full 3/4 1/2   skin light dark       
 
You Have to Love Her by Sandy
 
Chapter 8
 
<<     >>
 
It was pure happenstance that Buffy caught sight of the commandos. She had decided to make a quick patrol of the city's cemeteries before returning to campus. Spotting what looked like a vamp nest in one of the mausoleums, she had entered, dusted the occupant and was just leaving when a small noise alerted her. Ducking back out of sight, she saw a group of the black-clad men making a sweep through the cemetery.

After they had passed, she cautiously followed them. Hiding behind trees, crypts, and monuments, she was able to remain unobserved as she kept them in sight. She wasn't surprised to see them finally head towards the UC Sunnydale campus. What did surprise her was their ultimate destination. Using a well-hidden back door, the squad entered Lowell House.

***

The next afternoon Buffy filled the gang in on her discovery.

"Lowell House?" Xander was saying. "That's where the party was the night we got stuck with the Evil Undead here isn't it?"

"Yeah," Willow answered. "Riley lives there. You don't think he's involved with these guys do you?"

"Who's Riley," Spike wanted to know, a scowl darkening his handsome face.

"He's our Psych TA," Willow answered helpfully. "I think he has a crush on Buffy."

Buffy had been deep in thought throughout this conversation, but now she looked up and said, "Yeah, he asked me out for coffee the other day, but I blew him off. I think I'll take him up on the offer now. I suddenly find myself with the burning desire to get to know Mr. Riley Finn much better."

"Gonna Mata Hari him, Buff?" Xander asked excitedly.

"Yeah, well Mata Hari ended up shot, you twit, so I think it's a rotten idea," Spike snapped.

Giles glanced at the sullen vampire, unease once again settling over him. But in this case he again had to agree with Spike. "Buffy, as much as I hate to admit it, Spike is correct. Trying to gain information by dating a possible member of this organization could be extremely dangerous. If he discovers what you are up to, it could very well lead to your own capture and incarceration. I advise that we try to come up with some other means to get further information."

"I'm not saying that this is the only way we try to get information Giles, but if I can get free access to Lowell House by dating Riley, then I can snoop around, see if I can spot anything regarding this group. Meanwhile, Willow can try to find out what she can about the origins of Lowell House."

"What are you planning on doing, Slayer? Sneak around during the dead of night after you've shagged your little college boy unconscious?" Spike asked bitterly.

Buffy frowned at Spike. "Don't be disgusting, Spike. I'm not going to bed with Riley. But it's not unusual for girls to hang out at the frat houses their boyfriends live at."

Spike wasn't mollified, but he held his tongue. The thought of Buffy being with another man, even if it was only a means to gather information, made him burn with frustration. And worry. This was a regular guy, one that could give her all the things he couldn't. He wasn't anywhere near ready to give her up yet. What would he do if she grew tired of him first?

***

Sometimes the fates seemed to shine on Buffy. The cafeteria was crowded the next afternoon, but Riley was seated at a table by himself, a textbook open before him as he ate his lunch.

Buffy approached his table with her tray. "Hi," she said smilingly. "Mind if I join you? All the tables seem to be occupied."

Riley looked up and then broke into a pleased smile. "Sure," he said moving his book out of the way. Buffy placed her dishes on the table and Riley gallantly removed the empty tray for her. When he returned to the table, Buffy nodded to the textbook and remarked, "Quantum Physics, huh? Wow. I thought you were a Psych major."

Riley smiled shyly and said, "Yeah, but I like to know what makes things tick; people, the universe. Actually it was a toss-up as to what my major was going to be."

"Really?" Buffy said surprised. "Funny, you don't look that..." Realizing that her remark bordered on the insulting she stopped speaking.

Riley merely grinned good-naturedly and said, "I don't look that smart, right?" Winking at her he continued, "I know, but you see that gives me an advantage. People think I'm just some big dumb hayseed and open up to me. I can learn all kinds of things with hardly any effort at all. Should prove useful in my chosen profession."

Buffy smiled nervously at Riley. She was well aware of the advantages of being more that you seemed. But then she brightened up immediately. He had just spilled some important information about himself to her. She was now on the alert and knew to be extra cautious in her dealings with him.

Their conversation was pleasant. The kind that two people who barely know each other have. Where they were from, how they ended up in Sunnydale, what their future plans were. Buffy's autobiography was severely edited of course, and she suspected that Riley's was as well. This would be another thing she could hand over to Willow - try and discover as much as she could about the antecedents of Riley and the rest of the young men at Lowell House.

They finished eating and stood up to leave; they both had classes to attend. Agreeing to meet the next day for lunch, they parted company. Buffy hurried back to her dorm room to gather her books and papers for her next class but found her thoughts turning to Spike. She wondered what he was doing right now. Watching television? Staring off into space tied to the chair? She hadn't tied him up the last couple of nights and Giles had not objected, so he was probably free doing whatever he could to irritate Giles. Buffy smiled to herself. Whatever else you had to say about Spike, he was a champion irritator.

***

Buffy went over to Giles' after she and Willow had eaten an early dinner. Willow was going to spend some time in the library working on a report for one of her classes so Buffy decided to fill Giles in on what she had learned about Riley. Plus she wanted to see Spike.

Entering the townhouse, she was surprised to see both men seated at the table pouring over books. Spike immediately closed the book he was reading and jumped up. "Slayer, glad you're finally here. Watcher threatened to stake me unless I helped him with his boring research. Man's a worse torturer than Angelus."

Giles glared at the vampire but chose to ignore him. "I hope you plan on taking him with you tonight, Buffy. A few hours away from his company would be most welcome."

Buffy grinned at her Watcher but took pity on him. "Okay, Giles. Since I don't need to worry about following the commandos anymore, we can just dodge them if we see them. Spike can watch me fight demons and shout out useless commentary. That should keep him entertained."

Spike smirked at her and went to the door. "Well come on, let's go then," he said eagerly.

"Uh, Spike? Not dark yet so unless you want to burst into flame, I suggest we wait a little while longer before we go out on patrol."

Looking disappointed, Spike moved back into the room and sank bonelessly onto the couch.

"Well, I made first contact with the subject," Buffy told Giles. At his confused look, she added, "You know, Riley. Thought I'd try some secret agent speak," she grinned.

"Buffy, you don't seem to be taking this seriously," Giles commented. "I hope I don't need to remind you that this is not a game. These people could be extremely dangerous. Please use caution."

Buffy sighed and sat down in the chair Spike had vacated. "Giles, I know how serious this is. In fact, I found out today that Mr. Finn seems to have very deep waters. On the plus side, I'm pretty sure that he thinks I'm just a regular dumb-blonde coed. So, advantage me."

Spike took this conversation in without comment, but he was not happy. No matter what Buffy said, he knew how tricky bad guys could be. He was a bad guy. He just hoped that Buffy took Giles' advice and kept her wits about her.
 
<<     >>