A/N: Sorry for the wait, but I haven't had the chance to write anything
until know because of the slight computer shortage that I have to deal with
(Which I think that I've mentioned before.). Anyway, I'm writing as fast as
I can right now and hopefully I'll finish one or two chapters this weekend
and get the time to post them. And thank you for the reviews. And
Tinkerbell's review was especially fun, I don't think I've had a reader
from my own country before.
Chapter 5
She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw their rooms. Or closer to the truth; their suite.
It was not just the small (hopefully two) bedrooms that she'd imagined it'd be; it was all in all five rooms. And they weren't small. The first thing she saw when she followed Spike through the door was the dark hallway with wallpaper the color of the late night sky and a beautifully carpet, which looked like it was handmade. Just that small space with it's few things probably had cost more then all of the furniture in her house put together. And; that was just the hallway.
"They're letting us live here?" she asked herself aloud, and Spike, who hadn't realized that she wasn't actually talking to him, turned around.
"Guess they want us to tell all of out friends about what a great place this is. Want's more tourism."
Buffy snorted and pushed him aside to get a look on the rest of the suite. Lingering in the door was the young woman who'd brought them up there. She looked like she wasn't sure whether or not to leave or wait 'til Spike told her to. Finally, after several minutes spent admiring the rooms, they remembered her.
"So luv, what's you're bosses told you to tell us?" Spike asked her and tilted his head; the way that she moved away slightly whenever he looked at her amused him immensely. It had been a while since he'd seen a human do that because of him.
"N-Nothing, sir," she stuttered and looked down at her feet. "They just told me to bring you here."
Buffy sighed and pushed Spike aside. The way he seemed to enjoy scaring the shit out of the girl wasn't really going to help them.
"Who are they?" she asked sweetly. The young woman couldn't be more then nineteen and her dark brown eyes went back and forth between the two others in the room and then back to the ground.
"Mr. V-Vin of course," she said nervously. "He told me to take you to the best rooms, and this is the best rooms." She turned hesitantly to Spike. "I'm sorry if they aren't to your liking, these are the best ones that I know of."
"These are great -- no, more then great; they're fantastic," Buffy assured her, but the girl took no notice. She waited tensely for the vampire to say something.
"They'll do," he said with a bored, emotionless voice, and Buffy looked at him in disbelief. She'd never been in such a luxurious place, and he say's 'they'll do'?
"I'll leave you to alone then," she said quietly and turned to go, but stopped when Buffy called out after her.
"What's your name?" she asked curiously. After a brief hesitation the girl turned back.
"I'm Jen," she said slowly. "I belong to the mayor's household."
Before Buffy had the chance to ask anything else, she was gone.
Willow waited for her friends to become quiet.
They'd arrived less then five minutes earlier and all of them, except for Giles who stood quiet by the window looking out with a thoughtful expression, was talking non-stop. Eventually the red-haired wicca couldn't take it anymore and put her coffee' cup down on the table with a loud Bang! All heads turned towards her.
"Doesn't anyone of you have any idea of where Buffy is?" she asked, after clearing her throat. "She didn't say anything about where she was going to patrol, or about a new big bad?"
Tara and Xander looked at each other and sighed.
"I'm sure nothing's wrong," Tara said sweetly. "We'll probably get a call from her any second now, or she'll come trough that door wondering what all the fuss is about." The blond wicca's gaze drifted to Dawn who sat on the couch with a tired and worried look on her face. She didn't seem to believe Tara's reassurance.
With another sigh Xander stood up and paced back and forth in the room.
"But what if she isn't all right?" he asked. "We can't just sit here and hope, we have to do something." Suddenly an idea hit him and he turned towards Willow. "Can't you do a locator spell? Then we'll know where to look."
His best friend shook her head sadly and hugged her arms around herself.
"I've tried, but it didn't work. It's like she's vanished from the face of the earth." The redhead looked over at Giles. "Don't you have any ideas? I've tried everything I can think of, and I came up with nothing."
The watcher frowned thoughtfully and stared out though the window. He didn't show any emotions, but everyone knew how worried he was.
"Unless we get something more to go on, I don't know what could lead us to her. The only thing we can do now is to get out there and try and find clues to what happened, maybe someone's seen her or heard something." Giles took off his glasses and began to clean them absently. "Xander, Anya, you go to Willy's, try to make him find out something. Willow, Tara, you two go to the Bronze and ask around, and if there's no sign of her there try to do another locator spell. If we're lucky it'll work this time. I'll go and search trough the cemeteries."
Anya, Xander, Willow and Tara all nodded in agreement and began to get ready to leave, they were all in a hurry to find out anything that could give them a clue about Buffy's disappearance.
