Car Trouble 12
Belize, Release Me………
Pairing Buffy and Spike
Rating NC17
Disclaimer – We own nothing and nobody mentioned in this fic, it’s just for fun
Chapter 1
Spike pulled into the nearest parking bay in the underground lot of Wolfram and
Hart, he and his wife got out of the car…
“Tell me pet, just what are we doing here anyway? – This is getting to be a
regular occurrence now, and quite frankly, I’m getting sick of it…why can he and
his little bunch of friends cope?”
Buffy shrugged and said,
“I don’t know…it’s not as if we haven’t enough to do in Sunnydale…but Giles just
asked me, said he wanted us here, so…” she shrugged
“I suppose he’s going to rant about that bloody tape” Spike said, pointing his
key fob at the car. The central locking system engaged with a quiet clunk and
they made their way to the lift.
“Take no notice, you don’t know anything about it, you can’t tell him what you
don’t know, now can you?” Buffy reasoned, Spike just shrugged.
“I know Pet, I know, it’s just that he’s NEVER going to believe in a million
years that I had nothing to do with him being in that state. Come on, hurry up!”
Spike pressed for the lift and grouched at it impatiently.
They stepped in and pressed for the top floor. It stopped on the second and two
people got in. Well one person, a tallish guy with black hair, and a tall
thickset green demon with red horns, who pressed for the fourth floor.
“So, did you see the boss’ tape then, Lorne?” The guy with the black hair asked
the demon (Buffy and Spike exchanged a look, but said nothing)
“I did Sweet-cheeks, I ordered my copy from Harmony two days ago – I’m just
going to see her now, I hope it’s ready…well this is me, bye then!” the demon
got out of the lift, and they carried on up. The guy with the black hair got out
at the sixth floor.
Angel’s office, Wolfram and Hart, 10.30am
Angel was angry. Furious in fact, Raging. The fact that he’d ranted on for the
last ten minutes proved that. Not that either Buffy or Spike were actually
listening to him droning on. In fact at first, they’d both found it quite hard
to keep a straight face – they had to press lips together, and look everywhere
other than Angel, the offending tape on the desk in front of them, or even each
other!
“…My standing in this community, my, my kudos, my credibility, my prestige –
gone – out the window! Do you realise what you’ve done? – I’m a laughing stock!
My friends, colleagues, clients – EVERYBODY seems to know about it!” Angel said
angrily thumping the desk.
Spike looked impassively at his wife, and then turned to Angel and said,
“Have you finished?”
“Spike, I am NOT in the mood for your smart
mouth and-“
“Carry on…just let me know when you finished wittering on – then I’ll have my
say” Spike sat back in his chair looking bored, he yawned, Buffy scrutinised her
nails, biting at a snag of loose skin on one of her fingers.
Angel got up and came towards Spike in a menacing fashion, Spike didn’t move,
but Buffy jumped up and put herself between her husband and the angry vamp
“Hey – don’t even THINK it Angel, now just you calm down”
“Calm down – huh, calm down she says, have you even LISTENED to a word I said?”
Buffy folded her arms across her chest and said witheringly
“Truthfully – not a lot, no”
Angel turned away in disgust from her, saying
“You used to be such a sweet, honest girl, and now…we’ll he’s dragged you down
to-“
“IF YOU’VE QUITE FINISHED!” Buffy said angrily, and Angel went over to the
window and looked out, with a petulant look on his face.
“Despite what you might think Angel, Spike had nothing to do with you being
involved in, in well, THAT!” Buffy pointed to the offending video cassette
“And I’m expected to believe that, am I?” Angel asked, glancing at her for a
split second
“Why not, it’s the truth!”
“You wouldn’t know the truth if it jumped up and bit you in the ass”
“Listen Peaches, I don’t honestly give a rats arse what you think of me, but
I’ll say this, I don’t, never shall and never have, kept a load of female gear
in your size to dress you up IF and when the opportunity ever presented itself,
understand?”
Putting it like that made Angel look at him and blink – the idea DID sound
preposterous.
“Yeah, and don’t you think that I‘d know about it, hmm – I mean a leather mini,
and boob tube in THAT size, a curly blonde wig, not to mention the fishnets and
stiletto heeled shoes – Spike IS my husband, he does live with me you know
–where would he hide it?!” Buffy added
Angel closed his eyes with embarrassment, dying a thousand deaths over what he
was filmed wearing…he turned and in a rather defeated manner he said,
“But…” Spike cut him short and said,
“But NOTHING – you just want to believe the worst in me, well that’s nothing
new, but hey, NEWSFLASH – how about ME going mad – hmm? Thought about it from MY
point of view – no, I don’t suppose for one split second you’ve even given me or
my side of things a thought, have you – you selfish bastard – with you, it’s
numero uno priority, you bloody first, middle and last!” Spike leaned forward in
his chair, and stabbed the air towards Angel angrily, and said
“For your information, I was at my wits end, out of my mind with worry over my
wife, something had rendered her unconscious, and nobody knew what was causing
it – so, I call you for help, and all you can think about is drinking and
getting your jollies while I’m doing everything I can to get to the bottom of
the mystery – while you prat about looking like a $10 hooker and let Razor and
his cronies get to the bottom of you!”
“I couldn’t help it! It wasn’t my fault – I was drunk – or drugged or whatever
caused it now!”
“Oh I see, YOU couldn’t help it, but I could – wasn’t YOUR fault, but it was
MINE – okay fine - well that figures, nothing is EVER YOUR bleedin’ fault is it
Peaches, always has to be some other poor sucker who gets the blame – well I
ain’t being your patsy this time, look around for someone else to blame. I know
what it is, you’re just sore because somebody’s making a packet out of selling
copies, and they haven’t cut you in!”
Spike said with as much conviction as he could muster…inwardly he was turning
cartwheels of joy, never, EVER had anything gone so spectacularly well for him
against his grandsire, and probably never would again, so he was determined to
enjoy it and wring every last ounce of discomfort out of Angel he could………
“Copies – what do – oh god…oh please god NO!” Angel covered his face with his
hands and lowered his head with shame.
“Ahem…I have the briefing documents we need here, shall we go into the
conference room and start?”
Suddenly all eyes were on Wesley – he’d been standing by the door and nobody had
seen him or heard him enter the office until he spoke up
“Right” Buffy and Spike stood and followed Wesley out into the corridor and down
to the conference room he mentioned. Already seated in there were Giles, Gunn,
and Cordelia.
Angel closed the door behind him. He’d just taken his seat, when Harmony knocked
on the door and entered without waiting for a reply.
“Angel, he’s here” Harmony could barely look at her boss these days without
wanting to giggle…Angel narrowed his eyes slightly at her, if he thought for one
moment that it was her making copies………
“Right, show him in, will you please, and um, get some coffee sorted for us”
Harmony left.
Spike was bored already. He wanted to kickback his chair, put his feet up on the
desk, teetering on the back two legs of his seat and light a cigarette…but of
course he couldn’t…could he? He was just having second thoughts about doing just
that, when the door opened, and somebody, came into the room
Buffy glanced up, rolled her eyes and sighed.
Chapter 2
“Sit down Riley…I believe you know everybody here, is that correct?” Giles
asked, and Riley glanced around the assembled people and nodded his head.
“Good, we’ll get on then, if you’d like to tell us your problem”
“Well, five days ago, an eight-man unit of mine, part of a team of 24 went
missing in the wilds of Belize…we haven’t heard of them since, we’ve had two
search and rescue parties looking round the clock, but all they found was their
equipment and radio
The last radio message we received from them told us they’d come across a pile
of stones, they had on them ancient symbols…they were tired, decided to set up
camp nearby, a couple of the guys sat on the stones and said they could feel
something strange, like a vibration, we don’t exactly know what happened after
that………”
“Couldn’t leave well alone, could they, fuckin’ idiots” Spike said angrily
“Spike!” Giles chastised, and Spike rounded on the watcher
The blonde vamp folded his arms; he couldn’t understand why this needed a
slayer…
“What? Come on, watcher – what – suddenly I’m not allowed an opinion now? (Spike
stood and angrily pointed towards Riley, but he was looking at Giles as he said
his piece) His bunch of wankers stride in the gods know where, somewhere they’re
not bleeding well wanted, do something they shouldn’t – and for all their
hi-tech weaponry, sophisticated satellite-navigational equipment, not to mention
the thousands of dollars worth of survival training they’ve had, he has to come
here, tail between his legs, and expects my Mrs, that’s MY wife, to go and
rescue them – and I’m not allowed to have an opinion, hmm? - Have I got that
right?”
