Baby, It's Cold Outside
9
Buffy tightened her grip around
Spike. "I don't want you to go."
"I know, luv. I don't want to
go either. But I have to. And in case you don't remember, this was your
plan."
Buffy frowned. "I've changed
my mind. It's a stupid plan."
"No. It's a good plan—and it's
working. No reason to back out now."
"I just…I get so nervous when
you're away. Anything could be happening to you, and there would be nothing I
could do about it. And…and tomorrow's Christmas."
Spike stroked her cheek with his
thumb, delight filling him at the thought that she actually cared about him.
"I know. I'll come back tonight."
"You promise?"
"Yes." Spike kissed her,
gently at first then harder, trying to reassure her in a way words could not. When
he pulled away, he looked into her eyes. "You know I have to do this,
Slayer. Hopefully, things will go well tonight, and you won't have to spend
Christmas day kicking around some big bad."
"Which would
be a step up from last Christmas."
"Yeah?
Buffy looked away suddenly. Had it
only been a year since she'd been on that ledge, begging Angel not to give up? A
year since she'd walked in the snow with him, so certain her first love would
be her only love? "It was…it was nothing. A thing with…a
thing with Angel."
Spike frowned. "Oh."
Buffy looked at him again, forcing
a bright smile. "So you'll be back tonight?"
"Yeah, I will."
Buffy wrapped her arms tightly
around herself as she watched him go.
***
*** ***
"You are here, vampire."
"Well, yeah. Where else would
I be?"
Dejira smirked. "I was
beginning to wonder that myself. You're late."
Spike shrugged. "Had
a hard time getting away. Didn't want the Slayer to figure out what I
was up to."
"Or maybe you were too busy
helping her kill demons my employer sent to spy on her—again."
"What did you expect me to do?
Sit back and let her fight them alone and then explain why I didn't do a damn
thing to help? My in with the Slayer depends on her thinking I'm on her side.
If I had let those demons get the jump on her, then I could have kissed that
goodbye."
"Then your defense of her was
quite convincing," Dejira said with a scowl. "And it killed two of my
best assassins."
"Yeah, well, you know us
vampires—hard to curb ourselves when it comes to a spot of violence."
"Yes. Part of what makes you
such detestable creatures."
"Right.
other than a chat about things I already know. So let's get to it. How are we
killing the Slayer?"
"Patience—another
virtue vampires tend to lack. Still…for a halfbreed,
you are an attractive specimen." Dejira ran a finger down Spike's cheek. "I
suppose I can see why the Slayer would be easily fooled by your treachery—such a
pretty face."
"Oi—not pretty.
But not pretty."
"Yes, of course.
closer, pressing herself against him. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to
prove to me that your heart does not truly belong to that little girl—would you?"
"Shouldn't there be enough
proof just in the fact that I'm a vampire and she's a Slayer?
"Although
this particular Slayer has been known to capture the hearts of vampires in the
past."
"Um, actually, it was just the
one. And he's a pathetic excuse for a creature of the night—all soul having and
whatnot. And he's got this weird thing he does with his hair—sticks right up in
the front. Bloody git…"
"You ramble as if you're
nervous. Am I making you nervous?"
"Me? No." Spike relaxed
his stance. "So, you want a little proof I don't love the Slayer? Just
tell me how."
"Bed me."
Spike's eyes widened. "Excuse
me?"
"If you are not hers, then you
should have no problem passing the night in my bed."
"Well, that's a bit presumptuous,
don't you think? Did you every consider maybe I'm not attracted to you?"
Dejira laughed. "You're a
vampire. I'm a body—and a rather beautiful one at that. What more is
needed?"
"Possibly a
bit of atmosphere. I'm
not much of one for abandoned warehouse throwdowns
myself."
Dejira ran her hand up his arm.
"Then we can find a place where we can be more…comfortable. A few drinks
first perhaps? Would that get you in the mood?"
"Depends.
"It's beginning to sound to me
like you love her. Either you prove that wrong, or this is off."
"I told you, I don't love the
little chit! Bloody hell, I'm a vampire. We don't love. We feed and we fuck.
"
Then you will be mine tonight." Dejira leaned in,
pressing her lips to Spike's.
The first taste of her mouth made
his head spin, and Dejira tightened her grip around him.
***
*** ***
"Buffy, dear, are you hungry?
You skipped dinner, and…"
Buffy didn't look away from the
window. "I'm fine, Mom."
"Honey, I know you're worried
about Spike, but he'd want you to eat you know."
Buffy smirked. "That's a lame
attempt, you know."
"Well, I have to try something.
Giles and I are both worried about you out here, just waiting."
"I can't do anything else. I'm
too nervous."
Joyce knelt in front of the chair
Buffy was sitting in. "Buffy, it's Christmas Eve. I know Spike is out
there, but he'll be fine. I'm sure he'll be back soon."
"And then I'll be
else, okay?"
Joyce frowned, regarding her
daughter for a moment. "You really do care about him, don't you?"
Buffy looked her
mother in the eye.
"I do. I know just a week ago I hated him—or at least I thought I did—but something's
happened, and now…god, I don't know if I can call it love, but I feel
something. Something strong."
Joyce tucked a piece of Buffy's
hair behind her ear. "Just be careful, Buffy. I don't want to see you hurt
again."
"And I don't want to be hurt
again. But…but I trust Spike when he tells me he's changing. I can see it in
his eyes."
Joyce stood again. "I can't
say I like this, but if Spike is what you want, then I won't stand in your way."
