A/N Sorry this is taking so long, guys! It's turning out longer than I planned, but hopefully still good fun! Anyway, as I like to think of this as 'Spaced – The Movie', thought I'd add a minor role for Benedict Cumberbatch (I've heard he needs the work, poor love. Lol!). His job is basically to help Daisy and make our lovely Tim jealous! Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Of Bats And Benedict Cumberbatch

Hi, I'm Daisy Steiner. Don't use your real name, you idiot. Hi, I'm... Oh for Christ's sake you're a writer, think of a character name. Daisy exited Camden Town tube station and headed in the direction of London Zoo. Her inner monologue was arguing with itself and she had so far failed to come up with a single logical explanation for why she needed bat excrement, let alone any of the other things on her list. As she approached the entrance, she decided that, as a terrible liar, she had better stick as closely to the truth as possible. She bought a ticket and wandered around until she found the bat house. One of the zoo keepers was holding a bat for people to see close up in the foyer. And joy of joys, it being Halloween, it was a vampire bat. Daisy loitered about, trying to look inconspicuous, whilst simultaneously attempting to send telepathic messages telling the creature it needed to go to the toilet.

"Would you like to hold it?"

Daisy was startled out of her intense concentration by an unrealistically young looking zoo employee. She blinked, forcing herself to focus.

"Sorry, what?"

"You've been standing here quite a while, I just wondered if perhaps you wanted to hold the bat?" Flustered, Daisy inexplicably flirted with him.

"Oh, so you noticed me here, did you?" She asked seductively.

The lad looked suddenly awkward.

"Well, it's er... nearly five, so we're about to close the bat house actually."

Daisy suddenly found the tiled floor extremely interesting.

"Oh, of course, sorry." She mumbled, cheeks flaming, and turned to leave. Then she remembered why she was there and decided that, as she had already begun humiliating herself, she might as well finish the job.

"Actually..." She glanced at his name badge. "...Jake. There is something I'm hoping you could help me with. This is going to sound a bit odd but, I was hoping I could get..." She paused, unsure of the terminology which would cause her the least embarrassment whilst still conveying the intended meaning. "Well, obviously, it's Halloween, you know, and me and my friends are having a party, and... well we're going to have like a sort of cauldron thing, er, in the living room, and it's all going to be a witches theme, and all the lighting's going to be green and everything, and I thought it would be cool if we had some really gruesome stuff to put in the cauldron, and make the party really... er, authentic, you know? So anyway, I was thinking what could I put in this cauldron and I even looked in this stup, er, this book that had a spell in it, a fictional book I mean, I don't believe any of that stuff obviously!" She laughed rather manically, and rushed on before a confused Jake could interrupt. "Well, in this book, I forget the title, it listed all these Halloweeny things for a spell, and one of them was... well, bat poo." She broke off, breathless from her frantic speech. Jake was silent and regarding her somewhat warily.

"So you want bat poo too?" He clarified. Daisy heaved a sigh of relief.

"Yes, that would be great, thanks." She paused a beat as she absorbed his words. "What do you mean, 'too'?"

"Well you're not the first to ask for some today, so I guess your party idea isn't all that original." Daisy froze, her brain scrambling to understand the implications of this information.

"Wh... Who else wanted some?"

There was a guy in here just a moment ago." Jake looked up towards the exit. "There he is, red jacket." Daisy allowed herself a single second of indecision, before coming to a conclusion.

"Look, I really need to speak to him, can you get me the stuff and I'll be back in a minute? Please, Jake, it's really important!"

Jake sighed resignedly.

"Oh alright then, I'll think of it as my random act of kindness for the day."

"Thanks!" Daisy grinned and dashed after red jacket man.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" She called after him but he kept hurrying away. She broke into a run and caught hold of his arm. "Excuse me, can I talk to you?"

As he turned to face her, Daisy found herself looking into one of the most handsome faces she had ever seen. She gawped for a full few seconds. Dark, slightly tousled hair, startlingly blue eyes, clean shaven, impressive cheekbones, tall... taller than Tim. He bore more than a passing resemblance to Benedict Cumberbatch. He also looked terrified, and about to run

for it. "It's ok, I... I know, about the, you know..." She glanced left and right and lowered her voice. "zombies."

'Benedict' hesitated, and Daisy continued, almost in a whisper. "I know you just got some bat poo from the bat house and I just asked for some too. You need it for the spell, don't you? You're trying to save someone you love, aren't you? So am I!"

Her last sentence convinced him to at least speak to her.

"Who are you? How do I know you're not involved with the people who did this?" His accent was well-educated, gentlemanly even.

"Well, I suppose you don't know. But I assure you I'm not! Our friend ate some crazy cursed biscuits and..."

"You got the biscuits too?"

"Yes! And now me and my... flatmate are trying to save him with a spell from some book..."

"Malevolent Sugar by Adam Shadowchild."

"Yes, that's it! Blimey, I never thought anyone else would have read that rubbish!" Daisy clapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry. No offence."

Luckily, he laughed briefly, which transformed his aristocratic features into an open and friendly expression.

"It's ok, it's my friend's book. The one who's been... taken." He finished solemnly. "It appears we are both facing the same obstacles, perhaps we can work together? Be of assistance to each other?"

Daisy suspected that Tim would not be a fan of this arrangement.

"Well..."

"I have all the components of the spell now, if you would like to share them."

At the prospect of escaping the certain embarrassment, or worse, the potential for failure, involved in acquiring the rest of the gruesome ingredients, Daisy ignored her misgivings. Besides, he was quite stunningly good looking and the prospect of seeing more of him was not in the least unpleasant.

"That's so kind of you! Thank you." She held out her hand for him to shake. "Partners, then. I'm Daisy, by the way."

"James." He smiled again. It was almost as spectacular as Tim's. Almost.