Title: The Ride Over: Stop One, Pt 3
Author: Delilah (divadelilah@aol.com), Jess (rock3rbaby@cs.com), Lin (spikes_angel01@yahoo.au), Diurnal (diurnal@magma.ca), Hawk (nighthawk_xanman@yahoo.com), Shelby (tonka_toy7@hotmail.com)
Description: Series started by an invitation to Two and Tracy's party. Pretty much a round robin.
Disclaimer: In short, Spike's not ours and thanks goddess, neither is Riley. Joss/Fox/SandDollar/Mutant Enemy/UPN own them. However, we all own our respective bots and clones.
Distribution: DivaDelilah's Domain, any author sites, Nuts N Bolts and various lists. Hell, just tell us where it's going.
Feedback: Come on baby, light my fire…
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Angeline smiled at him serenely, and Seth took the oppurtunity to siddle up to his mistress. Fangy thought warily that it was more to gape at Asmara.

Fangy strode out of the cafe, his gait panther-like-exuding an aura of grace and danger as his black duster flared out behind him. Shelby and Peirce hurried to catch up with him.

Fangy spotted them, Damean and the cop. Damean wasn't making it easy for the cop and was in fact antagonising him just by standing there, entire body revving for a fight.

Fangy sighed. This, to say the least wasn't going to be easy. He didn't know how Damean would take his help, if in fact he would allow him to come closer then 10 feet. There were tensions present here that couldn't just be cast aside.

Fangy frowned, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from stopping the young bot, intent on self-destruction from achieving his goal.

"Officer, is something the matter?"

The cop whirled around, eyes widening as he took in Fangy, "Uh...sir...is this your brother?"

Fangy grinned, the tip of his tongue pressing against his teeth, as he let the curve of his fangs flash. "You can say that."

Damean glared sullenly at Fangy. Since Jess and Damean had joined thier little band of travellers, Damean had made a point of not looking in Fangy's direction.

Fangy returned his gaze evenly, hoping that the git would have sense enough to keep his mouth shut.

"Well your brother was caught vandalising..."

Fangy frowned, "Vandalising? Had a can of paint in his hand did he?"

The cop frowned, his confident demeanor vanishing before the calm of the man that stood before him, "Uh...no..."

Fangy relaxed, the set of his shoulders slumping slightly as he grinned. He took out a packet of cigarettes. "You mind?" he waved the pack around, waiting for a response.

The cop shook his head, frown seeming to be permanently imbedded in his forehead.

"Thanks." Fangy lit up, inhaling deeply. "My girl's right fussy about this you know." He blew out the smoke, flashing a grin at the cop. "All fussy about the smoke and ashes and all that rot."

The cop nodded, "Know what you mean, missus is the same with me."

Fangy offered the man his pack, but he shook his head.

"Patch."

Fangy smirked, "Right." He took another deep puff, before grounding the cigarette beneath one heel. "Now about my brother officer - you say he didn't have a can of paint on him. You have evidence?"

The sudden change of manner caught the cop off-guard, "Uh...well..."

Fangy tilted his head to the side, "Do you or don't you?"

"Well...no...but..."

Fangy shrugged, waving the stuttering cop's next words away, "There you have it right mate! No harm, no foul 'ey?"

While the cop still stuttered, Fangy fluidly steered him away from the now simmering Damean. "You see officer, the bloke's having a little trouble with his girl too...you know how it is..."

The cop glanced over his shoulder, at Damean who's eyes were shooting daggers at Fangy's back, "Angry young fellow isn't he?"

Fangy shrugged, "One of those days." He straightened, "Now - we're all done here right mate? You go back to your pretty lil missus and I'll get back to my girl." He winked at the cop, "Wouldn't want some other bloke sweeping her away you know."

A grin finally broke out on the cop's face. "Right - especially when you have a right pretty one."

Fangy puffed out, a glow brightening his face. "And my girl is the prettiest little thing."

The cop nodded, "You take care of her."

