Spike led them through a maze of old factories, stretching out his senses, pausing every now and then to cock his head and listen or to sniff at something in the air. It had been a long, long time since he’d made his way through these buildings and he never thought he’d ever forget the way to Calico. Not that he’d spent that much time there, but when one’s a vampire you tend to remember places like these because, well, because you could be around forever...

Buffy watched her ’guide’ as he tried to suss out where this bar was. She’d never actually watched him in full vamp mode, and was secretly contemplating the display. She wondered if he realized that he’d vamped out--his body probably did it automatically to heighten his senses. Sight, hearing, smell--she imagined that with his demon in the forefront, they had a much better chance at finding this place before dawn. She hopped over some toppled wooden skids and nearly tripped.

“Why do these places always have to be in industrial areas? I mean, even *you* are having trouble finding it. This is so stupid...”

For a moment, Spike had almost forgotten that he wasn‘t alone. Her voice brought him back to his current situation, which at the moment was kind of close to ‘demon bar bloodhound’. “’Cause if we set shop up on main street, I gather folks would do more than raise an eyebrow. Imagine that--coupla Fyarl demons rolling out in the wee morning, right snookered--something tells me that might just make the front page.”

He stopped suddenly and looked to his left. He sniffed a bit and turned. “This way.” When he saw that she was still following him, he resumed. “Demons scope out this kind of location because we can mind our own business and not be pestered by humans. Cops know better than to come around--those who do, well they don’t come by twice. Most folks can’t deal with seein’ stuff they’ve only ever seen in scary movies.”

Buffy couldn’t help but agree, easily remembering her own reaction to first meeting all that goes bump in the night. “That might be true for people from most cities, but not in Sunnydale. I swear, they must put something in the water over there. People see a Grauk demon--you know, those big insect-like things that are, like, yea tall” she stretched her arm as high as she could above her head, and waited for Spike to nod in assent “and they think it’s something that’s escaped from the zoo. Makes my job easier, in a way--no having to try to make up some crazy story to cover my butt. They do a good enough job with their own imaginations.”

“Yeah--always wondered about folks in Sunnyhell. I thought it was too much sunshine. You know, the heat an’ all--makes people a bit barmy.” He stopped and turned to his left. “Ah! Here we are--the Calico!”

Buffy followed the vampire to the front of the building. It didn’t look all that much different than any other bar she’d ever seen, although it looked a bit odd sitting there among scores of abandoned factories. It had a blue neon sign near the top that had ‘Calico’ written in cursive and had billboards and a menu posted on the wall near the door; the only difference from most bars is that it didn’t have any windows. Guess that eliminates any stragglers from getting dusted by the sunrise...

In an unusual display of manners, Spike held the door open for the Slayer. She looked at him oddly, but accepted his gesture at face value. He followed her into the establishment and saw that it hadn’t changed much since he’d last been there. The owner had added a few electronic gambling machines and there was now a cigarette dispensing machine near the bar, but aside from that it was pretty much the same. Same chairs, same tables, same owner... “Edward!”

Buffy’s immediate reaction to the bar was that it reminded her a lot of the cantina scene in Star Wars. Lots of weird looking beings speaking very loudly in lots of different languages, with some really funky music playing in the background. She looked in the direction that Spike was hollering and noticed a floppy-eared demon. Its face lit up at the sound of his name and he practically pole-vaulted in their direction.

“Spike! Good Lord--I never thought I’d see you again. How are you, old chum?” He came over and grabbed Spike in a bear hug, nearly squeezing the unlife out of the blonde vampire.

“Ugh--I’ll be fine if you haven’t broken any ribs there, Eddie. Place looks the same as it always did--looks good ‘s what I mean.” He looked around once more and smiled. It was nice to be back home, back with people he actually liked.

Eddie looked at Buffy and nudged Spike. “Have you lost all manners or are you going to introduce me to your friend?” He smiled at Buffy, who felt herself relax just a little.

“Oh, sorry ‘bout that. Eddie, this is Buffy. Buffy--Edward. Buffy’s from Sunnydale--in California. It’s where I’m staying right now.” He pulled back and lit a fag. He appreciated being able to light up wherever he wanted--he didn’t have to worry about icy stares. Not that that usually stopped him, but it was an annoyance nevertheless.

“Nice to meet you, Eddie. This is a nice place you have here; very homey.” Buffy smiled and shook the demon’s hand. He had a heck of a handshake that belied his friendly demeanour. Here was a demon that was probably strong enough to take her on and do a bit of damage, but had the personality of a puppy dog. She also appreciated the fact that he was yet to ask where Drusilla was; he must have been wondering, but at least he was keeping it to himself.

