A/N Thanks for the response to last chapter - the most reviews per chapter I've received yet! Keep it up...
Seeing as my beta is MIA, I decided to post without her - sorry, POP! - so you may see a few mistakes - feel free to point them out. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope you work out the cliffie...
SUMMARY: After two failed relationships, Tara and Willow sign a relunctant Buffy up to an online dating service. But what Buffy refuses to accept as a perfect match, may turn out to prove that this Slayer will never be able to escape a certain blonde vampire...
"Oh please," snorted Coquetta in disgust. "Please don't tell me you're still thinking about her. She's gone. And she totally believed me and you were together."
"I'm not thinking about her," argued Spike, but there was hesitation in his tone.
Coquetta had managed to get Spike back into his armchair, where she sat astride him like a queen upon her throne. She was running her hands up and down Spike's neck - a habit that was quickly getting on his nerves.
"I've got something to show you," he declared, suddenly, shoving her off his lap in a hurry. "Follow me."
Spike led her into the depths of his crypt, and grabbed a lantern as he descended underground. Coquetta followed curiously, her pixie-like footsteps clattering against the stone. Spike reached the darkest corner, and sank to the floor, setting his lantern beside him.
"Here." he beckoned for Coquetta to join him. "What do you think?"
Before them was a fairly large computer screen; the inner rectangle exceedingly scratched and battered, accompanied by a keyboard and a mouse. Spike looked extremely pleased with himself.
"Its..." Coquetta hesitated. "Something."
The smile of satisfaction quickly disappeared from Spike's face.
"Hey, look," he added, hastily, reaching to turn the computer on. "I'll show you what it can do."
The whir of the computer starting up sounded, and Coquetta jumped to her feet anxiously, backing away until she reached the wall. Spike laughed cruelly.
"What's it doing?" she whispered cautiously.
"Just getting ready to explode," he teased, and Coquetta made a worried 'peep' sound. Spike sighed. "Kidding, pet, don't worry. Bloody hell, its like living with the sodding sack o' hammers again."
That sobered Coquetta up. "Don't you dare compare me to Drusilla," she snarled, dragging Spike to the wall, and pressing her body up against his violently. "I've still got all the laces on my boots, mark my words. I am not insane."
Spike stifled a snigger, and pushed the demon away, who was almost spitting in anger. If you say so, pet," he muttered. "Bloody hell."
The chorus of the main menu rang through the icy silence underground, and Spike rushed to attend to it - anything to escape the fiery glare of his companion. His skinny fingers flew across the keyboard, and he moved the mouse expertly.
"Wow," Coquetta observed frigidly. "You sure know what you're doing. Had a lot of practice?"
"Nah," Spike replied, absent-mindedly, as Coquetta wandered away to examine some of his possesions. "Just with email-"
PING!
You have mail - Message 1 of 1: Buffy Summers - Help.
Spike turned carefully to see that Coquetta was thoroughly distracted before accessing his inbox. A message to 'William' from Buffy. She must have forgiven him for 'standing her up'. Spike laughed to himself as he recalled the past events. If Buffy had only realised then that her date was standing before her...
To William, she wrote. I know its late, but something's come up.
Something extremely... bad has come to Sunnydale. I don't know what kind of Law Enforcement you do, but I can tell you whatever kind you do, this thing is going to affect you, and we need to team up to beat it - put our differences behind... and work together. We need to meet. Dusk, at the Bronze. And be there this time.
But I need you to remember something. I haven't forgiven you for standing me up the other night. I still HATE you.
Sweet dreams,
Buffy Summers.
Bugger. Dusk, at the Bronze. Bugger, bugger, bugger.
Buffy had fallen asleep at her computer desk, awaiting a reply, with no such luck. It was morning now, and the harsh sunlight was seeping through the blinds, stinging her eyelids. She groaned, and sat up straight, adjusting the twinge in her neck.
The clock on her computer told her it was 7:30 am. Oh, crap. Dawn was going to be late for school.
She shuffled upstairs and across the landing, and knocked once on Dawn's bedroom door. It was opened quickly, and a fresh-faced Dawn greeted Buffy with a cheery smile.