"What about me?" they suddenly heard Dawn ask from where she sat on the couch. They'd almost forgotten about her, she'd been so quiet. When no one said anything, she continued. "I could go and talk to Spike, he might have talked to her, or seen something maybe. And we should tell him what's happened anyway, he deserves to know."
The brunette looked around at Giles and the others with a determined look, she wanted to help with finding Buffy, and just sitting around waiting would drive her nuts. But she could see the others indecisiveness. They didn't particularly like Spike, or trust him for that matter, not even after all he'd done to help them while Buffy was dead. She knew that she'd have to sound confident and sure of herself if she wanted to convince them.
"I think it would be better if you stay here in case she comes back or calls," Giles said calmly, to Dawn he sounded like he was talking to a five- year-old, not a teenager. When she looked at him angry he gave her a look that said 'be reasonable'. It only made her more aggravated.
"Dawnie, someone has to stay, and I'm sure Giles where going to go and talk to Spike anyway when he's at the cemetery," Tara said quickly to sooth the young girl. There was something so calming and sweet about Tara that Dawn couldn't be mad at her, so she sighed in defeat and leaned back in the couch grouchily.
"All ready then?" Willow asked and rose from her seat.
"Yes," was heard from all over the room, and the Scoobies went out to find their Slayer.
For two hours the two of them avoided each other, a task not too hard in the large suite. Buffy kept to herself in her room, trying to come up with a way to get back home, but failing miserably. On the other side of the wall Spike paced back and forth, both out of boredom and annoyance. He wanted to go and knock on her door and talk to her, or maybe get her to accompany him outside to have a look around, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew that there was no point staying inside, it wouldn't do them any good, but Buffy hadn't seemed very eager to have a look around, and something stopped him from prodding her. It was almost like a fog surrounded her, and it kept all positive thought away. She'd started to get more like her old self, the way she was before she died, but after less then forty-eight hours away from her family she'd gone back to the taciturn person she'd been just after she'd been brought back. He knew what she'd been trough, probably better then her precious friends, and he didn't want her to feel like she was feeling. But he was afraid that he'd only make it worse if he talked to her, he might even push her away from him completely.
But when Buffy finally gave up and decided that there was no point of dwelling over something she had no control about, she finally came out. Immediately Spike eyes shot up and locked on her, and he could see the exhaustion and sadness in her eyes. Her skin was paler then usual and her hair hanged in stripes. He thought she was beautiful.
She could feel his eyes on her, and shifted uncomfortably. She knew how he felt for her, and at the moment she really wanted to talk or maybe just sit next to someone who cared for her, and who would support her. But at the same time, it was Spike, how could she ever even consider being close to him? But still, the thought of him holding her made her feel better then she'd done for days.
His eyes seemed to see right though her, and she couldn't help but blush. What would he think if he knew what she was thinking about?
The blonde vampire noticed curiously how her cheeks became red, he had no idea what was going trough her head.
"What's wrong, pet?" he asked softly, and he could see her flinch. There was obviously something wrong.
"I, uhm-" she started but then trailed off, her eyes fixed on everything but him. Worriedly Spike got up and walked up to her. With his hands on her shoulders he looked into her eyes and began to open his mouth to say something, when she suddenly wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. He was so surprised that for several seconds he just stood there in shock, but the feeling of wet tears on his shoulder brought him back to reality. He was happy over the fact that he was this close to her, but that wasn't anywhere close to how concerned he was for her. He couldn't remember seeing her cry, not for a long time.
"Shh, it's a'right," he whispered into her hair and rocked her back and forth. "Whatever's the matter you can tell me."
He even surprised himself with how gentle he sounded, there was no trace of the big bad he'd been, and still wanted to be, in his voice. Parts of him hated it, he felt like a human, and that wasn't something he liked.
When Buffy eventually let go of him with an expression of utter confusion it had been more then five minutes, five minutes which had felt like a year for him. He kept his eyes locked with hers, and at first she just looked confused and surprised by her own behavior, but then what he'd feared came. She looked absolutely appalled, like she'd done something too disgusting and horrible for her to even imagine it. She quickly took a step back and looked away, her tears already wiped away. Close to her Spike stood completely still, his face clear of any emotion, but inside he was in turmoil. Dozens of emotions such as loss, sadness, anger and emptiness ran around inside of him and he couldn't bear to look at her anymore. He didn't want her to see how her actions affected him, he wanted to keep some of his 'pride'.
