Thanks to Sue and Niamh for the beta. *squishes*

Chapter 5: Investigations.


Spike walked toward the Magic Box with shoulders slumped, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his duster. He couldn’t help but feel dejected after the short conversation with Buffy. He was not only dealing with his own thoughts of inadequacy, but was also worried about her. There had obviously been something on her mind, something she made no attempt to discuss with him. And he didn’t like thinking there was something she was keeping from him.

“Just gotta think of somethin’ else then, mate,” he muttered.

The closer he moved towards the shop, the more the anxiety was getting to him. Unable to resist his urges any longer Spike came to a standstill, hands fishing in the pockets of his duster, retrieving the much needed nicotine sticks and his faithful silver lighter. Sparking one up, he leaned against the brick wall of the hardware store he had stopped in front of, inhaling deeply. As the smoke filled his un-breathing lungs he felt a semblance of control return to him. His eyes flickered from one end of the street to the other, marveling at how dead the streets were now. Not a soul in sight.

Several deep pulls of breath later and the cigarette was flicked to the ground in front of him, stamped out with a boot before he continued on his way to the shop.

A shiver rolled down his spine as he neared it. Something wasn’t right. There was a feeling in the air tonight that didn’t sit well with him. Once more he stopped his progression, eyes darting down the street behind him. It felt like someone was watching him.

On his third scan of the street he saw a faint glimmer of light, a reflection bouncing off something chrome. A car. A car that looked decidedly similar to the one he’d spotted just last night. Spike’s eyes narrowed and just when he began moving in its direction the headlights flicked on, the engine roared to life and the vehicle slowly pulled out from its hiding place between two buildings, disappearing down the street.

He mentally painted a picture of everything he saw but there wasn’t much to take note of. The vehicle was not overly flashy or distinctive, and it would be difficult to differentiate it from others. The fact it had no license plate didn’t help matters. This only increased his suspicion.

Vowing to alert the watcher, as soon as he could do so privately, Spike continued to the shop.

~~~

“I felt his eyes, I did. Like bugs crawling up… and down… my skin. Searching for a dark place to burrow, but all of the good ones are taken.”

A long manicured finger trailed up the ivory pale skin of her arm in demonstration of such a scurrying critter, a delighted smile creeping its way across her face in much the same fashion as the exploratory digit.

“I assure you that we weren’t spotted,” the nervous voice of the driver announced from the front of the vehicle.

“Naughty boy, playing Hide and Go Seek without alerting the other players. It’s no fun if they don’t run.”

The driver was unsure as to how he should respond. Purely out of habit he shot an anxious glance in the rear view mirror and, for a moment, was startled by the lack of reflection before his memory reminded him of her… condition. A cursory glance over his shoulder showed his charge reclining against the black leather seat. It did little, however, to sooth his frazzled nerves. She could move fast if she wanted to. “Shall we return to your lodgings, Ma’am?”

As if in response to his question he felt a touch on the back of his neck, causing the driver to jolt in his seat. The woman just chuckled.

The crescent moon of her nail scratched at his neck, trailing up and down the throbbing vein. “I’m hungry.”

He needn’t ask anything further. A gulp followed by a curt nod and their course changed, heading in the direction of the best bite in town.

~~~

The bell over the door tinkled as Spike entered the shop, alerting everyone to his presence. Willow was the first to look up, a bright smile greeting the vampire as he moved further inside, shrugging the duster off his shoulders as he did so.

“Hey, Spike,” she smiled. “Buffy’s in the training room with Giles.”

“Thanks,” he replied, dropping his coat on the back of a chair as he swiftly made his way towards the back room and disappeared.

“Well, isn’t he perky tonight,” Xander quipped with a roll of his eyes. “I wonder what’s got his fangs out of joint.” A faux gasp of shock interrupted his speech, a hand lifting to his mouth to further exaggerate his speech. “You don’t suppose they’ve run out of his favourite hair gel, do you?”

“Xander,” Willow chastised with a slap on his arm.

“Okay, oww! Where’s your sense of humour, Will?”

“Same place you left your sense of decency.”

