A/N : Wow, this story suddenly got more popular than ever before, I guess because William just got all Spike-ish! lol. Thanx for all the wicked-cool reviews; Soulful-Spikes-True-Love, spikeswife1, Mita427, lindsay, Slayer rock chick, CraZy4SpikE09, i luv spike, spuffy-fan-1, sunnyhell, sPIKEaNDmE, Anyanka0705, electricgurl, Scarlet Ibis, velja, wicked-angel03 - glad you all like the fic so much! And yeah, spikeswife1, I know I screwed up with the blond dye/bleach thing but it was kinda necessary for the story...it's a new wonder product that you can wash out, okay? ;-) Hope you like this chapter!
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 8 - Cool Rider
"I am so in the mood for this party tonight" Cordelia gushed as she flicked through the many dresses in her friends closet, in an attempt to find the remaining girl something to wear.
"Should be a blast" Faith agreed as she watched Willow finish working on Buffy's hair. The blonde had been down since the Summer and although she'd been a little better of late she wasn't her usual happy self yet. The girls were determined to get the old Buffy back. They knew it was totally over between her and Angel, that much was evident by the amount of time he spent with Faith, but still the leader of their gang was much less a leader and much more a distant follower of late and the girls thought just maybe if they could make her look good enough then she'd feel good too. Then hopefully they would all have fun at the party and she'd be better.
"What do you think Buff?" Willow smiled as she encouraged her friend to look in the mirror and Buffy nodded that she liked the way her hair had been curled and pinned up on her head, leaving just a few lose strands hanging down to frame her face.
"And I think we have a winner in the outfit scheme of things" Cordy announced, bringing out a little black number guaranteed to get Buffy some male attention if nothing else.
"What's the big deal with this party, you guys?" Buffy eyed them all suspiciously, and they looked at the floor and each other to avoid her gaze. They'd been rumbled. They'd been too obvious in this whole 'you must enjoy the party' thing.
For once in their lives, the girls were pleased to see Dawn who came crashing into the room, allowing them to escape from explanation for now at least.
"Hey guys" the young brunette grinned, "So, we're partying tonight, right?"
"You are so not coming along!" Buffy said sternly as she took her dress from Cordelia and headed for the adjoining bathroom to change.
"Mom says I can, so..." she stuck out her tongue as an end to her sentence. Dawn's highly original and adult response was received with a huff from her sister and giggles from the other girls who still thought she was completely lame despite the fact her entrance had delayed a rather awkward conversation.
"I think we're gonna have a great time tonight girls" Dawn grinned, "don'tcha think so?"
"Oh yes Dawnie" Cordelia mocked her, "We're gonna have a super-fun time!" she clapped her hands together, bouncing on her toes and grinning in a very over-the-top manner, making Faith burst out laughing as Dawn looked like she might cry and ran from the room.
Sometimes the littlest Summers wondered why she wanted to be one of them, but she knew that was just the way it was when you were popular, you had to make fun of your friends sometimes, at least it seemed that way to her. Still, Willow was always much nicer and no matter how cool William was sometimes he was always really sweet too.
Poor William. Tonight was very much make or break for him, and Dawn had this nasty feeling, given the mood her sister had been in lately, that it could well be the latter. William would be at Rippers by now, she realised as she checked her watch, and there he'd wait until she called his cellphone. He wouldn't pick up, it was just a signal so he could start the journey to the Bronze and with any luck he would arrive almost the same moment that Buffy and the gang did. Dawn had more than one plan to slow down or speed up her sisters arrival if need be, there wasn't one thing they hadn't thought of. It could be that after tonight William was accepted into the gang and it was Dawn's greatest wish that the same could happen for her. Right now, after what had just happened with her and the girls, she doubted it ever would.
