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Spike needed a plan.



And it needed to be a good one which considering the fact that planning wasn’t his forte was not going to be easy.



He cursed himself for the umpteenth time as he thought about what had happened. He’d been reticent about bringing Buffy with him and it had ended in disaster. Of course, it had. Because did anything happen in his life that didn’t end in disaster?



Even though every single instinct had screamed at him not to take Buffy with to the damn mall, he’d ignored them in favor of her dewy green eyes and watery smile. He’d always been soft when it came to a woman he cared about.



“I’m such a git,” he chastised himself. “Always listening to bloody bints instead of trusting myself. Should have known it would all end up arse over tits.”



But right now wasn’t the time to dwell on what he should have done differently because he had to get her out of the clutches of the security before she ended up in the even stickier clutches of the cops.



However, first things first.



There was no way he was leaving this mall without what he’d come for after going through all this aggravation. Quickly throwing some clothes haphazardly in a basket, making sure to toss in a hat for himself, he paid for them and made his way out of the store.



He clamped the cap on his head, ensuring that it covered his hair and eyes. The blond was aware that his ultra-white curls didn’t exactly help him blend in with the backdrop. If he was going to get Buffy out of lockup then he didn’t want some stray Rayne spy recognizing him.



Following the signs he made his way to the security offices. They were located on the upper level and he sighed impatiently as he made his way there, once again cursing Buffy’s stupidity. And even more so…cursing his own stupidity. He knew that he should have broken up the fight before it got out of hand, but damn if she wasn’t the sexiest little thing when she was mad.



Hormones raged inside him like never before when she was around and he couldn’t control his needs. A part of him was actually terrified that if he didn’t get some release soon then he would do something he’d regret. Although the blond had never been heavily into forcing women, he’d coerced more than one with copious amounts of alcohol. He was wondering more and more just how easy a drunk-Buffy might be.



Finally reaching the security office, he sighed in relief as he realized that there was only one guard in there. He approached the door, but took a step back when the door swung open and the redhead who’d assailed Buffy came striding out.



“Can I help you?” he asked Spike, looking suspiciously at the man in front of him. His eyes flickered in distant recognition but Spike failed to notice as he kept his eyes glued to the door behind him.



Spike nodded blankly, opening and closing his mouth for several moments before he spoke. “Uh, I was lookin’ for somebody to help me,” he drawled, affecting his best American accent.



“With what?” asked the guard, his eyes narrowing further.



“Umm…well, see here’s the thing, Sir. There’s some big guy out in the car park tryin’ to stab people,” he told the guard, schooling his face into a concerned mask.



“Holy crap! One of those days, isn’t it?” sighed the redheaded guard. He picked up his radio and blurted some command into it, before setting off at a run toward the parking lot.



Spike gaped in surprise. He hadn’t expected his little ploy to be successful but sent his gratitude to a God he was previously sure had abandoned him. Nothing was ever this easy but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. However, if he’d seen the sly glint in the redheaded male’s eyes then he might not have offered up such a gratuitous prayer.



Waiting to ensure the guard was out of sight, Spike legs carried him forward to the office where Buffy was being held. Through the small glass panel he could see her sitting with her head cradled in her hands. He turned the door handle, a growl escaping his lips when he realized it was locked. Once again he damned his luck. The thing must have been self-locking when it shut because he didn’t see the guard lock it.



“Bloody buggering fuck!” he yelled, slamming his boot into the bottom of the door. “Can nothing ever go right?” He turned his face heavenward and shook his fists in frustration. “Why the soddin’ hell can’t you just cut me a break for once in this bloody excuse for a life? Why?!”



Inside the room, Buffy’s head whipped up at the yelling and she breathed a visible sigh of relief when she saw Spike outside the door. The blonde had been flushed with the fear that he wouldn’t come for her and that she would end up in prison, or even worse at the hands of Ethan’s remaining goons. Spike’s earlier warning hadn’t gone totally unheeded after all.



Buffy rose to her feet, smiling at Spike as if he was the Messiah. She looked so hopeful at that moment and all of Spike’s masculine instincts raged to save her, protect her, hold her without ever letting go. With a sudden brute force, he launched his heavily booted foot into the door, kicking it repeatedly until the wooden frame finally collapsed under the barrage.



