Title: Secrets Don't Make Friends (Pt 18-Getting Down to Business)
Author: DivaDelilah (divadelilah@aol.com)
Description: Set in late Season 4, after Faith has body switched and is in prison.
Adam isn't in play, Spike is working with the Scoobies reluctantly.
Disclaimer: They're not mine, but at least I treat 'em right. Joss, Mutant Enemy,
and Fox own all…I'm just daydreaming.
Distribution: Fanfiction.net, assorted lists, and anything I okay.
Feedback: Every Diva needs her praise. So Praise me!
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Buffy had a million questions whirling around in her head, but all her body
wanted to do was rest. She latched her arms around Spike's neck and waited for
him to carry her to the bed. He raised an eyebrow at her, but carried her over
and deposited her on the satin comforter nonetheless. She yawned and motioned
for him to join her.
"Tired, luv? It's really only mid-day for us, you know," he grinned.
"I'm not used to vampire hours yet," she whined. "And as much
as I want to know why we just offered to have a threesome with Angel, I can't
hardly keep my eyes open." She stripped the pants off her lower half and
twined her legs with his, her head resting on his hard chest.
"Probably because he may be a righteous poofy arse, but he's still damn
sexy. I know from experience that we would have had one helluva night, too.
Aside from the whole soul losing deal," Spike mused. "That wanker's
idea of perfect bliss just might be you and I naked and bloody, pet. He always
was a kinky bastard. Guess it's best that he stayed with the bitch then."
Buffy smiled a purely feline grin at Spike, imagining him and Angel, one on
each side of her, hard and cold, their hands caressing her. Yeah, I can see
how that might qualify as perfect bliss. I have got to get Willow to
work on that happiness clause. This is just too good of an idea to pass up!
She buried her face in Spike's neck, purring as she felt herself slip into unconsciousness.
Mmmm, my own pet vampires…was her last thought.
Spike felt his insides turn to mush as he watched the Slayer sleep on his chest.
When did I become such a bloody soft wanker? he thought. Dru was right.
I reek of the Slayer. And I'm happy about it. Wouldn't she be jealous of my
semi-reunion with good old Dad. Spike frowned, pushing all thoughts of his
Princess to the back of his mind. The last sodding thing he needed was Dru to
read his mind in the stars and make a beeline for Sunnydale. And truth be told,
thoughts of Dru depressed him anymore because he'd finally realized that his
love for her had been nothing compared to what he felt for Buffy. It hurt him
to know that, but it was true. He shook his head, preferring to concentrate
instead on the thoughts he'd plucked from Buffy's mind before she fell asleep.
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The early morning sun was blinding as the Scoobies filtered in one by one the
next day, most still rubbing the sleep from their eyes. Giles was, as usual,
well rested and sipping a cup of tea at his desk while poring through some of
his 'forbidden' books he'd retrieved from his locked cabinet.
Willow and Tara stumbled in, both sporting ponytails and sloppy looking research
clothes, and headed straight for the couch. Xander and Anya arrived next, bearing
doughnuts, coffee to brew, and blood bags from Willie's. Xander flopped on the
couch next the Witches, rubbing his eyes tiredly and running his hands through
his tousled bed head. Anya started the coffee perking and placed the blood in
the fridge.
Angel, Cordy and Wes soon followed, with a perfectly made up and rested looking
Cordy dragging the haggard men in tow. Xander grinned ruefully at the vampire
and ex Watcher, knowing the Hell that is mornings with Cordelia.
Anya walked into the room with coffee and plates for doughnuts on a tray, and
handed Angel his mug. He took a drink, surprised to find it to be coffee laced
with blood at a perfect temperature. His eyebrow raised at her and she smiled.
"Spike likes his morning 'cocktail' this way. I figured you might, too.
Although if it's not perfect, I doubt you'll yell 'For God's sakes, woman, get
it bloody right! Are you trying to poison me?'," she said grinning.
Angel chuckled. "No, I won't. Hell, I can't think of anyone who's ever
made my coffee with blood sweetener before. It's actually pretty good, Anya.
Thank you."
"No problem. I had Xander get pig's blood especially for you. We don't
keep that in our fridge like we do Spike's supply," she replied, walking
away to distribute her goodies to the others.
Angel looked at Xander. "Spike's supply?"
The teen shrugged yawning. "Everyone keeps blood for Bleach Boy at their
house. You know, in case we have to hole up or he's hurt on patrol. Buffy insists.
Heh. Though now I guess she can just give him a fresh fix, huh?"
At a loss for words, the dark vampire contemplated for a minute. "But
Anya said you had to pick up pig's blood special. What the hell do you keep
for Spike?"
"Human. Willie talked some tech at the hospital into giving him the contaminated
stuff from the blood bank, which he then sells to Buffy. Spike bitched about
it at first, but he got over it when Buffy gave him the stare of death. Guess
it was more like a 'do it or make friends with Mr Lefty' look more than a 'do
it or meet Mr Pointy' look in retrospect." Xander grabbed a doughnut and
began stuffing it into his mouth hungrily.
Angel rubbed his temples wearily. They bought stolen human blood for Spike
to keep at their houses. They let him patrol with Buffy. What don't they
do for my Childe? And why were they never this accepting of me?
