A/N: Sorry I haven't updated for so long! School's crazy!
I'm so shocked by how many reviews this story is getting! Not that this is a bad thing, of course...
Oh, and a note to the reviewer who pointed out that I am obviously not an ex-smoker: Sorry I forgot your name. You're right- I've never had a cigarette in my life. The smell of smoke makes me ill. Anyway, I didn't know that you had to have a prescription for any anti-smoking stuff. I was just going by the movie "Meet the Parents". Ben Stiller goes into a drug store and buys some of the gum without a prescription or anything, so I just assumed... Sorry about that. I'm doing my best.
ACTION!
~*~*~*~
Chapter 4: Spike Has Some Issues At the Bronze
"You were everything I wanted
But I just can't finish what I started
There's no room left here on my back
It was damaged long ago
Though you swear that you are true
I'd still pick my friends over you
My friends over you!"
The crowd of The Bronze sang along, quite loudly, as "My Friends Over You" by New Found Glory pounded through the room courtesy of the new jukebox. Bands that had been playing The Bronze lately had all been booked out of town for the night, but nobody seemed to mind.
"Can't believe kids call this punk." Spike muttered to himself as he sat on the arm of a couch near the pool tables. "Giving me a bloody headache."
"So, Evil Undead, talk to yourself often?"
He didn't even have to turn to know who was there. "Shut it, Harris."
"I should have known. After all, you're the kidnap-a-girl-and-try-to-force- her-to-admit-love-or-turn-a-crazy-vampire-woman-on-her kind of guy. Why wouldn't you talk to yourself?" Xander observed in the tone he usually used when talking to Spike, leaning on a pool stick with his ankles crossed.
Spike turned his head just enough to see Xander and sneered. Though the Whelp wasn't looking at him, Spike almost felt as if he was being watched. Breaking his train of thought (which heavily revolved around Alexander LaVelle Harris and a railroad spike), he looked around the room and breathed in-- an attempt to smell for anything evil-related.
But instead he breathed in the scent of nicotine. Somebody in here was smoking.
Damn them.
He moved his eyes over the crowd again but saw nobody with a cigarette. Deciding that the person was obviously up on the second level of The Bronze, he leaned back on the couch and cast his gaze up toward the balcony. There he spied a young woman with a thin white cigarette (a Light of some sort, he scoffed) in her fingers, glowing lightly at the tip.
"In all seriousness, Spike, what were you thinking? Spike?" Xander uncrossed his feet and turned to look for Spike, who was no longer sitting on the arm of the couch. "Where'd...?"
Xander shrugged and returned to the pool table he'd been watching over whilst waiting for Willow to return from the restroom and challenge him. The redheaded witch was back and glancing around for her lifelong friend. Seeing him approach, she set up the billiard balls in the triangle and proclaimed that she would break.
Meanwhile, Spike had gone up the stairs and was staring at the evil girl with the cigarette disgustedly. How could she even think about doing this? There were impressionable young teenagers everywhere in this particular building. Smoking was prohibited here- or, at least, the rather rude waitress that picked up empty glasses told him that once (he'd proceeded to blow smoke in her face and gotten kicked out for the night). Didn't she know she was a health hazard to herself and everyone around her? Didn't she know that second hand smoke could cause health problems for others?
Didn't she know that there were vampires who were trying to quit smoking wandering around and, sans stupid government chips in their skulls, were feeling the particular need to maim?
Spike narrowed his icy blue eyes and made his way over to the girl, attempting to fight off the aching need for a smoke... and to crush the girl's throat. He took in an unnecessary breath, immediately regretting it when he got a lungful of mentholated smoke. He tapped her on the shoulder and waited for her to turn around.
She was nearly as tall as he was, with auburn hair that waved halfway down her back. She had dull, watery blue eyes and was still chuckling from a joke one of her friends had apparently just told her.
"What?"
His fists clenched at the question and he spoke through gritted teeth. Despite his anger, he decided being polite was the best way to go. "Would you mind putting out your cigarette? The smoke is bothering me."
"Too bad, Sid." She snapped before taking a long drag off of her cigarette and blowing it in his face.
He closed his eyes to shield them. Once the onslaught of smoke was gone, he opened them and knew from the look on the girl's face that he looked particularly menacing. He fought back the need to choke the girl and instead settled for, in his opinion, the most dangerous voice he'd ever used.
"You shouldn't have done that."
The girl looked as though she agreed. She was backing away slowly and her two male friends didn't look inclined to start anything with the vampire. Spike expected they were well aware of his non-humanness as he'd felt his eyes temporarily burn yellow.
And suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder.
He snapped his attention to the hand and looked it over briefly. It was graceful and womanly, with long, thin fingers that were digging into his jacket slightly. The fingernails were painted a shimmering peach color that danced in the lights of the club. He knew this hand.
