Packing the huge SUV had taken over an hour. Xander marveled at all of the stuff they were carrying. It looked like a baby superstore had been dropped into the truck’s cargo area. They’d had to rearrange it twice to fit in the long weapons bag, Xander and Spike’s two medium sized duffels and the cooler that held the vampire’s blood supply. Dawn had argued that Angel could furnish the blood, but Spike had refused on the basis that the last time he’d visited Angel’s hotel the house vintage had been “soddin’ crap in a plastic bag” and he wasn’t going to suffer with that for a week. Dawn had given in eventually.
They’d been underway for about thirty minutes when a whine split the air. “Can we listen to something else? I really hate this music.” Xander covered his smirk with his hand as he pushed Spike’s shoulder, reaching over the top of Sara’s car seat to do so. Spike kicked him in the ankle and whined, “Are we there yet, Mom?” He smothered a smirk of his own. Sara looked from one man to the other and then decided to get into the act, merrily flinging Goldfish crackers between the seats at her mother and father. Jase lightly banged his head on the steering wheel and Dawn tried to reprimand Spike, Xander and her daughter at the same time.
She turned to her husband and demanded, “See, Jase? And you want more kids? We’d go insane.” He grinned back at her. “I’m starting to see the merits of population control now. “ He raised his voice so the two hooligans in the backseat were sure to hear him. “If you boys can’t behave, we’re going to have to play Dawn’s Horrifying Music in the Car Game.” Spike’s eyes got huge and he shook his head at Xander emphatically. Xander raised an eyebrow and stuck his head between the front seats. “What on earth is Dawn’s Horrifying Music in the Car Game? Ow!” He jerked his head back as Spike thumped him smartly on the ear.
“What?” he asked the unapologetic vampire. Spike gave him an exasperated look. “What is with you people? You were born on the Hellmouth and you don’t know any better than to ask stupid questions about something already clearly labeled as horrifying? Git.” Xander asked quietly, “Why is it horrifying?” Spike whispered back, “She makes everybody sing, that’s why. Idiot.” Spike crossed his arms over his chest and sat back in his seat with a frown. “Oh,” Xander said in a small voice. “Who gets to pick the songs?” Spike scowled at him. “She does, mostly. And I am not singing ‘White Wedding’, Dawn.” This was directed at the front seat. Dawn looked over her seat with a gleam in her eye. “’Rebel Yell’ then?”
“No.”
“’Mony Mony’?”
“No way.”
“I got it. “ She held up a CD. “’Rock the Cradle of Love’. Come on, Spike – you know you want to. You’re a complete sucker for the Billy Idol oldies.”
Spike snorted, but didn’t deny her accusation. “Hmpf. Well, I’m not going first, Bit.” He tried to maintain his glare, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. “It’s your game; you should have to go first.”
“No,” she replied. “We have to do a group number first.”
Xander broke in. “Didn’t I already cause something like this with that singing, dancing, burning-up-from-the-inside demon?”
Spike gave him a direct look. “Oh, yes, you did, whelp. Did I ever thank you properly for that? I sang to Buffy, you know. Very heartfelt; very humiliating. Thanks tons, luv. It was great.”
Xander touched the top of his shoulder and said with a teasing tone, “Don’t be bitter, baby.” He noticed Spike’s eyebrows rise and his eyes widen. Hmmmm, he thought. The vampire likes to be called “baby”. File that away for future use.
Dawn squealed and opened a CD case. “OK, Xander – if you don’t know this one it’s a crime. It was old when you were in high school.” Xander smiled when the opening notes of Billy Joel’s “You May Be Right” thundered out of the stereo. He laughed out loud when everyone in the car launched into the song, with little Sara babbling along. Xander could hear Dawn’s high voice over everyone, and he remembered Spike’s surprisingly good, growly tenor. He leaned forward slightly and was floored to hear a deep, basso profundo voice rolling out of Jase. Dawn caught his expression and shrugged at him as if to say, “go figure”. Xander stopped caring what he or the others sounded like and applied his perfectly adequate singing voice to the chorus.
