Chapter 8
Unfortunately it turned out that they didn't have the transportation needed to get to Germany and Buffy found herself outside of the newly established Slayer quarters in France.
And it just also happened that Giles and Xander were there.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on vacation." Giles said.
Buffy shrugged, "I am, sort of. I'm just helping Spike."
"Spike? Whatever for?"
"Remember Wolfram and Harte? They sent over Spike, he's trying to solve a case. But it turns out that his stool pigeon has Angel's knack for stratagems. So we're Europe hopping, trying to figure out what's going on."
Spike shrugged from the corner of the room, he was a bit disgruntled because he had been burned a bit earlier since Giles took too long to let the both of them in. It wasn't until Spike shoved past Giles and went into the sanctuary of the house that the situation finally clicked in the watcher's mind.
Xander was in the back of the house with a few Slayers, unaware of their presence, but Giles had told Buffy and Spike that Xander was there.
"Buffy, this isn't safe. And why didn't you tell me sooner?" Giles said, trying to look like a reprimanding father.
"Giles, you aren't my keeper. Besides, Spike will protect me." Buffy said nonchalantly, hoping that it would bristle Giles' feathers; just a little.
It did. Giles frowned and carried out his customary glasses wiping, which he usually did when he was in a state of distress.
"We haven't done anything dangerous wotcher." Spike said.
Still, Giles scowled at Spike, he wasn't as happy as Buffy that the vampire had come back. "I'll be the judge of what's dangerous or not."
Buffy rolled her eyes, "Look, wherever this guy is sending us, its close enough to large groups of people and it doesn't seem like he has any intention of hurting us. Besides, the last place we were at was the Louvre, which has top notch security."
"Do I hear the Buffster?" Xander's voice suddenly piped up from the back of the house.
"Yeah Xander it's me." Buffy said, waving at him from where she was standing.
Xander came into the light a bit and it was apparent that wherever he wasn't a dark tan color, he was sunburned. Buffy winced in sympathy and gave him a cautious hug.
As Xander backed up, he finally noticed Spike. But he looked confused for a second as he stared and turned his head while staring at Spike. "Is that?..."
"Yeah it's me..."
"Hey it's evil dead!"
"..says the moron who shouldn't be talkin' if it weren't for me."
"Oh yeah, you're not the only guy who saved the world from an apocalypse, if it weren't for me, Willow..."
"Guys, can we not do this?" Buffy asked as she cut off Xander and held a finger up to Spike to silence him.
Spike folded his arms as he watched the carpenter and the watcher warily, "Buffy, luv, why are we here anyways."
"We need to get a car or some sort to get to Germany."
Spike gaped, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Huh? Why'd you think I was coming here?"
"I thought you had bleedin' business to finish up before we left."
"You can get us a car?"
Spike pulled out his wallet and pulled out a stack of business cards, "There's practically a Wolfram and Harte in ever major city in Europe. I could have gotten a car from the Paris branch, not to mention they have special sun filtered car windows for vamps."
"Wow our communication sucks," Buffy deadpanned and headed for the door.
"W-where are you going?" Giles asked.
"Leaving?" Buffy replied.
"You can't leave! Not with deadboy!" Xander replied, sounding a bit petulant.
Spike raised an annoyed brow, and refused to comment, but the message went across very clearly.
"Look, we have to solve this case soon okay?"
"I don't trust him with you." Giles suddenly said, taking a step forward towards Buffy.
"Well, I trust him. You need to get over your grudges Giles."
"I will not let you..."
"Here, why don't I just go with her and deadboy. Then we can make sure he doesn't do anything."
Buffy threw her hands up in exasperation, "He wasn't doing anything in the first place. God you two are annoying! I'm fine, we're fine. Stop badgering me and just let me be!"
But it seemed like Buffy's words went in one ear and out the other as Giles nodded, "Yes, I think that's a good idea Xander."
Buffy's eye twitched. Then she took a deep breath and calmed down, "Fine then, I might as well stay until evening then. Then we can go to Wolfram and Harte and get the car."
Spike looked a bit disappointed but nodded mutely while sending semi-subtle glares at Giles and Xander.
"Spike, come on, let's get our stuff." Buffy said with slouched shoulders.
Spike nodded and followed her, making sure to open the umbrella as he neared the doorway and sunlight.