- - - - - - -
"Come on Short-stuff!" Faith yelled angrily, as Cordelia revved the engine of the car, "Quit messing around and get in the damn car!" she was the least accepting of Dawn out of the whole gang and hated having to wait around. As kids, Faith and Buffy had never really gotten along and it had only been as they grew older they developed respect for each other and later a friendship. Still, Dawn reminded Faith of how Buffy used to be - a whiny little brat, and that's why she disliked her so much.
"Come on Dawn!" Buffy called with annoyance from the back of the vehicle, as the girl punched two more buttons on her phone before climbing into the car between Willow and her sister.
"It was an important call" she said grumpily, stuffing the phone into her bag and Cordelia rolled her eyes. Like Buffy's sister knew anyone worth calling!
- - - - - - -
"Looks like I'm on" William sighed as he stuffed the ringing cellphone back into his pocket and mounted his bike right outside of Rippers garage. The man himself stood along aside and smiled.
"You'll knock her bloody socks off" he grinned, wiping grease from his hands. He really did have every faith in the boy, he'd put in so much effort, he couldn't possibly fail now. William smiled to himslef as he pulled on the large sunglasses to hide his face and revved up the machine beneath him. As the engine growled into life a similar animalistic feeling shot through his body.
"Fella could get used to this" he realised.
He was Spike now, with the confidence to do anything, he realised as he headed off, tearing up the road as he went. Like this, he felt powerful, almost immortal, helped by knowing that he was about to blow Buffy away. He cried out at the moon with a grin on his face as he tipped the bike up on it's back wheel and sped towards the Bronze.
- - - - - - -
"Dawn! What the hell are you doing?!" Buffy yelled to her sister, the only person left in the car now, scrabbling along the back seat.
"I dropped...something" she lied, pretending to search the back for the car for some mystery item "Wait up, I'll just be a sec" she urged, hoping for once that the gang might actually hold on for a minute, if they went inside before...
"What's that sound?" Willow's brow furrowed as she strained her ears and looked around. It was like a humming, maybe an engine, getting closer.
"Got it" Dawn grinned as she climbed out of the car, glad to see the gang of girls still standing there waiting for her, eyes and ears alert to track the sound they heard and try to identify where it was coming from, not knowing that Dawn knew precisely what they were hearing.
"Look" Cordelia pointed into the relative darkness as a blinding light shone through, soon to be revealed as the head lamp of a beautiful and dangerous looking motorcycle. On top of the machine was a figure in black and a flash of red, long leather coat flying out behind him as he rode, and bright blonde hair that shone in the moonlight.
Buffy's mouth dropped wide open like a fish, as the man and the bike sped past them, going up on it's back wheel as it rounded the corner of the building.
"Who was that?!" Cordelia gaped in shock. Even from this distance that man looked fine, and boy did he know how to handle a motorcycle.
"I dunno..." Faith shook her head. Even she was kind of impressed, and usually guys weren't all that impressive to her. They were all pretty much the same, only good for one thing and not all of them were too good at that...
The moment of silence was shattered again as the motorcycle and it's rider reappeared from the other side of the Bronze, tearing up the ground. He zig-zagged passed the girls before heading back the way he came, only to take a sharp turn right in front of an oncoming black car, and go up on the back wheel again as he cut past it with just inches to spare.
"Who the hell is that idiot?!" Angel fumed as got out the drivers side of the car and slammed the door, almost hard enough to break the glass.
"I don't know man, but I say we find out" Xander shot daggers from his eyes at the biker that seemed to have the girls hypnotised as he screeched his tyres around the corner of the building once again.
Angel, Xander, Oz and Andrew made to move forward to go and investigate but a voice off to the left stopped them dead in their tracks.
"Well, if it isn't Angel and his fairy dust club" a patronising tone caught the gang's ears and they knew there was only one guy who would dare to talk to them like that.
"Get lost Walsh this ain't your turf" Angel bit out, really not wanting to deal with this right now. As much as he and his gang ruled the Bronze and Sunnydale High, Adam Walsh and his bunch of rejects dominated at the nastier club in town, The Fish Tank, and the rival school from just outside of Sunnydale.