“You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
Turn out the light
Don’t try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right”
The song ended and they all laughed as Sara clapped her chubby little hands and cried out “Again, again!” Jase opted to go next and sang a slow country ballad that Xander had never heard before to his wife. Xander thought Jase’s voice was much better than the guy on the CD’s and told him so. Jase ducked his head shyly at the compliment. Dawn went next, and sang a Sara McLaughlin song that was suited to her high range. Once she finished she changed the CD and the driving beat of “Rock the Cradle of Love” started. Xander watched Spike in the darkness, wishing he had the vampire’s night vision.
Spike’s voice wrapped around the words of the song and he easily hit every note. The sensual growl in his tone was making Xander feel soft and squishy inside when the blue eyes turned to him and Spike sang the last part of the song directly to him. He smirked at Xander as he finished up and then immediately started badgering the other man to pick a song. Xander held up his hands in mock surrender. “I have one, hang on a sec.” He twisted around in his seat and reached for the CD case he had transferred from the Mercedes to the SUV on impulse. He passed a disc to Dawn and asked her to cue up track 7. As the simple guitar notes started he told the others, “You’ll have to chime in on the chorus.”
As soon as Xander started singing, the others started laughing. His chosen song was a slow, partially rapped version of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown”. Xander knew the rap by heart, and as soon as the chorus started the others chimed in.
“Sundown you better take care
If I find you been creeping round my back stair
Sometimes I think it’s a shame
When I get feeling better
When I’m feeling no pain”
When the song ended they all laughed themselves breathless, and Jase begged Dawn to play the song again, and Xander to sing it again. They both complied, and the whole group sang the song again. They took a break while Dawn searched for another group sing, and Xander turned to Spike.
“You have a nice singing voice,” he remarked. “I like it.” Spike smiled and ducked his head a little.
“Thanks, luv. Many decades of practice. Yours isn’t too bad, either – I really liked your song.” Xander returned the smile. “It just struck me the first time I heard it – made me laugh, so I kept it.” Spike’s smile turned wistful. “So, if I make you laugh, are you going to keep me?” he asked, too softly for the others to hear. Xander put his arm along the back of the seat and tugged lightly at the blond hair until blue eyes met brown ones in the gloom. He traced his fingers along the shell of Spike’s ear for a moment and replied, his voice husky. “I think that could be arranged.” He watched as Spike’s tongue darted out to moisten his lips and wished like hell that they were alone.
“Oh.” They both turned toward the soft sound to find Dawn looking at them from the front seat, her eyes huge. She quickly shut her mouth, which had been hanging open, and said, “Sara’s asleep, so no more singing for a while.” She tried to hide her brilliant smile as she turned back around to the front of the car. She rummaged in her CD case for a while and chose a CD that she knew contained moody, atmospheric, romantic songs. She slid it into the player, happy to be contributing a little to what she hoped she was seeing. Her hand stole out to clasp her husband’s where it rested on his thigh.
The fingers that had been tracing against the inside of Xander’s elbow moved up to encircle his bicep and squeeze. “We’re here, pet,” Spike whispered. Xander had fallen asleep shortly after Sara. He had started to struggle a bit in his sleep, so Spike had started rubbing soothing circles on his arm, which had remained draped over the seat back. He’d calmed, and Spike had kept up the contact for the rest of the trip.
The car was sitting in a front space in an underground parking garage. Xander assumed it was attached to Angel’s hotel, the Chanticleer. Angel had moved his business several times after the destruction of the Hyperion, but had eventually realized he liked the hotel setup. The Chanticleer was a restored Art Deco hotel in an old section of L.A. Xander stepped out of the SUV and stretched, then smiled while he watched Spike deftly wrestle Sara out of her car seat without waking her. He settled her against his shoulder and shut the car door softly. Dawn opened the cargo area and they grabbed as much of the luggage as they could carry. They walked to a set of glass doors and Dawn punched a code into a security keypad. The doors slid back and a computerized voice said, “Welcome to the Chanticleer.” They stepped in and proceeded to an elevator located directly in front of them. A bell chimed as the car arrived, and Sara stirred. Spike traded the waking girl to Dawn for the duffel and diaper bag she carried as they boarded the elevator.
Xander took in a large breath and let it out slowly. Spike leaned against him and whispered in his ear. “No big deal, luv – it’s just the same old gang.” Xander bent slightly to rest his head against the blond waves. The elevator doors opened and they were attacked.
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