“Ouch! I’m offended.” Xander nudged Willow gently in the ribs, a goofy smile spread across his face. “I was just messing around. It’s not too often these days that Spike’s all Mr Groucho. Gotta take advantage of a quipping situation when it arises, Will.”

“Spike’s part of the gang now, remember? And also, Buffy’s boyfriend,” she said pointedly. “So lay off a little.”

“Alright, alright. I got it,” he surrendered, hands rising in the air. “I’ll back off.”

“Good. Why don’t you go see if Anya needs some help downstairs? I’ve got the research front covered here,” Willow suggested, her attention already refocused on the text in front of her before Xander could respond.

The brunette knew better than to argue, lifting himself from the seat beside Willow at the small round table in the main part of the shop before moving towards the basement.

~~~

Spike heard Giles wheezing before he saw him, a quiet chuckle bubbling from the vampire’s lips when he finally spotted the watcher. Clad in what could only be described as a fat suit, he was lying flat on his back with a quarterstaff clutched in his left hand, trying to regain lost breath. Buffy stood beside him, leaning her weight against her own weapon as she grinned at her fallen watcher.

“Told you I wasn’t rusty. Aren’t you glad I made you wear the suit now?” Buffy questioned.

“Yes, much appreciated,” Giles coughed out.

“Did I miss the show, pet?” Spike asked as he stepped further into the room.

Buffy turned at the sound of Spike’s voice, her grin stretching from ear to ear. “Giles seemed to think I needed practice in other forms of weaponry. ‘I might get complatents’,” she mimicked.

“Complacent,” Giles corrected from the floor.

“That too,” Buffy shrugged. “I reminded him we’ve gone over the whole me not likely to ‘ever be fighting Friar Tuck’ thing but he was insistent.” A mischievous grin tickled at her lips as she turned to face her watcher. “Bet you’re wishing you weren’t all Mr Insisty-Guy now, aren’t ya?”

“Could I bother either of you for some assistance, please?” Giles requested with an unimpressed glare at his charge after trying, and failing, to lift himself to his feet for the umpteenth time. All he could manage was to rock from side to side; the action was beginning to make him feel queasy.

Both Spike and Buffy offered the watcher a hand and hauled him to his feet.

“Thank you. I’ll just go and remove the ‘bubble wrap’.”

Spike watched as Giles waddled out of the room, his smile in no way shrinking when his attention returned to his girlfriend. My girlfriend… he thought. It was still surprising to him he could think of Buffy as his girlfriend now. As soon as they were alone he wrapped her up in his embrace, peppering butterfly kisses across her face.

“Been wanting to do that all day,” he confessed.

“Really?” Buffy asked with a coy smile, pressing herself against him and letting her hands roam freely across his back, slowly heading south to his buttocks. “What else have you been thinking about today?”

She punctuated the word ‘about’ with a firm squeeze, eliciting a groan from Spike that made her all manner of proud.

“Vixen,” Spike growled as he nipped at Buffy’s jaw with his blunt human teeth, his tongue darting out to lave a trail down her neck to her collarbone. Her skin was salty from her workout, which only increased his arousal.

Now it was Buffy’s turn to moan, a shudder rolling through her as Spike’s tongue danced across her skin. The sensations he could draw from her were incredible, and it made her curious as to how his tongue would feel doing the same things to other parts of her body. A blush rose to her cheeks at those thoughts. Twirling her fingers in his hair she dragged him up from her neck and pulled his southward bound lips up to meet hers.

The kiss was nothing short of fiery, immediately quelling all of Spike’s earlier concerns.

A clearing of the throat broke through the silence, the pair regretfully parting.

“Perfect bloody timing you’ve got there, Rupes,” Spike muttered not so quietly.

“So it would seem,” the watcher agreed. “Well, shall we recount last night’s patrol before you two head out tonight?”

“Sure,” Buffy agreed, stepping away from Spike’s arms and lacing her fingers with his to drag him along after the swiftly departing watcher.

Spike just smiled as he willingly followed her into the shop proper.

