Future Written in Blood ((Complete))

Sorry this took so long. It has actually been ready for a couple of days, but the reception for the last chapter made me really hesitate publishing this one. So I have just kept writing and kept to myself mostly. Anyway, if you enjoy this chapter, you have Isis, my great beta, and Valerie Kratzer (who wrote me a very nice and very much appreciated email out of the blue) to thank for staying on my ass to publish. So thanks to those two and to t_geyer and Sali for their reviews, and I hope you like this chapter as well. As to everyone else, I hope somebody out there reads this, likes it and is nice enough to say so.


Chapter 10: Slip of the Tongue


The next day dawned overcast and cold, as usual by this dimensions standards, which also meant it was safe for a vampire to walk, or as it would be today, fight outside. The match quickly began when Sebastian had the Mayor choose and call the first name.

As Buffy watched, one of the locals had just entered the ice arena. Rolling her eyes for what seemed to be the fiftieth time, Buffy tried to watch the opponent’s warm-ups while trying to ignore the flirt-fest going on next to her between Leilor and Spike. Just as Buffy started to gather up snow to stuff in Leilor’s mouth to shut her up, Spike’s name was called to enter the aras tas the second combatant.

Spike heard Buffy make a gagging sound as Leilor insisted on giving him a good luck kiss on the cheek. For once, Spike was reluctant to join a fight. He had been having such a good time seeing just how jealous Buffy could get. But, alas, off to work. A little taunt as he left couldn’t hurt, though. “What’s wrong, Slayer? Envious?”

“Not in this dimension or any other, blood breath.” But an evil little voice in Denial Buffy’s head asked her if she was envious? And would Spike care if she were envious? That same evil voice nudged a little harder, asking if she were jealous Leilor?

Laughing, Spike entered the arena to begin the contest, relatively confident in his cleated shoes. Watching his every move, Buffy bet it was damn hard to do his usual pre-fight strut in those cleated shoes. Nonetheless, he did still looked good in his jeans, not to mention his ass...

As the fight began, Leilor moved over closer to Buffy so her voice could be heard over the enthusiastic crowd. “Buffy, you really don’t find him attractive?”

Buffy gave Leilor a sharp look, wondering if Leilor had read her thoughts. “Uh, well…Uh, not his puny ass.”

Both women watched the fight for a couple more minutes. Spike’s opponent gained the upper hand and landed a fair punch on Spike’s jaw, sending the vampire sliding on his back. He finally coming to stop against the half-wall just below Buffy and Leilor, providing both of them quite a view of said ass.

Buffy’s and Leilor’s faces looking down at Spike dimly registered on his dazed brain, but their next words were almost as big a shock as the blow to his face had been.

“I don’t know, maybe you should look at his ass again.” Leilor was smiling down at him.

Buffy also looked down at him, pretending to try to re-appraise. “Humm, still kinda thin.”

“What are you two bints doing, judging a blokes assets when he is ass over tea kettle?” Spike scrambled to right himself.

As the clock ticked down to zero to admit a new participant, Buffy’s name was called before anything else could be said, and she entered the arena, saving Spike some of his dignity.

When Buffy entered the arena, she almost immediately slipped, fell, and ended up sliding the last few feet across the ice, bowling into her opponent. In a scene reminiscent of the old Keystone Cop Silent Movies Classics, Buffy and her opponent struggled on the ice and snow trying to regain their footing. The local guy made it up first, but Buffy quickly fixed that by pulling on his leg, bringing him back down. Figuring she had better odds staying low to the surface, Buffy straddled the guy and hit him with a right round house punch, which she followed by a yelp of pain of her own.

Spike looked over at the Slayer, who was now cradling her hand and cussing a blue streak. “What, the bloody hell happened, Slayer? Finish the bloke off already so you can get the other one while you are at it.”

Buffy flashed a glare at the vampire, who was leaning casually on the half-wall talking to Leilor. “Spike, I’m too fricking cold. And unlike you, dead man, pain shoots up my arm when I hit something when I am this cold! Come over and do it yourself, if you think you can do better.”

“Love to help you out, pet.” Flirting was fun, but fighting was better, so Spike gave Leilor a slight bow. “Be back in a moment, luv.”

Spike confidently made his way over the ice, using his cleats to their best advantage, but found himself tackled around the knees by the last local who had his name called and had finally been allowed to enter the ring. The entrance of the fourth fighter changed the scene from Keystone Cops to the 3 Stooges, actually four stooges in this case.

Buffy hit her guy one more time with little effect and fell over on her side as the pain radiated up to her shoulder this time.

Then the local threw her up against the side of the arena, trying to easily eliminate Buffy so he could go help his partner fight Spike.