Fangy nodded, "Don't you worry about that mate."

With a few more congenial words, another rejected offer of a smoke, and a wave, the threat was diffused as the cop walked away.

Shelby grinned at Fangy, going to hug him around the waist. "You were great!"

Fangy hugged her back, "Well you know pet, no one quite like me after all."

It was the wrong thing to say.

"I didn't need you."

Fangy looked up at Damean, "Yeah, and you would've ended up sitting behind that git, and being driven away."

Damean snorted, "I could've taken him."

A burst of fury exploded from Fangy, as he moved around Shelby, "You stupid git! You want that badly out of this whole thing, say the word. I ripped you to pieces once, I'll do it again."

"You just try it!" Damean spat out.

Fangy was about to just leap in and bring Damean down, remind the git that after all, he was only a big walking pile of electrical circuits. But he hung back, letting his anger simmer down from the boil. "Do you like seeing Jess cry?"

Damean who had fallen into a fighting stance was taken aback, "What? No..."

"Then why the hell do you keep doing this?" Fangy asked bluntly.

A car pulled up, and Fangy turned, a smile breaking out on his face.

"Pet!"

Hawk slid out of the car, Skitzo getting out at the same time.

"Hey Fangy!" she peered around him, "And everyone else."

"Good to see you found us." Fangy hugged her warmly.

"It took a lot of speeding but we made it." she hugged him back.

"Whelp." he nodded cheerfully at Skitz, who snorted.

"Nice to see you too Fang."

Shelby hugged Hawk, and ushered the newest arrivals into the cafe, leaving Fangy and Damean.

Fangy's gaze hardened as he glanced at Damean, without another word, he strode back into the cafe and back to his Lin.

Damean strode passed Hawk, and Skitz and walked up to Fangy put his hand oh his shoulder turning the Clone around in the swivel stool he sat on.

"1) I did not need your help. 2)I do not make her cry!" Damean said trying to believe that more himself. "And 3) I'd rather go to jail then get help from you, and 4) Seems to me you were never sorry, didn't care, just a pile of wires right," Damean told Fangy. "Well then dont bother to help this pile of nothing but metal and wires!" Damean told Fangy.

Damean went off to look for Jess. He found her her through the pile of people.

"Pet I'm sorry about everything." She didnt respond to him. He looked at her. "I'm sure you can get a ride home with someone; I think it's better if I go home," he turned and walked out of the building.

Jess still said nothing.

Skitz looked at Damean then back at Adeline. She nodded and Skitz ran off after Damean. "Hey Damean, wait up. Where you going? We just got here and
you're leaving?" he said. "Come on back inside. I know you might feel like shit now. Wanna know how to feel better? Buckets of cold water are a great
way to cheer someone up. That is if you're not the one getting wet." he grinned. "How about it? You help me do something. Adeline said I couldn't throw water on her anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't get someone else to do it." Skitz held up the bucket and grinned. "Come on."

"So at last we meet eh?" Damean told Skitz."Well if you must know I'm going 'ome; Jess would 'ave a better time alone," he told the Xander bot, "never seen a xander bot before."

"Well, now you have." Skitz said. "How do you know that Jess would have a better time without you? You asked her? Or did you assume that?" he continued. "Never assume."

Peirce joined Skitz and Damean then , holding a glass of beer. 'Skitz! Glad you could make it. Damean I 'eard you're leavin. What's with that? You think she's upset now, wait till you leave. Don't matter 'ow many times we screw up, they love us. Makin 'em cry all the time is not part of it mate."

Skitz nodded in agreement. Peirce heard Damean mutter something unaudible. When Damean still looked unconvinced Peirce put an arm around the shoulder of the young bot.

"Look at 'er, out there dancin' with the other birds, pretending to 'ave a good time. She's waitin' for you to cool 'yer heels and apologize. Sure all the fightin is neccisary sometimes, not all the time though. Just cool it eh? So whats it gonna be?" Damean continued to simmer in his spot. Skitz and Peirce exchanged looks and shrugged.

