Note: Thanks to my beta t_geyer for her unending patience, perseverance and support.

SECTION 2 - ANOTHER SUITCASE IN ANOTHER HALL

So what happens now?
(Another suitcase in another hall)
So what happens now?
(Take your picture off another wall)
Where am I going to?
(You'll get by, you always have before)
Where am I going to?
(Don't ask anymore)

(Barbara Dickson, Lyrics and Music by T Rice and A Lloyd Webber
[I know. I know. I'm eternally sorry but the lyrics kind of fit.])



Chapter 2.02
Thursday, May 16th, 2002

Spike looked in the rear-view mirror. "Where to, Red?"

"I guess it'll have to be the Motor Lodge."

Spike nodded and put the car in gear, preparing to drop her off before taking Giles to his hotel. The drive was completed in an awkward silence. At the Motor Lodge, Spike got out of his seat and made his way to the trunk, opening it up before he said anything, just in case the Watcher could lip-read.

"You got enough money for this? Buffy owe you any rent money back?"

"Probably less than I owe on my share of the bills," the witch admitted.

"Right, then. I'll say my piece and let you go.

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for you, Red. There's not many as I would offer to turn. I'm kind of picky that way, unlike some folk. That doesn't matter, 'cause I also, as you may have noticed, have soft spots for the slayer, her sis an' your ex, an' right now they're all hurtin' 'cause of that stunt you pulled tonight. That makes me a mite pissed off with you and that pissed off is not goin' to go away until they all feel better about things. When you make things right with them, then you'll be right with me, but for now I'd give Revello a wide berth unless you know for a fact that Glinda, Bit and the mutt are all out of the picture."

"Tara? But-."

"We asked Tara if she would stay. Having her around'll be good for her and good for the Niblet. And you're goin' to give her all the space she needs to make a clean break."

"And if I don't?"

"Then, you'd best be prepared to deal with someone who's pissed off and invulnerable, cause you won't catch all of us on the hop."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm stating a fact. You harm any one of us, in any way, and whoever is left will come after you. Well, maybe not Glinda, but I'd lay bets on me and Bit and I've got a feelin' Buffy will only give so far.

If you take my advice you'll let things lie between you an' Bit, an' you an' Tinkerbell for a while."

Willow hardened her mouth into a sneer. "I'll never want your advice, Spike." She snatched her bag from his hands without touching it, using her power to levitate it, so that she needed only the lightest grasp on the handles to fool the clerk into thinking she was carrying it as she entered the motel.

---

"Tara?" Dawn knocked on the door of Buffy's room. "Spike said I should bring you some hot chocolate and let you know he's taken Willow away. Can I come in?"

There was just a small sniff before the Wiccan answered. "Sure, sweetie. The door's open."

The teenager made her way into the room followed by her canine companion. The dog immediately stood in front of Tara and pushed her nose under Tara's hands, which had been resting in her lap as they mangled a semi-soggy tissue.

"I brought a friend. We've all been sitting downstairs trying to come up with a name for her." Dawn handed over one mug of chocolatey goodness and took a seat next to the witch while she took a sip of her own.

"Buffy says if we don't name her soon, the way Spike's going, she'll think her name is Mutt."

Tara's lips curved up into the slightest of smiles.

"So, who's still around?" she asked.

"Well, Spike was going to drop off Giles and the hag, and then he was going to swing past The Bronze and get mine and Brandon's jackets and helmets from last night, but he shouldn't be long. Wes seems to be hovering for some reason. I kinda think he wants to talk to Spike, but I don't know why. He keeps coming up with prissy names. Things like Calliope and Persephone and stuff. Having said that, I think Callie quite suits her.

Do you like that, girl? Want to be called Callie?" Dawn lapsed into baby talk as she reached across to fondle the puppy's ears. The dog meanwhile had succeeded in getting Tara to scratch at her head with one hand but now seemed intent on getting her nose under the blonde's other hand, as well, the one with the cup in it. Tara was having quite the time trying to stop the puppy from tipping hot chocolate over her nose.

"What about Buffy? What did she suggest?"

"Well, first she was wanting Byron, even though she's a girl and then she got all witty and decided we should call her Creed. 'Cause of that song of theirs. My Sacrifice. Then she said Deefer, like D for dog. We could use some sensible ideas."

"From the person who called her cat Miss Kitty Fantastico? What did Spike say?"

"He said since she was a bitch we could call her Darla, but that seemed kinda cruel... to the dog, I mean, plus if Angel and his son end up coming up for the wedding not very tactful."

"What about Rogue? Like from the X-men but 'cause she looks sort of like a rogue, too?" Tara suggested.