"No worries," she said, noticing Buffy's worried expression. "I set my alarm clock. I thought maybe you'd have fallen asleep talking to Angel downstairs or something."
"Uh.. yeah," Buffy replied, uneasily. She figured it was easier letting Dawn come to her own conclusions than to tell her the truth. She'd only babble Dawn-style with a million questions about Buffy's planned tryst with William, anyway. "There was lots to catch up on. Two weeks is a long time."
Dawn nodded slowly, then bent down to kiss her sister on the cheek. "Xander's calling," she said. "I'll see you when I get home from school."
Buffy watched her sister skip past her and downstairs, and waited till she heard the door slam before wandering back to the dining room and the computer. There was still no reply. Damn.
She switched the computer off, and went about pouring herself some orange juice. While taking several small sips, she wondered where Angel was right now...
"Stupid git," decided Giles. "Only an idiot like Spike would find himself a demonic girlfriend."
"Here," said Angel, handing him the book Giles had asked him to fetch from the top shelf of the bookcase.
Giles turned to the middle, and began tracing the lines of the text with his fingers, concentrating intensely.
"I could find out what kills a coqueta with my friends back in L.A," Angel told him. "I mean, we're busy, but I could phone Cordelia or Wesley-"
"No, I think I have what I need here," Giles replied. "Just a few hours of research should do it - I can call Tara and Willow to help, too."
"OK then," Angel muttered, feeling unimportant. "Anything I can do to help?"
Giles looked outside the window - the sky turning a pleasant deep lilac as dusk approached. "I don't think so," he answered. "Night's here now - you could catch up with some friends."
Angel smirked. "There was just one I didn't get to visit last night," he said. "I'll be back later, Giles."
"See you later then," Giles murmured, distractedly, focused on reading the text.
Angel slung his leather coat onto his shoulders, and opened the door to face the cool air. He lifted the coat over his face to protect himself from the remaining minutes of sunlight, and followed the well-remembered route to the cemetery - following the snippets of information Buffy had let slip in previous conversation - to the heart of the grounds, searching for his desired destination.
He finally reached the wooden door of a particularly large crypt, and raised a foot to kick it open. Shards of wood were scattered everywhere, and Angel dropped his coat, satisfied it was officially nightime.
"Anybody home?" he called out, and the glamourous form of Coquetta slunk into the doorway.
"Angelus?" she asked in surprise. "I've heard of you. The vampire that went soft."
"I'm here to see Spike," he declared, ignorant of the waves of charisma oozing from Coquetta.
She sighed, and yelled. "William!"
Spike swaggered into sight, holding a bottle of beer between his index finger and his thumb, and leant to kiss Coquetta on the cheek.
"Oh, bloody hell," he moaned at the sight of Angel filling his doorway. "My day just keeps getting better and better."
"Coquetta," Angel said, calmly. "I need to talk to Spike alone."
With a quick 'Whatever' and a sceptical glance, Coquetta slid back indoors, the oodles of charm quickly being replaced by the temperament of a sulking toddler. Angel was on his own with Spike at last, and had to resist throwing a punch. He was here on business, not pleasure.
"Back to see your honey?" asked Spike with a smug grin. "Did you think you'd get in quick now Captain Cardboard's out of the picture?"
"I'm here for you, Spike," Angel spat, and Spike just laughed.
"Uh, no thanks," he replied, with a chilling cackle. "I'll leave it to Buffy to give you the happies."
Angel pushed Spike against the outside wall of his crypt, and dealt him a punch that left Spike seeing stars for a few minutes.
"You stop playing with the demon now," Angel hissed in his ear. "And nobody will get hurt."
"Fine!" Spike shoved Angel to the floor, and adjusted himself, dropping the beer bottle to the floor with an almighty smash. He looked up at the sky, groaning, but then to turned to Angel with a look of inspiration across his face. "Tell you what, poofter, I'll give you a deal."
Angel got off from the floor, and brushed the grass off his body. "I'm listening," he said.
"I'll ditch the sodding diva inside-" he jerked his head towards the inside of his crypt, and dropped his voice to a whisper. "And you do me a favour tonight." He proceeded fowards, closer to Angel. "But you gotta hurry. You're gonna be late."