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Chapter 3

A cool hand on her bare shoulder pulled her from a light sleep, for once, free from the horrible nightmares that had seemed to plague her.  She knew it was him before she even rolled to her back, her body instinctively trusting that he’d keep her safe while she slept.  Brushing off the last vestiges of sleep she peered up at his somber blue eyes that seemed to twinkle with the prospect of sticking it to the Council of Wankers – as the vampire was wont to call them. 

“It’s time,” he whispered to her, the room still bathed in darkness. 

She nodded once, sweeping the covers off of her bare body and coming to her feet in one swift movement.  Rifling through her bag, she pulled out clothes that would help her blend with the dark surroundings, donning them with haste whilst the vampire paced back and forth, restless energy permeating from his lean frame. 

Once she was finished and had settled her jacket around her shoulders, she glanced over towards her partner and couldn’t suppress the slight smile that graced her pale features.  He paused in his pacing, sensing her regard, and turned enquiring eyes towards her, his scarred brow raising in silent query.  Buffy just shook her head at the gesture, and surprised at herself as a slight chuckle burst past her lips. 

Spike cocked his head to the side and watched the Slayer laugh, couldn’t prevent his own answering grin from forming. 

“Ready, pet?” 

“Yep.  Time to pay the Council a visit.” 

The two slipped out of their room and into the night, taking a roundabout route to the Council’s headquarters – backtracking often – to prevent from being followed.  Once assured that there was no possible way someone could be tailing them, they closed in on the building and waited. 

Slayer and vampire settled in to wait until the lull in activity consumed the building.  A stillness came over them as they regarded their ultimate objective – neither moving nothing more than their eyes as they constantly scanned the perimeter, their senses attuned to anything out of the ordinary. 

Finally, all lay quiet and Buffy signaled to Spike that it was time.  A slight nod in response, and the two rose to cross swiftly to the tall wall surrounding the building.  Spike turned so that his back was to the wall, legs braced apart as he bent at the knees.  He cupped his hands and at a nod to the Slayer, she ran towards him, jumping at the last moment so that one of her feet landed into his joined hands, enabling him to easily vault her over the wall. 

His head lifted and he watched as she sailed through the air, arms and legs outstretched like she were flying, before she tucked herself into a ball to land on the other side.  He heard the soft sound she made as she landed and waited for her to announce that it was safe for him to join her.   

Her whispered assent floated back towards him, and he took about ten steps away from the wall before running and easily hurtling himself over the top.  Landing on his feet in a crouched position, unmoving but for his head as his amber gaze searched all around him. Ears attuned for any disturbance on the air, a sign that someone had noticed their presence. He glanced briefly at the Slayer assuring himself that she was all right after her acrobatic stunt as she slipped from the shadows and came to stand beside him. 

He rose to his feet by her side and by unspoken command the two raced towards the building using the numerous trees as cover.  Finally gaining the side of the building, they pressed their backs up against the wall and waited.  Again, his preternatural hearing didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary, and he motioned for the Slayer to start making her way towards the front door.   

They crept along in silence, weaving in and out of the shrubbery as they avoided the numerous windows that dotted the building.  All too soon they were at the front door, and they stilled once more to see if anyone or anything seemed to notice their presence. 

After about ten minutes of silence, Buffy signaled for Spike to wait and she stepped in front of the door and tried the knob.  Naturally, it was locked, but the Slayer spared no time employing her strength to twist the handle off into her hands, thus gaining herself entry to the building.  She pushed the door open and breathed a silent sigh that the door hinges were well oiled and quiet.   

She felt Spike step up behind her and took two steps over the threshold and waited.  No alarms sounded and Buffy was left to wonder why the Council seemed to leave their sacred headquarters so unguarded.  Motioning for the vampire to follow her, she started walking down the long, narrow hallway. 

Spike took a step and slammed into the invisible barrier guarding the building.  Now he knew why there were no guards.  They’d employed an invite spell, something that he couldn’t get around. 

“Bloody hell!  Slayer,” he hissed quietly.  His hand appeared to rest against the open doorway as he tried to call her back to him. 

