With a Little Help

A/N: I know, finally an update. Actually, the chapter grew and grew into 2 chapters, and to complicate the matter, the two chapters had a mind of their own, which did not coincide with mine. Silly me thinking I was writing this story. Oh well, the story won out, and here it is.
And by the way, I want to thank those of you who voted for Who is Who/Relentless Revenge in the Spiked Awards. They won Honorable Mention, which thrills me to death. Thanks!!!


Chapter 6, Payback


Bracing himself for the notorious, slayer fury, Spike headed out the bar’s door. Even though he thought Buffy looked magnificent when furious, and he usually enjoyed goading her into that particular state, he had wanted to skip that tonight. Spike wanted to let his head pleasantly spin a little longer from their kiss as he walked ten feet off the ground. But then he put his hand on the door knob and the reality of an impending ass chewing outside, causing him to slide back down to earth.

However, when he opened the door and walked outside, Spike came to an abrupt halt at the sound of Buffy’s laughter.

Buffy wasn’t mad, mortified, or offended like she thought she should be. That little voice gave her some solace, saying that the people in the bar applauded as a compliment, not criticism. Instead, she felt absolutely giddy, almost light-headed, and overall invigorated. Buffy discovered that it felt so good to just out and out laugh, let loose and enjoy the moment. Every time she pictured the faces all over the bar, her laughter started anew. When Spike walked up, she was able to choke out, “Did you see all those people? They were applauding.” Her laughter got the best of her again.

Spike tried to look indignant but couldn’t in the face of Buffy’s gaiety. He smiled his best cocky smile and lifted his scarred eyebrow, “Well, it was a damn good kiss.”

Spike turned the laughing slayer, pointing her toward the DeSoto and gave her a push. When she finally climbed in behind the wheel, Buffy’s laughter had down graded to a chuckle.

“Since there is always room for improvement, rehearsals are tomorrow, pet. Ya know what they say, practice makes perfect.” Wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, Spike looked over at Buffy, who was now stone-faced and staring at him. “What’s wrong, pet?”

“Seatbelt.”

Spike looked at her like she was cracked in the head. “Yeah, heard of those. One of those new innovations that I just never got into.”

“Put yours on.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny, Slayer. Now, let’s go.”

With her jaw set, Buffy looked him square in the eyes. “No buckle up, no drive.”

“Let me remind you, in case you forgot. I’M DEAD.”

Buffy looked straight ahead and drummed her nails annoyingly on the steering wheel.

Spike recognized the Buffy “I’m not going to budge on this issue” look when he saw it. “Of all the bloody ridiculous, idiotic, dim-witted ideas. Bleedin’ soddin’ hell, woman, I crashed Rupert’s Citron head on into a concrete wall and survived.” Spike dug in between the seat, pulling out old cigarettes, food wrappers, some petrified French fries, and one long object that suspiciously resembled a finger with a hooked claw on the end. As he searched, Spike’s indignant rant continued, “Who the fucking hell ever heard of a master vampire wearing a seat belt…”

“You have now.” After watching him dig and cuss for a few more minutes, Buffy finally couldn’t hold back any longer and started laughing again.

Spike closed his eyes as it dawned on him that he had been had, tricked, snookered, and well and truly fooled. Lighting a cigarette while his little voice told him to calm down and not do anything rash, he took a long drag and blew the smoke purposefully in Buffy’s direction. “Alright, Slayer. You think you’re so funny…Hey!”

Stopping at a red light, Buffy reached over, yanked his cigarette from his hand and promptly tossed it out her window. Buffy chuckled at the site of a speechless Spike. When she explained, her voice was perky, which ground on his nerves, “Oh, didn’t I tell you? This is now a smoke-free vehicle.”

By the time the light turned green, he came up with a comeback, not very original, but he would make sure it was true. “Payback’s a bitch, Slayer.”

Buffy hit the brakes again, bring them to a screeching halt in the middle of the intersection. “Did you just call me a bitch?”

“If the shoe fits…”

“Real cute, cliché guy, but I’ve been called worse and probably from you.”

“Hopefully from me.”

Honking from behind them temporarily broke up their verbal sparring.

As she started driving again, Spike pulled his pack of cigarettes back out. “First, this is my car. Second, no soddin bint is getting away with…Hey!”

Buffy sent Spike’s whole pack of cigarettes sailing out the open window and had the friggin’ nerve to laugh.

“Laugh it up, Slayer, but I owe you big.” The curl at the corners of his mouth belied his threat. ‘Bugger his little voice to hell and back. Payback starts now,’ he thought.

Spike directed her on a very non-scenic tour of town, giving her directions of where to turn, then repeatedly changed his mind until she was shouting in frustration.

Buffy came to an abrupt halt when Spike’s directions nearly had her running down the “Welcome to Sunnydale” sign. Seeing the sign just in time, she slammed on the brakes, sending Spike crashing into the car’s dash.
“Ow, you daft bint, warn a bloke before stopping like that.”