Everybody was silent, they looked at the table or their hands, anywhere but each
other, because, well because…Spike had a really good valid point.
“I’m, I’m sorry, I didn’t know who else to turn to – if she doesn’t want
………well, I understand” Riley trailed off.
“Hold your horses – it’s not a case of does or doesn’t want to, before any
decisions are made, we better try and ascertain what this thing was that those
wankers touched – if it IS slayer business at all, it could be an old burial
mound, and the locals have got miffed at their dead being disturbed - some are
tribes like that – then again, it could even be something ET for all we know”
Spike said
“ET?” Giles looked up with one eyebrow cocked
“Well, why not – nothing would surprise me in this day and age” Spike said
sitting down, and taking Buffy’s hand.
Buffy smiled and squeezed, her small hand enveloped tightly around his.
“Where is Belize anyway?” Buffy asked. Before anybody could speak, Spike said,
“Central America pet, used to be known as British Honduras – it’s mostly jungle,
rain forest – totally under-developed. It’s to the east of Guatemala; well,
they’ve claimed it anyway. It was nearly wiped off the map Hallowe’en, 1961 by a
hurricane”
There were a few surprised faces at Spike’s (correct) knowledge.
“Believe me Spike…we’ve tried EVERYTHING we have to contact them – their radio
is still transmitting, it’s just they’re not answering”
“So why haven’t ‘International Rescue’ been called out then, if you now the
location they went missing?”
“The others…the 16 that were left – they were in two groups of eight, they were
less than three kilometres away either side of the missing group, they were at
the lost patrol’s co-ordinations in less than two hours, but they found nothing,
but the stones, and um…well – they…they heard a terrific noise, a, a roaring –
they said it was like nothing they’d ever heard before…”
“Roaring? – What like water – a waterfall, an animal, what?”
Riley shrugged his shoulders and said
“Animal I guess”
“You guess, huh – and that’s supposed to be good enough is it?”
“Well, you’ll be able to hear for yourself on the tape I’ve got”
“Spike please, will you sit down, we need to try and work things out rationally”
Giles pleaded
“Look – all I’m trying to do here, is to get as much information as I can – this
is not the sort of thing we can look up in the Watcher diaries or the Ars
Daemonicus is it – well not yet it isn’t…I could be ANYTHING, and right at this
moment, I’m still not convinced it’s slayer business at all” Spike said
“I’LL be the judge of that!” Giles said, with an edge to his voice
Spike looked thoughtful for a few moments and then asked,
“What about the locals, you know, the inhabitants of the island, have you spoken
to any of them?”
Riley looked slightly pained, and shook his head and said,
“We tried…when we could find somebody that was – but they just shout
un-intelligibly and brandish weapons at us”
“Why am I not surprised – they’ve probably got to sacrifice a virgin, or offer
up their first-born to ‘placate the hell-beast’, thanks to your lot” Spike
muttered
“You don’t know that, Spike” Giles said testily
“No, I don’t, and neither do you, so come on the Rupes, how are you going to
ascertain if this is slayer business, or what – I don’t want my beautiful Buffy
in any more danger than is necessary” Spike felt Buffy’s hand squeeze his
briefly, and he smiled at her.
“I have to say – I agree with Spike, after all, he’s only looking out for his
wife’s safety!” Gunn whispered to Wesley.
“Shall we start by looking at these symbols on the stones, see if we can look
something up?” Giles asked
“Um…I er, I don’t have any pictures…just descriptions from the transcripts of
the radio messages we received” Riley said quietly
Giles and Wesley looked at each other, they could begin to feel a little as
Spike did – they were beginning to wonder if this was a good idea after all…
“You’ll have to sign these documents, this is classified material you’re going
to hear” Riley place official secrets act papers out for them to sign
Rolling their eyes, everybody signed the forms, and Riley took out a small tape
recorder and set it up on one of the desks and pressed ‘play’………
“……………761Victor-Charlie unit to 224 alpha tango base leader, come in please”
“Come in Victor-Charlie, this is base leader, over”
“Yeah you guys…we’ve come across something weird, over”
“Repeat, Victor-Charlie, did you say weird, come back?”
“Affirmative base…big pile of old black stones…smooth, oval – got like stuff
carved on them, over”
“Victor-Charlie stay in your position while I get instructions from the
commanding officer, over”
There was a two-minute pause in the transmission, so Riley explained, then it
continued thus:
“This is 224 alpha tango base leader to 761 Victor-Charlie, come in
Victor-Charlie, over”
“761 to base over, we’re here – these symbols are weird – there’s one like a
capital ‘A’, but the bar across the middle sticks out a bit either side…then
there’s a circle, with rays shooting out, but only the top half of the
circle…three wavy lines underneath each other…there’s a triangle with an eye
shape in the middle of it…over”
“761 you were told not to touch the stones, HQ said to ignore them, most likely
a burial mound. We are setting up camp for the night, please set sat-nav
co-ordinates to 2degrees 27 minutes south by south west, and 30 degrees 3
minutes north by north east – message ends 18 hundred hours – goodnight
Victor-Charlie – remember, no fucking about now, this is alpha tango base leader
closing communication, over and out”
“Roger there alpha tango – co-ordinates set – sweet dreams y’all, over and out”
Riley reached over and stopped the tape
“Is that it?” Wesley asked, he looked at what he’d written down, he’d actually
drawn what had been described.
“There was this roughly 53 minutes later” Riley switched on the tape again
(Very urgent, panicky voice)
“761 Victor-Charlie to 224 alpha-tango base leader over, come in base – oh god
for fuck’s sake come in please………(in the background incoherent shouting and
screams could be heard, pistol shots, then a roaring, like a lion very close to
the microphone)
“224 alpha-
“Never mind that – help us, oh god you’ve got to help us, the stones began to
vibrate – Hudson and Forrest were sitting on them, two fell off the top of the
pile – oh god, oh fuck, no – Hudson, HUDSON, come away from – no, oh no please
god…ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrggggggghhhh guh, no, NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO………”
A huge echoing roar was all that could be heard after that, then silence
Again Riley switched off the tape and said,
“That’s all we’ve got, just jungle noises after that, and ever since”
Wesley and Giles began to talk…
“Quite frankly, I’m not convinced this IS slayer business” Wesley said
“Well…let’s see if we can dig up anything on these symbols you’ve drawn, then
decide” Giles said, tapping Wesley’s notebook with his pen, and Wesley agreed.
Giles cleared his throat and said
“Riley, we’ve, that is Wesley and myself have decided to see if we can dig up
anything on these symbols – and then we’ll decide if this is slayer business,
meanwhile, Buffy and the rest of you, see what you can dig up on Central
American legends, mythical beasts, what have you”
“Excuse me………Riley is it?” Cordelia spoke up
“Yes?”
“Have you got anything from the jungle – anything that’s from the locale to
where this happened, I might be able to get something from it”
“Sorry, get something?” Riley asked puzzled
“The vibrations, I can tune in, I have visions” Cordelia said. Spike and Buffy
gave each other a ‘look’ and tried not to grin
“You’ll probably find that’s too much Californian chardonnay pet!” Spike
quipped, and Angel gave Spike a murderous look, and started angrily,
“I’ll have you know that Cordy-“
“Angel – it’s okay, they don’t know what’s happened” Cordelia put a soothing
hand on Angel’s arm, and then she turned towards Buffy and Spike.