Cordelia came up to him and put her arms around his waist. "Look, I may
be mad at you, but I can tell you're going into brood mode about how well they
treat Spike. Things were different back then Angel. They were more black and
white: vamps bad, humans good. For the most part, you changed that. And
now, it's just a great big gray area, especially where Spike is concerned. However,
this doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you for being so torn about not getting
to shack up with the Blonde Bombshells," she said, pulling away from him.
"Cordy, I tried to explain to you-"
"No way. I'm not buying it, Soulfang. I don't care about the old days,
a Sire's connection or any of that. If you care about me, it should be enough
to keep you from even wondering about that kind of thing, much less lusting
for it." And she walked away, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor.
"Hey guys?" Willow asked. "Aren't Buffy and Spike supposed to
be here by now? How can we start without them? They're kind of like our lab
rats."
As if on cue, Buffy and Spike burst in, smoking blanket flapping behind them
like a cape. They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Buffy put her
fingers up over her head like Batman's cowl, and Spike gave himself a Robin
mask with his fingers. Buffy caught her breath and kissed him quickly then pulled
away, wrinkling her nose.
"Holy Blood breath, Robin. You need a breath mint," she quipped.
"Oh ha bloody ha Slayer. You know I haven't even had breakfast yet. Speaking
of which, demon girl?" he called.
"She has a name Spike. It's Anya. An-ya. And she's not your slave,"
Buffy retorted.
"S'right, you are. But Lucifer'll be wearing a toboggen before
I let you cook me anything. I remember the meatloaf incident," he said,
grinning at the rest of the gang.
"Oh, God," Xander muttered. "Even I couldn't force that down."
"Because the Slayer put my blood on it instead of the ketchup sauce,"
Spike said, shaking with laughter.
"Oh my God, I'm gonna be sick," Xander said, turning green. "You
let me eat an entire piece and never told me?"
Spike grinned maniacally. "What? You expected something different?"
Anya walked in carrying his mug and handed it to him. He gave her a quick peck
on the cheek before saying, "Bloody marvelous, pet. You're a lifesaver."
Grabbing Buffy's hand, he lead her to the armchair where the whole mess had
started and settled in. She sat on his lap, munching on a doughnut. Her pink
mug sat directly in front of his Sex Pistols mug, the contrast in their personalities
evident.
Giles cleared his throat, and everyone tuned to look at him. "If you children
are done behaving like well, children, we should be getting down to business.
Before our meeting at Angel's last night, Wesley and I devised a plan of action
for unearthing more information about claims. We have decided, for now, against
contacting the Council, simply because we don't know if they would choose to
harm Buffy."
Spike cut him off with a bone-jarring growl. "They had better not come
within a bloody inch of my mate, Rupert, or so help me… I might just have
to learn to overcome the headaches." His demon eyes glittered with malice,
and no one in the room doubted his words.
"Yes, well, that is the exact reason we have decided to conduct the preliminary
research on our own. We also need to find some information on a spell the girls
and I did last evening, and what it may have brought to light. Buffy, have you
had any strange dreams lately?"
You mean, besides the one where Spike and I won the Ice Capades? she
thought wryly. A low chuckle brought her out of her reverie, and she found Spike
snickering at her.
"Luv, the bloody Ice Capades?" was all he could muster.
Buffy turned bright red as everyone stared at her. "Nope. No overtly Slayer-ish
dreams, obviously," she muttered glaring at Spike. 'You are so getting
it when we get home, Fangbreath.' she growled in her head.
'Ooh, really? Wanna tie me up this time and be the Big Bad Slayer?'
he shot back. Buffy's face flushed again, and Spike bobbed his eyebrows.
Angel's nose caught the scent again and he shook his head. What is it with
those two? He couldfeel Spike's eyes on the side of his face, daring him
to find out why they were so addicted to each other. He had a feeling it wouldn't
take long for him to find out. Damn it. I'm with Cordy, I'm with Cordy…I
just have to keep telling myself that, he thought.
Giles gave all three of them a stern glare and even Spike had the grace to
look sheepish. "We are going to divide the work in this manner. Willow,
you and Cordelia will surf the Web and try to wrest some information about claims,
and possibly the Asian demons, from there. Wesley, Tara, Anya and I are going
to try some supernatural means of gathering information. Angel, you and Xander
are going to get a list of the people who are close to Buffy, with the exceptions
of ourselves, and visit them trying to find the recipient of the spell. Also,
you will get as much information as possible from the demon community, even
if you must travel to LA to get it. Spike, you and Buffy will patrol tonight,
and I do mean patrol the town, seeking out these Asian demons. Do not engage
them in a fight, as we don't know the extent of their powers; however, we do
need some reconnaisance and keep them from taking any victims. I may send Tara
with you to help out with magick, but I'm not sure just yet. Hopefully, we avoid
even putting the question to the council in this way. Buffy, I also want you
and Spike to train for awhile until dusk; your new powers should be quite useful
in that aspect. Everyone understand?"
Nodding, the teams went to separate areas of the house, starting their respective
contributions quietly. Now was the time for concentration and work. It was possible
that Buffy's life could depend on it.
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