Chapter Five
While William apologized profusely and scrambled to pick up the ice cubes from the floor and the Watcher’s chair, Riley rolled his eyes and wondered how someone as athletic as Buffy could be related to someone so uncoordinated and clumsy. He watched idly as the embarrassed young man gathered the ice cubes and carried them out to the kitchen. When William returned with a fresh bowl minutes later, the other man had completely dismissed him and barely noticed when he sat down in the only vacant seat, next to Buffy.
After some general conversation about Sunnydale, the town, and the University, Willow asked innocently, “How well do you know Professor Walsh, Riley?”
He surprised everyone by saying quickly, “Well, hardly at all. I mean I work for her, so obviously I know her, but not well. No, not well. I hardly see her outside of class. No more than you do, probably. Why do you ask?”
His nervous, and clearly dishonest, response set off alarms bells for both the Watcher and Spike. Their eyes met briefly, and in response to the Watcher’s raised eyebrow the vampire nodded briefly, indicating that the man’s increased breathing and heart rate indicated he was lying. It occurred to Giles that having a vampire around to assist with interrogations, especially surreptitious ones, could be a good thing. He also reminded himself not to play poker with the blond vamp.
(Did you catch that, pet? The wanker is lying through his teeth.)
(So it seems.)
Spike frowned at the slight tone of regret in her voice. (Was she starting to like the git? Had she forgotten what he was?) He barely controlled his possessive growl as his demon reacted to the thought of his mate being interested in anyone else. He forced the demon back down and made sure his jealous urge wasn’t projected to Buffy.
(He is one of them, Slayer. I recognize his scent. He was definitely there the other night.)
Buffy didn’t answer him, but she shifted around in her seat so as to be facing Riley and asked him with feigned indifference, “Why were you so curious about my martial arts training, Riley? Are you interested in things like that?”
Startled, he blurted out without thinking, “Yes, I’m a bit of an expert myself. I was the leading…” recovering himself, he quickly amended, “but you don’t want to hear about me, let’s talk about your training. What have you studied?”
(Staking 101, Advanced beheading, Demon pummeling, Save-the-World 203…)
Spike smothered a laugh when Buffy punched him on the leg, then blushed when everyone looked at her curiously.
“Has William done something to anger you, Buffy?” her Watcher inquired with a warning glare.
“Uh, no, no. My hand fell asleep and I was just shaking it out. It was an accident.” She turned to Spike and rubbed his thigh gently, “I’m sorry William, “ she said sweetly, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
The vampire hissed at the heat from her hand on his leg and shifted to hide his immediate reaction.
“No, that’s quite all right, love. You just go back to your conversation about your barbaric hobby.” He gave a shudder that caused Riley to roll his eyes again and everyone else, including Giles to have to hide smiles. “Perhaps he’d like to, oh dear, what is that word? To train with you sometime. What do you call it? Sparring? Yes, perhaps he would spar with you.” He bestowed a proud smile on Buffy and said to the astonished man, “Buffy is quite good, you know. Amazing, actually. If you like that sort of thing.”
“Yes, I’m sure she is,” Riley said with a hard look at the embarrassed girl.
(I am soooo going to kill you)
(You keep telling yourself that, pet, and maybe you’ll come to believe it.)
Deciding he wasn’t going to learn any more about Buffy from the very strange people she hung out with, Riley reached for her hand and turned to Xander and Anya.
“I thought we’d finish our evening by spending some time in the Bronze. Would you guys like to join us?” he addressed Xander and Anya, but turned to include Willow and William in his question.
“Oh yes!” Anya spoke up quickly. “ Going to the Bronze. Just the thing an average human couple would do on a weekend night. We would do that. We do things like go to the Bronze all the time! We’re very normal that way.”
Xander quickly grabbed his girlfriend and hustled her into the kitchen to explain why referring to themselves as an average HUMAN couple might not have been the best way to avoid suspicion about her ex demon status.
