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Chapter 13

Buffy sulked in the passenger seat of the SUV as Xander drove them to the local convenience store. They had only been driving for about five minutes, but to Buffy it seemed like forever. When they had left the cabin Spike had been nowhere in sight. To say that she was happy she hadn't seen him would've been a lie. She had wanted to run into him, if only to give him the cold shoulder treatment. But no, he had to go and ruin that for her too.

"Men," she spat out under her breath.

"What?" Xander asked having heard her.

"Huh?" Buffy asked him, quickly sitting up in her seat when she realized he had heard what she said.

"What?" He asked again, taking a sharp turn off the dirt path they had been on, onto a gravelly road. "Did you say something?"

"No."

They both sat in silence for the next two miles, before Xander decided to speak.

"Are you enjoying the cabin?"

Buffy, who had been busy watching the trees zoom by her window, rolled her eyes. What the hell kind of question was that? Being forced against your will to stay somewhere with two people who clearly have no sense of fun was no picnic. Anyone in there right mind would realize that without having to bother questioning it.

"You must miss your wife a lot," Buffy stated, hoping to steer the conversation away from her.

"Cordy? Yeah, I miss her. She's seven months pregnant you know," Xander told her. "She'll be having that baby real soon. Hopefully I will be done with this assignment before that happens."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, turning her attention back to the trees and tuning out Xander. She couldn't wait for this whole experience to end.


"Only thirty five minutes away," Xander remarked as they both got out of the car and started walking across the dirt parking lot towards the tiny shop. "Not bad at all."

Buffy nodded her head, not really having heard what he said but agreeing anyway. She was too busy studying where they were and wondering how in the hell it still existed. Four tiny gas pumps were located on a tiny island in front of the run down building that was supposed to pass as a convenience store. Two of the pumps were labeled out of order and one of the remaining two didn't even have a nozzle connected to it. Leading Buffy to conclude that gas was not the thing keeping this store in business. Her gaze left the pumps and shifted over to the building they were about to enter. The windows to the place looked as if they hadn't been cleaned in years. They were covered in some kind of dirt that gave them an opaque quality making it impossible to see through them. The open/closed sign hanging on the door currently showcased the closed side, but people were still entering and exiting oblivious to the forgotten sign. The roof was patchy like the weather and age had finally started to take its toll. Overall the appearance of the store did not make Buffy feel comfortable.

Just as Xander had opened the door and was holding it for her to enter, two young kids came running out almost knocking her over in the process.

"Which flavor did you get?" They heard one kid ask the other as they ran around the corner of the store.

"Kids," Xander sighed.

Buffy tore her gaze away from where she had been watching the kids run off to look at him. She silently pleaded with him to take her back to the cabin. She was afraid if she went through those doors something bad was going to happen to her.

"After you," Xander told her, gesturing with his hand for her to enter.

Buffy slowly stepped over the threshold and went inside the store. She heard the door shut and felt Xander right behind her.

Buffy looked around and was shocked. The outside of the store certainly didn't match the inside like she had originally thought it would. Everything looked new. The floors where white and glistened like they had just been cleaned. The ceiling looked so good you couldn't even tell the roof covering it was fallen apart. It almost looked like the stores back in Sunnydale.

"Good morning."

Buffy turned her head towards the direction of the voice that had just greeted them. She saw an elderly man wearing a blue apron standing behind the only counter in the place looking over at them and smiling. She gave a little smile of her own to the man.

"Morning," Xander greeted back. "Can you tell me where I can find some batteries?"

"Back wall."

"Thanks."

Buffy felt Xander grip the back of her elbow and start to pull her along with him. She stopped him.

"Listen," she began as he let go of her elbow and turned to look at her. "Is it alright if I explore this place on my own? I mean it's so small you could just glance over the shelves and spot me in a second. Besides there is only one way in and out of here," she argued pointing to the door behind them.

Xander contemplated this for a minute before reluctantly nodding his head. "Okay, but don't let Spike know about this."

"I promise," Buffy swore before turning on her heels and heading for the magazine racks on the other side of the store.

Ten minutes later Buffy was sucking on a Cherry blowpop and engrossed in an article in Cosmo titled "What His Kisses Say About Him". She was too busy replaying the kiss she had shared with Spike in her head that she didn't notice the man who was eyeing her from down the aisle.

"Did he nibble on my lip?" she asked herself, closing her eyes and trying to remember every detail.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?"

Buffy jumped slightly and dropped the magazine in her hand. She bent down to retrieve it and accidentally knocked heads with the man who was also kneeling to pick up the magazine for her.

"Ow."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Buffy started to apologize, but stopped when she saw who it was. "Riley?"

"Buffy," Riley greeted, rubbing the side of his head then reaching down to pick up her magazine. "How are you?"

Buffy took the magazine out of his hand and placed it back on the shelf. She quickly glanced around the store to make sure Xander wasn't close by and wouldn't be able to hear them.

