[Reviews - 6]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2782 times

- Text Size +




Spike stood up from the computer and rubbed his bleary eyes. He'd been going over Willow's latest list of possible suspects for nearly four hours. The names sounded familiar, but it was difficult to remember specific details. “Bloody hell,” he groaned loudly.

“Is that a ‘I just found out who the killer is and I can't believe we've been so dumb' bloody hell or a ‘Out of a possible 25 suspects none of them looks right' bloody hell?” Willow asked, pausing in her note taking. The others had long since gone to bed, leaving the two of them to continue the research.

“This is impossible. Working the kinds of cases Buffy and I did, you focus on stopping the bad guy and saving the day. You don't look at the people you're working with and try to figure out which one's going to come back and try to kill you 4 years down the road,” Spike responded. “We don't have time to track down false leads! Lives are at stake here. Buffy's life is at stake.”

Willow set down her pen and slid over on the couch so that she could put a comforting hand on Spike's shoulder. “We will stop him before he does anything else,” she said with absolute certainty. “We've got some of the FBI's most brilliant minds right here in this house. No matter how good this guy thinks he is, he's not perfect. He will make a mistake and when he does we'll be right there to pounce on him.”

Spike sighed in resignation and returned his attention to the laptop. He was halfway through the 24th case file when Willow interrupted.

“You really care about her, don't you?” her voice was soft, as if she was afraid to ask the question.

“She was my partner, Red. For two and a half years it was my job to watch her back. You don't just drop habits like that,” Spike attempted to dodge the question.

Willow slapped him lightly on the arm. “That's not what I meant and you know it. Come on, tell Aunty Willow all about it,” she encouraged teasingly.

Sensing that he was not going to get any work done until he answered her question, he closed the laptop and turned to face the redhead. “She's my best friend. Has been since she kicked my ass in front of half the soddin' Academy. Sure we went through a few rough patches, Dru and the poof being two examples of that, but the good times were bloody fantastic,” he smiled ruefully. “When she told Jack she wanted a new partner, I felt like she was cheating on me. When we went out separate ways, it was as if I'd suddenly lost an arm or something. This time around, the feelings are different. I don't know how to explain it any better than that.”

Willow grinned and patted him on the cheek. “It's called love; welcome to it.” Her smile grew at the look of disbelief spreading across Spike's face. “That's enough research for tonight, I think. See you in the morning.” She skipped up the stairs before sneaking into her room. She couldn't wait to share this with Tara in the morning.

Spike followed her upstairs and pushed open the door to his room. He was surprised to find a small form huddled under the blankets in the middle of the bed. He quickly crossed the room and gingerly perched on the edge of the bed. “Are you all right?” he shook one of Buffy's shoulders lightly. She'd seemed fine after the incident in the yard, but had the wound been more than just a scratch?

“Mmmhmp?” Buffy mumbled as she rolled over, burying herself even deeper in the comforter in the process.

“There's a huge shoe sale downtown, everything half off,” he whispered into her ear.

As predicted, Buffy immediately sat up with eyes wide open. Her eyes darted around the dark room as she tried to remember where she was. “Shoes?”

Spike chuckled and pulled off his boots. “Sorry, pet. That was the only way I knew to wake you,” he apologized. “What are you doing in here?”

Buffy shrugged her shoulders and burrowed under the covers. “My room's right next to Xander's . Strange noises coming out of there,” she pouted sleepily.

“Guess it's down to the couch for ol' Spike,” he sighed and grabbed his pillow. “Can't smoke in my own bloody house, can't sleep in my own bloody bed. Might as well start charging rent.”

Buffy's hand shot out to grab him by the wrist. “Plenty of room here. Stay,” she insisted. To prove her point, she moved so that half the bed was empty.

Spike nodded in acquiescence and dropped the pillow. A few short minutes later, he slid into bed next to the already sleeping blonde. “Night Buffy,” he murmured softly.