Willow and Spike exchanged looks and he gave her a wink and a shrug as he said, “Well, if that’s acceptable to Ms Rosenberg, I might…that’s if Uncle Rupert doesn’t mind my running off on my first night in his home?”
“Oh, please,” Giles said, “By all means, you…young people should go out and enjoy yourselves. We have all day tomorrow to visit.”
“Well, that’s settled then. We’ll hit the Bronze for some music and liquid refreshment.” Riley pulled Buffy to her feet and steered her toward the door. “We’ll just go get my car and be right back.”
“Uh, why don’t I wait here for you?” Buffy looked up at him appealingly and pointed to her very high-heeled shoes.
“Oh, okay, sure. I’ll be right back.” He went out the door, pulling it quietly shut behind him. Instead of heading for his car, he paused outside the door and looked around, spotting a window that was slightly ajar and moving closer to it.
“So, Miss Rosenberg, you and I? Are you sure you don’t mind? I’m not really much of a club goer. I much prefer to spend my time in the library…” As he spoke, Spike was gesturing with his eyes and head toward the window and understanding slowly spread across everyone’s face.
Everyone except Xander who started, “Taking this a little too much to heart, aren’t you, dea-“ He was mercifully cut off by Anya’s hand on his mouth. When she was sure he was not going to continue, she removed her hand remarking, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time. Now you know how it feels, Xander.”
(Spike? Is he out there? Listening to us?) The anger came through loud and clear and he had to smile.
He just nodded and held his hand to his ear and cocked his head as though he was listening. Again, Giles was reminding of the value of having vampiric enhancements when dealing with humans.
“Well, he seems nice enough, Buffy. Have long did you say you’ve been seeing him?”
“This is our first actual, night-time date. We usually meet for coffee or lunch. He took me on a picnic last week,” she added brightly. “That was fun.”
“Rather a large fellow, isn’t he, pet?” William put in with a roll of his eyes.
“Yes, he’s very big and strong,” Buffy chirped, giving the vampire a glare. “I like that in a man.”
No one but Buffy noticed the vampire’s eyes flash amber for a second and she stuck her tongue out at him.
(That meant as an invitation, pet?)
(Nope, just my way of dissing you.) She took the sting out of her thought by smiling at him and was rewarded with a genuine, non-smirking smile in return.
Fortunately the other people in the room were all trying to maintain a conversation about the band at the Bronze, primarily for Riley’s benefit, and no one noticed the silent by play between Slayer and vampire.
When Spike nodded his head and said, “Okay, he’s out of human earshot now – wait!” He stopped everyone and ran to the open window, leaning out to hear what Riley was saying and to whom.
He turned around, looking much more like Spike wearing glasses than William at that moment.
“The bloody wanker is talkin’ to someone about Buffy on a cell phone,” he snarled. “Sayin’ he’ll take her to the Bronze and they can ‘observe’ her there.”
“Dear lord!” the Watcher frowned and took off his glasses. “Perhaps you shouldn’t go Buffy.”
“Relax, Giles. I’ll be fine. So they ‘observe’ me – what are they gonna see? Buffy dancing? Buffy having fun? Nothing demony or Slayerish. And, anyway, I’ll have all my friends around. What are they gonna do to me with four other people around?
“Considering that the only one of those four that would be of much assistance in a struggle with someone Riley’s size is not able to harm humans, I would guess they could do whatever they wanted.”
“We’ll be fine, Giles. It’s not like they’re going to kidnap me from a public place for heaven’s sake.”
She stuck her lower lip out in a pout that made Spike groan to himself.
“And, anyway, I kicked their butts before and I can do it again.”
“Yes, well, you had surprise on your side that time. Just be sure you do not go anywhere by yourself. Or allow Riley to get you alone. And, please. Call me when you are safely home.”