"Thank you, Mom. That means a
lot to me."
Joyce nodded. "I'm going to go
in the kitchen to see if Giles needs anything. Come let me know if you decide you're
hungry."
"I will. Oh,
and Mom?"
"Yes, Buffy?"
"Stay out of the eggnog."
***
*** ***
Rupert looked up from the text he
was reading when Joyce walked into the kitchen. "Is she going to eat
something?"
"No. She won't leave that spot
by the window. She's too worried about him."
"This is insane. He's a
vampire. She should be hoping he
doesn't come back."
"It isn't that simple,
Rupert," Joyce said, sitting across from him at the small kitchen table. "No
matter what the circumstances, when two people share something that's…special…it
connects them."
Giles looked up sharply.
"Joyce…I…" Suddenly, he stopped, rising slowly. "Dear
lord."
"Rupert, what is…
of what Giles was seeing through the window. "Oh my
god."
"Joyce, get Buffy.
Joyce nodded, running from the
kitchen, the sound of glass shattering behind her as the window crashed in. "Buffy!
Demons in the kitchen!"
Buffy jumped up immediately.
"Stay here. I'll go kill them."
"Honey, there's tons of
them."
"I can handle it. Just stay
out of it, okay? And if they come in here, run."
Joyce nodded,
her eyes wide with fear. Buffy ran into the kitchen to find Giles surrounded by
grenbreks. "I thought you said they only
traveled in groups of three!" Buffy said as she fended off one that
attacked her.
"They do! I'm sure if we were
to count these, we'd find that they were numbered a multiple of three." He
stabbed a demon with a knife he'd pulled from one of the drawers, cursing as it
oozed into the floorboards.
"Great. Let's ask them to
pause for a moment so we can do a quick headcount."
"Buffy!"
Buffy froze. "Mom!"
She turned back towards the living room, but was stopped when two
futilely, until suddenly, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head, and
her world went black.
***
*** ***
When Buffy came to, she was lying
on the kitchen floor with a splitting headache. She sat up, immediately
regretting it as the world began to swim. She clutched her head, groaning, and
tried to remember how she'd gotten here. Kitchen…
unconscious. She pressed her fingers to his neck, grateful to find a pulse.
Buffy shook him lightly.
She stopped, her face growing pale
as she remembered the last thing before she'd been knocked out. Her mother… She
got up, ignoring her body's protests as she ran into the living room.
me!" Buffy stopped, looking in horror at the open front door and the
bloodied trail leading to it.
"Buffy," Giles called to
her as he stumbled out of the kitchen, clutching his head. "What
happened?"
"They got her, Giles,"
Buffy said, tears in her eyes. "They got my mom."
Giles swayed slightly before
finding the wall, propping himself against it. "Joyce…no…"
Buffy swallowed, straightening
herself. "We're gonna find her, Giles. Now. They
couldn't have gotten far."
"Buffy, as much as I want to
find Joyce, we cannot afford to be rash. We have no idea where they've taken
her. If we just take off with no plan we could end up making things
worse."
"Worse? How could things get
worse? Giles, demons took my mother—and there's…there's blood. It doesn't get
worse."
"Yes it bloody well does!
Dammit, Buffy, I am your Watcher, and…"
"No, you're not. Remember the
whole quitting the Council thing I did? I'm going to save my mother now. You
can tag along, or you can sit here and play overly-cautious guy.
"You're putting her in more
danger this way."
"Maybe.
know is I can't sit around here while my mother is very possibly being taken to
her death. So are you with me?"
Giles sighed. "Let's get the
weapons."
***
*** ***
Spike woke slowly, a strange
feeling tugging at his brain. There was a woman beside him, but her scent told
him it was distinctly not Buffy. He frowned.
"I thought you would never
wake. Had you taken any longer, and it would've been sunrise. Bet you would've
had a hard time explaining that to the Slayer?" Dejira smiled seductively,
running her fingernails down Spike's bare chest.
"Where…where are my
clothes?"
Dejira giggled, a decidedly strange
sound coming from her. "Who knows, the way we were throwing them about. I
had heard vampires were passionate, but I had no idea to what extent. Maybe I
should rethink my contempt for your race."
"Yeah, maybe," Spike said
distractedly as he attempted to locate his clothing. After a small amount of
difficulty, he found them all, dressing quickly. He looked nervously back at
Dejira, who was stretched out on the bed, nude. He frowned. "How exactly
did we get here?"
Dejira sat up. "Come now,
don't tell me you had that much to
drink. Now go on back home to your little Buffy before she gets
suspicious." She winked.
"Right.
replied, backing away from the bed.
"Oh, and
Spike?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for your help with
our plans for the Slayer. I'm not sure we could have done it without you."
"What do you mean?"
"By staying
good and distracted while my boys
went in and captured the bait for our trap, of course.
they'd had a vampire to fend off as well."
Spike snarled. "What did you
do?"
"I didn't do anything, seeing as I was here with you. But my
friends, well, they paid your girlfriend a little visit. Oh, and before you
come after me right now, just know that when they left her, she was
unconscious. Her life could be ticking away right now."
Spike gave Dejira one last look of
warning before running out of the room. He could deal with her later, when
Buffy's life wasn't on the line. Or at least as much…
Dejira lay down on the bed again, smiling
to herself.
That had been all too easy…
***
*** ***
Before anyone freaks on me for this
one, just let me say this: Trust me. I promised holiday fluff, and I plan to
deliver.
Review please!