With a Little Help

Thanks so much for the reviews. They were the only thing keeping me going this week. And thanks again to Isis for checking up on my logic.

Chapter 3, The First Favor


Snap. Spike let go of the Eloquaw demon’s head, and with a triumphant smirk, watched the demon slump to the ground.

Buffy came up to stand next to the vampire. Both watched as the body liquefied, and then soaked into the ground. ‘Yeah, but damn!’ Buffy thought. This wasn’t the third Eloquaw demon she and Spike had killed that night, which would earn him his first favor from her, but the fourth demon they had dispatched. She was impressed and glad that they had killed some many. On her own she had scared a couple of the demons, but in the past week, she had not been able to even kill one. But damn, how was she to know that that infernal bleached vamp would be so successful? Now, to make matters worse, she had to put up with the brag-a-thon she knew would come from him; listen to him rub in the fact that the slayer now owed him a favor.

Spike, however, had a couple surprises up his sleeve for Buffy. First, no bragging. He had to literally bite his tongue to hold back and not flaunt his victory, which would in turn piss the slayer off. Spike himself doubted he possessed that much self-control, but the inner voice he had listened to lately urged him to zip his mouth up tight. The plan was to get on the slayer’s good side. Hopefully up against a naked slayer’s side. Skin to skin…

Attempting to focus his thoughts away from his day-dreams to the present, Spike lit a cigarette and slowly blew out the smoke. “So, Slayer, that makes four.” ‘Well, that wasn’t bragging exactly. Just pointing out the obvious,’ he assured himself.

‘I knew it. Here it comes,’ Buffy thought , already feeling her temper flare. She put her hands on her hips and glared. “I can count, Spike.”

“Four in just one night.” Oh bloody hell, that voice should know that he had lousy-self control over his mouth. After all, he was just stating the truth, wasn’t he?

Buffy practically spit her question out at the vampire. “What are you, a score board now?”

Spike smiled, enjoying himself, as the slayer rolled her eyes. He loved getting one up on her, and he savored the event.

“Well, four means you owe me one favor and one dispatched demon on credit.”

Buffy barely stopped herself from telling Spike where he could stick that one favor. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself enough to answer civilly, or at least a close imitation of civil. “Fine, but I’m telling you now, Spike, I’m not doing anything obscene. I’m not…”

“Hold it, get your mind out of the gutter, Slayer. I’m not going to ask you to dance naked on a table at the Bronze or anything. Not that I would stop you if you wanted to…” Chuckling, Spike took a step back to avoid one of Buffy’s fists. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, pet. Don’t tell me that the righteous slayer is going to renege on our deal, is she?”

Buffy turned her back on him for a moment to pull herself back together. With her calm slayer face back in place, she faced the vampire again. “No, a deal’s still a deal. So what’s your idea of a favor?”

A barest smile curving his lips, Spike stared at the slayer for a few moments, letting the tension build. Before he could catch himself, Spike said the first thing that came to his mind. “Pick up my order of blood at the butcher for me tomorrow.”

Buffy may have been considerably relieved, but Spike was horrified. ‘Where the hell did that idea come from?’ He wondered. When the slayer nodded her acceptance and quickly walked away, Spike smacked himself on the forehead with the heel of his hand. ‘Pick up blood for me? What a bleedin’ waste of a favor. I’m such a pathetic ponce.’ Spike took out his frustration by kicking over a tombstone as he stalked back to his crypt. ‘What was I thinking? I should have asked her to dance on a table.’


The sudden, unexpected impact of Spike striking his forehead jarred Multok from his place on the vampire’s shoulder. Shel quickly flew over to catch him and help him to imperceptibly land again next to the vampire’s ear.

‘Temperamental vampires,’ Multok thought before he resumed whispering in Spike’s ear. “It was *too* a good idea. First you need to earn her trust. Trust makes it easier for you to ask for something a little more interesting later.”

“Patience my arse, this had better pay off,” Spike muttered. Shel caught Multok, who again fell off as Spike spun sharply around, kicked a defenseless tombstone and stomped toward his crypt.

“Multok, should we follow the vampire, or the slayer?”

“Neither, Shel, I think we have earned the rest of the night off. Let’s go see what night-life there is in Sunnydale. Do you know how to play pool?”