Then as they neared the alley Buffy started to look suspicious as her step quickened just a bit. Suddenly Spike understood that she was going to make a break for it. Spike shot her a nod and the both of them started to run down the alley after grabbing their things and dashed as fast as they could to local bus stop. Luckily a taxi passed by and they quickly got in as Spike handed him the business card the Wolfram and Harte French branch.
Xander and Giles could be seen running and yelling as they tried to catch up to them, but eventually trailed and stopped once they saw them haphazardly get into the taxi. Buffy watched as the two men eventually grew smaller in the back window of the taxi and disappeared out of sight as the driver took a turn.
Spike and Buffy grinned at each other and exchanged a high five.
~~~ "The Burg Kat is a private estate. Therefore we can only look at it from the outside. We are not permitted inside the castle." The tour guide said under his umbrella, you could barely see his face through the onslaught of rain.
Buffy, who was huddled under the umbrella with Spike, pulled her coat tightly in front of her. Spike noticed her minute action and tilted the umbrella more to her side and drew her closer to him.
"...It was built by Count Johann of Katzenelbogem near the end of the 14th century..." The tourist continued."
"So now what?" Buffy asked Spike as they looked up at the brownish red brick castle.
"Well, it doesn't mean we have to go inside the castle. Maybe the next clue is somewhere around the outside of it."
~~~~
The rain was both good and bad. It was good because it gave Spike more time and light to look for whatever they were looking for, but it was bad in that it made hiking around the castle grounds hell.
The rain had made the paths slick and trying to get anywhere a bit more awkward than Spike would have liked. Luckily both of them hadn't slipped yet... (Spike made sure to knock on a tree after that thought).
The both of them were getting soaked despite the umbrella, when they tried to walk around the lumpy rocks, the umbrella would waver and allow a torrent of water to hit the both of them. In the end, they found a small cave of sorts, barely tall enough to walk in with your back bent over. But at least it kept the rain out.
Buffy was soaked, flushed, and her breaths were consolidating in the cold air. And as pretty as she looked then and as much as Spike wanted to kiss her, he knew that she was going to get sick if she didn't get dry.
"It think we better go back luv and then wait until the rain stops before we continue."
"But..."
"Look the guy never set a time limit for this. So I guess I'll assume that it'll still be there when we come back for it later. And if we miss out on it... oh well."
Buffy made a face, she furrowed her brow a bit as she looked over at him, "You know, you keep saying 'it'. Do you even know what we're looking for? For all we know, I could have been in front of us the whole time."
Spike let out an exasperated sigh, "You know that poof, you'd think he'd ever tell me anything substantial? Boy I wish he would. Nah, just sent me out here, told me to meet up with a contact and look for something. He said I'd know it was important when I come across it."
"Sounds like Angel all right."
Spike glanced over and tucked a dripping strand of hair away from Buffy's face, "Cold?"
"Unbelievably."
"I wish I could help but... no body heat." Spike said dejectedly.
Buffy shook her head, indicating that it was alright. She got up a bit and bent over to avoid hitting her head on the roof of the cave, "Come one, lets get out of here."
Spike agreed and started to climb out of the cave when...
"Oh shoot! Our room key dropped out of my pocket, damn... I don't know why the hotels here all have keys that weigh more than my laptop."
"You want me to get it?" Spike asked, ready to go back in, but Buffy waved him off, "It's okay, I'm smaller, I can move around more easily."
Buffy crawled back into the cave and after a while it got really silent.
Spike panicked, "Buffy?! Luv?! Are you alright?"
"S-spike!" Buffy yelled, "Oh my god!"
"What's wrong?! Just wait, I'm coming in!"
"No no, nothing's wrong... I found something!"
"Wait what?"
"I found something in here a trunk of some sort! It has a lock on it and it looks kind of new! It's not very heavy thought, let me drag it out."
Soon the sound of a metal trunk scraping along rocks could be heard as Buffy dragged the trunk to the entrance of the cave. And despite her lack of powers, she was able to easily lift it up and hand it to Spike.
Spike held the trunk up to his face, "Huh...I guess we found was we came here for."
Buffy grinned as she came out of the cave, "Well?"
"Well, I think you're a bloody good detective pet." Spike complemented.
Buffy gave Spike a bright smile, completely forgetting that she was wet and cold. She nudged him lightly with her hips, "Only bloody good?"
"Fine, you were brilliant." Spike replied in mock exasperation.