Buffy couldn’t believe the opening Spike had left her. “Where a seatbelt then, stupid vampire.”

“Argh…you are the most perverse…”

“Hey now, is this going to be one of those names you call me that is worse than bitch?” Buffy’s taunt hit home and thoroughly deflated his impending tirade, causing Spike to growl in frustration.

Taking a deep breath, Spike took his little voice’s advice and tried a different tact. “Oh, I get it, your trying to distract me from the fact that you don’t have the nerve to run down that sign.”

Multok, Spike’s little voice, sighed. Goading Buffy was not the new strategy he had had in mind.

Buffy looked dumbfounded. “But…what?”

“That’s ok, Slayer.” Spike shrugged, appearing to be totally sympathetic. “You don’t have to pretend with me. I won’t tell anyone that you were too scared to knock down one little sign.”

“Scared? I am sooo not scared. I just don’t want to do it.”

Spike patted her shoulder. “You don’t have to cover up with me that you don’t have the stones.” Spike gave a dramatic sigh. “Nevertheless, every time I see that sign, my dead heart goes pitter pat.”

“Huh? You can read, can’t you? That sign says Sunnydale. You know, the place you call Sunnyhell, the place where I have kicked your ass so many times, where I put you in a wheel chair, where you got a chip stuck in your pitter patty head?”

“Yes, I can read, and no, I don’t love this city, but I do love to knock that sign down.” Spike gave her one of his smirks that never ceased to needle her.

Unexpectedly, Buffy hit the gas and plowed over the sign. “There, fang face, we’re even.”

Spike turned to face her in his seat. “Sorry, pet. I’ve ran that sign down twice…so far.”

“Then I’ll hit it again.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Doesn’t count since it’s already down.”

Buffy’s bottom lip jutted out in a pout as she hit him in the shoulder. “That’s not fair.”

“And when exactly did I ever claim to be fair?” Unable to resist that adorable lower lip, Spike leaned over, closing the gap between them, and asked the question he had wanted to ask since leaving the last bar. “I was right, wasn’t I? About the height difference?”

Not giving her a chance to answer, Spike captured Buffy’s lips with his own. As she frantically tried to process the sudden but pleasant feeling of his kiss, he pulled back and looked at her, gauging her reaction. “Well? Was I right?”

Buffy blinked a few times as it took her to clear her head enough to understand what Spike was asking. “I...uh…I plead the fifth.”

Spike practically purred, “Ah but, luv, I’m British and a vampire. No constitution or laws for me.”

His smile held pure sex appeal, causing Buffy to want to stop verbal dueling and go on to a more physical level.

“So, lawless British vampire, why don’t you help me stay quiet.”

If the first kiss in the bar had been hot, then this one was sizzling. Trying to get as close to one another as possible, Buffy crawled into Spike’s lap, with his help. She knew she needed to come up for a breath, but who needs air anyway? This was so much better than oxygen. However, when her lungs started to burn, reality set in.
Buffy pulled back, “Riley and Harmony.”

“Huh?”

Buffy pointed to herself, “Riley,” and then pointed to Spike, “Harmony.”

Spike point to her, “you Buffy,” and then to himself, “Me Spike.” Then pulled her back into another kiss, quickly drawing them both into the pleasure. The slayer just tasted too good to stop for more the a few seconds.

However, Buffy pushed Spike back again, “How did you feel when Dru slept with Angelus?”

“You mean when Dru was fucking the poof.” He closed his eyes, instant images of Dru fawning all over her sire.
“You’ve made your point, Slayer.” Rolling his eyes, Spike thought, ‘That sickening image will make a bloke go limp in two seconds flat.’

He slid out from under her, leaving her on the passenger side as he settled behind the wheel and started the engine.

During the drive to Buffy’s house, neither spoke, lost in their own thoughts.

In Spike’s original plan, he had planned to Spike had planned to park his car in his storage. Then each of them walk home their separate ways, thus avoiding any unwanted questions. Questions that would surely arise if he drove up to the Summer’s house to drop Buffy off. But sod it all, he wasn’t going to go behind anyone’s back.
When spike pulled up to Buffy’s house, she quickly opened the door and got out. However, she paused before shutting the door and looked back into the car. “I haven’t done fun in a while,” she said as she looked down at the concrete, “and tonight was fun. Thanks.”

“Sure, pet.”

“Help me hunt tomorrow night?”

“I think I can fit that into my schedule, but let me check my planner.” He was relieved when he heard her laughter. Her smile was definitely a good sign.

“Goodnight, Spike.”

“’Night, Slayer.” Spike drove away, planning how best to go about making some changes in his unlife.

…

TBC

The next chapter only needs to go through the last edit and should be posted by Tuesday.

And let me beg for reviews, feedback or anything to let me know somebody is reading this or wants to see more. : )

MadRog
madrog@ev1.net