Buffy.
He turned to face her, feeling all of his rage disappear. She was smiling in an overly friendly manner, but not at him- at the woman who had been smoking. Spike looked back at the woman and glared, grinning inside when he watched her flinch. Buffy tugged at his shoulder then, leading him away-but not before he flashed the woman a backwards peace sign that she obviously didn't know the meaning of.
"What were you doing?" She demanded when she pushed him onto a couch.
"Nothing." He retorted too quickly for Buffy's liking.
"Nothing? You looked murderous!"
"Looking murderous and being murderous are two different things." He pointed out, though he almost felt he shouldn't have after he did. "I mean- "
"Shut up, Spike."
He felt his temper flare up again. "What crawled up your arse and died?"
"What did you say?"
"You heard me."
"Nothing."
Spike lifted a scarred brow and gave her a skeptical look. "Nothing? You just come and verbally assault vampires you hung out with the night before for no reason?"
Buffy worked her jaw but said nothing. She uncrossed her arms and ran her hands through her hair. She plopped down next to the bleached night-dweller and sighed.
"It's Glory. I've been worried..."
He gave her a look. "Worried? Buffy, you've beaten every Big Bad that ever waltzed into town, myself included, and you're worried about a fashion victim whose only apparent super powers are strength and brain-sucking?"
"It's different this time." She replied. "She's so strong... she could probably beat the crap out of me with one arm."
"That's not true."
"Oh really? Tell her that."
Spike shook his head and looked over toward the girl who had been smoking earlier. She'd put out her cigarette and was eyeing him nervously. He narrowed his eyes at her once more and smirked when she practically ran down the stairs and out the front doors.
"You know what you need?" he asked, watching the front door close.
"A new mission in life?"
He looked at her, still smirking, and shook his head slightly. "No. A little bit of fun."
~*~
"Spike, what are we doing here?"
"Shh!"
The Slayer and the punk rock vampire stood on a stone bridge that crossed over the river that ran through the woods near Sunnydale. Buffy had her arms crossed over her chest and looked as though she'd rather be anywhere but standing on a bridge with Spike. Spike, on the other hand, was looking over the side of the bridge as if searching for something he'd dropped.
"Spike?"
Spike straightened up and bit his lower lip in thought for only a moment prior to grinning at Buffy and whispering a question to her. "Have you ever seen a water fairy?"
She knit her brows at him. "What?"
"Have you ever seen a water fairy?" he repeated, slightly agitated but still whispering.
Buffy, unsure what was going on, shook her head. She watched him, confused, as he leant over the edge of the bridge again. After a few seconds, he beckoned her to join him. She approached cautiously, arms still crossed and neck craned in an attempt to see what Spike was up to.
When she was directly next to him, he glanced up from the water just long enough to motion his head for her to look at the water below. She started to ask him what she was supposed to be looking for, but he silenced her with a finger at his lips. He motioned to the water again and Buffy felt herself lean forward to see what had Spike so quiet and fixated.
She didn't see them at first, but once she'd really started to look rather than zoom over the scenery, she noticed that the river wasn't the only thing moving beneath the bridge.
Tiny little winged humanoid creatures, glittering a thousand colors at once in the moonlight, were flitting over the tiny waves. Occasionally they touched down, but were so light that they didn't sink. Buffy particularly liked watching one that was mostly blue, standing on a rock, straightening its hair and looking at its reflection in a still puddle. She glanced toward Spike momentarily and noticed he was watching a green and yellow winged fairy that was dancing across the water with a grace Buffy had never seen before.
A red and orange fairy fluttered toward Buffy, reminding her of a shy yet curious butterfly. It came within a foot of her face, and stared at her as though it had never seen anything quite like Buffy before. The fairy was a gorgeous little woman that glowed ever so faintly in the dark. She had bright blue eyes and curly auburn hair- she almost looked like a girl Buffy had gone to school with.
Another fairy flew up to the red and orange one, only it was male. He had bright blond hair and brilliant blue eyes, with shiny aquamarine wings. He grasped the female fairy by the hand and nodded politely toward Buffy. She smiled, which must have been what the fairy wanted, as he flew off with his companion in tow.
She continued to watch them until they landed on the water. Assuming a ballroom dancing stance, the two danced across the water. Buffy was sure she saw their heads lean in and touch lips, and she sighed the sigh of a girl watching a romance unfold.
"You alright?"
Buffy jumped at his voice- she'd forgotten Spike was even there. Once she'd recovered, she answered. "Yeah."
"Didn't mean to scare you." He whispered, his Cockney accent not as harsh as usual.
She looked back toward the water and with the slightest hint of a grin, replied, "It's alright."