“I’ve played back at home, but Multok, we are too small to even maneuver the pools hes here.”

“Make sure you are invisible, I pick one player, and you take the other. Then a whisper here, and a whisper there. The games on! Care to place a friendly bet?”

*****

Buffy couldn’t believe Spike had asked for such a straightforward, easy favor from her. She had in fact thought he would ask for something like the strip tease that he had mentioned. That British pest could be annoyingly unpredictable, but never boring, making her wonder what he would ask for next.

Buffy pulled opened the door to the vampire friendly butcher shop. Taking a number, she waited with the other customers. ‘Simple,’ Buffy thought as she watched the person in front of her pay her bill. ‘This little favor was too simple, after all.’ Buffy kicked herself. ‘Sure, Spike wanted her to pick up his blood *and* pay for it. As Buffy watched, a customer counted out his money for the butcher. I knew there was a catch. Damn bleached blonde blood sucker.’

Jerking her out of her fuming, Buffy heard number 79 called. Looking down at the slip of paper that she held, Buffy confirmed that she had heard her number and stepped up to the counter. “I’m hear to pick up Spike’s order, please,” Buffy said to the butcher as she reached inside her purse. “How much will that be?”

“Keep your money. The bill was paid in advance.” Turning away from Buffy, the butcher reached into a large refrigeration unit, pulled out a brown, paper bag, and offered it to Buffy.

“Uh…thanks.” A befuddled Buffy took the package from him.

“No problem, missy. Now who has number 80?” the butcher called out to the other waiting customers.

Stunned, Buffy turned away from the counter and blindly stepped out of the store, onto the sidewalk. She was having a problem wrapping her mind around this situation. ‘Spike, who thought money was pretty sheets of paper that were his for the taking. Spike, who had just recently wanted money in exchange to find Riley when he was sick. Spike, who would do anything for a price, had only wanted her to pick up his blood for him. No zinger. No surprise like ‘you get to pay the bill.’ No hidden agenda. In a word, wow.’

Xander’s voice cut sharply through Buffy’s thoughts. Startled, she juggled the paper bag, trying to keep her grip.
“Hey, Buff! What’cha up to?” Xander greeted her and promptly tried to look over into her bag as Anya stood next to him with an expectant look on her face.

Hugging the bag close, Buffy folded the top down, trying to safeguard from prying eyes.. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

“Lawyer Harris here. Exhibit A. Shopping bag. Hence shopping. So what did you shop, nothing girl?”

Buffy patted the bag but didn’t release her tight hold. “Oh, you mean this? I had an errand to run for a frie…someone I know.”

“So what’s in the bag?” Xander persisted.

Anya gave one of her guileless smiles. “Xander, Buffy is being intentionally evasive. It’s obvious that Buffy does not want to tell us what’s in the bag, or what she is doing. Am I right?”

“Er…yes, Anya, thanks. I gotta go. Bye.” Buffy rushed away down the street, shaking her head. ‘Noooo, nothing concerning Spike was ever simple.’

*****

The door to Spike’s crypt slammed open, straining the hinges. Buffy looked around the inside of Spike’s home but did not see him. “Spike? Hello? Are you here?”

“Like I could miss the small earthquake that announces your royal presence.” Spike climbed the rest of the way up the ladder leading from the lower level. Tilting his head to the side in an obvious appraisal of her, he sauntered toward the slayer.
Normal Spike behavior, but this time was different. He was carrying his shirt instead of wearing it. Buffy meant to keep her eyes on his face, but they drifted down on their own, she assured herself. Drifted down his sculpted chest before jerking back up to his blue eyes. Just the sight caused her salivary glands to kick into overdrive. She tried to inconspicuously wipe her mouth to make sure she hadn’t drooled. “Here’s your blood, fang face.” Buffy held the bag out to him, trying to block the enticing view.

Spike raised an eyebrow, giving Buffy a look that made her suspect he could read her lustful thoughts. After putting on his shirt, Spike reached out to take the bag. “Thanks, luv. Hope you didn’t have any problems.”