Unfortunately it turned out that they didn't have the transportation needed to get to Germany and Buffy found herself outside of the newly established Slayer quarters in France.
And it just also happened that Giles and Xander were there.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on vacation." Giles said.
Buffy shrugged, "I am, sort of. I'm just helping Spike."
"Spike? Whatever for?"
"Remember Wolfram and Harte? They sent over Spike, he's trying to solve a case. But it turns out that his stool pigeon has Angel's knack for stratagems. So we're Europe hopping, trying to figure out what's going on."
Spike shrugged from the corner of the room, he was a bit disgruntled because he had been burned a bit earlier since Giles took too long to let the both of them in. It wasn't until Spike shoved past Giles and went into the sanctuary of the house that the situation finally clicked in the watcher's mind.
Xander was in the back of the house with a few Slayers, unaware of their presence, but Giles had told Buffy and Spike that Xander was there.
"Buffy, this isn't safe. And why didn't you tell me sooner?" Giles said, trying to look like a reprimanding father.
"Giles, you aren't my keeper. Besides, Spike will protect me." Buffy said nonchalantly, hoping that it would bristle Giles' feathers; just a little.
It did. Giles frowned and carried out his customary glasses wiping, which he usually did when he was in a state of distress.
"We haven't done anything dangerous wotcher." Spike said.
Still, Giles scowled at Spike, he wasn't as happy as Buffy that the vampire had come back. "I'll be the judge of what's dangerous or not."
Buffy rolled her eyes, "Look, wherever this guy is sending us, its close enough to large groups of people and it doesn't seem like he has any intention of hurting us. Besides, the last place we were at was the Louvre, which has top notch security."
"Do I hear the Buffster?" Xander's voice suddenly piped up from the back of the house.
"Yeah Xander it's me." Buffy said, waving at him from where she was standing.
Xander came into the light a bit and it was apparent that wherever he wasn't a dark tan color, he was sunburned. Buffy winced in sympathy and gave him a cautious hug.
As Xander backed up, he finally noticed Spike. But he looked confused for a second as he stared and turned his head while staring at Spike. "Is that?..."
"Yeah it's me..."
"Hey it's evil dead!"
"..says the moron who shouldn't be talkin' if it weren't for me."
"Oh yeah, you're not the only guy who saved the world from an apocalypse, if it weren't for me, Willow..."
"Guys, can we not do this?" Buffy asked as she cut off Xander and held a finger up to Spike to silence him.
Spike folded his arms as he watched the carpenter and the watcher warily, "Buffy, luv, why are we here anyways."
"We need to get a car or some sort to get to Germany."
Spike gaped, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Huh? Why'd you think I was coming here?"
"I thought you had bleedin' business to finish up before we left."
"You can get us a car?"
Spike pulled out his wallet and pulled out a stack of business cards, "There's practically a Wolfram and Harte in ever major city in Europe. I could have gotten a car from the Paris branch, not to mention they have special sun filtered car windows for vamps."
"Wow our communication sucks," Buffy deadpanned and headed for the door.
"W-where are you going?" Giles asked.
"Leaving?" Buffy replied.
"You can't leave! Not with deadboy!" Xander replied, sounding a bit petulant.
Spike raised an annoyed brow, and refused to comment, but the message went across very clearly.
"Look, we have to solve this case soon okay?"
"I don't trust him with you." Giles suddenly said, taking a step forward towards Buffy.
"Well, I trust him. You need to get over your grudges Giles."
"I will not let you..."
"Here, why don't I just go with her and deadboy. Then we can make sure he doesn't do anything."
Buffy threw her hands up in exasperation, "He wasn't doing anything in the first place. God you two are annoying! I'm fine, we're fine. Stop badgering me and just let me be!"
But it seemed like Buffy's words went in one ear and out the other as Giles nodded, "Yes, I think that's a good idea Xander."
Buffy's eye twitched. Then she took a deep breath and calmed down, "Fine then, I might as well stay until evening then. Then we can go to Wolfram and Harte and get the car."
Spike looked a bit disappointed but nodded mutely while sending semi-subtle glares at Giles and Xander.
"Spike, come on, let's get our stuff." Buffy said with slouched shoulders.
Spike nodded and followed her, making sure to open the umbrella as he neared the doorway and sunlight.
