A/N : One kinda short but jam-packed chapter for your reading pleasure...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 6

"Alright folks, we're taking a break now" Spike told the cheering crowd from his position on the stage, "but don't go anywhere, we'll be right back"

As the band hopped down from the stage, Oz caught Spike's attention.

"Hey man, you know who that girl is?" he asked, "The one with Buffy?"

"Dunno, mate" Spike shrugged, looking uninterested, "Another stuck up bint I'd wager, only with red hair instead of blonde" he suggested with a smirk

Just as the bass guitarist was about to reply he realised said red-haired girl and Buffy were moving across the floor towards him.

"Hey, Oz" the blonde smiled, glad that Spike had walked away already, "You guys are pretty good"

"Thanks" Oz nodded, "I mean I know you probably actually hate our sound but, thanks" he smirked and Buffy smiled too at being caught out.

"Er, this is my best friend, Willow" she introduced, encouraging the red-head to come forward, "Will this is Oz"

"Hey" they both said far too shyly and Buffy rolled her eyes. Her best friend she had expected this from, she'd been the same way around guys since they were kids, all shy and giggly, especially when she liked someone. She really hadn't expected a so-called cool rocker guy like Oz to be the bashful type, but then she hadn't talked to him much.

"Ooh, looks like I'm needed" Buffy lied, pretending she'd heard her name be called from the bar, "You two talk, get acquainted, and I'll see you later" she smirked triumphantly as she walked away, but Spike intercepted her half way to the bar.

"Playing match-maker are we, pet?" he asked her, "Too bad your own fella couldn't be bothered to show" he smirked.

"You don't know anything!" Buffy snapped back, mindful of how loud they were speaking when surrounded by the paying customers of her club. She made to walk away, but Spike followed her towards he bar.

"Know more than you think, luv" he told her, "Know your bar staff aren't gonna cope too much longer, and your stocks goin' down too fast. Give it a few hours you're gonna be turning folks away" he told her simply. Buffy looked across the club and realised there definitely were way too many people for the men and women behind the bar to cope with and a limit too how much they had of certain beverages.

"I guess I could call in some of the other guys" Buffy sighed, leaning on the edge of the bar and putting her face in her hands briefly, "Why did I think I could run a bar?" she asked herself, momentarily forgetting that Spike was standing there.

"Beats me, pet" he answered for her, wondering why despite everything he felt a little bad for her right now. She may be a silly, stuck-up rich bitch, but she really had worked bloody hard on this opening bash and it wasn't really her fault it was going a bit wrong, she'd had very little help from anyone.

He knew he should've pointed out sooner that he didn't think she'd rostered enough staff on for tonight, or that she hadn't ordered enough beer and such, but everytime he thought about it he'd hear her yell at some innocent bystander or something and he changed his mind about being helpful and nice to her.

Right now she looked so young and a little lost, and before he knew what he was doing he was actually playing nice for once.

"Tell you what, luv" he sighed, "Next break in the set I'll jump behind the bar for while, and I'll help you clean up tonight" he told her, "Might even be able to get you some extra crates of beer from a bloke I know..." he said thoughtfully, as he realised it might be a feasible plan.

"You...You're helping me?" Buffy said uncertainly as she looked up at him, "Why?"

"Not helpin' you, pet" he scoffed, finding the idea disgusting despite the fact he was doing just that, "Just don't wanna see this club go down is all, like my second home the Bronze is"

"I'm still grateful" Buffy told him honestly, her hand going over his on the bar top and squeezing it for a second.

"Yeah, well, whatever" Spike said awkwardly retracting his hand, "Don't go gettin' all mushy on me Summers, 's not our style"

"No, it's not" she replied, suddenly looking all business-like once again.

Spike pulled his cellphone from his pocket, planning on heading outside for a fag and to call that mate of his with the beer, when suddenly he turned back with a smirk on his face.

"Y'know somethin' pet? You got one thing right tonight" he said, waiting for Buffy's confused look before he told her, "You look bloody shaggable in that dress"

It surprised Spike somewhat that he didn't even have to lie about that, and he loved the fact he could make Buffy go such a bright shade of red so fast.

Power over others was a wonderful thing, and he'd always had a way with women. Seemed Miss Summers wasn't as immune to his charms as she'd like to be and he liked knowing that. Even though he never planned on getting within five feet of her in any real sense, it was nice enough to know he could have her, if he wanted to.

"Hey, we told you we'd be back" Faith hollered to the crowd as she arrived back on stage, "Seems the guys have got a little distracted" she smirked at Oz who quickly made apologies to Willow and got back up on the stage, "And since my buddy Spike's gone AWOL, I wanna share a little somethin' with you" she grinned as she put the mic back in the stand and picked up her friend's guitar.

Xander shot her look before sighing and pushing buttons on his keyboard that made the rhythm for the song play, since Faith wasn't drumming on this one. He didn't like what was about to happen, but he also knew arguing with Faith was not an option if he wanted to live to see tomorrow, besides maybe Buffy would find it all amusing, and take it as a joke... hopefully.

The music came together, blaringly loud as always and Willow stood by the edge of the stage trying to tap along as best she could to the din, just so she could look supportive of Oz. He was just as nice as he was hot and she felt like she was falling head over heels already, no matter how crazy that sounded.