The sound of car horn beeping cheerfully outside ended the discussion and with a, “See you later, G-Man,” from Xander, they all walked out to get into the large SUV the commando was driving. Before Riley could get out and come around to open the door for Buffy, William had already opened it and handed her into the large vehicle. He closed the door with a wink at the astonished Slayer and squeezed into the back with the Scoobies.
He never took his eyes off Riley on the drive to the club, only speaking when the big man went to put his arm across the back of the seat so that he could touch Buffy’s hair.
Swallowing his growl, William said in his most unassuming and worried voice, “Wouldn’t it be better to keep both hands on the wheel, Mr. Finn? Just for safety’s sake?”
“Don’t worry, William,” he replied expansively, “I’ve been driving for years. And it’s not like Sunnydale has all that much traffic.”
He left his arm where it was, but quite trying to reach Buffy who had slid over toward the window as far as her seat belt would let her. She risked one look into the back seat, but the eyes behind William’s glasses were uncomfortably warm and she quickly faced front again.
(This is going to be an interesting night,) she sighed to herself. She took another quick peek at Spike to see if she had unintentionally sent that thought out, but he didn’t seem to have noticed.
(Maybe I’m getting the hang of this stuff.) she though proudly, only to be rudely disillusioned when she heard, (And maybe I’m just ignoring you, pet. ‘S not like your thoughts are all that interestin’)
(Screw you, Spike) She regretted immediately her choice of comeback, but instead of the off-color reply she was expecting all she got was a sense of great amusement from the vampire. Face flaming, she shut down her thoughts as much as possible for the rest of the ride.
When they had reached the Bronze and Riley had put the huge vehicle into one of the parking places outside, William threw open his door and promptly fell out onto the asphalt. With an embarrassed whimper, he rubbed his knee as he stood up and opened Buffy’s door for her.
“Come, love. Let me help you down from there. It’s quite a drop to the ground.”
Buffy rolled her eyes at him, but took his offered hand and stepped daintily to the ground beside him. He held her fingers just a bit longer than necessary, but let go as soon as Riley came around the side of the car. He suppressed his growl when Riley took Buffy’s tiny hand in his large one and led her toward the door, not bothering to look back to see if her friends were keeping up.
The three Scoobies and William followed the pair in front of them, trailing them to a table near the dance floor. A table that was conveniently vacated, just as they came in, by four athletic looking young men with military haircuts. Spike caught the exchange of glances between Riley and one of the men, and made sure to memorize their faces.
As they took their seats, William made sure he was seated where he could see Buffy and Riley. He clumsily pulled out a chair for Willow, almost dumping her on the floor as he went to push it in.
“You don’t have to be so convincing that you kill me,” she hissed at him as she grabbed the sides of chair to keep from falling off.
“Sorry, Red,” he whispered. “William’s just not very comfortable around ladies.”
When the drink orders were taken, William gazed longingly at the long necked beer bottles being carried past their table, but forced himself to order a soft drink, insisting that, “I have absolutely no head for alcoholic beverages. I become quite rowdy when I drink. I certainly wouldn’t want to take a chance on embarrassing any of these ladies with my behavior.”
Willow and Buffy, both of whom had seen Spike drunk on more than one occasion, smothered their laughter with simultaneous coughing, causing Riley to look at them curiously.
With drinks dispersed around the table and the band beginning to warm up, the small group settled back to enjoy themselves as much as was possible for a group of individuals all trying to pretend to be something they weren’t.
Chapter Six
As the band began to play, Anya grabbed Xander and pulled him onto the dance floor leaving the two blonds, Willow, and the secret commando to stare uncomfortably at each other.
“Do you dance, William?” Buffy asked with a sly grin, hoping to embarrass the vampire.
Right on cue, William ducked his head shyly and raked at the soft curls falling over his forehead as he fumbled for something to say. He looked at Willow pleadingly as he stammered, “I…Of course, I Iearned the proper steps for dancing with a lady when I was…that is, I’ve been taught how to dance, but I’m afraid I am not very good at it. And this,” he waved his hand at the gyrating bodies on the dance floor in front of them, “this is not something I’ve ever even attempted.”