The leader of the gang just laughed, turning toward the girls.
"Y'know you girls could do so much better than these boys" he leered, as he and his friends moved towards them "You need real men for real action" he grinned as the guy on his left got closer to Buffy.
"Hey Summers" he smiled somewhat dangerously and Buffy shook her head in disgust. It was Riley Finn, a guy she'd known when they were kids. He'd been a nice guy then, ridiculously nice to the point of boring and geeky. Then he went to the other high school and joined up with Adam's gang - now he was just scum.
"Get lost, creep" she snapped, stepping back into the line of her girl friends.
"That's not exactly friendly now is it?" he reached a hand out to her face and she knocked it away.
"You heard what she said man, now back the hell off" Faith snapped in an angry tone. Willow looked petrified as the rival gang's members all came towards them. Faith and Buffy were tough, always had been, but she wasn't and although Cordelia knew how to swing her heavy purse at the head of attackers, there was no way the four of them, plus little Dawnie, could beat back five large guys.
"Oh this baby wants to play" one of them leered at Faith who gave him a smack in the jaw for his trouble. Angel knew then the guys had to make their move before the girls got hurt.
The fight was on as Angel spun Adam around and laid into him with punch after punch. Xander was soon in on the action, and despite his quiet nature Oz was an animal in a fight, especially where his girl was concerned. Even Andrew did his best to help, though he acquired more bruises than he caused.
Faith wanted a piece of the action but the other girls held her back, fearing for her safety. As Willow and Cordy struggled to calm her down when she saw Angel take a hit, Buffy found herself pinned to the wall by Riley who had easily outwitted Andrew and left him on the ground to bleed.
"Now where were we before we got interrupted?" he said, leaning into her, she managed to push him away but that only made him more determined to have his way. As he made to advance on her again and Buffy realised she had nowhere to go, she heard the sound of the motorcycle engine off to the side. Riley stepped back to see what was happening and the bike cut expertly between him and Buffy, the rider standing as he drove and kicking the boy squarely in the chest, sending him flying.
Temporarily winded, Riley lay on the ground, grasping his chest and gasping for air. His friend Graham glanced over to him and then looked up at the leather clad guy on the bike as he went up on the back wheel and skidded around the parking lot.
"That dumb ass is gonna pay" he said, giving Xander a hard shove and turning, just as Riley got himself off the ground and managed to yell to the gang;
"Change of plan boys" he pointed to the new target.
Adam nodded as the gang looked to him.
"Seek and destroy" he agreed as they ran back to their car leaving the battered remains of Angel's gang behind.
The motorcycle pulled some fancy moves across the ground, weaving in and out of the people and cars, staying a good distance away from Adam's car until he was finally caught in a corner. He expertly backed up, looking like he was finished. Just as the guys were clambering from the car, he sped forward and jumped over the hood. Realising they'd been tricked they swore colourfully as they jumped back into their vehicle and sped away behind the retreating motorcycle.
By this time the girls had run to see if Buffy was okay and the blonde herself was hypnotised by the disappearing tail light of the motorcycle, and the man atop it that had saved her.
Anyone else taking for granted that she needed saving from an idiot like Riley Finn would have pissed her off to no end, but this guy was different. This was the one she'd been waiting for. If it wasn't for the fact all her friends were there and were telling her they'd seen it too, she'd have thought she was dreaming.
The guys got themselves up off the ground, Andrew had a couple of nasty cuts and bruises, but nothing that wouldn't heal inside a couple of days. Angel was pretty sure he had the beginnings of a black eye and Xander was limping slightly. Oz had scraped his knuckles but other than that the guys were just winded, and only their pride was suffering terminal damage.
The girls turned to see them approach and Angel saw Buffy's glazed expression. He didn't look at all happy as he snapped;
"Shows over" putting an arm around Faith's shoulders and encouraging her to come with him he added "Let's get inside"
They disappeared into the building and Cordelia turned to see Xander behind her.