“A member of our team, he was an empath, he had visions, sadly he’s passed away,
but not before he passed his gift onto me”
“Oh. Well sorry pet, I didn’t know – last time we met you were trying to help
Peaches here cheat at rally racing, if my memory serves me correct”
Cordelia smiled and said serenely,
“That’s okay! Now, Riley, anything from the jungle?”
Riley began to pat his pockets…
“Well, there’s a turn up for the books! – who’d a thunk it – little Miss
Cheerleader being of some use after all!” Spike whispered to Buffy, who smiled
and raised her brows.
Chapter 3
“That one there, that’s Knight’s Templar, Freemasons and all that” Giles said,
tapping the triangle with the eye shape in the middle
“Probably just the way I drew it, but that’s what the tape said, triangle with
an eye shape in the middle………to be truthful Giles, I really don’t think that
this is slay-“
“Giles, Wes, come quick!” Gunn came racing into Wesley’s small office, and left
just as quickly. The two watchers raced down the corridor and into the
conference room they’d vacated not half an hour previously.
They got there to see Cordelia sitting, looking very disorientated, sipping a
glass of water, insisting that she was ‘fine now, and don’t fuss’………
“What, what is it, what happened?”
“I gave Cordelia this, she wanted something that actually came from the jungle –
see that, what’s holding the strap onto the case, (he pointed out the Bowie
knife-case) that’s some jungle vine I wound around it so I wouldn’t loose it
when it broke – anyway, she’s had some sort of vision” Riley explained
Giles turned to look at Cordelia, Wesley was squatting down in front of her, her
face in his hands, checking her eyes
“Are you alright Cordy?”
“Yeah, sure…wow, that was powerful”
“What did you see?”
“Nothing definite…it’s big, whatever it is, it’s huge”
“Like an elephant?” Giles ventured
Cordelia took another sip of water and shook her head
“No, much bigger, like um…like a truck, yeah, like a huge big tru – dinosaur!
That’s it! Like one of those um…big ones, with the long neck and the fat body…if
somebody can get me a book of dinosaurs or something………then again, I saw
smoke…could be a dragon!!”
***********************
Spike was lying on the bed, hands clasped behind his head, supposedly
researching. Buffy was reading, when the knock came
Buffy opened the door and Gunn said,
“Hi, sorry to interrupt you, but um, well, there’s been a development”
*****************
“That’s it, a dragon, or a dinosaur?” Spike asked, not managing to keep the
sarcasm out of his voice
“That’s what the lady said” Angel said smiling as he leaned against the desk
looking fondly at Cordelia
“Well *I* think I was right first time round…too much of the old throat gargle,
dinosaur indeed!” Spike mimed a drinking action to Buffy, who smirked.
Angel stood up straight and said indignantly,
“I’ll have you know my Cordy hasn’t been wrong ever before!”
“And I’M saying, there’s always a first time!” Spike said
“I’d have thought that you of all people would be able to put aside any
prejudices you have and-“
Giles and Wesley strode into the conference room and announced
“Buffy – you’ll leave for Guatemala tonight, from there you’ll be taken under
military escort to Belmopan, that’s the capital of Belize, you’ll do three days
survival training and then you’ll go out into the jungle and do what you do best
– kill the monster”
“Whoa, hey slow down there a minute…I don’t think there’s been enough research
done yet!” Spike said, with a huge frown on his face.
“Time is of the essence here, by the time Buffy gets there, those men will
already have been missing for nearly nine days”
“And she’s walking into WHAT – She’s not equipped, hell Giles I’ve said this
earlier, if the Initiative can’t find them, with all their training and
equipment, how the hell do expect Buffy – “
“The decision has been made – Buffy please be ready by 6pm, you can sleep on the
plane”
“I’m coming with you babe”
“Spike, this is a covert government operation, you-“
Spike could feel his anger welling up, but he tried to keep calm, he said
quietly,
“I am not prepared to let my wife go on her own, *I* am GOING with her whether
you like it or not”
“Actually Spike, that will be fine, I was thinking we should all go” Wesley said
“ALL, but what…okay, okay – seems like you got your wish” Giles turned and left
“Thanks Wes, now if you don’t mind, I need to um…be with my husband”
“Sure, right, see you later” Wesley left and Buffy shut the door. For some
reason, Spike thought that Buffy was annoyed with him, but nothing could have
been further from the truth…
*************
Buffy slid her arms around Spike’s neck; his automatically went round her waist.
“Never had to kill a dinosaur before”
“And you shouldn’t have to now pet, honestly – I don’t know what the hell Giles
is thinking”
“At least he’s coming with us”
“You think that’ll be a help?”
“No, but at least he’ll be as hot and uncomfortable as the rest of us will be”
“Oh stop, I can just picture him now, knotted hankie on his head, trousers
rolled up to half mast with a fly whisk in his hand, doing a ‘aah, Dr
Livingston, I presume’ bit!” Spike said, then he lowered his head and dropped a
soft kiss on her hair.
Buffy raised her head, sought his mouth and they began to kiss with mounting
passion.
Suddenly the door opened and Gunn walked in, saw them and apologised
“Oh um, sorry – sorry! Forgot my um…” he reached for his cell phone off one of
the desks and held it up, and left.
“How long have we got before we go?”
Spike shot back his cuff, looked at his watch and said,
“It’s just midday now, so six hours”
Buffy let her arms slip and she caught his hand
“Come on, let’s go find Angel’s room!”
As they walked down the corridor towards Angel’s room, they could hear raised
voices, one male, and one female, they slowed their pace and listened………
“……………I AM, and that’s an end to it!”
“NO, you’re NOT, I forbid it!”
“Look Angel, I don’t know when you suddenly decided that you’re the boss of me,
but-“
“But I AM your boss!”
“You know what I mean! Work’s different!”
“This isn’t work!”
“It is!”
“It isn’t!”
“I had a vision – “
“Okay then, you had a vision, but indirectly, and as your boss, I’m telling you,
you’re not going out to Belize! You’ll HATE it – it’ll ruin your hair! And your
nails – there’s insects and snakes, spiders big as dinner plates, all manner of
nasty creepy-crawlies, look Cordy, I don’t want that for you!”
“Angel………I thought, well HOPED you’d noticed that I’d changed. These visions,
they’ve given me a sense of responsibility now. I’m not so superficial anymore –
and I might be able to help”
“Fine, go if you want then, but don’t come running to me if you wind up getting
hurt – or worse, dead!” Angel yanked the door open and saw Buffy, then Spike,
ignored them both and strode off down the corridor.
Buffy went to the door and said,
“Um, knock, knock – can I – we come in?”
“Oh hi Buffy, sure come on in”
They went in and closed the door behind them.
“Did you hear that? – Angel’s mad because I’m coming with you”
She folded something and put it in a little vanity case
“He’s only thinking of your safety, pet” Spike said, and both girls gave the
vampire a wry smile at him defending Angel.
“Like you was only thinking of Buffy’s safety! I could be of use!”
“Cordelia…pet, don’t get me wrong when I say this, but have you ever seen one of
those movies, where there’s a young woman, totally out of her depth? You know
the one, the one who when she tries to run away from the baddie she trips and
twists her ankle, the one who screams at the first sight of a snake or
creepy-crawly, the one who falls into a raging torrent of water and can’t
swim…we won’t have the time or the man-power to carry anybody – do you get my
drift?”
“Sure I do, but I didn’t say I was going to trek through the jungle, all I said
was I might be able to help with the visions – once I’m there, I might get a
clearer picture of this beast – I can be back at base and relay stuff to you”
She reached for a pot of moisturiser that was on the side, tucked it in her case
and closed it.
“There – that’s me packed. I’m going down to the lounge, I’ll see you later”
“That WAS Cordy, wasn’t it?” Spike asked, incredulously
“I was wondering that!”
