell slightly. She took another drag off of the cigarette. Slowly. Always slowly. She looked at her hand again.

            "For you."

            She stomped out the cigarette and went back inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            He stopped to lean against a tree, winded. The rails were probably a mile ahead of him still. He could get there before the sun rose again. Which doesn't matter… That was really bugging him. He was a vampire- creature of darkness, hunter of the night and all that stuff. He shouldn't just be lollygagging around in broad daylight. Didn't fit his image. He kept going.

            Soon, he was standing on the railroad tracks, as proud as if he had just destroyed evil once and for all. He'd found those railroad tracks, he had. He'd found them right and proper. Now, what to do…He looked back and forth a few times. The train was going in that direction. So there would be something in that direction, eventually. But it had come from that direction, meaning there was something over there as well….Hmmm. He consulted his map. It didn't show any railroad tracks, and even if it did it wouldn't have been any good. Well, lets see. There are more towns to the south. And I want to be heading south anyways. So if I can just figure out where south is… He cursed slightly as he realized he needed the sun to come up to figure out where to go. He'd never understood that whole 'moss on the north side of the tree' stuff. He sat down on the rails to wait.

            He was really tired. Near to collapsing. He gauged he'd run a good ten miles to get here. And he hadn't eaten anything since those marshmallows. So naturally, he fell asleep.

***He smiled as he felt her against him. She hummed slightly, dropping her cheek to his chest.***

Choooo…..Choooooo…..

                ***He started to sit up. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him back down with her. "Luv, don't you hear that?" She smiled at him, gently kissing his ear.***

Choooo…Choooo….

          ***He frowned, pulling away from her again. "What is that?" She sat up next to him, shrugging. Then she leaned over and kissed him again. He forgot about the noise.***

Choooo….Chooo…

Spike sat up with a start to see a fast approaching train. "SHIT!" He scrambled to his feet, tripped, and crawled like bloody hell out of the way as the engine screamed passed him. A moment later, he slapped himself in the forehead. He walked back to the rails.

"Oh, you've got to be bloody kidding me."

He leaned down, picking up the few irreparable scraps of map the train had left to taunt him.

"Great. Just great."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come on. The Submit Review button is right

Here. *wink*