"Hey babe" he gave her a lopsided smile. She kissed him as he leant on her and they too went into the Bronze.
"Oz, are you okay?" Willow fussed her boyfriend as he came over "and did you see that guy?"
"I'm fine" he smiled at both her concern and her excitement "and yeah, I saw. Kinda cool. You okay?" he checked hugging her.
"I am now" she assured him as he kissed the top of her head and they followed on into the club.
Dawn was already fussing over Andrew, and helping him towards the front doors, secretly elated about the impact William, or more accurately Spike, had on her sister. At the same time she was sort of worried that Adam's gang would catch up with him and hurt him. She knew their reputation and had just seen what they'd done to Angel and the gang who were supposedly pretty tough...
"Buffy?" Dawn called back as she realised they were at the doors and her sister hadn't followed.
"I'll be right there" she called absently, still straining her eyes to see the biker that had come and gone, to hear the engine in the distance...
Surely it wasn't possible for this guy to be real, he was straight out of her dreams! The black leather coat flowing out behind him, the cool moves on that gorgeous motorcycle, and that bleached blond hair was just incredible. She'd seen him and then he was gone. She was so disappointed that she hadn't even gotten a chance to ask his name. Somehow it was worse to know her dream man was real and yet not be able to have him.
With a dejected sigh she turned to head into the Bronze where she knew her friends would be waiting. Right by the doors, she turned back, wondering if she was imagining the sound of the engine behind her. She wasn't and there he was in all his bike-riding-and-black-leather glory.
"Looking for me, luv?" he asked with a smirk as her mouth fell open of it's own accord.
"I was" she forced out, hardly able to believe this was happening, that this guy was real and he was talking to her! "Who are you?" she blurted out, replaying it in her head to make sure she hadn't sounded like an idiot - she figured she was okay since he continued to smile at her.
"Name's Spike" William told her with a tilt of his head, finding it so simple to be 'cool' when she was acting this way, looking at him like he was a God "Was wonderin'" he asked her "you wanna ride with me?"
All Buffy could do was smile and nod slightly in answer to his question. He was truly incredible on that bike and she'd go anywhere he was willing to take her. She was about to open her mouth and give a real answer when a sound in the distance caught both their attention. Cop cars, Buffy knew that sound only too well, Angel and the gang had come close to being caught fighting in the street once or twice before. There was blood on the pavement around them and if the police found Buffy and her mystery man there it'd be all questions and accusations. Knowing Angel the way she did and how jealous and weird he got, he was likely to get her new 'friend' into trouble. William was also a little afraid of getting picked up by the law.
"Another time, pet" he promised Buffy, reaching out to brush his fingers against her cheek "That's a promise"
She shivered in a delicious way at the simple touch as he revved the engine and she saw the two police cars arrive, blocking the exits to the parking lot. It was too late, Spike would get caught and it'd be all her fault because he'd come back to see her!
"I..." she began but he cut her off.
"I'll see you" he promised as he rode off at a terrific speed, headed straight for the cop cars right as the men began to climb out.
Buffy watched as Spike made the bike fly over the cars and land on the other side before speeding away out of sight. Two policeman got back in their car to go after him whilst the others stayed and looked over at Buffy. Dawn ran out from the Bronze and grabbed her sisters arm.
"Buffy, get inside" he half-dragged her into the building. Spike had been incredible tonight and she was proud of him and the effect he'd had on her sister, but she couldn't let Buffy get in a conversation with the cops and have any part of the gang dragged down-town.
The final thought of both the Summer sisters as they hurried into the club was 'I hope Spike is okay'
To Be Continued...
A/N2 : Reviews not just welcomed but craved! I always love to hear what you think.
For those that are interested, more Our Little Secret should be up in the next couple of days.
All Spike fans, please visit my re-vamped Spike site; www. geocities. com/ spike 18802003 (you'll need to take out all the spaces!)