“Lock the door pet…we don’t want any more interruptions…” Spike stood and began
to shed his clothes…
Chapter 4
“So, they really ARE married then – I know when he was going on earlier he said
something about ‘my Mrs, that’s my wife’ – but I thought he was talking
figuratively………married but how I mean, it’s impossible, he’s a vampire!”
Angel shrugged, refilled his coffee cup from the Cona machine
“Do you know Xander – idiot boy that used to knock around with them all in
Sunnydale?”
“Vaguely, why?”
“It was supposed to have been his wedding, he was going to marry some ex
vengeance demon – they all went to Las Vegas for the do, but somehow, don’t ask
me how, Buffy and Spike ended up getting married – had once-in-a-lifetime’s
honeymoon to Hawaii. Anya, the ex demon due to marry Xander, she tried to sue
them, said it was her honeymoon, she used us as her lawyers – but she didn’t
have a leg to stand on legally so…I was um, I was sorry to hear about you and
Sam”
“WHAT?”
“You and Sam, splitting up – I’d have thought what with you both being in the
military, it would have made for more understanding”
“How in the hell did you know about Sam and I?”
“She told us – well she told Buffy – we had some problems out in the Nevada
desert some months ago – with your lot again, I’m surprised you didn’t know”
“My lot? – the Initiative?”
Angel sipped his coffee, nodded and said,
“Uh huh”
“When exactly was this – what was the trouble?”
“Um…let me see…” Angel opened his leather-bound diary and flicked back the
pages.
“Ah, here we are…um, mid summer ‘bout nearly four months ago”
“The lying little…” Riley started, then he shut up, but asked Angel
“So what was this trouble then?”
Angel began to feel very uncomfortable, like he was telling tales out of school,
so he was very grateful when Cordelia knocked and entered the office.
“Angel, Wesley said will you please contact the airport and clear security for
the plane, he hasn’t got authority to do it, only you”
“Oh, right, sorry, I’ll get right on it” He picked up his phone and pressed a
series of numbers
“Riley, Giles said would you come and advise as to what equipment might be
needed?”
“What now – oh um, right, sure (he drained his coffee cup and put it on the
table) – later then Angel” Riley raised his hand to Angel, who acknowledged him
with a nod and a thumbs up as he was busy on the phone.
*******************
Buffy yawned and stretched
“What’s the time?”
Spike raised his arm and said,
“Nearly half four…so, ready to –“ He made to lie over her again, but Buffy
stayed his shoulder
“Nope, come on, I want to shower – we haven’t got long until we go”
“We’ve got bags of time yet! They said 6’oclock”
“LEAVE at six, that means the plane takes off, we’ve got to get to the plane
yet!”
Spike leaned down and kissed her nose
“Don’t think I’m done with you yet, Missy………”
Buffy smiled and pulled him into a tight hug. It always made him feel extra good
when it was she who initiated any little loving gesture, when she kissed him or
hugged him first.
“Counting on it. Spike.”
He looked down at her
“Pet?”
“This thing, this, this dragon or dinosaur or whatever it is”
“What about it kitten?”
Spike stroked an errant strand of hair out of her eyes
“We will be able to kill it, won’t we?”
“Well kitten, I’m hoping we don’t have to”
“No?” Buffy sat up and hugged her legs, resting her chin on her knees
“No – I’m hoping that Cordy does her all seeing eye thing and then that
pasty-faced, Iowa white-bread, over-grown hall monitor and his little chums can
blow it to kingdom come – which is what they should do without you having to go
there in the first place”
They both looked at the door handle, that was being rapidly rattled, and then
there was a loud banging on the door
“Come on – I need to pack, this is MY room after all!”
After Buffy had quickly slid into the bathroom, Spike got up off the bed, and
answered the door, naked.
Angel rolled his eyes but made sure he kept them averted.
“Who said you were coming?” Spike asked, lighting a cigarette
“If Cordelia’s going, then so am I, I’d have thought YOU of all people could –“
“All right, all right, don’t get your knickers in a bunch!”
“Get dressed – Buffy in the shower is she?” Angel asked. Spike rolled his eyes,
you could plainly hear the shower running, and as Buffy wasn’t in the bedroom,
it was a total no-brainer of a question.
The shower eventually stopped, and after a minute or two, Buffy called
“Spike, bring me my clothes please?”
“Sure pet, stand behind the door” Spike opened the door just wide enough to hand
her her clothes.
Angel resisted the temptation to say, ‘Don’t worry Spike, it’s nothing I haven’t
seen before’ – he wanted a quiet time before the flight because, despite his
immortality, Angel hated flying.
Just as Buffy emerged from the bathroom, there was a knock at the door, and
Angel opened it.
“Hi, we’re all ready and will wait in reception, we have a take-off slot at
6.04pm”
“Thanks Wes, we’ll be right down”
*************************
Spike seemed agitated and edgy, he kept on craning his neck towards the cockpit
– then suddenly what he’d been waiting for flashed up -
The red light turned to green, and everybody could undo their lap-belts, Spike
was one of the first.
He grinned and touched Buffy’s arm, she’d been looking down on the clouds below,
thinking how much like cotton wool they looked…
“Babe, come with me”
“Huh? – Okay, where are we going?” she undid her belt and stood, leaning against
the back of her seat
“You’ll see!”
She frowned slightly, but followed him all the same
Spike strode purposefully towards the back of the plane.
“Spike where are we-“
“Quick, get in there!”
Buffy again frowned, but walked into the tiny toilet, Spike followed, and with
slight difficulty, just about managed to close the door and slide the bolt to
‘engaged’
“Spike what are…oh!”
“Ever heard of the ‘Mile-High’ Club?” Buffy could feel cool fingers tugging at
her panties, and she went big-eyed and said hoarsely,
“Spike! We can’t, not in here, there’s no room – everybody will know – they’ll
hear us,!”
But Spike had already removed her thong, unzipped himself and then he lifted her
up and sat her on the tiny hand-basin
“They won’t if you keep it down pet!”
Lining himself up, Spike slid into her hot depths, and Buffy closed her eyes,
and bit her bottom lip and she banged her head against the mirror.
“OW- Oooh!”
“Shush kitten!”
“Hmmmnph!”
Spike pulled her hips forward until she slid down onto him fully, he felt her
nails digging into his shoulders and she had a sharp intake of breath, her neck
arched and he couldn’t resist nibbling over his claim scar – this always got her
hot, and Spike could feel her internal muscles tighten around him. There wasn’t
any room to thrust, but thanks to gravity that wasn’t a problem!
Suddenly, hitting a spot of turbulence, the plane dropped slightly, and then
rose again back to the right altitude, making it feel like they were on a roller
coaster – it did this several times, and Spike had to brace his shoulder against
the door frame to stop from sliding to the side. All the extra movement the
plane was doing quickly bought them both to orgasm, and Buffy buried her head in
Spike’s neck and bit him, making him push hard inside her making her come a
second time.
He felt her relax, and she put her hand down to the basin to steady herself, but
she accidentally caught the press-down bar that served as a tap and a cold gush
of water filled the sink, making Buffy shriek with surprise as it soaked her
bottom.
There was a sharp rap on the door, and Angel could be heard saying
“What’s going on in there, as if I didn’t know – come on, out of there – oh!”
The plane dipped again, and they heard a loud thump outside the door, the rattle
of glasses and the clatter of something metallic hitting the floor.
“My ass is all wet!”
Spike leaned over and snagged out a wodge of tissues from the holder on the
wall.
“Here you go pet!”
Buffy wiped herself best she could, threw them into the toilet and flushed. She
knew there wasn’t room to slip her undies back on, she said to Spike,
“Ready!”
Spike opened the door to see Angel’s backside sticking up in the air, he was
trying to get up – it was obvious he’d fallen over and bumped into a drinks
trolley. He was picking up stuff off the floor, the toilet door bumped against
his foot.
“Well shift yourself then!” Spike said grinning – Buffy followed Spike out
holding his hand. Angel just glared at them
“You animal – do you ever leave her alone?” Angel said, but so quietly only he
heard.
