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spuf
Chapter12: ‘A Day At The Track’


Summary: Spike takes Dawn to the track to see the Charger. When ‘the boys’ show up, things take a humorous turn.

Buffy and Giles have a serious ‘talk’ together. Giles gives Buffy some much needed advice.

A/N: Thank you for sticking with this story. After this chapter, things will start to get a bit ‘sad’ but I promise you, cross my heart? Spuffy will survive.


“Hey kid,” Riley Finn greeted his boss’s little charge, amicably. “How’s it goin’?” The big man grinned down at the little girl, warmly.

“It’s goin’ great, mister!” Dawn giggled up at the tall, big man that worked for Mr. Spike.

“That’s ‘going’ not goin’ Bit,” Spike scowled at Riley, his muscle, briefly as he admonished Dawn’s grammar. “Buffy wouldn’t like for you to talk like a bloody bum, Bit,” he added sternly.

‘And she sure as bloody hell would have my balls if she found out that you’re startin’ to talk like one of us and…’ Spike frowned at the thought of warrior Buffy having his balls in any way but a sexual one and…

It was a beautiful day at the race track, Spike did a 180 with his thoughts. This made him quite content, actually. It was the kind of day that if he was alone? He would have pulled out his old journal and jotted down some sentimental poetry rot; all dedicated to his golden goddess, Buffy of course.

However, Spike was at the track, with his employees, only a couple who he could call real friends. Good old Rupert was there; along with Xander and Riley, who of course was always being shadowed by Jesse. Mitch and Lars, the huge thug that collected slowly paid markers had joined them today. Then, there was the Bit with them, too. Spike watched Dawn skip about the sidewalk, eagerly looking forward to seeing The Charger again.

‘I wish Buffy was here,’ Spike mused in self-pity. He missed her already and he and the Bit had just left her at her place. Spike remembered how Buffy looked that morning. All dressed up in a pale yellow street suit and matching hat. She had errands to run and although he longed for his mate, dearly, he had torn himself away from her. It would only be a couple of hours until he and Buffy were together again and could go get a bite to eat. Just like the old days, except this time, little Dawn would be with them.

‘Just like a real family,’ Spike thought happily.

God, he loved Buffy so much, Spike did. He’d made a promise to himself, just last night, not to ever fuck up his relationship with Buffy this time. No matter what it took, or how long, Spike would marry his golden girl someday. Hopefully, it would be sooner then later.

“Hey, Spike,” Xander shouted, breaking Spike’s sentimental thoughts about his girl. Xander was standing at a little table in the patio of the small diner at the track. Dawn was now sitting at the table, too, her blue eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

“The little doll’s hungry, Spike,” Xander called to his boss, motioning him over to their table. “I’m getting her a sandwich to eat. Harry there just churned some fresh ice cream for her dessert.” Harry ran the small diner at the track and made sure his customers had everything they needed.

Spike hurried over to the table, followed close behind by Riley and Jesse. “Don’t,” Spike ordered Xander gruffly, “the Bit just finished off enough breakfast for an army. I’m takin’ her and Buffy to a late lunch in a couple of hours. If I let Dawn ruin her appetite for lunch, Buffy’ll have my…..” he paused, not finishing the colorful description of the loss of his balls to his lover.

“Man, Summers has got him whipped, all over again!” Riley chortled, gleefully, along with Jesse and Xander who had joined in the raucous laughter at Spike’s expense.

“Shut your ‘fu….’ I mean knock it off!” Spike roared loudly, at his employees. “I’m not ‘whipped’ and if anyone says another word about…”

“Can I have some ice cream, Mr. Spike?” Dawn broke into her idol’s angry tirade with her sweet, sugary child’s tone. “I would so love some ice cream,” she beamed at the angry blond; her smile was that of a little angels.

“You best not, Bit,” Spike muttered under his breath, still shooting death glances at the three men with him. “Buffy was looking forward to you eating a good lunch, later at Lindys.”

“Jesus boss,” Xander grumbled good-naturedly, “the kid’s as skinny as a rail. You could knock the doll over with a sneeze she’s so tiny. What’s a little ice cream gonna’ hurt?”

“That ‘kid’ as you call her, can put away food like a bloody lorry driver, Harris,” Spike snorted in reply. “She’s not skinny, just petite, like my Buffy.”