On stage, Faith chocked out a few chords before starting to sing.

'Look at you, think you're oh so fine
Not a thing to do besides your hair
Cry when things don't go your way
Well baby, why should we even care

You're a rich-bitch party queen
Makin' up your own scene
Think the guys will fall at your feet
Well, I'm the first class party queen
Competition, lookin' mean
Get out if you can't stand the heat!'

Buffy's face was ashen when she realised what the lyrics to this song were about. There was no doubt in her mind that this was Faith's anti-Buffy riff, despite the fact there was no way to really prove it. Just when she'd realised Oz was okay and thought there might actually be some decent aspect buried deep within Spike, Faith proved to Buffy that her first instincts were more than likely right, that the whole band were just nasty pieces of...

"What the bloody hell!" Spike cursed as he appeared beside her in open-mouthed shock as he looked up on the stage. Faith had just finished a second chorus and was making a pretty decent job of a guitar solo on his electric guitar! Lyrics be damned he was going to kill the bint for that alone, but he wasn't exactly thrilled by what she'd been singing either. Buffy was a bitch, pure and simple, but she was struggling tonight and the last thing she needed was this kind of abuse. Beside which, she could sack the lot of them for this and the very idea of that made Spike feel sick to his stomach.

As a huge crescendo brought the song to a close, Faith was laughing like a demented hyena, or so Spike thought, and a lone tear was running down Buffy's cheek.

"I hope you're proud of yourself" the blonde spat at Spike as he tried to open his mouth to tell her he had no idea about this, "because you all just became unemployed!" she told him angrily as she stormed off towards her office.

The bleached blond let his temper explode as he went towards the stage, hopping up onto it and covering the mic with his hand as he turned to Faith.

"You stupid bloody bitch, what the hell did you think you were doing!" he asked her, getting right in her face without being so obvious that the crowd knew there was trouble.

"Lighten up, Spikey" Faith told him, rolling her eyes as she took the guitar strap from over her head and held out the instrument to him, "I only borrowed it for one song"

"Not the soddin' guitar you silly little girl!" he cursed, "You just buggered our chances of staying at this club. The whole lot of us are fired"

"No way, man" Xander gasped as he came to join them in the centre of the stage.

The calls from the crowd alerted them to the fact they were having a serious convo in a very public place and it was Oz that noticed first, suggesting they go backstage to continue their talk.
As they came down the back of the stage and disappeared behind the curtains, Spike really let his anger go.

"I can't believe you!" he almost screamed, "You irresponsible bint!"

"Get out of my face, Blondie!" Faith yelled back, "Or I swear to God..."

"Hey guys, enough" Oz interrupted where Xander would never dare, in fact most people would have been to scared to intervene when Spike and Faith got so angry but Oz wasn't most people, "Now what is this about us losing our gig?" he asked Spike who's eyes never left Faith.

"Seems the boss-lady wasn't too impressed by Faithie's latest tune" he explained with sarcasm aplenty, "Can't think why that is"

"I never said the song was about her" Faith shrugged, "If she assumed then I guess that proves something" she smirked, folding her arms across her chest.

"I swear to God, Lehane, if you were a bloke I'd knock you from here to kingdom come" Spike swore.

"Bring it on, Blondie" Faith urged him until Xander pulled her back. She shrugged his hands from her shoulders, "Screw this!" she declared making for the back door, but Spike grabbed her arm and hauled her back.

"No, you don't get to just walk out and leave us to fix this" he told her, "Not this time. You're coming with me, now, to apologise to Buffy so we can try to make this right"

"Oh yeah, cos I'm gonna do just what you say, Daddy" she said sarcastically, which only served to make Spike more angry.

"You will do what I bloody say" he told her, "Cos if you don't get in there and say you're sorry for upsetting Buffy, I'll do my damnedest to at least save our asses here" he warned her, "If the only way for this band to stay playin' at the Bronze is to get rid of you, then say goodbye Lehane, cos you can and will be replaced"

Never had anyone ever looked as incredulous as Faith did in that moment. Never would she have believed a day would come when one of the band would choose someone else over them.

"You'd drop me from the band, you son of a bitch, just so you could lay Little Miss Priss?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"You are off your bleedin' bird, pet" Spike laughed out loud, "Buffy is the last woman I would ever want to get my jollies with!" he told her, "I am just trying to fix a mess you made so The Chosen might actually stand a chance of staying at the Bronze where we belong. Understand now?" he snapped.

Faith held his gaze for a long moment, loathed to back down but knowing this time she had to. The Bronze was her second home too, and the band were her family.

"Yeah, I get it" she said begrudgingly, "Let's get to giving Miss High and Mighty her apology, before I change my mind" she muttered as she pushed past Spike and the other guys, headed towards Buffy's office.

"Right then" Spike sighed, "Sounds like the natives are getting restless, go keep 'em calm would you boys" he asked the other two, tilting his head towards the curtains, past which girls screamed and the whole crowd demanded The Chosen got back on stage right now.

"You think you can fix this, without losing Faith or the Bronze?" Xander asked as the bleached blond walked by him.

"C'mon, Xand" he smirked, "This is me we're talkin' about here. The Spike Blackstone charm never fails"

To Be Continued...