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CHAPTER 23: Caught in a tangle


She was nervous. Very, nervous. When she’d asked Giles to go get Spike, he hadn’t said a word, he simply obeyed, but he did so with a frown on his face. Buffy knew he was probably starting to find the frequency at which she met with the prisoner suspicious. She knew she had to be more careful, but to be fair, she hadn’t thought Giles would be working. He wasn’t supposed to. But neither was she. She was supposed to be on holiday the entire week between Christmas and New Year, but hadn’t been able to resist seeing Spike. She still hadn’t opened his gift and she was dying to. She had missed him terribly the last weekend and needed to spend some time with him, even if it was just a few minutes. So she’d shown up at work, justifying her presence by saying she had some paperwork to attend to, even though Willow had kept things running smoothly in her absence.

She looked great. Something Giles hadn’t failed to notice. Too good for work, as he not too subtly mentioned. But she justified her cheerful outfit by saying she was going to a dinner right after and wouldn’t have time to change. He seemed to buy it. Her hair was down and fell in soft curls on her shoulders. She had on a light pink, off the shoulder sweater and a gray skirt with a black and pink lace trim that fell in soft waves around her knees. The look was completed by high heeled Mary Janes in a darker shade of gray. Girly, yet sexy. She looked amazing and it was all for Spike. She thought he needed some holiday cheer.

There was a knock and Buffy looked up from a file she was reading, just in time to see the door opening and Spike being led inside by Giles.

“Here he is, Buffy. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

Before she could answer, Giles had left the office, closing the door behind him. Spike frowned.

“The bloke’s getting rude. The American culture must be rubbing off on him. Poor bastard.”

Buffy pouted, but it was obviously only for show. “We’re not all rude, you know. Besides, I don’t think you should laugh. I’m actually worried that he might suspect something is going on.”

Buffy stood up and went to lean against her desk. Spike gave her an appreciative look, obviously approving of the outfit she picked for him. He forgot for a minute what the conversation topic was all about.

Snapping out of his daze, he finally got his voice back. “What makes you think that, pet? He could just be in a bad mood. Not everybody loves the bleedin’ holidays.”

“I guess you’re right. I could just be really paranoid. But when I told him I needed to see you because Snyder complained to Willow that you were threatening him and he was scared for his safety--”

Spike smirked, clearly amused.

“--Giles just took his glasses off, cleaned them with his handkerchief, and he remained silent for the longest time, just giving me that look… I can’t really explain it. But when he cleans his glasses like that, it’s because there’s something on his mind.”

Spike tilted his head to the side to look at her. “Are we going to waste the little time we have together talking about good old Rupert, or do you think we could find something better to do? Cause if you’re out of ideas, I have a few of my own.”

Buffy smiled shyly at him and opened her arms in a welcoming gesture. He didn’t hesitate, coming to stand in front of her, enjoying the feel of her arms wrapped tightly around him, and her warm lips caressing his.

When she finally broke the kiss, it was to ask with a tiny, little girl’s voice: “Can I open my present now?”

With a mischievous glint in his blue eyes, Spike took a step back and reached for the buttons of his shirt. “Sure thing, pet.”

She laughed and swatted at his hands. “Not that one!” She reached behind her on the desk and took the little box wrapped in gold paper. “This ONE!”

“Bugger! And I thought I was gonna get lucky.” Spike joked. “C’mon pet, open it. You’ve been bloody patient enough already. You shouldn’t have waited. You could have opened it at home.”

“Nah, it wouldn’t have been the same. I wanted you to be there.”

She tore through the paper, and he could easily imagine what she might have looked like as a little girl, sitting by the tree, opening her presents on Christmas morning.

Buffy carefully opened the velvet box and stared in wonder at its content. “Oh my God, Spike… I mean… Oh my GOD! This is gorgeous!!”

Her eyes watered and she outlined the diamond and ruby encrusted heart shaped pendant with the tip of her fingers.

The shy and insecure poet hidden somewhere in Spike made a brief appearance as he looked down at his hands, unsure of himself.