~~~

“I’ll get us some weapons,” Buffy announced with a peck to Spike’s cheek fifteen minutes later. There hadn’t been a whole lot to report regarding the previous nights patrol. A few fledgling vampires had been all they’d come up against. Their extra curricular activities in the crypt had obviously been spared from the report.

Spike followed Buffy with his eyes until she disappeared into the back room before returning his attention to Giles. He was only slightly surprised to find the watcher, well, watching him. Watching him with a quite intensity as a matter of fact.

“Things are…” Giles began, clearing his throat before continuing, “going well with… you two?” At Spike’s arched brow Giles sighed, before continuing quickly. “Please, spare me the details. I was just wondering if Buffy…”

“Is happy?” Spike finished after a few moments of silence.

Giles nodded.

Spike looked pointedly at him before asking his own question. “You’ve seen her, what do you think?”

Giles sighed, removing his glasses to clean away imaginary dirt whilst pinching his brow in thought. “I must say that Buffy has been quite… different these last few weeks. I don’t remember ever seeing her smile as much before.” Realizing the association he had made he cleared his throat before turning away from Spike and lifting a pile of paperwork from the bench. “Right. Just wanted to clear that up.”

“D’ you have a moment? There’s somethin’…” Spike darted a look over his shoulder out of habit, to see if Buffy had returned. Knowing her return was imminent, he continued quickly. “I’ve been noticin’ a black car round town the last few days.”

“A black car? Really? Oh that’s right, you were born before they were invented weren’t you? I’m sure they must be quite an adjustment, those blasted demon machines,” Giles gasped mockingly.

“Yeah, okay, you can lay off the sarcasm.” Spike rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you, this car… it was suspicious like. Dark tinted windows, no plates, and it slowed to the pace of the hunk of junk you used to drive every time I’ve seen it go past the shop.”

“I’ll have you know the Citroen--”

“That’s not the point,” Spike interrupted. “I’m telling you, it was watching the shop. A surveillance vehicle.”

“Surveillance?” Giles mockery dried up when the serious implications of Spike’s words sunk in. “What makes you think the shop was its focus?”

“I’ve seen it two nights in a row. An’ each time I moved to approach it, the thing sped off.”

That does sound suspicious… Giles agreed silently. “Does Buffy know?”

Spike shook his head. “I didn’t want to worry her. With it bein’ so quiet lately she’s been getting’ a chance to relax. She deserves the break.”

Giles nodded in agreement. A holiday was not something a slayer could realistically take. There may not have been any apocalyptic plots of late to take over the town or destroy the world, but there were still vampires that needed to be taken care of each night. Giles understood Spike’s desire to lighten Buffy’s load in the slaying department. However his help had barely been required, with demonic activity slowing to an all time low. And this slump in nightly slayings was as close to a real break as Buffy was ever going to receive.

“No need to alarm her if it’s unnecessary.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Spike concurred.

After a moment’s thought, as Giles mulled over the possibility this vehicle might be more than just a coincidence, the watcher came to a decision. “Keep me informed. If you can get me something more concrete, then I’ll look into it. I’m afraid ‘black car’ doesn’t narrow the search all that much, especially if the vehicle is from out of town.”

Spike nodded in understanding. He opened his mouth to inform Giles he would check with the local informants about possible new arrivals when a noise behind him alerted them of another presence in the room. “Sure thing, Restfield it is.”

Giles frowned before his eyes discovered the reason for Spike’s abrupt change of topic, Buffy had returned with their weapons for the evening. “Excellent. I look forward to your report tomorrow.” With a nod in Spike’s direction and a smile in Buffy’s, Giles departed for his office.

Buffy frowned slightly as she joined Spike at his side. “Everything okay?”

“Everythin’s fine, love,” Spike replied gently, pulling her to his side and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “Got what you wanted?”

“Not nearly enough,” Buffy grinned flirtatiously before handing him a stake. “Let’s book. There’s a particular crypt in Restfield someone accidentally left unlocked a few nights ago.”

“Well now, that’s no good. We’d better do a sweep, make sure no big bads have lured helpless little girls in there.”

“My thoughts exactly.”



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