Note: Thanks to my beta t_geyer as always for her help and patience. Special thanks in this instance to Lori for stepping up to the plate while t_geyer is out of town.


SECTION 6 - GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

Some boys take a beautiful girl
And hide her away from the rest of the world
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun

Hey now, hey now
What's a matta with ya?
Girls just wanna have fun now
Come on

(Cyndi Lauper, Album - 12 deadly Cyns... and then some)




Chapter 6.06
Wednesday, May 15th, 2002

For long seconds two pairs of blue eyes bored into each other with a palpable intensity.

"And if I prefer to think that you and yours are responsible for this?" Brandon's father asked.

"Then that would be another reason for us to clean up our own mess, wouldn't it? But, seeing as you're unlikely to find any of us carrying a gun, at least one loaded with anything other than tranqs, I don't see how you can lay the blame on us, soldier boy." The last two words were spat out with a disgust that was obvious to all in the room. "We're not the ones using a sixteen-year-old kid to spy on people. What'd you do? Have a debriefing session after every date?"

"You don't know me, so I'll let that one slip, this once, but rest assured any attachment my son formed for the girl has nothing to do with me. I'd have been more than happy if he'd never met her, especially given the outcome."

"Spike, this isn't helping, and if you get any louder that cop outside is going to come in to see what's going on." Buffy gently touched Spike's arm at the elbow.

Spike half-turned toward her. "Alright, pet. I'll shut up, soon as Rambo here tells us whether he'll accept our help or not."

The taller man sighed. "Like you said, I don't have a lot of choice. This doesn't mean I trust you, or that I ever want my kid near any of you again. It just means that I'm backed into a corner."

"There you go, Red. There's your go-ahead. At least now we don't have to punch him out."

Mr Michaels' forehead creased into a frown. "You said it was my choice whether they did anything or not."

Spike gave a lupine grin. "I lied."

---

Half an hour later, the quartet exited the building leaving Brandon and his father in their hospital room. Willow had used her magic to remove the bullet and repair the damage to Brandon's chest. However, as for the concussion, blood-loss and the drugs in his system, his body would have to recover in its own time with whatever help the doctors could offer. His father had grudgingly taken Buffy's cell number and promised to call if Brandon had any useful information when he woke up.

"I guess one of us best ring Glinda and see if she's come up with anything."

"I'll do it," Willow volunteered.

She pulled a phone from her bag and rang the number for the magic shop. Anya answered, of course, but quickly handed the receiver over to Tara when she realised that it wasn't a potential customer.

"It's Willow. Doesn't she realise that's a business line?"

"Are you really expecting customers to ring at this time of night?" Xander asked.

"Well, sometimes overseas customers leave orders on the answering machine, since they can't be like normal people and get up when we get up and go to sleep when we do."

"How inconsiderate of them," Xander remarked. "You really should discuss it with Giles. Just explain to him that all these international time zones are kind of inconvenient and that you think they should be abolished with everyone adopting LA time as standard. I'm sure he'll think it's a marvellous idea."

"You think I can't tell when you're being facetious?"

"You never used to be able to."

"Yes, well maybe I know you better than you think. You are my husband, aren't you?"

"According to the state of Nevada, and the funny thing. considering your former career, not actually scared and more kinda somewhere between contented and smug about the whole marital deal. Come here and gimme some sugar, sweet-lips?"

"So you're glad we got married, even though you originally ran away in panic at the very idea?"

"Very glad, and I'll be ecstatic when you put down that order pad and come kiss me."

"Tara's kind of busy keeping up with her spell. Maybe we should go take a nap in the training room." Anya replied, as she raised her lips from the requested kiss.

"Ahn?"

"Well. We did it the last time Dawn was kidnapped. What's the big difference now?"

"The difference would be that you've just announced to everyone in the room what we're about to do."

"Piffle. Tara's too busy trying to explain her train theory to be paying any attention, and it's not like we can help with the spell, and once they get closer and she's trying to do two at once, she's going to be even busier." Anya drew her not-really-resisting husband by the hand into the training room. "If you really want, I'll wear that sticky metal prosthetic above my eye and put my hair up."

