A/N : Despite the fact the Spuffy love is quite a way off, the first meeting of Spike and Buffy is right here in this chapter for your reading pleasure.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 4 - Angels and Devils
"I still say he's the best guy to date Buffy" Andrew argued as he and Xander walked down the hall together. Just yesterday they had tried asking the said new guy named Spike if he would ask out the elder Miss Summers so that Andrew himself could date Dawnie. Unfortunately, the boy had barely got past hello when he received a face full of cigarette smoke, and Spike pulled a disappearing act, clearly not impressed by being talked to by such an apparent geek.
"He won't even talk to you" Xander pointed out, "What makes you think he'd ever do you a favour?"
"I don't know" Andrew sighed, before suddenly having a brainwave and bouncing on his toes in a very unmanly fashion, "Ooh, we could pay him. Guys like him need money right? For cigarettes and alcohol and stuff?"
"He probably just steals" Xander shrugged, "but I guess if you offered him enough he might do it. I doubt he's the type to turn down a challenge or whatever" he considered, "Problem is, we don't have any money" he said as they sat down at a table at the back of the library, "We're screwed"
"You okay, Xander?" asked a red-haired girl as she came into view from behind a bookcase.
Willow had caught the tail end of the conversation between the two guys and spotted the sullen look on their faces. Xander had been a good friend of hers when they were kids, but peer pressure had pushed them apart some since Willow admitted she was gay and started dating fellow student Tara. They still talked from time to time though, and Willow wouldn't like to think anything bad was happening in Xander's life.
"Hey Will" he forced a smile, "My friend Andrew here is having a dilemma" he explained.
"What kind of dilemma?" she asked, taking a seat across from them, "Is it a homework thing, cos maybe I could help?" she offered. She was always the brainy type.
"No, it's more of a... girl dilemma" Andrew admitted, though he was far too embarrassed to continue and Xander had to do it for him.
"He wants to date Dawn Summers, and her Mom made this new rule that says she can go out with guys now, but only if Buffy does"
"Oh" Willow's eyes went wide at that, "But she's not... I mean she does like boys, obviously" she amended what she was going to say, feeling the pain of an old injury then - Buffy hadn't been comfortable with Willow's sexuality and they'd gone from good friends to barely acknowledging each other's existence these days, "But she's not the dating type, is she?"
"And therein lies the problem" Xander nodded, "Or at least half of it. See there's this new guy, Spike Giles, and we think he and Buffy might make a match"
"'Cept he won't even talk to us nevermind do us a favour and I don't have the cash to pay him" Andrew sighed in defeat, as Angel and Connor walked passed the table, the older of the two telling the other to leave him alone for five seconds, and getting quite nasty when he protested.
"I noticed Connor talking to Dawn a lot lately" Willow commented, "I'm surprised it didn't occur to him to pay a guy to date Buffy, not that it's right that anyone should do that, it's very, very wrong, but..."
"Will you're a genius!" Xander yelled suddenly, and found himself being promptly shushed by various students as well as the librarian.
"I'm a genius, why now?" the red-head checked in a whisper, frowning a little. She wouldn't like to think she'd encouraged him to do anything immoral.
"The Angelus boys are loaded, they have way more cash than they need" Xander grinned, "And Connor so obviously wants to date Dawn. All we have to do is get them to pay Spike"
"You think that'll work?" Andrew asked hopefully and his friend nodded.
"Sure it will" he said certainly, "Also, Angel's like big tough guy, Spike won't be so quick to tell him where to shove himself... I hope"
"Oh, Xander, I don't think that's a good plan..." Willow began but it was too late, the guys were already on their feet and walking away, talking animatedly about the new plan, "Oops" was all the red-head could find to say.
"Hey, how's it going?" Xander asked with a grin as he sat down next to Angel in the cafeteria. The other guys at the table looked on in amusement.
"Are you lost, MonkeyBoy?" the larger of the two men asked and Xander laughed nervously.
"No, no, I just... I thought I could do you a favour is all" he shrugged, glad when Angel looked intrigued, "Cos I know what a drag it must be having to pretty much baby-sit your brother all the time"
"Be careful what you say about him, Harris" Angel said dangerously, "He's my family"
"Oh yeah, and what a great family you have" Xander agreed whole-heartedly, always very aware of how easily he could get his face smashed in if he said the wrong thing, "See, I was thinking, now the rules have changed at Casa de Summers, your brother has a chance of dating Dawnie, just so long as you can find a guy to take out her sister"
"You know a guy that could deal with Buffy?" Angel laughed, "Or would want to these days"
"That's my point" Xander nodded, "See the guy in the corner?" he said, gesturing vaguely to where Spike was sat with his feet propped up on the table, the famed plain covered book in one hand and a cigarette in the other, despite the fact three different members of staff had told him to put it out already.
"The new freak?" Angel asked, looking as if he might actually be interested in what Xander had to say.
"Uh-huh" he nodded, "I'm thinking you put a little cash his way, he might just do it"
"Maybe" Angel considered it, and Xander shot Andrew a secret signal of success before paying attention again, "What I'm not understanding is why you want to help me get Connor a date with Dawn" Angel asked suspiciously.
Xander's nervous laugh returned.
"Can't one guy just help out another guy?" he asked, and the look in the other man's eyes told him he wasn't buying it, "Okay so maybe I was looking for a small amount of payback" Xander sighed, "You're cool and stuff, I know I'm not, so maybe if I see you in the halls and I say hi, you say hi back" he suggested.
