Just A Fling

A/N: Thanks so much to Evilawyer for beta-ing this chapter, and a special thanks goes to Schehrezade for the London details. I will admit that I have used a little liberty with the locations. ; )

Thanks again to everyone that has reviewed this story (especially Neo, Kimber and Mariana). You really keep me going so keep those reviews coming.


Chapter 8 – Frankie’s Place

Spike checked his clothes one more time and then kicked himself for caring so much. It was just the cheeky Slayer, not some hot date. But he rationalized his excessive care on his appearance on the fact that he would be seeing other people tonight. Maybe a beauty. “Like the beauty that will be next to you”, the William inside of him whispered in his head. Sod it all! So off he went to meet her in the sitting room. “Come on, Slayer, makeup isn’t going to help that mug,” he bellowed, hoping to annoy her. Actually, thinking back to her in the shower earlier, she had looked just fine with no make-up at all.

Buffy jerked her door open. How the hell had he known that she had been worrying over her make-up? And for what? An overbearing, smart mouthed vampire. But geez, she hoped her hair looked good. She knew his would look perfect. It just wasn’t fair that he was so gorgeous with such ease. And yes, she had just admitted to herself that he was good looking. The slayer in her be damned.

Her hair looked beautiful, Spike thought. It was strange. For the first time he noticed that he was no longer looking at her with the eyes of an enemy looking through a veil of hatred anymore. Instead, he was starting to look at her with the eyes of a lover, and right now his lover was beautiful in a lavender, long sleeved top and worn blue jeans that looked to be a second skin. Her hair was down, framing her face. When he realized the direction of his thoughts and his penis, he mentally shook himself. This was his foe, his adversary with whom he had a temporary truce. That’s all. “Come on, Slayer, let’s get at it.”

Buffy grabbed a jacket and raced to catch up with Spike, which she didn’t do until he was already half way to the Sloane Square Underground Station. She wasn’t sure but his body language looked angry for some unknown reason. “Bleach Brain, what’s up? You look all pissy.”

“Pissy? Pissy? No, I’m just ducky.” She thought he was annoyed, did she? Ha. He was just randy against his will. He had even had trouble walking at first, his hard-on was so big.

As they headed down into the subway station, Buffy’s eyes were wide and round. “What is this place?”

“It’s the Underground, London’s subway. Hop on and enjoy.” On the train, he kept his head forward, but his eyes kept darting to the side, admiring the enamored look on Buffy’s face. From the looks of it, the subway must be the equivalent to Disney World for her. She was all but jumping up and down with glee. Bloody hell, how was he supposed to hate someone so…cute. She was adorable in her enthusiasm.

Before they even departed the train, she started badgering him. “After we wipe the ground with Frankenstein, can we ride the train some more? Could we see some other stations?”

Spike finally let his face crack into a smile. “Look, luv, we will ride it enough over the next few days.” You’ve got to be kidding me, Spike groaned. She had the nerve to give him puppy dog eyes. “Ok, we’ll do it. Shut you gob already, Slayer. We have work to do.”

Spike looked again at the envelope they found in Sunnydale. 312 Crescent Street. Spike ushered Buffy off the train, or rather pulled her off the train, and out of the station. Then they walked three blocks into an old, seedy warehouse district tucked under the Wandsworth Bridge in Jew’s Way.

“Here we are. Crescent. Yuk, and I do mean yuk.” Buffy turned her nose up at a few warehouses up ahead over looking the Thames River. But Buffy was still pumped from the Underground. She started reading off the addresses. “242, 244…” They walked across an intersection, “302, 304…”

“I realize you know your numbers. Nummy treat for you later. But would you assume I do, too, and shut your gob?”

“A, B, C, D…” Buffy happily sung as she skipped along. “E, F, G…”

Spike tried to sound gruff, but she probably saw right through him. “Don’t temp me, wench. I’ll just throw you down that man hole. If I don’t mean to hurt you, just throw you, I don’t think the chip would fire.” He only got a head tilt while she kept singing the alphabet. God, she was delightful.

“Here we are. Frankie’s place.” She stood facing a dark red brick building that looked like it hadn’t been taken care of in the last century. Buffy walked up to the door and jerked open the handle, breaking the lock. Snap. The door opened, and she stepped inside while looking back over her shoulder. “Coming?”

They explored the large, open interior. The ceilings in the brick structure had to be at least thirty feet tall. The windows were set twenty feet up the walls, which let in some moonlight and made it possible for them to see. Scaffolding was erected in various places as though someone had started to repair the facility but gave up.

Spike lit a cigarette and slowly blew out a stream of smoke. “Got to say it’s roomy.”

Buffy was actually watching him instead of the surroundings. How did he make nasty smoking look so sexy? Maybe it was because it focused her eyes on his lips, those lips that did such wonderful things to her body. Back to slayer-mode Buffy. “Spacious in a grimy sort of way.”