Tara looked up as the training room door closed behind the couple. "And tell the guys, if they're planning to stock up on weapons before you leave town, I suggest you swing by Revello."

"I thought we'd just get a couple of bits and pieces from the training room," Buffy countered when Willow passed on the message.

Tara overheard Buffy's comment and was quick to bring the redhead up to date. "Anya and Xander are in the training room. I think she was planning on making it up to him for missing his Seven of Nine special."

"Anya and Xander-. Nope, I can't even act surprised. We'll go by Revello. Talk again in a bit," Willow confirmed. "Added bonus: while you guys sort out the weapons, I get to put on a pair of trousers instead of this skirt. So not fun on the back of a motorbike."

"If we're arming up, we need to swing past my place as well," Spike added.

"What? You think I don't have enough weapons of mass destruction to go 'round?" Buffy asked.

"No, but I did have the general impression you would rather I made use of the tranq gun than one of your nice axes."

"Good point. How many darts do we have left with that thing?"

"About four, I think, but it's better than nothing."

"Okay, we've got that and one taser. I guess you get that, Wes. Other than that, it's going to have to be magic and hand-to-hand. I suppose I could take a crossbow; it's always a deterrent and I can aim to wound."

"You can use the tranq gun?" Wesley asked the vampire.

"Well, uh. I never actually fired it, but I didn't get a migraine when I pointed it at someone, so I'm guessin' it'll be okay. Haven't had the ammo to spare or a volunteer to test the theory any further." Spike's answer was, strictly speaking, true and neatly skirted around the issue of the chip's removal, but he still looked vaguely uncomfortable in the deception.

"We'll go by yours on our way out of town. It's kind of on the way. I still don't know if we should take the car rather than the bike. How're we going to get Dawn back when we find her if we take the bikes?"

"Need the manoeuvrability, love. 'Sides, you and the Bit don't hardly make a full-sized passenger 'tween the pair of you. We'll get by."

---

Sam was already dressed in civvies, since her mission had involved operating in populated areas. When she got back to Lowell house all she had to do was leave Riley a note to say she'd been called back out, grab some scrubs and claim another vehicle from the pool. All with the added bonus that if Riley did hurry back in hopes of joining her in her bath he was going to be disappointed.

The slayer and her little friends thought they were so great. Then, why had it never even occurred to them to wonder where Riley's Jeep had come from, considering that the couple had been airlifted in and out? And they never gave a thought to who was going to be around to pick it up when they left. Just because the faces they knew had been rotated out, they had thought the Initiative was gone. True, the base had been stripped at one point, but a change in government can lead to all sorts of decisions being reversed.

Sam was only sorry that she'd missed out on her chance to have a part in the Initiative when it was operating at full scale. It was so seldom she got to make use of her medical training these days. Tonight was an exception, though. Once she made it to the containment facility, she would get answer the riddle, "what is the difference was between a mystical key and a normal teenaged girl?" She couldn't kill her. No one knew what would happen to the energy contained by her human form if she died. It was an unacceptable risk. That didn't mean the girl wouldn't wish she were dead before the night was over.

By the time they left her for her sister to find, she would provide her sister and her ridiculous hangers-on with quite the object lesson. Between that and losing the vampire, the slayer would learn better than to interfere in business that was none of her concern.

---

"Alpha One, this is Alpha Two. We have two motorbikes approaching from the centre of town. One looks like the couple from earlier but the other could be the target. Make that confirmed. Hostile 17 is incoming," Graham advised Riley from his rooftop vantage point.

"Okay, people. First clear shot on the heart that you get, take it," Riley ordered.

"Wait, sir. There's a passenger on the vehicle with him. It's hard to tell with the helmet on, but I think it's the slayer, sir."

"Belay, that last order. Wait until the vehicle is stationary. Do not endanger any civilians. We're only looking to take out the vampire. Repeat, target is blond male, approximately five foot ten. All other subjects to be treated as civilians."

Wes pulled his bike over onto the path leading up to the house and stopped just short of the steps up onto the front porch. Spike drew to a halt just to his rear. Buffy hopped off from behind him, and as Spike backed the bike up onto its stand before getting off, three arrows were loosed with well-practised precision from their respective bows.