Chapter Five: Cuffs and Hotels


They had no trouble finding the prison. The imposing structure stood out in the middle of the desert with its bright lights bouncing off the grays concrete building. Buffy recognized the red, van-like vehicle as soon as they turned into the parking lot. It was the same kind they'd used to transport her when she'd been in Faith's body.

The van was parked horizontally in the farthest row from the prison doors, taking up four spaces. A man in black sat in the driver's seat with the engine running and the lights on. Spike drove around the van, giving it a wide berth and pulled into a parking space behind it.

“We need to do something about that driver first.”

Buffy was already ahead of him thinking about the possibilities. It felt great to be doing something besides bemoaning her fate. The familiar rush of adrenaline kicked in and she marveled at the heightened awareness she now had of things around her. She was distracted when she caught the scent of Spike. The brown leather bomber was too new and did not smell like him. Ducking down, they sat close together to form a plan of action.

With a plan in place, they crept up behind the van. Spike moved to the right and slowly made his way around to the front. Buffy went to the left and gave Spike a few seconds to get into position before she pounded a fist against the cold steel on the side of the vehicle. The driver got out and shut his door.

“That was right quick.” The man stopped short. His mouth formed into a small 'O' as his hands went out in front of him in a protective measure when he saw the dead slayer standing with legs spread and her arms folded across her chest.

Buffy recognized him from the time when she was in Faith's body. Her blood hummed with a sudden, intense need for revenge. She fought down the feelings and gave nothing away in her expression as the vampire appeared behind the thug. Spike raised his fisted hands and slammed them down on the man's neck. The driver's eyes widened, then squeezed shut as his body tensed before he slid to the asphalt in a heap.

“Hurry!” She pointed to the ditch beside them. “They're coming with Faith now.”

Spike grabbed the man underneath his armpits and dragged him backwards. Buffy rushed up, grabbed his feet, and lifted. Spike stopped, looked down at the man's face in shock and dropped him as if he was on fire.

She frowned at him while he stared down at the figure and shook his head. “Come on. We have to hurry.” Buffy glanced over her shoulder but her view of Faith was blocked by the van. Spike took a step back and stood with his arms limp at his sides. She dragged the man to the edge and rolled him over until he slid down the embankment. She brushed her hands off and glared at Spike. Now was not the time to loose it.

He touched his neck and shook his head again. “His neck. I broke it.” He stared at her with haunted eyes and whispered, “I killed him.”

“They're coming,” Buffy told him in a firm tone. “Deal with it later.” She shoved him towards the back of the van.

“Take these off me,” Faith's voice rang out into the night accompanied by the clinking of metal against metal as she rattled the cuffs.

“Nope. Ain't gonna happen.”

The back doors of the van swung open. Buffy gave Spike the signal with her eyes and they jumped out at the same time.

She knocked the taller man out right away, but Spike hesitated with the shorter one. He was behind him now with his hand over the man's mouth. The vampire was wild eyed and almost frozen to the spot. Faith frowned at him and kicked the Council thug's leg. There was a sickening crack followed by the man screaming into Spike's hand before he passed out. Spike dropped him and stepped back until he sat in the open back of the van.

“What the hell is going on here?” Faith asked as she took a step back and leaned on the heels of her shoes. “Giles said you were dead!”

With his hands on his knees and his elbows out, Spike looked up at the dark-haired slayer but stayed silent.

“And what's he doing here? Can't seem to stay away from the vamps, can you, B?” Faith looked from Spike to Buffy and gave her a smug smile.

Buffy thought she looked pale in her prison blue jumpsuit. It hung loose on her frame and she had obviously lost some weight.

Faith held out her cuffed hands. “Help me get these off. Dummer there has the keys.” She pointed to the thug by Spike's feet.

Spike searched the dark jacket, pulling out a weapon, and putting it in his lap, before finding the keys and tossing them to Buffy. She slowly approached the other slayer and unlocked the cuffs around her outstretched hands. Faith tilted her head in an effort to make eye contact with Buffy. Before she could do so, clicking sounds from the weapon had them both turning to look at Spike. They all watched the strange bullets fall to the ground.

With his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed in anger, he threw the weapon down, stomping on it with his heavy boots. Pieces went flying in all directions.

“What was that all about?” Buffy asked.