"We should probably have a look around," he said with a hoarse voice and he turned around and started walking toward the door before she had the time to respond. He didn't see the sad look on her face, or how she silently mouthed the word 'sorry'. He didn't see that she wasn't disgusted with him, or angry for that matter. She was just confused.
She knew she had some decisions to make.
Chapter 5
She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw their rooms. Or closer to the truth; their suite.
It was not just the small (hopefully two) bedrooms that she'd imagined it'd be; it was all in all five rooms. And they weren't small. The first thing she saw when she followed Spike through the door was the dark hallway with wallpaper the color of the late night sky and a beautifully carpet, which looked like it was handmade. Just that small space with it's few things probably had cost more then all of the furniture in her house put together. And; that was just the hallway.
"They're letting us live here?" she asked herself aloud, and Spike, who hadn't realized that she wasn't actually talking to him, turned around.
"Guess they want us to tell all of out friends about what a great place this is. Want's more tourism."
Buffy snorted and pushed him aside to get a look on the rest of the suite. Lingering in the door was the young woman who'd brought them up there. She looked like she wasn't sure whether or not to leave or wait 'til Spike told her to. Finally, after several minutes spent admiring the rooms, they remembered her.
"So luv, what's you're bosses told you to tell us?" Spike asked her and tilted his head; the way that she moved away slightly whenever he looked at her amused him immensely. It had been a while since he'd seen a human do that because of him.
"N-Nothing, sir," she stuttered and looked down at her feet. "They just told me to bring you here."
Buffy sighed and pushed Spike aside. The way he seemed to enjoy scaring the shit out of the girl wasn't really going to help them.
"Who are they?" she asked sweetly. The young woman couldn't be more then nineteen and her dark brown eyes went back and forth between the two others in the room and then back to the ground.
"Mr. V-Vin of course," she said nervously. "He told me to take you to the best rooms, and this is the best rooms." She turned hesitantly to Spike. "I'm sorry if they aren't to your liking, these are the best ones that I know of."
"These are great -- no, more then great; they're fantastic," Buffy assured her, but the girl took no notice. She waited tensely for the vampire to say something.
"They'll do," he said with a bored, emotionless voice, and Buffy looked at him in disbelief. She'd never been in such a luxurious place, and he say's 'they'll do'?
"I'll leave you to alone then," she said quietly and turned to go, but stopped when Buffy called out after her.
"What's your name?" she asked curiously. After a brief hesitation the girl turned back.
"I'm Jen," she said slowly. "I belong to the mayor's household."
Before Buffy had the chance to ask anything else, she was gone.
Willow waited for her friends to become quiet.
They'd arrived less then five minutes earlier and all of them, except for Giles who stood quiet by the window looking out with a thoughtful expression, was talking non-stop. Eventually the red-haired wicca couldn't take it anymore and put her coffee' cup down on the table with a loud Bang! All heads turned towards her.
"Doesn't anyone of you have any idea of where Buffy is?" she asked, after clearing her throat. "She didn't say anything about where she was going to patrol, or about a new big bad?"
Tara and Xander looked at each other and sighed.
"I'm sure nothing's wrong," Tara said sweetly. "We'll probably get a call from her any second now, or she'll come trough that door wondering what all the fuss is about." The blond wicca's gaze drifted to Dawn who sat on the couch with a tired and worried look on her face. She didn't seem to believe Tara's reassurance.
With another sigh Xander stood up and paced back and forth in the room.
"But what if she isn't all right?" he asked. "We can't just sit here and hope, we have to do something." Suddenly an idea hit him and he turned towards Willow. "Can't you do a locator spell? Then we'll know where to look."
His best friend shook her head sadly and hugged her arms around herself.
"I've tried, but it didn't work. It's like she's vanished from the face of the earth." The redhead looked over at Giles. "Don't you have any ideas? I've tried everything I can think of, and I came up with nothing."
The watcher frowned thoughtfully and stared out though the window. He didn't show any emotions, but everyone knew how worried he was.
"Unless we get something more to go on, I don't know what could lead us to her. The only thing we can do now is to get out there and try and find clues to what happened, maybe someone's seen her or heard something." Giles took off his glasses and began to clean them absently. "Xander, Anya, you go to Willy's, try to make him find out something. Willow, Tara, you two go to the Bronze and ask around, and if there's no sign of her there try to do another locator spell. If we're lucky it'll work this time. I'll go and search trough the cemeteries."
Anya, Xander, Willow and Tara all nodded in agreement and began to get ready to leave, they were all in a hurry to find out anything that could give them a clue about Buffy's disappearance.
