Buffy woke up late in the afternoon the following day, her whole body feeling somewhat sore. Looking at her bandaged hands, she sighed, careful to clench her fists as she felt how much pain the cuts were causing her. She looked around the room and saw Spike sitting in a corner, fast asleep, looking content.
‘I’m surprised he didn’t tie me down again,’ she thought, studying him. ‘Maybe he has an ounce of humanity in him, after all.’ Slowly sitting up, she looked around the room more, her eyes settling on the now rickety-looking bookcase. Buffy stood up and quietly crossed the room, scouring through the books she had re-shelved and grabbing one that sounded interesting.
Spike woke up ten minutes later and looked around, a bit disoriented, before his gaze settled on her, still flipping through the book she had chosen.
“You know, there are better books than that,” he said quietly, stretching as he stood up.
“It sounded kind of sexy,” she said with a shrug, looking at him to see his amused expression. “I’m bored, and since I don’t often have free time, I might as well catch up on some light-reading.”
“Well, D.H. Lawrence is a good choice, then,” he replied, looking at his watch. “Want something to eat? It’s past lunchtime, but I might be able to scrounge up something.”
“Sure,” she said quietly, reading once again. Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up from the page, raising an eyebrow. “What?”
“I’m just surprised that you didn’t destroy something else while I slept,” he said, smirking. “Or that you didn’t tie me to a chair and torture me somehow.”
“Well, the day is still young,” she mumbled, and he walked out, chuckling.
Buffy continued reading, and when he returned minutes later with more sandwiches and water, she graciously accepted what he handed her. Frowning when he sat beside her on the bed to eat, she tilted her head to look at him.
“Are we lunch buddies now?” she asked, looking at him while he shrugged.
“Angel’s watching some hockey game, and Gunn is out getting more food,” Spike answered. “I figured I might as well stay in here.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t explain why you’re sitting next to me,” she pointed out, and he scoffed, standing up and moving to the chair in the corner.
“Fine, suit yourself,” he replied sharply. “I thought we were trying to be civil today, but apparently you have other plans.”
“Being civil isn’t the same thing as being friends,” she said, opening her water bottle.
“Don’t want to be friends with you,” he said sternly, glaring at the young woman. “Just trying to keep the hostage from going ballistic in here and doing even more damage.”
“Well, maybe if you let me out more, I wouldn’t feel the need to destroy stuff,” Buffy suggested, a slight bit of hope in her tone. He seemed to ponder it for a moment before sighing.
“I suppose we could let you come downstairs once a day or something,” he replied. “Not for any long amount of time, but it might be possible.” He looked at her and tilted his head. “That is, if you learn to mind me more.”
“Fine, I’ll be Miss Susie Sunshine,” she said, pasting a fake smile on her face. He scoffed slightly and drank some of his water.
“You’re an interesting bird, aren’t you?” he asked, watching as she shrugged.
“I’d be a lot more interesting if I wasn’t trapped in this house with three strangers who are using me to get money from my jerk of a father,” she said, looking down. “He may be a complete bastard sometimes, but he’s not stupid, Spike- he won’t pay up unless he has a damn good reason to. Getting his daughter back doesn’t mean anything to him- he gets off on publicity. Like I said yesterday, if I wind up dead, he’d be fine with it. My fate means nothing to him, and if it’s a matter of me returning safely and paying money to see that happen, he’ll just as soon let me die- he won’t part with his precious money.”
“We’ll see,” Spike said, standing up and heading to the door.
“A part of you believes what I’m saying, don’t you?” she asked, noticing the look of indecision on his face. “You know he’s not going to give you guys any money, Spike.”
“We’ll see,” he repeated with more conviction, opening the door and closing it behind him. Buffy sighed and finished eating before opening the book and reading more, starting to wonder if maybe Spike would realize his plan wasn’t going to work the way he wanted it to.
* * * * *
As Buffy noticed that it was dark outside, she began to count down the minutes until someone would come upstairs and check on her before staying in the room and watching her all night.
‘Gunn wouldn’t be bad,’ she thought. ‘If I had to take my pick, I think I’d choose him. He doesn’t really seem all that threatening…and Spike wouldn’t be bad, I guess, either. Maybe I could continue to prove to him that his plan is flawed and that he should let me go.’
Hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, she held her breath, waiting to see who it would be.
‘If it’s Angel, then there isn’t a God,’ she thought, hearing the footsteps slowly approach the bedroom. The doorknob began to turn, and she nearly held her breath to see who it was.
It was when she heard Spike’s voice suddenly that she paused and tried to listen in on his conversation with whoever else was with him.
“You were in there last night,” the other man said, and Buffy frowned, unable to recognize the voice.
‘Please don’t be Angel,’ she thought, practically chanting it in her head. ‘Please don’t be Angel.’
“I can handle two nights in a row,” Spike replied sternly.
“Is Spike growing attached to the hostage?” the other man asked jokingly, and she could swear she heard Spike growl on the other side of the door.
“Fine,” Spike said angrily. “If you want to stay in there tonight, go right ahead. But if you do anything out of line, you know I’m going to step in.”
Hearing someone walk away, Buffy realized it must have been Spike. It was then the door opened to reveal Angel in the doorway, grinning lecherously at her.
‘My life really can’t get worse, can it?’
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