It was after four in the morning when he nudged her awake. Sleepily she sat up on the waiting room bench stretching and yawning.
“You ready to head home,” he asked tentatively in that quiet almost accent-less voice she had only heard him use once or twice in the time she’d known him; William’s voice she always called it and it always got to her.
Home, she thought …odd, how a single bed at the Mission was looking pretty much like home right now.
“Yeah,” she answered groggily, her voice sounding almost as tiny as his had a moment ago.
Not sure that she would take it; he reached out his hand for hers and it was the best forty feet to the elevator walk he’d ever had, with a half asleep Slayer in tow.
The lift landed on the ground floor with a jolt and Buffy caught a heel in the space between elevator and lobby floor on her way out the door; his instinct to catch her clashing with hers to not let him, both meeting in a half pushed off attempt at steadying her that Mister Ooziness-seeping-through-the-freshly-bandaged-toe observed with a leer.
The heat hit like a tidal wave as they walked the short distance from the emergency entrance to the car and neither said a word until they were out of the parking lot.
“You spent a lot of money tonight,” she said figuring it was going to be far easier to talk about money than about his choice of part-time occupation. “On me,” she went on, “…on the rental. I really can’t afford to pay you back, you know.”
“S’okay, Pet. Don’t worry about it.”
“I mean I’m broke. The deposit on the car, that was all Dawn and I had left after settling all the apartment bills and airfare and I don’t know how much Giles and the others can spare or even....”
“It’s alright, ‘nuff in the bank to cover it, Love.”
“The budget for the Compound and ‘everybody’ is pretty tight already, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get a job, a paying one I mean, I have the feeling that I’ll be pretty busy with the Slayer stuff when I do get up there.”
“For once, Slayer, could you just let me take care of it.”
“Maybe we could make an arrangement, you know, take it out in trade,” she said a little teasingly.
Spike hit the brakes hard and the Saab screeched and spun into the intersection. “You just don’t get it do you, Pet?”
“Spike! What the …” She shouted, bracing herself against the dash as the Saab skidded to a halt.
“Look, Love, I didn’t pay the Bloody tickets so you would feel obligated.”
“How else am I supposed to feel?”
“Now, how should I know…just not like that! I mean you,” he scoffed, “…you come here and … you… you make with the kissing and the tongue…that thing you do… that all just because you’re, what, grateful I paid off a few tickets? I don’t want…”
“That’s it! That’s it. You don’t want me anymore! What, I’m too old for you now? ‘Things not as high…not as firm?’, she said mocking his old tone.”
“Not what I meant,” He scoffed again; “…will you just listen to me for once. You come here and you look all…like that, all....Buffy.
“All Buffy? All Buffy, what the hell is that supposed to mean…”
“I just can’t win this… can I… no matter what I say.”
“Well then, maybe you should stop talking so damn much and just do something!”
“What do you want me to do?” Spike was exasperated with this. “I don’t know, do I? What the hell you want me to do?
“Maybe not be such a dick head. What do you want to do?”
“What I want,” he scoffed, “… huh, ha…what I want right now‘d make you way more ‘an skittish.”
“Huh, what?”
“Nothing… No… No! ... Not nothing! ... I want you, you damn thick headed Bint! S’all I ever wanted since first time I saw you.”
“The first time you saw me, Spike, you were trying to kill me!”
“Yeah,” he snickered.
Did he just snicker? She thought… He did too snicker!
“…well…never said I always knew exactly what I wanted to do with you first back then.”
“Gah! You’re a pig, Spike!”
They continued, never noticing the lights or the sirens until the police officer knocked on the window.
“Hello Spike,” the police officer said.
“Lo Kenny,” Spike said lowering the window and looking around as if just now realizing where they were and that car was sitting crossways in the middle of the intersection. The early pre-rush hour traffic was backed up three blocks in all directions.
“I thought that was you, so eh … what’s up,” he asked eyeing the obviously upset and near to tears blonde in the passenger’s seat.
“Uh…we…had a spat,” was all that Spike could manage.
“You know the drill,” Kenny said, “…license and registration and step out of the car.”