"And you're cool by association" Angel smirked, "I guess that works" he agreed as he looked over at where Spike was being dragged out of the cafeteria by the Principal. He was a bad-ass alright, and a good match for Buffy these days. Angel would pay quite a bit to get Connor out of his way for a while, and if the little blonde he used to care for got screwed over by Spike in the process, that'd just be a bonus.
"Hey, BleachBoy" Angel called as the various miscreants of Sunnydale High piled out of detention. He'd hung around on purpose after school to meet Spike, and hopefully convince him by way of monetary gain to date Buffy Summers.
"You talking to me, nancy boy?" Spike asked as he turned and looked at Angel with an eyebrow raised. The hall around them emptied til it was just the two of them and Angel looked daggers at the bleached blond with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Watch your tone, Spike" the brunette said dangerously, "I'm here to make you a deal"
"A deal?" Spike asked, semi-intrigued now, "What kind of deal?" he asked.
"Let's walk" Angel told him, striding down the hall. Spike was wary at first but soon followed, finding himself stopping behind the Great Git outside the first floor gym. Peering through the glass he saw a group of girls practising what first appeared to be aerobics of some sort, until of course they turned on each other. Some kind of martial arts, possibly a self defence class was taking place and some of these women knew their stuff, Spike realised, wincing as one blonde girl smashed another face first into the mat with very little effort.
"See the blonde with the almost scary strength" Angel smirked, "That's Buffy Summers" he told Spike, "And I want you to go out with her"
Spike snorted at that as he dug in his packet of fags.
"Yeah, that's really going to happen, mate" he chuckled, lighting himself a cigarette, "Why exactly do you think I'd date a girl like that just cos you say so?"
"Because I'm willing to pay you" came Angel's swift answer, "Fifty bucks a date"
Spike stared at the other man, head tilted as he did so, before he glanced back through the glass panel of the door at the gorgeous but obviously crazy blonde they were discussing.
"Say I agreed to this?" he said, still watching her as he spoke to Angel, "What's in it for you?" he wanted to know.
"Her Mom has rules about her baby girls dating" he rolled his eyes, "Dawn, she's a sophomore, and my brother's into her, but she can't date unless someone takes out Buffy" Angel explained, "I'd do it myself but we have history and I can do without a repeat" he said cryptically, but Spike was paying little attention to the git's rambling anyway.
"You must love your brother" he commented, smirking around his cigarette, "To be shelling out all this cash for the sake of a couple of dates"
"He's had a rough time" Angel shrugged, "Nobody pays him much attention and he hangs around me all the damn time" he explained, an angry edge to his voice, "If I can get him dating Dawn, maybe I'll get a little peace and he'll learn to have more confidence or something" he sighed, "Anything to get him out of my way and out of trouble too"
Spike was only half listening as he watched Buffy whale on another girl, this time a brunette. They were more evenly matched than the earlier fight, but Blondie still won in the end. Spike liked her already, she was different to the other girls in this school, a challenge he could really sink his teeth into, and if he could get paid for his trouble as well...
"Reckon you got yourself a deal, mate" he smiled, holding his cigarette in his mouth as he shook Angel's hand.
Money exchanged hands and the brunette then walked away, leaving Spike to wait for Buffy to exit the gym. The after school club should be over at any moment, he thought, and was proved right as most of the girls dispersed, some of them eyeing him up as they came out the door. He paid little attention to them as he waited for Buffy, but she never came.
With a frown, Spike took another look through the glass panel in the door to see Miss Summers was still inside, practising her moves. She wasn't sticking to the things she'd been taught in class anymore and was getting overly gymnastic in her movements.
"Bloody hell" Spike said to himself as he stared, "That brings a whole new meaning to the phrase flexible friend" he smirked as she flipped over backwards with ease.
Spike decided it was good a time as any to make his entrance. He was applauding as he walked into the room, startling Buffy and making her turn sharply. She eyed the stranger suspiciously as he came towards her.
"Nice moves, luv" he told her, "Don't reckon you're a girl to be messed with"
"First of all I'm not a girl, I'm a woman" Buffy snapped, "And second, what kind of pervert are you?"
"Hey, I am not!" Spike denied it vehemently, "Was just looking is all, was impressed with how you handle yourself. Reckon more women should learn this stuff myself" he lied, hoping to be complimentary of her skills.
"You do?" Buffy asked, not really sure whether to believe him or not, he didn't exactly look like the trustworthy type.
"I do" he agreed, "'S not a safe world we live in" he continued as he circled around her where she stood, getting a good look at her, "Never know when some nasty bugger might jump out at you and try to take advantage"
"Nasty buggers, huh?" she echoed, "You mean guys like you?" she asked matter-of-factly.
"Oh pet, now that hurts" Spike told her, putting his hand over his heart, "Wounded to the core, I am" he said with mock pain, "Reckon you'll have to come out with me Friday night to apologise now"
"Yeah, right" Buffy said sarcastically as she walked across the room to pick up her towel and bottle of water, before heading for the door, "Contemplate getting over yourself for two seconds" she called back to him, "and try not to ever talk to me again" she smiled sweetly as she exited the room and stalked off down the hall. He thought she was angry and sarcastic, which was what she'd intended, but the truth was she actually kind of respected him for daring to try it on with her.
'Not that I'd ever actually date him' she thought to herself as she went into the girls locker room, already knowing deep down that was an out and out lie.
To Be Continued...