Title:  Place Your Bets
Author: Pattyanne
           snapkik@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: None of the BtVS
characters belong to me.
Feedback: I need it. It's like air and
water to me.
Summary:  Alternate season 6. Buffy and
Spike are trying to win a bet they've made
with each other.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(This started out as a 'drabble', then, like Topsy,
it "just growed".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Part one:  Prefatory Matters



"You leaving already?"

"Sorry. Got stuff to do."

"Fine. I understand. Had your itch scratched
and now you can go on about your business
until you need it again."

"Keep talking like THAT and you won't get yours
scratched for a REAL long time."

"Right, Slayer. Like you could do without your
thrice weekly service call."

"Look who's talking."

"Hey, I got along fine without you, luv. I'm just
doing you a favor here."

"Spike...you are so full of shit. You couldn't
go without sex if someone offered you all the
blood from a Red Cross health fair. I could go
way longer than you."

"Want to bet?"




And THAT was how the whole thing started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever learn to keep my big
mouth shut when I'm ahead.

And I WAS ahead, too.  I could have done the classy
thing and sailed out of the crypt on a cloud of icy silence
after that "I'm doing you a favor" crack.

What I SHOULD have said was, "Save your favors for
someone who needs them!"   Or, "I think you have our
roles reversed."

But, no.  Instead...I issue him a challenge. I should have
known he'd pounce on it like a starving man at an all-
you-can-eat restaurant.

I never think before I speak.  It's a real problem.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Well, I could have backed out of it. Just laughed it off
and headed for the door, knowing he can't follow me.

But, he must have seen it coming, because HE
suddenly backed down, making it sound as though
he knew I'd never win and was willing to cut me a
break due to me allowing my mouth to once again
overload my brain.

That damn vampire knows me too well.  If I wasn't
so crazy about him, I'd stake his arrogant ass.
Tack him up like a bug on a pin, then not
bother to vacuum up the residue.

Yeah, yeah...I'm admitting it. I'm mad about the
boy.  Deal with it, and move on.

It's my guilty little secret. Except that I only feel
guilty for keeping the secret, not for it's content.
I got tired of feeling guilty for THAT long ago.

Grown woman, here. Slayer. Saved the world more
than once. Gonna be with who I want.  Anyone
who doesn't like it can just pack up their toys and
go play in someone else's yard.

Even Spike doesn't really know my secret...although
I suspect he suspects. I'm not terribly good at hiding
things from him and he's caught me more than once
with a dopey grin on my face as I thought about him
in a certain way.

This is why I never play poker. I can't bluff worth a
damn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing we did was decide on the (you should
pardon the expression) stakes of the bet.

It took longer than I'd thought it would. You wouldn't
BELIEVE what he wanted from me should he end up
the winner!

Not that he's going to.  I have faith in my self control. I
mean, sure...sex with Spike is (to put it mildly) out of
this world...but I've garnered a fair amount of savior faire
over the years, (I have! Really!) and I'm pretty confident
in my ability to resist.

And besides...I can always take care of certain matters
myself...should it become necessary. Actually, I HAD
to learn how to do that when I was involved with Riley.

Got to be quite good at it, too...the selfish bastard.





TBC.....

Next: Part two...The Stakes of the Game





(Sorry, but this one just snuck up and jumped me
from behind, and I had to write it down.  It'll get
pretty explicit as it rolls merrily forward. Let me know
what you think, huh?)