Eddie’s face fell and he put one of his floppy hands to his mouth. “Oh dear! Where are my manners? Would you like to sit down? I do hope that you came in for a short while, at least? Enjoy a bit to drink” he looked at Buffy and quickly added “alcohol, drink alcohol that is, and maybe a bit to eat?”

Spike smiled at Eddie. “It’s alright, mate. She knows what I drink--might not be too ok with it, but she knows. If we can find a booth in a corner somewhere, I actually need to speak to you.” He gave his friend a serious look, letting him know that he wanted to do more than catch up on old times.

Buffy followed the two demons, looking around her as she walked. Upon closer inspection, the bar was a little more peculiar than what she was used to--not that she hung around in bars, mind you. A gang of short beige demons, who kind of reminded her of that Alf thing from TV, were sitting around a large table playing some games involving spinning rocks and hitting each other with sticks. Ookay--mental note not to join in any demon games. Weird. The walls were adorned with photographs, which in itself wouldn’t be weird if the people in the pictures didn’t have two heads, or blue skin, or weren’t covered in scales. She slid in to the booth, seating herself next to Spike.

Eddie waved one of the barmaids over. “Cora! Come here, please, luv.”

The tall woman walked over to their booth and smiled at her boss. Buffy wondered what a human woman was doing working in a demon bar, even one that wasn’t half bad; that was until she took a closer look at her. The barmaid’s eyes were like a reptile’s and she had a forked tongue that made her lisp when she spoke.

“Ssure, Eddie. What can I get for you?” She gave Spike a wink and smiled at Buffy.

Spike spoke up first. “I’ll have a vodka and O-Neg and the young lady here will have...” He looked at the Slayer expectantly. When she shrugged her shoulders, he ordered for her. “Something sweet. Easy on the alcohol, though.”

Buffy’s brow creased. “What’s that supposed to mean--‘Easy on the alcohol’? Just because I’m not a career drunk like you are doesn’t mean that I can’t have a drink like a regular person.”

Spike sighed. “I know, pet--it’s just that most demon bars a regular serving of alcohol is double that of human bars--and Eddie here doesn‘t water it down like that pillock Willy. I just ordered you what you’d get at the Bronze.”

The young woman relaxed a bit. “Oh. Okay.”

“So, Spike--you had something you wanted to discuss?” Eddie leaned in, and crossed his arms on the table.

Spike and Buffy both leaned in and aped the other demon’s pose. “Yeah--we’re keepin’ an eye out for some Pelorak. Wondering if you’ve had any come in recently--say, the past month or month and a half.”

Eddie became very serious and remained motionless. “Must be serious, if you’re looking for Pelorak. I haven’t seen any, but I’m not always here. If you don’t mind my asking, what’s this all about?”

Just as Spike was about to answer, Cora returned with their drinks. She handed the vampire his drink, making sure he got a good view of her cleavage. Turning to Buffy, she handed her a punch-coloured drink with an umbrella in it. “Ssweet--hope you like it.” She watched as the young woman took a sip of the drink.

Something was off. Buffy smacked her mouth, trying to figure out what the drink tasted like. She presented it to Spike. “Here--taste it. There’s something weird in it, and I can’t quite place it.”

“What, am I your taste-vamp now?” Spike grabbed the drink and took a sip. His face broke into a wide grin, and he leaned over Buffy, handing the drink over to the patient barmaid. “She’s human, love. Why don’t you bring her a pina colada or something fruity?”

After the waitress nodded and left with her drink, Buffy’s curiosity got the upper hand. “Ok, I give. What was in the drink?”

Spike and Eddie threw a glance at each other, before turning their gazes to the young woman. “I think it’s best for my health if I don’t answer that, pet. Believe me--you don’t want to know.”

“What do you mean, I don’t want to know?” Then it dawned on her--she looked at the colour of Spike’s drink and remembered her own drink’s colour. “Oh. Oh--ewww!” She took her napkin and frantically wiped her tongue. “I think I’m gonna be sick.” As she put her napkin back down on the table, Cora returned with her new drink. Buffy pushed it over to Spike, who rolled his eyes. He took a small sip, and made a face.

“Ugh! Yeah, it’s a pina colada all right. Don’t know how you can drink that sugary crap.” He took a long swig of his blood/vodka mix and made an appreciative ‘aah’.