Buffy glanced over her shoulder and nearly groaned with frustration.  She hurried back to him, watching as he pushed against the barrier to show her that he was locked out. 

“Shit! Now what are we supposed to do?  I have no idea what I’m looking for…” she complained to the blond-headed vampire. 

“Dunno, pet,” he replied as he once more tried in vain to get past the barrier. 

“Damn, it’s not like I can say ‘come in, Spike’ and have… you…” her voice trailed off as said vampire sprawled out on the floor in front of her having suddenly lost his means of support.  She bit her bottom lip to suppress the bubble of laughter working its way up her throat as the vision of him windmilling his arms as he lost his balance played out in front of her.   

Cussing a blue streak under his breath, Spike swiftly gained his feet, giving her a sinister look that promised all kinds of retribution once they were gone from this place.  Her eyes widened innocently, teeth still firmly latched onto her bottom lip, but her eyes sparkled with unshed mirth, something the vampire noticed right off.   

His eyes narrowed on her with a mock scowl and muttered a gruff, “Come on, Slayer.” 

Stealthily, the Slayer and vampire made their way around the first floor, quickly deciding that the library must be on one of the upper levels – there were nothing but offices on the first, and unimportant ones at that. 

They double backed to the staircase near the front door and silently slipped up the carpeted steps.  At the top, the two split up to cover more ground, one going left while the other went in the opposite direction.  Halfway down the hallway, Buffy hit the jackpot.  Opening the door, she noticed all four walls were lined with shelves, groaning under the weight of the numerous books of indiscriminate age. There were even bookshelves stacked back to back forming several aisles on the far side of the room. A huge conference table was situated a few feet inside the door, probably a place for research. 

She leaned back out of the room and gave a low whistle, just loud enough for the vampire to hear and come towards her.  Then, she slipped inside the room to gape at the mass amounts of books, dreading with a passion the coming task.   

‘Giles would be right at home here.’ 

The thought brought a wistful smile to her features.  She felt a movement behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Spike slip through the door and softly close it behind him.  Buffy glanced at a small set of drawers off to the side and she walked over and opened one. 

“Oh, look. They even catalogued it for us.  How nice.”  Her soft voice was saccharinely sweet.  She heard the vampire snort as he neared. 

She shut the drawer, and opened the first one, marked “A,” maybe for assassins.  Opening it, she turned to Spike and told him about what Giles had said regarding the order. 

“Look under ‘K’ for King Solomon.  I remember that’s what he said the order dated back to.  Then, we can try the ‘O’ and ‘T’ for  index files and see if they have anything under Order and Taraka,” Buffy told him.  “And if you can think of anything else...”  

The two worked quickly, accumulating a small pile of books for them to go through once they finished gathering what they thought might be helpful – a prospect Buffy loathed with every fiber of her being.  But, with a worthy cause, she figured she could turn into a bookworm for a few days. 

When they were finally finished, a stack of nearly twenty books sat on the table.  Rather than read them there, the two quickly split the pile in half and gathered the dusty tomes in their arms.  As silently as they arrived, the two disappeared into the night. 

Getting the books over the wall appeared to be a problem until Spike placed the books on the ground and shrugged out of his duster so that he could use it to fold the books inside.  Using the sleeves, he secured the edges and lightly tossed the books over the wall. Buffy, seeing his intent, quickly followed suit, and a second thud was heard moments after the first. 

Spike turned towards the Slayer, clasping his hands to form a step so that he could help the Slayer back over the wall.  Buffy stepped towards him, bracing her hands on his shoulders momentarily before vaulting in the air and landing on the opposite site.  She’d no sooner grabbed her jacket filled with books that Spike landed beside her and bent over to pick up his own duster. 

Glancing around to make sure they weren’t noticed, or followed, the two disappeared into the night, again using an alternate route to gain their motel. 

Upon reentering their temporary living quarters, Spike advised her that they should pack up and move to a new location – two nights in the same place was just inviting trouble and they needed someplace away from the fast-paced district they were in to do their research.  Buffy agreed, and thirty minutes later they’d gathered their things and left the motel without a backward glance.

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