Insulted to have been downgraded to a minor threat to be saved for later, Buffy started throwing snow balls at the guy leaving. She got his attention back, alright, along with his anger, too, it would seem, when he rushed Buffy so fast that she was able to jump out of his way at the last second, lettinm lam land buried in a snow bunker.

Meanwhile, Spike finally got off a spinning move which velocity was increased considerably by the ice and took his opponent down with a kick to the head. Not to mention that his opponent hit his head on the guardrail as he went down, knocking him out. Minor details, Spike thought, as he made his way towards Buffy to help out. Her opponent had crawled out of the snow and had hit her square on the nose, sending her sliding back across the arena with her opponent following in a perpendicular path to Spike’s.

Spike blindsided the local and took him out with a clothes line move that any wrestler would have appreciated.

Checking to make sure both opponents were down and out, Spike then quickly walked over to help Buffy. “Well, Slayer. It wasn’t pretty, but we won.”

The slayer chose to just lay there a minute more. “Two matches down and three to go. Yeah, Team Now Now, will someone pleeeeaase get me a hot, black coffee. I’m freezing. Maybe a comfy electric blanket, too.”

Looking back later at the fight, neither the slayer nor the vampire would have wanted any of it to have been seen on ESPN. None would have made any highlight reels, but maybe they could have made the bloopers, though.


*****

As Spike said his good-byes to Leilor and the Mayor off to the side, Sebastian and Clara explained to Buffy that the next dimension would be a little bit of a tricktuattuation, and as a result, time would be the most important factor. Clara continued to explain that they could get in quickly, and that there would be a few minutes to train in their unique arena, with the fight beginning shortly thereafter. Posthaste after the fight, they would collect their winnings and make their exit as quickly as possible.

As Spike joined them to pass through the portal, Sebastian added as the carrot in front of the cart, that if they could quickly make it through the next dimension successfully, that the next dimension was much more hospitable, and they could all grab some R & R before the next match.

After the disaster on ice, Buffy and Spike planned to take the practice session in the new dimension much more seriously. Well, at least serious for them. But of course, even this new dimension had its own little quirky joke to play on the vamp and slayer. In that first dimension there had been those lizards with their lethal tails. The second had been the frigid conditions, what with the ice and snow. But this third dimension threw them a whole new curve, gravity – or the lack of. Yep, Buffy thought, she now knew how Joe and Gandpa in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory had felt. She and Spike floated to the ceiling unless they were weighted down. However, during the fighting match they would have to use their wits instead of weights. They would be allowed very slight weights to help balance, but theyld uld use the sides of the cage to control the situation.

Buffy let Spike experiment in the arena first. Neither Clara nor Sebastian was there to watch this workout since they claimed to be on such a tight time line in this dimension, and they needed to make sure all was in order. But their absence ended up a perk since Buffy was left alone to admire the vampire in his workout.

She could admit it now, at least to herself, that Leilor had been right. Spike was sexy. Way sexy, actually. Well, she and Leilor had already established that his ass was definitely in the plus column. But his eyes should be, also. Why had she never noticed before his beautiful blue eyes? Such a gorgeous shade of blue. And those cheek bones. Whoa! Who would have ever thought such sharply defined cheekbones could be so attractive on a man. And think of thoses sharply defined, his abs were definitely drool worthy. Maybe she had needed glasses back in Sunnydale, but she certainly didn’t need them now.

“Ok, Slayer, your turn.” Spike’s words jarred her out of her musings.

Spike watched the slayer begin her experimentation in the different gravity. Even moving unsurely, she was simply beautiful, in the way she moved, everything. But Bugger it, she was the Slayer. He killed slayers! Two to be exact!
Where had the desire to kill this slayer gone? The gin’gin’ chip. The desire had to been stifled by that damn chip. But hell, he couldn’t even fight her then. Back then, even with the chip, he could have had others do it for him, but Spike had always preferred a fair fight. What good was it watching someone else take her down. None!

Now that he could co it himself, but to be honest, he no longer wanted to kill the slayer. First off, she was the Nibblet’s big sis, but staying with that whole honesty gig, still even without Dawn, he didn’t think he would try to kill the slayer anymore.

Oh, she was a worth adversary, alright, and oh, what a fight to the death it would be, but still….no. Now they were more like allies than adversaries, and not just during these contests with Sebastian. As long as he was being this buggering honest with himself, he might as well also admit he still rather be her ally when they got back to Sunnyhell. But he still wasn’t wearing a white hat. It may not be black anymore, but not white. Greyybe.ybe.