Spike pointed at the man he had taken the keys and gun from. “That's Carter. The one I saw with the gun talking about how he was gonna kill you. Can't use it now, can he?”

Faith narrowed her eyes at Buffy as she bent down and picked up one of the wooden bullets. She turned it around in her hand then threw it down. She looked at Buffy with alarm, grabbed her arm, and pulled her close. Buffy tried to smack the hand away as Faith placed her palm just above Buffy's left breast, but the other girl was determined. Using that same palm, she pushed Buffy away from her and they both took a step back.

Faith shook her head slowly and took one more step away. “You're not- You are! Giles was right; you're dead. He didn't say anything about vampires though.” She looked around, trying to decide if she should stay or run. “What's going on?”

Buffy put her hands up. “I'm not here to hurt you. I found out that the Council wanted you dead to activate a new Slayer, so we came to get you out of here.”

“She's got a soul.” Spike stepped between them and faced Faith. “She's not feeding.”

“You did this to her?” she asked Spike. “Don't you have a chip?”

Buffy pushed Spike out of the way. “Drusilla did it. Look we don't have time to go over this now. We need to get all three of these guys into the truck and drive it off somewhere.”

Spike grabbed Carter and threw him into the van while Buffy did the same with the other one. Faith stood by watching, too shocked to lend a hand. They turned to get the dead man that Buffy had rolled down the hill when Faith blurted, “So you are a good vamp? Like Angel?”

“Yeah.” Buffy waved her off and followed Spike down the hill. He stood over the body, starring at it with a frown on his face, before squeezing his eyes shut. “It was an accident. You didn't mean it.”

“I wasn't planning on adding to the body count, you know,” he told her softly. “I was prepared to do anything I had to to keep you safe, but I was hoping...”

Buffy grabbed the dead man's ankles. “Come on, we have to hurry.”

He shook off the mood and grabbed the man by the shoulders. Once they had him in the van, they tied up the two who were still out cold and drove out of the parking lot.

Buffy sat behind the wheel of the van and followed Spike and Faith in the car. She didn't know what was wigging her out more: the fact that Spike could feel remorse, or that she couldn't bring herself to care that a man was dead. They drove twenty minutes out before Spike pulled over and got out to meet her between the two vehicles. Faith opened the back door and stood behind it.

“I think this is far enough. Just leave it there and someone will come by and find it,” he said, lighting a cigarette and leaning against the back of the van.

“Can I have one of those?” Faith asked as she slammed the door and hopped onto the trunk. She accepted the offered lit cigarette and took a drag. “So what now?” She eyed Buffy with suspicion.

“We aren't going to make it home before sunup,” Spike said.

Buffy turned to Faith. “We can drop you off somewhere and you can do as you please, or you can stay with us and we can take you to Giles.” Buffy shrugged. “I think you'd be safer with us.”

“The Slayer is safer holing up with two vampires than going it alone?”

“Hey, we saved your arse back there,” Spike growled.

Faith sighed and blew out a stream of smoke. “Giles called and warned me about the Council guys coming to kill me. They told the prison staff that they were extraditing me to Europe. I had a plan. I would have gotten away on my own at the airport.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but now you have a ride to Sunnydale.”

Faith hopped down and grabbed Buffy's arm to look at her watch. “Well, we'd better find you guys a hotel room before my ride turns to dust.” Buffy pulled her arm back. “Then again, I can drive on my own if that happens.” She smiled at Buffy before getting into the backseat.

~*~*~*~

They pulled off the highway at the first town they came to. It was a small hole-in-the-desert kind of place with a couple of gas stations, a few restaurants and the sorriest truck stop Spike had ever seen. More of a stopping grounds for people on their way to and from Vegas. He nicked a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the truck stop store for Faith while Buffy paid for a room at the Motel 6 across the street.

Later, Spike sat on the bed gazing at Buffy who sat across from him on the other queen-sized bed. Faith came out of the bathroom and tossed the towel she had been using to dry her hair onto the sink.

“Not a bad fit.” She tucked in the plain blue t-shirt. “I could use a belt though.” She stood in front of the bed by the door. “This isn't going to work." Faith pointed to the other bed where Spike sat and said firmly, "Vamps in that bed and humans in this one.”

Spike stood up when Buffy did. He could detect her distress under the surface but she put up a calm front. “You can just sleep on the floor,” she told Faith.

“Hey, I'm not the genius who got one room with two beds when there are three of us.”