The moment the door caved in, Spike found himself with an armful of Buffy. She flung her arms around his neck, breathing in his scent for a moment. Recently Spike’s earthy aroma had somehow transitioned into the comforting fragrance of home for her. It might be weird and wrong, but he gave her that feeling of safety and she was grateful for it.



Pulling back from the embrace, Spike’s eyes raked over her body, checking that she was okay.



“Not hurt are you?” he asked, checking her body for cuts of bruises. He didn’t think the guard would have hurt her, but he didn’t trust anyone with something so precious.



Buffy shook her head. “The guy was kind of an asshole but he didn’t hurt me. He was super professional, all asky about where I live and who my parents are. What a bunch of crap!”



“You didn’t bloody tell him anything did you?”



“As if! God, Spike you must think I’m an inch away from being a total idiot.”



“I don’t think that,” he told her honestly.



“Then you shouldn’t be such an ass. You do think I’m dumb, don’t you?” Accusing green eyes flashed with hurt and anger.



“Look Buffy we don’t have time to debate your soddin’ IQ or my opinion on it right now.”



“But you…”



“We need to get out of here, pet,” her interrupted her, thinking she could save her teenage hissy fit for later. “Unless you fancy waiting around for the bloody guard to come back so you can regale him with your escape plan.” Spike’s expression was grave as he looked at her and she acquiesced.



“Fine!” Glancing down at the bags in his hand as they started walking, her mood suddenly cheered. “Are those for me?”



“Yeah, pet. Seeing as you didn’t get a chance to choose them for yourself,” he told her pointedly.



“I went to that other store and found a lot of pretty things but you forgot to give me money, you big…forgetter.”



“Oh ho! So it’s my fault? I didn’t tell you to do your best Muhammad Ali impression did I?”



“My huh now what impression?”



Spike actually froze in place causing Buffy to bump into the back of him. “You don’t know the greatest boxer of all time?”



They resumed walking and Buffy shook her head. “Not really a boxing fan here, Spike.”



“Could have fooled me. You’ve got a pretty deadly right hook there,” he admitted with reluctant pride. “Not as good as my left, but I’m a southpaw.”



Buffy frowned. “Okay, I understood like less than zero of what you just said.”



“Bloody heathens,” Spike sighed, quickening his pace as Buffy jogged along behind him. In truth he didn’t really want to look at her right now. The farther away from the guard’s office they got, the more his worry was being replaced by anger at her for getting herself into a fight, and Spike’s temper was not something anyone wanted to invoke. He couldn’t even identify why it was percolating so wildly inside of his chest.



“Do you have to bloody dawdle so much?” he snapped at the blonde when he glanced over his shoulder and noticed she was lagging behind.



“Some of us don’t have long legs,” she glared at him. She didn’t want to point out that she hadn’t eaten for a whole day and her body was aching. Those excuses would just make her seem weak and pathetic, neither of which were alluring.



Just to piss her off, Spike marched along even faster.



Finally reaching the open air, they bolted across the parking lot, Buffy’s small legs still struggling to keep up with the bruising pace that Spike set. When the old Desoto came into sight Buffy breathed a ragged sigh of relief. Shoved into the car, Buffy cast her eyes downward as Spike tossed his shopping bags onto the backseat and climbed in next to her. He gunned the engine and wordlessly peeled away.



From the afternoon shadows, the redheaded guard watched the easily recognizable black car leave. He chuckled at the fact the stupid Rayne kid was so naïve. Most people would have questioned such an easy getaway but the impetuous blond was far too arrogant for his own good. Reveling in his good fortune at spotting the runaway pair, he plucked his cell phone from his pocket, a smirk blossoming on his lips as he dialed a familiar number.



“They’re just leaving Parking Lot C now,” he told the man on the other end of the line. “We were damn lucky to get a bead on them, man. This is gonna be a big bucks payday for us so don’t screw this up or…you know what’ll happen.”



Several minutes of tense silence ensued inside the Desoto. Now that he had Buffy back safe with him, the full weight of his worry and fury had descended upon him. He’d come so close to losing her again that he could hardly bear it. And the worst thing was that she didn’t seem to care at all. She was acting like nothing had even happened. Another stick fell onto the fire of his ire.