But what about this sex appeal the slayer seemed to be throwing around lately? He had always thought her beautiful, but this was the first time he had really seen her relaxed and playful as she bounced around the caged arena. Maybe that was why he was seeing her differently now. Seeing her as a girl instead of as just the slayer. Or maybe he should say seeing her as a woman judging from what he had seen in that bathing suit at the bathhouse. Well, Spike thought, let’s see home much fun she’s up for.

“Ok, Slayer, we need to work on some fight moves. Short on time, remember?”

Buffy bounced and flipped her way down the side of the cage to the floor as Spike opened the door and let himself in.
“Ok, flat foot, bring it on.” Buffy got into a fighting stance. Spike faced the Slayer, looking for the first opening. They both carefully moved around, cautious to stay out of the other’s reach without causihemshemselves to bounce out of control in the low gravity. Finally Spike threw the first punch which Buffy ducked. With a grin on her face, Buffy reached under his arm, poked him in the ribs, and then bounded off yelling, “Tag. Your it.”

“Huh?” Holding his side and watching the slayer bounce out of his reach around the arena. “You silly bint, we need to work here.”

“Awww, come on. Haven’t you ever played tag, fang face?” Buffy stuck her tongue out and scrunched up her nose at the disbelieving vampire. “Nanny, nanny. Now you’ve got to catch me.”

After shaking his head a moment, it struck him. Here was the slayer wanting to play with him. No, not the slayer, but Buffy. What was he, an idiot to pass up this chance? Cocking up an eyebrow at her, he gave her his best smirk. “Dare the Big Bad, will you, you cheeky tart.” And the chase was on.

After several bounds, jumps, twists, flips, and much laughter, the chase raged on until Spike finally faked that he was going up the cage so Buffy let go of the side to float back down to the floor. But Spike fooled her and had the slayer wrapped firmly in his arms before she could react.

“Gotcha, Slayer.” Smirking, Spike held her up so they would be eye level which meant her feet didn’t touch the floor. “So, what’s my prize?”

Laughingly, Buffy tried to pull back, “What prize? You caught me, fair and square. So now we play again, but this time I try to catch you.”

Spike shook his head slowly. “Not before I get my prize.”

Buffy struggled and made half-hearted attempts to get free, which Spike thoroughly enjoyed each and every wiggle against his body.

Rolling her eyes dramatically, Buffy finally stopped her struggles. She would have folded her arms but had to settle for sticking her bottom lip out in a pout. “So, what do you want for this supposed prize?”

Spike couldn’t seem to pull his eyes away from that adorable pouty lip. “A kiss.” He heard himself say before thinking.

Those same two words sent a thrill down Buffy’s spine. “A kiss, huh? That’s easy.” Buffy gave him a kiss on the cheek, and bestowed upon him her most innocent smile, while desperately hoping that the sappy expression hid her silent prayer that he had meant more. This was Spike, after a
“
“No, luv. That’s a peck. I said a kiss. A real kiss like t” N” Not giving her time to think, Spike moved his left hand to the back of her head and placed his cool lips on her warm ones. After the briefest touch of their lips, he pulled back a fraction to see if he was going to regret this taste of the forbidden fruit, but then thought, what the hell, and crushed her lips with his own. Her answering moan confirmed her own pleasure. Spikes tongue tentatively sear out out and touched her lips but was quickly met with her own for a leisurely duel.

Buffy pulled back with her lungs demanded air and slid back down to the ground. Kissing Spike. She had kissed Spike. She had kissed Spike, and it had been great. But what now?

“Well, ….uhu….that was a kiss.” She took a step back, starring into his blue eyes. Only one kiss and wow!

“What next, Slayer?” Was that him that sounded so nonchalant, Spike wondered? What next should entail a much more private place and much less clothes…

“Well, I s its it is my turn to see if I can catch you.” Now the twinkle was back in Buffy’s eyes.

Spike gave her a slow, sexy smile. “But what if I want to be caught, what would your prize be?”

“Well…uh…I liked your idea…” Before she could even finish, they were kissing again. No hesitation, no barriers, an hol holding back. Their tongues quickly met in a wide, open mouth kiss, trying to get to know each other, trying to learn the others individual taste. Again, Spike pulled Buffy up against him, flush to his body head to toe, and then slowly brought her body up along his until they were nose to nose, once again. Both thoroughly enjoying the friction the movement caused. Unlike in the bathhouse, Spike didn’t care if Buffy saw or felt his bulge. He wanted her to know how much he wanted her. Buffy pulled back one more time to catch her breathe and gazed at him with wonder in her eyes. But then a slow, feminine smile curved up the corners of her mouth as she leaned in for more.

It took Clara three tries of calling to them from outside of the arena to get their attention. “Excuse me, you two, but we need to get some food and then get ready for the fight.”


TBC

MadRog

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