“Oh? Well I think you should,” Buffy responded with an evil look in her eye. “Willow? Wouldn’t you like to dance?”
“Wha? Me? With S-William?” Her friends eyes were open so wide Buffy was afraid they would fall out.
“Sure. You. You don’t mind dancing with my cousin, do you? He doesn’t get to meet many American girls and this may be his only chance to dance with one.”
(I know one that’s going to be ‘dancing’ with me as soon as get this soddin’ chip out, Slayer) came the angry growl in her head.
(Come on, what’s so hard about it? You can dance with Willow a little bit. It won’t kill you…oh that’s right, you’re already dead.) Buffy’s internal giggle made him smile in spite of himself.
(Jus’ remember, payback’s a bitch, luv.) he sent back as he offered Willow his hand and escorted the nervous witch to the floor.
“Relax, Red, I can’t bite you anymore. An’ dancin’ with me can’t be any worse than dancin’ with the whelp. In fact, I’d imitate his style, if he actually had one.”
With Willow’s embarrassed reluctance to dance with a vampire, and William’s obvious lack of comfort with the heavy beat of the music, they made an amusing couple to watch. Riley was openly sneering at William’s timid attempts to move with the music without actually moving any body parts besides his feet, and Buffy felt a protective bolt of anger go through her before she remembered that William was not really her cousin and didn’t need her to worry about his feelings.
When Riley’s sneer had almost turned to outright laughter, and Buffy could see Willow redden with embarrassment while William just looked more and more lost, she had had all she could take of Riley’s attitude toward her friends. She took his hand, and with a yank that barely concealed her Slayer strength, she pulled him onto the dance floor and began to move around him.
As she had suspected, the big man’s amusement at Willow and William was because he, himself, had absolutely no sense of rhythm or timing. While Buffy moved around him, her body responding almost unconsciously to the music, he stood in place and jerked his arms around, trying to look like he was enjoying the beat that he obviously didn’t hear.
He breathed a sigh of relief when the band switched to a slow tune and he could pull Buffy into his arms and just sway in one place with her. Of course that meant her face was smushed into his chest and she couldn’t see anything but the buttons on his shirt. Which was just as well, as William and Willow were attempting to move around the dance floor without tripping each other, to the great amusement of both Riley and the four commandos leaning on the bar.
“If you step on my feet one more time, I am going to turn you into a toad,” the red-haired witch growled into William’s ear.
“Sorry, pet. Jus’ tryin’ to make it look good for the peanut gallery over there. I’ll be more careful. Don’t fancy being a toad just now.”
There was a subtle shift in his demeanor and suddenly, although he still held her awkwardly, he was no longer treading on her feet and they were no longer bumping into other couples as they moved around the floor. She just had time to register that Spike appeared to be quite a good dancer, when they crashed, quite hard, into another couple and she heard him apologizing profusely.
“Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Finn, Buffy. I’m so clumsy. Please forgive me. I hope we didn’t hurt anyone?”
Riley glared back at him briefly, then relaxed and laughed. “No problem, William. You just pushed us a little closer together. Can’t complain about that now, can I? Not with something as beautiful as Buffy in my arms.”
The fact that he referred to Buffy as something, rather than someone, was not lost on the three people watching him. Nor was the possessive way he held her against him and stroked her back.
Biting back the snarl that threatened to break out of his throat, William smiled shyly and suggested, “Perhaps Ms. Rosenberg would like a break from my abuse of her feet and we could switch partners for the next song. If my cousin is willing to risk her own toes, that is?” He gave Buffy a shy sweet smile that had her responding in spite of herself.
“Oh, I’d love to, William. You don’t mind, do you, Riley?” She turned to her date with a smile.
“Huh? No, of course not, Buffy. You and your cousin go dance and Willow and I will get to know each other better.”