"That's cool." Dawn turned to the dog again. "Rogue? You like Rogue, girl?" The puppy ignored her completely.

There was a crash from downstairs as the front door slammed closed and the dog turned and went running downstairs. This was followed by a muffled, "bloody hell!" before Dawn was summoned.

"Bit, get your arse down here an' take your mutt away before she slavers all over the leather, will you?"

Dawn laughed as she made her way down the staircase, with Tara behind her. The puppy was leaping all over Spike, obviously delighted that he had returned without Willow.

"Just wait till she's big enough to put her paws on your shoulders and lick your face," the teenager taunted, as the vampire tried alternately to back away and to push the excitable dog back down without hurting her.

"Guess who's going to be a daddy's girl?" Tara teased the vampire.

"Don't start." He turned to Dawn. "D'you leave any of that for me?"

"In a mug, in the microwave, with the monkey brains already in."

Buffy's voice sounded from the kitchen. "Already heating it up for you."

"Excuse me, ladies. Duty calls." Spike grinned and pulled his duster off, draping it over the banister in preparation for making his way through the dining room to the kitchen.

"What's up, Spike? Cramp?" Tara asked.

A twinkle appeared in Spike's eyes, and he turned back to kiss the Wiccan on the forehead before he went looking for his fiancée. "Maybe, Tinkerbell... If I'm really lucky."

"Okay," Dawn turned to Tara as the pair made their way through to join Wes. "Why did that last conversation sound like it was in code? And how come my dog is following him ?"

---

"You two are pathetic. You know that, right? He was only away for twenty minutes and we can all see you from here."

"And that's why the G rated greeting, Bitlet."

"Can you two physically be in the same room without holding hands or something?"

Buffy looked down at where their hands were clasped together as they joined the others in the living room. "Guess not."

The teenager gave a snort. "Well, I guess that's kinda cool... just so long as you do keep it G rated in public." She grinned at their surprised faces. "Caught ya! Now, give me back my dog."

"I'm glad you like her, but isn't it about time you were getting ready for bed, platelet?"

"No point. Way too excited to sleep."

Buffy stepped in at this point. "Excited or not, go get washed up and changed and no letting the dog lick you after you've washed." The teenager headed upstairs with obvious reluctance.

Buffy then smiled at Wes. "What about you, Wes? I'm not too sure where everyone's going to be sleeping tonight, but at worst there's the sofa. Then, come morning, you'll have sobered up enough to take the bike back.

We'd normally offer to walk you back, but we don't want to be too far from Dawn. Spike could give you a lift, though, if you'd rather."

"The sofa's fine."

"I'll get some sheets and stuff."

"Don't go to all that trouble. All I need is a blanket or two to keep the draughts off."

"Pet, why don't I take the mutt for a tour of the block, while you sort out where you're puttin' everyone and every... thing? An' aside from Dawn gettin' her dinner at biker boy's, nobody else has eaten. Maybe you could order somethin' up before everywhere shuts for the night."

"Mm-hm. Chinese? I'm getting near my weekly pizza limit."

"Didn't know you had such a thing. Don't mind what you get, just so long as you get me something sort of spicy. You and Tinkerbell work it out between you. Just make sure you all eat something. If you skip any more dinners you'll disappear."

Wes looked vaguely embarrassed as he almost stuttered. "Em, well, I could do with stretching my legs a bit. if you don't mind the company?"

Spike gave the former Watcher a curious glance. "Sure... More the merrier."

---

Friday, May 17th, 2002

"Here, grab this a minute." Spike passed the dog's chain to the other man, freeing up both his hands for the task of lighting a cigarette. Once he had returned his lighter to his pocket, he took the dog back from the Watcher.

"So, what's up that you don't want to mention in front of the slayer?"

"What? Well, nothing really. It's not that I don't want her to know, it's just sort of personal and if I'm wrong..."

"If you've picked up some unfortunate disease it's really a doctor you need to talk to, mate."

Wes was about to protest, when he saw the laughter in Spike's eyes and gave a wry smile instead. "If I had, according to what she told the assistant in the bike shop yesterday, your future sister-in-law would have it as well."

"You what?"

"Dawn said it was her boyfriend that owned the bike. The salesman jumped to conclusions, which she then proceeded to pander to in a quite outrageous fashion."

Spike shook his head. "That's the Bit, alright." He took a long draw at his cigarette, releasing the smoke slowly before he continued. "But that's not what brings you out here to walk round in circles until this beast craps out what should have been our dinner."

"It's Lily, actually."

Spike gave the man an appraising look. "What about her? She been doing her Madame Zelda routine for you?"