Riley glanced at the pair as they passed him on their way back to their seats,
and that’s when Buffy felt slightly embarrassed. Luckily Giles was absorbed in a
book, Gunn was chatting to Cordelia and Wesley was asleep.
“Shall we recline the seats right back Kitten, we can get at least three hours
shut-eye”
“What- oh yeah. Okay, I am tired” She yawned and took the blanket Spike had
taken out of the overhead locker and unfurled it. She turned on her right side,
facing Spike, who covered not only himself but Buffy too with his blanket. She
snuggled up and they both went to sleep.
Chapter 5
“Baby…come on Kitten, wakey-wakey!” Spike leant over and whispered in her ear,
then kissed her cheek. Buffy woke, smiled and put her arms around his neck,
drawing him down for a kiss.
“’Fraid we’ve got to right the seats and put on our safety belts babe, we’re
coming into land”
Buffy frowned, suddenly remembering where she was. She snatched a quick kiss and
stretched, yawning.
Spike stood and folded the two blankets, whilst Buffy put the seats upright, and
then fixed her lap belt. She looked out of the window; it was pitch black except
for a line of lights illuminating the runway.
“OW! Oh – oh god, I HATE THIS – Ow!” Buffy shook her head slightly, pressing one
ear and trying to swallow to stop her ears popping.
They landed smoothly and soon came to a stop. Everybody unclipped their belts
and stood, gathering belongings together, mostly yawning. There was a loud
‘thump’ and the door behind the cockpit opened, and steps were fitted
“Captain Finn?” a guy in uniform said, entering the plane
“That’s me”
“I’ve been told to give you this sir, and to tell you that there are no
formalities, you can get straight into the waiting cars on the runway”
“Thankyou – okay people did you hear that – cars are waiting for us, just get in
one – our stuff will be taken on for us”
“Hope there’s something to eat when we get there, I’m starving!” Buffy said
yawning and shivering slightly as the cool night air permeated the plane.
Spike, Buffy, Gunn and Wesley got into the nearest blacked out car and it
quietly sped off. Ten minutes later they pulled up and the driver got out and
held open the door for them.
They walked into a low, single-storey building, where two women in military
uniform were waiting for them
“If you’d like to follow me, we have refreshments waiting for you, then you can
sleep”
“Oh great – I could eat a horse! – Hmm…I smell toasty cheese…I hope its pizza!”
Buffy salivated as she approached the servery hot plate, there was all sorts of
goodies on offer, pizza being one of them, she took a slice and bit into it
while waiting to be served with lasagne, fries and salad.
After everybody had arrived and had eaten their fill, they were shown to room
with two single beds in each.
“Which one do you want pet?”
“Same one as you, I’m not sleeping alone!”
Spike chuckled and they got undressed and got into bed, both wondering what this
little escapade would bring………………
******************
“………………And the golden rule is?” the sergeant asked holding his pointing stick at
both ends as he walked back and forth in front of the blackboard - everyone
assembled in the classroom dutifully replied with the mantra that had been
drilled into them since 8.30am that morning…
“Don’t bother it, and it won’t bother you”
“Good – right that takes care of the creepy-crawlies and the snakes – as it’s
11o’clock, we shall now break for coffee and resume at 11.15 – we shall show you
how to set up camp with tarps and material you find on the jungle floor”
“Can’t wait!” Spike muttered, standing and stretching
“What’s a tarp?” Buffy asked, making her way to the back of the room where
coffee and cookies had been laid out.
“Tarpaulin – it’s a waterproof sheet” Gunn said helpfully
Buffy sighed and said,
“I just want to get in there, get that beastie, and get out again…and there is
NO WAY on earth I’d eat one of those grub thingies – ew – I’d rather starve!”
“Hmm, I know what you mean, mind you, I did once eat half a tub of chocolate
covered ants until I found out what they were…” Gunn said, stirring his coffee
“EW! You didn’t!”
Gunn nodded and said,
“My brother, Audley bought them for me as a joke one time for my birthday…”
“Buffy, can I have a word please?” Riley came up to her, and Buffy glanced at
Spike, put her cup down on the table and followed him till they were out of
everybody’s earshot.
Spike watched casually, leaning against the table
“We want you to learn how to use this portable laser-gun we’ve developed, it
could be just the thing for killing this monster”
“But what about the bush-craft?”
“Don’t worry, as long as everybody else learns, they can make you a tent, this
is really important”
“Okay – When do you want me to come, after dinner?”
“No, now, after coffee”
“I’ll just go tell Spike” Riley nodded and left. Buffy came over to her husband
“Baby, they want me to learn how to use this weapon thingy they’ve got, so you
take extra care to see how to make me safe in my sleeping bag, okay – how to
keep the creepy-crawlies out”
“Will do pet – and um…well be careful babe” Buffy nodded, kissed him lightly and
left.
Giles came over to Spike and asked what was happening, and Spike told him
“Oh, they’ve decided to let her use it then…this thing is supposed to be
ultra-top secret”
“What thing?”
“Um, well, I’m not sure I should say”
Spike gave Giles a single raised eyebrow look, and Giles rolled his eyes and
said,
“All I know, it’s something to do with lasers – or rather a laser – hit the
monster in the right spot, and boom”
“But they don’t know what it is yet! So how in the hell can they know where to
bloody hit the thing?”
Giles went to reply, opened his mouth, thought about what Spike had just said
and frowned, closing his mouth, but then he said
“Ah…good point!”
Spike folded his arms disgustedly and said,
“Left hand doesn’t know what the bleedin’ right hands doing with this lot – I
honestly wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them – any of them”
**************
After walking down a series of corridors, with Riley having to stop and punch in
codes to get through the doors, they eventually arrived outside a door marked
‘Code A1 – Top Secret’ All staff to have A1 class clearance’ this time, Riley
entered a long code, and the door clicked open.
They walked to a desk with a soldier sitting behind it.
“Captain Riley Finn, this is Miss Summers, she has special classification
clearance, Major General Hank Franklin’s orders – here you are”
Riley handed the soldier the envelope that he had been given on the plane by the
soldier.
After checking it, the soldier allowed them through.
“We’ll have to put special overalls on – we’re going into a dust sensitive area”
After donning the smallest pair of overalls they could find, Riley had to help
rolling up the trouser leg bottoms and the arms
“This is Dr Alistair Munroe, he developed the stun-laser you’re going to use”
The Dr cast an eye over Buffy, and to be truthful, didn’t seem all that
impressed with the tiny blonde.
“I was expecting somebody bigger”
“Don’t worry about my size or strength, doctor – I’m very deceptive”
“Really – well it’s your accuracy at hitting a target that’s my main concern at
the moment”
“Dr Monroe, I can assure you that Buffy is, how shall we put it, more than
capable of-“
“Yes, yes, well, come along, let’s see, shall we?”
Various size targets were put on the walls, getting smaller and smaller,
representing the target getting further away the smaller it got.
Six targets were up, and the Dr said to Buffy, handing her a small pistol, you
need to get a bullseye in at least four of them before I’m satisfied you’ll be
able to use the weapon”
Buffy took the pistol, and closing one eye, she accurately put a bullet dead
centre of each target
The Dr looked surprised at first, then he smiled
“Very good! – Now stamina, I think-“
“Dr Monroe, we chose Miss Summers for this assignment because we know of her
capabilities, her strength and stamina are second to none”
Riley stated. The doctor looked at Riley for a few seconds, and then bowing his
head slightly, he acquiesced to the captain’s obvious superior knowledge.
The Doctor watched as the small feisty blonde picked up the shoulder launched
weapon like it was a pen, and not something that weighed in at 23lbs.
“Can I have a few practice-shots with it?”
“You may – but NOT in here I hasten to add, it would start a fire – come on
through to the weapons testing range”
They all walked down more corridors with more doors with codes to be punched in.
Ever the gentleman, Riley offered to carry the weapon for her, but Buffy
declined.