Riley spent several minutes trying to figure out how to dance with Willow so that he could talk to her about Buffy without causing her a serious neck injury and he missed the first few minutes of William and Buffy’s dancing. When he finally sorted out the best way to be able to talk to Willow, seem to be dancing, and keep and eye on Buffy at the same time, he almost tripped as he spotted the blond duo.
Contrary to the awkward and self conscious way William had been dancing with Willow, he and Buffy were moving together in perfect rhythm, twirling and dipping as the music called for it. Just as the music slowed down to a very romantic and lush section, Riley lost sight of the two cousins. Even with his height, he couldn’t see over the crowd between them to follow what they were doing.
What they were doing was swaying together on the other side of the club, as far away from Riley and the Scoobies as Spike could get them. When he was sure no one could see them anymore, he wrapped his arms around Buffy’s waist and pulled her unresisting body closer. She rested her head on his shoulder and slid her arms up to wrap around his neck as her body nestled into his as though it belonged there.
Neither was willing to break the spell by talking, so they just let themselves get lost in the music, forgetting for a few precious moments that they were Slayer and vampire. And forgetting that there were four other people in the club whose job it was to watch Buffy. At the end of the bar, Graham craned his neck to keep them in sight, frowning slightly at their seeming involvement.
Although none of Riley’s friends were particularly happy that he’d taken such an interest in the strange little blond, Graham’s loyalty to his friend caused a stab of anger when he saw her dancing so closely with the dorky-looking man who had come in with them. He relaxed when the slow song ended and they broke apart, both looking slightly embarrassed about their previous closeness.
Buffy broke the awkward silence first, saying with a reddened face, “That was…you’re actually are a very good dancer…I…I liked it.”
“Me, too, Love,” he said softly. “Could have stayed like that all night.”
Any further conversation was drowned out as the band went back into another song with a pounding beat and Buffy began moving her body to the music. Before she could stop him, William’s hands were on her hips and he was matching her move for move as he danced behind her. Every shift of her hips brought her ass into contact with his body and it wasn’t long before she could feel the proof of what he whispered that she was doing to him.
Buffy pulled away and spun around to face him, still dancing, but keeping her distance. (Stop that!) she glared at him. (William would never behave like that!)
He laughed, and reached for her again as he said, (You got that right, pet. That ponce wouldn’t have known what to do with a girl like you.)
She danced just out of reach of his hands and studied him speculatively.
(Is that what you were like before you were turned? Is William really you?)
(What? Me? A light weight like that? Are you crazy, Slayer? You know I’ve always been bad.) He gave her his most evil leer, but Buffy could see the panic behind his eyes.
“Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much,” she snarked at him aloud, putting her hands on her hips. “I’ll bet that’s exactly what you were like. No wonder you like being a vampire so much! I’ll bet guys like Riley picked on you all the time. Didn’t they?”
“You don’t know what your talking’ about, Slayer,” he growled. “I don’t take anything off wankers like that and you know it.”
“Not now, you don’t…didn’t…before your…disability, anyway. But what about when you were human? When you were a sweet, gentle man who read poetry and wore glasses? Huh? What about then, Spike?”
“I never! You don’t know what you’re talkin’ ab—wait, did you just say I was sweet?”
“I said William was a sweet man,” she struggled to control the rush of color to her face and the increase in her heart rate. “You’re just pretending to be him. Aren’t you?” she asked almost pleadingly.
“Of course I am, pet. You know me. Big Bad, evil undead, just waiting to get this thing out of my head to go back to my killin’ ways.”
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “That’s what I thought. I almost forgot for a few minutes,” she added so softly he wasn’t sure he heard her. “Silly me.”
She turned and began walking back toward the table where Riley waited with undisguised impatience.
(Buffy…)
(Don’t, Spike. Just…don’t)
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Author's Chapter Notes:
nothing to say - except this fic has been nommed for awards a couple different places and has won a couple.