He turned back to Eddie, and the conversation resumed from where it left off. “The Pelorak--they’ve kidnapped a baby and we have to find it. I know it sounds poncey, but this is some serious shit--you know: prophecy, sacrifice, inter-dimensional bleeding, end of the world, yadda yadda yadda.”

The floppy demon nodded and was temporarily lost in thought. “If any Pelorak came in, Cora would have seen them. I’ll send her over. As nice as it is to see you again, Spike, I do have to tend to my little business.” He got up, and took Buffy’s hand, giving it a light kiss. “It was nice to meet you, Buffy. I hope we get to meet again--good luck with the baby. These apocalyptic threats are never good for business.” He hurriedly made his way behind the bar and said a few words to Cora before disappearing into a back room.

Buffy’s Slayer senses were on overdrive. “Ok, am I the only one who thinks that Eddie beat it a little suddenly after you mentioned the baby and the prophecy?”

Spike looked at where his friend had gone and frowned. “Eddie’s not involved, Slayer. Believe me when I tell you that.”

“Oh yeah? Well, people can change after 50 years, you know. Maybe he found out that there’s more money to be made working for the bad guys. Gee, and he seemed like such a nice demon, too.”

Spike leaned in to Buffy, close enough for her to smell the blood and vodka on his breath. “Listen here, Slayer. Eddie lost his wife and kids to some quack warlock who wanted to start a demon breeding colony in some other dimension. This psycho didn’t take the time to notice that the gravity over there was about 500 times as strong as it is here on Earth. I doubt it makes him feel any better to know that they probably didn’t feel a thing before their bodies were crushed by the pressure. So if his reaction to our mission is less than enthusiastic, you’ll have to forgive him.”

“That’s horrible! Poor Eddie...” The young woman threw an apologetic glance at the door through which the demon had passed.

***

Cora was making it nearly impossible for Spike to concentrate on the task at hand.

After his talk with Buffy about Eddie, the Slayer had moved over to the other side of the table. They both felt more comfortable facing each other, instead of sitting hip to hip in the dimly-lit booth.

The barmaid had seated herself next to the blonde vampire and was now practically on his lap.

“You assked to ssee me?” Her tongue flicked out, tickling Spike’s ear. His mind went blank as he began to make a mental list of what that tongue of hers could probably do. He doubted that this is what his mother meant when she warned him against women with forked tongues.

He tried to speak again as she pressed her ample chest into his arm. He smiled warmly and brought his arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, I need to know if you’ve seen any Pelorak come in here in the past month or so. They’ve got something of ours and we need to get it back.”

Cora brought her hand down to his lap and began to draw circles on the vampire’s thigh with her sharp red nails. “Pelorak? Yess, a group came by for a drink about 3 or 4 weekss ago.” She pouted and leaned in closer. “They weren’t very nice, not like you. They kept to themselves--I didn’t hear much of what they were ssaying.” The circles she was drawing were getting closer and closer to their target. “The only thing I made out was the Pulchra Nex and the name Blakeford.”

“How can you even remember this conversation? It was over a month ago.” Buffy wasn’t impressed with the reptilian barmaid, especially the way she was fawning over the blonde vampire who, in her opinion, was enjoying it a bit too much. “Do you remember all your patrons’ conversations?”

Cora took her eyes off Spike for a moment and set them on the young woman sitting across from her. “Honey, I’ve worked in bars like thiss for over 60 years. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’ss that Pelorak are bad news--they’re always up to no good. I always keep an ear open to their converssations--jusst in case ssome handsome bloke decides to pop in and have a chat.” Her attention once again diverted to Spike, she leaned in and whispered in his ear. “What ssay you sstick around until closing? My place isn’t far from here.” Her yellow gaze turned to Buffy. “Maybe your lady friend can join us, too.”

Buffy’s eyes narrowed and her patience waned. She didn’t understand why Cora’s flirting irked her; it wasn’t as if she and Spike were seeing each other. They were just travelling together, and staying in the same hotel room... and sleeping in the same bed. It didn’t mean that she had any feelings for him! So he had made chocolate-covered strawberries for her, that didn’t mean anything! Stupid bleached vampire, she’ll show him. With a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes, she addressed the barmaid who seemed to have more in common with octopi than lizards. “Sorry Cora, but I don’t share. Isn’t that right, Spikey?” She followed through with a good kick to his shin.