“I bet the little doll weighs less then a feather,” Xander countered with a smirk. “She’s probably not 35 pounds and here she is, six-years-old? I’d bet a fifty that Dawn here isn’t 35 pounds,” the dark haired man repeated stubbornly.

“I think she’s at least 40 pounds, Harris,” Riley chimed in, a thoughtful look on his face. “I’ll call your bet and say 40 pounds, at least.”

“I’d lay odds that she’s about 37 pounds,” Jesse chuckled, not 40, for sure, but more then 35 pounds. I’ll lay my 50 on the table and…”

“We’re not bettin’ on the Bit’s weight,” Spike grumped harshly. “Buffy would…” his retort trailed off when he caught Finn’s sarcastic smirk, aimed right at him.

“Oh, all right,” Spike growled, pulling out his wallet and tossing a 50 dollar bill on the small table. “But I guarantee you bloody morons that the Bit is closer to 45 pounds, maybe even 50.”

“Giles!” Spike barked at Rupert, who was sipping a cup of tea at a nearby table. “Get your British arse over here and help us out with this,” he ordered his friend evenly.

“What’s going on?” Mitch asked curiously, joining the little group at the table. Lars, as usual, just clumped along behind his friend, a stupid smile on his face.

“We’re bettin’ on how much the little doll weighs,” Xander chimed happily. Xander was as excited as a kid at Christmas and his dark eyes gleamed like a light. The dark haired, amicable young man was always up for a good bet.

“I’ll bite,” Mitch grunted, tossing a 50 on the table to match the others there. “But I think we should all get to pick the kid up for a second and actually get to guess her weight.”

“That’s fair,” Riley snorted in reply. “Well, it is,” he grunted, defensively at his boss’s frown.

“Oh, fine, then, you bunch of…” Spike began to grumble once more but was cut off by Dawn. The young girl hopped up from the chair and began to skip about the rose garden like a little pixie.

“It’s okay Mr. Spike,” she giggled in glee. “I’ve already been a marker and I don’t mind being a bet!”

“You go last, boss,” Xander mumbled, “it’s us that don’t know the kid that well. We get to go first and you’re stuck with the last bet, right?”

“Right,” Spike snapped in reply. He was beginning to realize that this was probably not what Buffy had in mind when she okay'd this trip for Dawn.

‘She don’t ‘ave to know, right?’ Spike reasoned in his head. ‘I’ll tell the Bit not to mention it and…’

“Let’s do this,” Riley barked eagerly, always enjoying the chance to win easy money. “My wife has expensive tastes and I could use the dough,” he laughed, secure in the thought that he’d take the pot.

“Don’t be so sure you’re going to win, Finn,” Xander chuckled, nearly rubbing his hands together. “I’m a pretty good judge of weight and…”

“Can we just do this now,” Jesse asked impatiently, just as eager to win the impressive little pot of cash.

“Giles,” Spike snapped impatiently, “Harry’s probably got a food weighing scale someplace. Go get it,” he finished with a frown. He had a real bad feeling about this and that was for sure.

“Old Harry’s got a good potato bag scale we can use to weight the little doll. In the back of the diner,” Xander offered helpfully. “It should be big enough to weigh the little doll when…”

“I ain’t no bag of potatoes!” Dawn exclaimed in a somewhat insulted tone.

“Ain’t isn’t a word, Bit,” Spike muttered, his instinct just cried out ‘don’t do this’ by now. But what could he do? Look like a bloody whipped ponce in front of his boys?

“Make sure the kid takes her shoes off. The damn things probably weight a pound themselves,” Riley pointed out with a snort.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Spike hissed, helping Dawn slip her patent leather shoes off. “Happy?” He spat at Finn, smugly.

“Yeah,” Riley grumbled as he picked up Dawn and carefully measured her light weight.

Giles watched the ridiculous scene before him, happy, for once, that he wasn’t expected to take part in the betting. He was a British gentleman, for God’s sake, and…

“Write this down,” Riley grunted at Giles. “I’m guessin’ the kid weighs about 35 pounds, max.”

Rupert noted Riley’s guess on the ever present pad of paper he carried in his jacket pocket.

“My turn,” Jesse crowed, taking Dawn, gently, from his best friend’s arms. After he held the child for just a moment, Jesse ordered Giles to write down 37 pounds as his guess.