"If you mean has she been handing out advice, then yes. The problem is I don't think it was entirely unbiased."

"In what way?"

"Well, there's this girl in LA-," Wes started.

"Texas belle, yeah?"

"Does everybody know?"

Spike shrugged. "Seemed obvious to me. Can't say I've discussed it with any of the others."

"Anyway, Lily told me that I should make a clean break of it, move up here and forget about her. She told me I should be looking for a wife, a woman to start a family with, not a little girl."

"Sounds like the sort of advice that's all very sensible, but the heart doesn't necessarily work on logic. She told me to give up on Buffy at one point, too. It all depends how much you want something and how much you're prepared to go through to get it."

"Yes, well, that's not really the problem. The problem is, I have a feeling that she wasn't just talking about any woman and I think the family she had in mind is at least partially ready-made."

"Oh!" Spike smirked as he raised his cigarette to his mouth.

"That's it? Oh?"

"Well, I don't know that there's much else I can say... other than 'Congratulations'."

"That's not very comforting."

"You want comforting or you want the truth? If Lily's picked you out to be the father of her grandchild, at least I assume Rosa's the ready-made family you were talkin' about rather than Clem..." A look of distaste crossed both men's faces. "Then, you might as well go out, buy the ring and enjoy the ride, as fight her on it."

"And Marie? And Rosa? I know nothing about children, well, except those few weeks when Connor was a baby."

"Well, I don't think the old bat'd be pushin' the idea if she didn't think Marie was ready to be seein' someone and no first-time father knows what he's doin'."

"Did you... When you were human, did you have any children? I mean... People married younger then."

"No." The vampire's tone turned serious and he stopped walking, turning to look Wes in the eye as he addressed him. "No, I didn't. Look, mate. I don't know what the deal is with you, whether in a few years time you'll be like Rupert an' get a yearning for England's pastures green and go home to the family manor and find somebody called Deirdre with another double-barrelled name. Maybe bein' the demon hunter is just a game until daddy's ready to pop his clogs an' leave you the whole shooting match an' you can go raise the eighth generation of Wyndam-Pryce Watchers."

He cast an appraising eye over the man beside him. "I don't think that's who you are any more, but if it is, then just stay the hell away from them all. If, on the other hand, this is where you choose to be, an' if you can look at Rosa for who she is, not what her father was, then I think what you'll find is a wonderful but a lonely little girl. A little girl who's more than willing and able to return any affection that happens to come her way.

Marie? Well, she's the kind of special that doesn't come along too often, an' more often than not it's gits like Hank Summers that snatch them up. Any man would be lucky to end up with a woman like that.

Neither of them would fit in if you tried to take them back to the home counties and the polo-playing prats and afternoon tea in the drawing room. They'd be stifled to death, but I figure any man worth his salt as they would include in their lives would have more sense than to leave.

An', of course the fact that Marie happens to be the sort of drop dead gorgeous that means she'd stand out in a room full of women doesn't hurt a bit."

Spike took one last draw on his cigarette before he flicked it away across the street, the orange glow splintering into pinpricks of light as it impacted with the asphalt.

Wes fell into step beside him again as the vampire resumed his promenade.

"So, was that your way of commiserating with me, encouraging me or warning me off?"

"That was my way of saying that if Lily gets her way, I think you would be a damn lucky man, but if you can't make a commitment for whatever reason, then just stay away because, well, Marie can make her own choices, but if you hurt that kid, let's just say I wouldn't be happy."

"But do you think Marie's in on it? Do you think she likes me?"

Spike frowned. "Let's say, I don't think she finds you unattractive. I'd say she's noticed you, but I wouldn't count on a lady like that doing any of the running... Probably, without Lily stickin' her oar in, you'd both play coy an' nothin' would happen or Rosa would be age for goin' to college by the time it did. Does that help?"

Wes glanced across at the vampire. "I really don't know. Ask me again on Saturday night."

"What's Saturday night?"

"Apparently, you, me and the girls are to be invited to a dinner party. Lily's efforts on behalf of the Sunnydale welcome wagon."

"Balls!"

"I didn't think it was that bad."

"For you, it's not. For me it's torture."

"I don't understand."

"First time I went there, Clem warned me it was probably best not to let slip that I ate human food, well, food that was for humans rather than food that was humans. A tip for which I have frequently been very grateful, given what I've seen of Lily's cooking, but Lily doesn't cook at the weekends. Marie does, and it all looks and smells bloody gorgeous."

"Well," replied Wes with a smile. "If I'm going to spend the evening as Lily's prey, at least I know I won't be suffering alone."