I'm so shocked by how many reviews this story is getting! Not that this is a bad thing, of course...
Oh, and a note to the reviewer who pointed out that I am obviously not an ex-smoker: Sorry I forgot your name. You're right- I've never had a cigarette in my life. The smell of smoke makes me ill. Anyway, I didn't know that you had to have a prescription for any anti-smoking stuff. I was just going by the movie "Meet the Parents". Ben Stiller goes into a drug store and buys some of the gum without a prescription or anything, so I just assumed... Sorry about that. I'm doing my best.
ACTION!
~*~*~*~
Chapter 4: Spike Has Some Issues At the Bronze
"You were everything I wanted
But I just can't finish what I started
There's no room left here on my back
It was damaged long ago
Though you swear that you are true
I'd still pick my friends over you
My friends over you!"
The crowd of The Bronze sang along, quite loudly, as "My Friends Over You" by New Found Glory pounded through the room courtesy of the new jukebox. Bands that had been playing The Bronze lately had all been booked out of town for the night, but nobody seemed to mind.
"Can't believe kids call this punk." Spike muttered to himself as he sat on the arm of a couch near the pool tables. "Giving me a bloody headache."
"So, Evil Undead, talk to yourself often?"
He didn't even have to turn to know who was there. "Shut it, Harris."
"I should have known. After all, you're the kidnap-a-girl-and-try-to-force- her-to-admit-love-or-turn-a-crazy-vampire-woman-on-her kind of guy. Why wouldn't you talk to yourself?" Xander observed in the tone he usually used when talking to Spike, leaning on a pool stick with his ankles crossed.
Spike turned his head just enough to see Xander and sneered. Though the Whelp wasn't looking at him, Spike almost felt as if he was being watched. Breaking his train of thought (which heavily revolved around Alexander LaVelle Harris and a railroad spike), he looked around the room and breathed in-- an attempt to smell for anything evil-related.
But instead he breathed in the scent of nicotine. Somebody in here was smoking.
Damn them.
He moved his eyes over the crowd again but saw nobody with a cigarette. Deciding that the person was obviously up on the second level of The Bronze, he leaned back on the couch and cast his gaze up toward the balcony. There he spied a young woman with a thin white cigarette (a Light of some sort, he scoffed) in her fingers, glowing lightly at the tip.
"In all seriousness, Spike, what were you thinking? Spike?" Xander uncrossed his feet and turned to look for Spike, who was no longer sitting on the arm of the couch. "Where'd...?"
Xander shrugged and returned to the pool table he'd been watching over whilst waiting for Willow to return from the restroom and challenge him. The redheaded witch was back and glancing around for her lifelong friend. Seeing him approach, she set up the billiard balls in the triangle and proclaimed that she would break.
Meanwhile, Spike had gone up the stairs and was staring at the evil girl with the cigarette disgustedly. How could she even think about doing this? There were impressionable young teenagers everywhere in this particular building. Smoking was prohibited here- or, at least, the rather rude waitress that picked up empty glasses told him that once (he'd proceeded to blow smoke in her face and gotten kicked out for the night). Didn't she know she was a health hazard to herself and everyone around her? Didn't she know that second hand smoke could cause health problems for others?
Didn't she know that there were vampires who were trying to quit smoking wandering around and, sans stupid government chips in their skulls, were feeling the particular need to maim?
Spike narrowed his icy blue eyes and made his way over to the girl, attempting to fight off the aching need for a smoke... and to crush the girl's throat. He took in an unnecessary breath, immediately regretting it when he got a lungful of mentholated smoke. He tapped her on the shoulder and waited for her to turn around.
She was nearly as tall as he was, with auburn hair that waved halfway down her back. She had dull, watery blue eyes and was still chuckling from a joke one of her friends had apparently just told her.
"What?"
His fists clenched at the question and he spoke through gritted teeth. Despite his anger, he decided being polite was the best way to go. "Would you mind putting out your cigarette? The smoke is bothering me."
"Too bad, Sid." She snapped before taking a long drag off of her cigarette and blowing it in his face.
He closed his eyes to shield them. Once the onslaught of smoke was gone, he opened them and knew from the look on the girl's face that he looked particularly menacing. He fought back the need to choke the girl and instead settled for, in his opinion, the most dangerous voice he'd ever used.
"You shouldn't have done that."
The girl looked as though she agreed. She was backing away slowly and her two male friends didn't look inclined to start anything with the vampire. Spike expected they were well aware of his non-humanness as he'd felt his eyes temporarily burn yellow.
And suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder.
He snapped his attention to the hand and looked it over briefly. It was graceful and womanly, with long, thin fingers that were digging into his jacket slightly. The fingernails were painted a shimmering peach color that danced in the lights of the club. He knew this hand.