Then as they neared the alley Buffy started to look suspicious as her step quickened just a bit. Suddenly Spike understood that she was going to make a break for it. Spike shot her a nod and the both of them started to run down the alley after grabbing their things and dashed as fast as they could to local bus stop. Luckily a taxi passed by and they quickly got in as Spike handed him the business card the Wolfram and Harte French branch.
Xander and Giles could be seen running and yelling as they tried to catch up to them, but eventually trailed and stopped once they saw them haphazardly get into the taxi. Buffy watched as the two men eventually grew smaller in the back window of the taxi and disappeared out of sight as the driver took a turn.
Spike and Buffy grinned at each other and exchanged a high five.
~~~ "The Burg Kat is a private estate. Therefore we can only look at it from the outside. We are not permitted inside the castle." The tour guide said under his umbrella, you could barely see his face through the onslaught of rain.
Buffy, who was huddled under the umbrella with Spike, pulled her coat tightly in front of her. Spike noticed her minute action and tilted the umbrella more to her side and drew her closer to him.
"...It was built by Count Johann of Katzenelbogem near the end of the 14th century..." The tourist continued."
"So now what?" Buffy asked Spike as they looked up at the brownish red brick castle.
"Well, it doesn't mean we have to go inside the castle. Maybe the next clue is somewhere around the outside of it."
~~~~
The rain was both good and bad. It was good because it gave Spike more time and light to look for whatever they were looking for, but it was bad in that it made hiking around the castle grounds hell.
The rain had made the paths slick and trying to get anywhere a bit more awkward than Spike would have liked. Luckily both of them hadn't slipped yet... (Spike made sure to knock on a tree after that thought).
The both of them were getting soaked despite the umbrella, when they tried to walk around the lumpy rocks, the umbrella would waver and allow a torrent of water to hit the both of them. In the end, they found a small cave of sorts, barely tall enough to walk in with your back bent over. But at least it kept the rain out.
Buffy was soaked, flushed, and her breaths were consolidating in the cold air. And as pretty as she looked then and as much as Spike wanted to kiss her, he knew that she was going to get sick if she didn't get dry.
"It think we better go back luv and then wait until the rain stops before we continue."
"But..."
"Look the guy never set a time limit for this. So I guess I'll assume that it'll still be there when we come back for it later. And if we miss out on it... oh well."
Buffy made a face, she furrowed her brow a bit as she looked over at him, "You know, you keep saying 'it'. Do you even know what we're looking for? For all we know, I could have been in front of us the whole time."
Spike let out an exasperated sigh, "You know that poof, you'd think he'd ever tell me anything substantial? Boy I wish he would. Nah, just sent me out here, told me to meet up with a contact and look for something. He said I'd know it was important when I come across it."
"Sounds like Angel all right."
Spike glanced over and tucked a dripping strand of hair away from Buffy's face, "Cold?"
"Unbelievably."
"I wish I could help but... no body heat." Spike said dejectedly.
Buffy shook her head, indicating that it was alright. She got up a bit and bent over to avoid hitting her head on the roof of the cave, "Come one, lets get out of here."
Spike agreed and started to climb out of the cave when...
"Oh shoot! Our room key dropped out of my pocket, damn... I don't know why the hotels here all have keys that weigh more than my laptop."
"You want me to get it?" Spike asked, ready to go back in, but Buffy waved him off, "It's okay, I'm smaller, I can move around more easily."
Buffy crawled back into the cave and after a while it got really silent.
Spike panicked, "Buffy?! Luv?! Are you alright?"
"S-spike!" Buffy yelled, "Oh my god!"
"What's wrong?! Just wait, I'm coming in!"
"No no, nothing's wrong... I found something!"
"Wait what?"
"I found something in here a trunk of some sort! It has a lock on it and it looks kind of new! It's not very heavy thought, let me drag it out."
Soon the sound of a metal trunk scraping along rocks could be heard as Buffy dragged the trunk to the entrance of the cave. And despite her lack of powers, she was able to easily lift it up and hand it to Spike.
Spike held the trunk up to his face, "Huh...I guess we found was we came here for."
Buffy grinned as she came out of the cave, "Well?"
"Well, I think you're a bloody good detective pet." Spike complemented.
Buffy gave Spike a bright smile, completely forgetting that she was wet and cold. She nudged him lightly with her hips, "Only bloody good?"
"Fine, you were brilliant." Spike replied in mock exasperation.