“So you like it then? Cause if you don’t, it’s OK. I can ask Clem to take it back and you can choose something else.”

“Are you crazy? I absolutely love it. I’ll never take it off, I swear.”

“Well put it on, then.” He said, happy that she liked his gift.

She did as he asked, putting the pendant around her neck. The sweater she was wearing was perfect to showcase the sparkling jewel.

“You’re breathtaking, Buffy.” He whispered reverently against her lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

She hopped on her desk and they kissed passionately, pouring all their emotions into the act. Getting frustrated by his handcuffed hands, he broke the kiss to put his arms around her. His hands instinctively went to play with her silky golden tresses. He dragged his lips down her jaw, all the way to her throat, lavishing her warm skin with light kisses and nibbles.

Buffy sighed softly, partly from the pleasure, and partly from regret of what she had to say. “You can’t stay long, Spike. I’m sorry. But with Giles acting weird, I don’t want to take a risk.”

“I know, luv. It’s OK. I’m already more than happy that I got to see you today. I wasn’t expecting it. Bleedin’ good surprise though.”

“I’m glad you liked it. I couldn’t stand the thought of you being here all alone for the holidays. I know fifteen minutes two days after Christmas isn’t much, but it’s the best I could do. Maybe there will be a riot on New Year’s Eve and I’ll have to stop by…” Buffy frowned, realizing what she just said. “Damn, I really shouldn’t say stuff like that with my luck, or more like total lack of it.”

Spike chuckled. “Come on now, pet. You should call Giles.”

He lifted his arms to let her go, but froze when a huge chunk of her hair came with his handcuffs.

His brows furrowed in worry and he swallowed nervously, then tried again. This time, he got a loud “Ow!” from Buffy.

“Fucking buggering hell!”

“Spike?” Buffy asked, panicked. “What was that?”

“That,” he mumbled, still trying to free his hands from her tangled hair with minimal pain, “was my blasted handcuffs caught in your bloody hair.”

All blood drained from Buffy’s face.

“You’re kidding, right? Please tell me you’re kidding--Please?”

“Does it look like I’m kidding?”

“Well do something!” Buffy exclaimed, her voice significantly higher in pitch.

“M’trying, Buffy! Give a bloke a chance, would you?”

“Just pull on it!!”

“There’s too much hair caught in it, if I do that, I’ll take a chunk of your skin with it.”

The longer Spike fumbled to try to free her hair from the handcuffs, the more Buffy’s heartbeat increased in pace, until it reached a panicked frenzy. When realization finally sank in, tears started streaming down her face.

“Hey now, pet. Don’t cry! It’s gonna be OK. I’ll fix this. It’s just that I can’t see very well. Give me a minute and I’ll fix it. I promise.”

“No you won’t.” She said, her voice lifeless.

“Hey! Have a little faith in me, would you?”

“Spike! Stop wasting your time. You should already have left my office at least ten minutes ago. You can’t spend all afternoon trying to fix this. What’s done is done.”

He stopped what he was doing and looked at her, eyes dark with dread. “What are you saying, Warden? It better not be what I bloody well think it is.”

She took a deep breath and reached up to wipe her tears away. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice.”

Buffy took the phone on her desk and dialed the extension number.

“Buffy don’t do that! You’re going to get fired. Don’t…”

“Hello, Giles? I’m having a bit of a problem here. Could you come into my office? Don’t knock, just walk in and make sure to shut the door behind you.”

She hung up before the guard could say anything, and turned to Spike. There were fresh tears in her eyes.

“Kiss me?.. One last time?” She pleaded.

The pain in her voice nearly broke his heart. Spike crushed his lips to hers and kissed her with all he had, trying to memorize the feel of her body against his, her lips, her taste.

They broke apart and waited, incapable of looking at each other.

After a long, agonizing moment, the door opened.

There was a loud gasp, followed by a “Bloody Hell!” Buffy and Spike turned their heads just in time to see Giles pull out his stick, ready to defend Buffy.

“No!” She yelled loud enough to stop him in his tracks. “It’s not what you think!”

