Chapter 17
“Are you ready?”
“’Course ‘m ready. Got the bleedin’ harness on five minutes before you did.”
“I didn’t know it was a race.”
“It’s always a race.”
“Silly me, how could I forget that while we’re trying to save the world, you’d be using that time to keep points.”
“An’ I’m 2 and 0 so far.”
“Two?”
“Yeah,” Spike sniffed and attached his bole rope to the waist of his harness. “First one to put on the harness an’ first one in.”
“What are you…dammit Spike, wait for me!” Buffy hurriedly attached her ropes and stealthily edged towards the opening of the cave. “You forgot the weapons!”
His slowly descending form called up to her, “You’re strong. You get ‘em.”
“You’re strong, you get ‘em,” she muttered under her breath in a horrible cockney accent.
“I don’ sound like that!”
After slinging both of their weapons packs over her shoulders, she quickly descended, trying to catch up to him. “Oh, you waited for me, how nice.”
He hung casually and smiled at her as she came down to his level. “You know, you’re awfully cute in your getup, luv. Look like Spider Girl danglin’ from the ceilin’,” he leered.
She rolled her eyes and they continued to slowly descend into the cave. “This is way more than 80 feet above ground,” she said warily, ignoring him.
“Took a guess, luv. Not exactly an expert. It can’t be more than 100 feet.”
“Let’s hope not. Oooh, pretty!” The further down they went, the cave revealed a gorgeous cavern of crystalline stalactites and stalagmites.
“Raccoon,” he teased.
“I’m not a raccoon! What does that even mean?”
“Fascinated by shiny objects,” he said plainly and kicked one foot out to touch her on the thigh. “Next, you’ll be eatin’ crabs with your claw-like hands.”
“You are so weird.”
“Come here,” he said cheekily, kicking her on the thigh again.
“Spike,” she sighed, swaying to and fro on her rope. “We’re a good 40 feet above ground, hanging from ropes and you’re thinking about sex?”
He scoffed, looking incredibly offended. “I’m good, but I’m not that good, luv. Wanted a kiss,” he pouted.
She smiled bashfully. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. But you don’t get one now.” He smirked and hurriedly descended the remaining 40 feet. “That’s 3 and 0, Slayer!” he shouted from the ground.
“Stupid vampire,” she mumbled and quickly lowered herself to the ground. Spike, of course, had already removed his harness and had a cigarette lit, dangling from his arrogant smirk. He bent forward with an oomph when she threw his weapons pack at his stomach after she’d angrily removed her harness. “You big meanie.”
“I’m a big meanie?” His face twisted in disgust as he used her girly vernacular. “Who’s tryin’ to knock the wind out of who with their angry weapons tossin’?”
“I’m sorry,” she said sweetly and kissed him on the cheek. As she tried to turn away, he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her towards him.
Cigarette still dangling from the corner of his mouth he sneered and said, “Not lettin’ you get away so easily.” With his free hand he plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and crashed his lips against hers, pulling away only when she needed to take in air. Once he did, the cigarette was back in the game and he inhaled with a cocked eyebrow, proud of the daze he’d put her in. “What’s the matter, pet? Cat got your tongue?” She panted and tried to grab for him again but he’d twirled away with a flourish of leather and stalked towards the cave entrance. “Come on, slow poke, or it’ll be 4 and 0.”
She let out a frustrated growl and stomped after him. “I’ll show you slow poke!” Once she’d caught up to him, he abruptly stuck out his hand to quiet her as he peered through the cave. “What is it?”
He shook his head, still focusing on a nondescript area of the dark tunnel and then gestured for her to come up beside him. She crept up carefully, trying to get a sense of what he was seeing but couldn’t place it. He turned towards her and pressed a pointed finger against his lips, shushing her, and took a predatory step further into the cave, silently moving in further. Her heart started beating faster and she followed after him, wishing he’d just tell her what he thought he’d found, but trusting his instincts to not say a word.
The more ground they covered in the tunnel, the darker it became and it was getting difficult for Buffy to see her surroundings. Spike was silent as he prowled forward and if it wasn’t for his platinum hair, she’d never be able to figure out where he was. As soon as she had that thought, it became pitch black and she lost sight of him completely. Slowly starting to freak out, Buffy fumbled in her pack to locate a flash light, unable to move or she might seriously injure herself from the uneven ground of the cave floor, afraid to speak in case he’d seen the enemy that he was tracking and would alert it that they were following. Just as her fingers curled around the hilt of a flashlight, something grabbed her by the waist and pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle her screaming.