"I'm fine," she answered. "Are you okay?"

Riley nodded his head.

"Are you here with your cousin Randy?" Riley asked, looking over his shoulder around the store. "Did I do something to upset him last night? He seemed a little angry when you guys left."

Buffy laughed and shook her head. "That's just his personality. He doesn't get along well with anyone, the whole family hates him."

"Really?"

"Not really," Buffy corrected. "Just me."

Riley laughed. "So, are you here alone?"

"I came with my brother, Alex."

"Oh."

"How long has this place been here?" Buffy asked him. "Is it safe to shop here?"

"What do you mean?"

"The up keep on the outside isn't very good."

Riley laughed again. "That's Goober for you."

"Goober?"

"The guy who owns the place," he informed her.
He pointed to the man who had greeted her and Xander earlier. He was still standing behind the counter, smiling and chatting up people as he rang them up.

"Goober's motto is never judge a book by its cover." She heard Riley talking as she continued to watch Goober. "I guess he likes to incorporate that into his lifestyle. You know he used to be a Marine."

"Really?"

"Yep, comes over to my cabin from time to time and we talk about the good old boot camp days."

"Sounds like a nice man."

"He is."

Buffy cleared her throat and looked over at the magazines. She wondered if she should go find Xander or continue her talk with Riley.

"When are you going to take me on a ride in your boat around the lake?" Buffy asked, deciding that it was more fun talking to Riley then returning to a cabin where she was sure Spike would still be ignoring her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike found himself checking his watch for the forth time in the past hour. Xander and Buffy had been gone a long time and he was starting to get worried. He had finished setting up the alarm system around the cabin and was now sitting on the front porch waiting for them.

"Dammit I should have gone with them," he cursed himself. "Where the hell are you Xander?"

He stood up from the front step that he had been sitting on and went back inside the cabin. He started heading back to the kitchen to make something to eat, but stopped when he found himself standing in front of Buffy's bedroom door. Maybe he could do a little investigation while they were gone.

"What the hell are you investigating?" he chided himself, his hand frozen on the doorknob. She isn't hiding anything from you. You're the damn FBI; her life's an open book as far as you're concerned."

Still something willed him to open the door and go inside. The first thing his eyes landed on when he entered the room was her suitcase, or suitcases to be more precise, which were still packed. This was odd considering they were scheduled to be here for awhile. He pulled the biggest one onto the bed and unzipped it. Nothing seemed to pop out at him at first. There were the usual things, her clothes and some personal items from home. It wasn't until he started feeling around the inside pockets of the suitcase that he found something interesting.

"Bloody hell," he mumbled shaking his head at the thing he held in his hand. "I can't believe she brought it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy jumped out of the car once Xander came to a full stop and bolted for the cabin. She ran into the house and briefly glimpsed Spike sitting on the couch as she went into her room. No sooner had she entered the room before the door was opened again and Spike came walking in behind her.

"Don't you know how to knock?" She asked still a little annoyed with him from the way he treated her this morning. "If you want to keep tabs on me that bad why not just take the whole damn door off the hinges. That way you can look in on me anytime you want."

"Why do you have this?"

Buffy looked over her shoulder to see what he was referring to. When she saw the object he was holding in his hand her mouth fell open in shock.

"Where did you find that?" She asked, grabbing her cell phone out of his hand.

Spike took the phone back from her and put it in his pocket. "Were you planning on using that? I thought you were specifically told to keep all forms of communication at home. That meant no cell phones. You know they can trace your location if you use that thing."

"You went through my suitcase didn't you," she stated when she finally remembered where she had put it when packing her suitcase.

"Yes, I did. But that doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that you aren't supposed to have this with you."

"I can't believe you went through my things," Buffy said a bit stunned. "First you chew my head off this morning because of something you did. And, now you go through my things."

"You aren't supposed to have any form of communication on you."

"What gives you the right to go through my personal stuff?"

"To protect you," Spike finally answered. "I'm doing my job."

Buffy scoffed at his answer. She pushed past him and walked out of her room, bumping into Xander on the way. He had just come into the cabin and caught the tail end of their fight. They heard the back door slam as the left the cabin.

"What just happened?" he asked Spike who had his back turned to him.

Spike pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and threw it to Xander. "I found this in her suitcase."

"Wow," Xander uttered twirling the phone around in his hand and flipping it open. "Has she used it yet?"

"I don't think so. If she has then we're in deep shit."

"Do you want me to go after her?"

Spike shook his head making his way out of the room. "No, I'll go get her. You stay here in just in case."

"Hey!" Xander called out to Spike as he was about to open the door.

Spike turned to look at his friend. "Yeah?"

"Go easy on her," Xander suggested. "She's just a kid."

Spike nodded his head. He stepped out of the cabin and scanned the area around them. He spotted her a few yards down the shore heading in the direction of Riley's cabin.

"Just a kid," he repeated out loud still watching as she got further and further away. "Then why am I falling for her."





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