CHAPTER TWO
"It's like watching a car accident." Faith said, watching Connor power his way through a Primanti's Pitts-Burger Cheese Steak sandwich. She had gone on a lunch run to the Almost Famous Primanti Brother's and came back with loads of food.
"I would have said he didn't eat at all from the looks of him," Willow said, looking over at Angel and Spike who sat next to the fireplace away from the completely shaded living room windows.
Connor didn't stop inhaling food to protest. He just shoveled in fries with gravy.
"It wouldn't be so amazing if he hadn't already eaten a whole pastrami and cheese first," Dawn said, looking up from her Cajun chicken sandwich. Primanti's sandwiches didn't just have thick delicious bread and lots of meat and cheese, they came loaded with tomatoes, french fries and cole slaw right on the sandwich.
"You ladies haven't been around teenaged boys much," Gabriel said. "You can't actually fill them up."
"I'm just glad he's eating. I'm with Willow, I thought he lived on nutrients he strained from the air." Angel made a face. "He's kinda skinny."
"Kinda?" Spike shot the elder vampire a look like he's lost his mind.
"I eat," Connor said, biting into the huge kosher dill.
"Yeah, we can tell. Are all your appetites that big?" Faith asked and his eyes lit up. "Forget I asked."
"Yes, let's," Angel said with complete and total dread. "And we have some business to deal with."
"Before we do that, I need to ask, Willow can you take a final look over my paper? It's due this afternoon," Dawn said.
"I have to go to work, Dawnie. It looked great last draft. I wouldn't worry." Willow waved her off.
"I can look it over if you want," Spike offered and off everyone's looks, he added. "What? I'm a good wordsmith."
"Thanks, Spike. It's bad enough I have to get a head start on my reading list for next semester's lit class." Dawn wrinkled her nose.
"What do you have to read?" Spike put a hand on her shoulder.
"Well, this is women in literature and Lady Windermere's Fan, is one of the stories. Willow promised Wilde wasn't so bad," Dawn said.
"I like Wilde," Spike said, with a wide grin.
"He was fun to hang out with," Angel said, a faraway look in his eye.
"Yeah, for a while I thought Darla was going to turn him and add him to the family." Spike laughed.
Connor stopped eating, eyeing them evilly. "You vampires and what you think is a good time. It's enough to turn your stomach."
Angel wagged a finger at him. "Just eat, son."
"I'm just as glad Oscar Wilde isn't my big brother," Connor said. "And if it's any consolation Dawn, I have to read ahead for next semester, too. I brought some of it with me. I think I'll be starting with Venus in Furs."
"Why would you have to read that book?" Angel asked, his brow wrinkling. "What kind of class is this?"
"Sex in literature," Connor replied with a cat-after-catnip grin.
Angel's heavy brow lifted. "Why are you taking that?"
"Because I have to have a lit class and there's only one other guy in a class of twenty-five." Connor's grin became positively demonic.
Spike laughed. "Wish I thought of that...of course, I didn't exactly get to go to school with girls."
"Or else you'd have tried it." Angel shook his head. "Son, you're going to get eaten alive in that class."
Connor curled his lip at his dad. "I can hold my own."
"You get that talent from your dad. He's an expert at holding his own," Spike said and Angel almost went for Spike. Faith nearly cut the vampire in half, jerking him back hard by his belt. "I'm surprised he even remembered how to father anyone." Spike added, pushing his luck past the breaking point.
"Gabe, Willow has there ever been a record of anyone killing a vampire with the sharp end of a french fry?" Connor asked, wagging a gravy-laden hunk of potato at Spike.
"If you manage it, son, I'll make sure you get official credit for it," Angel said, with a proud father expression.
"How is this helping us with business?" Dawn asked, realizing Spike's mouth was his own worst enemy.
"Yes, thank you, Dawn," Gabriel said. "From what I can tell, the killer isn't actually culling from gay clubs but rather from the usual college hang-outs."
"That wouldn't surprise me. Gavin might get a bigger thrill out of snagging someone who's only butter-side up and making him do naughty things he wouldn't do otherwise," Spike said.
"What's an incubus even look like?" Connor asked, reaching for some of Faith's cheese fries. She slapped his hand away.
"Human," Spike said. "He'll look like an every day guy. Last I saw him, Gavin was thin and red-headed. But, incubi can look like any sort of man, tailor themselves to your desires."
"That'll make this more difficult," Faith said. "So, you desire red-haired men, Spike?"
He eyed her sourly. "Dru maybe...I don't know. That could be what he really looks like. I'm not sure if his glamour works on vampires or not."
