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Chapter 32 – No Holds Barred


Unpacking her bags and hanging up her clothes in the tiny hotel closet, Buffy had to laugh when she watched Spike hurl his overnight bag into the other closet and shut the door. After the short stay in Stockton, where Spike had stayed in the hotel during the more flammable hour that Buffy went to visit Faith, they had finally made it to Los Angeles.

“Did you even put any clothes in that thing or did you just bring it for show?” she asked between giggles.

“Hey! I put clothes in there. Just don’t see the point of hanging them up like some nancyboy.”

Deciding not to comment, she simply smiled as she shook her head and finished hanging up one of her shirts.

“Spike,” she said with a smile, drawing out his name and refusing to make eye contact with him.

“Yeah, pet?”

“Umm…last year…do you remember me saying anything strange?” Buffy asked, hanging up some more clothes and taking a shot in the dark that her hunch was right.

“Strange?”

“Coming on to you or something?” she clarified, turning to face him with a secretive smile.

“You mean in the Bronze?” he asked.

Buffy’s eyes darted around the room in uncertainty before nodding, not wanting to show her hand just yet.

“Uh…yeah.”

Stalking toward her like a predator, Spike gave her a seductive smile as he approached. “Saying that you could ride me at a gallop 'til my knees buckle, squeeze me 'til I pop like warm champagne. That's not the kind of thing a man forgets.”

Buffy’s eyes widened in brief surprise before a giggle escaped her lips.

“And what’s so funny, pet?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in her direction.

“It wasn’t me,” she said between giggles, gasping for air and clutching her stomach.

“What?”

“I never told you…I never thought I…she would run into you,” Buffy said, collapsing on the bed as she caught her breath. “It was Faith. There was a body swap- magically. She decided to take my body for a spin and I never…”

Buffy trailed off as she began laughing again.

“You’re telling me, that the source of all my fantasies for the past year, wasn’t even you?”

Buffy immediately sobered up, narrowing her eyes on the man in front of her. “Excuse me?”

“Hey now, pet. No getting jealous- I thought she was you.”

The flustered look on Spike’s face, sent Buffy into another bout of giggles as she stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her for a gentle kiss. “Sorry,” she said with a soft smile. “But that was too much fun.”

Glaring at her for a moment, Spike finally smiled as he turned away and reached for his cigarettes as Buffy walked over to her bags.

“When are we leaving?”

Buffy froze, her back still turned to him as her hand reflexively reached for the doorframe. “Leaving?”

“For Captain Forehead’s glorious hotel,” he replied, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice.

Taking a deep breath as she turned around, Buffy met his level gaze with her own. “You’re not going, Spike.”

Seeing his expression darken, she felt a tremor of fear go through her.

“And why, pray tell, am I not going?” he asked, walking toward her with deliberately slow paces.

“I-I just need some time to explain things to him.”

“Uh huh,” he replied, his eyes narrowing.

“Spike, the last time you saw each other, you were torturing him,” she continued in exasperation.

“I was not.”

“Fine, you were having him tortured. I don’t think he’s going to be in a real forgiving mood if I walk into his place on your arm.”

“Are you sure you don’t just want to walk into his place alone?” he asked angrily before looking away from her. “Why did I bother to tag along on this bloody trip?”

“I thought we could use the time alone,” Buffy replied honestly.

“Yeah,” he said with a sharp edge to his voice. “Just a bit of cold comfort, is that it? Is this before or after you’ve made up with your ex.”

“For God’s sake, Spike! You really have to get over this jealous insecurity!”

“Maybe you’re right,” he said, grabbing his duster and walking through the small living room suite toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Buffy asked, following close behind him and slamming her hand against the door to keep him from opening it.

“What difference does it make? You’re going to be leaving to run back into your lover boy’s waiting arms. Why does it matter where I go for the night?”

“Do you really think so little of me, of us, to think that I would do something like that?”

“Honestly? I don’t know what to think.”

“Do you at least understand where I’m coming from?” she asked, the hurt plainly visible in her eyes.

“Understand perfectly, Slayer,” Spike growled.