Walking toward the refrigerator, Spike fought to stay aloof and calm when what he really wanted to do was gloat and cheer. Not only had the slayer performed his request, but more importantly, the look on her face when she saw him with his chest bare was priceless. ‘Where’s a camera when a bloke needs one?’ When her eyes had briefly glazed over with lust, he had wanted to rip off her pants, t her her up against a wall and drive himself up into her hot core…Ok, now he was making himself hard. Spike opened his refrigerator, placing his blood in and then stood there, wishing the cold air could cool down his raging, sexual fantasies. Instead of rejoicing that the slayer had actually did as he asked, now all he wanted to do was bang his forehead on the frig, berating himself, ‘You witless git, you’ve got it bad.’

Meanwhile, Buffy was trying to shake off her own desire. Looking around the crypt, she tried for enthusiasm instead. “Last night’s hunting went well. Four Eloquaw demons down. They ran, we caught, they melted.” She strolled over to the far side of the room, hoping more distance between herself and Spike would help. “Speaking of running scared, where’s Harmony?”

*****
On the far outskirts of Sunnydale stood a small, unremarkable house, with pealing, lemon yellow paint and a long, weed infested front yard. As Harmony approached she looked over her shoulder checking for anyone following. Not seeing anyone, she quickly ducked around the side of the house to enter through the less visible back door. As she opened the door and stepped into the kitchen, Harmony licked her lips in anticipation before calling out a greeting, “Hi, doctor. Your best patient is here, and I’m early this time.”

She heard his voice before she saw him. “Harmony, you forgot, didn’t you? It’s not a doctor tonight.” Her lover walked in from the living room.

Tilting her head, Harmony searched her memory for a minute. The “Ah, Ha” look finally brightened her face. “My bad, sorry, but now I remember. …Batman. My, don’t you look good without your tights. I bet you find those nasty, old tights constricting.” Harmony walked up to the man and molded her body to his side, leaving one hand free to roam. As their lips met in an ardent kiss, Harmony ran her hand up his thigh to grasp his growing erection through the material of his pants.

“Purrrrr,man,man, you feel so good tonight.” Her hand traveled up to his waist band, and then down into his pants to wrap around his throbbing shaft.

“Ummm, you *feel me* so good.” After a few moments and a few more groans, he unexpectedly pulled her hand out of his pants. “But first, Catwoman, does the Joker know where you are?”

Harmony stepped back and looked at him in confusion, “Who?”

“Spike.” Batman took a deep breath and let it out before he spoke again. “The Joker is Spike. Does Spike know where you are?”

“Ooohhh, that’s so cute. Joker…I get it. Spike does say a lot of funny things.”

He reached out a finger and lightly drew a line starting at her bottom lip, ending in her abundant cleavage. “Catwoman, you *still* haven’t answered my question.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Um…What was the question?”

“Spike. Does that jerk know where you are?”

“Its like, that mega-bitch, Buffy, came in and had the nerve to tell *me* to leave. Can you believe that? Good thing I already had plans to go shopping or I would have…Well, you know. And tonight, Spike said the slayer was coming back, so I left to go to the bat cave a little early.” Harmony pulled off her shirt, revealing her lacy bra barely covering her breasts. “Besides, I didn’t want to fight her tonight anyway. I wanted to save my feline powers for you, Batman.”

Grabbing both of her arms, he held Harmony away from him. “The slayer was going to Spike’s crypt?”

Harmony was unnerved by the anger she saw suddenly in his face. “Yeah…why?”

Batman seemed to pull himself back together, the anger fading away from his face. His hands dropped back to his sides.

“Nothing, where were we?” He reached out and dragged Harmony back up against him. He leaned down and kissed her on top of her breast before he picked her up and started to carry her to the bedroom. Harmony giggled, “Do you want to pet my kitty?”

“Pussy.”

“Oh, Batman, I love it when you talk dirty.”

“No, not ‘kitty.’ It’s ‘do you want to pet my *pussy*?’” He let her fall out of his arms down onto the bed.

Perplexed, Harmony looked up at him, “But you don’t have a pussy, Batman. You have a dick. I should know, silly, I was just holding it. Remember?”

Now he groaned for a very different reason. “Never. Mind. Why don’t you stroke my batmobile some more before I park in your batcave, and we will just forget the whole kitty/pussy issue.”

“Ok.” Happy again, Harmony pulled him down on top of her. “Batman?”

“Yes, Catwoman.”

Smiling, Harmony coyly asked, “Do you want to lick my kitty?”


TBC


Thanks for reading. Now, who wants to see Spike’s batmobile?
; ) MadRog