Next, Mitch and then Lars took their turns guessing Dawn’s weight. “She can’t be 40 pounds,” Mitch mumbled as he handed the child to Lars. “I’ll say 39 pounds, maybe 39 and a half,” Mitch stated with a nod.

“The kid’s at least 40 pounds,” Lars grunted, handing Dawn over to Xander Harris. “Write me down for 40,” the tall blond Swede ordered Giles.

“Okay,” Xander chuckled as he weighed Dawn with his strong arms. “Damn, Spike,” he exclaimed, a little stunned. “I think you’re right. The little doll is ‘at least’ 40 pounds. I’d say she’s more like 41 though. I’m goin’ with 41 pounds, Rupes,” Xander laughed heartily, setting Dawn down on her feet again.

“What’s your guess then, boss,” Riley asked Spike with a smug smirk.

“I don’t know,” Spike groused, “let me think,” he scowled momentarily. “Oh, bloody hell,” he snapped. “Put me down for 43 pounds, even.”

Harry, the diner owner, brought his best weight scale out to the table where the group of men waited. He set the huge scale on the table and eyed Spike with curiosity.

“This scale right?” Jesse asked Harry, suspiciously. “It had better be right or…”

“It’s right,” Harry grunted before he turned and strode back into the diner.

“Well?” Spike looked at Giles who seemed a bit put out by this nonsense. With a shrug, the older Brit glanced about the patio and spied Dawn who was, at the moment, smelling a very pretty red rose in the nearest garden.

“Dawn, dear,” Giles called to Dawn in his most gentle voice, “time to climb on the big scale.” Giles glared at the other men and shook his head in disgust. “You’re all incorrigible,” Rupert grunted.

“What’s incorrigible?” Mitch asked innocently.

“Look it up, genius,” Spike spat at the big man.

Giles picked up Dawn, gently and sat her on the huge scale, careful not to tweak the weight mechanism at all. The older Brit knew how seriously these fools took their gambling bets and he did want to be fair about this.

“Let’s see,” Rupert mumbled with a scrunched up brow, “the scale says that little Dawn is exactly 42 and a half pounds. So,” Giles grinned slightly, “that means that Spike wins the pot!”

“It was fixed!” Riley barked in disappointment. “The boss fixed it and…”

“I wouldn’t say that a third time, Finn,” Spike growled at Riley threateningly.

“Shit!” Riley spat angrily, “should have known Spike would win. I never should have bet anyway on a sure thing and…”

“Oh shut the fuck up,” Xander groaned at the larger Riley. “You 'makes' your bets? You 'takes' your chances!”

“Right,” Spike chuckled, pleased to be the winner in the deal. He smiled, benevolently, down at the Bit. Dawn’s returned smile seemed to resemble more of a smirk, or so Spike thought. It confused him, briefly.

“Go find something worthwhile to do, eh?” Spike barked at the men, except Rupert who had already left to return Harry’s scale.

After the other men left, Spike sat down next to Dawn and lit a cigarette. He had decided to order the Bit a bite to eat, mainly because he was feeling so bloody pleased with himself.

‘To think,’ the blond man thought smugly, ‘I nailed the Bit’s weight by a half a pound.’ Spike was very, very proud of himself and he smiled widely when Dawn’s sandwich arrived.

“You’d best put some salt on those chips, Bit,” he pointed at the plate of potatoes by the hamburger. “Old Harry don’t salt them properly,” he added as he glanced about for the ever present salt shakers on the table.

“That’s odd,” Spike muttered as he scoured the next table, then the next, only to find them empty of their bottles of salt. “I wonder why old Harry dinnit put the salt out today?”

“Mr. Spike,” Dawn murmured in a hushed tone. The small girl wore a guilty look on her little face.

“What, Bit?” Spike asked, still distracted by the missing salt shakers.

“I uhm…” Dawn stammered shyly, reaching into her dress pockets. “I did something kind of naughty, Mr. Spike,” she muttered, unable to look her idol in the face.

“What was that Bit?” Spike asked suspiciously, suddenly getting a very bad feeling in his gut.

Dawn pulled her hands out of her pockets, only to reveal several shakers of salt. “I hid the salt, in my pockets,” she admitted in a shaky voice. “After Mr. Xander made his guess? I slipped the shakers into my pockets so I’d be heavier. I knew you’d guess the biggest weight and I…”

“Oh, bloody hell,” Spike groaned as he placed his head in his hands. “Just don’t say another word, Bit, eh? And do not tell Buffy what happened today, got it?”