Spike got out his wallet for the license and retrieved the registration from the visor CD pocket and handed them to the officer then opened the door and got out.
“You too, Miss uh…” the officer added through the open door. He seemed to be looking her over thoroughly. Part of the job… she guessed.
“Summers, Buffy Summers,” she supplied; the policeman’s eyes got a little bigger and he eyed her a bit more acutely with a slightly different glint in his eye. God, did he tell everybody about me … she thought as she complied with the request.
He turned to address Spike again and Buffy thought she caught a bit of a macho ‘thumbs up’ being shot Spike’s way.
“Okay if my partner, Jenner, there,” Officer Boring nodded by way of the cocky, starched uniform, obviously fresh-out-of-the academy rookie who was fondling his Taser as he paced back and forth behind him, “… moves the vehicle out of traffic. He’s a dumb ass but I think he can get it to the curb without causing a pile-up.”
“Oh, uh…yeah …I’m sorry didn’t realize…
“Rookie there is a stickler, so I got to put you through the paces;
plus, your car is facing the wrong direction in the middle of an intersection on Reseda Blvd at 4:37 am.”
“I can explain…”
“Yeah, so get to ‘splaining while I get the kit ready and, Spike, make sure your story sorta-kinda matches the one your girlfriend’s gonna be telling my partner…I don’t want to have to take you in.
Officer Jenner addressed himself to Buffy once he had parked the Saab, “…you have any Identification Miss?”
“Identi… yeah, passport and driver’s license.” Where are they…She had to think hard on that,”…i-in the duffle in the trunk.”
“Let’s go have a look then,” he said, “…and can you tell me what is going on here?”
“We were having a fight is all.”
“You two fight often?”
She let out a strained laugh and then thought better of it. God! Buffy, practice some of that discretion Giles always used to talk about. It took her a moment or two of staring into nowhere to come up with an answer that she hoped would not make things worse. “Not recently,” she said watching the other officer giving Spike a field sobriety test and getting a breathalyzer out of the patrol car. She answered his questions as best she could without out- and-out lying, and she hoped without sticking her foot in her mouth and getting either of them in trouble.
She had a sudden sense of panic when the policeman popped the truck and asked her to retrieve her I.D. …What if he searches the car…my weapons bag is in there and god only knows what Spike has stashed in it.
The two police officers exchanged clipboards and I-pads and compared notes briefly; Officer Boring gave all the I.D.s to Jenner with instructions to run them.
“Your stories are pretty close.” the officer said. “I have to write you up on a traffic violation though, that is, if there is nothing else,” he glanced to Buffy for confirmation.
What! She thought… there is a hell of a lot else. And it is none of your damn business… that’s between me and my vampire.
“Right then,” Office Boring cleared his throat as he handed Spike the citation.
Officer Jenner strode up from behind Spike and his partner, handing Officer Boring the I-pad on his way toward Buffy. “Ms. Summers,” he said loudly, grabbing the handcuffs from his belt.
“Ms. Summers, you have the right to remain silent…” he clicked the cuffs on her left wrist pulled it behind her back and started on the right “… anything you….”
“What the hell are you doing?” She said as she spun around and wrenched the remaining cuff out of his hands. She eyed the Taser and planned a flying kick if he tried to use it.
Spike started, but Officer Boring held him back. “There’s a warrant out on your girlfriend, Spike,” he said quickly, indicating the I-pad.
“Jenner! Chill it Rookie, that’s an order!” He shouted to his panicked partner who was fumbling with the Taser that was apparently now stuck in his belt. “Grand theft auto, rental car,” he continued to Spike. “And it’s covered in the statements! Dumb Ass!” He shouted to Jenner with emphasis. “Hasn’t cleared the board yet.” He touched the pad a few times and tossed it back to Jenner who was being circled by one tired and very brassed-off Slayer.
‘Pending, transaction clearing!’ flashed on its screen. The younger officer already red-faced from the alleged handcuffing looked sheepish as he warily retrieved his cuffs from the Slayer who had already managed to force the hinge on the one that had been around her wrist.