“Not like a mad doctor’s lab jumping out at me here.” Standing in the middle of the warehouse, Spike turned three hundred sixty degrees, shaking his head. His coat flared out around him. “There must be something here. Nothing up, but what about down? Sometimes these buildings have storage below.”

“Right. Going down.” Buffy started searching for some type of way below, a stairway of some sort.

“Here we go, pet.” Buffy turned to spy Spike standing next to a post. As she walked closer, she could see that the post had two large red buttons on it. One with an arrow pointing up and the other had an arrow pointing down. As she stepped up to him, her boot heels clanged on a metal surface. She realized that Spike was standing on a large metal square; the post was attached to a corner of the square.

“Can I give you a lift, chickie?” Spike waggled his eyebrows at her

“Pathetic jokes much?” Buffy tapped her heel a few times, studying the minimalist lift. “It’s only the ‘el’ of an elevator.”

The vampire took another drag off of his cigarette to hide his mirth. “’S not a people elevator, but a freight elevator. Want a ride, pet?”

“Sure.” Buffy braced her feet and hoped for the best.

As soon as the elevator broke from the level of the floor, light came out around the piece of metal they were riding. “Looks like we’ve found the cache.” The lower they went, the more medical and electrical equipment was revealed.

“Found his lair, but no Frankie.” Buffy was amazed by all the equipment.

Only two steps into the room, Spike froze, and Buffy watched him sniff the area. “It’s not me. I put on deodorant before we left.”

“No, luv, I smell,” he inhaled deeply again, “fear. Someone reeks of fear and that most certainly would not be you, Slayer.” He glanced at her and caught her gaze. “I don’t want to smell fear on you, firebrand.” Spike didn’t know where that had come from, but he meant it. He now felt his all time rival, who he had once tried to bring her to her knees in fear, was above being scared. She was better than that. Uncomfortable with his thoughts, he pushed away any more self realizations. He wasn’t prepared to examine his feelings for her any further just yet. It scared him just knowing he had any feelings for her besides hate. He was a vampire, and vampires hate slayers. That simple.

Buffy took his comment as a compliment and smiled. It felt good, even special to receive a compliment from Spike where there was usually only sarcasm. Who would have thought it would feel so good? She was even more shocked to realize that his opinion meant something to her. She was above fear. That’s what he said. That was a high compliment coming from someone who used to revel in trying to cause her fear.

Spike started to prowl, steadily heading for the far corner of the basement. “Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell the smell of a science chum.” Spike walked a few more yards into the large room, stopped and took another deep whiff.

As Buffy watched from the elevator, Spike turned to stone. Not literaly of course, but every muscle in his body froze before her eyes. Involuntarily, she held her breath and instinctually stood still. Finally, he moved his hand just enough to point to a corner of the lab, then bringing his fingers and thumb together again and again, signaling for her to start talking and keep talking. She could do that. “I don’t know, Spike. I don’t think anyone is here.” She watched as he stalked his prey. “After all that bleach, I think you have a brain like Spongebob, all full of holes.” That earned her a black glare over his shoulder. She just winked. That got a double take from the vampire, and she smiled. He really looked adorable when he was all perplexed. She would have to remember…what was she thinking? This was evil Spike. What she needed to remember was that he was evil. She may be having sex with him, but that doesn’t mean she has to…has to…well, flirt with him – even it was fun. “Besides I don’t think this Frankenstein guy has such a complex. I mean, look at all these big machines. He must be making up for a small…”

Spike pounced. Reaching behind a large generator, he pulled out a man in an old fashion, royal blue suit and black, lace up shoes. He looked to be under five feet six inches tall with salt and pepper hair. “Please, please, don’t hurt me.” His voice held a faint German accent along with obvious fear.

“Hold your water, ponsy prat.” What Spike failed to see was that when he jerked Frankenstein out, the doctor pulled a cable along with him.

Buffy had relaxed. That little guy was no danger, especially with Spike breathing down his neck. Then hell broke loose in the form of the electrical cable the doctor grasped. As she looked on, Frankenstein brought up the end and shocked Spike in the side. Buffy stood transfixed, watching Spike writhe for about five seconds. When he let go of Frankenstein, that’s when Buffy moved toward them. However, she couldn’t make it there before Frankenstein shocked Spike again before running to the other side of the lab. Intercepting him, Buffy clothes lined him and put her foot on his chest to hold him down. She looked up to see Spike staring down at his chest. “Spike…Spike?”

The fog lifted, and Spike came out of his daze. “Oh…right.” Well, just barely alright.

Picking the good doctor up, Buffy held Frankenstein so that his feet were dangling. “You’re not going anywhere.” She then punched him in the nose. “And that’s for shocking Spike.” Buffy was surprised just how angry she was over Spike’s pain. She shouldn’t be but was mad that a doctor shocked a vampire. That should be a good thing, but instead she saw red. She shook Frankenstein again just for good measure.

Spike chuckled. The Slayer was beautiful when she was irate. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he started the interrogation. “So, Doc, been hunting the Slayer, have you?”