"What about me?" they suddenly heard Dawn ask from where she sat on the couch. They'd almost forgotten about her, she'd been so quiet. When no one said anything, she continued. "I could go and talk to Spike, he might have talked to her, or seen something maybe. And we should tell him what's happened anyway, he deserves to know."
The brunette looked around at Giles and the others with a determined look, she wanted to help with finding Buffy, and just sitting around waiting would drive her nuts. But she could see the others indecisiveness. They didn't particularly like Spike, or trust him for that matter, not even after all he'd done to help them while Buffy was dead. She knew that she'd have to sound confident and sure of herself if she wanted to convince them.
"I think it would be better if you stay here in case she comes back or calls," Giles said calmly, to Dawn he sounded like he was talking to a five- year-old, not a teenager. When she looked at him angry he gave her a look that said 'be reasonable'. It only made her more aggravated.
"Dawnie, someone has to stay, and I'm sure Giles where going to go and talk to Spike anyway when he's at the cemetery," Tara said quickly to sooth the young girl. There was something so calming and sweet about Tara that Dawn couldn't be mad at her, so she sighed in defeat and leaned back in the couch grouchily.
"All ready then?" Willow asked and rose from her seat.
"Yes," was heard from all over the room, and the Scoobies went out to find their Slayer.
For two hours the two of them avoided each other, a task not too hard in the large suite. Buffy kept to herself in her room, trying to come up with a way to get back home, but failing miserably. On the other side of the wall Spike paced back and forth, both out of boredom and annoyance. He wanted to go and knock on her door and talk to her, or maybe get her to accompany him outside to have a look around, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew that there was no point staying inside, it wouldn't do them any good, but Buffy hadn't seemed very eager to have a look around, and something stopped him from prodding her. It was almost like a fog surrounded her, and it kept all positive thought away. She'd started to get more like her old self, the way she was before she died, but after less then forty-eight hours away from her family she'd gone back to the taciturn person she'd been just after she'd been brought back. He knew what she'd been trough, probably better then her precious friends, and he didn't want her to feel like she was feeling. But he was afraid that he'd only make it worse if he talked to her, he might even push her away from him completely.
But when Buffy finally gave up and decided that there was no point of dwelling over something she had no control about, she finally came out. Immediately Spike eyes shot up and locked on her, and he could see the exhaustion and sadness in her eyes. Her skin was paler then usual and her hair hanged in stripes. He thought she was beautiful.
She could feel his eyes on her, and shifted uncomfortably. She knew how he felt for her, and at the moment she really wanted to talk or maybe just sit next to someone who cared for her, and who would support her. But at the same time, it was Spike, how could she ever even consider being close to him? But still, the thought of him holding her made her feel better then she'd done for days.
His eyes seemed to see right though her, and she couldn't help but blush. What would he think if he knew what she was thinking about?
The blonde vampire noticed curiously how her cheeks became red, he had no idea what was going trough her head.
"What's wrong, pet?" he asked softly, and he could see her flinch. There was obviously something wrong.
"I, uhm-" she started but then trailed off, her eyes fixed on everything but him. Worriedly Spike got up and walked up to her. With his hands on her shoulders he looked into her eyes and began to open his mouth to say something, when she suddenly wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. He was so surprised that for several seconds he just stood there in shock, but the feeling of wet tears on his shoulder brought him back to reality. He was happy over the fact that he was this close to her, but that wasn't anywhere close to how concerned he was for her. He couldn't remember seeing her cry, not for a long time.
"Shh, it's a'right," he whispered into her hair and rocked her back and forth. "Whatever's the matter you can tell me."
He even surprised himself with how gentle he sounded, there was no trace of the big bad he'd been, and still wanted to be, in his voice. Parts of him hated it, he felt like a human, and that wasn't something he liked.
When Buffy eventually let go of him with an expression of utter confusion it had been more then five minutes, five minutes which had felt like a year for him. He kept his eyes locked with hers, and at first she just looked confused and surprised by her own behavior, but then what he'd feared came. She looked absolutely appalled, like she'd done something too disgusting and horrible for her to even imagine it. She quickly took a step back and looked away, her tears already wiped away. Close to her Spike stood completely still, his face clear of any emotion, but inside he was in turmoil. Dozens of emotions such as loss, sadness, anger and emptiness ran around inside of him and he couldn't bear to look at her anymore. He didn't want her to see how her actions affected him, he wanted to keep some of his 'pride'.
"We should probably have a look around," he said with a hoarse voice and he turned around and started walking toward the door before she had the time to respond. He didn't see the sad look on her face, or how she silently mouthed the word 'sorry'. He didn't see that she wasn't disgusted with him, or angry for that matter. She was just confused.
She knew she had some decisions to make.