“Jenner, get your sorry ass in the car. Now! “ He chastised the younger man. “Really sorry about that, he’s a dumb ass!” He said smiling apologetically at Buffy. “Still have that poker game every Thursday,” he said to Spike, “…come on down and leave some of your money.”
Spike waited until the police car turned the corner then he slammed the Saab’s driver’s door so hard the force disengaged the latch and it bounced back open at him. He kicked at it with all the emotion he was feeling. It bounced off the frame and clattered loudly onto the sidewalk.
Buffy cringed at the sound of clanking twisting metal the force of the blow reverberating through the width of the Saab making her step back onto the street and away from her door. Enough… she thought, starting around the Saab not knowing if she was going to belt some sense into him when she got there or tell him it was all okay.
He turned and headed toward the building smashing fists and forearms hard into the wall. The string of curses coming out of him made her think twice about patting him on the back and telling him it was okay. Damn stupid vampire.
A single ray of the dawning sun shone over the roof tops catching her in the face as she rounded the back of the Saab reminding her suddenly that they had to get home. She stopped and looked at him looking like he was about to get frisked with his head hanging down between his elbows. At least the cursing is down to a loud mumble now, let him cool off on his own, you’ve had your head snapped off enough for one day, she thought. Since she was already on that side of the car, she retrieved the door from where it had skidded to on the sidewalk and tried to rehang it on the mangled hinge.
A moment later a half muffled ‘ep’ from her as she managed to save a finger from being pinched caught his attention.
__________________________________________________________
Spike crumbled the cigarette pack and threw it in the back. He searched the console for the spare pack, finding it under a myriad of junk. Gotta clean this heap out, he thought. The spare held one lone and crumbly specimen; that was enough.
He checked one pocket then another for a lighter, finally finding one. He tried it but it would not light. …really hate disposables, he thought.
After several unsuccessful thumb wrenching tries and one flying flint it joined the credit and debit cards and the crumpled pack on the floor of the back seat. He let out a scoffing sigh.
Buffy reached deep into her jeans pocket. She handed him the lighter. He took it and lit the cigarette, then started to hand it back to her when he noticed the nick on the bottom edge.
He flipped the lighter upside down in his one free hand and examined the bottom carefully, trying to keep one eye on the road. He looked at the dent on the one side and the scratch on the top. This was his lighter. He hadn't seen it since... Wait a minute; she has had it all this time, must have taken it with her when we went through the seal to face the First. He thought about the implications of that and almost ran another light.
He glanced sideways at her, hoping she would not see. She didn't, she was busy trying to hold back the tears by looking out the side window, completely avoiding him. That's good...he thought. I don't have to worry about her seeing me.
She looked over at him with her best 'I'm not crying I'm just very upset and angry face' and held out her hand for the lighter.
She wants it back, what's that mean... His eyes met hers for a moment before he hurriedly looked back to the road in front of them.
He couldn't stay mad at her, well actually after tonight he probably could, but not as mad as he wanted to be. He handed it back to her, his hand lingering in hers a lot longer than, or not as long as, he intended it to, he wasn't sure. They both looked out their respective side windows for a moment then he had to remember to drive. It was very quiet for the rest of the ride.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
A/N: Hi all, sorry it has taken so long to post, Chapter One is still kicking my butt when it comes to tying together all its loose ends and, of course, Life is not cooperating either. Here is part of the promised end of Chapter One, more is coming. Thanks for sticking with me so far and please remember that reviews are a writer’s motivation.
This was supposed to be 2 posts, but the second was just under the word count for chapter submission so I am tacking it to the end of this post. Here are the A/N's for it:
A/N: This is a short section, it started out as a bit of drabble when I was just beginning to toy with the idea of writing the story about four years ago, now; and is one of my favorite pieces. Let me know what you think of it.
This was supposed to be 2 posts, but the second was just under the word count for chapter submission so I am tacking it to the end of this post. Here are the A/N's for it:
A/N: This is a short section, it started out as a bit of drabble when I was just beginning to toy with the idea of writing the story about four years ago, now; and is one of my favorite pieces. Let me know what you think of it.
Chapter End Notes:
To be continued...