“This was all that Xander's money could get us!” Buffy shouted.

He could see that neither of them was going to be reasonable. He patted his jacket looking for his lighter. “Let her have the other bed. It's not like we haven't slept together before.”

Buffy made a noise in her throat and glared at Spike. Faith looked at the two of them and smiled. “I knew it! You have a thing for vampires, and with Spike being hot and all, you just couldn't help yourself. Again.”

Spike groaned inwardly. He'd put his foot in it once more. Buffy looked ready to dust him. “That's not how I meant it. She slept at my place last night because she had nowhere else to go. Nothing happened.”

Faith watched Buffy for a second and then moved towards Spike. “Well in that case, I change my mind. I think maybe I'll sleep with Spike.”

Spike's lips curved up. This Slayer was something else. She had sass and guts. He quickly dropped the smile when he tore his gaze from Faith and he saw the murderous look on Buffy's face. Faith was closing the gap, but Buffy got between them and pushed her back.

“Stay away from Spike. Just because he walks on two legs and has the right equipment, doesn't mean you have to jump his bones. And he's right. We have fallen asleep in the same bed before, so it's no big deal.”

“Well, since I go both ways, the equipment doesn't matter. And how would you know about his equipment?”

Spike was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with Faith staring in the general direction of his... equipment. He sat down on the bed with his back against the headboard and used the remote to turn on the TV, doing his best to ignore them both.

“I'm going to take a shower.” Buffy glared at Faith before slamming the bathroom door.

He was focused on the TV when he heard the distinct sound of a zipper.

“What are you doing?” he asked in alarm as Faith pushed her jeans down and kicked them off. She wore prison issue underwear. He looked back at the TV.

“I'm not going to sleep in the jeans.”

Spike kept his head forward but watched her out of the corner of his eye. She folded back the covers and slipped inside the bed sheets. The light from the TV flickered across the dark room and the volume was low enough that he could hear the shower running.

Faith sat there for some time, playing with the edge of the sheet before she spoke up again. “We've met before you know.”

He studied her for a moment. “I think I would remember if we met before, love.”

“Let me refresh your memory.” Faith flashed him a shit-eating grin. “It was a couple of years ago at the Bronze. I was wearing a different skin at the time. I seem to recall telling you how I had muscles you've never dreamed of and that I could squeeze you until you popped like warm champagne.”

“Wot?” He sat up straight. “That was you?”

The bathroom door opened and Buffy came out in a towel with a second towel covering her hair. He sprang up out of bed and stood before her.

“My turn now.” He looked back at Faith, who was still smiling at him in her smug little way. “Can I have one of those towels?”

Buffy rubbed against him as she brushed past to get her clothes out of the bathroom. All his senses went on high alert and he stared at her with hungry eyes as she adjusted the towel hugging her breast. His mouth went dry as she unraveled the towel around her hair and leaned over, rubbing her head vigorously with it. She straightened and held the towel out to him.

~*~*~*~*~

Buffy watched him disappear into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed facing away from Faith. She slowly got dressed.

“So,” Faith said, “How come I didn't hear about this thing with Spike during any of our phone conversations?”

“There wasn't much to tell. He's been gone most of the summer.”

“From where I am sitting, it looks like there's gotta be a whole lot of juicy details.”

Buffy pulled her green top over her head and climbed over the bed to sit up on the side closest to Faith. She stared at Faith for moment and chose the safest route when dealing with discussions about Spike. She changed the subject.

“You know you're alone now.”

“Seems to me I'm sitting in a room with you.” Faith frowned at her.

“I mean, you are the only living slayer now.”

“You're still the slayer. A vamp slayer, but you're still Buffy.”

“They were going to kill you, Faith. They wanted you gone so that a new, younger girl could be called and activated. Someone easier to control. I'm already dead or undead. Whatever.” She waved her hand in the air.

“I can take care of myself. I've been doing it a long time.” Faith sighed before laying her head on the pillow.

Buffy reached over and used the remote to turn off the TV. Then she lay down facing in Faith's direction. With the end table between them, they couldn't see each other. Faith was going to need her watcher now. She sighed. It was difficult to think that Giles would be working with someone else.

“Please let Giles and the others help you.” It felt foreign to ask Faith for anything.

“I'm going along on your little joy ride back to Sunnydale, aren't I?”