Buffy.
He turned to face her, feeling all of his rage disappear. She was smiling in an overly friendly manner, but not at him- at the woman who had been smoking. Spike looked back at the woman and glared, grinning inside when he watched her flinch. Buffy tugged at his shoulder then, leading him away-but not before he flashed the woman a backwards peace sign that she obviously didn't know the meaning of.
"What were you doing?" She demanded when she pushed him onto a couch.
"Nothing." He retorted too quickly for Buffy's liking.
"Nothing? You looked murderous!"
"Looking murderous and being murderous are two different things." He pointed out, though he almost felt he shouldn't have after he did. "I mean- "
"Shut up, Spike."
He felt his temper flare up again. "What crawled up your arse and died?"
"What did you say?"
"You heard me."
"Nothing."
Spike lifted a scarred brow and gave her a skeptical look. "Nothing? You just come and verbally assault vampires you hung out with the night before for no reason?"
Buffy worked her jaw but said nothing. She uncrossed her arms and ran her hands through her hair. She plopped down next to the bleached night-dweller and sighed.
"It's Glory. I've been worried..."
He gave her a look. "Worried? Buffy, you've beaten every Big Bad that ever waltzed into town, myself included, and you're worried about a fashion victim whose only apparent super powers are strength and brain-sucking?"
"It's different this time." She replied. "She's so strong... she could probably beat the crap out of me with one arm."
"That's not true."
"Oh really? Tell her that."
Spike shook his head and looked over toward the girl who had been smoking earlier. She'd put out her cigarette and was eyeing him nervously. He narrowed his eyes at her once more and smirked when she practically ran down the stairs and out the front doors.
"You know what you need?" he asked, watching the front door close.
"A new mission in life?"
He looked at her, still smirking, and shook his head slightly. "No. A little bit of fun."
~*~
"Spike, what are we doing here?"
"Shh!"
The Slayer and the punk rock vampire stood on a stone bridge that crossed over the river that ran through the woods near Sunnydale. Buffy had her arms crossed over her chest and looked as though she'd rather be anywhere but standing on a bridge with Spike. Spike, on the other hand, was looking over the side of the bridge as if searching for something he'd dropped.
"Spike?"
Spike straightened up and bit his lower lip in thought for only a moment prior to grinning at Buffy and whispering a question to her. "Have you ever seen a water fairy?"
She knit her brows at him. "What?"
"Have you ever seen a water fairy?" he repeated, slightly agitated but still whispering.
Buffy, unsure what was going on, shook her head. She watched him, confused, as he leant over the edge of the bridge again. After a few seconds, he beckoned her to join him. She approached cautiously, arms still crossed and neck craned in an attempt to see what Spike was up to.
When she was directly next to him, he glanced up from the water just long enough to motion his head for her to look at the water below. She started to ask him what she was supposed to be looking for, but he silenced her with a finger at his lips. He motioned to the water again and Buffy felt herself lean forward to see what had Spike so quiet and fixated.
She didn't see them at first, but once she'd really started to look rather than zoom over the scenery, she noticed that the river wasn't the only thing moving beneath the bridge.
Tiny little winged humanoid creatures, glittering a thousand colors at once in the moonlight, were flitting over the tiny waves. Occasionally they touched down, but were so light that they didn't sink. Buffy particularly liked watching one that was mostly blue, standing on a rock, straightening its hair and looking at its reflection in a still puddle. She glanced toward Spike momentarily and noticed he was watching a green and yellow winged fairy that was dancing across the water with a grace Buffy had never seen before.
A red and orange fairy fluttered toward Buffy, reminding her of a shy yet curious butterfly. It came within a foot of her face, and stared at her as though it had never seen anything quite like Buffy before. The fairy was a gorgeous little woman that glowed ever so faintly in the dark. She had bright blue eyes and curly auburn hair- she almost looked like a girl Buffy had gone to school with.
Another fairy flew up to the red and orange one, only it was male. He had bright blond hair and brilliant blue eyes, with shiny aquamarine wings. He grasped the female fairy by the hand and nodded politely toward Buffy. She smiled, which must have been what the fairy wanted, as he flew off with his companion in tow.
She continued to watch them until they landed on the water. Assuming a ballroom dancing stance, the two danced across the water. Buffy was sure she saw their heads lean in and touch lips, and she sighed the sigh of a girl watching a romance unfold.
"You alright?"
Buffy jumped at his voice- she'd forgotten Spike was even there. Once she'd recovered, she answered. "Yeah."
"Didn't mean to scare you." He whispered, his Cockney accent not as harsh as usual.
She looked back toward the water and with the slightest hint of a grin, replied, "It's alright."