**************
Buffy had been shown how to set up the weapon, and fire it. She set it on the
ground, resting the shoulder-pad part on her collarbone.
“Right, I’m ready to fire” Buffy said, closing one eye, looking down the site.
“Hey, hold on, not so fast, we’ve got to do this for training purposes…won’t be
a few seconds
“Laser-Stun testing, 12th October – present Dr Alistair Munroe, Captain Riley
Parker and Miss Buffy Summers………”
Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes, waiting for riley to shut up. It suddenly went
quiet and Buffy perked up, renewing her focus on aligning the sight on the
laser.
“Okay, can I – “
“Don’t be so impatient, I’m looking for the serial number!”
Buffy could feel her temper getting shorter – that was one trait she’d begun to
think like Spike, officialdom, too much bloody waffle and red tape!
“Ah, got it!” Riley said, and was just about to read it out when Buffy chipped
in,
“Well hurry up – god knows I won’t have time for all this palaver when I’m in
the thick of it out there!”
Riley gave her a look – thought how much her temperament had changed, Angel was
right, being around Spike all the time had changed her.
“Now, you have two main targets, the head, and the chest area, both of these
areas give the optimum for death to occur instantaneously”
The Dr said, waiting for her to reply.
“Did you hear me, Miss Summers?”
“Can I fire now?” Buffy was supposed to hit the first target, have it examined,
then fire at the next, have it examined, etc, until all six targets had been
hit.
Buffy had had enough and wanted to get back to her husband.
She lined up, and fired, the targets all shook and sizzled as the white-hot beam
did it’s job, she having placed three shots to the centre of the ‘beasts’ brain,
right between his eyes, and three shots to the chest, exactly where the heart
would be. She stood, dusted herself down and said,
“There, does that prove to you I can do it? – Look, can I go now?”
The Dr had snatched off his eye-protectors in shock as he saw this tiny girl had
hit six targets with such pinpoint accuracy – he’d never seen anything like it!
“Well I! I’m speechless!”
Buffy just shrugged and said, well can I?
Riley pressed the button on the wall to fetch the targets to him along some
track loop. The Doctor was dumb-founded and too shocked to speak as he snatched
the nearest target off as it reached him
“Ahem, I said, can I – “
“Sorry, sorry yes, Buffy, you can go – just pull on the doors, they’ve already
scanned you - you can go through without any problems”
Chapter 6
Just as Buffy got back to the lecture room, she saw everyone stand – they were
breaking for lunch.
“Hi!”
“Hi Kitten, how’d it go?”
“Oh, you know, six bulleyes, needed four – you know the story, the Prof or
whatever he is thinks I’m a delicate little flower who couldn’t possibly walk,
breathe and chew gum all at the same time, let alone carry and use his gun
thingy…anyway, come on, quick sandwich for me………blood pack for you, and then the
rest of the day is our own”
Is it now? – I thought I’d got to learn how to make you a tent or whatever?”
“We’ll muddle through, to be quite frank, I want to get in there, take out
whatever it is, and get out – I don’t want to hang about for any longer than is
necessary”
“Right with you there babe! – Oh, and I’ll be with you”
“Yeah, I know!”
“No, I mean RIGHT there with you – the sunlight doesn’t penetrate much passed
the upper canopy, there will be plenty of undergrowth cover – so I can be with
you every step of the way, I haven’t got to stay at base-camp”
Buffy smiled and cupped her husband’s cheek
“Oh baby is that so? – There’s nobody – nobody else I’d rather have with me!”
*******************
“Are you SURE about this Buffy – I mean you can have another 24 hours of
training, and-“ Riley said, looked slightly concernedly at her
“Look, mate, she just said, didn’t she? Now if you don’t mind, we’d just rather
get on, get in there, get the job in hand done and get the fuck out…”
“We, what’s this we?”
“I’m going in the jungle with her – AND – hear me out, there is nothing you can
say that’ll make any difference” Spike said
Riley dropped his pen on top on his book and tented his fingers, taping them
against his chin, deep in thought.
“Okay then…now my boys will take you as far as the first camp – after that,
you’re on your own, but you’ll be in touch with us via satellite field radio.
I’d also like you to wear this………here you go, I’ll just pin it on your top –
it’s a locator – it’ll help us to help you if you get lost – “
Riley walked towards Buffy, to attach the locator to her top, Spike was having
none of it, he didn’t want the overgrown hall-monitor leering at his Mrs…
“I’LL do that, thankyou VERY much!” Spike took the locator off Riley and pinned
it to her top.
“Right, to the stores, get the equipment and then you can be off”
**********************
Buffy glanced at Spike, who was already frowning…
“Riley…we don’t need all this stuff, and besides, it’ll just slow us down – what
is it anyway?”
“Stuff you’ll need” Spike shook his head and said,
“You mean stuff you THINK we’ll need…I’ll take the tarpaulin, the radio and two
canteens for water, and four emergency rations for Buffy”
Buffy said she’d carry the weapon, a torch and they’d both have a machete knife
to cut through the thick undergrowth.
“But you’ll – “ Riley began, but the look he got from both Buffy and Spike
quietened him.
He shrugged and held out his palms upwards in a helpless gesture saying
“Well, on your own heads be it – you know best I suppose”
“Tell your team or whoever we’ll leave after lunch”
“Right, that’ll work out nicely, you should reach base-camp by nightfall” Riley
said.
***********************
Having arrived at base-camp, the soldiers set about making things ready. They
built a fire, got bedding set up and prepared a meal.
“Smells good…what is it?” Buffy asked
“Chicken curry with rice…just add water, boil it for twenty minutes…” a soldier
said.
Giles helped set up a sleeping hammock, he was already sweating profusely.
“Are you alright Giles?”
“F-fine, fine thankyou…a tad warm maybe!”
“You don’t have to be here you know, I was wondering why you all did the jungle
craft classes when you could be safe and sound back at HQ” Buffy said
“Well…thought I could least be here, know, well get some sort of idea what you
might be going through”
Buffy smiled.
“Um, Miss Summers, can I show you this please?”
“Sure, what is it?” Buffy followed one of the soldiers to a small piece of
equipment standing on the ground.
“We do this………and this, lift this up like so, and in heavily covered areas like
this, we open out the mini-dish rather than use just the aerial, we get better
reception like this…and then I punch in our co-ordinates, like this………(there was
a beep and a tiny green light came on) and there, that means we’re now logged in
and being monitored by the US Army Satellite Navigation System – they’ll know
exactly were we are – and were you are, via that locator”
Buffy looked down at her top where the locator was pinned; it gave off a little
pulsing beep.
“You can turn the beep down altogether if it gets on your nerves, but I find you
get used to it, like a heartbeat”
She smiled and said,
“Great!”
A voice shouted,
“Chow’s ready!”
*****************
“That was great…so………we’ll rest up and take off at first light, okay Spike?”
“Sure baby”
Buffy sat with her back to Spike’s chest; they were all sat around the campfire
talking.
“So, how come you got involved with something like this?” One of the soldiers
asked Buffy
“I’m afraid that’s top secret, we’re not allowed to reveal the specialist skills
of either Miss Summers or Spike!” Giles interrupted. This made Buffy grin
“Sorry, we’re top secret, aren’t we babe?” She turned her head and Spike gave
her a light kiss, grinning
“We sure are!”
The radio crackled into life and everyone heard Riley’s voice.
“This is Hotel Quebec 405 calling base-camp 1, come in base-camp 1, over”
“Base-camp 1 to Hotel Quebec 405, this is Sgt. Martino receiving you loud and
clear, sir, over”
“Good, Martino, we have received your co-ordinations and will be tracking and
monitoring the progress of the Laser-Blazer’s, will give you a wake-up call at
6.30am, come back, over”
“Thankyou Hotel Quebec, message received and understood, goodnight from all of
us here at base-camp 1, sweet dreams – over and out” The radio went back to
giving off the same tiny little pulsing beep as the locator.