She would have retaliated had she not been instantly aware of who it was once his cool breath tickled the side of her neck as he whispered, “Should be more careful, pet. All sorts of…nasty little things go bump in the night.” He lowered his mouth to the claim mark on her neck and licked it. She smiled against his hand and pressed her back into his chest, shivering as his free hand trailed up her stomach, over the thin cotton of her shirt and finally landed on her breast, using the inside of his thumb and forefinger to gently tweak a hard nipple. “Someone isn’ wearin’ a bra,” he said huskily.
She removed his hand from her mouth and turned in his arms, looking up to where she assumed his face was since it was so dark. “Yeah, well that’s your fault. You ruined all of mine.”
“Pity, that.” He continued to pinch and caress her nipples, almost distracting her to the point that she couldn’t speak. Almost.
“Did you really see something or were you just trying to lure me into your trap?”
“Saw an opportunity,” he whispered against her lips and then slid a hand down the front of her jeans, “an’ I took it.”
“Oh!”
“Thought I told you never to wear jeans again,” he said with a commanding tone as he stroked her through her panties.
“You…never said that,” she gasped.
“Well, ‘m sayin’ it now. Fancy a quickie before we make a mess of those wankers?”
He was doing that thing with his fingers, that tortuous thing that made her tingle from her head to her toes, nipping on her lips and rubbing against her. “Spike…we should,” she breathed.
“Oh, I know we should,” he leered, dragging her panties aside to insert a finger inside of her.
“Vampires!” she shouted, pushing him away and reaching for a stake.
“You’ve got to be bloody kidding me!” he roared, sensing at least two of them coming their way. “Get your flashlight, luv an’ stay close!”
Buffy clicked on her flashlight and shined it towards the two demons that were snarling and heading towards them. She heard Spike’s bones crunching as his demon came forward and he lunged, brandishing a stake from his pack and dusting one with expertise before he grabbed the second by the collar of his shirt and head-butted him. He turned to face Buffy, holding the now limp vampire up by his shirt and said, “Your Githyans makin’ nice with the demon world, pet?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug.
Spike shook his head and dusted the vamp, scowling. “This doesn’ bode well for us, kitten.”
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a couple of vamps, Spike.”
Spike pursed his lips, which was impressive considering the fangs, and his eyes darted around the low ceiling of the cave, moving about quickly until he’d located what he was looking for. He found a root sticking out of the ceiling and he yanked it free, tore off a bit of his shirt and wrapped the end of the root with the scraps, pulled out his Zippo and said, “Come on, Slayer, use your head.” He clicked the lighter open and lit the end of his make-shift torch and started walking further into the cave with a confused Slayer hot on his heels.
“What is it?” Spike ignored her, however, and she could feel through the claim that he was royally pissed. If it weren’t for her slayer speed, she’d have one hell of a time keeping up with the vampire who was now trudging along quickly through the caves. “Spike, tell me what’s going on in that thick skull of yours!”
He stopped abruptly and turned towards her, his eyes glowing amber as the torch light flickered beneath them. “Those were guards, pet. Henchmen.”
“Ok, so the Githyans got a few vamps to work for them. What’s the big?”
He laughed humorlessly, shaking his head. “Henchmen work for vamps, pet. Not other demons.”
“Ohhh,” she drawled with realization.
“Yeah,” he nodded with irritation, “now you’re gettin’ it.” He turned around again and started walking, a bit slower this time. Buffy studied his face, realizing that his demon visage was just as expressive as his human form. He knew something that he wasn’t telling her and it was starting to piss her off. Before she could call him on it, however, they came to their destination, stopping abruptly in the middle of a large clearing that was illuminated with torches. The eerie thing was, not a single Githyan was there. It was as if everyone had packed up and left.
Spike chucked his torch on the ground with an angry roar, pacing the floor with a sardonic smile.
“Spike, if you don’t start talking right now, I’m gonna—”
“You’re gonna what, tell him how much you love him and give him the worst lay of his life?”
Buffy and Spike slowly turned towards the third voice, coming to face the cocky grin of one Liam Angelus. Buffy bristled, Spike snarled and Angelus laughed.
“You two are too cute! Look at your little back packs!”
Spike cracked his neck and stepped forward. “What in the sodding hell are you doin’ here?”
Buffy was busying herself with her weapons, getting ready for an attack while Angelus leaned casually against a cave wall, smiling like the prick he was. “Better yet, how did you get here so fast,” Buffy asked as she stood next to her mate, holding an axe in one hand and a stake in the other. She handed Spike the axe and he smiled appreciatively.
