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Chapter 7

Rated: NC17

Thank you Chloe aka Flames. For being a wonderful beta girl!!!!

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

Spike came bursting through the front door of the cabin, his breath coming in sharp gasps. He spotted Xander coming out from one of the rooms and made his way over to him.

"Hey, have you seen Buffy?" he asked, halting Xander with a hand on the shoulder. "She was supposed to be out front waiting for me to get her, but she’s not there."

Xander shook his head and frowned. "I haven’t seen her. Did you check out back?"

Spike eyes lit up. Of course! The backyard! He hadn’t thought to check the backyard! Here he was, getting all worried when she could have been in the backyard the entire time. He hurriedly ran out the backdoor.

"Only five minutes into this assignment, and we’ve already lost the girl…" Xander commented sarcastically, following Spike out the door. "But, do you honestly think something could have-"

His voice trailed off as he stepped around Spike and saw for the first time exactly how big the lake actually was. During the drive up, the only thing visible had been trees, trees and more trees. Not once had they gotten a clear view of the lake. But now, seeing it for the first time, it became obvious that maybe the lake wasn’t as secluded as they’d thought.

Xander glanced around the lake and noticed that there were several docks, disappearing into the trees, indicating to him that somewhere at the end of those docks might be cabins or cottages. He started to voice his thoughts when he caught sight of a figure walking along the dock and up the stairs towards them.

"Did you get rid of that mouse?" Buffy asked looking up at Spike, who was situated at the top of the stairs, Xander beside him.

"Where were you?"

Buffy stopped on the step just below them. "I was back here," she lied, "I didn’t wander off, like you’re probably thinking. I totally stayed within hearing distance of the cabin."

"Well, next time you decide to go wandering off, let one of us know? It’s the least you could do…"

Buffy waved her hands uncaringly in the air. "Whatever. If it’ll make you feel better."

"Thank you."

Buffy brushed past them and headed back into the cabin. Spike turned to follow her but was stopped by Xander.

"What?" Spike asked, glancing sideways at him.

Xander gestured with his head out towards the lake. "I think we should get started on the security system ASAP," he suggested. "Something tells me this place isn’t as isolated as we were told."

Spike furrowed his brows but finally turned his attention out to the lake.

Xander pointed towards the docks he had seen earlier. "We got a dock over there and," He moved his finger from one side of the lake to the other, "one over there. And then there’s ours..."

"I see what you mean. But still, they could just be docks and nothin more." Spike told him, hoping to put Xander’s mind at ease, as well as his own. "Tomorrow morning I’ll do a sweep of the area and see what I find."

"Yeah," Xander agreed. "Tonight, I’ll get started on perimeter security."

Both men glanced from one dock to the other before heading inside to finish settling into the cabin.

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

Dinner had been eaten in silence around the little round table located in the kitchen. After dinner, Buffy had retreated to her room for some alone time while Spike and Xander prepared the equipment to be hooked up around the outside of the cabin.

"Okay," Xander said, picking up his bag of tools and glancing out the window, "I think its dark enough for me to start. I should be done in a couple hours."

"Alright. I’ll check on Buffy and see if she needs anythin’. Call if you need any help." Spike told him before starting off towards Buffy’s room.

"Will do."

Spike heard the back door open and close just as he found himself standing in front of Buffy’s door. He had his hand up in the air prepared to knock when the door swung open to reveal Buffy on the other side. He noticed the look on her eyes held a hint of alarm, which quickly faded as she saw him.

"You alright?" He asked, stepping aside when she moved to get out of the room.

"I thought I heard the door," she told him, "thought maybe you guys were leaving without telling me."

"No, that was jus’ Xander. He has t’do something outside," he informed her, looking back towards the door Xander had just exited before returning his gaze to her. "We won’t be leaving you alone. One of us always has to stay by your side, or at least within a close distance."

Buffy lowered her eyes to the floor. "Oh."

Spike shoved his hands into his pants pockets and gently swayed back and forth on his heels, wondering what to say to her. He knew that she must be bored out of her mind, with the large lack of things she could do. And it didn’t help that the cabin was sans even a television. He was just about to give up when he remembered seeing something in one of the kitchen drawers while searching for the silverware.

"Do you want to play cards?"

Buffy’s head shot up at his question. She had been patiently waiting for him to say something about earlier and maybe interrogate her some about where she’d really been. Truth be told, she was almost hoping he would. She’d started to feel guilty about lying immediately after she had done it.

"Cards?"

A smile formed on his face. "Yeah," he said, walking over to the kitchen. "I found a deck ’f cards earlier and I figure, since I’m bored and you seem pretty bored yourself, we could play."

Buffy watched as he opened a drawer and searched around, before letting out a triumphant “Ah ha!”, when he found them. She couldn’t help but smile at the picture he conjured, standing there like a little boy who’d just found the greatest treasure of all time.

"Sure, I’d love to play cards."

The smile on Spike’s face grew even larger with her answer. He waltzed around the counter, back into the den, tearing into the pack of cards along the way. He motioned for Buffy to take a seat on the couch while he pulled one of the other chairs in the room over so he could sit across from her. He tossed the pack aside after taking the cards out, set them on the table and looked up at her.