The only sound in the car other than the gentle hum of the engine was Spike’s raspy breathing as he internally struggled not to pull over the car and beat Buffy to a bloody pulp for being such an idiot. He was aware that the extent of his fury was a little irrational, but so many horrible scenarios were flying through his head about what could have happened that he justified his own anger to himself.



Finally, long after the silence threatened to engulf the both of them, Spike’s sardonically mocking tone shattered the quiet. “That was a great way not to draw attention to ourselves by the way, pet. Bang up job you did there.” He clenched his jaw so violently that Buffy thought his teeth might crack under the extreme pressure.



Buffy lifted her thumbnail to her mouth and chewed nervously on it. Spike seemed mad. Really mad. In fact she was pretty sure that she could see steam coming out of his ears.



“Newsflash, Spike, sometimes these things happen,” she bit back, wrapping her arms tightly around herself and huddling down a little in her seat.



“Oh yeah, well this bloody bollocks seems to happen all the time around you, Summers. You’re like a walking disaster area. If something bad is gonna go down you can bet you’ll be right there in the middle of it, probably causing it.” He knew he should shut up but his mouth wouldn’t seem to stop talking. “You’re a bloody stupid chit and you can’t even accept responsibility for what you’ve soddin’ well done. Well, here’s a newsflash! Grow up, you silly bint.”



“It wasn’t my fault,” she sighed quietly, valiantly holding back the tears. “That bitch tried to hit me so I fought back.”



He opened his mouth to yell at her again, but the almost imperceptible sound of a sob reached his ears. Glancing to look at her he saw her eyes screwed shut, her fist stuffed against her mouth as she tried to bite back the tears and a flood of guilt exploded in his veins. Suddenly his anger had dissipated and all that was left was his own self-loathing.



“I’m not saying that you shouldn’t fight back, Summers. You should always defend yourself. Look, ignore me. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that. I’m a bastard.”



“Not gonna disagree with that, Spike.”



The blond rolled his eyes in frustration. The girl seemed to have a knack for annoying him like no other woman had ever managed to. Even Drusilla at her worst didn’t get under his skin for such little trifling things in the way that Buffy did. “I’m trying to apologize here,” he said through gritted teeth.



“Is this part of the ‘Asshole’s Apology for Morons’ class that you clearly took?” she sneered.



He pulled the car to a stop in the motel parking lot and shut off the engine. Still bubbling with annoyance inside, he turned to Buffy.



“Listen to me, pet. I know you don’t seem too fond of me right now, and I did behave like a right wanker. But I’m sorry. So you either accept that or you spend the rest of our soddin’ lives nattering on about it.”



With a huff, Buffy flung open the car door and jumped out, marching across the parking lot toward their room. Sighing, the weary blond trailed after her.



As Spike and Buffy made their way back up to their motel room, they never felt the pair of hazel eyes shaded behind sunglasses that were fixed on them.



Silence still prevailed when they got inside the room. It was like a third presence between them, making everything awkward. Buffy was still mad at Spike’s cruel words and he was feeling a little guilty at hurting her.



He didn’t know how to rectify things with the girl. Making up with Drusilla after a fight was easy. He would tie her up and spank her until she forgave him. But Buffy wasn’t his girlfriend and she was the polar opposite of his ex-girlfriend.



He really was at a loss of how to make it up to her. The man wracked his brain at the thought of what he could do to make things right with a hormonal, hurt teenager. However, he was violently yanked out of his thoughts by a pervasive crash.



“Fuck!” exclaimed Spike as the door flew open. Two pairs of eyes shot to the open doorway and the gun-wielding figure looming in it. Spike automatically stepped in front of Buffy in a protective gesture.



The intruder was bulky and tall with a balding head. Tattoos covered his arms and neck and he wore heavy jewelry over every appendage. Dark glasses were fixed on his face and his grotesque smile revealed a host of gold teeth in his mouth. With a smile on his face, the large man slammed the door behind him and raised his gun.



Before the pair of blonds could react, he clicked off the safety and fired.



Chapter End Notes:
Sorry to leave it on such a cliffhanger! I promise the next update will be coming very soon. :) Please let me know what you think. Thank you. :)



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