Angelus pushed himself off the wall with his shoulder and said nonchalantly, “Airplane. You should look into it.”
“I liked the pilot,” a silken voice echoed as it drew closer. “He was so sparkly.” Drusilla, dressed in a black velvet dress and wearing a pilot’s cap slinked her long alabaster arms around Angelus and grinned, leaning her head on his shoulder. Buffy growled.
“Oh, Dru,” Angelus cooed, “we had fun at LAX, didn’t we?”
“Naughty pilot,” she pouted, “Didn’t want to take his big bird in the sky filled with all our friends.” It was then that she finally noticed Spike and she stood straight and practically floated towards him, ignoring the blonde girl who was about ready to kick some vampire ass. “My Spike…you’re all better now.”
Spike flinched as her hand touched his face.
“Don’t touch my stuff!” Buffy shouted and pushed her away forcefully, causing the vampire to stumble on her heels. She quickly righted herself and frowned, looking as if she were about to tear the girl to pieces.
Spike held Buffy still by the arms and whispered in her ear, “Careful, kitten. Let’s find out what the great git is doin’ here before we start with the fists, yeah?” She huffed and folded her arms. “But you’re sexy as hell when you’re jealous,” he thought it important to mention. His good humor faltered however, as his sire looked at him with sad eyes. She knew. He turned away from her, hoping that she’d keep her mouth shut. Luckily, Buffy’s inability to handle awkward silences saved him for the time being.
“Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on? I’m getting antsy, and when I get antsy, I get stakey. Where are the Githyans?!”
“Gone,” Angelus shrugged.
Spike didn’t like this casual meeting, not one bit. He knew his grandsire well enough to know that he was up to something, and it wasn’t good. “What do you mean, gone?”
“Telepathy’s an interesting thing,” he answered as he braved a step forward. “Those Githyans took one look into Dru’s mind and they all went crazy.”
“I don’t like them creeping and crawling into my head,” she said as she placed her hands on her temples. “Tried to get in, tried to take away the pixies, but I didn’t let them.”
“I tried to be civil,” Angelus sighed, “wanted to go into business with them but,” he laughed, “turns out the stupid idiots can’t handle a little old fashioned schizophrenia. So I guess…” He pulled out the stone of Tir’Suk from his coat and sneered. “I’m the one to reap the benefits.”
“Do you have any idea what that thing does?” Spike shouted.
“Oh yeah,” he smiled. “I was working on my own form of world domination when I caught wind from your watcher of what you two were doing up here. I kinda like the idea of the Astral Plane opening up and unleashing hell on earth. Had a nice ring to it.”
“What did you do to Giles,” Buffy said through clenched teeth.
“Oh, don’t worry about ol’ Rupes. No harm in eavesdropping, is there?’ He was close enough now that Angelus’ eyebrow rose when he caught a whiff of something that did not please him. “You claimed her?”
“Bad doggie,” Dru pouted.
Spike placed a protective hand on Buffy’s shoulder and smiled. “Yeah. Turns out you’ve got a small…what is it you called it, luv?”
“A tiny thingie,” she smiled, remembering their conversation in the car when they were bitching about their exes.
Spike chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what it was. Knew you had a cute nickname for it.”
Angelus vamped out, not at all happy with the insults. “You’d do well to watch your mouth, boy.”
“I like his mouth,” Buffy said plainly. “It’s part of what gave me this.” She brushed her hair away from her neck to expose her claim mark proudly. “Oh, and there’s a few more you can’t see, either.”
Spike wished she’d quit talking like that or he was going to have to drag her away to a private location and show her how hard she’d made him with those beautiful words. But first, he had vampires to contend with.
“Can we play now, Daddy? Can we?” Dru clapped and flitted about the cave.
Spike and Buffy drew closer.
“Oh, yeah. We can play,” he snarled and then shouted, “Go get ‘em, boys!”
On cue, a mass of vampires filed into the room from all sides and surrounded the two blonds in the large clearing of the cave.
Buffy stood with her back to Spike and said over her shoulder, “What was that score again?”
He smiled and raised his axe. “3 and 0 so far. Oh wait, there were two in the cave, so…5 and 0.”
“Right,” she raised a stake, “time to catch up and show you how it’s done.”
“Oh, it’s fucking on, Slayer!”
They both grinned, backs pressed against one another, bodies buzzing with anticipation, weapons raised, and waited for the vampires to advance.