“Okay, Mr. Spike,” Dawn murmured carefully. “I’m still glad you won though!”


“Buffy, dear, you look wonderful,” Rupert Giles gushed as he met Miss Summers by the race track diner. “As always,” he added chivalrously.

“Thanks, Rupert,” Buffy giggled happily, “you look pretty darn good yourself. This ‘lady’ of yours, Jennifer is it? She’s had a wonderful affect on you.” Buffy finished the compliment by straightening Rupert’s askew tie.

“That she has,” Giles replied sincerely. “Just as you have on our William there.” He pointed out at the track where Spike and the jockey, Tito, were walking the Charger about at a slight canter. Dawn was madly waving at Buffy from her seat atop the steed.

“You know, then?” Buffy asked the older man with a shy blush.

“Yes, dear, I know. Spike, though I prefer to call him William also, is a new man today. How can I not ‘know’ as you put it? I’m very happy for both of you, Buffy, but I wonder…” He trailed of, leaving the sentence unfinished.

“Wonder what?” Buffy asked with a scowl. “If I’m going to walk out on Will, this time? Or how Angel is going to react when he gets back from Chicago?” She noticed herself that her tone had suddenly grown cold and harsh.

“Both, I guess,” Giles sighed heavily. “My main concern is William and you, of course. I don’t want William hurt again, Buffy. He loves you so much. As for Angel?” Rupert shrugged slightly and shook his head, “I’m more then sure that you and William can handle him. No, I’m worried about William and what he’ll do if you decided to leave him again.”

“I wouldn’t worry, Rupert,” Buffy sighed and took his arm, “I couldn’t leave Will again, ever. Not even if it meant the end of the world if I didn’t. I love him, Rupert,” she continued, falling into step with him. “And yes, I know he loves me, very much. I really feel that Will’s changed, don’t you?”

“Maybe,” Giles muttered, staring at the track and the trio of humans with the magnificent horse. Rupert was thinking of Angel’s scheme and how Spike fit into it. If Buffy found out about this evil act by Angel and her lover’s complicity in the matter? The young woman on his arm would run for the hills and never bother to come back this time.

“Have you ever told William why you really left in the first place, Buffy?” Giles had stopped walking and now gazed into Buffy’s lovely green eyes. “I mean, have you really ever told him everything? Everything that you told me, recently? Why you left him four years ago and then finally returned here?”

“No,” Buffy murmured, a little ashamed of her cowardice. “I’d hoped that Will might just come up with the real reasons himself. You know,” she continued softly, “want to change without me telling him he has to?”

“Yes, I understand,” Giles nodded back at her. “However, I don’t see the harm in you being totally honest with him and give him even more incentive. To change that is. Buffy, he loves you, desperately. Allow him the opportunity to show you how much and perhaps this time,” Giles scrunched up his brow again in concern.

“This time?” Buffy asked, encouraging Giles to continue.

“This time, dear, you won’t feel the need to run off and hide out. Do you honestly want to go through all that drama again? From four years ago? You’re too much of an honest woman, Buffy, to play out that nonsense again and waste years of your young life. You deserve William and I honestly believe that he deserves you.”

“Yeah, that’s us all right,” Buffy giggled again. “The deserving duo, eh? But, you are right, Rupert,” her expression suddenly got serious again. “I am going to tell William, tonight, about everything. All of my reasons for leaving when I did, about Parker Abrams and all that mess. Even why I came back here and stumbled into Angel’s big arms. He will understand? William I mean. He will understand, all of it, won’t he Rupert?”

“Yes,” Giles murmured, patting Buffy’s slim arm, affectionately. “With as much as your William loves you? He will understand everything.”


A/N: Well, Dawn is getting a bit jaded, eh? Talking like a gambler and fixing bets and the like? Anyway, next chapter Buffy will tell Spike everything about her desperate act four years earlier. Now, you know he’s going to take it okay and ‘that’ won’t be what causes the Spuffy angst. Dawn is getting attached to the Charger and Buffy is getting attached to Dawn. How ‘is’ Buffy going to react to Spike when she finds out about Angel’s scheme? Even worse, Spike’s part in it?

Thanks for reading and please review, spufette.





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