"I'm goin' to dance with my lady before she gets swooped up." Peirce announced, slamming down his empty beer glass. "You do what you want obviously. Just remember 'eres a little lady out there that loves every bit of you."

Damean looked at Pierce then Skitz and sighed, "Talk to you two later." He went back inside and wandered through the crowed shooting a glare at Fangy as he passed. He tapped Jess on the back and she turned.

"Thought you were leaving," she said.

"Changed my mind," he said.

"Good." she replied. Damean hugged her and whispered, "I really am sorry."

"I know," Jess told him, "its ok."

Shelby nudged Peirce in his side and whispered. "Look! They hugged! I love happy endings!"

Peirce gave Damean a thumbs up and a wink while Jess was busy hugging Damean.

"Me too luv. Those two crazy kids deserve it."

****************************************************************************************************************************

Loki lead a Linde Turn, and Diurnal stepped into it, pressing herself close to his body as they swung around each other. She was flushed. so sweaty that her glasses threated to slide off at any moment, and her hair had once again worked itself free from the knot she'd tied into it. She was a mess, and she was having a blast.

Her partner, curse his battery-powered heart, remained cool and sexy as ever. Since there was little point in trying to out-dance him, she surrendered to the inevitable and tilted her head toward the table.

He replied with a triumphant grin and lead her into an American Spin. They came to an abrupt halt facing each other, right palms pressed together between them. Loki's intense blue gaze captured her own, and suddenly the energetically swinging bodies, the music, the dance hall itself seemed to drop away. Di's heart pounded in her ears. She loved the way he looked at her sometimes, as if she were the answer to every question he hadn't yet thought to ask; it was seductive and frightening in equal measure.

The moment broke when his eyes crinkled up with laughter, and she realized that he'd asked her some question. The rest of the world reformed around them while she coped with her sudden embarrasment. Di folded her fingers through his and tugged him closer. "I think the couple in the white-tops are getting tired of eating my hair. I'm gonna effect repairs -- fetch me some water?"

Loki nodded, obviously not fooled in the least as he brushed a kiss across her damp temple. He lead her to Lin's side, and headed for the bar.

Di grinned and shook her head when Lin patted the chair next to her. Tempting as it was to just flop into the seat and indulge in a relaxing coronary, she had other things on her mind. Shelby, Fangy and Peirce were heading outside at a determined pace, leaving a handful of their party at the table. A quick glance around the restaurant finally showed her Deli lining up along one side of the dance floor with most of the other women. "Did they announce a Fellas Choice number while I was zoned out?"

"They did," Angeline said. "And Fangy was going to dance with me, but --"

"Then let's go. We can't have you waiting around until whenever he decides to come back." Di tugged Lin to her feet. "Come on, Asmara. You'll want to get in on this action."

Asmara watched the two of them for a moment from half-lidded eyes, before getting to her feet, trailing her hands along Chris' arms as she left him. Chris let her go, but he looked less than happy about it.

While the Drubot glided onto the dance floor after Lin, Di hung back to explain. "It's Fellas Choice, Chris. If you want her, you'll have to go claim her." She winked at Seth on her way past. Lin and Asmara had already lined up beside Deli when she caught up.

Men milled about the dance floor, and began selecting partners, just as Di wondered how she'd managed to skip taking a break. She looked around for Loki, but in the confusion found only one bleached head as -- was that Raj? Yes, Raj -- prowled straight toward Deli.

Dishevelled as she was, Di somehow found her hand in the grip of a tall brunette in spats. He smiled at her. "I'm Greg. Whaddya say we cut a rug?" She'd seen him earlier, tossing a tiny blond girl about in some pretty acrobatic moves.

"Sure Greg," she answered. "I'd just like to keep my feet on the ground for this one, if we --" The music kicked in before she could finish, a fast and furious rendition of Sing, Sing, Sing, and she was soon very busy keeping up with Greg.

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