“Ow!” What the heck was the Slayer doing, anyway? He was the one being molested--not that he minded, but still... “Sorry, luv, but I’m a one-woman vamp.” He kept a wary eye on the Slayer and pulled his legs under his bench.

Cora pouted, but slid off the seat. “Pity. All that stamina for just one woman. Lucky...” She fixed her apron and smiled at them as if nothing had conspired. “Would you like something from the kitchen while you’re here?”

Before Buffy had time to open her mouth, Spike ordered for both of them. “Yeah--two fish and chips. It’s been ages since I’ve had proper fish and chips.” He watched the barmaid walk away, hips swinging alluringly, and readjusted his pants. It had been way too long since he’d had any...

Trying to shake the stamina comment from her mind, Buffy tried to veer the conversation to safer grounds. “So what’s our next move, then? I say we go to that Nex whatever and shake some information out of a few slimeballs. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to, and anyway--every moment that we waste is extra time that Blakeford has to get further away.” She frowned, as she tried to remember something else that she’d wanted to tell him. “Oh yeah--” she slid down the seat a little, and reached out with her foot, kicking him again “I don’t need you to order for me. We’re in the 21st century--I can order for myself.”

“Bloody hell, woman--are you trying to cripple me?!” Spike rubbed at the bruises forming on his shin. “First of all, we are not going to the Pulchra Nex anytime soon--you’re not ready for that place just yet. Second, if Blakeford wanted to leave London, he would have done so by now, so either we’ve missed him or we’ll find him soon enough. Third, I ordered for you because I knew you’d order something ‘healthy’ like a salad or something. You need some flesh on those bones of yours, Slayer, and a good English diet will do just that. And lastly,” he returned an equally harsh kick to her shin, making her yelp, “stop hitting me.”

***

As she polished off her last french fry, Buffy got to thinking about what Spike had told her earlier. “What was it that you said about me not being ready to go to the Pulker Next? I’m a way better liar than you are, and I can kick your ass any day.”

Spike sighed. Sometimes... make that almost all the time, he really couldn’t believe that Buffy Summers was the Slayer. Was she truly that thick, or was she just short on attention span? Or... did she simply like pushing his buttons? Of course, she was just a young girl from California--barely twenty years old, if that. What had he been like at twenty? A stuttering bookworm whose heroes were Wordsworth, Coleridge and Tennyson. A young man who still clung to his doting mother’s coattails. He shuddered as the memories rushed back, of his mother’s illness and his worry for her condition, and of what had transpired... No, don’t go there, mate. You’ll never be ready to go back there.

Snapping fingers brought him back to the there and then, and he shook his head. “Sorry ‘bout that. Guess I must’ve wandered. Where were we?”

“Ugh. You were going to tell me why we’re not going to that other bar. Are you sure you’re ok? You look paler than usual...” Buffy took a hold of the lamp that hung over their table and shone its light in his face, trying to get a better look.

“Look, I’m fine.” The vampire grabbed the lamp from the young woman’s grasp and set it back in place. “And don’t shine that in my face--you almost blinded me.” He took a deep breath, shaking away the residual emotions of his memories. “The bar’s name, once again, is Pulchra Nex. There are a few reasons we’re not going just yet. We’ve already established that you don’t have a wardrobe fitting for such a place, but the main reason is that the only humans to get into Pulchra Nex are either on the menu or part of the entertainment. And don’t think that that means stand-up comedy, pet. The owners of the Nex could give the Romans a run for their money when it comes to entertaining their patrons.”

“So what does Pulchra Nex mean, anyway?”

“Loosely translated, ‘Beautiful, Violent Death‘”

Slayer back in the driver’s seat, Buffy sat straight and looked Spike in the eye. “Ok, so potentially bad for me, human and all. We get me new clothing and... and that gets me in? Just like that--or is there something else?”

“Haven’t gotten quite that far, yet. Clothing’s only the first step. I haven’t thought of a way of getting you in there--well, one that won’t get me staked upon suggesting it. Give me a bit of time--I always think of something.”

Buffy snickered at that. “Yeah, like all those plans to kill me and the Scoobies? Those always worked out so well.”

Spike made a motion to get up. “Ha bloody ha, Slayer. Sit tight for a moment--I’m gonna go say goodbye to Eddie, and then we’ll be on our way. We’ve got a bit of shopping to do and I don’t feel like being out all sodding night.”

Author's Note: Hidely-ho! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I had a blast writing Cora--original characters can be so much fun. Anyhoo, thanks to those who took the time to review. Please keep doing so--it always gives me a happy :)