"So, Dawn, what clubs would you suggest we visit tonight?" Faith asked. "You probably know what's hot and what's not."
Dawn pursed her lips, thinking about it. "I think I'd start at The Upper Limit. It's usually packed."
"Okay. Tonight, we'll start there," Willow said. "I'll see if I can find a spell that can locate incubi."
"Sounds like a plan. Hey, bait, do you have good club-going clothes or are you really an Abercrombie & Fitch victim?" Faith gestured at Connor's baggy pants and flannel shirt.
"I brought club clothes," Connor replied.
"Anyone else afraid of what that means?" Faith asked and Connor glared.
Dawn noticed they all seemed a tad leery.
Dawn twisted in time to the music. She knew she didn't have much to offer this mission. Willow had just begun to teach her magic, something Buffy didn't know about. She wasn't anywhere near being able to use it offensively. The incubus wasn't likely to be interested in her but she, Faith and Willow were needed to give Spike, Gabe, and Connor someone to dance with. Angel was watching them dance from his spot as part of the wall. He refused to participate in dancing.
Dawn found herself partnered with Spike and she couldn't be happier. Spike could move, maybe not as good as Gabe but better than Connor who seemed oddly repressed. She guessed Angel hadn't included dancing as a skill when he had Connor reworked, and Dawn was pretty sure Conn'rs hell didn't have any dance schools. After a while, Dawn could almost forget she was here on business. She was working up a good sweat on the dance floor and wouldn't mind a cold beer but she was too young and this club carded well. She'd have to settle for a soda.
"I need a break, Spike," she said just as the music slowed.
He held out a hand. "Could I have a slow dance first?"
Dawn couldn't say no. She had been hoping for this moment and was beginning to think the DJ had something against slowing things down. "Sure."
Spike felt good, she decided instantly as he tucked her closer to his strong body. He knew how to move, to make her forget she was trying to match someone else's moves. She didn't feel self-confidant, matching him easily. It was perfect, except maybe for the fact he smelled like an ashtray. As Spike changed direction, Dawn caught a glimpse of Angel.
"Angel looks mad. Do you think he doesn't want us dancing?" she whispered.
"He's looking at them." Spike nodded at Connor and Faith who were into their roles a little too much. Faith was the mistress of sex with clothes on, Dawn had no doubt of it.
"Good," Dawn said, resting her head on Spike's shoulder. His hands moved up and down her back as he danced. Dawn couldn't remember anything that had felt more wonderful. When the dance ended and the music picked up tempo, she nodded at the bar. "I'm dying of thirst."
Spike took her hand, pushing a path through the crowd. "What do you want, Sunshine?"
"Is that my new name?" She smiled at him.
"Until I can think of something better." He echoed her smile. "It fits. You have a sunny smile."
Dawn blushed. "Thanks. I'll just have a root beer. They have it on tap here. It makes it taste better."
"I see you have Tetley Ale," Spike said to the bartender, laying a twenty on the bar. "I'll have one and put her soda on my tab."
"Thanks, Spike," Dawn said but before they could talk Angel sidled over.
"They're going to find it very hard to see an incubus when they can't see past each other's faces," the vampire groused, shaking a hand at Connor and Faith.
"Relax, Peaches. Incubi can taste arousal. That horny boy of yours could bring them in from New York," Spike retorted.
"I fear just that," Angel said. "Since there's no blood anywhere near my son's optic nerves, I'm sure he's seen nothing that resembles an incubus. How about you? Did you see anything suspicious?"
"No, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for, you know?" Dawn took a sip of root beer. "If Gavin looks like an ordinary guy, how can I spot him? I haven't seen any guys eyeing up Spike if that helps."
"It's a relief if nothing else," Spike said. "I don't see any signs of him either but it occurs to me one of two things can happen provided Gavin even picks this bar. A, he'll see me and want to cut me in on the fun or B, he knows I've changed sides and I'll scare him off."
"Probably should have thought of that before we brought you along," Angel said. "If we don't score a hit tonight, maybe you should sit out the next try."
Spike nodded. "If worse comes to worse we can try to find some demon hang-outs and ask around."
"That might be a better use for you," Angel agreed.
Dawn wanted to protest because she was so enjoying spending this time with Spike but she didn't. She knew that they might be right. If Spike could scare Gavin off, if it was even Gavin doing this, then it was best he stayed away. So, she decided to make the most of the night and she did, dancing until she was exhausted. However, they turned up nothing, not even so much as a vampire. Everyone went home feeling disappointed.