Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Chp.36

News That’s of the Good

All other info: Chp.1
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Spike trails behind his love as she walks through the office door, watching her ass as it sways across the room in front of him.

She stands at Willow's desk, expecting to see the red head, but she isn’t anywhere in sight.

“Willow’s always here.” He hears her say, as he comes to stand at her side. “Where is she?” She asks. Turning to the man standing beside her. Not realizing that he’s standing so close, she nearly knocks him over.

Stumbling a few steps to his right, to keep from falling on his butt, Spike looks over to the empty desk. “Well, she might have gone to copy something, or file a report.” He raises his hand to his chin, and a smirk comes into play along the corners of his mouth. “Hell, Luv. She may be out havin’ a good snog with her lady.” His smirk turns into a full-fledged smile. “Who knows with that girl? The way she spaz’s all over this place, there’s really no telling.” His smile fades slightly as he steps back over to her.

She gives him a glance, and walks over to the main office door. “I guess we’ll just have to let ourselves in then won’t we.” She wraps her arm around his waist, when he steps up beside her again. At her gesture he casually wraps an arm around her neck.

“Looks that way, Pet.” He says. Pushing the other door open.
**********

They step into the room, smiling with their arms still wrapped around each other. Taking in the scene before them. They see Giles sitting at his desk, a stack of papers held up for Willow and Tara, who are standing on either side of him.

The group behind the desk seems to be enthralled by the paper, Giles has just pointed at. None of them have noticed the two blondes standing in the door. Willow and Tara smile at each other over the doctor’s head. Glancing at each other they take notice of something else that Giles has pointed out to them.

Glancing, quizzically at each other Spike and Buffy wonder what’s going on.

“Giles, you wanted to see us?” Buffy asks, after the obligatory clearing of her throat for attention.

The other three people in the room visibly jump as Buffy askes her question. Giles adjusts his glasses, and the two women smooth out their clothing. Spike chuckles at the scene, and Buffy smiles at all of it.

Giles rolls his chair back, which makes the two women have to step back. The older man stands and walks around the desk, leans on the edge, takes his glasses from the bridge of his nose, and crosses his legs in front of him.

Spike shrugs his shoulders, as Buffy looks over at him. He slowly ambles off from her a few steps.

Buffy watches him take the few steps, and snakes her hand out to grab his arm. He turns back to her, his blue eyes questioning her.

She smiles, and watches the question fade from his eyes. “You do know that we’ll be talking to ‘News’ Giles, right?” She asks, the smile still on her face.

“And just how in the bloody hell do you know that, Luv?” He whispers, looking deeply into her eyes, and tilting his head slightly to the right.

“Spike.” She sighs. “Look at the man. That’s the posture and face of a Giles that has news.” Her hand gestures to the man in question. “You live with him for seven years, and believe me you get to know him. That’s not a look of nothing’s going on, that’s the something face.” She explains exasperatedly.

“Buffy, if I remember correctly, I lived with the man for a little while.” Spike rolls his eyes. “The man looks like that when he’s constipated, or irritated at the vampire chained to the bathtub when he wants to take a shower.” He purses his lips for effect. “Now tell me how you can tell he has news.” His hands find the pockets of his jeans, and he rolls his shoulders, smirking at her in defiance.

She giggles at the antics of the man, and well yeah Giles gives that look for just about everything, but she knows that he has news. She rolls her eyes at Spike, taking a few steps passed him. “I’m not gonna go through this and try to explain something that you’re never going to understand, so I’ll just let you find out for yourself.” She says, turning back to him. She spins on her heel, after this, and makes her way over to a chair throwing her body down into it.

The other three occupants of the room had watched in fascination at the couple’s discussion. They smiled the whole time, as Buffy tried to explain, and Spike came up with plausible reasons as to why she could be wrong.

Giles looks upon Buffy slumped down in the chair situated directly in front of his loafer-clad feet. Placing his glasses behind him on the desk, he looks over to Spike. The young blonde man hasn’t moved from his position a few feet in front of the door. The doctor takes in the dumbfounded expression on his face, and smiles.

Shaking his head from the daze that Buffy had put him in, Spike walks over to the empty chair, slides down the leather covered back, grabs Buffy’s hand, and pulls it into his lap. Through the whole process he'd smiled like an idiot. “So, the bint here says you have some news for us.” He straightens his shoulders, feeling Buffy’s hand slap his leg.

Giles looks nervously from one blonde to the other. “Yes, well.” His voice comes out shaky. “It’s good news for once, and it concerns the both of you.” His voice is less shaky now. He graspples behind him for his glasses, retrieving them he places them on his face. His hand holding the papers that he and the girls had been perusing coming up for him to look at them. “As you two already know.” His gaze comes away from the papers, and switches back and forth between the two blondes seated directly in front of him. “You’ve been under my observation for the last month or so, and the board of directors has come to the decision to observe you for a few more days.” He explains, the glasses coming from his nose to be cleaned with a handkerchief that seems to come from out of thin air.

“That’s good news!” Buffy exclaims. She tries to jump to her feet, but is pulled back down by Spike's vice-like grip on her hand. Then she realizes something, and her shoulder's slump. “Tell me, where’s the good in that news, cause really not seeing it where I sit.” She finishes, looking the doctor in the eye defiantly, and straitening her spine from the slumped overness.

Giles taken by surprise by her outburst gets a steely look in his eye as he observes the little blonde woman. “Well, Buffy. If you’d wait for me to finish my explanation you’d see that it is good news, for the both of you.” His gaze softens as Buffy’s shoulders ease out of the stiffened posture she had been sitting in. “I was going to say, if you two continue to do as well as you have been, in the next few days.” He gives them both a pointed look for effect. “You’ll be released from our care. But this only comes if you are considered to be stable enough to reintegrate yourselves into society.” He smiles at the looks of gratitude on the young peoples faces. “You can go home, but only when I decide that you are ready.”

Spike looks to Buffy; her hand still clasped in his, cocks his head in question, and smirks a little. He can’t read what she’s thinking, but squeezes her hand in reassurance, hoping it’s not the wrong thing to do.

She doesn’t know what to think, but feels Spike’s gaze on her, and the tightening of his hand, as he squeezes hers lightly. She glances over to him, sucking on her lower lip, and tries to come up with a response to the news.

(Hee Hee, cliffhanger.)