Upon waking the next morning, Spike was acutely aware of two things: one, there was a bony knee pressed into his stomach and two, someone was trying to suffocate him with a pillow. He slowly opened his eyes to assess the situation. Buffy was sprawled across the entire width of the bed. She had a strangle hold on one pillow and was pressing the other against the side of his face. He slowly extracted himself from the sleeping octopus and slipped out of the room.

Willow, Tara and Anya were gathered around the kitchen table arguing over the crossword puzzle. “Good morning, girls,” Spike greeted cheerily.

“You're in a good mood this morning!” Tara observed, casting a sly glance at Willow. She'd heard all about the other woman's conversation with Spike after noting that Buffy hadn't slept in her bed the night before.

“Do you have an orgasm buddy, too?” Anya inquired seriously, setting down the crossword puzzle. “I find that they make things much more enjoyable.”

“Hmm… four letter word for blunt. Try Anya,” Willow teased as she pointed at one of the puzzle's clues.

Spike jerked a little, setting down his mug as he tried to wipe spilled coffee off of his shirt. “No, I don't have an orgasm buddy,” he scowled.

“Well then you need one. It would help with the grouchiness. Don't you agree, Xander?” Anya smiled at Xander as he stumbled into the kitchen.

“Er, yeah, I guess,” he responded. He flopped into a chair and leaned towards Willow. “What did I just agree to?”

“You agreed that Spike needs an orgasm buddy,” Anya chirped proudly.

Xander groaned and buried his head in his hands. “And there's a place I definitely don't want to go.”

Willow rubbed his back soothingly while trying to suppress a smile. “Have a doughnut. Tara and I went out early and picked them up,” she offered, pushing the box in front of his face.

“Oh! Sprinkles!” Xander's face lit up as he pulled a doughnut out of the box, traumatic thoughts temporarily forgotten.

Buffy was the last to come down stairs. She smiled at the others in greeting and moved around the table to lean against the counter next to Spike. “Morning everyone. What's the big group discussion about?”

“Orgasm buddies,” Anya informed her absentmindedly, her attention back on the crossword she'd absconded from Tara. “Twelve down is not my name, it doesn't fit.”

Spike slapped Buffy on the back when she choked on her coffee. “It's a good thing they removed all the bugs yesterday. Our guy would have a field day listening to this conversation,” she joked. Everyone sobered up immediately. ‘Great going, Buff. That's gotta be a new record for you. It only took you fifteen seconds to ruin everyone's mood,' she mentally berated herself.

After an awkwardly silent breakfast, the agents once again split up. While everyone else was out running errands and checking leads, Buffy sat at the laptop Spike had abandoned the previous night. She skimmed through the case file Spike had left out, her eyes stopping when she reached the name of the lead investigator. Her heart began racing as the particulars from that investigation came rushing back.

It had been their first assignment in Baltimore and they were put on a kidnapping case with a veteran agent. Picturing Dawn as the kidnapped child, Buffy had put her heart and soul into that investigation only to be shot down at every turn by the lead investigator. It wasn't until she and Spike had made a major breakthrough with a piece of evidence the investigator had overlooked that they were able to find the child before she'd been killed. When questioned during a final briefing with their superior, she and Spike had relayed their concerns about the veteran agent's casual dismissal of any leads that weren't his own and his total disregard for the theories of junior agents.

Buffy picked up Willow's color-coded notes and flipped through them until she found the name she was looking for. What she read in the notes confirmed her suspicions. That hadn't been the first assignment the agent had screwed up. Following the kidnapping investigation, he'd been put under review following that investigation then transferred to a small Midwest field office a few days later. Her stomach twisted painfully when the next notation was that he'd received his requested reassignment to the Baltimore office three weeks before the attack on her family.

When Spike came home, he found Buffy sitting on the edge of the couch. Her expression was grim and she was clutching a case file. “What do you have in your hands, pet?”

Buffy's hand trembled as she held up a recent photo of the agent. “I know who it is.”





You must login (register) to review.