**************************
“Hmm – huh – oh Spike…SPIKE!”
Spike came to with Buffy clutching his arm tightly
“Wha-what, what is it baby?”
“I don’t…I don’t know, something pulled my hair and EW – IT’S ALL SLIMY- oh god
what is it, get it out!!!!”
It was pitch black, Spike had to turn game-face to see what was troubling his
wife.
“Hold still…there, got it!”
“Ow, ouch…Ew! What was it – NO! Don’t tell me I –“
“Some sort of half eaten fruit by the look of it…sweet anyway …monkey or
something must have dropped it”
“I thought that this tarp thingie supposed to stop things falling on you…why
can’t they use tents like everybody else!”
“Miss Summers…hello, Miss Summers, do you have problem?”
A torch beam was shone in their general direction, a soldier walked towards
them.
“S’okay…just a monkey using me as target practice, sorry to disturb you”
“You didn’t, I’m on first watch…here, the corner of the tarp is caught on this
vine here………there, that should cover you both now…goodnight”
“Night, thanks”
Buffy lay down again. The jungle seemed to come alive, crickets or cicadas,
birds, animals – everything began to make a noise.
“Never bloody sleep now…ew, my hairs all sticky…it’s going to get SO matted!”
“Hmm…babe…you’re beginning to sound like Cordy…”
“You take that back!”
Spike chuckled
“Okay, I’ll take it back if you stop mo-“ He was cut short by Buffy sitting up
quickly
“Ow, Ow, OW!”
She heard the dull clunk, then the soft rasp of Spike’s Zippo lighter, he held
it up. Buffy went to reach for the offending thing, but much to her surprise, it
took off………
“Oh, sorry…It’s only a twig – oh god – it’s a twig on legs!”
“It’s a stick insect…can we go back to sleep now please?”
Spike let the lighter go out
“THAT, was not a stick insect…stick insects were little bitty things that we
used to have in glasses cages at school…that was a stick ANIMAL”
“Buffy…lie down love………try and rest”
Suddenly a voice out of nowhere made them jump.
“You forgot your mosquito net, that should solve your problems”
A white gauzy film of net was draped around them and Buffy felt she could relax
at last.
**********
“Babe…Sweetie…Princess-Kitten…wakey-wakey!”
“Hmm, what – but I only just closed my eyes…can’t be morning!”
Buffy sat up, yawned and blinked; she suddenly became wide-awake at the sight of
Spike in a pair of khaki camouflage army trousers, and a khaki tee-shirt.
“Hoo woo, look at you!”
Spike grinned and handed her a steaming tin mug
“Here you go, drink up – Lieutenant Price lent them to me, he said best not to
have too much flesh on show, the creepy-crawlies take it as an invite to dinner
– you being the main course”
Buffy wrinkled her nose
“What about Sgt Thingy’s don’t bother it, and it won’t bother you mantra?”
“Ah, that…seems nobody told the creepy-crawlies!”
“Ew…what does my hair look like?”
“Um…like you’ve had an argument with an over-ripe peach…and lost! – Don’t worry,
you’ll soon sweat it all out”
“Gonna need a shower!”
“That’s all ready for you ma’am!” A soldier said walking towards them.
“They’ve set up a ground-sheet on four poles, I can pour several buckets of
water over you, I knew you’d want to be clean before we set off” Spike said,
grinning
Buffy smiled, leaned forward and gave her hubby a kiss
“ I love you…”
“Love you too kitten, now come on!”
Buffy gasped as Spike poured the cold water over her, but she managed to get the
goo out of her hair and feel reasonably fresh.
Chapter 7
Slightly later than planned, they set off into the thick under-growth at 7.50am,
everything they needed on their backs.
They hacked and slashed their way through densely grown vines and trees for four
hours, saw a slight clearing ahead, and Spike had to stop.
“Too much sunlight for me Kitten…”
“We’ll go round…can we rest up for five, I’m thirsty”
Sitting on a stump, Buffy reached for her canteen, opened it and took three
large swallows, and fastened it back up.
Wiping her forehead on the towelling wrist-bands she sported, she asked
“How far do you reckon we’ve come?”
Spike looked at his compass/mileometer
“According to this…a little over three miles”
“WHAT – you’re joking! Feels like we’ve walked twenty at least, I’m knackered,
and SO HOT!”
“It’s this 100% humidity love…you okay?”
Buffy nodded blew out her cheeks
“We should reach the co-ordinations where the soldiers went missing by
night-fall…”
“I hope we get the chance of a breather before we have to fight whatever it is
we’ve got to fight………I’m getting a blister, look”
Buffy held out her hand, Spike could see an angry pink swelling across her palm
and the inside of her thumb.
“It’s the machete handle rubbing you…here, wrap this around your palm, it’ll
help mop up some of the sweat…”
Spike handed her a handkerchief.
“See, I told you there was nobody else I’d rather have with me than you…shall we
get on?”
“If you’re sure you’re ready, pet”
They trudged on, slashing their way though, stopping to rest every hour for a
few minutes for water and a breather.
It was getting darker, and Spike reckoned that they were less than half a mile
from the co-ordinates, Buffy bought her machete swishing through a thick vine
and was just about to walk forward, when all of a sudden she was confronted by a
HUGE loop of snake body dangling down…this body part was rapidly followed by
it’s head, tongue lashing out smelling the air barely inches from her face
“DON’T MOVE A MUSCLE!” Spike hissed, and Buffy froze.
The one loop of snake body was soon joined by another, and another…this was one
huge snake all right, it’s body as thick as a good-sized tree trunk!
“It’s an anaconda………”
Without moving, Buffy whispered,
“They aren’t poisonous, right?”
“Right…they just eat you whole after crushing you – this bugger looks like he
could eat an elephant, sideways………right, when I say, you slowly sink to your
knees, and crawl away fast as you can”
“But what about –
“Now – go on, do it!”
Buffy dropped and crawled, Spike, never taking his eyes off the snake’s head
rapidly limboed under it and they didn’t stop crawling for a good twenty yards
Buffy hauled herself against a tree, heaving for breath, Spike joined her
“Phew…that was close…god that thing was HUGE!”
Spike looked round, saw that where they were, was quite suitable to set up camp
for the night.
A howler monkey came bounding past them, and Spike quickly set about building a
fire to keep any nosy animals away. Buffy set the radio up and contacted
base-camp.
“Base-camp 1, Base-camp 1, this is Laser-Blazers, come in please, over” Buffy
waited for the reply, but there was none.
She reset the co-ordinates, made sure the small satellite dish was completely
open, and tried again
“Base-camp 1, Base-camp 1, this is Laser-Blazers, come in please, over”
She let the communication switch go and the radio crackled into life
“Laser-Blazers this is base-camp 1, we read you loud and clear, over”
“We’re holing up for the night, no major incidents, well, except for the fact
that I disturbed the biggest anaconda in the world…we make it about 500 yards
from ground zero co-ordinates, over”
“Laser-Blazers, that’s a positive, you are right on target, get some rest, good
luck – oh, you’re um, boss wants to speak with you, over”
Buffy frowned and mouthed ‘boss?’ to Spike, but they both smiled when they heard
Giles being told how to use the radio…
“Okay, got that, um Buffy – I mean Laser-Blazer…you be careful - we’re all here
thinking of you…b-both of you, okay?…Buffy, are you there?”
“Yes, you’re supposed to say over when you’ve finished speaking, over!”
“Oh, right sorry. Over”
“We’ll be fine Giles ……tell ‘em at HQ to get some pineapple for my pizza for
when I get back, okay, over”
“Will do…well goodnight…over”
“Night Giles, over”
“Laser-Blazers this is base-camp 1 signing off, Sgt Tucker is on first watch,
goodnight both, over and out”
“Thankyou base-camp 1, goodnight, over and out”
When Buffy stood, she was impressed to see that Spike had set up a hammock,
covered in mosquito net and tarpaulin, and was now crouching over the fire
stirring a pot that smelt delicious.