"What d’you want ta play? Go Fish, Old Maid…" He halted his talking when he at the amused smirk on her face. "What?"

"How old do you think I am? Old Maid?" She asked him, settling against the back of the couch and crossing her legs. "I do know how to play other games."

"Oh really…" Spike said, unconsciously letting his eyes drop to her legs for a brief second before returning them to her face. "So you want to play something more…fun."

Buffy laughed softly. "Old Maid can be fun, sometimes. But I’m in the mood for something a little more…involved."

"Well, who am I t’ deny a lady what she wants? How about Gin Rummy?"

"Sounds good to me," Buffy replied, scooting to the edge of the couch so she could reach the table.

Spike picked up the stack of cards, ready to shuffle them, but stopped and offered them to her. "Would you like t’ shuffle?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, you go ahead. I’ll deal the next game."

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

Twenty minutes and several games later, neither Buffy nor Spike were still bored. The couch and chair they’d originally been seated on were now pushed aside in favor of sitting crossed legged on the floor on either side of the coffee table.

Buffy took a sip of the drink Spike had gotten for her during one of her bathroom breaks, waiting for him to deal out the cards. She propped her elbows on the table and watched him.

"How about we make this next game a little more interesting?" She suggested, an idea popping into her head.

"What do you ’ave in mind?" Spike asked suspiciously, pushing the deck across the table towards her to cut.

Buffy did so before continuing. "Well, I was thinking about how you seem to know so much about me, but I hardly know anything about you." She pushed the deck back over to him. "So, how about for every hand I win, I get to ask you a question, which you have to answer. And, every time you win, you get to do the same."

Spike raised an eyebrow at her suggestion. "Not really fair playin’ ground if I already know so much about you, duncha you think?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "I guess so," She said her lower lip jutting out slightly, her eyes looking up towards the ceiling, as she thought for a moment. "But, there are some things you don’t know about me. Private, intimate stuff, that even you FBI boys wouldn’t know."

Spike froze, his hands halting in their task of dealing out the cards. His head shot up and he stared in shock at the girl across from him. He swallowed when he saw the glint in her eyes. She was playing with fire now. Or, was it he who was doing the playing? After all, here he was, practically married, and he was having bad thoughts about the girl he was supposed to be protecting! Two strikes in his book. Best not let things get to far out of hand.

Spike cleared his throat loudly before breaking free of her gaze and resuming his dealing of the cards. "Let’s keep the game the way it is." He told her, setting the deck square in the middle before picking up his cards. "Besides, should be goin’ ta bed soon. It’s gettin’ late."

"What time is it?" Buffy asked, picking up her own cards and sorting them.

Spike glanced over her shoulder towards the wall and read the clock. "10:45."

Buffy’s eyes bugged out. "What?! You think that’s late?"

Before Spike could answer, the front door of the cabin burst open, revealing a thoroughly drenched Xander. They watched as he trudged past them into the nearest bathroom and returned a moment later, a towel being rubbed briskly against his head in an effort to dry his hair.

"Get the job done?" Spike asked.

Xander stopped the process of clearing out his ear long enough to glance over at the two people sitting on the floor in the den. He noticed the cards and shot a look at Spike.

"You’re in here playing cards while I’m out there getting pummeled to death by raindrops the size of golf balls? Where’s the love, man?"

Spike chuckled lightly. "I told you t’come get me if you needed help. ‘Sides, had to keep Miss Summer’s company."

"Whatever," Xander uttered, plopping down onto the couch. "And in answer to your question, no, I didn’t finish. It started raining buckets of water and I didn’t fancy getting electrocuted."

"I hope it stops raining by tomorrow." Buffy spoke up, causing the two men to look at her. "I planned on laying out tomorrow."

"’Laying out’?" Xander asked, furrowing his brows, not understanding her meaning.

"In the sun." Buffy elaborated. "Getting a tan?"

"Oh," Xander said, his mouth forming a small ‘o’. "Cordy calls it sun bathing."

"Cordy?"

"The ball to his chain," Spike answered for him, a smile playing about his lips as Xander shot him another look.

"You’re one to talk," Xander retorted. "Pretty soon you’ll be lugging around the ol’ ball an’ chain with me."

Buffy’s head turned to Spike as the meaning of Xander’s remark became clear. "You’re engaged."

Spike nodded his head slowly. "Yeah," he answered, avoiding meeting her gaze.

Xander stood up from the couch, completely oblivious to the tension he’d just created in the room. He slung the damp towel over one shoulder and calling goodnight, disappeared into his room.

Silence fell in the den after the sound of the door closing faded away. Seconds seemed to tick by slowly as they stared at everything but each other.

Why was it so hard to talk now? Earlier they had been relaxed, more at ease. Both laughing at each other’s jokes and exchanging friendly banter when Buffy had accused him of cheating at one point. But, now the tension was so think even a knife couldn’t slice through it.

Buffy finally stirred, moving to get up. "I guess it is getting late. I’ll see you tomorrow."

"Buffy wait," Spike said, standing up as well. "We still ’aven’t finished our game. You wanna?" He lifted up his hand, indicating the cards he still held.

"No thanks," she said softly. "We can finish it some other time."

"Sure. Some other time," He agreed slowly lowering his hand back down to his side.

"Night."

"Goodnight."





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