Frankenstein’s eyes darted between Spike and Buffy. “I was told to. It…It was like I was compelled. I had to do it.”

Throwing him to the ground in disgust, Buffy stood over him. “So why aren’t you still hunting me?”

The doctor was quick to answer. “Actually, we were on the same plane here, and I was regrouping to try again.”

Spike looked around the lab and then at the corpse on one of the long, porcelain tables. “Making yourself a new helper, were you? Well, what we want to know is about who is pulling your strings.”

“I don’t know who it is…” Buffy kicked him. “I really don’t know anything. A few days ago, I was suddenly in the lab. I found a letter and followed the instructions. I’m telling you that I had to.”

“We found your instructions in your hotel room. But all that was left of the envelope was this address and only London from the return address. What was the rest?” Spike walked over to Frankenstein and Buffy.

“I don’t kn…”

“Wrong answer.” Buffy jerked him back up on his feet.

“Uh…uh…SW. The address is in the SW. That’s it. That’s all I remember.” Frankenstein was visibly shaking. Buffy was thankful that he hadn’t wet himself while she was holding him up. She looked over at Spike. “Do you think that’s all he knows?”

Spike sniffed the air again. “I only smell fear, no deception. Probably a safe bet that the ponce is tapped out.”

“So what do we do with Mr. Zap?” Standing the doctor up, she reached over and poked his rather rotund belly. “He’s human, isn’t he?”

“Good guess as any, pet. Smells like it. Let’s see to make sure.” Spike didn’t waste a punch on the pansy. Instead he kicked him in the seat of his royal blue suit. “No zap. He’s demon. So that means I can…” He grabbed Frankenstein on each side of his head. Snap, the neck was broken, and as had the two monsters in Sunnydale, he faded away.

“Way weird everytime that happens.” No matter that she had seen it before, her eyes were still saucers. “I mean way weird.”

“This may really be a wild guess, but maybe since he was just a literary character, I’m guessing he might be going back to his book.” The vampire shrugged his shoulders. “Won’t the conjurer get pissed. Nothing like spoiling someone’s day to make your own.”

Buffy turned to face him with her hands on her hips but wanted to smile looking at his cocky grin. “And you could teach lessons on that.”

His smirk told her he wasn’t talking about their usual fights. “I’ve caused you to yell lately.”

Trying to unsuccessfully brush his comment off, Buffy rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. “I yelled just for your benefit.”

“Oh, no, you didn’t, luv. Those yells were all done in pleasure.” Now he leered at her, running his tongue across his upper teeth.

Unexpectedly changing stream, Spike crossed the room and picked up the electrical cable that Frankenstein had shocked him with. Before Buffy could make it across the room to stop him, he touched the cable to his skin and shocked himself.

Buffy was horrified. He may be her enemy, he may be evil, but it made her sick to her stomach watching him hurt himself so severely. When she made it to him, she couldn’t believe that he was looking at his chest and grinning. She smacked him in the side of the head. “Masochist much? You shocked yourself.”

Spike looked up at her with wonder in his eyes. This time when he shocked himself, Buffy was able to jerk the cable away. “What are you, Sponge Bob again?”

“No,” his voice was hushed, full of reverence, “my heart was beating.”

“Huh? With an accent on huh??” Now Buffy knew for sure that Spike’s marbles were short a few.

“The shock causes my heart to beat.” He looked at her with a look of awe.

Buffy was astounded and wasn’t sure what to say. “Wow…I mean…wow.”

“It feels so strange, a fascinating strange. Here.” He reached for the cable again. “Listen.” Intense blue eyes looked into hazel ones. “I want you to hear it.” He wanted to share the experience, needed to share it. Maybe he would have shared it with anyone, but he had to be honest about this for some reason. She was the one he would have chosen over anyone, even Dru. His dark princess only appreciated death. Buffy would understand the awe of a long dead heart in a demon coming to life even for a few seconds.

He shocked himself again, and when he moved the cable away, he quickly pressed the back of her head so that her ear was against his chest.

Thump, thump…thump, thump. Buffy looked up at Spike in marvel. His blue eyes sparkled down at her. It was a special moment that he was sharing with her. “That’s amazing.” But not a shock,. Buffy realized. Spike so often acted like he had a heart that it wasn’t surprising when his heart actually did beat.

Spike was riding a massive high and all he could see was her face, her lips. Tossing the cable a safe distance away, keeping his hand on the back of her head to immobilize her, his lips captured hers in a crushing kiss. His tongue immediately gained entrance, and he tasted her, this delicious slayer taste, that spoke of slayers but was still unique to Buffy. He sought out her tongue as his free hand explored her back, kneading and rubbing. He quickly slipped his hand under her shirt and undid the clasp of her bra, giving him free roam of her back, her skin warm to the touch. Yes, his heart had beaten, and he was going to show her how much.

Surprisingly, Buffy pulled back. “I…I want you.” Her cheeks flamed bright red with embarrassment, but there was lust burning in her eyes.

*****

TBC

Reviews would be such appreciated!!!
Dana