“Hmm…something smells good!”
“Beef curry this time…there was lamb casserole or chicken curry – not much
variety, sorry”
“Hey, s’ great… can’t exactly expect Domino Pizza to deliver out here, can we!”
“This’ll be ready in a few minutes”
After they had eaten, they sat by the fire for a while, Spike made sure to build
it up well so it would last until morning.
Buffy tumbled into the hammock, Spike right behind her, and they both fell
asleep instantly – the ravages of the day taking it’s toll.
They’d been asleep roughly two hours when Buffy was startled awake by a terrific
noise.
Spike raised his head
“What is it babe?”
“Nothing…thunder that’s all” She slowly lay back down, trying to get comfortable
again…
They both went back to sleep. About an hour and a half later, it was Spike’s
turn to wake with a jolt, and when Buffy woke and saw Spike game-faced, she
waited and watched him, then there was this huge loud noise, this time it wasn’t
thunder – it sounded like a pride of lions all roaring and a heard of elephants
all trumpeting at the same time…
“What the hell was…?” Buffy began
Spike let his demon melt away and he said,
“I don’t know pet…but it wasn’t thunder that time”
*****************
“What’s the ti – oh! – Oh my god – look, Spike, LOOK!”
“Fuckin’ Hell – did you feel THAT!”
“Feel it - Did you SEE it’s foot? Must have been six foot long at least…oh god,
just how big is this thing?”
“I thought there was an earthquake the ground was shaking so much…come on
kitten, best get to it – with any luck, it’ll have spent the night feeding and
hopefully it’s going home to rest now!”
“I better radio in, tell base-camp what we’ve seen”
“Okay pet, I’ll pack our stuff away”
*****************
“Ready?”
“Yeah, um, can you help my hoist the backpack up a bit………thanks” Spike grabbed
the shoulder straps and pulled up so it was a little higher on her back.
“So what did they say at base when you told them what we’d seen?”
“Told us to take care, and for me to take a good aim”
“Amen to that…ready then kitten?”
Buffy picked up her machete from where she’d stuck it upright at the ready in
the ground, weighted it in her hand and nodded
“As I’ll ever be – lets go waste this beastie”
About 400 yards in, Buffy became aware of a horrible stench
“Ew gods, I’m gonna be sick – what IS that god-awful SMELL?”
Spike looked around and then he frowned at what he saw, a maggot-ridden lump of
flesh, it looked like the remains of a wild pig, he could see the tusks
“Just don’t look down pet…”
“That’s better………oh look!”
Buffy swished her machete and as the vines came tumbling down in front of her
she could see a small clearing up ahead – although there was still plenty of
canopy cover luckily.
“Shh…can you hear that?” Spike whispered
“What is it do you think?”
“I think………(he turned game-face, as his senses were heightened as a
vampire)………yes, (he shook his demon away) it’s it breathing”
“What we need to do, is to try and see it without it seeing us, set up the laser
and fire” Buffy whispered, and Spike nodded in agreement.
Leaving everything but their machete’s and the laser behind, they made their way
towards the sound of the noise as quietly as they could.
Seemed nothing else in the jungle wanted to be quiet, howler monkeys howled,
birds called and everything else seemed to want in on the act as regards noise.
Trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, Buffy and Spike forged their way nearer
and nearer to the source of the noise that was getting louder
Spike cut another vine blocking their way, and when it fell, clearing the path
for them, he half turned and stayed Buffy with an outstretched arm. She looked
up and saw what appeared to be a gigantic lizard like creature, dark greenish
with scaly skin and huge back legs, if she hadn’t known they were extinct, she
would have said it was a dinosaur – a brontosaurus, but without the long neck
and a bigger head.
Spike wafted his hand towards the right, and both he and Buffy as quietly as
they could started to move to the right to get the perfect shot to the head.
After taking a dozen steps to the right, Buffy stopped and Spike looked at her,
then the creature, nodding his approval.
Buffy silently knelt and drew the weapon, setting up the stand and switching it
on – she knew the laser would make a little beeping noise so she tried to time
it to when there was a loud bird call. The laser was ready, and the creature
didn’t stir
Spike backed away and came and crouched by her side
Buffy took a deep breath, lined her eye up with the site, got her finger ready
on the firing button
She pressed and Spike watched a white beam shoot out in a perfect straight line,
straight into the centre of the lizard’s skull, for a full ten seconds.
It’s eyes opened terrifyingly wide, it’s huge legs paddled the air and it let
out an agonised roar, it’s tail thrashing around, just missing them, and then it
was still and silent
Buffy shifted the site and trained it on the heart part of the chest, and fired
again for five seconds, but the creature was dead.
She put the gun down and they hugged
“You did it babe!”
“Yeah…shall we take a closer look?”
Carefully they crept towards the creature – there was a funny burnt smell about,
so Buffy didn’t want to hang around.
Spike took some photographs, and hacked off a small piece of tail for analysis,
putting it in a jar an slipping it in his backpack.
“What the hell was it do you think?” Buffy asked, kicking the dead creature with
her boot.
“No idea pet…I’ve got a bit of it for them to – oh look…”
“What?”
“Army dog-tag…must have come from one of the soldiers”
“Here’s another one…and there’s something else…a watch”
“Lets take them back with us, something to give the families or whatever – can
you see anything else?” Buffy shifted dirt with the toe of her boot, looked
around and shook her head. Spike had a quick glance around and then he said,
“Well pet, mission accomplished, shall we be making tracks?”
“Yes, I’ll radio ahead and tell them that the mission was successful, and we’ll
press on for base-camp”
Spike tidied up their ‘camp’ while Buffy radioed base-camp, he could hear the
joyous whoops and hollering of everyone back at base over the radio and grinned.
Buffy packed up the radio, slid it into it’s holder at her waist and declared
herself ready, they moved off, trying as much as they could to taking the same
path as they’d used coming, for two reasons, one, it was already cleared, and
two, they knew they were going in the right direction without having to keep
stopping and checking with the compass.
It began to get dark, and they could hear rumbles of thunder above them, then
they were caught in a tropical monsoon, and had to veer off track to take
shelter, as the heaviness of the rain bought all sorts of things crashing down
from the jungle canopy – tree limbs, coconuts – size of basketballs they were,
in their spongy green outer shell, and could knock you out if they fell on your
head.
The downpour lasted twenty minutes, then everything just dripped, including
Buffy and Spike!
“Shall we press on pet?”
“Yeah…come on” She picked up her backpack, and hoisted it on her back, Spike
helped her to adjust it and reached for his own, not seeing the small red and
yellow snake winding it’s way around one of the straps.
“Sooner we get –OW - what the FUCK was – Buffy – don’t move!” Spike flung his
arm out and she saw the small snake drop from his hand.
“SPIKE! Oh god, that’s a deadly poisonous one, isn’t it – let me think, what did
Sgt thingy say…red and yellow, kill a fellow, red and black, venom lack…
She looked terrified until Spike bought his machete down and severed the snake
in half where it writhed and curled up on itself
“Bastard thing got me – I didn’t see it!” Spike examined his hand
“Let me look” Spike showed her. Between the base of his thumb and index finger
Buffy could see two small puncture holes.
“Will you be alright?”
“Should be, lets press on”
“But, your hand?”
“I’ve no circulation pet, the poison won’t go anywhere – lets get going”
Buffy looked worried until Spike reassured her giving her hand a little squeeze.
“Okay, if you’re sure, but tell me if you feel funny and we’ll” – BANG (sound of
a gunshot) and Buffy disappeared down a fern covered hole
“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!”
Spike looked at a bush and saw a still smoking gun, obviously an old booby-trap,
and cried out frantically,
“BBBBBBBUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFYYYYYYYYYYYYY!” He heard a swishing noise, and turned to
see a large tree-trunk tied in the middle swishing in an arc towards him. Before
he could react, it caught him straight between the shoulder blades and knocked
him down the hole too……………