Realizing Giles had thought he was attacking Buffy, and thinking quickly, Spike jumped on the opportunity to save her job. “Yes! It’s exactly what you think! I attacked her. See? I’m a bad, evil man, and I wanted to do nasty things to her and my handcuffs just got caught in her hair.”

“Shut up, Spike! He’s not stupid.”

“No, you shut up, you stupid bint!” Spike hissed between clenched teeth. “Trying to be all noble here. Work with me.”

“I’m standing right here.” Giles finally managed to say after the shock wore off. “I can hear you.”

“Bloody fucking hell!” Spike muttered.

Buffy’s resigned voice interrupted them. “Handcuffs stuck in my hair. Could you please cut it off so we can end this embarrassing moment?”

Giles’ face was an unreadable mask as he approached them to assess the situation. He tried pulling the hair free from the handcuffs without having to cut it.

Spike let out a sound between a sob and an hysterical laugh. He was panicking. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Now his girl would lose her job because of his carelessness. He’d never see her again. It was over.

“I don’t see what’s so funny, Spike.” Buffy snapped. Anger was temporarily replacing the pure terror she was feeling. She was losing him and he was laughing?!

“No. Not funny. Not funny at all. I’m sorry, it’s all my fault.”

“Damn right it is.” She snapped at him, her reactions dictated by her rising fear.

“Hey! I SAID I’m sorry…”

“Oh, you’re sorry? Well so am I, but it won’t change anything.”

“And what am I supposed to do, Buffy? It bloody happened. It’s not like I can undo it you know! Not that I don’t wish I could, believe me. ”

“You’re supposed to comfort me and tell me it’s gonna be alright!.. Not tell me that what’s done is done!” She said bitterly, tears welling up in her eyes.

Spike closed his eyes in frustration, his jaw clenched almost painfully. “I’m sorry you think I’m being a right bastard, pet, but I’m just as freaked out as you are you know. Sorry to disappoint you by not saying the right soddin’ thing.” He said, desperately trying to keep the fear from his voice. He wanted to comfort her, but there was nothing he could say that would ever make this situation better.

Buffy shut her eyes tightly and let out a shaky breath. “God, I can’t believe this is really happening.”

They were both so caught in their argument that they almost forgot about Giles.

“That’s quite enough, you two!” Giles growled angrily. An uncomfortable silence instantly settled over them as Giles focused on trying to free the prisoner’s handcuffs from Buffy’s hair.

After a few minutes of looking closely at the knot of golden hair and pulling not too gently on one small strand after the other to get them out of the metal links around which the hair was twisted, she was finally free.

The guard directed his angry gaze at Spike. “You. Come with me. And if I hear a word from you, I swear to God, you’ll find out why people called me Ripper when I was younger.” He turned to face Buffy. “And you and I will have a talk when I get back.”

Buffy watched helplessly as Giles took Spike away from her. She went to sit behind her desk, and finally broke down in tears. Burying her face in her hands, she waited for Giles to return with her sentence.

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A/N: What? :::tries to look innocent::: You don't like my timing... Personaly, I thought starting the year with a bit of angst was a great idea ;) I hope you liked it, and thank you for your reviews.

Now, I'm not leaving without adding something I feel is important. I got a review on another site from someone who said she liked the story, but felt that Spike and Buffy falling in love so fast was unrealistic and she wished it were more like real life. Does anybody else feel this way? Not that it changes anything because as much as I treasure your opinion, I won't go back and rewrite the whole thing. But I need to say this. When I write fiction, it's to embelish reality as much as possible. Most of the time, real life sucks rotten sewage juice and we have enough of that on an everyday basis. Or at least, I do. That's why I love to write about romance and things that might not happen in reality. Lets face it: if I wanted to make this story realistic, there wouldn't be any story to tell. Because in real life, a warden wouldn't have given a guy like Spike--no matter how hot is is--a second look, let alone try to get him out of jail. So for those of you who like to think that magic and romance can exist, at least in writing, keep reading. It might get sad at some points, but in the end, I'll try not to disappoint you.

Love to you all, and Happy New Year,

Isabel





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