“Fine,” she whispered, trying to stop her chin from quivering as she took a step back and removed her hand from the door. “If you’re going to be so damn insecure every time something or someone from my past comes up, then go do whatever the hell you want.”

Clenching his jaw, Spike tore his gaze away from her watery eyes and wrenched the door open. With one last glance back at Buffy, he walked out of the room, trying to suppress the intense jealousy he was feeling at the fact that the woman he loved didn’t want his support.



Walking into the seemingly abandoned hotel two hours later, Buffy was still trying to control her raging emotions. She was constantly distracted, wondering where Spike was and what he was doing. She knew that the odds were that he was sitting in a bar somewhere, drinking his sorrows away, but it still didn’t ease her fears.

“Angel?” Buffy called, trying to get her mind off her problems. “Cordy?”

“What do you want?”

Spinning around at the sound of the familiar and somehow threatening voice, Buffy took in the change in demeanor of a man she thought she knew.

“Angel?”

“What do you want?” he repeated, leaning against a wall, wearing nothing but a pair of pants and seemingly unconcerned about his lack of clothing.

“Nice to see you, too,” Buffy said, crossing her arms over her chest, feeling more than a little unnerved when he didn’t say anything. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve already asked you a question. Twice.”

“Giles tried calling. No one answered. Where is everybody?”

“I fired them,” Angel replied, pushing away from the wall and walking toward her. Buffy was suddenly aware that the two of them were alone, and this vampire was definitely not chipped.

“And why would you do that?” Buffy asked, resisting the urge to back away.

“Differences of opinion. You’re looking good, Buffy.”

The fact that he called her by her given name was a little calming, but the way he said it was sending chills running through her, and not the good kind.

“What the hell happened to you?” she asked, staring into his cold eyes.

“I grew up.”

“You’re nearing two hundred and fifty years old. I think it’s a little late to grow up. Where are Cordy and Wes?”

“I really don’t care.”

Feeling her heartbeat speed up as he approached, Buffy subtly moved into a more defensive stance. Something that did not go unnoticed by Angel, who immediately grabbed her and shoved her against the nearby counter.

Setting her jaw, Buffy couldn’t believe this was the same man she’d let herself fall in love with just a few years before.

“Angelus?”

“Nope. Still Angel.”

“That’s up for debate,” she said, smashing the heel of her shoe into his foot and immediately spinning around, freeing herself and kicking him in the stomach. “Here’s a little tip- don’t try and put restrictions on the Slayer. Especially one who’s already in a pissed off mood before she walks into this condemned hotel.”

“What do you want?” he asked again, growling as he looked at her.

“I want to know where the hell Wesley and Cordelia are, but apparently you aren’t going to help me at all.”

“Why are you in town?”

“I need help and I really don’t think I’m going to find it here.”

Trying to walk past him, a tremor of fear went through Buffy when his fist slammed into the wall in front of her, blocking her exit.

“You know, I’m getting really sick of everyone being all dominating today.”

Turning toward him, Buffy’s lips tightened before shoving him away. Feeling the explosion that ran through her cheek and eye, she reeled back, her hand immediately coming up to her face, trying to alleviate the pain of the stinging blow before retaliating and slamming her fist into his jaw.

Backing toward the door, Buffy kept a careful eye on him, anger nearly clouding her vision. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“I’m a vampire…look it up.”

“Don’t need to. I’ve had the definition for sometime now, and I’m afraid you don’t really fall in that category. You’ve got the obvious signs- drinking blood, aversion to sunlight, but I think you fall under the category of ‘malicious son of a bitch’.”

Running through the courtyard and away from the hotel, Buffy finally slowed down when she was a few blocks away. Between Spike’s insecurity and the feeling of abandonment she had and Angel’s apparent sway over to the dark side, she didn’t know how much more she could take.





Thanks so much to: Mari, blondiebear, spufette, Kate, Caitie, Jenn, gattaca, Bridget, pj, Franchesca, Cordykitten, Allison, Jennice, Alicia, Kimber, Isabel, Rana, Kar, BuffyandSpikeForever, Laine, gypsy_jin, TammyAsh666, songgal1, Steph, Esther & Seraiza for reviewing!!





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